Africa ReviewMonday, March 12, 2012
Those barred included the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the deputy health minister of the authority, Mr Abdullahi Mohamed Hassan, said.
The other organisations were named as Relief International and Sopfa, according to reports from Galkayo, the state's capital located some 750 km north of Mogadishu.
Mr Hassan said the groups had failed to register with the Ministry of Interior Affairs, whose minister Abshir Dini Awale accused them of contributing to insecurity in the region.
"Without registration, we could not trace their performances," said Mr Hassan.
Both ministers made simultaneous announcements ordering the aid agencies to immediately cease operations.
Galmudug officials have lately been calling for the agencies operating in the authority to register.
Galmudug, unlike Somaliland, does not seek to secede and considers itself a member of the larger federal Somalia.
Interference
But various authorities in Somalia, including Al-Shabaab, have tended to interfere with their humanitarian efforts, adding to the hardship of citizens burdened by years of conflict and unpredictable weather.
In a related development, Mr Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Sunday led a fact-finding delegation to Baidoa town, 240 km southwest of Mogadishu.
The town, the capital of the strategic Bay region, was in February seized from Al-Shabaab militants by pro-government forces aided by Ethiopian troops.
Al-Shabaab had banned the operations of many agencies, particularly UN organisations like the World Food Organisation (WFP), accusing them of spying for foreign powers and propping up the Transitional Federal Government that it seeks to depose.
The Islamist group in January also stopped the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from operating in areas of central and southern Somalia it controls.
"The officials led by Mr Mark Bowden included those from WHO, World Vision and UNOCHA and we gave them the necessary information for smooth collaboration," said Bay region governor Abdifatah Mohamed Gesey.
Mr Gesey said the visit by the officials was not political.