Xaaji, other than few who died during the harsh and hot mountain training, they are all ok. Eritrea not only has over 150,000 standing army , but every high school graduate has to preform two year military service. They don't need Somali trainees to involve the ugly Ethiopian war which will continue for years to come. People here talk about CBB and Framaajo propaganda , but the opposition has mastered false and ugly below the belt accusations including paying poor mothers to demand for the return of dead soldiers, or saying that there will be a coup in April 12, the army day. These soldiers are not clan militia , but from across the country.

Guys, Farmaajo has every right to prepare for the future. Why deny him the right to contest a fair and free election. In fact, most of his moves seem to be for the future. Unlike others who fly to a foreign country as soon as they lose the election, he stayed put renting a house or buying one in Mogdishu. Sharmaarke left Mogadishu the day after he lost the election to Dubai and came back after 5 years. Hassan Sheikh moved to Turkey , Shariif Ahmed has two homes one in Uganda and one in Turkey. He is leaving gracefully and promised to support Hassan Sheikh. I have no doubt that Farmaajo could win the next election easily whether we like it or not. Most Somali leaders only think for today, this Farmaajo had probably calculated his moves including ridding setting the bar high on financial management. His presidency had finished in June 2020 when he fired Khayre. Unbeknown to him, Hassan Sheikh has successfully planted Rooble, a a full member of Damujadiid as the next prime minister and the rest is history. Dani could have done the same thing by focusing Puntland and building multi party system and holding elections. If he had succeeded building institutions and enhancing communal harmony, he would have been a good challenger in 2026. As of now, we might never hear Dani in over a year while Farmaajo has great future ahead of him. Also, there will never be another extension in the country whether you are Muuse Biixi, Dani or Nadoobe.

Duufaan, if a vote is held HAG will be a minority in MOgsadishu. Within few months Farmaajo can proclaim the N&N party nation wide and push for one Person one vote. He still has a huge political capital to spend if he has the guts.

Somalia, the only peaceful handover of power in the whole region of the horn Africa and beyond. That alone is a huge progress.

