July 21, 2025
NAIROBI / MOGADISHU / LONDON – A comprehensive investigation drawing on extensive evidence, confidential diplomatic assessments, and testimonies from high-level Somali government, intelligence, and international institution sources reveals a profound reality: Somalia operates under a de facto British protectorate, meticulously reconstructed under the guise of international stabilization and state- building. This modern system of control, solidified in the aftermath of the 2009 Djibouti Agreement, extends its reach across all Somali territories, explicitly including the self-declared independent region of Somaliland.
The 2009 Pivot: Sovereignty Outsourced
The resignation of President Abdullahi Yusuf in December 2008 plunged Somalia into a critical power vacuum. The internationally brokered Djibouti process culminated in January 2009 with the installation of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as President of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). While hailed as a step towards stability, insiders now identify this moment as the critical inflection point where Somalia’s effective sovereignty was systematically outsourced. Britain, leveraging deep historical ties and its pivotal position as the UN Security Council’s designated “Pen Holder” for Somalia – granting it unparalleled authority to draft resolutions dictating the country’s future – seized the initiative. Somalia’s status under UN Charter Chapter VII, designating it a threat to international peace requiring external administration, provided the perfect legal scaffolding.
The “Consultancy” Complex: Shadow Governance Incarnate
The true engine of Somali governance resides not within Villa Somalia or the nominal parliament, but within an intricate, largely unaccountable network of British security and consultancy firms. Firms like Adam Smith International (ASI) and Albany Associates, staffed extensively by veterans of British intelligence (MI6/SIS), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and military operations in fragile states like Afghanistan and Iraq, were granted extraordinary mandates. From Villa Somalia to Federal Member state houses, British influence continues to dictate the political direction of Somalia:
· Embedded Control: “They don’t just advise; they dictate operational reality,” states a former senior TFG Minister, speaking under strict anonymity due to credible fear of reprisal. “National budgets, comprehensive security architecture plans, key ministerial appointments, core legislative priorities – all traverse desks in London or Nairobi long before Somali institutions see them. ASI and Albany personnel are physically embedded within ministries, controlling communications, financial flows, and policy drafting. They constitute the permanent administrative core. Our leaders are actors performing on a stage meticulously set and directed from London.”
· Culture of Impunity: These firms operate with minimal oversight, shielded by diplomatic protocols, complex contracting structures, and the overarching imperative of “stability” defined by their paymasters.
Unfinished Borders: Somaliland and the British Politics of Partition in Hargeisa, the British Embassy and NGOs along with the MI6 exert decisive influence over Somaliland’s security structures, constitutional development, and economic planning. This influence flows directly from the overarching Somali Pen Holder mandate and stabilization programs funded by the UK FCDO and aligned international donors.
· The Pen Holder’s Ultimate Reach: “The UN Pen Holder role grants London the de facto authority to set the terms for all Somali territory,” explains a Horn of Africa security analyst with long-standing UN experience. “Somaliland’s separate deals are functionally subsumed within this broader British-orchestrated framework. Their celebrated autonomy is an illusion tolerated only insofar as it aligns with the stability and counter-terrorism objectives ultimately dictated from London. Challenging the Pen Holder’s writ risks isolation and funding cuts.”
Chapter VII: The Legal Smokescreen for Protectorate Status
The UN Chapter VII mandate, steered decisively by Britain in its Pen Holder capacity, provides the essential legal and political cover. Framed as necessary for combating Al-Shabaab, piracy, and building institutions, this framework has been exploited to institutionalize profound foreign dominance.
· Theatre of Sovereignty: “The President, the Cabinet, Parliament – they are necessary props in a carefully managed production,” states a long-serving Western diplomat formerly based in Mogadishu. “They provide local legitimacy and absorb public accountability for decisions made
externally. Real power rests with the foreign advisors who control the budget, intelligence sharing, security sector reform blueprints, and the drafting of foundational legislation. It’s a sophisticated 21st-century neocolonialism, administered by consultants wielding contracts and laptops instead of colonial officers with pith helmets, but the outcome is identical: the systematic denial of authentic Somali self-determination.”
The “Pen Holder”: Architect of Strategic Dependence
Britain’s role as Pen Holder is the cornerstone of this system. This unique position grants the UK government unparalleled power to shape the UN Security Council’s entire Somalia agenda – defining mandates for international missions (AMISOM/ATMIS), authorizing security support, controlling sanctions regimes, and approving political roadmaps. Critics argue this role represents a fundamental conflict of interest, prioritizing British security concerns (counter-terrorism, migration control) and entrenching the influence of its chosen private sector proxies, rather than fostering genuine Somali ownership and agency.
