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The newly chosen president of Somalia seems to have joined the parade of transitional head of states who were crowned by foreigners in a foreign soil, only to pass without any positive trace on the ground. Like his predecessors, President Sharif's rise for sure generates hope and euphoria among the Somali people who are desperate for any kind of a leader who can guarantee them some semblance of peace irrespective of his political orientation- secular or religious.
The local and international media is reiterating the old-age lip service support that the international community had always promised (USA, UN, AU). But this kind of talk and verbal expression costs donors nothing, and when all these governments fail they conveniently blame the president and the Somalis, when the going gets tough, for not putting their house in order. Sharif is currently campaigning to get a strong AU troops to prop up his enlarged TFG, like the previous TFG/TNG head of states, to secure a foot hold in the country he is just sworn to rule. It is no surprise that he started to deny today what he said yesterday in Addis Ababa, that "I need a strong army to crush the parties against the peace”. He is the first president who made such vital fundamental policy mistake in his first official engagement. Brief Background to Sharif’s - the real person The new president’s political credentials is limited to acting as the chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts which was an ad hock umbrella organization for diverse but small scale district level courts in Mogadishu. I have to elucidate that Somalia is not Mogadishu, the UIC sphere of influence, and that Mogadishu is but one city of the multitudes of cities in Somalia that has failed to get peace with itself. The short-lived, six months to be exact, UIC was a product of spontaneous reaction against CIA-financed warlords who turned into head-hunters of the clergy on the false pretext that the later were hiding three alleged al-Qaeda linked members, who were accused by the Americans of being behind the bombing of US embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The UIC members were from all sects or schools of the religious orders in Somalia and although peace was secured in the meantime divisions where visible as too many conflicting orders or Fatwa’s were seen floating all over the place. The UIC was culled prematurely by the Ethiopian invasion, although the early signs of disintegration were already in the making. The president who was by then the chairman of the executive committee was believed to have been against the Islamic court’s attacks of the TFG base in Baidabo. Despite intermittent attacks, the UIC wasn’t a political organization per se because it had neither a charter nor other specialist instruments – chain of command and the likes. The Sharif seems to have the predisposition of excessive love to be on the spotlight no matter the cost and also a debilitating sickness of not gauging the feelings of his compatriots. Indeed, Sharif was the only one who was single handedly communicating with the CIA when the Americans were raining hell on his colleagues and innocent poor camel herders in the jungles of Kismayo. He was given temporary sanctuary in one of the sought after hotels in Nairobi where he enjoyed the high life, regularly entertaining the media to the tune the CIA paid for – the moderate Islamic leader. Shortly after the Sharif again rushed to start negotiations, in Khartum, with the TFG when even the TFG had no real incentive to deal with the ARS other than to appease the international community. He was rebuffed and reprimanded by the ARS as he didn’t have their unequivocal consent and mandate before hand and due to mitigating circumstances at the time the ARS preferred to keep his blunders in their basement. Once more to feed his craving for media attention, he betrayed his ARS party by curving out ARS- Djibouti - which is mainly him and some of the opportunist politicians - to start negotiations with an already dying TFG that became a liability to its sponsors. The Sharif played, let us hope, his final dirty trick in what is duped as Djibouti power-sharing summit which has no precedence in the Somali political history. Power sharing makes sense when there are two parties, but in Djibouti it was the Sharif’s one man show venue because the so called TFG was dead politically and militarily and was in no fit state to partake a negotiation of any sort. Due to manipulations of foreign nations the Sharif, darling of the west, was given 200 votes to populate according to his liking as long as it is within the 4.5 formula. It took him no time to recruit unemployed people who has no loyalty to no body but to him and who represent no one but themselves. I am sure no self respecting person will ever try to ascend to the president’s office in deception of the highest standard as Sharif had done in a broad day light. TFG made in his image – worries no one but him The ARS – Asmara and their allies declared that they don’t recognize Sharif’s government as it is formed merely to lend a new lease of life to the TFG they defeated. The ARS never trusted him from the beginning as he was understood to be a mole planted among them so their dealings with him were cautious, superficial and limited in scope. His departure from the real ARS by his own choice was a big relieve as it saved the party from pushing him out. The CIA which groomed him is for sure aware that he can’t survive but is using him as a sacrificial lamb to give them a better picture, broad based government, for their exit from the failed TFG project. The Ethiopians, after their failure of installing the puppet TFG or defeating the insurgency, banked that the Somalis will start decimating themselves if enough fighting ground is given to them knowing the Sharif’s TFG is a toothless dog. The Somali people, although they knew inside out that this Sharif’s TFG is defunct,they were praying for God’s miracle, in desperation, to descend from heaven to transform it into acceptable form because the alternative is some thing they are afraid even to imagine.
