By Avv. Omar Khalif Abdi - Licensed lawyer, policy strategist, and legal drafter at Somalia’s Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
“Somalia’s legal compliance audit reveals critical governance gaps, underscoring urgent need for stronger institutional accountability reforms now” -- Omar Khalif Abdi
A government is not measured only by the laws it passes, the institutions it establishes or the policies it announces. It is ultimately measured by whether those laws are followed and whether those institutions actually work.
This is why Somalia’s 2025 Legal Compliance Audit Report, prepared by the Office of the Auditor General, deserves more than a routine reading. The report examined 22 federal government institutions and focused on four critical areas: public procurement, human resource management, government assets and internal control systems. The findings reveal something deeper than administrative mistakes. They point to a persistent gap between having rules and applying them.
The problem is not primarily the absence of legal and administrative frameworks#
Somalia has laws, regulations and administrative procedures governing procurement, public assets, human resources and internal controls. Yet the audit found significant levels of noncompliance across several institutions.
For example, according to the audit, 59% of the government institutions examined did not comply with legal procedures concerning the establishment of procurement committees and the preparation of annual procurement plans. The procurements associated with these findings amounted to more than $18.5 million.
Similarly, the audit found that 53% of the institutions examined did not comply with legal procedures for verifying and selecting service providers and consultants. The Auditor General linked compliance with these procedures to transparency, open competition and equal access to opportunities.
These figures should not simply be read as percentages. They represent weaknesses in the machinery through which public decisions are made. When procurement procedures are not followed, the issue is not merely paperwork. It can affect competition, value for money, transparency and public confidence.
When public assets cannot be properly tracked#
The audit also identifies weaknesses in the management of government property. According to the report, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation entered into agreements with 10 private companies without fully following open competitive contracting procedures or obtaining the required approval from the Inter-Ministerial Committee.
The audit further identified issues concerning tax compliance among some of the companies and weaknesses in the ministry’s records relating to government property and rental agreements.
The report also identified shortcomings in the management of government vehicle records. According to the audit, the ministry had not implemented an adequate registration-management system and continued to rely on handwritten records. Of 104 government vehicles registered, 100 lacked important ownership documents confirming their legal status.
This raises a fundamental governance issue. A modern state must know what it owns, where it is, who is responsible for it and how it is being used.
The weakness is also institutional#
The report shows that compliance is not only a financial or procurement issue. It also concerns the internal structure and functioning of government institutions. According to the audit, 46% of the institutions examined had not established the required committees responsible for promotion, rewards and disciplinary matters.
More concerning, the report found that 50% of the institutions examined had not effectively established or operationalized internal audit functions in accordance with the required procedures. This matters because internal controls are intended to identify weaknesses before they develop into larger problems.
An institution should not have to wait for an external audit to discover that its records are incomplete, its procedures are not being followed or its internal controls are weak. Strong institutions must be capable of examining themselves continuously. Accountability should begin inside the institution, not only after the Auditor General arrives.
When compliance affects public services#
Some findings go beyond administration and directly touch areas of public interest. According to the audit, the Ministry of Health had not established the committee responsible for the registration and oversight of medicines and medical equipment and had not implemented a system for registering importers of these products.
The report also found that the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs had not established the Waqf committee or registered Waqf assets. According to the audit, the ministry had also not established and implemented policies governing mosques and religious schools.
The Somali Police Force, meanwhile, was found by the audit not to have established a proper criminal-record archive and comprehensive system for maintaining criminal evidence information.
These findings demonstrate why legal compliance should not be treated merely as an internal government technicality. When institutional systems are inadequate or required procedures are not implemented, the consequences can eventually reach citizens directly.
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But there is also a reason for optimism#
The report does not present only bad news. According to the audit, implementation of Auditor General recommendations reached 54% in 2025, compared with 30% in 2024 and 35% in 2023.
The report described this as the highest implementation rate during the period reviewed and linked the improvement to stronger follow-up, greater institutional awareness and improved cooperation between the Auditor General’s Office and government institutions.
That progress matters. It demonstrates that institutions can change when recommendations are followed by monitoring, engagement and accountability. But 54% also means that a substantial share of recommendations remains either partially implemented or unimplemented. The report records 27% as partially implemented and 19% as not implemented.
From audit findings to institutional reform#
The first step should be to treat the Auditor General’s findings as a reform agenda, not simply as an annual report. Every institution identified in the audit should prepare a time-bound compliance action plan. Each recommendation should have a responsible department, a named official, a deadline and a measurable indicator. Progress should then be reported regularly to the relevant oversight bodies.
Second, government institutions should strengthen their internal audit and compliance functions. The existence of an internal control system is not enough; it must be operational, independent and capable of identifying problems before they result in losses or wider institutional failures.
Third, procurement systems must be strengthened through proper planning, competitive processes, complete documentation and transparent verification of suppliers and consultants. The Auditor General has specifically recommended compliance with procurement procedures to strengthen transparency and open competition.
Fourth, government assets need reliable digital records. The weaknesses identified in vehicle registration and government-property records demonstrate the need to move away from fragmented and handwritten systems toward accurate, regularly updated databases.
Finally, compliance must become part of institutional performance. Senior officials should not be evaluated only on whether programs are announced or budgets are spent. They should also be evaluated on whether applicable laws and procedures are followed, audit recommendations are implemented and public resources are properly managed.
The real test of state-building#
Somalia does not lack ambition. The country is rebuilding institutions, expanding public administration and attempting to strengthen national systems after decades of institutional disruption. But state-building is ultimately about something very simple: turning rules into behavior and institutions into functioning systems.
The 2025 Legal Compliance Audit gives Somalia an important mirror. It identifies weaknesses in procurement, assets, human resources, internal controls and public administration. It also demonstrates that improvement is possible when oversight is followed by action.
The opportunity now is to move from identifying problems to institutionalizing solutions. The ultimate measure of progress should not be how many laws Somalia has written, nor how many institutions it has established. It should be whether a government employee follows the procedure, whether a procurement committee performs its legal duty, whether public property is properly recorded, whether an internal auditor can identify a weakness and whether an Auditor General’s recommendation actually changes what happens inside a government office.
That is where trust in government begins. And that is where Somalia’s next stage of state-building must begin.
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Avv. Omar Khalif Abdi is a licensed lawyer, policy strategist, and legal drafter at Somalia’s Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
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The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dawan Africa.