Relocate to Somalia or cease operations, Somalia tells Nairobi based organisations

The government has issued a four months ultimatum to international organisations working in Somalia but based outside the country to relocate to Somalia failure to which their licenses will be revoked.

Planning Minister Jamal Hassan said during a meeting with international agencies Wednesday that time was up for organisations which come to Somalia for field work but have their offices in other countries. A number of international agencies working in Somalia are headquartered in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.

“Those international agencies based in Nairobi and come to Somalia for a day or two for monitoring should know that will not happen again,” the minister said. He urged the affected agencies to relocate to Somalia before the end of the year.

Hassan also said the international organisations must work directly with government institutions such as ministries and regional governments.

The directive will affect several international humanitarian agencies most of which are based in Nairobi with or no field offices in Somalia.

The move follows concerted efforts by the government to bring into the tax bracket international organisations especially those based at the UN headquarters in Mogadishu.

Finance Minister Abdirahman Beyle issued a notice to all companies working in the airport area and Halane camp (which houses the UN and African Union) July 24 notifying them of their tax obligations. This include registration tax and income tax based on the tax law of 1966 and registration tax law of 1921.

A number of foreign embassies which were based in Nairobi have relocated to Mogadishu including the recent relocation by the European Union Delegation to Somalia which set base in February this year in Mogadishu.