In a rare joint declaration, Somalia’s three former presidents, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Abdiqasim Salad Hassan, and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, have fiercely criticized President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration over what they describe as the illegal seizure and sale of public land.
They allege that the government has overseen land transfers without proper oversight or legal process, pointing out that many of the transactions were carried out without declaring the land as “surplus,” bypassed the National Contracts Agency, and failed to channel proceeds into the state treasury.
According to them, such misuse of public property is driving forced evictions, destabilizing vulnerable Mogadishu residents, and eroding public confidence. The former leaders singled out the forced evictions in Tarabunka, where violent clashes broke out between rival security units, as a stark example of excessive state power.
Their statement further appealed to businesses and citizens to refrain from engaging in or purchasing unlawfully transferred properties, warning that such are both illegitimate and risky. Civil society groups and political activists in Somalia have accepted the intervention, picturing it as a significant demand for stronger accountability in governance.
