The Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) has been accused of failing to release funds from Qatar meant for the drought response in the Federal Member States (FMS).
Several regional ministers have accused the federal government of not playing its role of mitigating the effects of the ongoing drought effectively.
The ministers issued a joint statement on Wednesday, September 14.
They were from the regional states of Galmudug, Southwest, Jubbaland, HirShabelle, and Puntland.
The ministers issued a joint statement appealing to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to release the humanitarian funds that Qatar donated to Somalia a few months ago.
Qatar donated US$9.6 million to help drought and humanitarian response efforts in Somalia.
Currently, close to 7.8 million people in Somalia need humanitarian assistance owing to the worsening drought, which could morph into a famine before the end of the year.