Day: June 11, 2019
Protected: THE WAY FORWARD FOR SOMALIA
SOMALIS ARE LOOKING FOR ACRES OF DIAMOND
Following this advice, the story tells us, the rich man sold everything he had and started looking for that elusive diamond he could not find in his own homeland. He traveled to far off places across continents in search of the magic wealth and finally ended up in the land of Yuugga and Yamaajuuja(China) where, after miserable existence, lost his life in Yangtze River, feeding his own corps to the hungry crocodiles.
Many years ago I read a story under the title: Acres of Diamonds. I believe it was one of the stories by Russell H. Conwell, a Yale College student in the 18th century. This is the summary of that story as I recollect what I read at that time since different people tell different versions of the same story. Once upon a time there was a rich man somewhere in the Indian subcontinent. He had a lot of properties including huge agricultural lands, cattle and many workers to attend his wealth. One day, a man (perhaps a devil) came to visit him and told him: “Sir, I see you are too tired because of the hard work you are doing day in and day out to manage your businesses. I want to help you out by giving you a piece of useful advice: a small piece of precious stone called “diamond” so small that you can hold it in your palm and is worth many times your entire net worth. Besides, there is no work to do except to sit back, relax and wait for its price to increase everyday and for ever”.
While attending his work one day, the new owner of the farms saw something glittering on a plot of the land to discover surprisingly an acre of diamonds. Yes, acres of diamonds in his own backyard!
The moral lesson of the story is that Somalis were blessed with a wonderful, strategic, prosperous spot of the globe where they could be better off than any other peoples on the planet if they were fortunate enough to realize only that fact to live in peace and harmony among themselves and their environment. Instead, they were destroying not only their own entire historical endeavor and achievements, but also themselves as well, creating a massive human exodus of refugees in the process, an uphill that destroyed families, hopes and future of many generations- the pain and deprivations that can never be adequately described, a dark and shameful stain in the history of a nation known for her poetic pride and unrivalled culture of brotherhood and kinship.
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Somalia ‘s fractious leaders taking an oath. |
Because of poor political leadership and bad governance, Somalis should not be perishing in the high seas of the globe and the Libyan Desert in search of diamonds while the Almighty has provided them at home with all the possible blessings of life for their comfort (acres of diamonds and more in their backyards). Think of the children, the elderly and women in depriving refugee camps. Think of disintegration of families and lost kids to gangs’ war of drugs or languishing in repeat-offender prisons in the West. Think of the Somali beauty models thrown to the wolf. Think of the Somali educated and experienced elite that do not fit into the work environment of Western countries. Think of the personal echo preventing Somalia’s yesterday ministers, director-generals of department, police and military generals and other high ranking civil servants and Somali government officials in Europe and North America to accept and take low-paying jobs to support themselves and their families. Think about the tragedy of losing one’s pension after a lifetime of hard labor. And think of the old saying: “East or West, home is the best” (“Dhul Shisheeyee dheef Male Habeen Dhixid Mooyaane”, Somali poem on Nuur Cali Qonof as he returned, after a long absence, to his native town of Qardho, Bari region of Puntland State).
Somalis must create tools for survival and prosperity to remain in their homeland. Tested, responsible and accountable leadership in all fields of public service and peace within their communities is the sole key to all other aspirations and future plans of the nation. Stay and remain in your homeland. You are better off there.
Needless to repeat what is obvious to all of us; the world community is watching and evaluating us as people and as a country every day. I vividly remember the speech President Museveni of Uganda gave at the Opening Ceremony of the Somali Reconciliation Conference in the Kenyan City of Eldoret in 2002. He said, and I quote, “Somalia is the best country in Africa by negative example”. Japan, he said, was a country with no natural resources. “Because she invested in her own citizens, Japan is one of the richest countries in the world today. And you, Somalis? What have you been doing to your own people? Killing each other”? President Museveni’s speech was remarkable among those given by some IGAD Heads of State and Government attending the gathering that included the late Meles Zenawi and Daniel Arab Moi.
