Africa News Agency
Thursday October 12, 2017
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Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, President of Somalia. (File Picture: ANA)
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, widely known as Farmajo, on Thursday called for unity and cooperation with the regional states for prosperity of the Horn of Africa nation.
Farmajo said he has been keenly following the concerns of the leaders of the federal member states and underscored the need for closer cooperation between the Federal Government and the Federal Members States to achieve the hope of peace and prosperity for our country.
"I want to remind you all that we must acknowledge that our country is on the path of recovery, and the only way we can achieve full recovery is through cooperation," he said in a statement.
The statement comes after the leaders who have been meeting in Jubbaland capital Kismayu in southern Somalia for the last four days sought more bargaining power with the central government which controls 90 percent of the country's administration.
During the meeting which kicked off on Sunday, the regional states called on the central government to make regular consultations on pressing issues affecting the states as well as ways of resolving political disputes amongst them.
The meeting which brought together regional presidents from Puntland, Jubbaland, Glamudug, HirShabelle and Southwest called on the central government to come up with a new strategy based on cooperation and also set up a body to fix the underlying issues between the federal and regional governments.
In his statement, Farmajo acknowledged that in a nascent federal system, there would be challenges and that must always be solved amicably through dialogue while remaining faithful to the constitution.
"We must therefore all strive for the greater good of this country and be true to the oath that we all took to put the country first," the Somali leader said.
The president said he remained confident that all concerns will be resolved and that leaders would remain true to the pledge of putting the interest of our country before anything else. The conference which ended on Wednesday night was also aimed at resolving the differences between Somalia's central government and federal member states over the Gulf diplomatic crises.