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Kamaavi

Jubaland Leader Yet To Be Sworn in

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Former Somali Defence minister Mohamed Abdi Mohamed is yet to be sworn as the president of Jubaland days after he was named the leader of the semi-autonomous region.

 

This is because the regions parliament and cabinet has not been put into place.

 

Instead, Mr Mohammed popularly known as Prof Gandi was at the weekend sworn in as the convenor of the Juba initiative, that aspires to fully control the region in Somalia’s southwest currently being controlled by an al-Qaeda-linked militia.

 

The initiative is expected to bring together three regions of lower and middle Juba and Gedo. It will be modelled like Puntland and Somaliland in the northern part of Somalia.

 

On Wednesday, it emerged that a section Somali elders supportive of the creation of the Jubaland were planning to petition the President of the Transitional Federation Government Sheikh Shariff Ahmed to fully support their initiative.

 

The details were contained in resolutions reached at the end of a major conference held in Nairobi at the weekend.

 

"The Sultans, Ugas and prominent elders from the region intend to petition the president of the TFG, to fully support the juba programs so that they wholly support him in his re-election bid,” the resolutions read in part.

 

The meeting that brought together prominent elders, religious leaders, civil society representatives, women leaders and Somalis in the Diaspora also drafted and approved a regional charter that spells out how the new semi-autonomous region will be managed.

 

At a news conference in Nairobi, a number of elders from the region yesterday threw their support for the initiative and emphasized that in forming the regional government, they were in no way breaking away from the TFG controlled government.

 

Kenya is reportedly interested in helping develop the new regional administration establish a buffer zone between it and the Islamist insurgency in southern Somalia.

 

The creation of the Jubaland region on Kenya’s border with Somalia is expected to provide a buffer zone that will prevent the entry of refugees and illegal arms into Kenya.

 

However, neighbouring Ethiopia is reportedly unhappy about the plan and Kenya’s involvement in it, as it fears that the project will have an effect on its own military struggle against rebels in the Somali-inhabited ****** region, who seek independence.

 

In opposing the plan, according to confidential cables by leaked by the Wikileaks website, Addis Ababa said it doubted Kenya’s tactical capacity to carry out the plan given the strong presence of al-Shabaab.

 

In the cable dated February 2, 2010, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi expressed a lack of confidence on Kenya’s ability to succeed with the plan.

 

Mr Meles told three high-ranking US officials of “negative regional impacts” in case the initiative failed.

 

Last week, Prof Gandi, a former Defence minister in Somalia said they were indeed ready to bring about stability in the three regions currently occupied by the al-Shabaab militia. The rebels are opposed to a breakaway Jubaland.

 

“We are now ready to liberate the region from the al-Shabaab,” Prof Gandhi told the Nation on the sidelines of the conference.

 

“Our aim is to restore nationhood, unity and integrity of the Somali people,” he added.

 

 

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/1140128/-/7qqwng/-/

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