An impeachment move brought by lawmakers against Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has been rejected by deputy speakers of the country’s parliament.

A copy of the motion, seen by Reuters, lists as grounds for the impeachment an allegation that the president secretly signed agreements with other countries including Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The agreements touched on the use of Somali ports and economic and security cooperation, it said.

The rejection according to a Voice of America, VOA, journalist was premised on the basis that there was no top court to rule on the legality of the motion.

The two, Abdiweli Mudey and Mahad Awad held that the measure had the potential of causing unnecessary political conflict in the country.

A top official of Somali’s parliament administration confirmed on Sunday that he had filed a motion with the speaker of parliament to impeach the president.

“We have filed an impeachment against the president of the federal republic of Somalia,” Abdikarim H. Abdi Buh said in a statement.

Local media report that as at Monday morning, there were protests in the streets of the capital, Mogadishu, against the impeachment move. Farmaajo has been in charge since early 2017.

Constitutionally, 92 lawmakers have to sign such a motion for it to be submitted to the speaker. Parliament would have debated the motion if it was admitted.

Somalia’s parliament has 275 lawmakers in total. A successful impeachment vote requires the backing of two thirds of all MPs.

He was also accused of illegally extraditing alleged criminals to other countries and violating Somalia’s federalism law and the rules and regulations of parliament.

africanews.com