SUMMARY

The Forces of Jama Ali Jama is a non-state militia, employed by the politician by the same name to advance his goals in Somalia. The militia was used by Jama Ali Jama to support his claim to the Presidency of Puntland; a seat which was claimed also by former President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

Jama Ali Jama, a senior politician from the Majerteen sub-clan of the Harti branch of the Darod, was a colonel in the Somali army under dictator Siad Barre, before being imprisoned on charges of plotting a coup. After being released he began to oppose Barre, returning to his native Puntland after Barre was toppled by rebels in 1991.

In 2001 Jama Ali Jama staked a claim to the Presidency of Puntland, whose incumbent President’s (Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed) term ended the same year. Jama Ali Jama was elected by elders to become the new President of Puntland, but was ousted from this position in 2002 by Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who became president yet again. Since, Jama Ali Jama has become a parliamentarian in Somalia’s transitional parliament where he is a vocal opponent of the TFG’s (Transitional Federal Government) President; the same Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who ousted him from Puntland.

It has been alleged that Jama Ali Jama, when staking his claim to the presidency, had close links to the TFG (Transitional Federal Government) in Mogadishu (at that time called the Transitional National Government). Allegedly, the TFG wished to install a President of Puntland who was loyal to powerbrokers in Mogadishu, so that Puntland could be incorporated into the territory of the transitional government. Whilst these circumstances are unclear, no troops were deployed by the transitional government to support Jama Ali Jama against his rival.

The Forces of Jama Ali Jama have been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.