Is Somalia’s flight to 2016 on the same flight path as ... · Three long years and three months...

1 Is Somalia’s flight to 2016 on the same flight bath as Germanwings

Airbus A329' Flight 9525

By Cabdulle Muse

Copyright © 2015 WardheerNews, All rights reserved

Is Somalia’s flight to 2016 on the same flight path as Germanwings

Airbus A329' Flight 9525 By Cabdulle Muse

December 23, 2015

__________________________________________________________

In his January 29, 2014 National Intelligence Report to the Senate Select Committee, the

Director of the United States national Intelligence Mr. James R. Clapper had the following to say

about Somalia: “In Somalia, Al Shabab is conducting asymmetric attacks against government

facilities and western targets in and around Mogadishu. The credibility and effectiveness of the

young Somali government will be further threatened by persistent political infighting, weak

leadership from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ill-equipped government institutions, and

pervasive technical, political and administrative shortfalls”.

In case you somehow missed the news during the early spring of this year, an Airbus 320 airliner

operated by Germanwings crashed in the French Alps while on flight from Barcelona to

Duesseldorf killing more than 140 passengers and crew members. Background checks revealed

later that the disaster was caused by a deliberate maneuver by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who

had a history of mental illness. For his own sinister design, the co-pilot manipulated a security

system introduced by the global regulator of commercial flights (the International Civil Aviation

Organization) following the events of September 11, 2011 in the United States.

In order to execute his plan, he locked the aircraft‟s armoured door thus denying Captain Patrick

Sondenheimer access to the cockpit after the latter‟s return from the washroom. The tragic result,

as we all know, was that the aircraft crashed into a mountain and killed everyone on board.



By Cabdulle Muse


Debris of the Germanwings Airbus A-320.

Now let us assume that Somalia‟s recent political process is like a maiden flight that was cleared

for take-off on August 20, 2012. On that date, the then Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP)

and the Transitional National Government (TNG) made way for the current Federal Parliament

(FP) and Federal Government (FG), respectively. These institutions were created in accordance

with the provisions of an Interim Constitution agreed upon by all stakeholders. The flight

reached its cruising altitude when Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected as President of the

Federal Somali Republic and the flight‟s destination was determined to be August 20, 2016.

When Hassan Mohamud was elected President, no one expected him to make miracles. What

was expected of him was to do the minimum necessary to heal the wounds of the civil war

through a genuine process of national reconciliation, finalize the revision of the existing

provisional constitution through consultation and inclusiveness before putting it into a

referendum, rebuilding the core national institutions and organizing elections on the basis of one

person one vote. The truth is that instead of healing the nation‟s wounds, Mr. Mohamud adopted

a thuggish attitude by spending his political capital on violating the provisional Federal

Constitution and arbitrarily changing its provisions to suite his personal ambitions. He could not

bring himself to accept the reality that despite his personal opposition to the Provisional

Constitution, it was an irrevocable choice by the stakeholders that a federal system of

government was the only model that fits the current political realities in Somalia.

http://www.wardheernews.com/president-hassan-sh-mohamoud-beckoning-back-partition/



By Cabdulle Muse


The flight is on rapid descent. Will Hassan Sheikh Mohamud allow anyone else into the cockpit in order to

save the flight from impending disaster? source: WardheerNews website

The new Government‟s mandate included: revising the Provisional Federal Constitution with a

view to reconciling any conflicting articles within it; establishing guidelines for federal

institutions, clearly defining the legal, institutional and economic powers of the Federal

government and its constituent states, respectively; holding a national referendum on the revised

constitution; setting up of an electoral process by putting in place all the necessary electoral laws

including the establishment of an election commission; allowing the formation of political

parties; transitioning the country into a multi-party democratic republic and holding

parliamentary elections not later than August, 2016.

2016 is fast approaching!

