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In a short note titled “A Perilous Impasse in Somalia” which was published on a few Somali websites, Abdirazak H. Hussen; the former Somali prime minister (1964-67) wrote among other things: “It has been more than eight months since the TFG was established in Nairobi, but the leadership has yet to translate that mandate into a functioning government inside the country. Keen observers consider the pattern of developments to mirror that which followed all previous peace conferences and fear the fate of the TFG might be as grim as earlier dispensations.” I agree with the former Somali prime minister that the transitional federal government should have been fully installed in Mogadishu with a complete operational capacity by now; however, what Abdirazak H. Hussen failed to do is to tell the Somali people the reason why the government is still unable to assert its legitimate authority in the capital and restore law and order as expected by the overwhelming majority of the Somali people both in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country. Paradoxically, Abdirazak H. Hussen contradicts his above statement by saying “In the absence of a national security force(s) that could adequately guarantee security in Mogadishu, it will be foolhardy to contemplate relocating the incipient organs of government in such an environment. Realistically, it will take at least a year, given current conditions, to create a nucleus of sufficiently trained, equipped, and mentally de-tribalized police force.” It seems to me that Abdirazak H. Hussen is really trying hard to say something meaningful; unfortunately, I do not believe that even he understands the incoherent and contradictory nature of his arguments. Perhaps there is a subliminal or coded political message that only he and his like-minded people could decipher. I cannot tell. However, one thing is certain that he is desperately trying to convey a political message in spite of the confusing and somewhat circular arguments he has put forward. As the saying goes “Boog dusha lagama Dhayo”, and if we are really serious about overcoming the current political deadlock in our beloved country, we must not only show better political judgment and critical thinking but more importantly we must be prepared to accept facts. Even if those facts are in conflict with our own political perceptions, thus cannot be reconciled with the futile pursuit of the myopic clan interests. In other words, we must all be intellectually honest with ourselves and with our people. Unfortunately, Abdirazak H. Hussen's note failed in all those three accounts. Following are few points elucidating above argument: First, Abdirazak H. Hussen's note clearly shows poor political and moral judgments by blaming the victim, in this case, President Abdullahi Yusuf and his government, for the mistakes others made. Namely, political miscalculations, strategic blunders and the serious security problems created by the destructive Mogadishu warlords, Sharif Hassan and all the other tribalists in Somalia who are trying so hard to derail the Somali peace process for personal greed and myopic tribalist political agendas. He also uses vague phrases such as “keen observers” without telling us who those keen observers are. Perhaps he is trying to quote himself in disguise. Second, Abdirazak H. Hussen made some vague, incoherent and intellectually weak sketches of the current political and security impediments facing the transitional federal government and the Somali people in general. Unfortunately, he failed to offer any alternative remedies for those serious obstacles facing our people and country. Hence, he is doing what most Somalis do: just talking the talk without walking the walk! Third, it seems to me that Abdirazak H. Hussen woke up one morning with an impetuous urge to shout “tolaay ka soo kacaay” Col. Abdullahi Yusuf is becoming president for our republic without critically examining the implications of his actions. As a former high ranking Somali politician, Abdirazak H. Hussen should do better than this. He should know that his actions and words do indeed matter. At least, I thought his actions did matter before he forged doomed political alliance with the destructive Mogadishu warlords and their alliance including the run-away (former) Speaker of the Somali federal parliament. Abdirazak H. Hussen wrote: “Since a better alternative can hardly be improvised at this stage, it is vital that every effort should be made to turn a calamitous civil war into a win for all of us by transforming the nominal TFG into a functioning transitional government. Four factors mark the rift that divides the two political camps, apart from the unspoken tribalistic sentiments that fuel inherent mistrust.” As the above statement indicates, Abdirazak H. Hussen acknowledges the fact that there is indeed no viable alternative at all to the current transitional government headed my President Abdullahi Yusuf. To his credit he also says that Abdulahi Yusuf's government must be transformed into a “functioning government”. Yet, his point of view is evidently an echo of what was repeatedly argued by those whose sole mission is to dismantle the government, destroy the Somali peace accord and in the process plunge the country into a new bloody civil war. It appears that Abdirazak H. Hussen is trying to forge political marriage with those warlords whose sole purpose is to destroy Somali peace process so that they could complete their illegal quest to take over the transitional federal government. Their vision is to impose an undemocratic and a dictatorial system of government presided by the warlords. That system is to be maintained through the terror machine of the warlords' tribal militias. Clearly, this is contrary to the hopes and political aspirations of the Somali people, which were expressed through the ballot-box after fifteen years of lonely quest to restore the collapsed Somali state which culminated with the election of Abdullahi Yusuf as the president of the transitional federal government.
