The Somaliland Citizenship Law No. 22/2002 was passed by the House in March 2002
Hargeisa (SLpost)- The Somaliland House of Representatives has today rejected proposed amendments and additions to the Somaliland Citizenship Law, bringing the controversial legislative proposal to an end at the lower house.
The decision was taken during the House’s 13th sitting of its 15th session, chaired by First Deputy Speaker and Acting Speaker Hon. Saed Mire Farah (Giire).
At the beginning of the session, Secretary-General Abdirazak Saed Ayanle read the response concerning the motion seeking to reject the proposed amendments to the citizenship law.
MP Hersi Abdillahi Hersi, one of the lawmakers who introduced the motion, subsequently presented the motion before the House. The proposed amendment of Citizenship Law No. 22/2002 was first introduced to House in May 2025.
According to a press release obtained from the House, 45 lawmakers were present. Of those, 43 voted in favour of rejecting the proposed amendments, while one lawmaker abstained. The Acting Speaker did not participate in the vote, in accordance with parliamentary procedure.
The vote effectively means that the proposed amendments and additions to the citizenship law will not proceed through the House in their current form.
The citizenship legislation has been a subject of considerable public and parliamentary debate in recent weeks. The proposed changes had raised questions surrounding citizenship eligibility, national identity, residency and naturalisation.
The existing Somaliland Citizenship Law No. 22/2002 was passed by the House in March 2002 and signed into law in June of that year.
The rejection also follows weeks of public discussion over the proposed amendments, including debate over changes to the legal definition and eligibility requirements for Somaliland citizenship.
With the vote, the House of Representatives has formally rejected the proposed amendments, leaving Law No. 22/2002 as the governing citizenship framework unless a new legislative proposal is introduced in the future.
