Somali president embarks on Puntland trip to ‘fix cooperation’

The trip comes amid a political row between Villa Somalia and Puntland president Said Abdullahi Deni who lost in May presidential election and his bid to be appointed as PM by Hassan Sheikh.

News Keydmedia Online
25 August 2022

GAROWE, Somalia - The President of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday begins a two-day trip to Garowe in the first visit to Puntland since his election in May of this year.

Puntland state leader Said Abdullahi Deni and his deputy Ahmed Karash as well as elders, ministers, and cheering residents received the president at the airport on Thursday at noon.

Mohamed is accompanied by advisors, the state minister for the presidency, and other key officials from his office. The president during his two-day stay in Garowe will hold talks with Deni.

At the top of the agenda in the talks will be how to resolve the political rift and open a new page for the cooperation between the new Federal Government and Puntland, according to a KON source.

The trip comes amid a political row between Villa Somalia and Puntland president Said Abdullahi Deni who lost in May presidential election and his bid to be appointed as PM by Hassan Sheikh.

Hassan Sheikh defeated Deni in the race for Somali president in the election and both fell out after the appointment of Hamza Abdi Barre who hails from Jubaland as the prime minister in June.

Puntland located in the northeast is the oldest Federal State in Somalia having been established in 1998. It calls itself the mother of the Federal system in the Horn of Africa nation.

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