Mogadishu (UM) – President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Famaajo met with President Ismael Omar Guelleh in Djibouti yesterday as part of his two day visit to the country and is due to travel to Turkey to meet with President Erdogan.
The two presidents met in the presidential palace and discussed strengthening bilateral ties and cementing the close relations between the two countries according to Villa Somalia sources.
The sudden announcement of the visit to Djibouti by Villa Somalia Wednesday evening gave rise to a mixed public reaction. Many interviewed by UM on this matter felt that the President’s visit to Djibouti to appease President Ismael Omar Guelleh after his visit to Eritrea was not the right move.
“This government’s Foreign Policy is messed up, it has no base or direction. Somalia is a sovereign country and does not need to make Djibouti happy all the time,” said Barkhadle Mohamed, a business owner. “Somalia and Djibouti are brothers but Djibouti cannot force us to do what it wants. They must remember what we did for them in their struggle for freedom.”
“Somalia clearly feels guilty about Eritrea but instead of appeasing the Djibouti president which I think they are doing today, they should be honest and say Somalia is sovereign and needs the support of all its neighbours without bowing down to any external pressure. What is wrong with this? Djibouti has benefited from our destruction, just look at their port,” said a Foreign Ministry official who did not want to be named. “Djibouti and Somalia are brothers but regional stability is important for all of the Horn of Africa and Somali must work on it for its own benefit not to please others.”
Other interviewees felt that the special bond between Somalia and Djibouti warranted the visit given the confusion the President’s Eritrea visit caused.
“Djibouti supported Somalia during tough times and we owe them the same way they owe us. We are also the same people and because of this, we must be sensitive to each other’s concerns,” said Hawa Ahmed, a school teacher in Mogadishu.
Many interviewed by UM felt that the President’s call to lift international sanctions from Eritrea during his visit was premature and the main reason why Djibouti, which claims Eritrea is occupying parts of its territory, became upset. Most felt that the President ought to have offered the opportunity to mediate between the two sides to normalize their relations. Many more felt that both sides were outsmarted by Ethiopia which is now seeking to lead the mediation process between Eritrea and Djibouti.
“Ethiopia is a master opportunist and this scenario proves it. Ethiopia first used Djibouti, is now using Eritrea and has got Somalia into difficulty with its own brother,” said Samatar Kaahiye, a visitor from Finland in Mogadishu. “The Somali government must have a policy on these things which it sticks to otherwise there will be many more of these problems ahead.”
“Why would a President with his own UN Sanctions to deal with advocate for another’s to be lifted? It is hard to imagine how easily these regional crises can be caused because of these silly actions,” said a university professor who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Eritrea and Somalia are in the same UN Monitoring report and still President Farmaajo asks for sanctions to be lifted. Why did he create an issue with Djibouti by saying something he has no control over? Why is there no strategy which the Foreign Ministry can enforce across the government?”
Before this visit, a delegation led by the Eritrean Foreign Minister visited Mogadishu to discuss bilateral agreements with the Somali government which reinforced the agreement of cooperation reached in Eritrea between the two Governments.