president elect Hassan Sheikh will be the first ever president elected to office twice since the birth of the Somali republic in 1960. During the last 22 years starting from Carta Djibouti, a new name tops the list, and since 2012, unexpected dark horse comes from no where and wins the election. in 2012, Hassan Sheikh was unknow. He wasn't among the the top contenders. In 2017, Farmaajo was trailing as number four behind Hassan Sheikh, Shariif Ahmed and Cumar Sharmaarke. A friend of mine told me in 2016, despite the efforts of the incumbent president a new man with dark horse will take it, and it did happen. Now, not only Hassan Sheikh made a history, but also, he got a huge opportunity to do the right thing and a mountain of experience to guide him. President Hassan is known to be an able man (nin karti leh) who is among the few Somali politicians who never left the country. The main disadvantage of the " Qolqol Joog" is they are mesmerized when they see a foreigner with suitcase and they usually give away the whole shop. Hassan created Galmudug, Southwest and accepted Jubbaland despite early clashes with Ahmed Madoobe. He liberated Marka, Baraawe, Qoryooley and other districts in Lower Shabeelle with mixture of national army and clan militia. He signed a security agreement with Turkey to train Somali soldiers and both the airport and the port opened during his regime. Despite those achievements president Hassan was dodged by corruption allegations and grafts that reached international level. When of the biggest that made the headlines was the threat faced by the governor of the central bank Yusur Abraar after she refused to sanction the set up of a foreign (Dubai) account to deposit the oversees Somali asset recovered by international lawyers. Since the account will not be controlled by the central bank, but through one of the corrupt deputy finances ministers, she claimed it might lead to misappropriation or worse a theft. The lady was threatened and she flew from Mogadishu in the middle of the night. There are many other allegations including giving contracts to family members and others. Finally, those corruptions reached some western countries like USA which added Hassan Sheikh to the list of visa bans to enter America. These things are not disputed. Now, with full mandate and a second term ahead of him , does Hassan Sheikh try to clean his name or stay away any shady businesses that might damage his administration and weaken his resolve to move the country ahead? We don't have all the answers , but the indications are not good. Here is what happened before he even took the oath of the office. Technically, Farmaajo is still the president until Hassan Sheikh is sworn in which might happen within a week or so. That is why we call him president elect. He can have meetings with stake holders, regional leaders and even security chiefs, but he can not reverse any decisions taken by Farmaajo unless he assumes office. Yet, yesterday, Rooble, the man seeking to enrich himself before the end the of the clock, is using every trick in the book to take advantage with the blessing of Hassan Sheikh. Yesterday they got the approval of the court and the attorney general and without a delay they went straight to the central bank and took ownership of the $ 9.6 million confiscated from UAE at the Aden Cadde airport.. The president who refused the withdrawal of the money, Farmaajo, is still in charge, but the crooks went ahead before a new premier is appointed. The UAE said, they will leave the money for the current government to use for the drought relieve. So the money is taken from the bank and it is in the pillow of Rooble and the 30 years old 30 million man. I do not have a proof, but common sense tells me that this money is stolen and will be divided among the hungry hyenas who took the government since May 2021. If this money is given back, a simple cheque would have been written to the foreign government, and if they intended to give back, all they have to do is give back the cheque to the bank, case closed. But no, The boys want the cash withdrawn from the bank and deal with it. Here the finace ministry is not even involved. It is a day light robbery. Folks, this is corruption number two under the new regime of Hassan Sheikh within a week of his election. You might ask, if that was number two where is number one? Well, three days after he was elected , exactly May 18, where secessionists usually fill airwaves, Rooble and again the 30 years old millionaire who happen to be the security minister gave the contract to import Kenya Mira Khat to the country without no one noticing except those who chew. Muqdisho waa laga qayilayaa. The idea of allowing the import of Ethiopian Khat while blocking the Kenyan Mira was by itself one of the ugly policies of Farmaajo, but if these things should be reversed, then the elected president should have waited until he takes office. It is an ugly to walk on the top the departing president. Tradition teaches us winner should be gracious while those who lost must show class and congratulate the winner. To be fair, so far all the statements that came from the mouth of Hassan Sheikh seem to be intelligent, reassuring and honorable. Yet, the day light robbery of Rooble and company might damage Haassan Sheikh and that talk of corruption might weaken his future governing. If Hassan Sheikh want to have clean start, he must stop these people using his name to enrich themselves for the last minute. We already know that Rooble want to depose Qoor Qoor within a year and take over Galmudug. To achieve that goal he is trying to collect as much gold and silver as possible. He told some people that his clan is the majority in Galmudug and they need a seat at the table. The only way for Rooble to be player for the future is to takeover Galmudug and become one of the heavy weights. Yet, only God knows if he could succeed. C/weli Gaas went from premier to Puntland president, yet Puntlanders will tell you that he was one of the worst presidents in Puntalnd history. Deni will not be the prime minister. We all agree that the next 12 months are crucial for the political future of C/laahi deni. We also know that he is a formidable leader who doesn't take any prisoners. It is either his way or the highway politics had polarized Puntland, but the election of Hassan Sheikh might have sealed his faith in a negative way. Out of the gate when he announced his candidacy, he never mentioned his future goals or his platform for the country he was running to lead. All he said was : My intension is to defeat Farmaajo. It is the same empty, ugly and stupid slogan Somali rebels used against Siyaad Barre with no program or plans. Emotional people always make mistakes that will cost them dearly and difficult to rectify. Certainly Somalia needed a change because of the quagmire that started when that able premier Khayre left the post. Some might say that the goal of Dani and his supporters were to save the federal system from Farmaajo and the selection of Hassan would