Somalia's deceitfully structured government near collapse

[General Duke]

Somalia's deceitfully structured government near collapse [Editorial]

10 May 10, 2009 - 1:29:16 PM

 

SUNDAY EDITORIAL | Despite all its international dimensions, the conflict in Somalia is still fundamentally a civil war among Somali clans.

 

The 'international community' has been duped yet again. The Garowe Online Editorial Board has long reiterated its opposition to a bloated 550-seat Somali Parliament composed of clan warlords, war profiteers and so-called Islamist moderates who lack grassroots support within Somalia's powerful Islamist community. And the so-called Government of National Unity that controlled very little territory ceded whatever little areas they controlled to the armed opposition on Sunday, May 10, after four days of heavy fighting not seen in Mogadishu since the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in Jan. 2009.

 

Who is to blame for this new round of violence and mass displacement of Mogadishu civilians? Certainly, Col. Abdullahi Yusuf is not around anymore and the finger-pointing cannot reach his exiled home in Yemen. Yusuf's Ethiopian army allies have retreated back to Ethiopia and continue to watch from the border as Islamist militia battle for whatever is left in Mogadishu. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a 4,000-strong peacekeeping force with bases at the airport and port facility, is under-manned and ill-equipped to face off against Mogadishu's militants without immediate and sustained international support.

[General Duke]

And Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the U.N.-recognized President of Somalia, has very little recognition inside the country as violently demonstrated by the bullets and mortar barrages that have made him and his weak government no different than that of Ethiopian-backed former President Abdullahi Yusuf. As they say in Mogadishu, Sheikh Sharif has "lost touch" with the Islamists' grassroots community – a gap that has been quickly filled by former ally-turned-rival Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, whose return to Mogadishu last month has inspired a new round of warfare unseen among Islamists in Somalia's contemporary history.

[General Duke]

A deceitful project

 

U.N. Special Representative Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah might be excellent at producing promising statements about developments in Somalia, but he is detached from the realities and complexities of Somali politics as he has been the leading campaigner for President Sheikh Sharif and the so-called Government of National Unity whose parliament is under mortar attack and whose President hides behind AMISOM tanks. The international community has long been criticized for repeatedly recognizing, funding and supporting the "top-down approach" for the re-institutionalizat ion of a national government in Somalia. But Mr. Ahmedou has taken that historic precedent to a new level by empowering a single faction, virtually with no constituents and no territorial control, and dressing up the faction leaders in shiny suits to pose for pictures with U.N. officials and world diplomats.

 

The U.N.-sponsored round of peace talks between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), then under the leadership of President Abdullahi Yusuf, and the weaker wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, ultimately ended in catastrophic failure. Ex-President Yusuf rejected the outcome of the peace process, held in Djibouti between May 2008 and Jan. 2009 when Sheikh Sharif was "elected" the President of Somalia.

 

In large part, the peace process transformed into a money-making venture with Mr. Ahmedou becoming entangled in the intricate web of Somali clan politics and allowing a single clan-led faction to appoint 50% of an expanded 550-seat Parliament. Naturally, this created a clan misbalance and regional authorities, most notably the self-governing State of Puntland that considers itself part of Federal Somalia, rejected the outcome of the U.N.-backed peace process as tilting unfavorably to empower certain clan groups at the expense of all Somalis.

 

A recent report published by U.S.-backed think-tank ENOUGH! Project wrote: "Direct external aid to TFG security forces is seen by many as unavoidable if the TFG is to defeat the hardliners and expand its authority in south and central Somalia, and the United Nations has asked donors to provide training, equipment, and stipends to the emerging TFG security forces. However, this places the United Nations and other external actors again in the position of a direct backer of one party in an ongoing civil war, a fact which contributes significantly to the targeting of international humanitarian aid workers by insurgents. External donors must be very clear about what they are doing if providing direct support to national security forces: They are choosing sides in a war." REPORT: Somalia: Beyond Piracy - Next Steps to Stabilize the Country

[General Duke]

Ending the civil war

 

Despite all its international dimensions, the conflict in Somalia is still fundamentally a civil war among Somali clans that erupted with atrocious violence in 1991, when Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown and the Horn of Africa country was plunged into the current state of darkness. The object of all Somalis, and secondarily the international community, should be clearly aimed at ending the civil war by identifying its root causes, cataloguing the war atrocities and lost properties, and creating a platform for a genuinely Somali-owned national reconciliation process to be held in Somalia and inclusive of all political stakeholders.

