Does Galkayo Peace Depend on Them?
WARSAME POLICY & MEDIA NETWORK (WAPMEN)
Critical Analysis, News and Commentaries
August 15, 2026
Galkayo does not need another political experiment. It has survived too many already.
Reports now indicate that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has travelled to Dhusamareb and is expected to proceed to southern Galkayo — the Galmudugh-administered half of one of Somalia’s most politically sensitive cities. Puntland has placed its security forces on heightened alert and accused the Federal Government of attempting to manufacture “discord and conflict.” Galmudugh, predictably, argues that a Somali president has the constitutional right to visit any part of the Federal Republic.
Under ordinary circumstances, that argument would be difficult to dispute.
These are not ordinary circumstances.
The issue is not whether a federal president may visit Galkayo. The issue is whether this president, at this particular moment, amid an unresolved constitutional crisis and an open political confrontation with Puntland, can enter one half of a divided city without turning a presidential visit into a political weapon against the other half.
That is the question Villa Somalia cannot escape.
Galkayo’s Peace Was Not Made in Villa Somalia
Galkayo’s relative peace is one of the quiet achievements of modern Puntland-Galmudugh relations. It was not handed down by presidential decree from Mogadishu. It was built painfully from below.
The city carries the scars of civil war, clan confrontation, revenge killings, displacement and repeated political manipulation. Its communities know better than most Somalis what happens when politicians turn local grievances into national power games.
Yet something important changed.
Residents on both sides increasingly chose coexistence over confrontation. Southern Galkayo gradually developed its own local political and economic interests instead of remaining psychologically chained to the warlord politics of Mogadishu’s civil-war era. Puntland and Galmudugh authorities learned — sometimes painfully — that neither side could wish the other away.
Business crossed the dividing line. Families crossed it. Vehicles crossed it. Officials communicated. Elders intervened. Security forces occasionally cooperated.
Galkayo began behaving less like a battlefield and more like a city.
That achievement belongs primarily to its residents.
No visiting politician has the right to gamble with it.
The President Has Another Problem: His Own Mandate
There is also an elephant walking toward Galkayo alongside the presidential convoy: legitimacy.
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s original four-year presidential mandate reached its end on 15 May 2026. His continued tenure rests on constitutional changes that Puntland, major opposition figures and other political actors reject as unilateral and illegitimate.
Villa Somalia maintains that constitutional amendments extended the presidential and parliamentary terms. Its opponents maintain that no sitting political leadership can rewrite the constitutional clock governing its own tenure without broad national agreement and then declare itself the beneficiary.
That dispute has never been resolved by consensus.
Attempts to bridge the political divide failed. Talks involving Hassan Sheikh, Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni and opposition figures did not produce a settlement. Instead, Somalia was left with two competing political realities: Villa Somalia asserting continued constitutional authority and significant Somali political actors insisting that the original mandate has expired.
Whatever one’s interpretation of the constitutional argument, one fact is unavoidable:
A president whose own legitimacy is nationally disputed should be reducing political temperatures, not touring political fault lines with a box of matches.
Galkayo is precisely such a fault line.
A Federal President Must Belong to Both Halves of Galkayo
Here lies the deeper constitutional issue.
The President of the Federal Republic is not the president of Galmudugh against Puntland. He is not the president of southern Galkayo against northern Galkayo. He is not supposed to become another combatant in disputes between Villa Somalia and a Federal Member State.
He is supposed to stand above them.
If Hassan Sheikh visits southern Galkayo while his government remains locked in confrontation with Puntland, the responsibility falls upon him to demonstrate extraordinary restraint.
Will he meet representatives of communities from both sides of Galkayo?
Will he publicly affirm Puntland’s constitutional status and the existing Puntland-Galmudugh security arrangements?
Will he assure northern Galkayo that the visit is neither an attempt to redraw political realities nor a platform for mobilising anti-Puntland forces?
Will he speak as President of Somalia — or as an ally of one administration confronting another?
These are not ceremonial questions.
They go directly to the meaning of federal presidential authority.