guarantee that goal. I do not buy that claim, because Somali leaders usually don't look to future that much, but concentrate for the current obstacle that is blocking them. Here are the main reasons why C/laahi Dani will not be the next premier. First, Dani has one of the negative approval rates among Somalis from deferent regions including from his home town of Boosaaso. Certain leader including Muuse Biixi, Sanblooshe and the Galmudug students of Hassaan Sheikh like Fiqi and Mahad Salaad who seek the limelight everyday come to mind. If you have to point fingers for those who insult others by using tribal language, Dani Ina Biixi, and Sanblooshe comes to mind. So, why would Hassan Sheikh bring someone hated by the super majority of Somalis including those from Sanaag, Sool and Bari? This week I have seen a small sampling of the people of Mogadishu being asked about the next prime minister and the overwhelming majority has said, " They don't want a premier pushed by a group, clan or special interest group". When you listen those voices, you will realize who they really mean without saying the name. Besides, with the history of Dani openly sharing state secrets with the public when he becomes emotional, it is a risk to be given to that kind of positions. Puntlanders used to better than this, but if the quagmire continues the later will be always worse than the former. From departure of late C/laahi Yusuf, all we saw from Puntland was fat and ugly men and Faroole. Second, Dani is an alpha male who might not accept subordination to a higher president who is seeking a plaint premier. Hassan had seen first hand the clashes with premiers including Cumar Sharmaarke challenging his to the seat wile he was the premier. He will probably change some of the rules before he appoints the prime minister. I would even ague that C/laahi Dani might not even allow a premier from Puntland who could take the limelight and the political power of Puntland from him. Furthermore, early next year the Puntland election is up and the chances of Dani coming back is almost zero. Dani, as he promised before, had defeated Farmaajo, but he will also go down with Farmaajo and we might not even see him this time next years. If C/laahi Dani isn't going to be the premier and will not allow one from the neck of his woods, who will be the next one.? Well, let me say that despite Hassan Sheikh, the other winner of this selection is Ahmed Madoobe. Those of us who were ridding the N&N bandwagon loved to hate Madoobe. Some of us who were looking for a foreign adversary to shift the quarrel among Somalis to other desired enemies, even wanted a war with Kenya, especially during the dispute of the maritime border skirmishes. Furthermore, we always hated those who try to weaken the Somali leaders through foreign proxies. Yet, despite all the noise Ahmed Madoobe stood his ground. Unlike C/laahi Dani, he doesn't pollute the airwaves with ugly talk or boasting to get rid of Farmaajo. Last week I asked a friend of mine from Jubbaland that for all this years, " do you have any statement attributed to Madoobe regarding Farmaajo?. He told me that he heard that after meeting Farmaajo in Garoowe and Mogadishu, he said, " The man I saw doesn't run the country, but who is running the country" Waar ninkaan arkay dalka ma maamuule yaa meeshan ka taliya?. THere is no doubt Ahmed Madoobe has friends in high places, yet, he has shown to be a man that can fight and reconcile when needed. When Xiddig and others challenged his election, he never threatened or allowed things to go out of hand. He eventually reconciled with his opponents. When a former minister oomaar went to Nairobi and proclaimed to chalenge him, those who knew him said, " This Oomaar guy, during the height of N&N with full resources and army, could not convince Farmaajo to target Bu'ale instead of Gedo, now with collapse of the government and the reign Rooble he will be a kid trying to play with adults". During the debate of Gedo delegates, Madoobe decided to block Garbahaareey and instead chose Ceel Waaq. Farmaajo barked, other spoke of injustice, but Madoobe stood his ground. We haven't seen even once to gauge his intensions or his plans. About ten days ago, he claimed that the Gedo issue had nothing to do with him , but the decision is rested with the divided Gedo community. That is the typical divide and rule. Yet, in hand sight some people argue that Jubbaland and Ahmed Madoobe could have the political base of Farmaajo. Since his communities faith is interconnected with Ahmed Madoobe, he could have brought them together and that would have empowered Madoobe and Gedo both. Unlike many leaders before him Farmaajo didn't had a base of for political support. He became hostage to Galmudug leaders who were not interested in government or rule of law. Most of his chiefs of staff, including those who encouraged the firing of Khayre were from Galmudug. It was too late by the time he realized. Forget Farmaajo, we are talking about Madoobe. Ahmed madoobe not only survived the war, but might even appoint the next premier from Jubbaland. There are indications that the next premier could be coming from Jubbaland. There are few names including Xalane who was a finance minister twice and others. The problem is how would the mother of federalism react with a premier from Jubbland?. Some might say that since Dani and Madoobe are allies there won't be any problems, but the disappointment of Puntland people in general is apparent. I don't blame them, because any one who sees Sanblooshe, Khadija Diiriye and Mahad Salaad government should feel really bad and proclaim: is this why we deposed Farmaajo? The best option for the country is to welcome the next Jubbaland premier as a legitimate man who has a huge base of support. But, if others belittle him and claim to be a HAG hostage, both him and the country will not succeed. Furthermore, in terms of resource, the Jubbland region is one of the richest provinces in the country. You got livestock, fisheries, agriculture and light industries. During the eighties, the military government had even created a ministry called " Jubba Valley" to build dams, water reservoirs and heavy industries like meat processing and sugar plants. Faanoole and Mogaabo were the biggest, but since we didn't have local engineers, the foreign technicians milked the projects without any end in sight. One things these elections and local leaders taught me and others is that those of us from the diaspora can't play with locals. It might take minimum of at least five years to for most of us to even grasp how the corrupt locals make deals. Ahmed Madoobe gave us a lesson how to conduct business without barking. He sits at the election table as quite guest , and if you are people like me , you will think this guy just an outsiders observing the Mogadishu market of selling and buying members of market. I conclude by saying if Hassan Sheikh doesn't clean the house and act differently, me might soon go back to Halene tent (Teendhadii ayaa dib loogu noqon).

