Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Tuesday praised the future role of the African Union in establishing an “electoral process” in his country, after requesting mediation in Kinshasa by the president of the AU, Congolese Félix Tshisekedi.
as reported from Nairobi, Sebastien nemeth
Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo called on the African Union to engage in the Somali crisis. The Somali president said he wanted to facilitate and support the organization of globally recognized elections. He also drew a parallel indicating that Somalia and Congo had similar security problems.
The Somali Foreign Minister clarified that the political dialogue would be led by the Somalis and that it was an internal problem. Nevertheless, Mogadishu is clearly seeking AU support as the international community has criticized the extension of the presidency.
Félix Tshisekedi advocated an African solution and assured him that he was available to support the Somali dialogue. He also urged Mohamed Farmajo to continue the talks that have now broken down. “All Somali stakeholders will take an active part in the dialogue on the future of our democracy,” the Somali president wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, the day after his meeting with President Tshisekedi.
I welcome @_AfricanUnion to take a leading role in facilitating an electoral process in which every citizen elects his or her representatives through free and fair elections. All Somali stakeholders will take an active part in the dialogue on the future of our democracy.
– Mohamed Farmaajo (@M_Farmaajo) April 19, 2021
In Somalia, tensions continue to rise. According to an unwritten rule, the next president would be from the Hawiye clan while Mohamed Farmajo is a Darod. On Tuesday, April 20, the Hawiye people declared that they no longer recognize the head of state and for his part, the SNSF wrote to the opposition coalition urging the UN to reject the extension of the mandate and to intervene firmly. SNSF made it clear that if the head of state did not return, he would explore all available means to save the country.
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