Hargeisa, Somaliland – In a decisive response to a persistent national crisis, the Somaliland government will host a high-level National Road Safety Conference on November 25–26, 2025. The two-day summit, led by the Ministry of Transport and Roads Development, aims to formulate a comprehensive, actionable strategy to stem the tide of fatal traffic accidents.
Officials have characterized the country’s road safety situation as a continuing disaster, with accidents monthly claiming hundreds of lives and inflicting severe economic and social costs.
Announcing the conference, Minister of Transport and Roads Development Osman Adan Afgab delivered a stark assessment. “The epidemic of road accidents remains one of the gravest threats to our citizens’ safety,” he stated. “While the root causes—dangerous driving and unsafe vehicles—are clear, our countermeasures have thus fallen short. This conference will produce the definitive, integrated solutions we urgently need.”
Minister Afgab confirmed that the strategy will address the triad of road safety: driver behavior, vehicle roadworthiness, and road infrastructure conditions, based on extensive data compiled with traffic authorities. He issued a broad appeal for input, declaring the issue “a national emergency—a matter of life and death for every citizen.”
Providing a statistical backdrop, General Mohamed Ige Cidhere, Commander of the Somaliland Traffic Police Force, reported a modest decline in incidents but emphasized the unacceptably high toll.
Key Accident Data (This Year):
· Total Accidents: 6,409 (down from 7,618)
· Fatalities: 164
· Injuries: 4,454
· Vehicles Damaged/Destroyed: 2,925
“The data confirms that the driver, the vehicle, and the road are the three pillars we must address simultaneously to achieve a breakthrough,” Gen. Cidhere stated.
The conference is set to unite a diverse coalition of stakeholders, including government leaders, traffic police, transport engineers, vehicle inspection authorities, civil society, and the public, with the unified goal of drastically reducing preventable road deaths and injuries across Somaliland.
