Somali PM Entrusts State Minister for Foreign Affairs with East Africa Community Oversight

Mogadishu (AX) – Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has appointed Ali Mohamed Omar, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, to oversee East Africa Community Affairs.

A decree issued Thursday by the Prime Minister’s Office did not specify if Omar would retain his position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or if he’s been ousted.

After lobbying fiercely for over a decade, Somalia joined the East African Community (EAC) in 2023. The application process, spearheaded by former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in 2011, was strenuous, with some EAC nations allegedly hesitant to bring Somalia into the fold.

The effort finally bore fruit last year when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, early in his second term starting August 2022, appointed a special envoy to speed up the admission.