Somalia’s feuding leaders were embroiled in a new feud on Thursday after the prime minister ordered the expulsion of the African Union’s envoy, a move the president dismissed as “illegal.”
In a country reliant on foreign aid to deal with drought and a violent Islamist insurgency, a power struggle between the two men has stymied elections and prolonged a political crisis.
Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble recently declared AU envoy Francisco Madeira persona non grata “for engaging in acts that are incompatible with his status as a representative of the African Union Commission.”
Roble’s office issued a statement ordering the Mozambican diplomat to leave the country within 48 hours, but did not specify why. He has been the top AU diplomat in Somalia since 2015 and is in charge of the body’s peacekeeping operations there.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s office, on the other hand, said the foreign ministry had been instructed to apologize to the AU for the “illegitimate and reckless decision from an unauthorised office.”
“The presidency disowns and nullifies the illegal action that jeopardizes our relations with the international community,” the statement said.
It’s unclear who controls the AU representative’s position in the country.
The presidency, however, claimed that Mohamed, also known as Farmajo, was the “guardian of the state’s sovereignty” and that it was his responsibility to accept all foreign envoys’ diplomatic credentials.
Farmajo’s term ended in February 2021, and attempts to stay in power by decree were met with fierce opposition, resulting in armed clashes in Mogadishu’s capital.
To avoid a crisis, and in response to international pressure, he appointed Roble to negotiate a way to hold elections in a timely manner.
However, the two squabbled over power, frequently embroiled in public spats over top-level government hirings and firings.
The election has swung from one crisis to the next, with deadlines slipping by.
– Terrible diversion –
Clan representatives choose candidates under Somalia’s indirect voting system, and 247 of the 275 seats in the lower chamber of parliament were decided by clan representatives as of late 2021.
Both houses elect a new president after they are sworn in.
However, the process is over a year behind schedule and is beset by major roadblocks in some states. Some results have been thrown out, while others have been marred by allegations of fraud and tampering.
Meanwhile, millions of people in the Horn of Africa are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance as the country suffers from one of the worst droughts in decades.
Al-Shabaab, a militant group intent on destabilizing the country’s fragile central government, is a persistent and deadly threat that has targeted the election process with violence.
Twin bombings in central Somalia killed 48 people in March, including two lawmakers seeking re-election.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a new peacekeeping force last week to replace the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which has been fighting jihadists in Somalia for 15 years.
The tumultuous election process has put Somalia’s jaded international backers to the test, including its largest donor, the United States, which has imposed travel restrictions as a result of the delays.
Observers say the distractions, such as the latest feud over the AU envoy, are diverting attention away from the country’s larger problems.
“It demonstrates that the government is still deeply divided, and that a lack of consensus makes moving forward on anything difficult, including elections,” said Omar Mahmood, an analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG).