Boqor Buurmadow Renounces Nepotism, But Rejects Somalia’s Sovereignty

[Deeq A.]

“Boqor Buurmadow does not understand the meaning of sovereignty and independence when he, out of solidarity with Muse Bihi, defends the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding.“

Mogadishu (Comment) — Nearly two years ago after Boqor Osman Buurmadow unreservedly declared in Mogadishu that “there are  two parallel governments in Somalia: The Federal Government of Somalia, and Al-shabaab; we run Al-shabaab”—he gave an interview to a Somali politics YouTube Channel. The gist of the interview revolves around a list of federal appointments that Boqor Osman Buurmadow sees as nepotistic. “President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appointed many of his close and distant  relatives to ministerial, ambassadorial and special envoy positions” he said.

Why now? Boqor Buurmadow is not complaining of nepotism, but the policy that arguably denies his clan its share of appointments based on the discriminatory 4.5 system. He mentioned privately owned houses illegally occupied in Mogadishu by powerful, local squatters, a house that belongs to the family of the late patriot Micheal Mariano, for example, as Boqor Buurmadow claimed.

Why did he not speak up in 2022 when he was being feted in Mogadishu by the local notables? His argument is a subtext of a rejectionist argument he advances in the interview to defend the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding that the Prime Minister of Ethiopia signed with Muse Bihi Abdi, the President of Somaliland Administration. Boqor Buurmadow comes out in defence of the MoU to the point of arguing that Somaliland has the right to lease a coastal district to Ethiopia for 50 years.

A clip of the interview with Boqor Buurmadow in Somali.

Since Somaliland claims to have unilaterally seceded from the Federal Republic of Somalia  nearly 33 years ago it has no legal rights to lease a portion of Somali territory to any country. The absurdity of the secessionist administration’s sovereignty claim makes the illegality of the unilateral secession poignantly clear: Somaliland did not only claim to have seceded from Somalia but it also attempted  to lease a coastal district of the Federal Republic of Somalia to Ethiopia in return for diplomatic recognition. Ethiopia cannot violate the Charter of the African Union. It is more vulnerable to secessionist fervour; its constitution contains an article on the right to secede.

What would happen if a traditional leader from the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region defended an illegal and geopolitically destabilising decision to lease agricultural land in Ethiopia to the United Arab Emirates without the permission of the Federal Government of Ethiopia? Boqor Buurmadow does not understand the meaning of sovereignty and independence when he, out of solidarity with Muse Bihi, defends the illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding that neither Ethiopia nor any other country can implement. The sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia is indivisible and inviolable.

Adan M. S. Hussein teaches history at a university in Mogadishu.

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