According to a presidential aide, who talked to sunatimes on condition of anonimyty, the PM didn’t produce concrete accusations against the finance Minister Halane, but accused the foreign affairs minister of mismanaging the Somali delegation to the Uinted Nations.

 

Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Reliable sources in Somalia’s state house confirmed that a conflictraged between the president of Somalia Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and his Premier Mohamed Abdulahi Farmajo who disputed over a reshuffle of the cabinet which would result the dismissing of two ministers.
            

The president and the PM were considered as close political allies who were challenging against the speaker of the parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden who went into conflict with the president.
The new conflict between the President and the PM is based on a rift among the PM himself with two of his cabinet ministers, the foreign affairs Minister Dr. Mohamed Abdulahi Omar and finance Minister Dr. Hussein Abdi Halane, who were accused of disobeying the orders of the PM but had good relation with the president.
Two weeks ago the PM had a meeting with the president to persuade him
the reshuffle of the cabinet which would drop the two accused
ministers from the list, but the president rejected the suggestion of
the PM and told him that he would never approve a cabinet list which
Hussein Abdi Halane is not listed as the finance minister.
According to a presidential aide, who talked to sunatimes on condition
of anonymity, the PM didn’t produce concrete accusations against the
finance Minister Halane, but accused the foreign affairs minister of
mismanaging the Somali delegation to the Uinted Nations.
The Foreign affairs Minister Omar used his power to return to the
embassy Eed Bedel, a formar diplomat who was dismissed after disputes
with the Somalia’s UN ambassador Dr. Elmi Duale.
The presidential aide also confirmed that the president saw the
dismissing of the current finance minister Hussein Abdi Halane who is
playing two active roles apart from his ministerial duties, as a
failure of the government.
Halane is the connector between the government and the allied
Raskamboni Islamic militia fighting Alshabab from the Somali-Kenyan
border, and he was assigned to undermine the newly formed Azania State
which was formed Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gandhi who is a political foe of the
president now.’
The president also considered the suggestion of the Premier Farmajo as
a political threat against him, because of the roles the finance
minister is playing on behalf of him, and called the PM to avoid doing
the reshuffle if it meant to dismiss Halane.
But the PM argued that the finance minister committed corruption and
misused millions of dollars which the government intended to assist to
the Raskamboni fighters, but the president replied that the he has a
personal relation with the leader of Raskamboni Ahmed Madobe and had
never received a complaint from him.
The PM got angry from the deliberate rejection of the president
towards his suggestion and request one month leave to stay with his
family in New York, but the two overpowered presidential advisers
Hassan Moalim and Abdikarin Jama, the current information minister and
a first hand of the president met the Premier and persuaded him to
compromise from his leave and wait them to mediate between him and the
president.
The two, who are called as those who remotely control the president,
failed to persuade the president to accept the dismissing of the
finance minister, Halane, and the disputes strongly emerged among the
two leaders.
The failure of Abdikarim Jama and Hassan Moalim to persuade the
president to accept the PM’s suggestion encouraged Premier Farmajo to
send a letter to the speaker of the parliament who is the biggest
political foe of both the president and the PM now and requested him
to meet and discuss about their row.
The Speaker rejected the requested meeting without the knowledge of
the new dispute among his foes, the president and the PM, but urged
Farmajo to remain doing his duty and avoid interfering the
parliamentary affairs.
The president had seen the letter to the speaker as a political tricks
threatening him as he rejected the PM suggestions to dismiss the
finance minister and the foreign affairs minister, and send a message
to the PM through Hassan Moalim and Abdikarin Jama, who were the minds
that brought Farmajo to the PM position and told them that he will
propose the dismissing of the PM if he have a meeting with the speaker
without his knowledge.
The Islamist group Aala Sheikh, which the president himself follows,
had intervered the dispute and told the president to avoid new
conflict with the PM as he is in dispute with the speaker of the
parliament, but the president insisted that he has no way to dispute
with the PM but he must stop the proposal to dismiss the finance
minister Halane who is playing a good political role for the
government now.
But the sources in the state house also confirnmed that the president
will accept the dismissing of the foriegn afairs minister Mohamed
Abdulahi Omar, in exchange of the finance minister, but the PM didn’t
accept the suggestion.
Somali experts consider the new conflict which is emerging between the
top TFG leaders, the president and the PM as a rift based on political
fear.
Dr. Omar Nur, a political lecturer said, “The President is worried
about the growing reputation of the PM and he sees his as the
alternative when his term is finished in August, so even if the PM is
doing a lot of good thing for the country that wouldn’t make the
president happy, because he is concerned”
“And the PM is worried about the growing relation between the
president and the finance minister who is from his clan Darod, so he
is worried that the president will use him as alternative if the PM is
dismissed, so this forces the PM to dismiss the finance minister” he
added.
Somalia transitional federal government was paralyzed by internal
disputes among its leaders and had failed to restore law and order and
oust Alshabab insurgents from the country.
By Dahir Alasow