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A week or so ago, a friend of mine and I were
flirting with the current Somali situation, a common enduring
lesson, perhaps, for most Somalis who are absorbed with the affairs
of our desperate nation nowadays. It is a love-hate romance, though
consequentially a heartbreaking thing in nature that most Somalis
would like to explore in the hopes that one would get intimately
closer in understanding the contentious issue called Somali
politics. Logic dictates that all those colossal international
efforts channeled to the Somali problems would produce results,
tangible results that could be integrated to amount to something
that could give my friend and I a hope. A hope that the true
obstacles to peace and reconciliation, the Mogadishu warlords and
the Speaker of the Parliament (Sharif Hassan), would come to their
senses and deliver what they agreed to in Kenya-----changing their
old ways. A hope that the Somali people would rally in great masses
marching in support of the last hope of having a government that
enforces a desperately needed law and order in the streets of
Mogadishu. A hope that finally the Somalis could take one step
closer in moving towards understanding the origins, nature and scope
of the long debated Somali conflicts. A hope that the malicious,
deliberate, inhumane execution of Somali intellectuals and
peacemakers, like Abdulkadir Yahya Ali and the attack on people
working for media outlets would come to an end. A hope that the
continual out of control clashes between the militias belonging to
Mogadishu warlords and their illegal “ISBARTOS” would disappear
out of site, bringing a better day for the thousands of Somalis who
lost both their communal and personal rights and dignity, who
succumbed to daily humiliation, depression, fear and anxiety. A hope
that Mogadishu warlords and their mouthpiece, the Speaker, would
finally understand that time is not on their side any more. A hope
that peace and security could be realized only through sincere
commitment and honest dialogue, not through intimidation and illegal
control of public property. That peace could only be reached, not
through indiscriminate violence and collective attacks or
punishment, but through constructive dialogue and vision for a
better future. A hope that Sharif Hassan opens his eyes to the
reality of the day that Mogadishu can not regain the status of being
a city for all Somalis, the Capital, unless it loses its current
status (Kill Zone), where its sons and daughters are being
slaughtered unabashedly day and night.
If the first requirement (security in
Mogadishu) is not dependent on the second requirement (the
government moving to Mogadishu), as the Speaker decries, then the
often mentioned agreed upon suggestion of Mogadishu becoming the
Capital has no merit or enough reasons to exist and should be
nullified. The Speaker failed to explain clearly or successfully
convince the public as to why it is that important to move the
government to Mogadishu when the government has no control on
anything to run its day to day business as it wishes other than
putting their safety under the mercy of these gutless warlords, who
made no secret that this government is doomed to collapse unless
they dictate every action that the government might take, taking a
page from the tactics they employed to bring down Abdulkasim’s
government. It beats the logic and raises a genuine suspicion in the
minds of sane people as to why the Speaker betrays his oath of
office of seeking peace under all possible situations to help his
own communities return to their homes, addressing the issues of
displacement and resettlements and to devise a plan to prevent this
happening again. He seems to be running away from the sacred
responsibility which this government undertook to shoulder for
better or worse in its course of bring peace back to this nation of
ours. One very important lesson the Somalis, except the Speaker,
have learned during these long testing times is the undeniable fact
that conflict has been perpetuated through lack of communication,
misunderstanding and un- substantiated rumors that fuelled the on
going violence. It seems that the Speaker is out there promoting his
own agendas by supporting the same inter-communal violence, creating
an enduring culture of mistrust and suspicion that has become the
cause of the destruction that this nation has experienced. What the
Speaker is supporting is the long existed community conflict that
has divided the Somali people for years, where all social structures
and routine social interaction have been disrupted; resulting
feelings of isolation, fear and mistrust, a situation that benefits
only the warlords and their militias.
In this respect, the Mogadishu warlords
should realize that sabotaging a government they are member of is a
tactic that could lead to nothing more than damaging the peace
process. These warlords should wake up and grasp the magnitude of
the destruction that their actions have already caused the Somali
public and the nation in general. Most significantly, perhaps, is
the expressed concerns that underscores how dangerously the
Speaker’s tactics could sabotage Abdillahi’s government, albeit
the positive measures so far taken by Prime Minister Gedi and his
government, aimed to move forward with the peace process as planned.
There is a chance that the Somali people could reflect on rebuilding
their nation, provide opportunities for people to rebuild trust and
social relationships through communication.
However, the irony couldn’t be greater for
the Speaker of the parliament, and the most puzzling in all of these
is the fact that the Speaker seems to be talking in both sides of
his mouth, however. He is being lead not by a clear vision but by an
illusion based on wrong presumption--- on one hand he teamed up with
the most notorious warlords who control Mogadishu’s ISBARATO and
check points to fatten their wallets, and on the other hand he is
misleading the people and maybe even his own self that he could
bring peace to Mogadishu, where he failed miserably to deliver any
tangible change nor to garner significant peace agreement among
these warlords. More over, he turned down all positive gestures
extended by both the President and the Prime Minister. Perhaps his
shortsightedness and lack of vision failed him to understand or
contextualize the hard reality that Mogadishu at the present
situation remains the “Kill Zone” it has been for years now.