If Abdirazak H. Hussen believes that there is no alternative to the current transitional government headed by President Abdullahi Yusuf as indicated by above extracts from his note, then logic would dictate for him to support the government to succeed. Indeed, he should at the very least stop being a destructive force that is undermining the efforts others including the President are making so that the peace process would move forward successfully. Unfortunately, he is in an assiduous campaign to destabilize the transitional federal government by doing everything he can to discredit Abdullahi Yusuf personally and thus weaken President's ability to gather wider public support for his political agendas. In essence, Abdirazak H. Hussen's strategy is to destroy or at the very least weaken President Abdullahi Yusuf politically so that the rest of government could collapse like a domino. This should not be allowed to happen at any cost. The agony of our people must end. And it will only end if the current transitional federal government succeeds. Abdirazak H. Hussen wrote: “It is legitimate to insist that the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) should be relocated to the capital – Mogadishu – and not elsewhere, as stipulated in the Transitional Federal Charter. But, security and peace in Mogadishu and vicinity is a necessary prerequisite for such relocation to occur.” It seems to me that Abdirazak H. Hussen is asking the President to do the impossible. He acknowledges the fact that “security and peace in Mogadishu and vicinity is a necessary prerequisite for such relocation to occur” . Yet, he is asking the President to commit political suicide and move the government into Mogadishu without the necessary security and protection in place. The fact of the matter is that there is no proper security in place in Mogadishu . The warlords are still refusing to lay down their arms and disband their private tribal militias. How could he then accuse the President of playing politics by not coming to Mogadishu ? It does not make sense to any sane person! Does it? It seems to me that the former prime minister is singing a song that he does not really understand. Let's be fair here and express intellectual honestly by stating some facts: First, we must remember that President Abdullahi Yusuf did not on his own choosing decide to take the Somali transitional federal government to Jowhar. Indeed, the president to his credit, made it clear when he first visited Jowhar that the Somali capital is Mogadishu and it should remain so for the foreseeable future. Hence, the cheap and flawed argument made by the warlords and their supporters including Abdirazak H. Hussen that President Abdullahi Yusuf does not want to move his government to Mogadishu is false and misleading. (As a short digression, if anyone cares to know my opinions about where a future Somali capital should be located, I can tell you that I believe the best place would be Goday in Ogadenia, once Western Somalia and NFD are freed from the illegal Ethiopian and Kenyan occupations respectively. I will leave my reasons for the selection for another column..) President Abdullahi Yusuf simply took a principled political stand by refusing to let the transitional Somali government be a hostage of the destructive Mogadishu warlords and those who want to destroy the Somali peace accord. I do not see any other cause of action that is wiser politically or more honorable than what the President did. Indeed, neither Abdirazak H. Hussen nor anyone one else has so far offered an alternative political strategy. Needless to say, this does not necessarily mean that the government did not make serious strategic mistakes since its creation. Indeed it did. One of those mistakes is its perceptible failure to communicate directly with the Somali people so that the narrow minded tribalists and the destructive Mogadishu warlords could be silenced politically. However, this communications' failure could be the result of lack of properly trained personnel rather than poor political judgment. Second, as I wrote many times before, the President and his Prime Minister assembled an inclusive government with some of the most important portfolios going to the destructive Mogadishu warlords. Indeed, one of the biggest criticisms against the President and his Prime Minister after the creation of the cabinet was that the government was full of warlords. A criticism that I shared, however, unlike many other observers, I knew that it was a necessary political objective that the President had to pursue in order to secure the wider political consensus that is necessary for bringing Somalia back to its feet. Needless to say, the destructive Mogadishu warlords failed to live up to the expectations by high-jacking the Somali peace accord and by keeping the Somali people as political hostages. Hence, there is very little the president could do rather than opt for the second best strategy from the pool of the available political options which is simply put, to govern the country as much as he can from outside Mogadishu . Abdirazak H. Hussen realized that it is easier to label unfair criticisms against a president paralyzed by the betrayal of his own ministers. He also realized that it is a much harder task to come up with workable solutions to Somalia 's current political and security predicaments. This is why he evidently failed to offer alternative political solutions. It is clear to everyone that Abdirazak H. Hussen opted for the easier route. However, such destructive, unreasonable and intellectually weak criticisms simply diminishes Abdirazak H. Hussen's image as a former Somali statesman. Third, President Abdullahi Yusuf would have no reason to stay outside “Villa Somalia” very long if only the destructive Mogadishu warlords could come to their sense and fulfill their moral and political obligations by disbanding their tribal based militias designed to terrorize the Somali people by denying their right to live in peace, harmony and