 

The 'Ahmedou Project,' with the creation of a 550-seat Parliament facing logistical and security problems in Somalia, and the installation of an 'Islamist President' with minimal support within the Islamist community, is near collapse in the face of a fast-changing political landscape in Somalia. The millions of dollars that funded the 'Ahmedou Project' and the Djibouti-based peace process have thus far led to the outbreak of an Islamist civil war in Mogadishu. That money could have been better spent feeding the Somali masses facing war, displacement, drought, disease, and all-around desperation, mostly in the south-central regions ravaged by nearly 20 years of instability.

 

The international community should not shower President Sheikh Sharif's government with funding without at first promoting and guaranteeing a lasting political settlement to end the country's civil war – currently the longest-running conflict in Africa. For starters, the "top-down approach" to national governance in Somalia will never work and the international community must come to terms with a reality where regional administrations, i.e. Somaliland and Puntland, have governments that are representative, functional and orderly.

 

And these governments were created with virtually no outside interference or funding support. If the world is genuine about peace in Somalia, and ending piracy at sea, then supporting existing governance structures built on censensus, rather than deceit, will be paramount to ensuring the eventual creation of a national government agreed upon by all political stakeholders in Somalia.

 

Garowe Online Editorial, editorial@garoweonli ne.com

[Jacaylbaro]

some people are celebrating to early .........

[General Duke]

^^^No celebration political masters are playing the game nicely and putting the knife in to certain individuals.

[MoonLight1]

So Dukey why would you support a deceitful government to move to your backyard "Garowe"?

[General Duke]

^^^Thats their opinion and title. But I would support anything that gives advantage to the state of Puntland..

[Fiqikhayre]

Duke, walaal, it already seems though that Shariif and co have been reformed thus far, as they now face reality.

 

They now see what let to this and are now in no more ilusions to what they're doing. It was about time, they got a slap in the face and thus the dropping of the name of 'dowlada midnimo qaran', as it has been thrown out the window as it use became irrelevant.

 

They're waking up right now and seeing what we've been preaching to them, there's no other way and it is clearly visible, the road ahead is a difficult one for Shariif and co but atleast they learned a few important lessons today.

 

There will be no more 'isdhigasho' and 'huuhaa' and can be seen by the remaining militias acceptance of wearing the armed forces uniforms. It was a fast-track learning in lesson of how not to do things and they're now paying the price for their silly blunders and in fact we would welcome with open arms the Sharif and the PM's government, if they got chase out, of the capital or their safety is being jeopardise by a bunch of a mob, that's out for a lyinching.

 

This is a calculated move by the west adn they knew things would turn that way as has former President Abdullahi Yusuf already been prophesising.

 

We will wait and see inshallaah to the outcome of this latest news and shananigans out of Mogadishu.

[Mintid Farayar]

Duke and Faroole's family (i.e. GaroweOnline) are on the same page finally Another attempt to get the funds that were refused in Nairobi. Let's see where it goes...

 

(in other words, transfer the funding to Garowe since Xamar is a wash-out!)

[General Duke]

^^^Mintid is getting ever more desperate by the minute.

[MoonLight1]

Horta Duke ninkan mintid la yiraahdo, maxaa lacagtiina daba dhigay, ma jeebkiisay ka soo baxaysaa, war Ileen balaayo, ninba meel u cad. War bal xoogow u tuura.

[General Duke]

^^^He is just mad with envy, but let him stay that way lets see how far the green eye takes him..

[Mintid Farayar]

Originally posted by MoonLight1:

Horta Duke ninkan mintid la yiraahdo, maxaa lacagtiina daba dhigay, ma jeebkiisay ka soo baxaysaa, war Ileen balaayo, ninba meel u cad. War bal xoogow u tuura.

^^^^

I see have many psychotherapists working on my psyche profile on this Forum

 

I notice you guys never address my points but rather, always, switch to character attacks

[Belial]

"And these governments were created with virtually no outside interference or funding support. If the world is genuine about peace in Somalia, and ending piracy at sea, then supporting existing governance structures built on censensus, rather than deceit, will be paramount to ensuring the eventual creation of a national government agreed upon by all political stakeholders in Somalia."

 

Hear hear - we need a goverment by somalis and for somalis.

 

Waalahi that sea-selling shit made my blood boil!!