Somali Parliament Ratifies IGAD Treaty of 2023, Lifting Bloc Toward Two-Thirds Threshold

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Somalia’s House of the People has ratified the IGAD Treaty of 2023, a move IGAD says is instrumental because it helps the bloc reach the required two-thirds ratification threshold needed to strengthen its legal foundation and move toward operationalising the renewed framework.

“I extend my warm congratulations to the Federal Republic of Somalia on the ratification of the IGAD Treaty, and commend the Somali Parliament and Government for their decisive leadership in advancing this important milestone,” IGAD Executive Secretary H.E. Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu said in a statement.

IGAD said the endorsement underscores Somalia’s commitment to regional cooperation and aligns it with other member states—Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya—that have already ratified the new treaty.

The treaty replaces the 1996 Agreement Establishing IGAD following a revitalisation process aimed at strengthening the organisation’s legal and institutional footing and expanding cooperation in areas such as peace and security, climate resilience, infrastructure, health, trade and social development.

The ratification was adopted during the House’s 30th sitting of its seventh session in Mogadishu, chaired by Speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur (Madobe). Lawmakers took the treaty through its third reading before voting, after a presentation by MP Aweys Hussein Macallin, the deputy chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, according to the parliamentary account.

In a separate agenda item, MPs gave a first reading to a proposed Penal Code bill prepared by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. Justice Minister Hassan Macallin Mahmoud introduced the draft and responded to MPs’ questions on its general principles. Closing the sitting, the Speaker instructed the relevant committee to prepare the bill for a second reading and return it to the House for debate.