Somalia power struggle heats up with PM trying to mend UAE ties

The Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia has been put under pressure from the presidency to turn down PM’s instructions with Farmajo’s office arguing it goes against the national financial regulations.

News Keydmedia Online
8 January 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The struggle for control of Somalia intensified on Friday after prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has taken one step towards repairing the strained relations with the UAE.

Roble has made an unequivocal apology for the seizure of USD 9.6 million from the UAE on April 8, 2018, at Mogadishu airport. The money was found in three unmarked bags on a Royal Jet airlines carrier by NISA.

The PM, speaking to the reporters in the airport on Friday, where he received a consignment of aid from Abu Dhabi, Roble assured for UAE ambassador that the money will soon be returned to the Gulf nation.

At the time of the seizure, UAE claimed the cash was meant to pay the salaries of soldiers in the Somali military it trained in Mogadishu before the ties between Mogadishu and Abu Dhabi went at a low point.

In rejoinder, the outgoing president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo ordered Somalia’s Central Bank Governor not to release the shady cash taken by the government over illegal entry into the country.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Somalia has been put under pressure from the presidency to turn down PM’s instructions with Farmajo’s office arguing it goes against the national financial regulations.

The illegal entry of this undeclared money into our Republic posed a threat to our national security and the stability of our financial systems.

The two leaders' rivalry is intensifying as PM Roble with the support of the leaders of Jubaland and Puntland as well as the opposition candidates are trying to remove security responsibility from Farmajo.

The United Araba Emirates was defeated in Somalia by Qatar, whose relations have been strained since the start of the Gulf diplomatic rift in 2017. Farmajo sided with Doha against the Saudi-UAE coalition.

The outgoing Somali president is now defending Qatar’s influence in Somalia and attempts to prevent the PM’s efforts to mend the relationship with the UAE. The Gulf countries are competing in Somalia.

Abu Dhabi taking advantage of the standoff between Farmajo and Roble with sourcing confirming it is pouring missions of US dollars into Mogadishu to support its allies in Somali politics amid the election.

KEYDMEDIA English