The Silence of Complicity
The muted response from key international partners, notably the United States and the European Union– major donors themselves – is conspicuous. Their reliance on British-gathered intelligence and stabilization networks in Somalia, coupled with a shared strategic focus on containing Al-Shabaab and managing migration flows, has resulted in tacit acceptance of this arrangement. The African Union, while providing essential troop contributions for security, lacks the political leverage or mandate within the UNSC structure to challenge the underlying power dynamics dictated by the Pen Holder.
The British Embassy, MI6 and the Subversion of Puntland: A Case Study in Divide-and-Rule
Recent developments in the SSC-Khatumo region and Puntland underscore the active, destabilizing role of the British Embassy and intelligence services. Multiple well-placed sources within Puntland’s security apparatus and political circles report:

1. Post-Liberation Propaganda Offensive: Following the liberation of Sool, Sanaag, and Cayn (SSC) from Somaliland forces, MI6 allegedly allocated significant resources to recruit online operatives of SSC origin. Their task: wage a coordinated campaign of disinformation and hostile propaganda aimed specifically at undermining Puntland State, eroding public support, and straining relations between SSC communities and Garowe.
2. Khatumo as a British Project: The sudden resurgence and Federal Government backing of the Khatumo-Makhir state entity is viewed by these sources not as an organic Somali political development, but as the direct culmination of British intelligence operations. The objective: permanently sever SSC territories from Puntland, creating a smaller, more pliable entity and further fragmenting clan power structures.
3. Puntland to Cede Sanaag to Somaliland: With Somaliland in full control of Ceerigaabo and thousands displaced without shelter in Badhan, Dhahar, and Qardho, pressure and cajole Puntland leadership and Sanaag elders to concede, accept peace on Somaliland’s terms, and legitimize its presence across the entire Sanaag region.
4. Infiltration at the Highest Levels: MI6 has reportedly deepened its influence within the Puntland Presidency through the Hiraal Institute focusing on security research and policy analysis. Key figures allegedly include:
   · Hussein Mo’allim (Macalim): Former National Security Adviser to Somali President  Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (recently dismissed). Identified by multiple sources (including within Villa Somalia under both Mohamud and Farmaajo) as a long-time MI6 informant/agent.
   · Mohamud Seefta Banaanka: A colleague of Mo’allim at Hiraal, now serving as a close counter-terrorism adviser to Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni on the CalMiskaad offensive. Sources suggest Banaanka provides a direct channel for British influence into Deni’s inner circle on critical security matters.
5. Strategic Uncertainty: The future of SSC-Khatami, Haylaan, Sanaag, and their relationship with Puntland hangs precariously,” warns a Puntland parliamentarian with access to intelligence briefings. “British manipulation in Mogadishu, Garowe, and Hargeisa is actively fueling discord and institutional fragmentation. The CalMiskaad campaign is increasingly vulnerable to external pressures, a British-backed plan to halt all military operations gains momentum—while the Somali Stability Fund (SSF) incentivizes resettlement as a form of political reward”
   Conclusion: A Territory Under Management, not a Sovereign State in Recovery
   The accumulated evidence presents a stark and disturbing conclusion: Somalia, encompassing Somaliland, Puntland, and the nascent SSC-Khatumo entity, is not a sovereign state undergoing recovery. It functions as a territory under international administration, effectively managed as a modern British protectorate. This is achieved through the sophisticated leverage of UN mechanisms (primarily the Chapter VII mandate and the Pen Holder role), the strategic deployment of intelligence-linked private firms as parallel governance structures, the reduction of national institutions to hollow facades, and the active manipulation of inter-regional dynamics by intelligence services.
   The resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf and the rise of Sheikh Sharif did not herald the Somali renaissance. It marked the commencement of a new, opaque chapter of foreign dominance, orchestrated from London under the convenient legal cover of Chapter VII and the technocratic veneer of the “Pen Holder” and “stability consultant.” The aspiration for genuine Somali sovereignty remains captive to a complex of private contracts, covert intelligence networks, and UN resolutions authored thousands of miles away, while active interventions, as seen in Puntland and SSC-Khatumo, continue to shape the country’s fractured political landscape to external designs. The dream of self-determination endures, but it is a dream perpetually deferred by an invisible hand wielding pens, contracts, and clandestine influence. 

By collaborative effort between Warsame Digital Media (WDM) and Daljir Media