Confusions continue to mar the proposed tour of Somaliland by President Mohamed Farmaajo and Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy of Somalia and Ethiopia respectively.
News of the upcoming tour has elicited mixed reactions from a cross-section of leaders in Somalia.
For decades, none of the previous Somali leaders visited the breakaway region of Somaliland. The escalating frosty relations between Mogadishu and Hargeisa have worsened the situation.
Hargeisa has never stopped accusing Somalia of engineering atrocities within its borders in 1988. The skirmishes led to the deaths of thousands of people in Somaliland.
That culminated in Somaliland’s self-declared independence in 1991.
The Guurti chairperson, Suleiman Mohamoud, said, “We know that PM Ahmed has pushed for a tour of Hargeisa with Farmaajo. However, we would like to say that only Ahmed is welcome.”
Suleiman’s sentiments come barely one week after the Ethiopian Prime Minister planned a meeting between President Muse Bihi of Somaliland and President Farmaajo in Addis Ababa.
Despite reports that such a tour was imminent, criticisms have continued growing.
The Secretary to the Cabinet in Somaliland, Jamal Mohamed, denied that the cabinet met to discuss the joint trip to Hargeisa by Farmaajo and Abiy.