Ports Manager says Somaliland leases naval base to Ethiopia like other nations, but not a port

Berbera(Mogadishu24)-General Manager of the Somaliland Ports Authority, Said Hassan Abdilahi provided different interpretation about the Memorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and Somaliland on January 1^st last week, calling people against the deal as their enemy.

Speaking to a local TV Station at Berbera Port Sunday, the manager said that the Somaliland’s MoU with Ethiopia was to hire naval base to Ethiopia, denying the port deal at Lughaye in the region.

“Ethiopia is to be given a naval base as well as other nations like the U.S, United Arab Emirates and Taiwan, but it’s not a port deal, the MoU will pass through legal process at Parliament. Port is Berbera one in which we intend to a trade hub for whole region including Ethiopia and South-Sudan”, Said Abdilahi said.

“We have been without recognition for the past 32 years, we and Somalia were separated during this period already, therefore, why are getting into this contract is to get recognition, and get major investment for the Berbera port”, he added.

This comes as two days after President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sh. Mohamud signed a law nullifying the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ethiopian and Somaliland, leasing 20 kilometers of sea access to Ethiopia.

It also come as Somaliland faces domestic and international pressures regarding to the rejection of the MoU with Ethiopian Government while thousands of protesters took to the streets at major cities in the region in the past two days.