(SomaliNet) Hundreds of Baydhabo residents took their anger and frustration with the current political process in Somalia to the streets today in a peaceful demonstration, chanting “Jowhar cannot decide our future and similar slogans.
Baydhabo is the capital of Bay province, whose politicians are divided, one group supporting the new government in Jowhar and the other headed by the speaker of the national parliament who is very close to Mogadishu faction leaders who oppose the interim government. Speaker Sharif Hassan has been out of the country most of his time in his tenure.
Baydhabo was selected to become Somalia’s temporary capital twice in the past five years, once in Djibouti reconciliation conference in 2000 and again last year in Nairobi Kenya. In 2000, then Somali president, Abdulkasim Hassan bypassed the constitution and took his government to Mogadishu where had more support. Last year, one of the local faction leaders who was not happy with the outcome of Nairobi conference captured the city and told the new government not to relocate there. As a result, the interim government relocated to Jowhar, ninety miles northeast of Mogadishu.
Jowhar is now growing very fast while Baydhabo’s security situation has been deteriorating over the past several months.