Skip to content

Stop meddling with Galmudug, regional leaders tell President Farmaajo

Storyline:11th Parliament, National News
File Photo: Puntland President Abdiweli Gaas is the current chair of the CIC

State governments have urged the federal government to stop what they termed as interference in Galmudug state following political run-ins this past week leading to passage of motions aimed at removing the state president and assembly speaker.

In a statement to newsrooms Tuesday, the state leaders under the Council of Inter-State Cooperation (CIC) umbrella accused President Mohamed Farmaajo’s administration of fueling political discord in the embattled Galmudug government which has seen state president ‘impeached’ twice within a year.

“The political crisis in Galmudug confirms our fears that the federal government is involved in the interference of Galmudug,” the statement read in part. Referring to Farmaajo’s statements during the opening of the fourth session of the Lower House last week, the leader’s said the President was intent at using state parliament speakers to destabilize the state governments.

“The unprecedented political movements are in line with the President’s statement in Parliament when he openly said he would ‘work together’ with the speakers of HirShabelle and Galmudug for ‘common interest.” The speakers of the two assemblies had attended the session.

State MPs allied to President Ahmed Haaf voted to impeach speaker Ali Asir last week followed a day after by a similar vote by Asir’s allies to send home Haaf. The vote comes close to a year later after a motion to impeach Haaf sailed through the state assembly with the backing of the federal government. State president’s however shored up support for Haaf ensuring his stay.

The political disputes between the Federal Government and Federal Member States have intensified in the recent weeks culminating in the cancelling of the National Security Council meeting slated for Sunday and Monday after the state leaders declared they would not attend.

The leaders also urged the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) to stick to its legally mandated functions and cease political involvement.