For a nation battling both political infighting and an unrelenting insurgency, the last thing Somalia needed was a broken parliament. Yet, since the swearing-in of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in May 2022, the 11th Parliament has descended into a theater of dysfunction, bribery, and political vendettas.
A House of Unprincipled Players
Almost immediately, observers noted a troubling trend: the majority of parliamentarians appeared remarkably pliable when cash was on the table. Accusations of unprincipled behavior and outright bribery have become the norm, eroding public trust in the legislative body’s ability to govern.
The real breaking point came at the end of June, when Finance Minister Dr. Abdirahman Duale Beileh received an unusual summons from the Attorney General (AG). The charge? Beileh had reportedly refused to add his own newly hired family members to the government payroll—a rare act of nepotism-rejection in a political culture often defined by it.
The Nepotism Pendulum
Ironically, the brief easing of cronyism began last year under unlikely circumstances. Former Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, after siding with the opposition and attacking the previous president, briefly curbed some excesses. But that period was short-lived. Roble himself and his inner circle were soon accused of illegal hiring, dodgy contracting, and seizing public property in defiance of presidential decrees.
The trend accelerated dramatically when former President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo conceded defeat on May 15 in an election widely viewed as highly questionable and heavily steered by foreign diplomats.
The Minister Who Said No
When the Attorney General came calling in July, Beileh refused to comply. His reasoning was blunt: the summons violated established rules, and the AG himself was embroiled in an illegal hiring scandal and a flagrant conflict of interest. In a rare public release, the finance minister declared he was ready to defend himself—but only before competent authorities, not a compromised prosecutor.
The response from parliament was swift and strange. A hitherto dormant legislative body suddenly jolted to life, summoning Beileh to “ratify” the 2022 budget (which had already been approved by Roble’s cabinet four months earlier). In reality, the session was a thinly veiled attempt to sift through five years of state budgets and scrutinize the minister’s work.
A Parliament That Only Wakes for Revenge
What everyone noticed was the timing. The new parliament, sworn in just last April and led by characters handpicked by the former president’s opponents, only convenes when the government asks it to. Until this confrontation, when it came to bills or procedures, most MPs simply didn’t show up. The quorum was never met. Routine work was impossible.
From the outset, it was clear: this was politically motivated. The sole purpose was to discredit the most disciplined finance minister Somalia has ever known—and, through him, to defame the previous administration, which had at least opened a fragile chapter on transparency and accountability.
The Grillings of June 28–29
For two consecutive days, MPs took turns interrogating Beileh on financial policies, state funds, donations, and foreign debt. But Beileh, a fine orator and outstanding manager, refused to be intimidated. He put his questioners in their place, even giving them a crash course on IMF protocols and public finance.
It was obvious to him that this whole grotesque charade was orchestrated by Speaker Adan Madobe—a former warlord turned politician with only an elementary education. Madobe had been parachuted into power after political machinations engineered by foreign diplomats based in Mogadishu’s fortified Halane sector.
A Rogue’s Gallery of MPs
The parliament Beileh faced was a collection of every element hostile to President Farmajo’s administration: former opposition members, warlords, Al-Shabab sympathizers, clan bigots, separatists, NGOists, and other foreign agents. The irony was not lost on the minister. Many of these long-serving MPs grilled him on issues entirely unrelated to the current budget—such as why the Senate never participates in budget debates (despite the lower house’s sole authority over approval).
Deputy Speaker Sadia Samatar even asked why she was unaware of previous budget debates. The live-streamed sessions revealed a legislature crammed with radical and inept figures. Some MPs held documents upside down. Others had no educational background whatsoever.
Public Outrage and Unlikely Defenders
The repeated attacks backfired. Beileh’s blameless demeanor and erudite explanations sparked a firestorm on social media and in local media. Some MPs came to his defense, noting that the interrogations were particularly malicious by Somali political standards. Others defended parliament’s right to question officials—but conceded that this minister, who ended corruption and mismanagement, was being unfairly treated.
Thanks to Beileh, for the first time in years, state employees and security forces received their salaries in full and on time for five consecutive years.
Beyond the policy battles, many analysts saw the injustice against Beileh as rooted in Somalia’s tribal balance of power. The minister, who refused to be intimidated during exceptionally lengthy hours of questioning, became a pawn in a larger clan-based chess match.
Back to Lethargy—and Then, Farmajo
After the circus around Beileh, parliament fell back into its usual stupor—until late August, when former president Mohamed Farmajo was due to take an oath as an honorary MP, as set out by the constitution. Speaker Madobe let a motion pass to deprive Farmajo of his rights. That effort failed miserably.
Madobe has since rejected numerous motions from MPs, most of them not to the liking of President Hassan Sheikh’s administration. While the speaker cannot legally prevent free expression, he feels emboldened by his close relationship with the government and the foreign diplomats he regularly meets for “consultation.”
A Completely Compromised Speaker
After six months of inactivity, a deafening silence on President Hassan Sheikh’s constitutional violations, and a carte blanche handed to diplomats, foreign armies, and NGOs, one conclusion is inescapable: Speaker Adan Madobe is completely compromised.
Since the Beileh affair, no other minister has been seriously questioned. The Lower House speaker actively obstructs parliament from sitting and deliberating on government actions whenever MPs attempt to sanction the executive.
The Final Irony: NISA Blocks the Door
As witnessed just last week, National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) agents physically blocked MPs from entering parliament. The question now hangs in Mogadishu’s heavy air: To what extent will elected officials continue to accept these flagrant deviations from the rules of democracy?
For now, Somalia’s 11th Parliament remains a cautionary tale—a legislature that only awakens for revenge, then falls back to sleep while the nation watches.
