Could she be the first African Woman President?

[QUANTUM LEAP]

Woman takes on political giants

in presidential race

By ADAN MOHAMED

 

If Asha Ahmed Abdalla has her way, Africa could soon have its first woman president.

 

When she first announced her intention to run for the presidency of Somalia last week, many reacted with shock and surprise.

 

Abdulla, 45, made her ambitions known during the final phase of the on-going Somali peace and reconciliation conference, which has been going on in Eldoret and Nairobi for the past eight months. She wants to run for the office alongside 30 other aspirants – all of them men.

 

After the initial shock elicited by the announcement, reactions to her candidature were numerous and varied. Many welcomed it as a refreshing conclusion to the often tumultuous talks, arguing that her candidature would enhance the democratic process of the talks, especially in the eyes of IGAD (Inter-Governmental Agency for Development) and the international community.

 

But there were those who reacted to Abdalla's announcement with scepticism and indifference. Hers was a mere declaration of intent, they declared dismissively, because she stood no chance of winning in a field full of established Somali political heavyweights. The forthcoming polls, they said, would follow the traditional pattern in Africa, where only men are expected to contest the presidency.

 

The presidential race is, indeed, a monumental undertaking for Abdulla. Not only is she taking on a full field of political heavyweights, but she is also the only woman candidate. And this in a country where women have traditionally been marginalised from political and other decision-making positions.

 

While women the world over have always been the underdogs in the cruel, cut-throat fight for political power, perhaps nowhere is this gender disparity more evident than in Somalia. The combination of a deep-rooted, gender-biased culture, combined with intolerance occasioned by decades of despotic, dictatorial rule has kept women away from leadership positions. And many appeared to have given up the struggle to correct the unjustices against them.

 

But Abdalla is not one to give up even when all the odds seem stacked against her. Not only does she come armed with boundless energy and determination, she also has an impressive list of academic and professional qualifications.

 

After graduating from Latole University in Mogadishu with a BA degree, she migrated to the United States with her family in late 1970s. She enrolled at La Guardia College for a Bachelor of Science degree course, and later for a Masters course at the City University of New York. She has also received diplomas in accounting, business management and book-keeping from various colleges in the US.

 

While in the US, Abdalla was involved in famine relief activities to help ease the suffering of the people in her country. For the better part of the 1990s, she chaired the Washington-based Somali Relief Agency which, besides food relief, also dealt with refugee welfare.

 

It was not until the year 2000 that Abdalla plunged into the rough and tumble of politics. The holder of a dual US-Somali citizenship, she attended the Somali peace conference in Arta, Djibouti, in 2000. Due to her significant role in the peace effort, she was elected to the Somali Transitional National Assembly. When Abdiqassim Salat Hassan was elected president of the transitional national government (TWG) by the Arta conference, he appointed Abdalla deputy minister for Labour, Sports and Social Affairs. A few months later, she was elevated to head the crucial ministry of Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration.

 

Abdalla outlines a 12-point agenda for securing the unity of Somalia and mobilising the citizens to rebuild the country. It includes revival of the country's economy; promotion of regional governance to bolster unity in diversity; socio-economic and political empowerment of women; disarmament of all armed groups in Somalia; and strengthening of the judiciary, universal education, child welfare, healthcare and infrastructural development.

 

According to Kenya's envoy to the Somalia peace talks, Mr Bethwel Kiplagat, a new government of Somalia will have been constituted by early July.

 

As the process inches closer to its climax, and the new government becomes more of a reality than a dream, even those Somali leaders who boycotted the meeting are now showing a keen interest in the election. The latest entry was that of the transitional government's president, Hassan, who jetted into Nairobi on Wednesday last week and immediately announced that he was in the presidential race. Hassan has been absent from the peace talks all along.

 

Many of those in the race are factional leaders believed to be proteges of regional and international interests. Hassan was a minister during dictator Siad Barre's regime, and has links with Somali communities in Arab and European countries.

 

Others include Hussein Aideed, son of former factional leader Gen Mohammed Farah Aideed ; Col Abdullahi Yusuf , who was in self-exile from 1978 to 1991; Prof Abdurahman Barre Osman , Barre's brother and former cabinet minister; former International Football Federation official Farah Adow ; and Dr Najib Abdulkarim, a lecturer in a New York university.

 

[ June 26, 2003, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Admin ]

[SkyWalker]

she got my vote,and better candidate if i add compare the rest blood thurst,low life, selfish shameless,heartless that end up being the escums of the earth...

 

yo, shaqiis did the admin adit the article, i dont think it ends the way it did...

[A.J. Timacaddeh]

another candidate?

 

how many do you guys have now?

 

40?

 

or even more?

[Gabbal]

A Somali female running for presidency amongst Somali men?

 

She has my respect!

[A.J. Timacaddeh]

i doubt that she will have a chance against those warlords. they have the abilty to kill whoever is in their way. they have the ability to manipulate their clans into believing that they will get them a democratic and welfare state but will eventually bring another chaotic sitaution about.

 

i would have rooted for the woman if i though that he she had chance but we all know her chances are 100,000,000,000,: 1