Below is an article published by SomalilandPress

The president of Somaliland, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Siilanyo) is expected to announce plan to reshuffle his cabinet in the next couple of days.  Unconfirmed reports from the government indicate that the president may break up existing cabinet’s positions and add some new ones.

There is no concrete news from the presidential palace that confirms this news. However sources close to the government has substantiated that the president will reshuffle his cabinet. Our sources added that the ministry of Interior Affairs will be broken down into: Ministry of Regional Development and Ministry of National Security. Our sources also added that two more ministries will be added to the current administration. Expanding the size of the government will go against the president’s pledge during the presidential campaign which was if elected that he will form smaller and more effective cabinet.

Although forming small cabinet was a cornerstone of his campaign, reducing number of ministerial positions was not popular among the president’s supporters and some regions in the country. There were number of small protests in some providence that demanded increase in the number of cabinet positions for under-represented tribes in the existing cabinet. It is not clear whether this reshuffling decision from the president comes to comply with political pressure from tribal leaders that the president has been receiving or out of operational necessity to make the government more effective.

It is not clear how many new cabinet positions will be added to current administration and how it will impact the current structure of the government. But most analyst think that reshuffling will affect Ministry of Interior Affairs, Ministry of Water and Minerals, Ministry of Public Work, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and heads of the National Police.

Possible candidates of new position are speculated to be academics and loyal supporter of Kulimye Party. Dr Mohamed Rashid Sheikh Hassan who is an adviser to the president, the first vice chairman of Kulmiye Party Abdoulrahman Abdoulkadir, Saleban Nouh, Prof Saleban Ahmed Guleid and Saleban Omar Ku-joog are expected to be appointed by the president in the current administration.

President Siilanyo, who is back from 17 days trip to the Arab countries, was asked about this reshuffling. The president said that he did not make any decision to reshuffle his government. He explained that it is part of government operations to reshuffle and adjust to demands of the time. Somalilandpress’s sources are confirming that president will announce new government in the next 48 hours.