MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo said on Monday he had suspended the Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble until an investigation into a land-grabbing case is completed, marking a further escalation of tiff over delay to the Horn of Africa country’s elections.
On Sunday, Roble rebuked Farmajo for issuing a statement in which he expressed an intention to pick a new “capable” Prime Minister to spearhead elections, alleging that the incumbent’s ineptitude has led to successive delays in the electoral process. In response, the Premier said Farmajo is hell-bent on disrupting the ongoing parliamentary votes and called for unified stance against spoilers in Somalia’s elections.
The United States and the United Kingdom on Sunday voiced their support for a meeting of the National Consultative Council called by the Prime Minister, saying that discussions between regional leaders and Roble are critical to expediting the electoral process and “correcting observed shortcomings”. Puntland and Jubaland regional leaders also confirmed their support for the conference while the President of Southwest state, a key ally of Farmajo, boycotted the meeting and said he would attend a parallel summit called by the President. read more
Roble replaced Defense Minister Hassan Hussein Haji with Abdikadir Mohamed Nur, the former Minister of Justice and transferred Haji to a new post as Justice Minister, in what Farmajo labeled an attempt to stonewall a probe into corruption allegations against the Prime Minister.
The new row, nominally over delay to elections, has come to public attention after the former speaker of parliament Mohamed Mursal said September 17 agreement would expire this month and hinted a potential extension of president’s term following speculations that the man had been planning to convene a meeting of the outgoing legislative body to vote out the Prime Minister.
In a separate statement, Somali president has suspended Navy chief Abdihamid Mohamed Dirir, saying this would help a thoroughgoing investigation into corruption case against the Premier.
Dirir said, in a press conference held in Mogadishu, that Roble was building a luxury house on a public land belonging to the coastguard, in what he described as an act of “pillage”, though his assertion has been later denied by the deputy Information Minister Abdirahman Al-Adala.
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