Fed Government and IJA agree on review of Jubbaland Assembly

The Federal Government and the Interim Jubba Administration have agreed on the review and reconstitution of the IJA State Assembly in a bid to heal the rift between Kismayu and Mogadishu.

A meeting yesterday between the Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmake and Interim Jubba Administration president Ahmed Mohamed Madobe also agreed to reinstate the Federal Government appointed Committee which was tasked with rebuilding relations between IJA and the Federal Government.

The details of the review of the Legislative Council are not clear yet but the move could be a compromise aimed at appeasing dissenting voices in Jubba who had raised concern over the way in which the assembly was constituted.

Way forward

Madobe however told the media they had agreed on a way forward to deal with complaints raised. “We agreed to resolve the complaints and we named committees that will discuss solutions to the disputes,” said Madobe.

The IJA State Assembly was established in April this year but two months later in June the Federal Parliament dismissed it in a no confidence motion as illegally constituted forcing Kismayu to declare it was severing ties with Mogadishu.

In a terse statement in June, Jubbaland said it was ‘cutting off ties with the federal government over what it termed as illegal action against the provisions of the conflict resolution between the Federal and State governments’.

“Jubbaland hereby suspends all cooperation and relations with Federal government of Somalia”, Jubba administration said in a statement.

Souring relations

Relations between the southern state and Mogadishu hit an all time low last month when President Madobe declined to attend the High Level Partnership Forum in Mogadishu which attracted at least 30 international delegates to review the country’s development blue print- the New Deal.

The Mogadishu high delegation which was led by the Prime Minister and included the Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir and Interior Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein was indicative of deliberate attempts by the Federal Government to mend relations with Jubbaland.

However the review of the Assembly is likely to be an uphill task given Madobe’s hold on the current Assembly which overwhelmingly voted him in as the first elected president of Jubbaland mid this month.