This oil and gas extraction started in 1988, but Somali rebels were used to stop that development. It took more than 30 years of war to get back where we were before.

I don't mind American investment in oil and gas, but first they have to help us finish of Al-shabaab menace for good.. We don't want a Congo style resource development or narco state style where both wealth and war rages side by side.

As they say " We hate the game , but respect the players". It is an ugly " Bulaacad" system. We all hope this will be the last one. We all talk about Qatar, UAE and foreign money, but how about local telecom and other oligarchs money ? they are players too. That is why neither candidates nor the incumbent president is unwilling to confront the big boys. Even Al-shabaab do not touch the businesses of the big boys.

Actually, Abiy Ahmed was the first foreign leader to congratulate HSM. Some fools thought Ethiopia is close to Farmaajo only. It will be the same, Abiy and Ethiopia need Somalia more than ever.

Does that mean Farmaajo was a Republican ? He could have reversed after the departure of Trump.

If I were him, my first order will be to amend the provisional constitution and make the premier to serve on the pleasure of the president. The president should be able to fire the premier without the consulting the parliament. This corrupt Italian system had created gridlock and confusion. Until legitimate political parties elected and pick the premier through majority , the president should lead the government without any major interference from anyone

HSM doesn’t need Mahad Salaad or Sanbloodhe. He has all the cards, he could get an able premier and professional technocrats in major portfolios like foreign, finance and defence. he could throw away Sanbloolshe to some foreign ambassador to get him out of his way. have a patience, let us see his cabinet and premier then will judge.