Three long years and three months have passed since Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected

president of Somalia on Sep. 10, 2012. That day Mr. Mohamud got 190 votes out of 269 votes

cast by the newly inaugurated members of the Federal Parliament in an election hailed by many

as “A great step forward on the path to peace and prosperity.” Many international leaders

including the British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated him on his victory.

According to the AFP news agency, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called up the new

leader to congratulate him. “I promise that Somalia reclaims its place in the world community as

of today - and to do that, we must ensure that we move forward,” he said in his victory speech.



By Cabdulle Muse


At the time, the question was: Who is Hassan Sheikh Mohamud? And can he move the country

forward?

However, Mr. Mohamud has not made even a meager attempt at peace and reconciliation; the

truth and reconciliation commission was not formed at all. Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his

government got an F in fulfilling their clearly defined mandate. There was no constitutional

review and no national referendum on the constitution. The security situation of Mogadishu, the

seat of the government, is getting worse by the day; Al-Shabab agents infiltrated all sensitive

government security agencies including the National Security Intelligence Agency and the

Banadir local police and are as active in Mogadishu as they‟ve ever been. In fact they took credit

for the November 1st attack of Sahafi Hotel killing the owner of the hotel, a former military

general and other officials. The security and the political situation of the rest of the country are as

bad as they have ever been. On May 9th

, 2015, sixteen months ahead of the end of his four

year term, president Mohamud threw in the towel. He has said “the country is not ready for

general elections” during an interview with Reuters in Mogadishu, May 9, 2014. Reuters/Feisal

Omar. Mr. Mohamud‟s pronouncement to put the country through another manufactured vicious

cycle of constitutional crises of his own making has shocked and disappointed the United

Nations envoy to Somalia Mr. Nicholas Key who is reported to have said that “Any term

extension beyond the designated mandate will be unacceptable,”.

Mr. Mohamud disappointed everyone who worked so hard in stabilizing Somalia including the

AU, IGAD, the EU and the United States. There is no better expression of that disappointment

than a paragraph in the Report of the United States Director of National Intelligence‟s briefing to

the senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 29, 2014.

“ In Somalia, Al-Shabab is conducting asymmetric attacks against government facilities and

western targets in and around Mogadishu. The credibility and effectiveness of the young Somali

government will be further threatened by persistent political infighting, weak leadership from

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ill-equipped government institutions, and pervasive

technical, political, and administrative shortfalls”. Mr. James R. Clapper said.

Now, metaphorically speaking, Mr. Mohamud‟s admission that he utterly failed in his premier

responsibility of transitioning the country to constitutional democracy amounts to his distress call

from the cockpit that he cannot land the plane safely and the nation‟s long and treacherous flight

to recovery will be lost. If the flight is to be refueled in mid air to avert the impending crush, we

need new and fresh stewardship in that cockpit. Extension of the term of the current legislature

by two years with the exception of the speaker will remedy the situation. The parliament will

elect a new speaker and a new president (Mr. Mohamud will sit out) to implement the original

mandate.

The current parliament contains many well qualified members who are well vetted and was

screened by much respected independent committee tasked with approving parliamentarians.

Many will agree with me that the committee have done a wonderful job. If you dislike this



By Cabdulle Muse


parliament wait until you see one handpicked and vetted by Mr. Mohamud‟s cronies. The Somali

people had high expectations from these parliamentarians. Unfortunately, under the tutelage of

the speaker Prof. Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, a perennially corrupt and weak, often

inebriated octogenarian, they couldn‟t live up to those expectations and they have very often

been misused and abused. His long servitude to the military dictator whom he served in many

capacities including a position in the cabinet seems to have prepared him for his

obsequiousness. He turned the institution into a tool for the president.

