MOGADISHU: Somalia鈥檚 Parliament has declared 鈥渘ull and void鈥� a port deal signed by breakaway Somaliland that has raised tensions between Mogadishu and Hargeisa.
Dubai-based DP World this month struck a deal giving Ethiopia a 19-percent stake in Somaliland鈥檚 Berbera port.
The move has angered Somalia, which does not recognize Somaliland鈥檚 long-standing claim of independence and has a history of animosity with Ethiopia.
Declaring the deal unconstitutional and therefore 鈥渘ull and void鈥� Mogadishu鈥檚 Parliament on Monday asserted in a resolution: 鈥淚t is only the Federal Government of Somalia that can engage in international deals.鈥�
鈥淎ll ports, and airports in the country are national property and ... no one can privately claim ownership,鈥� it said, after 168 out of 170 MPs voted the deal down. The resolution went on to ban DP World from operating anywhere in Somalia.
鈥淭he DP World company intentionally violated the sovereignty of Somalia, so this company is banned completely from operating in Somalia,鈥� the Parliament said.
The company currently manages Bossaso port in semi-autonomous Puntland, as well as Berbera.
It is unclear how Mogadishu would enforce the proposed ban, nor whether President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed will assent to it.
Last month, the UAE infrastructure giant accused Djibouti of illegally seizing the Doraleh container terminal, the main transit route to landlocked Ethiopia.
The company plans to invest $442 million developing Berbera on the Gulf of Aden shipping route, and has retained a majority 51-percent share in the port. The remaining 30 percent is owned by Somaliland鈥檚 government.
Somaliland鈥檚 Foreign Minister Sacad Ali Shire defended both the initial deal with DP World, signed in 2016, and the recent buy-in by Ethiopia, which hopes the Berbera corridor will offer it another route to the sea for imports and exports.
鈥淭he deal was bilateral, one initially between DP world and Somaliland, and both of them have the right to sell their shares if the other side agrees. That is the basis under which Ethiopia is allowed to join,鈥� he told reporters in Hargeisa on Sunday.
The Mogadishu parliamentary statement ratchets up tensions between Somalia and its breakaway northwestern region whose independence claim since 1991 has gone unrecognized.
Somaliland鈥檚 President Muse Bihi Abdi has taken a defiant stance toward Somalia over the port.
鈥淲e are ready to defend our sovereignty from this invasion,鈥� he said last week.
鈥淪omaliland has the right to decide what deals to engage in, without consulting anyone.鈥