The author contrasts Netanyahu—ICC warrant, but an elected mandate—with Somalia’s Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who arrived in New York Sept. 21 to speak Sept. 24 after March 2026 amendments stretched terms to five years and elections to 2027; opponents say his mandate ended May 15. In 2021 he had told Farmaajo to leave on time.

After Halane talks failed, the piece says government forces fought opposition figures in Mogadishu and, on March 30, the SNA entered Baidoa, forcing Southwest’s Laftagareen to resign and flee to Kenya. Israel’s Dec. 26, 2025 recognition of Somaliland is blamed on a president who spent capital fighting member states, not holding the union.

Al-Shabaab still holds large southern and central areas while AU troops guard parts of Mogadishu. UNGA cannot fix that, the author argues; Somalia needs a home conference, a consented transition, and elections—not another podium after term extension, army-against-rivals, and partition on his watch.

There is a bitter irony on display at the United Nations this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes in Gaza, still governs by a mandate Israeli voters gave him and will face them again at the ballot box. Whatever the world thinks of him, his authority at home rests on an election. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud cannot say the same. The man who will stand at the General Assembly podium claiming to speak for Somalia no longer holds a mandate most Somalis recognize.

Mohamud and a high-level delegation arrived in New York on Sept. 21 for the 81st session of the General Assembly, and Villa Somalia says he will address the body on Sept. 24 on developments in Somalia and the region. One wonders which developments he intends to describe.

A mandate that expired in May

The facts are not in dispute; only their interpretation is. In March 2026, parliament approved and Mohamud signed constitutional amendments stretching both parliamentary and presidential terms from four to five years, pushing elections to 2027. The beneficiary of the amendment signed the amendment. The government argues the extra year is needed to prepare for one-person,........

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