The attempts by the Minister to meddle in FESTU’s affairs contravene ILO Conventions 87 & 98 of freedom of association and collective bargaining which underline that workers’ organizations shall organize freely; shall not be suspended by administrative authority; and shall enjoy adequate protection against any acts of interference.

It has come to our attention that since the ratification by the Federal Republic of Somalia of ILO Core Conventions and adoption of the Decent Work Country Programme, some officials of the Ministry Labour have been working to destabilise FESTU. Some of these officials in the
Ministry of labour have made it their habit to resort to letters in their attempt to discredit FESTU leadership and raise questions about their legitimacy ahead of the International Labour Conference (ILC) and other international meetings.

The Director General of the Ministry of Labour, Mr. Aweys Sheikh Hadaad made this attempt through his letter dated 13 April 2014 and the Minister of Labour, Mr Abdiweli Ibrahim Sheekh Mudey has also made the same through his letter dated 14 April 2015. In the meantime, we note that Minister of Labour Mudey is reported to have intervened in the selection of workers’ delegate to the 42nd session of the Arab Labour and is currently also involved in an effort to prevent FESTU from celebrating Labour Day on 1st May.

ITUC-Africa strongly condemns these efforts at interference as blatant attempts to violate freedom of association of workers. We express our solidarity with FESTU our affiliate and our support for Mr. Omar Farouk as the democratically elected General Secretary of the organization.

We urge Mr. Prime Minister to ensure that the Federal Republic of Somalia lives up to its obligations arising out of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 which the country has ratified and that FESTU and its elected leadership, including General Secretary Omar Farouk, be allowed to
carry out their legitimate functions and activities.

Yours Sincerely,

Kwasi Adu-Amankwah
GENERAL SECRETARY