Mogadishu (Somalia Today) – Somali former leaders have voiced concern following the dismissal of the national prison chief and reports that security forces surrounded his home.
Former president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed accused the federal government of “political revenge”, while former prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke warned against any violation of due process, and a statement from former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s Himilo Qaran party also condemned the reported action.
The dispute over the fate of General Mahad Abdirahman Aden has deepened a rift between authorities in Mogadishu and South West State.
The allegations emerged a day after the federal cabinet approved Major General Mohamed Sheikh Hassan Hamud as the new commander of the Somali Custodial Corps, replacing Mahad in a decision announced via state media.
Following the dismissal, unverified reports emerged that federal police units were deployed outside Mahad’s residence in Mogadishu and that his official security detail had been withdrawn.
By Thursday evening, the federal government had not publicly commented on the claims, and Mahad himself had made no public statement.
‘Political revenge’
In a statement, Farmaajo condemned the treatment of Mahad, saying it suggested President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was taking Somalia in an authoritarian direction.
He described the move as political revenge, alleging it targeted South West State supporters of regional elections.
He said the reported siege formed part of a broader campaign against ministers, lawmakers, and military officers from South West State who support holding regional elections in their state.
Farmaajo called for Mahad’s immediate release and warned against what he described as an abuse of executive power at a sensitive political moment.
Former prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke struck a more cautious tone but also expressed concern.
In his own statement, Sharmarke said that while non-elected officials can lawfully be removed from office, placing a senior commander under house arrest without due process would amount to a constitutional violation.
He urged the federal government to restore Mahad’s rights and avoid deepening an already polarised national dispute, warning that Somalia stands at a critical point as the federal parliament approaches the end of its mandate next month.
In a separate statement, Himilo Qaran, the party led by former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, condemned the reported house arrest of Mahad and described it as political revenge.
The party said Mahad had served for years in Somali state institutions, including the police and prison services, and warned against what it described as the misuse of state power amid the dispute involving South West State.
It called for Mahad’s immediate release and urged President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud not to take steps it said were inconsistent with the provisional constitution.
Regional rupture
The controversy surrounding Mahad comes amid one of the sharpest recent ruptures between the federal government and a member state.
On March 17, South West State announced it was suspending all cooperation with the federal government.
Regional authorities in Baidoa accused Mogadishu of arming local militias in a bid to unseat regional president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen.
Somalia’s defence and information ministries did not respond to requests for comment on those accusations.
The rupture deepened this week when Somalia’s federal interior ministry said Laftagareen’s mandate had expired.
Mogadishu announced it would no longer recognise administrative appointments or dismissals made by the regional leadership.
While the federal government said local administrations in South West would continue to function pending consultations with traditional elders, the move fed fears in Baidoa that Villa Somalia was trying to shape the political outcome from above.
Constitutional crisis
At the heart of the standoff is a broader dispute over Somalia’s constitution, electoral model, and the balance of power.
Earlier this month, the federal parliament backed constitutional changes that critics say could extend President Hassan Sheikh’s term and delay national elections planned for May.
While the exact legal effect of the amendments remains contested, even analysts who question whether the changes automatically prolong the president’s tenure say the absence of an agreed electoral framework makes a delay more likely.
The clash has added to concerns that Somalia’s fragile federal system is coming under renewed strain.
Puntland, a semi-autonomous northern state, said in March 2024 that it would no longer recognise the federal government until the disputed constitutional changes were put to a national referendum.
Similarly, the southern state of Jubbaland suspended ties with Mogadishu in November 2024 over a separate electoral dispute.
The latest confrontation in South West is the latest in a series of disputes over constitutional powers and regional mandates.
Cyclical history
South West State carries deep political sensitivity, and the current crisis has revived memories of earlier confrontations.
In 2018, the region became the focus of a major crisis after former Al-Shabaab deputy leader Mukhtar Robow was barred from running in the regional presidential contest.
At the time, it was Farmaajo’s own federal administration that deployed security forces to arrest Robow, helping clear the way for the federally backed Laftagareen to emerge victorious in a vote widely seen as a test of Mogadishu’s reach.
Critics have drawn comparisons between that episode and the current dispute, with Farmaajo now positioning himself as a defender of South West’s autonomy against a federal government accused by its opponents of trying to remove Laftagareen.
That history helps explain why the move against Mahad has triggered such a swift response across Somalia’s political class.
The Somali Custodial Corps sits within the national justice and security structure and plays a central role in managing the country’s prison system.
Any perception that leaders are making senior security appointments based on political loyalty rather than state policy risks deepening mistrust at a time of wider national tension.
For now, much remains unverified.
There has been no official confirmation that Mahad is under house arrest, nor has there been any public explanation linking his removal to the crisis in Baidoa.
But the allegations have added to concern that Somalia’s political disputes are increasingly spilling into the security sphere.
