On Thursday, Somalia’s feuding leaders were embroiled in a new feud after the prime minister ordered the African Union’s envoy to the troubled country to be expelled.
Francisco Madeira has been declared persona non grata by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble’s office “for engaging in acts that are incompatible with his status as a representative of the African Union Commission,” and has been ordered to leave Somalia within 48 hours.
Roble’s decision about Madeira, a Mozambican diplomat who has served as the AU Commission chief’s special representative to Somalia since 2015, was not explained in the statement posted on Twitter.
However, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s office, also known as Farmajo, described his opponent’s action against Madeira as illegal.
“No complaints of interference with its sovereignty have been received,” the presidency said on Twitter, adding that it “doesn’t endorse any illegal action against Amb. Francisco Madeira.”
Farmajo has ordered the foreign ministry to apologize to the African Union for the “illegitimate and reckless decision from an unauthorised office,” according to the statement.
It’s unclear who controls the AU representative’s position in the country.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a new peacekeeping force for the Horn of Africa country, where Al-Shabaab insurgents have been trying for more than a decade to overthrow the fragile government.
The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) takes over from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which was established in 2007 by the Security Council.
The mission, which included Africans from all over the continent, drove Al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011, allowing for the formation of a government and federal agencies, as well as two rounds of elections.
However, a savage power struggle between Farmajo and Roble has stymied efforts to hold long-delayed elections after the president’s term ends in February 2021.