The real danger is that Mr Mohamud who fits the definition of a tyrant as” Someone who acts on

his nightmares while he is awake” will meet no one standing in his way at this particular

juncture. Early on in his mandate, Mr. Mohamud ran against enormous headwinds in the name

of Dr. Abdirahman Mohamoud Farole the president of Puntland, one of the two Self-

governing political entities in existence before the federal government was formed, the other

being Somaliland. Don‟t forget the epoch battle for the formation of

Jubbaland administation and Farole‟s unreserved support in that cause. It is the only other

primary stakeholder of the Federal Provisional Constitution and the federal model that Somalia

has chosen for its system of governance. Somaliland chose to stay out. Puntland prided itself

more than anything else to be the protector of the constitution and the federal model. But Mr.

Farole has since been replaced by Mr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gas as Puntland president. It

seems as though he’s been asleep on the wheel or he doesn’t have a clue where that Safety

Break is or when to hit it.

It would have been very difficult to set such a long list of targets for a nascent administration in a

devastated country such as Somalia if it were not for the fact that when Mr. Mohamud was

elected, the foundations for progress were already there: the protracted transitional period came

to a close; relative peace existed in most parts of the country and the prospects for national

reconciliation seemed promising. By mid-2012, the process of ending the transition period and

forming a permanent government had the full backing of the international community, led by the

United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States. It is this process that ultimately

resulted in the election of Mr. Mohamud as President of the first internationally recognized

Somali government since 1991. The United States has recognized Somalia's government for the

first time in more than two decades.



By Cabdulle Muse


US recognizes Somalia

By Tom Watkins, CNN

Updated 5:31 PM ET, Thu January 17, 2013

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shakes hands with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on

Thursday in Washington.



By Cabdulle Muse


Donor's favorite Hassan Sheikh meets with UK's Minster for International Development

When a nation is devastated by calamity (e.g conventional war between nations, civil war,

natural disasters, etc..) two types of leaders emerge from the ashes: those who compound the

disaster and those who become saviors. Mr. Mohamud certainly does not belong to the latter

category and so far demonstrated by his every move that he belongs to the former category.

For example, right after his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Mr. Mohamud

and his former foreign minister conspired to steal public funds by secretly signing a contract with

an American law firm, Shulman Rogers and other individuals that gave them hefty percentages

from the country‟s recovered overseas assets for the recovery and the diversion of those assets

into private accounts in Dubai. Mr. Mohamud referenced that recognition in his letter to the

international financial institutions putting them on notice that as the officially recognized

president of the Federal Republic of Somalia, he authorized Shulman Rogers to represent him in

all matters dealing with Somalia‟s overseas assets. When the newly appointed Governor of the

Central Bank of Somalia Yusur Abrar was alerted to the scheme, she resisted the idea and she

went to the president to talk him out of it, but she realized that Mr. Mohamud is behind the

scheme. That is when she secretly fled the country and sent her resignation by email.



By Cabdulle Muse


A confidential UN report presented to the UN Security Council in July 2014, urges the UN “ to

call on member states and financial institutions to freeze Somali assets under their jurisdiction

until "a genuinely transparent and accountable recovery process can be established", the report

obtained by Al Jazeera said. " Continuation of a recovery process in secret ... risks further

exposure of overseas assets to misappropriation", urging the Somali government to disclose the

original list of identified assets, which now is only known to President Mohamud and the

Maryland-based law firm Shulman Rogers as well as two other individuals. The local assets are

also under attack from the president and his cronies. Ports, airports, and public land are either

leased or sold in secret deals to Turkish corporations or businessmen. Also keep in mind, the

bribery scandal currently brewing in Britain involving Soma Oil & Gas.

When Hassan Mohamud was elected President, no one expected him to make miracles. What

was expected of him was to do the minimum necessary to heal the wounds of the civil war

through a genuine process of national reconciliation, finalize the revision of the existing

provisional constitution through consultation and inclusiveness before putting it into a

referendum, rebuilding the core national institutions and organizing elections on the basis of one

person one vote. The truth is that instead of healing the nation‟s wounds, Mr. Mohamud adopted

a thuggish attitude by spending his political capital on violating the provisional Federal

Constitution and arbitrarily changing its provisions to suite his personal ambitions. He could not

bring himself to accept the reality that despite his personal opposition to the Provisional

Constitution, it was an irrevocable choice by the stakeholders that a federal system of

government was the only model that fits the current political realities in Somalia.

