Somalia fails to clinch IGAD Secretariat

[Deeq A.]

The President of Somalia, Hon. Mohamed Abdilahi Farmajo has lost the confidence of Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) which the Head of State held discussions in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. Mr. Farmajo lobbied IGAD members to vote for his candidate who was running for the Secretariat. Somalia Minister of Foreign Affairs Amb. Ahmed Isse Awad held series of meeting in the sidelines with IGAD officials to rally behind their candidate to clinch the regional bloc top position. Mr. Abdusalam Hadiye Omer, a Somaliland by birth was Somalia’s hopes were dashed o head the eight member regional bloc since its establishment in 1996. Somalia was later defeated in its bid by Uganda which succeeded in convincing the Bloc members to rally behind their candidature. The biggest challenge that impeded the chances of Somalia was that the debt of Somalia reached around 1 million. Uganda has recently paid the IGAD debt which has boosted its chances to defeat Somalia in leading the regional bloc.