Monday May 11, 2020
FILE - Senator Iftin Hassan Baasto (LEFT) and Senator Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag (RIGHT) were removed from a plane travelling to Kismayo on Sunday
Mogadishu (HOL) - Two Senators and a former government spokesperson from the Jubaland region were forced to disembark from a Kismayo-bound aircraft transporting the body of Jubaland minister of education, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamud on Sunday.
Senator Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Fartaag), Senator Iftin Hassan (Baasto) and Ahmed Arab, the former Jubaland government spokesperson had been escorting the minister's body after it arrived from India for burial.
The plane carrying the senators was about to taxi down the run-way at Aden Adde Airport when authorities ordered its halt to eject the senators.
After some deliberations, Ahmed Arab was cleared by authorities to reboard the aircraft and travel to Kismayo.
One of the senators, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail (Fartaag), told local media that he was barred from travelling to Kismayo because he comes from the same clan as President Farmajo.
Fartaag added that both the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and NISA authorized the removal of the senators from the plane.
Fartaag told HOL that there were several lawmakers on the plane, but he feels he was targeted for removal. He added that he raised his concerns with the leaders of both houses of government and will challenge the removal in court.
The move to bar the senators today is the third instance in which the federal government has been accused of exercising overreach to tame political opponents through air transport. Former President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed was barred from travelling to Kismayo last September for the inauguration of Jubbaland minister Ahmed Madobe.
A month later in October, President Ahmed and his successor President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud alongside several parliamentarians were held for several hours from travelling to Beletweyne to deliver relief supplies to floods victims. They were later allowed to proceed after spending several hours at the airport.