Somaliland fires back, says doesn’t need Mogadishu’s nod on Berbera deal

Somaliland’s Muse Bihi administration said it had the liberty to enter into agreements without consulting the Federal Government. File Photo: online

Somaliland has hit back at the Federal Government over the Berbera Port deal exchange noting it was at liberty to enter into agreements with any entity it so wished in line with its constitution.

Responding to Mogadishu’s dismissal of the agreement unveiled Thursday which granted Ethiopia 19% in the management of Berbera Port, Somaliland information minister Abdirahman Abdullahi Farah said even though Somaliland was yet to be recognised as a state, its constitution mandated it to enter into contracts it so chooses.

“We remind the Federal Government of Somalia that the Republic of Somaliland has a constitution that 97% of its people voted for and has been existence for a quarter a century,” said Farah. “Article 90 of Somaliland Constitution indicates Somaliland has the right to sign an agreement with everyone it wants.”

Mogadishu has dismissed the agreement as null and void noting the Federal Government was in no way involved in the deal. Prime Minister Hassan Khaire said Friday the government did not recognise the deal noting only the Federal Government can authorize such agreements with the clearance of Parliament.

“I want to make one thing clear to Somali citizens that the Federal Government didn’t have any knowledge of the Berbera port,” said Khaire .As you have seen in the previous press statement the Minister of Port has released under the permission of the Prime Minister, the position of the Somali government is clear in that statement.”

Somalia dims Ethiopia’s hopes in Berbera, declares deal a nullity

But Hargeisa has warned against what it terms as political interference citing pacts between former presidents. “Our former president, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud Silaanyo and the former president of Federal Republic of Somalia, Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, agreed not politicize the development projects on the Horn of Africa,” Farah added.

The information minister added the agreement was nothing new but a conclusion of deal signed with DP World in August 2016 and endorsed by Somaliland Parliament.