Somalia President Accused of Targeting Supreme Court

Somalia's opposition accused President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of sending troops to arrest Supreme Court chief justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed after the court ruled the president's term extension unlawful. The accusation puts the fight over who holds power at the heart of a deepening political crisis. The claims of troops and attempted arrests haven't been independently verified by AFP.

A term extended from the top

Mohamud's term ended in May, but he declared a "transition period" that gave him an extra year in office. He says constitutional amendments passed by parliament allowed him to remain in office while preparing for the first nationwide democratic elections, planned for April and May 2027. His opponents call the reforms a power grab.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the amendments shouldn't have applied to Mohamud's current term and that he should have left office in May. It called for political parties to reach a new agreement within 30 days and for elections within 90 days. Those deadlines put the next move in the hands of political institutions now openly contesting who has the authority to govern.

Most opposition and regional parties boycotted the parliamentary vote on the amendments in March; some said they were barred from attending. The vote proceeded without much of the opposition. In June, political factions clashed in Mogadishu over the issue.

Before the court ruling was published, the president's office announced on Facebook that it was dismissing chief justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed and appointing a replacement. The office cited "concerns... about the need for an efficient and fair judiciary." The court said the president had no authority to fire the judge and accused him of trying "to obstruct the administration of justice in the constitutional case filed before the Supreme Court."

Allegations at the courthouse

Former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire said the president had "launched an assault on the Supreme Court and deployed troops to its premises" on Thursday. "The chief justice and lawyers are being pursued in their homes for arrest, have been subjected to torture, and the court's operations have been halted," he told reporters. AFP couldn't verify those claims, although images published by Somali media purported to show military forces in the court compound.

Ali Khaire called on "all sectors of Somali society to stand up now and defend Somalia's constitutionalism." The source describes that appeal, but no community-organized response or mutual-aid effort. The immediate contest remains among the presidency, the court and political parties, with the court's proposed agreement and elections still to come.

The conflict over the term is unfolding alongside a security crisis caused by the long-running insurgency by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked group that controls swathes of the country. International donors, frustrated by a lack of progress against the militants and continuing political turmoil, have been cutting funding for the international military mission that has operated for almost 20 years.

Uganda, the biggest contributor to the African Union's force, announced this week that it would withdraw all its troops by the end of 2027. Washington has cut all donations to a critical United Nations logistics mission on which the military coalition relies. The crisis therefore reaches beyond a courtroom and presidential office: political turmoil and decisions by governments and donors now shape the support available to the military campaign. At the top, institutions contest the right to rule. The consequences include a court whose operations Khaire says have been halted and shrinking international support for the security mission.