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BALAD HAWO, Somalia -- A consultation forum for Gedo region was held in Beled-Hawo district from 26-30 August 2020. It was attended by delegations from all over the region including Jubaland deputy minister of interior Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein. The governor of Gedo region Osman Nuh Haji, first deputy governor for security and political affairs Mohamed Ali Hussein and second deputy governor for finance Nasteh Abdi Saleh and the head of social affairs of Gedo region Ibrahim Mohamed Gumow. The assembly was also attended deputy district commissioners and heads of district finance departments. In addition, the assembly was invited the district commissioners of Yurkud, Bohol-Garas and Geed-Weyne. In the meantime, the assembly attended military officers including Somali National Army 10th division commander General Mohamed Addow Sanka, the chief of internal security of the region Abdirahman Abdullahi Adan aka (Bakal Kooke) and federal police commissioner for Gedo Abdikadir Omar Bihi and number of distinguished guests including politicians, community elders, women and youth organizations in Beled-Hawo. During the meeting wide range issues were discussed including but not limited to security, finance, political, social affairs and good governance and the following points were agreed. 1. Security Due to the importance of peace in the region and neighbouring governments and the security developments made in Gedo regions in the recent past following points were underscored in the assembly discussions. a. Strengthening the security of Gedo region districts through community policing. b. Creating a close working relationship between the district administrations and military officials and carrying clearing operation against Al Shabab militia in Gedo region. c. Gedo administration forces in collaboration with the federal government army and AMISOM would carry an operation to recover Jubaland administrative city (Bu’alle) from Al Shabab. 2. Finance The assembly discussed making financial reforms of Gedo region administration and analysed the socio-economic factors surrounding the people, thus, in a skill full manner the assembly agreed to enhance the local revenue collection and after rounds of discussions the following was agreed. a. The assembly decided districts administration to follow and implement the financial policy of Gedo Administration which is based on auditable financial transparency in an accountable manner. b. The assembly underscored to create two funding accounts; one for basic social services and other for natural calamity response. c. The assembly welcomes local and foreign investors to explore natural resources available in the region and invest. 3. Political issues a. The assembly has grave concerns the political tensions left by the illegal (s)election of former president Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madoobe) who inaugurated himself in Kismayo. The people of Gedo region strongly reject the corrupted election procedure that led to the disastrous result and will never abandon their basic right of electing their representatives. Thus, Gedo administration and its people inform the Somalia Federal Government (FGS) and the International Community that Gedo the region is not represented by the illegal Kismayo administration led by Ahmed Madoobe its security, politics, local administration and social affairs until free and fair election held in Jubaland. Gedo region will execute its internal affairs independently. b. The assembly welcomes Samareb III election roadmap that allows each Regional State at least four (4) electoral constituencies and the election decentralization, the increase of the electoral college per seat to 301. Gedo administration in collaboration with the federal government is ready to facilitate and implement the election model agreed in Samareb III. c. Gedo Regional Administration is aware of an ongoing ill-advised effort to move the parliamentary seats of some of the constituencies in the region to other regions such as Kismayo. While considering the importance of people’s rights to elect their representatives, the Gedo Regional Administration calls upon the National Independent Electoral Commission to address this fundamental problem and move back those seats to their original constituencies in the Gedo Region. 4. Social Affairs and Good Governance a. in order to build people’s trust in public institutions and play an active role in the transformation of the region, it was agreed in the conference as a policy to work on unifying and harmonizing the civil society organizations. As such, the conference endorses the step taken by the journalists in the region to establish an association that represents them during the conference held in Dolow between 15th – 17th August 2020. b. The conference highlighted the importance of having a decentralized local governance system elected by the people in the region in order to bring government programs and service delivery closer to the people. A such, the conference calls upon the international community to provide necessary technical and financial support to the region’s plan to establish a decentralized local governance system. 5. Calls a. The concurrence delegates call upon the traditional leaders, elites and people of Puntland to give advice to Puntland Administration to abstain from their ill-advised and uncalled for interventions in the affairs of Jubbaland. These interventions are fanning the political disputes in the region and saws a further discord among the brotherly people of Jubbaland. It’s only the people of Jubbaland that can settle their disputes b. Since there is no inclusive the federal government in Jubbaland, the conference calls upon the International Community and the Federal Government of Somalia not to channel the international assistance only to Kismayo. We request that Gedo region’s right to humanitarian and development assistance is considered and its share channelled through the Regional Administration of Gedo. c. The conference delegates call upon the people of Gedo Region to have faith in their administration and closely collaborate with the security agencies. The conference also calls upon the Jubbaland diaspora community to provide financial support to the upcoming Jubbaland Conference to be held in Garbahaarray. d. The conference delegates call upon the Gedo diaspora community to actively participate in the development of the region and invest in natural resources in the region. In line with regional economic growth policies, the Regional Administration of Gedo guarantees the investors for the provision of the necessary security and freedoms to execute their activities in accordance with the laws of the land. e. The Regional Administration of Gedo and its security agencies extend pardon to the brainwashed youths assembled in a military barrack in Mandera. We call upon them to take advantage of this opportunity and peacefully return to their region. 6. Gratitude a. The conference delegates are grateful to the Federal Government of Somalia for playing a critical role in the social transformation and the development of public infrastructures in the region such as the rehabilitation of Baardheere bridge, the implementation of education projects and the response provided in the wake of the recent river Jubba flooding. b. The conference delegates are grateful to the voluntary committees comprised of the Somali diaspora, the Al-Rahma humanitarian agency and others who took part in the response to the river Jubba floods that erupted Baardheere recently. c. The conference Delegates are grateful to the brotherly people of Mandera, Kenya for halting the ill-advised activities of Abdirashid Janan and his masters in Nairobi and Kismayo to create widespread conflict in the Mandera and Gedo regions. d. Finally, the conference delegates are grateful to the security agencies and the different committees that made the conference possible such as the Planning Committee, Technical Committee, Public Relations Committee, and the people of Beled-Hawo district who funded the conference. END