[2] As part of the official "Roadmap for the End of Transition", a political process devised by former Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas which provides clear benchmarks leading toward the establishment of permanent democratic institutions in Somalia by late August 2012,[3] members of Somalia's then ruling Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and other administrative officials met in the northeastern town of Garowe in February 2012 to discuss post-transition arrangements.

[6] The NCA, which consists of 30 elders drawn from each of the country's four major Somali clans (Darod, Dir, Hawiye, Rahanweyn) and 15 from a coalition of minority groups based on the 4.5 power-sharing formula,[7] overwhelmingly passed the new constitution on 1 August.

A further 15 nominated lawmakers were approved by the Technical Selection Committee (TSC),[7] an independent body officially tasked with vetting the applicants.

[7] The remaining candidates that were submitted by the National Constituent Assembly's elders to the TSC were rejected for failing to meet specific criteria agreed upon by stakeholders that partook in earlier agreements, including the Galkayo and Garowe Principles accords.

[12] The TSC also based its screening procedure on detailed background information on the parliamentary candidates that was forwarded to it by the United Nations and African Union.

[14] In a statement to the United Nations Security Council, Michael Keating, Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), noted that the Upper House of Parliament had come into existence, comprising 54 members chosen on the basis of the federal member state rather than on a clan basis; the electorate had expanded from 135 male elders in 2012, to more than 13,000, 30% of whom were women; and voting had taken place in six locations around the country, reflecting emerging state structures.

[21][22] On 20 August 2012, former Somali National Army (SNA) General Muse Hassan Sheikh Sayid Abdulle was appointed Interim Speaker and Acting President.

[29] Ahmed had also helped form the Somali Women Parliamentary Association in 2009 in the preceding Transitional Federal Parliament.

They include:[32] In March 2015, the Federal Cabinet agreed to establish a new commission tasked with overseeing the nationalization and integration of security forces in the country.