Maybe he misconstrued being hardheaded and stubborn for
toughness—Mr. John Wayne, a foolish behavior that doesn’t serve
the Somali people at this present test times.
Prime Minister Gedi, unlike Abdulkasim,
understands well and was probably well coached by Abdillahi Yussuf
that for them to stand any chance of moving the peace process
forward, they should stay away from Mogadishu as long as it is under
siege, controlled by these vicious warlords who have no intension of
making peace with any one, not even among them selves. As Gedi made
it public, his roadmap makes sense to anyone who is listening with
open mind. His proposal begins with measures that assure the safety
of his government and its members first and foremost. In the absence
of strong loyal Somali troops and as the result of the rejection by
the Speaker of any foreign troops coming to the country to protect
the government, the Prime Minister is trying to do what is possible
by moving ahead in rebuilding a national military to provide
security as suggested by the international community, and is also
urging all those who have the Somali interests in their hearts to
join him. The Prime Minister stressed his commitment to do that all
possible to keep this process moving and has been asking those
Mogadishu warlords to come to the table and do the job they promised
to do within the framework of what is acceptable to the Somali
people. He never ruled out the possibility of his government moving
to Mogadishu when and if security permits them to do so. Yet, the
Speaker and his cohorts vowed to attack Jowhar if the Gedi’s
government starts rebuilding the national army comprising militias
from all regions of the nation. This is a clear indication that
these Mogadishu warlords have no intension of agreeing to peace,
never had and never will unless it is their way.
Whenever peace was negotiated in order to
resolve the Somali conflict, which has been numerous occasions,
their practice of rejecting all peace-oriented initiatives
continues, even when they have been given some of the highest ranks
in government. Clearly, these guys are seeking a greater political
role for themselves and are forcing their own agenda of controlling
Mogadishu forever. They are once again asking the international
community to come and broken peace deal between them the government
that they are member of, in the hopes that the international
community would persuade Abdillahi Yussuf to move to Mogadishu, the
only place where these warlords could call the shots. Any serious
student of contemporary Somali politics and international trends
would recognize that this desire doesn’t stem from nowhere all of
a sudden. To the contrary, they have planned all along thinking that
Abdillahi Yussuf would fall for it, just like Abdulkasim did
mindlessly. This conspiracy to undoubtedly subvert the hard won
peace agreement is the only thing in their mind and anything less is
unacceptable to them. However, Abdillahi Yussuf is no fool, as he
has already proven to them.
Wheras President Yussuf agreed not to move to
Puntland, the region he hails from, but to Jowhar, 90 km from
Mogadishu, a practical and sound move to demonstrate his willingness
and commitment to peace, the Mogadishu warlords refused to travel a
short distance of 90 km to show the public that they are committed
to peace. Under very restricted political conditions and under a
paralyzed system that lacks security for his government, Abdillahi
yussuf and his Prime Minister,Gedi, are proposing sound initiatives
to create a peaceful environment where all warlords could work
together without the burden of worrying about whose militia controls
the Capital, if in case something goes wrong. And if he found the
city of Jowhar to be that safe haven, so be it. Why not, isn’t it
a Somali city? However, Abdillahi Yussuf’s proposed initiatives
would need cooperation and internal cohesiveness among his
government members for their implementation. Building peace within
communities relies on understanding the causes as well as the
symptoms of conflict, something Mr. Gedi demonstrated to have the
ability to deliver. To the contrary, nonetheless, other than hasty
condemnation of these initiatives, which they labeled as outright
autocratic acts, the Speaker and his Mogadishu teams have yet to
show any leadership or to have control of the situation in
Mogadishu. If you ask me, I believe the time favors Yussuf and Gedi
in this one.
Whereas Gedi is employing efforts to bolster
internal cohesion and to improve the political atmosphere as well as
restoration of broken relations both within his government and in
the nation at large, Mogadishu warlords and the stubborn Speaker are
vying for imminent collapse of the government. They are focusing on
how to undermine the emergence of strong institutions with vision
that serve the nation, and with a purpose of introducing systems and
the means to end the sufferings of the public at large. The
intension of the Speaker is to sideline this government as much as
he could and see to it that it collapses. We are earnestly
requesting the Speaker to think straight, show commitment to peace
and exercise common sense. Nobody should say I am boycotting a
dialogue as nobody loses in open-end dialogue. Everyone gains by
joining in talks where peace is being discussed, especially when one
is the Speaker of a parliament that is cession. The question is,
where is the Speaker? How could he sleep soundly at night, or does
he?
I guess my friend and I should wait much
longer than we wish for our hopes to materialize.
Ali Bahar
E-mail: abahar@bcm.tmc.edu |