Somali Cabinet

[Che -Guevara]

 

[galbeedi]

First of all , this prime minister is really different from the previous premiers Somalia has seen for the last twenty years. He is confident and competent in his approach. He is the first prime minister to not openly challenge the ministers, but also demand accountability, ethical behavior and hard work. Despite rumors about his dealings with his former company, he is making the bar higher for himself and his ministers in terms of declaring their assets before and after public service. This young man is really ready to take the country to the next level. I am impressed. It showed that the man has managed things before. He is much stronger than the president in his address and speech.

 

Having said that, the cabinet is too large for a poor and cash strapped country like Somalia. 26 ministers and few state ministers would have been enough to manage the state affair. Mr.Khayre and the president had made mistakes early and have given the parliament and the Somali tribes an opening which they took advantage . He would have challenged the parliament by asking them to approve a mean and lean cabinet, but he decided to consult everyone and every tribe. Well the result is a sixty member cabinet.

 

I did ask an insider about the reason the cabinet became so large , and he said: " The parliament might have done the right thing by voting for change, but that does not mean they changed their political behavior of pushing their personal interest and the regular Mogadishu obstacles" .(Baarlamaanku, Inkasta oo ay muujiyeen geesinimo oo ay isbedel u footeeyeen, taas macnaheedu ma ahan in ay isbaaradii dhamaatay, sido kale nimanka ugu tunka weyn paarlamaanku , ugu yaraan laba jeer ayey liiska wasiirada diideen oo dib u celiyeen si ay dadkoodu uga dhex muuqdaan). Well, this cabinet was to satisfy the parliament in order to govern in peace in the next few years. " Waar Ha na ridina inta aan shaqo gelayno".

 

This cabinet has some able members, and some old faces and large number of new comers who must work hard and prove their ability. I do not care most of this posts ( Wasiirada kabaha) but those we should be watching are:

 

1-The defense minister C/rashiid C/laahi. I do not know the guy. He is probably a new face and he is from Bay region. This portfolio is probably one of the most important one. Al-shabaab is very active in the South West region of Somalia, especially lower Shabelle and Bay, and since this minister is from that region, he should be given free hand to eliminate what ever means possible including making peace with " Mukhtar Robow and other who might be different than the foreign controlled killing machine, especially the Mogadishu based groups. The so called Somali army of the last eight years have shown to be incapable of confronting Al-shabaab and other enemies by their own. Because of their tribal and militia nature, some times, they even fight among themselves. The real Somali army of the future must be recruited from the country from coast to coast. How long it takes to train? three months, six month?. When we went to " xalane" military service in the middle of eighties, we spent three months without firing a gun. Although we have learned some discipline and rising five in the morning, we spent our days by just marching and congregating. The most important job of a soldier is how to shoot a gun and kill the enemy in the battle. In most armies of the world, usually it takes 90 days or four months to learn military codes, finesses, and gun drills. A serious country with a matter of life and death like Somalia must train enough men within a year or two.

 

2-Foreign minister Yusuf Garaad Cumar. He led the BBC Somali service in the nineties and early 2000. It was one of the difficult times of the county. Somalis were divided on tribal and regional lines. Warlords and other were rooming the land. Despite the constant complaints of the Somalis and others he was able to manage and expand the service to local FM radios. He might not have a foreign policy experience, but he can definitely navigate the modern gate keepers of world powers , like U.S , Britain and others. He speaks the language fluently . He is one of the new generation of leaders from central Somalia (Galgaduud) who did not involve tribal conflicts and other issues of yesterday. He has also an outgoing personality by being a former journalist which would enable him to sit down comfortably with world leaders, but that does not mean building your resume and making friends.

 

The main issue here the Somali state must have a sound foreign policy that should be implements by the minister and his team. We can not accept a policy led by personality, daily events or the desire of the leaders. The last foreign minister Mr. Hadliye and Hassan Sheikh followed the wishes of IGAD, and others . Other than the maritime dispute with Kenya, they never confronted any body and in order to win re-election they gave the shop away. The foreign minister must flow a well defined Somalia first foreign policy.