Listening to that speech, I looked around the big hall and noticed no emotions from the faces of the many Somali warlords comfortably seated in that Opening Session of the Conference in our effort to create the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). It is unfathomable to many that shortly after that auspicious, if not, historical meeting, a group of mostly Mogadishu Warlords led by Muse Suudi Yalaxow, Mohamed Afrax Qanyare, Osman Ali Aato, Omar Jess, Jama Ali Jama .. Etc. formed a Warlord Faction Club, calling themselves the G-8, an euphemism for their growing power and influence in Somali clan politics (which also explains again why the New Technical Committee for the screening of the new members of Somalia’s Federal Parliament had difficulties with Mogadishu Warlords recently). The G-8 demanded more delegate seats than the 4.5 Clan Power-sharing Formula could provide them and aggressively challenged the Technical Committee that was set up for the implementation of the formula and technical management of the Mbagathi Conference of 2002-2004. The Head of that Committee was the late veteran Kenyan diplomat-politician, Mr. Mwangele, before he was replaced by another career diplomat called Mr. Kiplagat as Kenya elected Mwai Kibaki President at the time. While the Conference was still in the Rift Valley city of Eldoret, the G-8 organized a protest demonstration against the Technical Committee’s handling of the allocation of clan representation. Demonstration participants were mostly Mogadishu women delegates of the NGOs and other civil societies’ members. Painfully as it is, Somali women were chanting slogans like, “Macna darada Mwangele, madfacca Suudi Yalaxow baa nooga roon” (the mass and indiscriminate shelling by Suudi Yalaxxow’s militia at Mogadishu residents is better for us than the meaningless Technical Committee’s Procedures by Mr. Mwangele). This clearly demonstrates how all of us failed as a society and this is what went wrong in Somalia.
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Somali faction leaders Hussein Mohamed Aidid, Musa Sudi Yalhow and the Prime Minister of the Transitional National Government Hassan Abshir in Eldoret 31 October 2002 for the Somali Reconciliation Conference before it was moved to Mbagathi. (Photo: AFP). |
One may recall that the G-8 finally succeeded in persuading half of that newly formed members of the Transitional Federal Parliament including its Speaker, Sharif Hassan, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information, Mohamoud Sifir, to break away from the main stream TFG institutions and dug in in Mogadishu in order to prevent peace and governance restored to that unfortunate city, in particular and Somalia, in general. They were finally beaten off badly and chased out from Mogadishu by the Union of the Islamic Courts (The UIC), kicking off and leading to dramatic security developments of major foreign military intervention in Somalia’s Civil War for the first time after UNISOM. “Ciilow ba’ay talo xumaan cudur ka roonayne”-Sayid Maxammed Cabdulle Xasan, on the dangerous consequences of bad advice and lack of wisdom.
This hell of our situation has created the madness called Fadhi-Ku-Dirir or the Somali losing devil’s workshops in teashops around the world as nothing else is left in life for these once decent men to do. This is another huge dimension of the tasks waiting for Somalia’s new leaders to address urgently if they were willing to make a difference.
By Ismail Haji Warsame
E-Mail: ismailwarsame@gmail.com
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The author is a regular contributor to WardheerNews. He is a former Puntland Presidency Chief of Staff and a long-time participant of most of the Somali National Reconciliation Processes since 1995. He currently lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Copyright © 2012 WardheerNews.com
AN OPEN LETTER TO SOMALIA’S FEDERAL PARLIAMENT
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW MEMBERS OF THE SOMALI PARLIAMENT
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The members of the New Somalia Parliament have no place to hide in order to choose only one of two options:
- Somalia
- Personal/clan interest
The Parliament exercise/deliberations during the next few days in Mogadishu will undoubtedly make or break Somalia.
It has been said that those who repeat their mistakes are condemned to repeat them. One cannot expect or hope for a different better result from repeated action of the same thing over and over again. The outdated practice of judging persons to hold public office based on their respective clan constituencies or affiliation would lead us nowhere other than poor leadership, the core of the entire Somalia’s intractable governance problems. If experience and modern Somali history were of any value and lesson to us and our people serious to move forward as a nation-state or rather , at moment, Somalia to be, we must move and seek quality-based criteria for choosing our leaders.
A government is a dangerous enterprise in the sense that if the reigns of power are entrusted in shorted-sighted, selfish, clannish and irresponsible officials, it would do more harm than good and put the nation in peril. Recall what other people before us said about leaders peoples have: “people get the leaders they deserve’. You are what your leaders are. Don’t complain about your country’s state of affairs after you cast your destiny vote.
But, what quality-based criteria are we talking about to elect our leaders at this crucial moment in our history?
