Mogadishu (WDN)-  In a move widely condemned as corrupt and tone-deaf, the Puntland Parliament has quietly passed a lavish salary increase for its members—from $2,500 to $3,500 per month—even as civil servants, soldiers, and displaced families face worsening hardship. Behind this self-serving decision, insiders say, stands President Said Abdullahi Deni, who is using financial incentives to pacify lawmakers and ensure they function as a rubber-stamp institution for his increasingly autocratic rule. President Deni is widely recognized as having complete control over Puntland’s treasury, with no funds disbursed without his direct knowledge or authorization.

The 2025 budget, recently approved with little public scrutiny, includes an astonishing $792,000 in additional pay for parliamentarians—an egregious breach of fiscal discipline. Under standard budgetary principles, lawmakers are prohibited from increasing the total budget envelope presented by the Ministry of Finance. Yet this increase was forced through in direct violation of those rules, with the complicity of the ministry—reportedly under pressure from President Deni.

Most alarming is where the money came from: to fund their own salary hikes, MPs and budget drafters slashed the contingency budget line, which is typically reserved for emergency response, unforeseen crises, and urgent needs across government. In addition, several other essential budget lines were also quietly reduced, weakening already strained sectors like health, education, IDP support, and emergency relief. The contingency fund acts as Puntland’s financial lifeline in times of natural disaster, conflict, or fiscal shock—now hollowed out for political convenience.

This calculated move is widely seen as part of President Deni’s broader strategy to consolidate power. By placating MPs with financial rewards, he ensures their allegiance on key votes, including those involving constitutional changes and executive overreach.

Meanwhile, Puntland’s civilian and military institutions are being starved of resources. Teachers, doctors, and government workers have gone unpaid for months. Soldiers battling ISIS militants in the Al-Miskad Mountains remain under-paid and demoralized. Displaced families suffer in overcrowded camps with little support, while youth unemployment surges and public infrastructure crumbles.

“This is not just a pay raise,” said a former Puntland budget official. “It’s the defunding of our emergency response capacity during one of the region’s most fragile periods.”

The former parliament (2019–2023) operated on just $1,000 monthly during the 2024 transition year. Today’s MPs, despite overseeing no measurable improvements, have not only demanded more—they’ve helped themselves to the treasury with no transparency or accountability. Sources within the legislature say the hike was preemptive, aimed at quelling internal discontent and preventing motions for additional compensation. Rather than resist, President Deni reportedly embraced the opportunity to buy loyalty and neutralize dissent.

Adding insult to injury, several MPs are reportedly purchasing homes in Nairobi and relocating their families abroad—while thousands of their constituents live in tents and face food insecurity.

This act of self-enrichment mirrors the dysfunction in Mogadishu, where Federal MPs approved bloated compensation packages while presiding over a paralyzed, donor-dependent government. Puntland, once hailed for its relative stability and fiscal responsibility, now risks falling into the same pit of political rot and institutional decay.

Public anger is mounting. “This is betrayal at the highest level,” said a civil society activist in Garowe. “Our leaders are cutting emergency funding and starving our institutions just to pay themselves more. And Deni is at the center of it all.”

If left unchecked, this dangerous precedent could further erode public confidence in Puntland’s institutions and endanger the region’s hard-won stability. President Deni must be held accountable for enabling this abuse of office. The people of Puntland deserve leadership committed to serving the public interest—not a political class enriching itself at the expense of those it claims to represent.

WardheerNews