Sunday September 28, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somali Speaker of the House of the People
Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur Madoobe met with Britain’s ambassador to Somalia,
Charles King, on Sunday to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations, a
day after London pledged millions in new security funding for the country.
King, who recently began his tenure in Mogadishu, said he
has made enhancing cooperation between the two nations a priority and
reaffirmed the UK’s long-standing commitment to supporting Somalia.
Madoobe thanked the UK for its role in development, security
and state-building, and briefed the ambassador on parliamentary work, including
preparations to review and finalize Somalia’s long-delayed constitution. He
stressed the government’s commitment to one-person, one-vote elections to
restore citizens’ constitutional right to directly elect their leaders.
The meeting came just days after Britain announced an
additional £6 million (about $8 million) contribution to the Somali Security
Forces (SSF) Trust Fund, managed by the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS).
The fund currently supports 18,900 Somali personnel, with plans to expand to
20,900 under UN Security Council Resolution 2767 passed in December 2024.
Both sides said they viewed the renewed cooperation as
essential to bolstering Somalia’s fragile gains against al-Shabaab and to
advancing state-building in the Horn of Africa nation.