By Abdullahi Salad - Reporter
MOGADISHU, 11 October 2026 – For a long time, missing sessions of Somalia’s House of the People was routine and carried no consequences. That has now changed, with the House leadership taking steps to address absenteeism by deducting pay from lawmakers who fail to attend sessions.
This week, members of the House of the People complained about deductions from their salaries. Between eight and 13 MPs who missed seven sessions within a month reportedly had more than $1,000 deducted from their pay.
A rule that went unenforced for four years
The rule is not new. It has been part of the House’s rules of procedure since the end of 2022, when the chamber approved amendments to Article 23.
Yet for nearly four years, it was not seriously enforced. At most, the names of MPs absent from sessions were occasionally read out to inform the public.
How the rule works
The House holds three sessions a week. Its rules of procedure state that three late arrivals count as one day of absence, while three days of absence without leave result in a written warning to the MP.
Seven days of absence in a month trigger referral to the Ethics Committee and a deduction of one-fifth of that month’s salary.
Each MP earns $5,240 a month. One-fifth of that amount is $1,048, the sum now being deducted from some lawmakers.
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The rule also addresses a familiar loophole: an MP who attends, signs in and then leaves while a session is still underway is counted as absent.
Speaker: ‘Only those two will be paid’
House Speaker Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur told MPs that he would not accept a situation in which some lawmakers attend sessions even when ill, while others stay at home, yet both receive the same salary.
“Even if only two MPs show up, only those two will be paid,” the Speaker said.
Sessions disrupted by lack of quorum
The decision comes as many House sessions have been cancelled because the number of MPs present fell short of the required quorum.
A session requires more than 140 MPs to open, while the rules allow only 30 MPs to be on leave at any one time. This means that when a session fails to reach quorum, more than 100 MPs are absent without leave, according to the figures provided.
MPs who dispute the decision have the right to appeal within 15 days or bring the matter before the full House for debate.