Somalia’s presidential office said in a statement on Monday that Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble was charged with an “ongoing investigation of corruption and misuse of public land”.
“The duties and powers of the Prime Minister remain suspended till the conclusion of the ongoing investigation,” the statement said.
While Farmajo accused Roble of plundering public land owned by the Somali National Army (SNA), he also said that Roble was “manipulating” the investigation by pressuring the country’s defense minister, who is leading the investigation. Huh. Huh.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded on Twitter, calling the president’s actions a “violation of the Constitution and other laws”.
The Prime Minister’s Office said, “The Prime Minister is performing his constitutionally mandated day-to-day duties as always, and is fully committed to fulfilling his national responsibility for the conduct of an acceptable electoral process.” ” ,
Monday’s exchanges mark the latest escalation in the ongoing dispute over the delay in elections in Somalia. In competing statements on Sunday, the president and prime minister accused each other of stalling long-delayed parliamentary elections.
In a tweet on Monday, former Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed condemned what the president described as a “military coup”.
Mohamed said, “Somalis are awake and alert. We urge the preservation of the democratic rule of law in the country, and call on everyone to support the prime minister’s efforts to implement elections in the country.” “
The US embassy in Somalia has strongly urged the country’s leaders to take “immediate steps to defuse tensions in Mogadishu” and to “avoid provocation”.
Meanwhile, Britain’s ambassador to Somalia, Kate Foster, also called for de-escalation on Monday, saying “violence is unacceptable.”
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