Somali opposition group urges transitional body ahead of AUSSOM security talks

Monday July 27, 2026

Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali Future Council has called for a comprehensive political agreement to establish an inclusive Transitional Council which should oversee Somalia’s constitutional and electoral transition until new national institutions are peacefully renewed.

In an open letter dated July 27, 2026, the council said Somalia’s immediate priority should be a political settlement that restores legitimacy, rebuilds national consensus and safeguards the neutrality of state institutions, including the Somali National Army.

The letter was addressed to the heads of state, defence ministers and chiefs of defence forces of countries contributing troops and police to the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).

Those countries include Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Burundi and Egypt.

The Somali Future Council, an opposition group includes a former president, former prime ministers, the current presidents of Jubaland and Puntland, former ministers and other political leaders.

The council thanked African Union troop and police contributing countries for nearly two decades of service in Somalia, saying thousands of African soldiers had served with courage and sacrifice in support of Somalia’s peace and security.

However, the council warned that Somalia had entered what it described as a dangerous political phase, saying President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s constitutional term expired on May 15, 2026, and Parliament’s term lapsed on April 14, 2026.

It said there was still no agreed political framework to manage the transition.

“There is still no political agreement in place to manage the transition that must follow,” the council said. “Somalia is now in the most dangerous phase of its politics, without a legitimate, agreed framework for who governs, and how.”

The council accused the federal government of mismanaging the transition and said political fragmentation had weakened national cohesion and distracted from the fight against al-Shabab and Daesh.

It said the Somali National Army, built with support from African partners, had been diverted from its constitutional mission of protecting the Somali people.

“A fragmented state cannot successfully wage a unified campaign against transnational terrorism,” the letter said.

The council also expressed concern over deteriorating relations between the federal government and the federal member states of Puntland and Jubaland, whose forces it said remain engaged on front lines against al-Shabab and Daesh.

It accused the federal government of marginalizing, denying support to and directly targeting forces in those states.

“Somalia cannot defeat two insurgencies while its government fights its own frontline states,” the council said.

The letter comes as African troop-contributing countries are expected to discuss the future of AUSSOM amid uncertainty over funding and logistical support.

The council said the funding crisis surrounding UNSOS and AUSSOM, as well as growing hesitation among international donors, reflected the absence of what it called a legitimate government that international partners could trust and engage with.

“No mission can substitute for a state, and no measure of foreign sacrifice can secure a country whose own leadership has forfeited its legitimacy,” the council said.

The Somali Future Council said it remains committed to a peaceful, negotiated and Somali-owned settlement through dialogue and compromise.

It proposed the formation of an inclusive Transitional Council to provide collective oversight of the constitutional and electoral transition.

The council emphasized such a body would help restore political legitimacy, rebuild national confidence, protect the neutrality of the Somali National Army and state institutions, and ensure the transition is managed in an inclusive, transparent and credible manner.

It urged the leaders of African troop and police contributing countries to use the Kampala Summit to support a political settlement that restores legitimacy and establishes conditions for a peaceful constitutional transition.

“Somalia urgently needs an inclusive political settlement, and this should be the condition and foundation of any continued engagement,” the council said.

The council said AUSSOM’s success should not be measured only by territory liberated from militant groups, but by the emergence of a legitimate Somali state capable of preserving peace and security through its own institutions.

The letter was copied to the African Union Commission, the African Union Peace and Security Council, African members of the United Nations Security Council, IGAD, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Türkiye and the United Nations Transition Mission in Somalia.