Wednesday August 31, 2022
Mogadishu (HOL) - Somalia's federal member states announced on Tuesday that they are suspending cooperation with the central government in Mogadishu.
The decision was made following a zoom meeting attended by all regional state ministers, during which they discussed cooperation between the federal government and federal member states.
In a joint statement, ministers accused the federal government ministry of finance of violating the previous agreements.
They demanded that the ministry return to the legal framework and implement previous agreements signed in Addis-Ababa, Kismayo, Kampala, Nairobi and Mogadishu between September 2019 and August 2020.
The primary source of friction appears to be the allocation of resources and aid, which has placed the central government in Mogadishu at odds with the Federal Member States in the past.
Engineer Mohamud Aidid Dirir, Puntland's Minister of Information, stated on Friday that the current Somali government, led by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, is not committed to leading the country in the federal system.
He added that Mohamud's government must carry out what the law has legally granted to Puntland regional state.
The federal government's Finance Ministry did not comment on the regional state finance ministers' decision.
The South West Finance Minister, Ahmed Mohamed Hussein, said that the new federal Minister of Finance, Dr. Elmi M. Nur, had taken several steps that led to the termination of cooperation between the Ministries of Finance of the regional governments.
"We are concerned about the cooperation process of the Federal Government, especially the Ministry of Finance, which has sidestepped a mutually agreed process. The Ministries of Finance do not work in politics but focus on improving finances and debt relief. I am concerned about the new federal finance minister. We saw that he directly violated the agreement; he left out the regional authorities in key decision making processes," said Hussein.
South West's finance minister also said that Dr. Nur did not consult regional governments, as a result of which they stopped the Ministries of Finance of the country's regional governments.
The suspension of cooperation comes barely a week after the PM and President travelled to regional capitals to shore up support with the federal government. President Mohamud, who has been criticized for his 'jet set diplomacy,' was in Puntland where he met with a reportedly displeased President Deni of Puntland. Sources say he was unhappy about how senior federal government positions were divided by major clans.
On Wednesday, Somalia's PM Hamza Barre, met with World Bank Somalia Director, Kristina Svensson in Mogadishu to discuss economic reform. It is unclear if the pair diiscussed the latest political complications regarding the Federal Member States.