economic prosperity. It is a mystery to me how Abdirazak H. Hussen could justify betraying the Somali people by standing along side with those whose sole mission is to destroy the hope and aspiration of our people. Abdirazak H. Hussen wrote: “President Abdullahi Yusuf's words and deeds, from the start, have unnecessarily made reconciliation more complicated. He has made no attempt to use his office to bring people together to facilitate the government's relocation in Mogadishu . He has pinned his hopes and those of the nation only on the intervention of foreign troops, particularly from Ethiopia .” The former prime minister is clearly mistaken and his accusations do not stick well on the President and his government. The reason is that the entire government ministers responsible for the country's internal security refused to carry out their mission and thus obstructed the government's policy directives. The question is how a president and a prime minister betrayed by their most important cabinet members can move the country's political and security agendas forward? It is a mission impossible if you ask me. In fairness, neither Prime Minister Ali Gedi nor President Abdullahi Yusuf can be blamed for the political anarchy and security chaos in Mogadishu . Unfortunately, this is the simple fact that those with myopic tribalist agendas failed to acknowledge due to sheer ignorance, tribal vengeance and cheap personal vendettas against the President. Everyone has the right to like or dislike Abdullahi Yusuf but that is not an excuse to destroy our fragile peace accord. The fact is that both Aided; the interior minister and Qanyare; the security minister refused blatantly to accept the collective political will of the Somali people by keeping their tribal militias and thus undermining the governments prospect to end its exile and move to Mogadishu. It is clear to everyone, except with those that their sense of reality is colored by tribalist “Sun –Glasses” that the destructives Mogadishu warlord's strategy is so incoherent and so confusing that it can be best described as “beerka jecli, xaydha jecli”. Few months ago those warlords promised to be part of the solutions to our country's political problems and thus put an end to the agony of our peoples. In return, they were rewarded with some of the most powerful and most influential cabinet portfolios in the entire transitional federal government with the power to shape future Somali security apparatus. Yet, they still want to continue being warlords or tribal chiefs. The fact is, if the warlords wanted to disband their militias they could have done it in a matter of hours rather months. Hence, the key to the solutions of our political and security problems is in the hands of the destructive Mogadishu warlords and their alliance. They can end this chaos if they want to. And they must end it sooner rather than later. Since the creation of the transitional federal government almost a year ago, the destructive Mogadishu warlords, Sharif Hassan; the run-away (former) Speaker of the transitional parliament have used several incoherent and intellectually weak arguments to oppose the government and thus prolong the agony of the Somali people. First, they said that President Abdullahi Yusuf was inviting Ethiopian troops to the country as an invading hostile foreign army. They ignorantly refused to accept the fact that the planned foreign peace-keeping troops were coming to our country under the auspices of the African Union and United Nation's Security Council with the all the required legal and political provisions. Their main argument was that they; the warlords, could take care of securing Mogadishu . Yet, several months later, there is no hostile Ethiopian invasion in Somali and the anarchy continues in Mogadishu while the destructive Mogadishu warlords are bickering endlessly among themselves. Second, after a never-ending and fruitless high level meetings with the destructive Mogadishu warlords, and Sharif Hassan, President Abdullahi Yusuf and his government decided to look for an alternative city to operate so that they could end the exile of the Somali government. Unfortunately, the destructive Mogadishu warlords, Sharif Hassan and their political alliance including Abdirazak H. Hussen continues their blame-mongering tactic by saying the President is denying Mogadishu its status of being the capital of Somalia. They even went as far as saying; President Abdullahi Yusuf's true political intention is to make Gaalkacayo the new Somali capital. The fact is that both the President and the government are less than fifty miles away and they are eagerly waiting for an invitation to come to Mogadishu and operate there peacefully. Third, when all the silly arguments they made previously were proven wrong, they are now saying that President Abdullahi Yusuf is building up a tribal army and he wants to invade Mogadishu by military force. That is nonsense! The fact is that the President and his Prime Minister are doing precisely what they were supposed do. Namely, to start rebuilding the collapsed Somali institutions as quickly as they possibly can. Needless to say, no government or institution can exist without an effective security force that could protect it. Therefore, the government must proceed with its plan to reactivate the once proud Somali National Army and make General Daa'uud proud again. As the saying goes “Nin daad qaaday xumbo cuskay!”… The destructive Mogadishu warlords, Sharif Hassan and their political alliance including Abdirazak H. Hussen will do everything they can to oppose the successful completion of the efforts to rebuild the fractured Somali state. Sadly, their actions will only prolong the agony of our people. It will be a grave political mistake, a serious crime against our people; indeed, it will be a moral outrage if we allow that to happen on our watch. The destructive forces must not succeed. Period! Bill Ainashe Email: wainashe@hotmail.com
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