The United States of America (U.S) has condemned The suspension of Somalia’s Prime Minister, Mohammed Hussein Roble, by the country’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a move that has widely been interpreted as meddling in Somalia’s internal affairs.
The President who is widely known as Farmaajo, in a statement on Sunday accused Roble of stealing land owned by the country’s Army and of interfering with a defence ministry investigation. Roble is also accused of corruption related offences.
The Prime Minister has since described the move as illegal, only aimed at derailing the ongoing parliamentary elections in the country.
Roble who in a statement ordered the security forces to start taking orders from him, instead of the president, wrote on twitter that, “The outrageous statement from immediate former President, Mohamed Abdullahi (Farmaajo) regarding the work of the PM and his failed attempt to militarily take over the OPM is a violation of the constitution and other laws, the consequences of which will be solely shouldered by Farmaajo.”
Now, as they have previously done in several African countries, the U.S has already taken sides and has condemned the President for the decision. The U.S State Department African Affairs Bureau called the attempted suspension of Roble “alarming” and said it supported his efforts for rapid and credible elections.
It added that the US is prepared to act against those obstructing Somalia’s path to peace.
The U.S embassy in Somalia on Monday said, “We strongly urge Somalia’s leaders to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions in Mogadishu, refrain from provocative actions and avoid violence.”
The comments, according to various African commentators, are in bad faith, only aimed at interfering in internal management of African countries by the U.S and other western actors.
James Rubobi, a Ugandan analyst on African affairs says, “that has always been U.S’ culture. Theirs is to interfere in management of weak African countries, take sides, support and have them as their allies in plundering the countries’ resources.”
He says Somalia has been in a political crisis since the start of this year when Farmaajo’s term ended and so, the country needs to be given chance to get back on truck as opposed to direct interference of siding with a group by those who consider themselves powerful.
“Somalia is a sovereign State. There is no way a Prime Minister declares himself President, commands armed forces to reject orders from the President, and you the outsiders, find not shame in publicly declaring support for him. If that is not meddling, then what do you call it?
“Besides, he was suspended to give way to investigations. Is the U.S saying he shouldn’t be investigated?,” he adds.
Ethiopian-American Journalist Hermela Aregawi asks, “Why are we so comfortable with the U.S interfering in other countries’ politics? Deciding for the people who and how to, often for the interests of a small minority?”
Social media users have also condemned the U.S for the same.
“From the early 90s, the US has been obstructing a path to peace in Somalia. More imperialist meddling of the sort seen will not help. U.S hands off Somalia,” Eugene Puryear .
“They failed in Ethiopia and now they’re trying their luck in Somalia. No more regime change and interference,” Hashi.
“One advise from your neigbour, don’t ever invite any external forces to solve your internal problem. Get lesson from ethiopia. Be united, strong and set aside your political interest and fix your country’s problem first for the sake of your own people,” Ali Mohammed.
“The Elite understand only one language – their interest. They will continue to disrupt the peace in the horn of Africa if that’s in their interest. The only way to deal with them is to position yourself to be able to seriously compromise their interest,” Matigari.
“Why should the people of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the entire Horn of Africa region expect the US to stay away from meddling in the internal affairs of these countries? The U.S involvement will only exacerbate the situation and make it more difficult to find a solution,” Cherinet Daba.
This is not the first time the conduct of the U.S is questioned in the Horn of Africa. Some analysts have accused it of supporting the Tigray fighters who have killed and caused misery to thousands in the North of the country, with a selfish motive of removing the legitimate government.
The U.S, refused to recognize all efforts of the legitimate government to restore peace with the fighters, but instead continues to amplify a narrative as though the Ethiopian authorities orchestrated the conflict.
The Biden administration went as far as threatening to impose sanctions on Ethiopia. The U.S gave government and the rebels a few more weeks to engage in serious negotiations. Many wonder why Americans did not work with the legitimate government to defeat terrorists or at least condemn their rebellious activities.
At the start of November, The US Embassy in Addis Ababa called on all American citizens to leave Ethiopia “as soon as possible on grounds that the security environment in Ethiopia was very fluid. This was said at the time when only one region out of the ten in the country was at war. The motive, according to analysts, was sinister.