Somalia says it has curbed growth in government workforce | Dawan Africa

Mogadishu, September 10, 2026 – Somalia’s government has limited growth in its civil service since taking office, with new recruitment based on the needs of government institutions, Finance Minister Bihi Iman Egeh said.

“We have not increased the government workforce since we came into office,” Egeh said in an interview with Miizaan Podcast, broadcast by Dawan Tv on Wednesday.

The minister said the government’s civil service workforce numbers about 10,000 to 11,000 employees, adding that the current administration had taken steps to prevent unnecessary expansion.

He said the Council of Ministers had issued decisions to control government recruitment because many state institutions already had enough employees.

“Since there are sufficient employees in government institutions, it should not be a matter of simply hiring someone. The need should create the job,” Egeh said.

He said new employees could still be recruited when there was a genuine need, such as when an employee leaves and a replacement is required.

But the government was not pursuing broad recruitment to increase the size of the civil service without a clear need, he said.

Egeh also discussed temporary government workers, saying most had been recruited under the previous administration and some had not gone through the normal civil service recruitment procedures.

The current government conducted an official census of temporary workers, collecting information on their education, positions and other employment details, he said.

The exercise also sought to verify employee and payroll records and prevent cases in which individuals received salaries under multiple names.

“Those with errors in their records were removed,” Egeh said.