Event
- Wednesday 12th August 2015, more than 100 Somalia Parliamentarians tabled an impeachment motion against President Hassan accusing of exceeding his constitutional powers.
- The Somali lawmakers have been delegating on that censure motion for last six months.
- The MPs accuse the President of rampant corruption, political nepotism and incompetence on his leadership since he assumed office in 2012.
- Last year (2014) the Somali MPs had called for the President to step down after failing to address the issue of growing insecurity. However, the president managed to divide the lawmakers who had tabled a no-confidence motion against him.
- Thursday 13th August, the President on a press conference urged MPs to cool down citing the impeachment motion to remove him from power will be a major setback to the country’s progress and the government plans.
Analysis
Over 100 Somalia lawmakers have submitted a censure motion to the speaker of the federal parliament seeking to impeach President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Since the President came to power in 2012, the MPs allege he has not lived up to the expectation of the Somali people.
The President has been accused of contravening the constitution, nepotism, lacks leadership skills and condones corruption.
According to Abdirahman Hoshi Ibrahim, a Member of Parliament who is among the legislatures that submitted the censure motion said the president has failed to bring changes in the country. The MP even declared that they have evidence to support their censure motion (argument).
The MPs also allege the President has manipulated the independent commissions that were set up the constitution. Somali legislatures have documented set of instances where the President failed to uphold the basic human rights of the Somali people.
Forecast
According to reports, the no-confidence motion was signed by a total of 115-MPs, impeaching the President would require the submission of a notice signed by not less than one third of the Parliament eligible to vote to the speaker of Parliament for the process to get underway.
Obtaining the minimum number of 125 signatures will be a massive boost for the MPs censure motion to sail trough.
The Somali legislatures censure motion to remove their President may put the country under vulnerability of insecurity and insubordination in case the motion sails through.
Somali federal Parliament is constituted on the basis of clans, thus the parliament barely debates on national issues unless it touches on the clan’s interest.
This situation may work against the country’s gains if the clan politics features in. Clan allied to the President may side with their own, rift between clans may pose potential crisis in the future.
Despite surviving Motions of No confidence in the past, members of the President’s office quietly admit that this action against the President came as a surprise and is very different from those of the past.
