Reform vs Rewards: Somaliland President Caught Between Rival Politicians

[Deeq A.]

President of Somaliland administration Abdirahman Abdullahi.

Mogadishu (Hargeisa PP News Desk) — In Hargeisa, the President of Somaliland’s administration, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, is grappling with a formidable political problem: who to credit with his electoral victory — Hersi Haji Ali Hassan or Mohamud Hashi?

Hersi joined the Waddani party after he resigned from the government of the former Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud (Silanyo) in 2015. He wrote  Miyiga ilaa Madaxtooyada (From the Countryside to  the Presidency ), an autobiography in which he deplored the state of Somaliland governance during his tenure as the minister at the presidency. He argued that the Somaliland government serves only a few businesspeople at the expense of the rest of the population. His critics accused him of betraying President Silanyo.

Hersi has proposed governance reforms based on accountability and transparency.

Hashi was appointed after Hersi’s resignation and served under President Silanyo until November 2017, when Muse Bihi was elected President. Hashi was a vocal opponent of Bihi, whom he accused of undermining the 2017 agreement that Somaliland’s administration had signed with the late leader of the Khatumo Movement, Dr Ali Khalif Galaydh. President Bihi rejected the agreement and forced Dr Galaydh to shift his focus to political lectures, which came to be known as Tabliiq Siyaasadeed (political propagation). Alongside Professor Ahmed Samatar, Galaydh toured several districts  and delivered political lectures.

Bihi believed that Somaliland’s method of capturing Laascaanood relied on militia leaders rather than political figures. He saw reliance on the fugitive Mahad Ambashe’s militias as the only means for Somaliland forces to maintain their presence in the territories of Sool, Sanaag, Cayn and the Khatumo administration.

Hashi seeks to cash on the party status of Kaah, which was a political association before 2024 Somaliland administration presidential elections.

Hersi was more opposed to the 2023 Laascaanood conflict than Hashi was. Although Hashi entered politics before Hersi, it was Hersi whose political judgments reflected a sound understanding of the fragility of relying on unpopular local militias. However, Bihi faced a dilemma: whether to sever ties with the local militias—known as caaglayaal—in favour of a lone politician claiming to represent Laascaanood and other districts under the banner of Khatumo. Bihi chose to remain loyal to the militias in Laascaanood to prolong the presence of Somaliland forces there.

The same militias later revolted against Somaliland forces in Laascaanood in January 2023, eventually expelling them from both Laascaanood and Tukaraq. “I cautioned against antagonising Jabutawi by Somaliland’s administration,” Hashi told Ina Ba’alul, the former intelligence chief of Somaliland administration. Jabutawi mobilised the militias that forced Somaliland’s forces to flee Laascaanood on 5 January 2023.

The autobiography of Hersi published in 2018.

Hashi formed Kaah, a political association that contested and won party status during the 2024 Somaliland presidential elections. He supported President Abdirahman Somaliland, but confided in some of his friends that the incumbent president is struggling to manage the political rivalry between Hashi and Hersi, who is the chairman of Waddani, the party that won the 2024 Somaliland presidential elections.

Hersi advocates for governance reforms, whereas Hashi seeks political dividends from supporting President Abdirahman during 2024 presidential elections.  President Abdirahman aims to avoid repeating the mistakes of his predecessor, Muse Bihi Abdi, who prioritised hubris and rhetoric based on legally dubious colonial borders as the foundation for Somaliland’s secession claims.

© Puntland Post, 2025

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