WARSAME DIGITAL MEDIA (WDM) EDITORIAL

Somalia is once again staring down the barrel of an avoidable political crisis — this time, not born of clan warfare or extremist insurgency, but of institutional decay and an irreconcilable tug-of-war between Garowe and Mogadishu. The very foundations of the federal project — the hard-earned covenant between center and periphery — are on the verge of collapse.

The next parliament selection and presidential election — once expected to mark a peaceful transition — are now trapped in the murk of manipulation, mistrust, and competing claims of legitimacy. What should have been a routine constitutional process is instead evolving into a showdown that could decide Somalia’s future political geography.

A Federation or a Fracture Zone?

For months, Mogadishu has been tightening its political noose under the guise of “harmonizing” federal elections. But in truth, the Villa Somalia administration is attempting to turn the Federal Member States into provincial municipalities — satellites orbiting its personal ambitions. Garowe, on the other hand, has drawn a constitutional red line. Puntland insists that no credible election can occur under an incumbent who has repeatedly violated both the letter and spirit of federalism.

Thus, two centers of political gravity are emerging:

Garowe, representing federalism, regional autonomy, and continuity of the 2004–2012 constitutional order.

Mogadishu, representing presidential absolutism cloaked in federal rhetoric — an imitation of unity without consent.

Observers whisper of two rival conferences: one in Garowe, another in Mogadishu — each preparing to crown its own “interim parliament” and perhaps even a “president.” The parallel legitimacy paths echo the fractures of 1990–2000, when Somalia became a battlefield of competing authorities claiming the same nation.

The Return of the Transitional Abyss

If Somalia indeed witnesses two simultaneous parliaments and two claimants to the presidency, it will mark a political implosion not seen since the early 2000s. The irony is cruel: after two decades of rebuilding from chaos, Somalia risks returning to the same transitional paralysis it once escaped.

The constitutional vacuum, already stretched by illegal term extensions and executive overreach, cannot hold indefinitely. Without a neutral arbiter, Somalia’s so-called “federal compact” may unravel entirely — and with it, the fragile trust that binds Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, and others to the federal framework.

Garowe’s Dilemma and Mogadishu’s Gamble

Garowe is preparing for what it calls a “constitutional correction” — a national dialogue free from Villa Somalia’s control. It seeks to reassert the principle that the federal center is not the owner of sovereignty, but its trustee. Mogadishu, however, is gambling on the inertia of international diplomacy — assuming that donor fatigue and geopolitical disinterest will allow it to entrench power by default.

But Somalia’s politics have shifted. Federal states, once dependent, are now assertive. The public, once passive, is now politically literate. Any attempt to force a Mogadishu-centered transition will ignite resistance, not obedience.

This isn’t mere political posturing — it’s an existential defense of Somalia’s plural legitimacy.

The Coming Fork in the Road

Somalia stands at a fork where two futures diverge sharply:

1. A negotiated consensus — led by Garowe’s insistence on genuine federalism and the rule of law.

2. A dangerous fragmentation — where Mogadishu’s unilateralism spawns rival governments, contested institutions, and international confusion.

The world should take note: a country at the heart of the Horn of Africa, geopolitically vital yet institutionally fragile, cannot afford another collapse of legitimacy. The choice between Garowe and Mogadishu is not merely about location — it is about the soul of the Somali Republic.

In the end, Somalia’s destiny will not be decided in one conference hall or another — but by whether Somalis can reclaim their constitution from those who treat power as private property.

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Rebuttal to Abdisaid Muse Ali’s “Somalia’s Complicity in the El Fasher Tragedy” (WardheerNews, October 31, 2025)

1. The Fallacy of Guilt by Geography

WardheerNews’ article commits the oldest propaganda trick in the playbook — conflating geography with guilt.
Because a plane allegedly touched Bosaso’s runway, the author stretches this into “Somalia’s complicity” in Sudan’s tragedy. That is not journalism; it is conjecture.
WDM’s data shows no credible evidence, photographic or documentary, that any flight carried munitions through Puntland’s Bosaso Airport. All civil aviation movements were logged and cleared under ICAO-compliant civilian manifests. The “identical tail numbers” claim cited from unnamed intelligence leaks remains unverified and unverifiable.

2. Political Motive Behind the Story

The piece is not investigative — it is politically weaponized writing, designed to deflect attention from the Villa Somalia–Damul Jadiid foreign policy collapse in Sudan and Jubaland. By dragging Puntland into the Sudanese quagmire, Abdisaid attempts to sanitize the central government’s inaction and restore his own lost relevance as a former foreign minister.
This is not the first time WardheerNews has amplified narratives aligning with Villa Somalia’s smear campaign against Puntland. The same pattern appeared after the failure of the SSC-Khaatumo manipulation and the Arta-Djibouti fiasco.

3. The Data Holds

WDM’s independent monitoring of Bosaso Airport (April–October 2025) records:

Zero cargo flights filed under diplomatic or military clearance.

All IL-76 aircraft logged under civilian cargo classification, delivering humanitarian goods and construction equipment from the UAE.

No deviation in ICAO-filed flight paths toward Sudanese coordinates.

Satellite-verified cargo volume and local eyewitness reports confirm routine commercial operations — not covert transfers. If Abdisaid has any “US intelligence report,” let him produce it. Until then, it remains the typical proxy whisper journalism used to justify diplomatic attacks on Puntland’s autonomy.

4. Real Complicity: Villa Somalia’s Silence

The real complicity lies in Villa Somalia’s paralysis:

Mogadishu granted unrestricted overflight rights without federal inspection protocols.

The Civil Aviation Authority remains unreformed and politically captured, issuing diplomatic clearances with no transparency.

The so-called “national foreign policy” is dictated by Qatari intermediaries, not by the Somali parliament.

When Abdisaid speaks of “institutional negligence,” he is describing his own legacy as the architect of Mogadishu’s dependency diplomacy — where foreign actors lease sovereignty by cheque.

5. Puntland’s Record Speaks for Itself

Puntland has consistently upheld international compliance and transparency:

Its ports and airports are jointly monitored by private logistics contractors with Emirati and Somali oversight.

No international sanction or compliance warning has ever cited Bosaso or Garowe.

Puntland’s focus remains economic recovery and regional stability, not participation in Sudan’s internal wars.

Accusing Puntland of “leasing sovereignty” is both false and defamatory — coming from an administration that outsourced its own sovereignty to Turkish and Qatari bases around Mogadishu.

6. Sudan’s Pain, Somalia’s Shame

Yes, El Fasher is a tragedy — but to weaponize Sudan’s suffering to smear Somali regions is morally obscene. The Sudanese people deserve solidarity, not propaganda scapegoats. Puntland has provided humanitarian corridors for Sudanese refugees and stood against RSF atrocities in every regional forum it attended.

7. Journalism vs. Political Memoir

WardheerNews printed a political manifesto disguised as journalism. Its author, Abdisaid Muse Ali, is no longer an independent observer; he is a discredited political operative whose career thrived on the very “proxy diplomacy” he now pretends to expose.
True journalism demands evidence, documentation, and neutrality — none of which appear in this 3,000-word essay of innuendo.

Conclusion

WDM rejects the baseless accusation that Puntland or Somalia as a whole is complicit in the El Fasher tragedy.
The real scandal is the collapse of state responsibility in Mogadishu — where foreign clearance stamps are sold as political favors and propaganda is exported through sympathetic media outlets.

Facts matter. Evidence matters. Geography is not guilt.

Ismail H Warsame,  WDM, Garowe, Puntland, Somalia.