Somalia’s opposition-led Somali Future Council has appealed to six African nations contributing troops and police to the African Union mission in the country, urging them to make an inclusive political settlement a priority alongside their security support. The letter, dated July 27 and addressed to the leaders of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Burundi and Egypt, comes as tensions between the federal government and regional states such as Puntland and Jubaland remain unresolved.
The appeal matters because it lands at a delicate moment for Somalia’s security architecture. AUSSOM, the AU mission that replaced ATMIS in January 2025, is already grappling with a severe funding crisis, and troop-contributing countries are due to meet in Kampala this week — with a defence ministers’ session on July 30 and an extraordinary summit of leaders on July 31 — to decide the mission’s future. The council’s warning that political fragmentation could undermine the fight against Al-Shabaab adds pressure to talks already strained by money and mandate disputes.
In the letter, the council thanked the six countries for nearly two decades of military and security support, acknowledging the sacrifices of African personnel in Somalia’s stabilization effort. It then urged them to use their diplomatic leverage to push the federal government, federal member states and opposition groups toward a negotiated political roadmap.
The council argues that the mandates of federal institutions have lapsed without an agreed transition plan — a position the federal government disputes, defending its constitutional changes and direct-election plans.
The council proposed creating a Somali Transitional Council to oversee constitutional and electoral processes until legitimate national institutions are in place. It also called on troop-contributing countries to condition support on an inclusive political agreement.
The dispute has real security stakes. Puntland and Jubaland have each been at odds with Mogadishu over federal authority, and armed clashes were reported in the capital in June. The African Union has called for restraint and a return to dialogue, while talks in May between the government and opposition representatives ended without agreement.
The letter was copied to the African Union, the UN Security Council, IGAD, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey, underscoring how closely Somalia’s political crisis and its international security partnership are now intertwined.
