When Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office again in 2022, having previously held the position from 2012 to 2017, he not only vowed to defeat the Al-Shabaab insurgency that dominates international coverage of the country. He was also determined to finalize Somalia’s provisional constitution, which dates back to 2012.
But while most stakeholders agree on the importance of completing the constitution, Mohamud’s effort to do so is encountering familiar hurdles. The process has exposed deep and familiar fault lines and mistrust between Somalia’s political actors, who remain at odds over the nature of governance in the country. As a result, the current debate is essentially serving as a preview of what is already shaping up to be a hotly contested presidential election in 2026.
The adoption of the provisional constitution in 2012 was a significant milestone in itself, as Somalia had gone without a governing framework since the collapse of central government rule in 1991. Its adoption formally ended Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government, which gave way to the Federal Government of Somalia. Only then did international governments, including the U.S., formally recognize Somalia’s government as the country’s ruling entity and increase support to it.