Ministry of Defence (Somalia)

The Ministry of Defence (Somali: Wasaaradda Gaashaandhigga) is charged with co-ordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Somali Armed Forces. The President of Somalia is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence provides policy framework and resources to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the defence of the country. The Armed Forces (including Somali Army, Somali Air Force, and Somali Navy) under the Defence Ministry are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of the nation. The current Minister of Defence of Somalia is Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur.

Minister of Defence of Somalia

Wasaaradda Gaashaandhigga
Coat of arms of Somalia
Agency overview
Formed	12 April 1960; 64 years ago (1960-04-12)
Jurisdiction	Federal Government of Somalia
Headquarters	Mogadishu,  Somalia
Agency executive	Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, Minister
Parent agency	Cabinet of Somalia
Website	www.mod.somaligov.net

History

After independence, the Darawishta merged with the former British Somaliland Scouts and new recruits to form a 5,000 strong Somali National Army.^[1] The new military's first commander was Colonel Daud Abdulle Hirsi, a former officer in the British military administration's police force, the Somalia Gendarmerie.^[2] Officers were trained in the United Kingdom, Egypt, and Italy. Despite the social and economic benefits that military service brought, the Somali Armed Forces began to suffer chronic manpower shortages only a few years after independence.^[3] After the 1969 Somali coup d'état, most Ministers of Defence were drawn from the Supreme Revolutionary Council until 1990-91. Major General Muhammad Ainanshe, a member of the SRC, lost his portfolio of Minister of Defence on 10 April 1971 before his arrest on 4 May 1971.^[4]

The subsequent outbreak of the Somali Civil War from the late 1980s led to the armed forces disintegrating totally.

Somalia's armed forces were gradually reconstituted after the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. After the creation of the Transitional Federal Government in 2010, several ministers succeeded each other. Abdihakim Mohamed Fiqi, a former Somali diplomatic with service in Washington, became Minister of Defence in mid-November 2010. While he had known that Al-Shabaab occupied the Ministry of Defence building at the time, he had not realised the weaknesses of the interim MOD premises in the privately owned Jidda Hussein building.^[5] There, the ministry had only two rooms, without internet or electricity. Thus the handshake transfer of responsibility - there was nothing more to hand over - took place in the palace, in the living room of the Somali Armed Forces commander.

In September 2014, a Somali government delegation led by Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed attended an international conference in London hosted by the British government, which centered on rebuilding the Somali National Army and strengthening the security sector in Somalia. Ahmed presented to the participants his administration's plan for the development of the Somali Armed Forces, as well as fiscal planning, human rights protection, arms embargo compliance, and ways to integrate regional militias. The summit also aimed to arrange funding for the armed forces. British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the meeting sought to outline a long-term security plan to strengthen Somalia's army, police and judiciary.^[6]

In April 2015, the federal Ministry of Defence launched its new Guulwade Plan (Victory Plan), which provided a roadmap for development of the (federal) Somali Armed Forces. It was formulated with technical support from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). The framework stipulates that international partners are slated to provide capacity-building as well as assistance for joint operations to 10,900 Somali national army troops, with these units drawn from various regions in the country.^[7]

As of April 2015, UNSOM coordinated international security sector assistance for the SNA in accordance with Somali federal priority areas. It also provides advice on recruitment of female officers, strictures on age appropriate military personnel, legal frameworks vis-a-vis the defence institutions, and a development strategy for the Ministry of Defence.^[7]

As of May 2015, the federal government in conjunction with UNSOM was working toward establishing a comprehensive, international standards and obligations-compliant ammunition and weapons management system. To this end, capacity-building for the physical management of arms and bookkeeping was being developed, and new storage facilities and armouries for weapons and explosives were being constructed.^[7]

On Sunday 26 December 2021, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble made a limited cabinet reshuffle, switching the portfolios of the Justice Minister and Defence Minister.^[8][9] Hassan Hussein Haji the previous defence minister was moved to the Ministry of Justice while Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur was moved from Justice to Defence. Immediately afterwards President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Faarmajo" suspended Roble; the two had had a stormy working relationship.

Organization

• Minister of Defence
  • Deputy Minister
    • Secretary-General
      • Under the Authority of Secretary-General
        • Internal Audit and Investigation Division
        • Somali Armed Forces Council Secretariat
        • Key Performance Indicator Unit
        • Legal Division
        • Strategic Communications Unit
        • Integrity Unit
      • Deputy Secretary-General (Development)
        • Development Division
        • Procurement Division
        • Somali Armed Forces Cataloguing Authority
      • Deputy Secretary-General (Policy)
        • Policy and Strategic Planning Division
        • Defence Industry Division
        • Defence Reserve Depot
      • Deputy Secretary-General (Management)
        • Human Resource Management Division
        • Information Management Division
        • Finance Division
        • Account Division
        • Administration Division
      • Chief of Defence Forces
        • Chief of Army
        • Chief of Navy
        • Chief of Air Force
        • Joint Force Commander
        • Director of General Defence Intelligence
        • Chief of Staff Somali Armed Forces Headquarters

