Somalia PM refuses resignation deal

Somalia’s Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has refused to step down from the post he has held since late last year potentially scuppering a deal signed earlier this month to bring an end to bickering between the President and Speaker of Parliament.

The earstwhile allies President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden had been at loggerheads for months stymieing government business and exasperating foreign backers of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

The UN welcomed an apparent breakthrough on 09 June when the two men signed the Kampala Accord under the auspices of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni who contributes the bulk of the 9,000 African Union soldiers who keep the government in place and Islamist insurgents at bay.

The deal extended the mandate of the TFG for another 12-months beyond its 20 August expiry date and called for the resignation of Prime Minister Mohamed, also known by his nickname Farmajo, within 30-days.

Analysts saw the deal as an attempt to prevent the collapse of the TFG leaving President Ahmed in place but allowing to Speaker Aden to expand his influence by ensuring more of his allies were appointed to the new cabinet under a new prime minister.

Unexpectedly, given how brief a time Mohamed has spent in office, his political assassination was greeted with protests from both civilians and soldiers angry that a man who had brought a modicum of peace to Mogadishu and ensured that troops were paid on time was being ousted.

"Considering people's will and their support for my government I will not resign," Mohamed said. "I will resign only when the parliament fires me from my position." It remains to be seen what Somalia’s 550 parliamentarians will choose.