MOGADISHU, Somalia- Somalia’s Supreme Court has ruled that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s one-year term extension was unlawful, throwing the country’s political transition into fresh uncertainty and deepening a standoff between the presidency and the judiciary.
In a ruling issued on Thursday, the court said the constitutional changes used to justify the extension did not apply to sitting office holders, meaning Mohamud’s original four-year mandate ended on May 15, 2026.
The court also found that the mandates of both houses of parliament expired on April 14 and said actions taken by the institutions after those dates were unconstitutional, unlawful and void.
The decision followed a petition filed by former President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed challenging the constitutional amendments and the legal consequences arising from them.
Court orders election plan within 30 days
The five-member Constitutional Division said amendments introducing new terms must expressly state whether they apply to office holders already in power.
Because the amendments did not make that clear, the court held that the original four-year mandates remained in force.
It ordered political stakeholders to agree on an electoral framework within 30 days and directed that elections be held within 90 days.
The court said the federal government could continue only as a caretaker administration, limited to routine government business and barred from making major decisions beyond day-to-day functions.
Mohamud’s government had argued that constitutional amendments passed by parliament in March allowed the president and other federal institutions to remain in office until 2027, during a transition towards planned direct national elections.
Opposition parties and regional leaders boycotted the parliamentary vote, accusing the presidency of using reforms to extend its hold on power. The dispute has fuelled protests and clashes in Mogadishu.
Judiciary-preso standoff deepens
The ruling comes a day after Mohamud announced the dismissal of Chief Justice Baashe Yusuf Ahmed and the reinstatement of former Chief Justice Ibrahim Idle Suleiman.
In a separate decision, the Supreme Court declared the dismissal of Baashe invalid, saying the president lacked the authority to remove the chief justice unilaterally.
The court said the move violated judicial independence and appeared intended to interfere with the pending constitutional case involving the mandates of the president, government and parliament.
The presidency said the change in judicial leadership was prompted by concerns about the need for an efficient and fair judiciary, but did not publicly link it to the term-extension case.
The court’s decision now raises immediate questions over who will oversee the proposed electoral process, how the caretaker administration will operate and whether Somalia’s political rivals can reach an agreement within the timeline set by the judiciary.
The crisis is unfolding as Somalia continues to battle the Al-Shabaab insurgency and faces pressure to stabilise its political institutions ahead of planned national elections.
