The leader of Somalia’s opposition Wadajir Party, Abdishakur Abdirahman Warsame, has accused Qatar of trying to bribe regional state governments in order to support one of its preferred candidates in the 2020/21 elections.
On facebook page post posted on his official facebook page Opposition party leader, Abdishakur Abdirahman Warsame has warned Qatar against influencing Somalia’s 2020/2021 Elections.
Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, a former planning minister and outspoken government critic has urged the other presidential hopefuls to act of foreign powers bringing in suitcases filled with cash during elections.
Warsame said in a post on his Facebook page. “Qatar has changed its previous plan where it used to bring in suitcases filled with cash during elections in Somalia. Now, it has come up with a new tactic which it wants to use to support one of the Villa Somalia leaders in the 2020/21 elections,”
He added that “Qatar will provide financial support to any regional state that supports this plan while any state administration that opposes it will be strongly fought by Doha,” .
The former presidential candidate accused the government of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of accused of “failing to deliver” any of all promises he made during his 2017 election campaign
Warsame, an outspoken opposition leader and critic of the Federal Government, urged other candidates to oppose what he described as chaos and flagrant interference by the gas-rich Gulf state in Somalia.
“We urge the Somali people, especially those with eyeing positions in the 2020/21 polls, to unite in confronting the Qatari government’s chaos and flagrant interference in our country,” Warsame said.
The Somali opposition has in past accused Qatar, a gas-rich Gulf state, of interference in their country’s affairs and destabilizing the Horn of Africa nation by aiding militant groups.
A recent report by the New York Times has indicated that A terrorist incident that rocked the Somali port city of Bosaso last May was carried out by Qatar.
The al-Qaeda affiliate group Al Shabaab in Somalia claimed responsibility for the bombing but the New York Times report revealed details suggesting a Qatari role in the attack.
Doha has vehemently denied the charges.
By Hussein Jama
October 4, 2019
