MOGADISHU – Somalia’s prime minister has told UN agencies to move their offices to its capital within 90 days, saying they were not helping the war-torn state from their bases in neighbouring Kenya.
Most aid agencies working in the country have moved their headquarters to Kenya to avoid kidnappings and frequent fighting between Islamists and government-allied troops in Somalia. “Somalia is not worse than Iraq and Afghanistan … We need you to stay with us and share with us the difficulties on the ground so as to cope with the situation truly and jointly,” Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said.
“Being in Nairobi and spending millions of dollars (there) is not in the interest of Somali people,” he told reporters late on Monday. Mohamed told UN agencies to move their bases to Somalia’s capital Mogadishu within 90 days but did not say what would happen if they failed to make the deadline. No one was immediately available to comment from the United Nations.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Clan warlords ruled the country for years until the Horn of Africa nation fell into the hands of Islamist insurgents that control large swathes of the country. Until recently, most Somali MPs lived in neighbouring African countries or the West, but moved back to Mogadishu for a vote to extend their mandate in March.
Most live in hotels close to the presidential residence when visiting the capital. Cabinet members stay inside the presidential compound that is guarded by African Union troops.
