The Land grabbing policy is the single major dispute between the armed clans in Somalia.  This issue has a long history dating back almost a centaury ago; it started exactly with the Italian colonialism. This was further exacerbated by the Somali governments including the civilian and the military regime that ruled the country since independent from Italy.  Then came the civil war in the early 1990’s  which was mainly fought over the control of the resources in the South of Somalia with a price tag of thousands and thousands of innocent lives and today after the formation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Nairobi, Kenya, here they are re-designing a new formula for its final approval.
The leading architects for this latest event are:  1) Abdirizaq Jurile and 2) Mr. Mohamed Dheere

1. Mr. Abdirizaq Jurile, a super minister in the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), is a man who unlawfully took over the functions of all the 70 and plus ministers in the TFG.  He created for himself a ministry of planning and international cooperation and he is the lead person for any thing that involves international relationship, including everything from diplomacy, education, commerce, homeland security, health, environment, disaster (such as Tsunami), transportation, etc.
   
    As a super minister, and a de-facto prime minister, Mr. Jurile also heads the “Joint Need Assessment (JNA) program for Somalia” which will be jointly funded by the World Bank and the UN.  As illustrated in the JNA webpage, “the JNA is a program that will involve a complex analytical process led by the UN and World Bank in full consultation with Somali counterparts.
   
   The JNA aims to overcome consequences of conflict or war, prevent renewed outbreak and shape a 5 year reconstruction and development priorities as well as articulate their financial implications on the basis of an overall long-term vision or goal and orientated to the Millennium Development Goals”.
   
    Mr. Jurile who was the man behind the selection process of the Somali expertise has deliberately and with no remorse excluded the natives of Benadir, lower shabelle and Jubba regions, including Jareer Weyn from serving as members of experts for the JNA.  Instead he opted to please the self-proclaimed warlords from the illegal administrations in the south and empowered them to select any one who they deem appropriate for the program.  In an interview with Somaliweyn.com, he indicated that the government recognizes the existing illegal administrations in the south and he said that the self-proclaimed governors are selected by the local people. This is a dishonest political statement that strongly contradicts the reality in the ground and is intended to deceive the international community.
   
   The World Bank report on conflicts in Somalia entitled: “Drivers and dynamics” states very clearly that“The strong clans have occupied valuable urban and agricultural real estate by force.  Mr. Jurile’s recognition of these illegal administrations sends a strong signal how the government of Mr. Ali Geedi is unwilling to resolve the real dispute in Somalia  It is outrageous to exclude a majority of the Somali segment in a program designed to bring back peace in the country and sanction Mr. Indha Cadde and the likes to claim as legally recognized authorities in the regions.
   
    This is a well-designed political plot aimed to finalize the land grabbing process, de-legitimize, and disenfranchise the unarmed clans of the south. Mr. Jurile whose actions convert him to a man who does not believe in human rights violations in the south has two major things in his mind: 1) legitimize the land grabbing process that benefits his constituency and 2) make money as quick as possible; therefore, he is not concerned whether his actions are decadent or not.
   
    He needs badly the flow of aids from the international community and is geared up to endorse any illegal administration as long as they approve his plan of action.  It is ludicrous to consent the assessment of the needs of the occupied regions by the very same people who have been enslaving them.   This contradicts the objectives of the JNA program.  It is therefore, predictable that a fraudulent report depicting a rosy picture of the occupiers will be submitted to the international community, this will later lead to an erroneous decision-making that will finance slavery in Somalia.
   
    I call upon the World Bank and the UN NOT to fund the JNA program pending that it stays transparent, inclusive and its main objectives remains unchanged.  As it looks now, the JNA is turned into a program with a clan agenda that is aimed to promote domination, land grabbing and slavery.  When I say slavery, I mean it in a real sense, because millions of the natives in the south are devoid to have any say in the political process of Somalia; they are kept in perpetual fear, poverty and serfdom. The slavery in the south is partially funded by the international NGO’s as highlighted in the UN report of October, 2005 and it will be a shocking to see the World Bank and the UN joining the program as well.  In the UN report of October 2005, it was made very clear that all NGO’s working in the occupied territories of Somalia, pay kickbacks to the respective warlords, who further use the money to buy small arms and heavy artilleries to maintain the forceful occupation.  Mr. Jurile’s action poses a threat to the peace and reconciliation in Somalia.
   
   
2. The second architect is Mr. Mohamed Dheere, the self-proclaimed governor of Middle Shabelle.  Mr. Mohamed Dheere whose background we all know; is a man with many hats.  Just a few weeks ago he used to act as he was a supporter of justice in the lower shabelle and Jubba.  On several occasions, he openly called Mr. Indha Cadde in Lower Shabelle and Barre Hiiraale in Kismayu as illegal occupiers and blood suckers and he demanded an immediate action to stop their occupation.  Because of his lack of morality and wisdom, he is now endorsing these illegal administrations and calling for their support.
   
   The peace deal between Indha Cadde and Mohamed Dheere is nothing but a mafia covenant intended to derail the ongoing effort to bring peace in Somalia.  It is of course a major backlash to the TFG who is held hostage by Mr. Mohamed Dheere.  Although, he is not a member of the parliament, and the cabinet, he appears to be running the show on daily basis.  It is embarrassing for the government that the man who officially became their spokes person in Jowhar does not abide with the rules and the policy of the government. He acts as if he is above the law. No one real understands what goes in the mind of people like Mohamed Dheere, who suddenly found themselves very powerful.
   
   He must be suffering what I will call “power paranoia” and this could be very easily explained by the fact that the man does not follow any predictable rules. We have witnessed him singing for peace, we saw him calling for a war, offending verbally and threatening people who oppose him. This unpredictable man could cost the peace process to blow up very easily.  Due to the political chaos and unpredictable move steered by this warlord turned politician, the TFG in Jowhar will lose lots of supporters if they don’t find ways to hush this man.

I call upon the President and the Prime minister to distance themselves from the malfeasances of Mr. Jurile and Mohamed Dheere. There is an urgent need to restrain these two controversial figures before they squander the little legitimacy the TFG have so far gained. These two guys are alabasters on the neck of the government and they should be dumped before it is too late. Conflict resolution in Somalia will require honest leaders with firm dedication to bring transparency, justice and a commitment to human rights. From the face, it looks like that this government has all of its requisite priorities mentioned above wrong.

If the TFG cares about our support, we strongly demand an immediate halt to the JNA program. Before the government goes with the JNA program, it must genuinely involve the real stake holders of the country for future reconstruction and development programs and these stakeholders must and should include minorities and oppressed communities in the south.  Essentially unarmed clans hailing from Jowhar, Mogadishu, Afgoi, Aw-dhegle, Merka, Shalambood, Qoryoley, Janaale, Barawe, Dinsoor,  Jelib, Jamame, and Kismayu should be involved in the planning, designing, evaluation and implantation of peaceful reconstruction and development  programs in the country.

Dr. Ali Said Faqi
Alifaqi@yahoo.com

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