Monday April 8, 2019
Minister of Education, Abdullahi Godah Barreh accuses a fellow lawmaker of working with Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militants. PHOTO: Screengrab/ Goobjoog. *Click the image for the full video (Somali)*
Mogadishu (HOL) - A Somali MP has promised to sue the country’s education minister on Sunday over remarks linking the lawmaker to Al-Shabaab.
Speaking to reporters after the fracas in Parliament, The Minister of Education, Abdullahi Godah Barreh said the highly- anticipated parliamentary session focused on security was called off due to the influence of MPs who secretly support Al-Shabaab.
"Al-Shabaab wanted this chaos in parliament to happen. This was made possible by MPs who's thinking aligns with Al-Shabaab ideology," the Minister said.
"The people of Somalia have seen firsthand today that these (Al-Shabaab) agents have refused to discuss the current security situation openly."
The Minister went on to say that the MPs whom he alleges work for Al-Shabaab have sent a clear message to Parliament.
In the middle of his televised statement, Yusuf Hussein Ahmed, an MP representing Hirshabelle, walked into frame and said something inaudible to Godah who in turn replied: "He is one of them, here is one of the MPS who work for Al-Shabaab."
At the time, Ahmed laughed off the accusation but now says he will file a civil case against the minister.
Speaking to the media, MP Ahmed said he is cooperating with several other lawmakers to hold Minister Godah account.
"We will sue him and we will not let him get away, we will continue until his parliamentary immunity is stripped and is arraigned in court,” he said.
Minister Godah's remarks come after a parliamentary session was cancelled after a group of MPs successfully petitioned to have journalists removed from Parliament while MPS discussed the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Mogadishu. The decision to cancel the hearing was not taken lightly as several MPs argued that the journalists and the wider Somali public should not be kept in the dark.
The Minister of Internal Security, the Defense Minister, the police commissioner, the commander of the SNA and the intelligence chief were asked to appear before Parliament to face questions on the uptick in violent attacks perpetrated by Al-Shabaab in the capital.
Mogadishu witnessed one of the bloodiest weeks of violence in the last week of March with seven attacks in as many days. The terror attacks by Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab left 36 people dead and scores more injured. The majority of those killed were civilians. In response to the attacks, government and security officials have vowed to meet the militants with force and declared a state of emergency in an attempt to flush out Al-Shabaab fighters.
The Speaker of Parliament has called off the session until further notice.