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President Farmaajo’s First Year in Office

By Mohamed Abdiqafar haji Hussein

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre believe they have accomplished much in their first year in office, but the reality on the ground is that they have fallen short of the people’s expectations. The Somali people had high hopes when President Farmaajo was elected because they thought he would implement all of his campaign promises, such as securing the safety of the city of Mogadishu and restarting real reconciliation among the Somalis.

Almost a year later, however, the city of Mogadishu has experienced more casualties by Al-Shabaab much more so than the previous four years, with the government appearing to lack control of the situation. Every time an explosion occurs, the prime minister and president hold an emergency meeting in which its outcome is always the same: to urge various military organizations and AMISOM to work jointly to eliminate Al-Shabaab. Each time, after a few days, all goes back to normal until another incident causes destruction and harm to the public.

Reconciliation, which President Farmaajo promised to initiate on his first day in office, seems to have taken a back seat. The president’s decision to turn a blind eye on the capital and to claim that he had initiated reconciliation efforts in Kalkacyo was absurd to most.

After the president had been in office for more than nine months, he claimed that he had started the Somalia reconciliation attempts in the wrong place, Kalkacyo. Anybody who follows Somali politics knows that Mogadishu is the place where national reconciliation should start. Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia and is the most populous city in the country. It is also the city where more people have been killed and internally displaced than anywhere else in Somalia.

Furthermore, most of the parliamentarians and ministers in Mogadishu are living in hotels because their houses are occupied by internally displaced people or others who have claimed their properties by force.

Even the reconciliation attempts that President Farmaajo contended to have started in Kalkacyo were not something preplanned, according to certain individuals who are familiar with the president’s decision making. It is believed to be an idea that the president decided on a whim, without thinking it through. This is not the way to conduct the affairs of a country like Somalia, where even careful and strategic planning can backfire.

There is no doubt that President Farmaajo and Prime Minister Khayre had the experience to move Somalia forward, but, unfortunately, they have had a few missteps. First, the president and prime minister stated that they would run a government that respects the citizens’ rights and freedom of expressions, because, at end of the day, it is the issue that needs to be discussed, and not personal matters.

Nevertheless, after being in the office for only a few months, they reversed their promise, accusing some of the members of the  oppositions to be traitors. As a result, those members’ houses were attacked in the middle of the night, followed by their arrest; the only reasons being that they were suspected without due process of masterminding a motion against the government or of working with a foreign government to undermine the Somali government.

The second misstep was the prime minister’s belief that replacing a minister or general would solve the issues facing the Somali people. It is a known fact that those who were replaced were suspected of rebelling against the leadership or of holding a different opinion than the president and prime minister.

Those who were fired were replaced with individuals that supported the government. For example, the governor of Mogadishu, Thabit, who seemed to be working for the people of Mogadishu and was elected by the city’s people for the following two years, was replaced by the minister of information, engineer Abdirahman Omar Yarisow.

Recenly,  Mr. Yarisow sat down with business people in Mogadishu who wanted to know why they had to pay extra taxes. Yarisow responded that he would share their concerns with the prime minister. Any reasonable person would wonder why that is necessary when he, as governor and mayor of the city, has full authority to explain the reasons and can directly solve their issues.

However, the reason Yarisow wanted to share the business people’s concerns with the prime minister, instead of making decisions directly, is because he knew what happened when the former governor decided to make his own choices. Therefore, it is clear that the prime minister has replaced those with differing opinions to send a signal to everyone else that it is the prime minister’s way or the highway.

Finally, for Somalis, the president and prime minister are reminiscent of a dictatorial rule, where the leaders believe they are the only ones who can solve Somalia’s issues. Anyone who watches few hours of national TV in Somalia, can see that the leadership style has reverted to 1969, when Radio Mogadishu used to consistently praise the president and his government. Similarly in nowadays, watching Somali national TV, constant clips are played from video highlights of the president and prime minister accusing anyone who does not support their leadership as being a traitor. When the clips aren’t playing, viewers will likely hear songs praising the president as an angel sent to Somalis by Allah.

In actuality, the Somali people today do not need a president who believes himself to be successful because few people are praising him. Instead, they want a president whose actions speak louder than words.

There are nearly three more years remaining in his and the prime minister’s term in which they can make changes to the ways they are currently handling issues. There are several steps they must immediately take if they hope to achieve progress for Somalia. Otherwise, they may end up leaving Somalia in worse condition than it was before they took office.

First, President Farmaajo and Prime Minister Khayre need to start real reconciliation efforts in Mogadishu. In order for that to happen, the governor should be allowed to implement agendas that will ensure the safety of the city. In addition, all government buildings that are currently used by private entities should be vacated.

Anyone whose house is occupied by others should be allowed to move back to his or her residence without fear. If that happens, it may be possible for all the parliamentarians and ministers who are currently forced to reside in hotels to move back into their houses.

No one can claim to be a leader of a government whose ministers are occopied, especially when the international community legitimately recognizes this government. Only when the above stated happens may there be room to negotiate with Somaliland.

It is laughable to start negotiations with Somaliland when the government’s ministers and parliamentarians are living in hotels like individuals in exile. Also, the government should decide how the Somaliland representation will be handled before starting the negotiation.

It is well known that Somaliland will not accept talks with Somalia while the government pretends that Somaliland is represented by those who will be arrested if they show up in Somaliland. Finally, the president and prime minister should respect everyone’s freedom. All opposition groups should be allowed to meet anywhere in Somalia freely, without worrying for their safety.

As the president and prime minister have almost three years left in office, they should attempt to reverse their current course by reviewing the president’s campaign promises. By reassessing the agenda that the people initially elected him to implement, hopefully, the rest of President Farmaajo‘s term will bring about great change, essentially undoing the lack in progress during his first year.

Mohamed Abdiqafar Haji Hussein

Email [email protected]

 

Related articles:

FARMAJO PRESIDENCY: MISHAPS AND MEANINGFUL GAINS

 FARMAJO ONE-YEAR REVIEW: PART I

THE FEBRUARY 8, 2017 STORY: ACHIEVEMENTS AND MILESTONES

– FARMAJO ONE-YEAR REVIEW: PART II


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