No power vacuum – hands off - the Islamists already run the country As a consequences, the twin raid of Ethiopia and America in December 2006, contrary to its objective, can be perceived as a blessing in disguise as it accelerated the formation of the first indigenous resistance forces- Al- Shabab, Ras – Camboni and some others who all share the common trait of transcending across the clan lines. These organizations are a new breed, empowered exclusively by the generations who grow up during the chaos of the past twenty years and who have seen on first hand account the ineffectiveness of foreign sponsored transitional governments. Their rank and file is occupied by the pick of the nation – young, free from drugs, well versed in their political agendas and principles which the Somalia has not seen before as they divorced themselves from the core of the Somali political setting – tribalism and clanism. The Al- Shabab and their allies appeal to most of the commoners at street level as their philosophy is based on egalitarianism which rewards one according to his ability and performance contrary to the blind barbaric backward tribalism which dejects all forms of progress. They won the hearts and minds of the people of the southern and central regions through the exercise of justice and production of water tight peace which no one can even contemplate to loose as the alternative is the notoriety of Warlordism and tribal fighting which the Sharif is gearing to symbolize in the near future if he stays in his current course. Extending - an olive leaf to the Sharif It is clear that you can’t get any foreign troops to prop up your government as no nation including the US can afford to send their sons to be slaughtered in Somalia ever again. Unilateral US intervention in the Christmas of 1992 ended with the black hawk down, UNISOM intervention ended in failure and the TFG military police, Ethiopians were chased away in disgrace and the small contingent of mainly Ugandan remnants are to leave soon with or without your blessings. The repatriation of the 1600 Ugandan contingent in Mogadishu was a motion tabled by the opposition’s chief whip Kassiano Wadri on the 3rd of February this week. The case was debated in the Ugandan parliament in a very serious way and the consensus was - there is no peace to keep in Somalia and that the contingent’s mandate is becoming increasingly blurring by the hour. The killing of innocent civilians by their army which has become an international issue for most of human rights organizations is not helping either. If we ponder about local chances which might give an opening to your government almost all tests are returning the same results - chances are curiously minute which can’t unfortunately in any way give you a good quantifiable reading. The nation is either ignorant about your new government – Somaliland and Puntland- or debating whether you are in or out of the folds of Islam. Your current political misadventure has disillusioned the clergy as some are issuing Fatwa’s which takes you and your colleagues, in the TFG, out of the immunity of the religion while others are of the opinion that you should be given a chance to repent and still some see that you are to be given an opportunity to sit with your old friends, that you are alleged to have betrayed, to present your case as an individual among the learned people to judge your common sense which most view as weird. The over all concurrence of the Islamists of all colours and creeds boil in to one thing – a new Islamic none secular sharia based government is the only option which can unite the Somalis. Contrary to the expectations of the enemies of the nation, there is no sign of power vacuum of any sort and there is no immediate effect your government had in the daily life of the nation other than confusion and fear of what might become of you at the end of the game. The country is run by the same Islamists who liberated it from the foreign forces and their stooges (TFG), and you can’t disagree with the author that for quite a time the poor Somali people are sleeping in peace from Bula Hawa to the central regions without fear of rape or raids. The serenity your people are enjoying came with high price tag paid for by the blood of the martyrs – the fighters and their civilian equals. The cadres of the Islamists are willing to die to defend their political and military achievements until their principle in establishing an Islamic government is realized. Conclusion The support you have so far gained is an empty promise from so called elders of Hawiya, within and without, who have no mandate to represent or to speak on behalf of the tribes. Their rhetoric only served to antagonize the other tribes and individuals who call Mogadishu their home as Mogadishu was a cosmopolitan city. I am a graduate from Shabeele Mennonite Mission School in Jowhar and grow up in Mogadishu and I detest the tribalism and racism your supporters are showing to attract your attention. Your camp is splitting brothers and sisters and encouraging new value which could take Somalia further down the path of hopelessness. I deplore your camp’s Nazi - like propaganda which if it gets its way can irreversibly strip my rights, like so many, and roots from Mogadishu as Mogadishu is redefined to belong to Hawiye. For the sake of your own people please come back to your senses and understand once that you and your government as it stands have no place in Somalia. By staying away from Somalia or alternatively dumping your toxic TFG cargo will give the Somalis an opportunity to reconcile, elect their own president and run their country in the style of their choosing with in their country. _______________________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com So please email your article today Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of WardheerNews |
