There is a dangerous myth circulating in Puntland today: that the proliferation of militias loyal to Mogadishu inside Puntland is an external conspiracy alone. That is only half the truth. The other half—more uncomfortable, more damning—is that this infiltration has been enabled by omission, neglect, and deliberate non-action by President Said Abdullahi Deni’s administration.
Mogadishu did not force its way into Puntland with tanks. It walked in through doors left wide open.
Parallel Militias Are Not an Accident
The existence of parallel armed groups in Galkayo, Garowe, and Bosaso is not a coincidence, nor is it a sudden phenomenon. These militias did not emerge overnight. They were allowed to grow, allowed to organize, and allowed to operate openly—sometimes brazenly—without consequence.
This is not merely a security lapse. It is a collapse of state authority.
A functioning administration would have:
Investigated funding streams
Disarmed unauthorized armed groups
Prosecuted those coordinating with external command centers
Named and shamed political fronts acting as militia cover
None of that happened.
The Fiction of “Opposition Politicians”
Equally dangerous is the normalization of anti-Puntland actors disguising themselves as “opposition politicians.” Opposition in a democracy challenges policies. It does not:
Coordinate armed groups
Undermine regional security
Take instructions from an external federal center hostile to Puntland autonomy
When politicians double as political commissars for Mogadishu’s security agenda, the issue is no longer pluralism—it is subversion.
Yet President Deni’s administration chose silence.
No Arrests. No Summons. No Justice.
This is the most damning indictment.
Not a single serious actor has been:
Summoned by the Attorney General
Interrogated by security services
Prosecuted for destabilization
Held accountable for past incidents in Garowe or Bosaso
The people remember.
They remember the violence.
They remember the armed intimidation.
They remember the paralysis of the state.
And they remember that no one answered for it.
A state that refuses to enforce the law teaches its enemies one lesson: repeat the crime, nothing will happen.
Déjà Vu as a Governance Model
What we are witnessing today is a replay of past destabilization cycles—only this time with clearer coordination and more confidence.
Why wouldn’t Mogadishu repeat the same playbook?
It worked before.
There was no cost.
Puntland’s leadership signaled weakness through inaction.
When impunity becomes policy, subversion becomes strategy.
Deni’s Strategic Blind Spot—or Political Calculation?
President Deni cannot continue to blame Mogadishu while refusing to confront its local enablers. Leadership is not about speeches, foreign travel, or optics. It is about enforcing sovereignty at home.
By failing to:
Assert monopoly over force
Confront internal collaborators
Activate prosecutorial institutions
…the administration has effectively outsourced Puntland’s internal security to Mogadishu’s whims.
This is not federalism.
This is managed destabilization.
The Consequences Ahead
Let us be clear:
If these parallel militias are not dismantled now, Puntland risks:
Fragmentation of its security architecture
Loss of public trust in state institutions
Becoming an open battlefield for Mogadishu’s political wars
Turning Garowe, Bosaso, and Galkayo into contested cities
History is unforgiving to leaders who confuse patience with paralysis.
Final Word: Accountability or Collapse
President Said Abdullahi Deni must answer a simple question:
How can a government claim to defend Puntland while allowing armed proxies of another power to operate freely within its territory?
Until there is:
Arrests
Prosecutions
Public accountability
A clear security doctrine
…the repetition of destabilization is not surprising—it is inevitable.
Silence is not neutrality.
Inaction is not wisdom.
And impunity is not stability.
Puntland is being destabilized not only by Mogadishu—but by the failure of its own leadership to act.

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