Somalia: Puntland Presidential Guards stage strike over Salary

BOSSASO, Somalia Jan 26, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Presidential Security Unit (PSU) soldiers staged a strike at Bossaso palace over delayed pays as Puntland government ponders the installation of new note printing plant, Garowe Online reports.

The mutineers who cordoned off the entrances to Bossaso palace where President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali was holding a meeting are said to have not been paid for seven months.

Puntland Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Saed Mohamed Hirsi (Saed Dhere) intervened in the matter, telling the striking soldiers to wait for two-month salary.

Meanwhile, a statement released to the media by Puntland Finance Ministry revealed that civil servants and security forces will be paid on 25^th of every month.

Though Government noted that the payment will become effective in January 2015, it has not mentioned that it would pay off long overdue salaries at a later date.

Insiders tell GO that a group of businessmen including first deputy speaker of Parliament Abdihamid Sheikh Abdisalan  planned to set up note printing plant-a move that economists say could plunge the state into severe meltdown.  

In March 2014, Puntland Defence Forces in 54^th Somali army base staged similar mutiny, setting tires on fire and chanting for their military rights.

In early July, a 500-bed Danish-funded pirate complex in the state capital of Garowe came on the verge of closure but Puntland Custodian Corps Chief Gen. Ali Nur later denied reported substandard conditions in the prison facility in an emailed statement.

GAROWE ONLINE