By Mohamed Yabarag
“Waaba beryey, bilicsan, arooryo baxsan, maalin boqran”, Ali Sugule.
In response to the continuing demand by the Somali people for security, peace, good governance and fairly a decent standard of living history was made on the 8th February, 2017 when Somali parliamentarians had finally kicked the ghost of tribalism, division, nepotism and corruption out of Villa Somalia and ushered in an era of peace and patriotism by electing Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo (a former prime minister) as the new president of Somalia. The new president did not only earn the trust of Somali MPs, but he also earned the trust of Somali people. Had there been one man, one vote there would have been a day light between him and his fellow contenders in this presidential race, contrary to some media reports.
President Farmaajo has a proven track record for serving his people instead of lining his pocket for a big loot. During his tenure in office as a first minister in the late 2010 and early 2011 under Sheikh Sharif, President Mohamed has shown his ability and political acumen to reach out all Somalis regardless of their political and tribal persuasions by forming the most capable and highly qualified cabinet in recent Somali history, according to people who observe Somali politics.
President Mohamed Farmaajo was the first to introduce a payroll system for government employees, in particular the civil service and the long suffering and often neglected Somali national army and other security forces. He succeeded driving Al Shabaab, the vicious Somali terror group affiliated with Al Qaeda, out of Mogadishu. He was on his way of building an effective and sustainable Somali national army to replace the ineffective and scandalous-ridden AMISOM army from Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, etc.
Fearful of losing income for their troops, this bold move had angered the troop contributing countries, prompting Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, to give an ultimatum to Prime Minister Farmaajo to leave office, or face the risk associated with his lack of cooperation (as he put it) in the infamous so-called Kampala Accord. This must have been the lowest point in our history when a tin pot dictator had so simply gotten rid of one of our promising leaders. To add insult to injury, this treacherous move was supported by the manipulative and conniving speaker of parliament, Sharif the knife, the current president of Southwest Somalia and the feeble and the ineffective president at the time, Sheikh Sharif, whose attempt to make a political comeback on the tame promise that he gets things right this time around had suffered a massive blow at the hands of the newly-elected Somali MPs. I was one of the few disappointed and concerned Somali nationals who jotted a few lines (an article) about the abrupt departure of premier Farmaajo on Wardheernews.com.
Now the election is behind us and President Farmaajo is in office facing the most daunting task of re-building and reconstituting a broken country, let us stop celebrating this sweet victory for a moment and start working together as a nation and as a unit. Let us not allow this great momentum slip our fingers and pass without acting upon. Like we did in 1960, let us put our tribal difference aside for a moment and focus on improving the lives of our long-suffering people.
Let us now show the world that Somalis may be down for the best part of the last 20 years, but not out. Let us stop being the laughing stock of the world stage and obliterate the negative statistics that were synonymous with us for the past two decades. Somalis are known for their hard work, perseverance, endurance and entrepreneurship and any nation suffered half of what we had gone through in the past two decades would have disappeared from the face of earth. Let us capitalize these good traits that are our hallmarks and move forward. Somalis of all persuasions, colour and creed should come in unison to help the new president face this mammoth task head-on. Without the support of the newly-elected parliamentarians (both houses), government officials, security and police forces, the Diaspora community and civil society, our aspiration to stand on our own feet will be futile and all our celebrations and rejoicing in the past week will come to naught. Failure to do so will be another ‘I told-you-so’ and wicked and frowning smiles from our enemies akin to that uttered by Emperor Haile Selassie when we gained independence in June, 1960 where he reportedly said Somalis will never be a viable state. He continued to say, rather derogatorily, that if we become donkeys will grow horns.
My hunch feeling is that President Farmaajo will appoint a qualified and capable prime minister who understands the enormity of the task ahead and who, in turn, forms an all-inclusive government of technocrats that wastes no time in starting the job forthwith. The new government should ensure that a Somali National Army (SNA) together with a capable security force, fit for purpose, are built and equipped to prepare to take over from AMISOM. We cannot forever rely on AMISOM for our own security. Re-building and strengthening the three branches of the state should also be on the top of the must-do list, followed by bottom-up institution-building. A proper national reconciliation similar to that of South Africa must take place in the immediate future. This list goes on and on. The task ahead in a country like us recovering from decades of war and civil strife is huge, but they are not insurmountable. Our country has sufficient resources, including a human capital, to feed its people. With the right leaders, hard work and proper planning and a little bit of patriotism and less corruption, these tasks are doable.
In conclusion, our gratitude and appreciation should go to those I describe unsung heroes who facilitated the peaceful transfer of power in Villa Somalia: the Speaker of parliament, Somali MPS, the media, civil societies and, above all, Dr. Abdirahman Baile, the chairman of the election commission and former foreign minister, together with professor Abdi Samatar who tirelessly worked behind the scenes to ensure that a relatively free and fair election is conducted. A credit also goes to the Speaker of the newly inaugurated Upper House, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi, who conducted himself gracefully and ensured that general Gabre, the de facto governor general of Ethiopia in Somalia, and his foreign entourage are kept at pay. It is a win, win situation. Long live Somalia. Ha noolaatoo Soomaaliya.
Mohamed Yabarag
Email: [email protected]
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