Somalia: Standoff emerges as Interior Minister suspends his Permanent Secretary
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- Posted On 23-07-2017, 12:10PM
MOGADISHU, Somalia- The suspension of Permanent Secretary of the Federal Interior Ministry Yahye Ali Ibrahim on Saturday over alleged power abuse, has sparked a standoff in the Ministry, Garowe Online reports.
The standoff has emerged after State and deputy Ministers of the Ministry have jointly opposed the Interior Minister’s decision to sack Ali, describing it as "unlawful”, in a controversial statement obtained by GO.
GO has learnt that the Minister of Interior Abdi Farah Saed "Juha", along with his deputy and State Minister held a closed door meeting with Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre, and discussed over the impasse on Ali's suspension.
During the meeting, PM Khayre has called on the officials to defuse the tension and bring an end to the deadlock, however, he did not support the Interior Minister's decision to sack the Permanent Secretary.
The sources added, the State Minister of the Ministry of Interior, Abdullahi Farah Wehliye has accused Juha of leading the Ministry in new course based on the Federal system, unlike his predecessors.
Juha did not respond to Wehliye's remarks that were seen as politically motivated, but, he notified the PM and the Interior Ministry's officials in the meeting that his decision was lawful and will not be reversed.
The former Permanent Secretary who share clan affiliation with PM Khayre, has been sacked for defying his superiors, power abuse, lack of cooperation and sabotaging the Ministry’s day to day activities, and was replaced by Abdullahi Mohamoud Hassan.
Speaking to GO on condition of anonymity, several Somali Federal Lawmakers debated about the issue, and said there is no legal reason from the fired official to reject the dismissal.
Somali PM Khayre has in the past few months endorsed the suspension of former General Directors and Permanent Secretaries of several government Ministries, including Ministry of information, Women and Human Rights, Labour and Social Affairs, and among others.
GAROWEONLINE
