We have a mandate to deliver and we must focus on it, says Planning Minister Aynte

Attempts to impeach the president are not in the interest of the country but only serve to distract the nation from the core duties and responsibilities espoused in Vision 2016, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Abdirahman Aynte has said.

In a candid interview with Goobjoog News, the minister said there was so much for the government and parliament at large to do in order to live to the goals and aspirations of the drafters of Vision 2016 and the country’s development blue print-the New Deal.

“The constitutional mandate to impeach the president is bestowed on parliament but the motion before us now is uncalled for. This is wrong timing and as cabinet we cannot establish any merit in this motion,” said Aynte.

The minister said the country’s leaders must set their sights on building the nation and refrain from anything which can compromise this mission.

Impeachment motion

A section of parliament last month fronted an impeachment motion against the president for what they termed as gross violation of the constitution by the president among a number of other concerns. However the fate of the motion is now in the balance as MPs trade barbs over it and the absence of a constitutional court has not helped the matter either.

Regarding his docket in planning and international cooperation, Aynte said his ministry is working on developing a comprehensive economic plan as the existing New Deal is set to expire in August 2016 when the country transits into a new administration.

“For the last 25 years, we have not had any national plan until only three years when the first plan, dubbed the New Deal was put together as a roadmap to the country’s transition into a stable society. However the New Deal comes to a close towards the end of next thus the need to develop a successor plan,” said Aynte.

International partnerships

But Somalia does not have the capacity to implement some of the ambitious development projects captured in these plans. There, Aynte says comes one of the other core roles of his ministry-winning international cooperation and partnerships to realize these goals. “My role is to network and bring investors to the country. We need not just international financial support but also skills and expertise to realize our development goals,” asserts Aynte.

Regarding the Population Estimation Survey released in May, the minister said he acknowledges the marginal errors in the tally but says it was the first scientific and accurate population survey in the country and its findings will be instrumental in writing the development plan.

Aynte also assured the country of the government’s commitment to completing the federalization process noting that plans were complete and afoot to commence the Hiiran/Middle Shabelle state formation conference. “Everything is in place for the Hiiran and Middle Shabelle state formation,” said Aynte though he did not put a date.

The minister added his ministry was working on a plan to develop the fishing and agriculture sector with the help of international partners to fully exploit these two sectors as part of the country’s development agenda.

A report by the campaign group Secure Fisheries released in Mogadishu this week estimates foreign boats were hauling in three times more than Somali fishermen — an estimated 132,000 metric tons of fish each year compared to Somalia’s catch of 40,000 metric tons.