Somalia: Gedo Governor Flees to Ethiopia Amid Renewed Tensions

Somalia ex-Gedo governor

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Tensions have renewed in south Somalia’s Gedo region after former regional governor Osman Nur Haji, who had parted ways with the current acting president, accompanied by dozens of troops forcefully entered the headquarters of Garbaharey, the administrative capital of the region.

It came after the current governor of the region Ahmed Bule Gared fled to the town of Dolow in neighboring Ethiopia due to security fears. Tensions in the region have divided government troops along clan lines, months after the current administration managed to foil attempts by Jubaland authorities to retake towns in the region.

Speaking at the headquarters of the region’s administration in Garbaharey, Moalimu said the region has no governor and called on Jubaland president Ahmed Madobe – whose forces had been wrestled from the control of much of the cities in Gedo by government troops – to appoint a new official to head the administration in the restive towns.

A senior official with government troops stationed in Gedo, Col. Adan Ahmed Hersi, confirmed that the region’s governor had fled to Ethiopia and said he was wondering whether the official had sought asylum in the neighboring country or had been named to work in the interest of another sovereign nation.

Rufle described both the former governor and his successor as puppets of Ethiopia and Kenya, who had been trained by the neighboring countries, and decried Moalimu’s comments in which he had asked Jubaland leader to appoint a new governor.

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