INTRODUCTION
On 1 March 2026, a Daallo Airlines flight departed from Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu carrying more than 120 passengers and was scheduled to land in Garowe, a city in northeastern Somalia. The flight attracted particular attention due to the presence on board of over (20) twenty Members of the Federal Parliament of Somalia who were reportedly boycotting a parliamentary sitting convened to deliberate upon, and potentially finalize, a contentious constitutional revision on Wednesday, 4 March 2026. It was alleged that the contemplated intervention in respect of the flight was motivated by an intention to prevent the concerned Members from absenting themselves from the sitting and thereby to secure their attendance.
In addition to the parliamentarians, the aircraft was scheduled, upon arrival in Garowe, to transport 140 pilgrims onward to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the purpose of performing Umrah during the month of Ramadan. The passenger list further included civilians with no connection to the parliamentary dispute, among them a woman who had resided outside Somalia for approximately thirty-six years and had returned after transiting through multiple jurisdictions, reportedly intending to reunite with acquaintances after a prolonged absence.
On the same date, approximately thirty Members of the Federal Parliament representing constituencies in the State of Jubaland traveled separately from Mogadishu to Kismayo without incident or administrative obstruction. Although subsequent efforts were reportedly undertaken to direct the aircraft in question to return to Mogadishu, such measures proved ineffective, as the plane had already landed at its designated destination in Kismayo.
The instrumentalization of civil aviation for political purposes in Somalia has not been confined to a single episode. Over the past seven years, similar incidents have reportedly recurred within the country’s fragile federal framework. A notable instance occurred in 2019, when Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, both former Presidents at the time, were traveling together to Beledweyne and were reportedly exposed to security-related risks in circumstances widely perceived as politically motivated.
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