Somalia’s internal Security Minister Abdi Mohamed Sabriye has declined to assent to the replacement of Mogadishu Mayor Thabit, sources told Radio Dalsan.
The Minister in accordance to the Somali Preliminary Constitution was ordered to communicate formally to Mayor Mohamed on his replacement but he declined according to an insider.
Mayor Mohamed’s replacement rumour was rife in the capital forcing a section of Mogadishu elders to convene an emergency meeting over the issue.
In a statement read at a Press Conference minutes after midnight the elders protested Fridays announcement by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo revocation of all land sale or lease backdating to February 2017.
Led by Imam Mohamed Yusuf the elders claim the move aimed at curtailing the powers of Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed as part of a conspiracy to frustrate him politically.
Mogadishu on Saturday woke up to tension with all main roads leading to the city center blocked by security forces anticipating pro-Mayor demonstrations.
The lockdown forced thousands of residents of the city to walk for long distance to reach their destinations including university students who were sitting for examinations.
Parliament on Saturday intervened on the issue of the status of Mogadishu which is at the center of a political standoff between Mayor Mohamed and Prime Minister Hassan Kheyre.
In a statement the Speaker of the Somalia Federal Parliament said a 13 member committee had been established to take up the issue.
The statement asserted that the status of Mogadishu will be determined in a constitutional process.
“Until reaching the conclusion of the constitutional review and creating special law on the position of the capital city by the Parliament, no other person has legal power on this matter” the statement said.