Well said Khadaafi. We need our Culema to openly debate the Khawaarij and speak against them. a decade or so ago, it was even impossible for Somali Culema to say anything bad about Al-shabaab. Hassan Sheikh had good relationship with Turkey when he was in charge last time and I don't see any changes on that front. Despite the allegations of corruption Hassan is known to be an able man who could accomplish things. I disagree with you on issue of Amisom and the collapse of the Somali security if they depart. While the current army hasn't achieved a lot, they have taken the battle to the extremists and prevailed when confronted. The Hassan Sheikh led army which were mostly clan militia with support of the heavy weapons of Amisom had liberated from Afgooye all the to Baraawe. If the Amisom is put to action instead of sitting in barracks we might be able to dislodge them from some regions in Jubbaland and Southwest. Looking back, the mistake Farmaajo made was using state resources to try to oust regional leaders. Jubbaland could have been his home base of support while he tried to accommodate a Galmudug that was destined to be hostile. At the end, the biggest mistake of all was replacing Khayre. It exposed all the weaknesses of Farmaajo. Yet, no one can deny the high hopes Farmaajo instilled on the hearts and minds of the Somali people. Many people appreciated his quite and reserved manner without never offending anyone publicly. At the end the populism of Farmaajo had inspired many, but failed to affect or move those who mattered most: the regional leaders and other stake holders. Another observation of mine is how we never think outside the box. No improvement has been made about the ballot casting system or voting. The so called NGO's who pay billions will never tell you where to improve to reduce tension or transparency. Instead of 320 people voting for ten hours and intermingling like market where 40 candidates had 40 observers, electronic machines could have been installed within the parliament to make it easy. Or the parliamentary clerk could call the name of the person and raise their hands openly saying yes or no. Believe me it could have eliminated the secret ballot which is part of the corruption. No one should hide his/her vote to elect the president of the republic. This are the little things where you can effect some changes and reduce corruption. If we all agree as you mentioned that the biggest threat is Al-shbaab, then everything else should take a back seat and concentrate on this evil group. Address the Bakaraha businessmen paying millions of taxes to keep the terrorist group to kill people. Check and monitor money transfers among the people and so on. But if we keep Hormuud, Dahabshiil, Amal and others to do business as usual and protect the financial industrial complex that has thrived through the instability, then we will not move the caravan. President Hassan Sheikh have a great opportunity to change. He must confront studiously the armed militia in Mogadishu and eventually disarm them. These people and their stock piles of weapons feed the insurgents. Anyway, his premier and cabinet will say a lot how Hasan Sheikh is moving for the future. We say good luck to him.

Maadaama kursigu samada yaalo, waxa laga yaabaa Sidan in uu khayr ku jiro. Some in Mogadishu, Jubbaland, Puntland and even Galmudug would have continued their open opposition if Farmaajo was re-elected. Hassan could start his mandate without almost zero opposition. That love and hate people had with N&N might subside for now and Hassan could enjoy his honey for the next six months. President Hassan has a great opportunity.

We wish him well. Congratulations Mr. President.

Anyway it isn’t over until it is over. Khayre had passed the 60 vote. He could be the deal maker if he joins Farmaajo

Certainly it looks that way. When I saw him reach 50 I knew it was over

Dani is going down. He probably had made the deal to back Hassan Sheikh

So far no deal between Farmaajo and Lhayre. Sharif went to Hassan . Most likely the final contest could be between Hassan Sheikh and Dani

I hope for Khayre. Farmaajo and Shariif should join hand and support Khayre

unless Shariifow and Farmaajo backs Khayre, the contest is almost over.

Exactly. He couldn't even hit 80. so, Dani will back Hassan Sheikh. Folks, we got a Damujadiid government. Hassan Sheikh as president and Dani as a prime minister. If Shariif had passed , he could have gotten the vote of Farmaajo and Khayre

Farmaajo is done my count is he got less than 70. even if Farmaajo and Khayre join they can't beat the opposition. In cabdishakur got 14, cosoble almost 13, add that to Dani who got almost 70 and hassan shikh. I think the opposition might win. One more thing , it seems like 5 to 7 % of the ballots are spoiled.

MMA, If Cabdi Hashi is opposition you would have seen him campaigning for either Hassan Sheikh or Shariifow. These are off the record statements that is well known to those who flow Somali selection. Any decent Somali who have seen Rooble in action would take the opposite side. Everyone would like to punch the ugly bully in the nose. It is already Sunday morning in Mogadishu. Let us sleep early and see this long awaited day. Sidii roon Rabi baa og.

look at this above video. Damn it, I miss the the natural smile of the Somali people and the spontaneous gathering of the people without notice and their happiness. I miss home any my people.