 

He should coordinate with others and find a credible time table to remove foreign armies from Somalia. He must start first with the countries bordering Somalia: Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. His primary job is bringing the world to Somalia without giving the shop. I was expecting a tough individual like Cabdi Samatar , Mohamud Culusow or DR. Cabdi nuur to lead this post but, any way yUsuf Garaad is fine and capable. . My only concern is that he had a history of cozening up with separatists and taking light of the situation . I hope he has learned his lesson and must face this issue seriously.

 

3-Finance minister Dr. C/raxman Bayle. He has already shown to be patriot and hard worker. he found success for what ever he touches, We Awdalites always send the best, but now the issue is more important than before. Money is always the root causes of evil and Mr. Bayle must protect the public purse( maalka ummadda waa i la illaliyaa) In fact , this job suites him well compared to the last one. As I said before , if Somalia can not pay the salaries of 10,000 soldiers,it should not exist as a government. f you pay them $300 /month, that is $36 millions a year. The Mogadishu airport custom revenues exceed 6 million a month, and if you combine another five or six million dollars from the port that alone is over hundred millions. Where does this money go. Mr. Bayle should know that if a Somali soldier or police officer did not get paid this/her salaries at the end of the month, he will be responsible. We do not want to hear the usual lazy complaints of not receiving money from the donors. I repeat, you will be responsible. If you have to, you must fire those who are managing ports and airports to eliminate corruption and nepotism.

 

4-Interior minister Cabdi Farax Juxa. I do not know him, but someone told me that he is from the diaspora. It is the first time since 2004, someone out side of Mogadishu or south central Somalia became the interior minister. This minister from Puntland will probably be facing some the most difficult jobs Somalia faces today. There are still large parts of the country including Mogadishu that is occupied by tribal militia and criminal businesses. He must fire the corrupt police and interior ministry employees who are unable to fight crime and seem to be complacent in some terror crimes.He must clean house and find honest people to fight the internal crimes of the capital. In order to find justice for the innocent, a credible police force must be formed. He will be facing regional administrations and others who will be fighting to keep the status quo they enjoyed for 25 years.

 

Certainly this ministers and others have a huge task ahead of them. While politics and leadership is important, the most crucial thing for them to succeed is work, work and hard work. If someone is found to be connected to terror cell, it must followed up and it should be investigated thoroughly. That needs hard work and hours of painstaking work.

 

well , good luck .

 

 

[galbeedi]

By the way, the minister of labor Saalax Ahmed Jaamac, seem to be familiar. Is this ourown Saalax here in SOL. . He is from Sanaag. I did met him some eight years ago. Before we launched Hiil-Qaran, Proff. Samatar came to town and we met the locals at one of the hotels. During the Q and A, a well spoke an educated young man threw tough questions about Somaliland , and as I recall, he just sounded like Oodweyne.

 

Some people told me that same guy is the new minister, yet , I have a feeling he could be our own Saalx.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Former BBC Somali service employee should never be appointed as Somalia's top diplomat. Fail.

[galbeedi]

Also, the tough nationalist guys did not join the cabinet. " Tolow miyaa laga cabsaday". These nationalist guys do not care IGAD or anyone. On the other hand Somalia might not be ready for tough confrontation with neighbors this time.

 

Cabdi Samatar

Mohamuud Culusow

Dr. Cabdi nUur

Zakaria Xaaji Mohamuud

C/hakiim Haji Omar (vice president of Puntland

Jaamac Mohamed Qalib

Cali Xaaji warsame.

 

Aniguna xaga dambe ayaan iskaga dari lahaa kooxdan.

 

We will support with Farmaajo and Khayre and then take over after few years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saalax]

@galbeedi

said:

By the way, the minister of labor Saalax Ahmed Jaamac, seem to be familiar. Is this ourown Saalax here in SOL. . He is from Sanaag. I did met him some eight years ago. Before we launched Hiil-Qaran, Proff. Samatar came to town and we met the locals at one of the hotels. During the Q and A, a well spoke an educated young man threw tough questions about Somaliland , and as I recall, he just sounded like Oodweyne.