Defence Ministers

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
• Somali Republic (1960–1969) •
	Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal[10]	1960	1961
	Sheikh Ali Ismail[10]	1961	1962
	Hilowle Moalin Mohamed[10]	1962	1964
	Aden Issaq Ahmed[10]	1964	1966
	Abdirahman Haji Mumin[10]	1966	1967
	Haji Yusuf Iman Gulaid[10]	1967	1969
• Somali Democratic Republic (1969–1991) •
	Hilowle Moalin Mohamed[10]	1969	1970
	Salad Gabeire Kedie[10]	April 1970	July 1970
	Lieutenant General Mohammad Ali Samatar[10] (1931–2016)	1970[10]	1987[10]	16–17 years		SRSP
	Brigadier General Omar Haji Mohamed[12] (1934–2014)	October 1981	1982	1 year		SRSP
	General Aden Abdullahi Nur[10] (1940–2002)	1987[10]	1989[10]	1–2 years		SRSP
	Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman[10] (1941–2016) First civilian Defence Minister under Barre[13]	1989[10]	1990[10]	0–1 years		SRSP
	Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan[15] (born 1940s)	1990	January 1991	0–1 years
• Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (2004–2012) •
	Abdirahman Mahmud Ali	January 2005	?
	Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale	August 2006	2007
	Ismail Ahmed Nur	December 2007	?
	Mohiyadin Muhammad Haji	January 2008	August 2008	0 years
	Hussein Sheikh Abdirahman (1945–2016) [16]	2008	2008	0 years
	Mohamed Abdi Mohamed (born 1954)	21 February 2009	August 2009	0 years
	Abdullahi Boos Ahmed[18]	August 2009	10 November 2010	0–1 years
	Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi	12 November 2010	20 July 2011	250 days
	Hussein Arab Isse	20 July 2011	4 November 2012	1 year, 107 days
• Federal Republic of Somalia (2012–present) •
	Abdihakim Mohamoud Haji-Faqi	4 November 2012	17 January 2014	1 year, 74 days
	Mohamed Sheikh Hassan	17 January 2014	27 January 2015	1 year, 10 days
	Abdulkadir Sheikh Dini	27 January 2015	21 March 2017	2 years, 53 days
	Abdirashid Abdullahi Mohamed	21 March 2017	12 October 2017	205 days
	Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdurahman	November 2017	March 2018[19]
	Hassan Hussein Haji	2020 or earlier	12 June 2022
	Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur	12 June 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 114 days		Independent

References

1. Robinson, Colin D. (2019). "Glimpse into an Army at its Peak: Notes on the Somali National Army in the 1960-80s". Defence and Security Analysis. 35 (4): 423–429. doi:10.1080/14751798.2019.1675944. S2CID 211441701.
2. Library of Congress Country Study, Somalia, The Warrior Tradition and Development of a Modern Army, research complete May 1992.
3. Library of Congress Country Study, Somalia, Manpower, Training, and Conditions of Service (Thomas Ofcansky), research complete May 1992.
4. Daniel Compagnon, "RESSOURCES POLITIQUES, REGULATION AUTORITAIRE ET DOMINATION PERSONNELLE EN SOMALIE: LE REGIME SIYYAD BARRE (1969-1991), PhD thesis, Volume 1, 289-290.
5. Harun Maruf; Dan Joseph (2018). Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al-Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally. Indiana University Press. p. 167.
6. "An international conference in London on Somali security". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. 19 September 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
7. "Report of the Secretary – General on Somalia – S /2015/331". United Nations Security Council. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
8. "Somalia President Farmaajo suspends PM Roble, again". 27 December 2021.
9. "Somalia, Defense and Security ministers: "Foiled coup attempt orchestrated by Farmajo"". 27 December 2021.
10. Mukhtar, Mohamed Haji; Castagno, Margaret (2003). Historical dictionary of Somalia (New ed.). Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-4344-7.
11. Nelson et al., Country Study, 1982, 247-48, 267.
12. Nelson et al., Country Study, 1982, 247-48, 267.
13. "Former Somali defense minister dies in US". Hiiraan Online. 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
14. Prunier, Gérard (2021). "The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland". Oxford University Press.
15. Prunier, Gérard (2021). "The Country that Does Not Exist: A History of Somaliland". Oxford University Press.
16. "Islamists kill Somalia's former defence minister with car bomb". Reuters. 2016-02-15. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
17. "Somalia's prime minister reshuffles cabinet". 18 August 2009.
18. "Somalia's prime minister reshuffles cabinet". 18 August 2009.
19. "Somalia's former defense minister elected new speaker of parliament". 30 April 2018.

• Library of Congress Country Study, Somalia, The Warrior Tradition and Development of a Modern Army, research complete May 1992.

External links

• Website
• Benadir Regional Administration - Transitional Federal Government of Somalia