Mogadishu (Somalia Today) — Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday ridiculed opposition leaders who travelled to the southern city of Kismayo for a high-stakes political summit, arguing that shifting venues does not strengthen their case as Mogadishu prepares for a contested round of local elections later this month.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the 82nd anniversary of the Somali Police Force, Mohamud said the same figures had previously met at a Mogadishu hotel and questioned what, in his view, changed by relocating their talks to Jubaland’s interim capital.
“They used to meet at Hotel Jazeera. I cannot understand the logic of how they can now come to Kismayo and ‘fight’ from there,” Mohamud said.
The president also framed the dispute as political theatre rather than a constitutional standoff, while insisting he would not block opponents from assembling.
“A person is free to speak, and no one is being silenced,” he said, pushing back against claims that dissenting voices have been squeezed.
Yet Mohamud paired the rebuke with an offer of dialogue. He said the federal government was ready to engage leaders gathered in Kismayo, including officials from Jubaland and Puntland, if they presented coherent proposals.
“To our brothers who came together from Mogadishu and elsewhere, we say: if you have met, consult and agree among yourselves, bring us a position we can discuss,” he said.
Kismayo summit
The remarks came as opposition politicians and regional leaders entered a third day of closed-door meetings in Kismayo, where delegates are drafting a final communique expected to address electoral arrangements and push back against Villa Somalia’s plan to expand one-person, one-vote polls beyond the capital.
Sources said participants were working to finalise the structure and mandate of a proposed “Somali Future Council” and to agree on language for their final statement on the 2026 election dispute.
The Kismayo gathering has drawn prominent opposition figures, as well as leaders of Jubaland and Puntland, two federal member states that have remained outside key political agreements with the central government.
The summit has pitched itself as a forum to “reset” Somalia’s electoral pathway and to resist any unilateral move on timelines, procedures, or constitutional amendments.
Mohamud’s allies, however, cast the Kismayo discussions as an attempt to derail a long-delayed shift away from clan-mediated politics. In Mogadishu, officials argue that direct elections are central to rebuilding legitimacy and accountability after decades of conflict.
Banadir vote
The immediate flashpoint is the Banadir local council vote scheduled for December 25, which the federal government portrays as a pilot for broader direct elections.
Somalia has not held a nationwide one-person, one-vote ballot since 1969, and the state still faces major security and administrative constraints.
Somalia’s electoral commission has been laying the groundwork through voter registration, district-level preparations, and public notices.
In October, it issued an official announcement on the provisional voter list for Banadir and the process for objections and corrections, referencing the legal framework guiding the exercise.
The commission’s mandate is anchored in legislation adopted by Somalia’s federal parliament, which sets out its responsibilities across national, federal member state and local elections, including Banadir.
Even so, politics has become the central risk. Opposition figures, Jubaland and Puntland argue that Villa Somalia is pushing an election model without the broad consensus required in Somalia’s fragile federal arrangement.
Their objections have hardened into a boycott stance, raising the prospect of a vote that produces winners in Mogadishu but leaves the wider political class split over legitimacy.
Security and daily life
Mohamud has leaned on the security services to keep order as the political temperature rises. The police anniversary was also a moment to project institutional strength, and state media highlighted parade preparations ahead of the commemoration.
Election preparations are also reshaping daily life in the capital.
Somalia’s Education Ministry announced a temporary suspension of teaching and learning across Banadir from December 21–25 to support election preparations, according to a statement posted on the ministry’s official account.
The decision will close schools, institutes, and universities during the five-day window, as authorities use some education facilities for election-related operations and coordination.
The closure has drawn scrutiny from education stakeholders, who warn that turning campuses into election infrastructure could disrupt learning and set a precedent.
Officials argue the pause is short and operationally necessary, but critics say the move reflects how politically charged even routine administrative decisions have become during the election run-up.
With election day set for December 25, both the government and opposition face a tight timeline.
If ongoing talks do not ease tensions, Somalia may proceed with its most ambitious electoral process in decades while leaders remain divided over its legitimacy and time to resolve differences runs short.
