Somalia's Supreme Court on 5 November declared President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's dismissal of Chief Justice Baashe Yusuf Ahmed null and void, and ruled that constitutional amendments did not lawfully extend Mohamud's term beyond May. Opposition claims of troops at the court remain unverified.
Somalia's Supreme Court on Thursday 5 November declared President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's dismissal of Chief Justice Baashe Yusuf Ahmed null and void, Hiiraan Online reported. The court said the president lacked unilateral authority to remove the chief justice, citing revised constitutional rules that require a Judicial Service Commission proposal and approval by both houses of parliament sitting jointly. It accused the presidency of seeking to obstruct a pending constitutional case brought by former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
AFP, carried by Arab News and Africanews, reported that the court also ruled the March constitutional amendments did not lawfully extend Mohamud's term, which ended in May, and called for a new political agreement within about 30 days and elections within about 90 days. Mohamud's government had declared a one-year "transition period" to prepare for nationwide polls; the opposition called that a power grab. The presidency had announced Baashe's removal and the reinstatement of Ibrahim Idle Suleiman the evening before the ruling.
Unverified troop claims
Former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire told reporters that the president had deployed troops to the court and that the chief justice and lawyers were being pursued for arrest. AFP said it could not verify those claims, though Somali media published images said to show forces in the court compound. CERHA treats the troop and arrest allegations as an opposition claim only. The presidency had not publicly responded to the court's rejection of the dismissal at the time of Hiiraan's report.
Sharif's petition, filed in October, challenges the procedures used to amend the provisional constitution and questions mandates of the presidency, government and parliament. The dispute comes as donors cut support for the fight against Al-Shabab and Uganda signals a troop drawdown by the end of 2027.
Image: Somalia's House of the People in Mogadishu. Government of Somalia, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.