Somali president’s insistence on universal suffrage seen as tactic to delay elections and extend rule

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Despite the enormous support from the United States, Washington has issues with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, whom it accuses of frustrating efforts of state-building by insisting on universal suffrage elections.

The insistence on universal suffrage, the Washington Post reports, is a strategy to delay elections and prolong the stay in power. The US also accuses Trump of alienating a number of regional leaders, including Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland and Ahmed Islam Mohamed Madobe of Jubaland.

Electoral cycles in Somalia routinely interfere with operations against al-Shabab, which is skilled at exploiting clan divisions. In the past, U.S. leadership helped smooth over such clashes, the  Washington Post reports.

“Things always start great with a new president, and then clan politics makes it all fall apart,” said former U.S. ambassador Larry Andre, who recalls coordinating outfits with the beleaguered prime minister in 2022 during a joint news conference. Their matching sky-blue running suits signaled they were united, Andre said, after political rivalries sparked deadly clan battles.

According to Hussein Sheikh Ali, the national security advisor, the US is a major partner on matters of security, and its exit would severely affect the fight against Al-Shabaab, a group fighting to control the country.

With the US keen to defund the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), the African Union has started the drawdown of troops, but Troops Contributing Countries want to increase the number for logistical reasons.

“On areas of counterterrorism, [the Americans] are our lead partner,” Ali said. Only this year, after coordination with U.S. officials and under the watch of a new director general of immigration, did Somalia begin using Interpol watch list data and sharing the details of passengers boarding international flights.

American officials have “repeatedly urged” Mohamud to refocus on security cooperation and regional inclusion, and are disappointed by the lack of progress,” the White House official told the Post. His emphasis on centralizing power “is hindering progress on counterterrorism,” the official added, “and we believe a shift in priorities is essential to address the escalating threat.”

Already, the US has reduced the support for the Danab Special Forces, with the morale of the team said to have decreased. Understandably, the Al-Shabaab has gained ground particularly in central and southern regions.

A U.S. government audit last year found that Danab had padded food and fuel requisitions. Food and fuel support stopped in April 2024 and March 2025, respectively; in February, the U.S. stopped paying stipends that boosted Danab members’ salaries to $400 per month, double what regular Somali soldiers receive.

It’s unclear whether the termination of the stipends was linked to the graft allegations or to the wider freeze on foreign assistance programs under Trump, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said will reduce government bloat and allow the administration to focus on domestic priorities, the Washington Post reports.

Some former U.S. officials say the torrent of international security funds into Somalia only fuels the country’s deep-rooted corruption. Others contend that continued funding to a small, select unit working alongside U.S. soldiers is the best among bad options.

“If we don’t directly sustain the Danab, the Somali National Army is highly unlikely to sustain them to the degree required for them to be most effective,” said a former senior U.S. military official.

Morale within Danab is “not that high,” according to one Mogadishu-based security expert who works with the Somali military. When the stipends were cut, about 100 soldiers “went AWOL for a bit,” he said. Most of Danab’s foreign mentors also went home after the U.S. cuts, the security expert said.

GAROWE ONLINE