By Nuradin Aden Dirie
We are currently in the grip of the Jilaal season. Across the Bay, Bakool, and Gedo regions, the reservoirs are drying, and the familiar, tragic cycle of displacement has begun. In Mogadishu, politicians are busy calculating the 4.5 formula for the upcoming election, while in the countryside, our people are calculating how many days their livestock can survive without water.
For three decades, we have treated drought as a ‘surprise’ – an act of God that catches us unprepared every few years. This is not the truth. In the 21st century, water scarcity is not a mystery; it is an engineering challenge. And in Somalia, it is a failure of statecraft.
As a Water Resources Engineer who has spent years studying the hydro-geology of the Horn of Africa, I can tell you the uncomfortable truth: Somalia is not running out of water. We are running out of leadership.
The Weaponisation of Thirst
While we debate federalism in air-conditioned rooms, Al-Shabaab has understood the strategic value of water far better than the Federal Government. They poison wells in Hiiraan. They destroy river embankments in Lower Shabelle. They tax the thirsty at the checkpoints of the Jubba River.
They know that a thirsty population is a controllable population. When the state fails to provide the most basic element of life, the terrorist steps in as the provider or the punisher. We cannot defeat Al-Shabaab with guns alone if they control the taps. Security sovereignty is impossible without water security.
The Engineering Solution
We are begging the world for water trucks – a temporary, expensive, and humiliating band-aid – while we sit on top of an ocean.
Geological surveys suggest that the South West and central regions of Somalia sit above massive, untapped deep aquifers. The limestone belt running through our country holds enough groundwater to stabilise our agriculture for generations. Yet, we lack the national infrastructure to tap it, manage it, and distribute it.
Furthermore, we possess the longest coastline on the mainland continent. The technology for solar-powered desalination has plummeted in cost. Our neighbours in the Gulf have turned deserts into gardens. Why are we, with our sun and our sea, still dying of thirst?
From Survival to Sovereignty
The answer is ‘Transaction Politics.’ For years, our leaders have focused on securing the next donor check rather than securing the next generation’s water supply. They sign deals for military bases but forget to sign deals for water infrastructure.
The Barawe Economic Corridor – which I have long advocated for – is not just about trade; it is about survival. It is about integrating the agricultural heartland of the South West with the desalination and trade potential of the coast. It is about using our strategic partnerships, not just for guns, but for pumps, pipelines, and power.
The 2026 Choice
This year, we face a choice. We can elect another politician who is an expert in clan dynamics, or we can elect leadership that is expert in state mechanics.
We do not need more speeches about resilience. We need rigs. We need pipelines. We need a government that understands that the legitimacy of the state flows from the tap.
If we do not conquer the thirst of our people, we will never conquer the insecurity of our nation.
Nuradin Aden Dirie
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Nuradin is a 2026 Presidential Candidate, former Senior Advisor at the European Institute of Peace, former UN Special Advisor, and a Water Resources Engineer with a career spanning diplomacy, conflict resolution, and national infrastructure development.