 

Some people told me that same guy is the new minister, yet , I have a feeling he could be our own Saalx.

 

 

:D

 

The name Saalax is popular with Sanaagians.

[Holac]

Hoosh is also included in the list. lool. This is a huge team. lol.

 

@Dhagax-Tuur

said:

Former BBC Somali service employee should never be appointed as Somalia's top diplomat. Fail.

 

 

Anyways, this government is not much different from previous governments. Same ol, same ol!!!!

[maakhiri1]

Hmm, except with few stars, same old, not impressed. again I think this is only the people he could find.

 

I believe Farmaajo 1.0 had more talent

[galbeedi]

Oodweyne said, , "However, whatever the case may be, I have to say, that, my preliminary assessment towards the kind of government Mr Farmaajo’s outfit is gearing up to be, is positively underwhelming. Particularly in-terms of their would-be over all impact in the situation in which Somalia find itself in at the moment.

 

Or in-terms of their “political astuteness”, when it comes to “navigating” themselves and their government out of the myriad ways in which the fate of Somalia is inexplicably linked to other powers in the region, particularly the so called “front-line” states, who in turn will have inordinate amount of influence (for ill or good) when it comes to kind of place Somalia will be in four (4) years time, which will be during the tenure (hopefully) of this current new government and its ministers.

 

Your assessment in terms of political heavy weights who could have navigated the Somali political maze and dislodge the country from the influence of the these competing hyenas,you are correct. Farmajo and the prime minister did not get those people. On the other hand , before you confront the outsiders, you must have a peace of mind from the internal troubles of the parliament and the Mogadishu cabal to reach your goals.

 

Muxuu yiddhi, doqonkii lumay ee la helay, " Maxaad igaga fanfanaysiin beriba waan halaabiye"

 

We may have celebrated the way the parliament voted, but their corrupt way of doing things might not have disappeared yet. They should never have demanded 63 member cabinet, and Farmaajo should have stuck to his gun. He pobably scared of the insiders, and looking back in 2011, when he was the prime minister, he took knife and in a gun fight, and the result was Shariif Hassan 2, Farmaajo,0.

 

The idea of the " glorified guest" is not a parameter to measure the effectiveness of the leader or his actions, although tribal issues could not be ignored. In my opinion what hinders his future political moves is the baggage or I should say the badge that the opposition seem to be pinning on him about the past military government and the tribal associations of Siyaad Barre clan family.

 

Because of that associations, he will be having difficulty to move swiftly or take bold actions , in terms of security and military issues. Yet, if he want to achieve anything meaningful , he must ignore that tribal association and implement his program. Look at you guys(reer Oodweyne), he said nothing , but you have already getting ready to confront him just in case. That was the reason , I was saying that someone like Ina C/rashiid would have been" Caano madaashe aan cidna dhufays ugu galayn). IT is a Somali thing and I hope we should overlook that part in order to move the stick little bit more. Let us help him so he could help the weak and the poor.

 

Imagine people like me or western landers taking the helm. WE have no baggage, association or enemies. Hadaan Muqdishu Bandoo ku soo rogo oon qof dhaqqa diido, guri walbana akari hor dhigo, ciddii iga hortimaadana shaqo ka qabto, cidna i odhan mayso waar ninkan reer hebel ayuu neceb yahay ama reer hebel buu ka aaargoosanayaa.

 

Farmaajo is expected to feed the hungry people, stabilize the capital, and build small effective army. after that the nationalists who do not give a damn to anyone will take over and implement the national issue without begging the parliament or the MOgadishu oligarchs.

 

Finally, let us give these guys time to show what they got.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Asad Ahmed]

the reason he is hated is because farmajo is a unifier,some secessionists take this as a threat.nobody cares about their desert state anyway.