Foreign Minister Jama Exits, Reportedly to Contest in Puntland Presidential Poll

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: Foreign Affairs Minister Abshir Jama has resigned in what sources said was a strategy to vie for the presidency in the upcoming elections in Puntland.

Jama said in a statement that he had served diligently as foreign minister and secured a concrete position for Somalia in the international arena. He did not state the reason for his resignation, but sources and analysts say the immediate former minister is eyeing the presidency in Puntland.

Puntland is set to hold elections in early January, when the term of outgoing President Abdullahi Deni lapses. Jama, who hails from Puntland was picked as foreign minister by Prime Minister Hamze Barre following President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s election victory in May 2022.

He becomes the second-highest-ranking official in the current administration to resign. Former Villa Somalia chief of staff Hussein Sheikh Mohamud resigned in August amid reports he was preparing to contest in the South West Presidential elections.