Somalilandsun- While Somaliland has been in active pursuit of reviving talks with Somalia, current verbal attacks directed our country by senior officials of the Somalia federal government makes reconciliation very untenable.
This was stated y the Somaliland foreign minister Dr Saad Ali Shire during a briefing to members of the Somaliland House of Representatives in Hargeisa as pertained the mechanics of the DP World Contract to manage and develop the port of Berbera.
The 30 year contract worth $420m awarded the Emirati firm by the government of Somaliland has been a bone of contention with the Mogadishu base Somalia authorities.
From the 1st of March 2018 when an addendum to the contract was signed in Dubai in which Ethiopia was accorded 19% of shares while the Emiratis took 51% with the remainder being retained by Somaliland, the federal Somalia authorities went ballistic.
Upon signature of the TRIPATRITE Agreement a statement issued by the Somalia ministry of ports and marine transport the Somalia federal government said that the deal signed in Dubai and awarding 19% shares of the Berbera port contract to Ethiopia with UAE’s Dubai ports World taking 51% and Somaliland retaining 31% as “NULL and VOID”
The same sentiments were also echoed by the Somalia Prime Minister Hasan Ali Khaire who according to the Somaliland minister of information Abdirahman Abdilahi Farah ‘Guribarwaqo’ “Should stop whining for his was in Dubai at the said time,
In his rejoinder statement minister Guribarwaqo who upon urging Somali to secure if not all of the country, at the least Mogadishu rather than dream of reunion with Somaliland” said that Somalia should not whine about the lucrative deal since its prime minister Hasan Ali Khaire was in the UAE economic city during signature by the three Berbera port management and development stakeholders.
At parliament buildings the foreign minister told legislators that continued verbal attacks by Somalia on issues internal to Somaliland make talks resumption untenable.
The internationally sanctioned talks between the two formerly united counties was supposed to have been jumped started through a first time face to face meeting between president Musa Behi of Somaliland and his Somalia counterpart Mohamed A Farmajo in Djibouti later this month.
Hosted by Turkey the talks which have failed miserably on several occasions were to see Switzerland assume the role of host while a number of other international stakeholders were to participate as observers contrary to past norms.
While Somaliland justifies scrapping talk’s resumption due to the unhealthy verbosity emanating from Somalia authorities, the anger of Turkey in being rejected as host was made very clear by deputy premier Hakan Cavusglu during a meeting with Somalia president Mohamed Abdilahi Farmajo in Mogadishu recently.
The decision by Somaliland government to suspend talks resumption with Somalia were supported by MP Ahmed Abdi Nuur Kijande, chairman of House of Representatives Subcommittee of Foreign Relations
