Courtesy
By Abdulkadir Khalif
Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble fired two senior officers at the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) on Friday.
PM Roble sent home Abdullahi Kulane, NISA Chief of staff and Abdiwahab Sh. Ali, head of NISA at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle Airport.
The two officials were found responsible for blocking a group of Somali passengers from leaving the airport in Mogadishu. The passengers were heading to Garbaharrey town, the capital of Gedo region, according to a statement released by the PM’s office.
NISA officials at the airport told the group that they were not allowed to travel. They included, among others, the former governor of Gedo region Osman Nur Haji Moalimu.
“The persons who have been barred to travel from Aden Abdulle Airport have every right as citizens to travel anytime,” the PM said.
He further said: “I instruct the Somali Civil Aviation Authority that politicians and citizens flying from and to destinations should not be prevented.”
The PM said security agencies have been accused of blocking candidates from moving freely in the country to campaign.
In one such recent incident, a plane carrying Abdi Ali Rage, an advisor of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo on elections, was blocked from landing at the airport in Kismayu, the interim capital of Jubbaland State of Somalia.
The sacking of the two NISA officials immediately attracted the attention of prominent members of the opposition.
The Coalition of the (opposition) Presidential Candidates (CPC) praised the step taken by PM Roble.
“The action taken by the Prime Minister is in the right direction,” said a statement by CPC on Friday.
“We urge President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, whose term lapsed, to refrain from abuse of the laws and the electoral processes,” the group added.
Similar reaction came from the leader of Wadajir Party Abdurahman Abdishakur Warsame who in his Facebook page wrote, “The action taken by PM Roble is a support for the supremacy of the law.”
Source: Daily Nation