To tackle with this issue, I acknowledge that different people have different opinions on the subject. What is common though is that Somalia seemingly emerging from the ashes of one of the longest Civil War in history, has immediate priorities which include peace and security stabilization, revival of public institutions and public service delivery, tremendous reconstruction projects, sound economic policy, fight against corruption and misappropriation of public wealth.
Equally important are issues of protection of the environment, safeguards for human rights and personal personal freedoms as well as fostering innovation and entrepreneurial talents.
To realize the above national goals (priorities) one would understand that we cannot achieve them alone without the genuine support of international players. To interact with the world community requires sophistication, the diplomatic soft skills and cross-cultural abilities to think and operate at the same level as world leaders. Most Somali leaders have functional disabilities in the form of cultural barriers. Such barriers are historically the biggest obstacle to positively connect with the international community to create friends of Somalia and sponsors of our aspirations.
Not understanding how the world community is interlinked leads a country to an international isolation, suspicion of its leaders’ action, negative impression and even sanctions. Good examples of such unenlightened leadership include Sadam’s Iraq, Libya, Iran, Syria, Eritrea, Apartheid South Africa and a host of other countries on and off. Good example of how to beat off economic and political strangulation by a super power is Castro’s Cuba because of its powerful diplomatic engagement with countries of Latin America, Eastern European Block nations and other Third world countries. Cuba survived where even the Soviet Union could not, proportionally producing more medical doctors and engineers than any other nation on earth.
A classical history lesson we ought to remember and learn is the humiliating diplomatic defeat Somali leaders suffered in their struggle with Ethiopia, Kenya, United Kingdom and France to unite Somalis under one flag mainly because of their lack of understanding of international diplomacy and vital national interests of other nations in the region. Big powers sided against Somalia. Even OAU supported Ethiopia in Cairo meeting at that time with Jamal Abul Nasser at its Chairperson. Miscalculation of the Ogaden War of 1977-1978 is another best example of misreading the world community.
At this junction in the history of our Republic, it is imperative to take note of the fact that certain countries and some corners of the world are entertaining the idea that Somalia would be considered as ‘spoils’ of its civil war and a country that has been. Think about it. And it is happening faster than these corners would have been thinking for Somalia to cease to be. Wake up to the immediate threats to Somalia’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. We marched a long way from the concept of ‘Somali Weyn’ to the brink of the Somali Republic disappearing from the geographical map.
To reverse this dangerous trend and imminent national calamity, Somalia is in desperate need of able men and women to unite the nation and act immediately for Somalia to be.
The above are huge responsibilities, unenviable tasks to fall on someone’s shoulders.
It is obviously clear now that persons of exceptional capacities in terms of character, experience, education, vision, diplomatic skills, hard work and stamina are urgently required to step in in the positions of leadership and I am not talking about one person, a President, a House Speaker or a Prime Minister. The concept embraces all levels of leadership to dig Somalia out of the deep ditch.
A word about the most criticized clan power-sharing formula: 4.5.
In the absence of a uniform governance throughout the country, the impossibility of holding elections on one man/woman one vote, the existence of defacto decentralization of the country amid a severe civil war, distrust and clan rivalry and the baseless claims by some clans to be more numerically than others, the negotiators of a series of national reconciliation conferences had to move the process forward rather than choosing to be stuck in a political stalemate. To hold a congress would require an allocation and distribution of delegates among constituencies/clans. Since there was no credible population census, a difficult political compromise arrangement had to be made. The result was the famous or infamous 4.5 clan formula. It was meant to be temporary subject to a national population census and a general democratic election. I would urge those criticizing the current clan formula to come up with a workable concept before a nation-wide election.
Another thing worth mentioning. They say in a democracy the rule of the majority is the law of the land. But, that is far as it guarantees the rights of the minority and avoids the tyranny of the majority. Unexpectedly, in today’s Somalia, the minority communities do not seem to respect the numerical superiority of their majority communities. This further complicated Somalia’s governance structures. This issue should be responsibly dealt with as soon as it is feasible for there lies the bulk of the 4.5 criticism by both sides of the argument.
A piece of advice to the members of the international community interested in or currently holding stakes in Somalia affairs: “There is an Amharic saying, if you hold a tiger by the tail, don’t release it’ because if you do it will definitely kill you. They must make sure that Somalia is no longer a danger to itself and to the world at large.
By Ismail Haji Warsame,
E-Mail: ismailwarsame@gmail.com
E-Mail: ismailwarsame@gmail.com
The author is the former Puntland Presidency Chief of Staff and long-time participant of most Somali National Reconciliation Process since 1995. He lives in Toronto, Canada.
