Somalia's President Farmaajo, PM Roble agree to bury the hatchet

Somali's President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and his Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble have reportedly agreed to normalise their relations after months of tension and public disagreements.

Following two days of talks mediated by the president of the South West state of Somalia, Abdiaziz Mohamed Laftagaren, the two leaders, who have been at loggerheads over the past three months, talked through their differences.

In a statement read by government spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimu, the two sides agreed on a number of thorny issues, including the legitimacy of Abdullahi Mohamed Nur, whose nomination by PM Roble as internal security minister was rejected by Farmaajo.

Under today’s agreement, Nur will remain in his ministerial position while General Bashir Mohamed Jama, aka Gobe, who was unilaterally appointed by PM Roble as acting director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (Nisa), will now become the state minister of internal security.

On the other hand, Yasin Abdullahi Mohamud, alias Farey, the man appointed by Farmaajo as chief of Nisa to replace the controversial ex-director Fahad Yasin Haji Dahir, will keep his position in an acting capacity.

“Yasin Abdullahi Mohamud, alias Farey, will stay as acting Nisa director until a person is officially appointed,” the accord read by Moalimu noted.

Moalimu said that both sides also examined the issue of election delays and agreed that poll processes will be speeded up.

“Both sides agreed to closely collaborate to enhance the security of the election against acts of terrorists,” Moalimu said, adding that the issue of murdered female spy Iram Tahlil Farah, one of the matters that caused a falling-out between the president and the PM, is to be left to the judiciary.

Somalia was expected to complete the election of 54 senators to the Upper House and 275 legislators to the Lower House by early October and hold a presidential election the same month. But the nation is yet to conclude the election of senators, let alone MPs to the Lower House.

This agreement is likely to please many people who have remained confused about whether elections will be held.