The Djibouti Sultan and His Court of Somali Political Relics

WARSAME DIGITAL MEDIA (WDM)

It seems the octogenarian ruler of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, has perfected the dark art of self-recycling — not just of his own presidency, but of political fossils from Somalia’s forgotten past. This week, Guelleh pulled off what can only be described as a legislative coup d’état in broad daylight, rewriting the constitution to ensure that he will remain in office not only for life, but possibly beyond — through hologram, embalming, or divine decree, whichever comes first.

But that’s not the whole circus. What truly adds insult to injury is the guest list. For reasons known only to the Sheikhs of recycled politics, Guelleh has chosen to invite the very men who betrayed Puntland’s founding spirit at the 2000 Arta Conference — those who signed away regional autonomy for the applause of foreign dignitaries and the empty promise of “national unity” under the UN tents of Djibouti. These are the same relics who couldn’t represent Puntland even then, yet have now reappeared in Guelleh’s court like ghosts who never learned shame.

Whom do they represent today? Puntland? Hardly.
Somalia? Don’t make us laugh.
The people? Not even their own clans.

No — these are the wandering souls of Somalia’s political graveyard, summoned by Guelleh for one last séance. His motive? Perhaps he dreams of another Arta-style coup, not against Mogadishu this time, but against Puntland itself — the last surviving experiment in Somali federalism. Maybe Guelleh believes he can once again broker a “Somali dialogue” where he sits on the throne and the same faded actors read from the same old script written by foreign consultants and funded by French francs.

The Sultan of Longevity and the Sheikh of Betrayal Guelleh, the self-crowned “Sultan of Stability,” has outlasted four French presidents, seven Somali transitional charades, and an entire generation of Djiboutian youth who can’t find work unless they shine the shoes of Chinese contractors at Doraleh Port. Yet he insists that only he can keep Djibouti from falling apart — the same excuse used by every dictator from the Red Sea to the Nile. His parliament, meanwhile, has become a rubber-stamp factory, whose only product is eternal servitude.

Now, as he builds his next chapter of immortality, Guelleh seeks to dress up tyranny in pan-Somali robes, importing faded faces from Puntland’s past to legitimize his aging dream. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s fingerprints are not far either — for no Somali president ever misses a chance to meddle in Puntland affairs through proxies and puppets.

But Puntland is not Arta. Not anymore.
The Puntland of 2025 is not a desperate refugee camp searching for relevance; it is a state with its own institutions, its own people, and a long memory. Those who betrayed it once will not be allowed to do so again.

Let Guelleh play emperor in his tiny French protectorate. Let him rewrite his constitution until the paper turns to dust. Puntland has seen far greater men rise and fall.

And when Guelleh finally meets his Creator — constitutionally or otherwise — perhaps he will realize that no ruler, however long his rule, can outlive the truth.

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