OUTSIDE VIEW
Building a secure Somalia
Somalia has had perhaps the most turbulent statehood in modern history but perhaps that is turning into an era of peaceful leadership.
Published: Jan. 25, 2013
By WHITNEY GRESPIN, UPI Outside View Commentator
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 25 (UPI) — The territory of the Federal Republic of Somalia has had perhaps the most turbulent statehood — or marked lack thereof — in modern history. Somalia has been an ambiguous conglomeration of entities that struggled to provide any semblance of order for its estimated 10 million citizens over the past two decades.
U.S. President George H.W. Bush and the wider international community publicly conceded that Somalia had ceased to exist as a state in the early 1990s, as the country collapsed spectacularly into a series of brutal civil wars fueled by resource and power competition between warring clans.
For the next 20 years warlords, rival clans, transitional governments and myriad coalitions attempted to quell the violence and offer any sort of governance that would elicit international recognition. None succeeded for nearly a quarter of a century, until last week.
The era of ambiguity ended for the Somali people and government of the Federal Republic of Somalia on Jan. 17, 2013, when Somali President Hassan Sheik Mohamud traveled to Washington to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clinton.
After their meetings, the U.S. government formally recognized the government of Somalia, a development Mohamud said was, “A very turning moment of the history — of the recent history of Somalia and the relationship — and the diplomatic relationship between the United States government and the government of Somalia.”
Mohamud was elected as Somalia’s leader last September after choosing to stay in the country following the outbreak of civil war in the 1990s. In the passing years he worked both as a professor and alongside international organizations to advance institutional capability in Somalia.
In 2011 he was selected to be a member of Parliament and was then chosen by his peers to replace incumbent President Sharif Sheik Ahmed in a run-off election.
Mohamud summed up his understanding of the challenge had undertaken when he spoke Jan. 17 to a full house at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Twenty-two years of lack of functioning state and institutions and 12 years of transition is enough for us to reclaim our sovereign territorial integrity and our people. We are now ready to lay down strong institutions with good governance,” he said.
Mohamud publicly acknowledged the pivotal role that private companies have played in delivering improved technology and opportunity to the people of Somalia. In addition to ongoing aid and development programs through intermediary institutions such as non-governmental organization and U.N. agencies, Mohamud credited private contractors for their ongoing support of Somali interests.
For example, the performance of specialized technical work and investment of private money has resulted in Somalia having one of the fastest growing telecommunications infrastructures on the continent.
When asked what the Somali diaspora could do for the fledgling government, Mohamud touched on the dearth of technical expertise and practical know-how in the public and commercial sectors.
He went on to explain: “In our way, in our vision, private-public partnership is the only way out. The Somali government has no capacity. The international community will never come [on] time. So it’s the private who has been [addressing needs].”
A number of forward-leaning private entities have already started working with local authorities and recognized stakeholders to lay the groundwork for success in the relegitimized state.
What is perhaps the lynchpin of success for the new government is the ability to build stable institutions that will incubate improved security throughout the country.
Mohamud realizes this and admitted, “Institutions are the basis of good governance, and in Somalia, there are no institutions, no resources to make institutions easily and even no capacity in certain areas.”
He went on to say, “One of our main challenge[s] is to build our security forces, who are now doing a good job compared to previously. This is an area we would need the international community’s help and assistance.”
Security sector reform and capacity building are areas with which both the U.S. government and private sector have much recent experience.
Mohamud volunteered: “The United States’ government is the largest contributor to Somalia in the past 22 years. The limited security forces that we have today is existing with the support of the United Statesgovernment.”
As skilled military and civilian personnel depart from postings in Iraq and Afghanistan, there may be great opportunity to realize synergies between those individuals’ mentoring experiences and the needs of the nascent Somali federal force.
The Somali National Armed Forces is composed of veteran fighters. They don’t need to learn how to fight; they need to learn how to administer and develop a professional army that is proficient in upholding the rule of law and promoting a responsible monopoly on the use of force.
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(Whitney Grespin is an operations specialist at Atlantean, a provider of specialized services to the U.S.government and private sector clients around the world. She has overseen operations for private firms operating in Afghanistan, Kenya, United Arab Emiratesand Somalia as well as managed development and educational programs on four continents.)
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(United Press International’s “Outside View” commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
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