This study has explored the evolution, operational dynamics, and systemic constraints of federal accountability institutions in Somalia. The findings indicate that the primary challenge facing Somalia’s oversight framework is no longer the complete absence of formal laws or structural architecture. Rather, the central obstacle lies in the significant gap between formal institutional mandates and their practical and impartial enforcement.

The 2025–2026 aid crisis represents the most significant fiscal and institutional challenge to the Federal Government of Somalia since the beginning of its post-conflict recovery. The abrupt withdrawal of USAID and the redirection of global Official Development Assistance (ODA) toward competing geopolitical priorities have exposed the inherent vulnerability of a state-building model that relies on foreign grants for 66.7 percent of its national budget. What was initially perceived as a period of fiscal expansion has rapidly devolved into a “survival stage,” where the state is forced to make impossible trade-offs between military security and the basic human survival of its citizens.

Somalia’s constitutional and electoral transition is unfolding amid significant political uncertainty. Public debate remains largely elite-driven, with limited systematic evidence on how citizens understand democratic principles, electoral legitimacy, political mediation, and government accountability. This study addresses that gap through a May-June 2026 public opinion poll conducted across Mogadishu and five Federal Member State capitals, reaching 928 respondents. The analysis examines which democratic principles citizens prioritize, which actors they trust to mediate political disputes, which institutions they trust to manage or oversee elections, and which issues they want political leaders to communicate about more openly.