Garowe (Commentary) — President Said Abdullahi Deni of Puntland earlier this week told civil society organisations in Garowe that he would not interfere in the selection of MPs under any agreed electoral model for Somalia in the future. He also claimed that he recognises Sool, Sanaag, Cayn and Khatumo Administration (SSCK), but not the North East State of Somalia. He added that he only wants to retain five MPs and Senators of the Warsangeli clan, implying that the Warsangeli belongs to the Habar Majeerteen, not Bah Timacad.
The first pledge is an admission of his decision to bypass elders and select Puntland MPs and Senators during the preparations for the 2022 national indirect elections. His position on the North East State of Somalia reflects the extent to which he is still being advised by advisers keen on inheriting his seat, whether he finishes his second term or not. The former SSC-Khaatumo administration secured recognition from the Federal Government of Somalia before it was upgraded to a full Federal Member State in 2025. It also shows that the President Deni is familiar with neither Darod nor Harti customary law.
In 1998, Puntland, a Federal Member State, was formed as an autonomous administration for the Harti sub-clans. Its constitution is secessionist in tone and contradicts the unionist Charter of Puntland endorsed by Harti traditional leaders in 1998.
Puntland proposed a federal system for Somalia as a middle ground between the secessionist project in Hargeisa and the anarchic, post-1991 warlord-dominated Mogadishu model (1991-1998). The implementation of the federal system in Somalia diminished the political status of Puntland, not because of designs made by Mogadishu, but due to the rigid political elite of Puntland, who did not foresee that the evolution of the federal system would gradually bring into existence administrations that would render Puntland’s pre-eminence as the originator of the post-1991 federal system a less unique political proposition (UPP).
President Deni made remarks about his political position on the North East State and how agreed elections would be conducted days after he alleged that certain unnamed clans in Bari were helping the resurgence of Daesh. Corruption and the one-man-rule system of Puntland have always been catalysts for institutional weaknesses that transnational terrorism entities exploit. President Deni refuses calls for an open discussion on the political situation in Puntland, given the stalling of the democratisation process due to his failure to accept that he deviated from the non-binding but agreed norm to step back from democratisation if the initiative lacks broad-based support.
What the President Deni said in Garowe about the North East State of Somalia and his calumny against the Prime Minister of Somalia, Hamza Abdi Barre, whom he described in 2023 as “a secretary”, is among the most culturally and politically demeaning episodes for Harti clansmen since the Halacdheere Luncheon more than a century ago.
In October 2023 in Laascaanood, in the presence of the Paramount Chief of Darod, Boqor Burhan, Darod traditional leaders apologised for “the secretary slur” and reiterated their confidence in Hamza.
Deni rebuffed a committee appointed by the former SSC-Khatumo administration to deepen cooperation with Puntland State of Somalia. He had been under the impression that the Federal Government of Somalia would not grant federal member state status to SSC-Khatumo, even after a conference to expand the administration was successfully concluded in Laascaanood in 2025.
Dr Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, the former Prime Minister of Somalia and former President of Puntland State of Somalia, now the African Union Special Representative and Head of the AU Liaison Office in South Sudan, said that Federal Member States have begun to oppose the Federal Government of Somalia. “To turn away attention from their failures, they portray the Federal Government of Somalia as an enemy,” he said. This antagonistic policy has isolated Puntland politically from state-building initiatives.
The main challenge for Puntland State opposition groups is to persuade President Deni to agree to binding rules that prevent an incumbent president from adopting policies that deny Puntland a fair share of nationally distributed resources and to abide by fiscal federal rules that oblige all Federal Member States to disclose their revenue. That the Puntland Government is unaware of revenues from funds generated through fishing licences issued in the name of the Puntland State of Somalia, an issue President Deni and the Puntland Parliament have addressed before, strengthens the legitimacy of the Federal Government of Somalia and renders the rationale for a federal system, as opposed to a centralised government, indefensible.
© Puntland Post, 2026