Somali's Leaders substance or rhetoric ?

[Geel_jire]

This is just the most interesting portions of an excellent analysis of the situation in Somalia

 

Despite the disillusionment with the process that produced the current Transitional Federal Government (TFG) October of 2004 in Kenya, war-fatigued Somalis,

those in the homeland and the Diaspora alike were willing to give the benefit of the doubt to a government formed neither by its vision nor capacity to deliver, but by the clan one belongs to

or by the brutal reputation or the deadly arsenal one possesses.

 

It did not take long for the TFG to demonstrate its incompetence. It failed to articulate a new vision and grew more dependent on Meles Zenawi's regime (Ethiopia). Furthermore, it adopted an ill-advised mantra of threat and polarization and failed to set a foot in Mogadishu due to the instability created by the same warlords that the TFG was made of.

Despite their lack of good public relations and a holistic view of world politics, for the six months that they governed Mogadishu, the ICU has afforded Somalis, particularly those in Mogadishu, a sense of hope, empowerment, and national pride that mobilized the locals to organize volunteer services to clean the city's mountainous garbage and debris of the devastation. More importantly, after a decade and half of lawlessness, they established safe route for the delivery of food aid and ensured equitable distribution, and they established law and order to the point that Somali women of Mogadishu could leave their homes without the fear of being raped or robbed.

Now the current situation; Somalia is under a ruthless occupation that killed 7000 civilians in its first year, created approximately 1 million IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons), and pushed 1.5 million people on the verge of utter starvation thus creating what is officially recognized as "the worst humanitarian crisis in Africa."

Author: Sadia Ali Aden