Somalia Risks Second State Collapse as Federal Government Politicises the Army

[Deeq A.]

The damage to institution-building endeavours caused by the reckless politics of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will have far-reaching consequences if he is not reined in.

Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — The Commander of the Somali National Army General Ismail Yusuf Rageh ‘Odowaa’ finds himself in a difficult situation, similar to the one in 2019, when the former Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, attempted to drag him into a national political dispute. Who would have expected that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who in 2021 appealed to General Odowaa not to follow the politically motivated instructions of the incumbent government, would repeat his actions of 2013, when he had tried to nip the nascent Jubaland Administration in the bud?

Why does an incumbent federal government, dependent on foreign peacekeepers, resort to settling political differences through the misuse of a lop-sided army, recruited predominantly from one part of Somalia for clan loyalty purposes?

ATMIS demonstrated an understanding of the dynamics of Somali politics when it refused to clear the arrival of an aircraft  from Mogadishu in Gedo to organise a parallel election in a region under the jurisdiction of Jubaland State of Somalia.

General Odowaa has an obligation to prevent the brittle Somali National Army from being misused by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to rekindle intra-clan conflicts in Southern Somalia.

The hope that an inclusive national army would take shape in Somalia was altogether dashed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who undermined the consensus-based approach that had provided a foundation for the fragile federal institutions. The damage to institution-building endeavours caused by the reckless politics of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will have far-reaching consequences if he is not reined in. The former President of Somalia, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and the former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheire congratulated the Jubaland President on being elected by Jubaland MPs. Both political leaders view the Jubaland electoral process as legitimate and a bulwark against the plot hatched by the incumbent federal president to secure an illegal term extension. Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni also sent a congratulatory message to the Jubaland President.

Puntland State civil society denounced the militarisation of Somali politics by the Federal Government of Somalia. There is a concern that the new peacekeeping force, particularly Egyptian soldiers, could be used by the Federal Government of Somalia to launch attacks on federal member states that oppose centralisation and to rekindle intra-clan conflicts in a country where the government’s writ does not exist in most parts. Somalia is on the brink of a second state collapse, further break-up  and secession movements in response to the threat of a feeble government intent on using the sovereignty card while wholly dependent on foreign peacekeepers. It is a government of irresponsible leaders who pose a threat to Somali citizens and the region.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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