A federal president who cannot appear impartial toward the residents of a divided city has no business pretending that his presence there is merely routine.
Don’t Import the Garowe–Villa Somalia War Into Galkayo
Puntland must also exercise discipline.
Its political dispute is with Villa Somalia, not with the people of southern Galkayo.
That distinction must be repeated loudly and consistently.
Galmudugh residents should not be made to believe that Puntland views Hassan Sheikh’s visit as an excuse for confrontation with them. Nor should Galmudugh politicians allow themselves to be used as political infantry in Mogadishu’s dispute with Garowe.
The people of Mudugh have paid enough for other people’s ambitions.
A Garowe-Villa Somalia constitutional dispute must remain exactly that.
Do not tribalise it. Do not militarise it. And above all, do not Galkayo-ise it.
The city already has enough home-grown problems without importing somebody else’s.
The International Community Should Pay Attention
Somalia’s international partners should also resist the familiar temptation to watch silently until something goes wrong and then issue statements expressing “deep concern.”
For years, donors have preached dialogue, federal cooperation, constitutional consensus and political inclusivity. Those principles become meaningless if they disappear precisely when they are most needed.
The relationship between Villa Somalia and important international partners has already been strained by disagreements over governance, electoral arrangements, federalism and political consensus. Mogadishu’s move away from established multilateral coordination mechanisms toward more bilateral engagement has likewise raised questions about how much external pressure remains for inclusive political settlements.
But Galkayo is not the place to test diplomatic ambiguity.
International partners do not need to choose between Puntland and Galmudugh. They need to choose peace over political adventurism.
Puntland and Galmudugh Must Take Control of the Situation
The two administrations should therefore communicate directly and immediately.
Their security commanders should establish a permanent operational channel throughout any presidential visit. Local elders and peace committees from both halves of Galkayo should be brought into consultations. Political disagreements must be separated completely from community relations.
Most importantly, clear red lines should be understood beforehand.
A presidential visit is one thing.
Political mobilisation against Puntland from southern Galkayo is another.
A ceremonial security escort is one thing.
The appearance of new militia formations, inflammatory speeches or attempts to alter established security arrangements is another.
Those distinctions should be understood before the first presidential vehicle enters the city — not after somebody fires the first bullet.
Where useful, neutral international observers from the AU, IGAD or UN system should be encouraged to watch developments. Their presence would make political manipulation more difficult and de-escalation easier.
Galkayo Is Not Political Real Estate
The greatest danger is that Somalia’s politicians still look at cities as pieces on a political chessboard.
Galkayo is not a bargaining chip.
It is not Villa Somalia’s pressure point against Puntland.
It is not Puntland’s frontline against Galmudugh.
And it is certainly not an appropriate theatre for settling the constitutional quarrel over Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s disputed continuation in office.
There are children attending school in Galkayo. Traders moving goods across its streets. Families connected across administrative boundaries. Investors trying to rebuild confidence. Elders who remember exactly what happened when the city previously descended into violence.
They have more at stake than any visiting politician.
The people of Galkayo have spent years learning the difficult lesson that coexistence is cheaper than conflict.
Somalia’s political class should try learning it too.
Does Galkayo’s Peace Depend on Them?
In the immediate sense, yes.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President Said Abdullahi Deni and Galmudugh President Ahmed Abdi Kariye “Qoorqoor” now carry exceptional responsibility. One reckless speech, one provocative deployment, one militia movement or one political miscalculation could undo years of patient community reconciliation.
But ultimately, Galkayo’s peace must not depend on three politicians.
That is precisely the point.
Its peace must rest on law, institutions, local agreements, responsible security forces, elders, commerce and the determination of ordinary residents on both sides never again to become cannon fodder for somebody else’s political ambition.
Presidents come and go.
Galkayo remains.
And anyone arriving there — federal president, state president or political opportunist — should understand one simple rule:
Come in peace, behave impartially, respect the city’s delicate balance — or keep your political quarrels out of Galkayo.
WDM Editorial Board
Warsame Policy & Media Network (WAPMEN)
Commentary and Critical Analysis