Somalia President dissolves Judicial Service Commission

MOGADISHU, Somalia, March 14, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Federal Government of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud dissolved Judicial Service Commission by a decree disclosed to the media on Saturday, Garowe Online reports.

President Mohamud said in the decree-dated March 11, 2015-that the decision was made on account of the rife injustices and public complaints over the reputation of commission members.

The sacking has not affected the Chief judge of the High Court Aideed Abdullahi Ilka Hanaf and Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir.

Reacting to the dissolution, the nine member-committee strongly opposed the decree, saying it goes against the Provisional Federal Constitution [PFC].

“It will create suspicion when you look at the time when [the president] has woken up to the dissolution. The commission would have been dissolved three years ago, we do understand why there had been a reluctance and the motives behind it,” Abdirahman Hosh Jibril, Federal MP said on VOA Somali service during Saturday interview.

The nascent judicial apparatus has been a bone of contention for persistent political infighting that saw two Prime Ministers ousted in two years.

Lawmakers in Somalia’s Federal Parliament protested the re-appointment of President Mohamud’s right hand man and former Justice Minister Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir in January.

Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke and the current Minister for Justice Gen. Abdullahi Ahmed Jama (Ilka Jiir) have not commented on the matter.

“As the expiration of presidential term draws closer, President Hassan wants to exert influence over judiciary and to pave the way to term extension by 2016,” an analyst who asked to remain anonymous told GO.

International community is concerned with the fate of vision 2016, with key backers including the US remaining dissatisfied with the slow pace of the country’s timetable towards democratic elections. 

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GAROWE ONLINE