In his first briefing to the United Nations in New York on September 12, 2013, 90 days after the

establishment of UNSOM, the SRSG said, inter alia, the following “ the strong centralist state

has ceased to exist. Different regions and different people now hold different bits of power. That

is why the Somalis have decided a federal model is the only system that will work in this new

reality”.



By Cabdulle Muse


Nicholas Kay (UNSOM) on the situation in Somalia - Security Council meeting 12 Sep.

2013

It is an open secret that different regions in the country are associated with different clan power

bases. When people in their casual conversations talk about the cities of Mogadishu, Garowe,

Hargeisa, Kismayo and Baydhabo, it is understood that they are referring to power bases of

various clans. This shift of the political power to the peripheries is largely attributable to the

deterioration of Mogadishu‟s ambiance and cosmopolitan character so much so that the majority

of the Somalis now see it as another clan power base. That is why the Provisional Constitution of

the Federal Somali Republic left Mogadishu‟s status as the nation‟s capital in limbo until such

time that a final constitution is agreed upon and put to referendum, a constitutional court and a

standing electoral commission are established and free and fair elections, from which a credible

legislative process emerges, are held.

It should be noted here that the federalization process was already underway when Mr.

Mohamud appeared in the Somali political scene and the structural foundations for a federal

republic were already laid down. When he was elected President, Somaliland and Puntland were

in existence as self-governing political entities for 22 years and 14 years, respectively. Similarly,

moves to Form a state in Jubbaland were already made and the idea of forming another state in

the South-West was under discussion. Dispite Mr. mohamud's unholy alliance with many spoiler

groups including Shabaab, the process of forming these two latter states has now been completed

in accordance with the provisions of the Interim Constitution which requires that each

constituent state of the Federal Republic should absorb two or more of Somalia‟s pre-civil war

18 administrative regions. The former administrative regions absorbed by Jubbaland State and



By Cabdulle Muse


the South-West State are Middle Jubba, Lower Jubba and Gedo for the former and Lower

Shabelle, Bay and Bakool for the latter.

Hassan Mohamud‟s misdeeds also included undermining the formation of regional states, micro-

managing the affairs of the state by usurping the executive powers of the Council of Ministers

and becoming a polarizing rather than a unifying figure in the Somali political scene.

Shortly after his election, and before he even appointed a prime minister, the President

introduced himself to the nation by paying a visit to his hometown of Beledweyne in the Region

of Hiiraan followed by another quick visit to Baydhabo, hometown of the speaker of the

Parliament and currently the provisional headquarters of the South-Western State of Somalia.

According to the President, his visit to the aforesaid towns was driven by his desire to carry an

extensive consultation as to whom he should appoint to the position of Prime Minister. He did

not explain, however, why his “wide consultation” excluded two important constituents of the

federal structure proposed for Somalia: Puntland and Jubbaland. During his visits to the above-

mentioned towns, the President told his audience that he wants to hear their views with regard to

the qualities, character and sense of loyalty of the person he should appointment as prime

minister. In his public statements during his visits, Mr. Mohamud had given away more than

enough of his attitude and his animosity towards a federal system of governance as well as his

hostility to some parts of the country. A case in point is his long standing opposition to the

attempts by the inhabitants of Jubbaland Region to form a local administration. At the same time,

he left no stone unturned to undermine the implementation of the provisions of the interim

constitution.

These were followed by other missteps including the President‟s reaction to the Protests by the

Somali Diaspora members in North America and Europe, particularly those that took place in

Minneapolis and London. These actions sowed the seeds, and later cemented Mr. Mohamud‟s

public persona as a feckless, corrupt and divisive thug in civilian clothes. When the international

community, spearheaded by the UK realized that their investments and their efforts to resurrect

Somalia as a standing member in the community of nations were about to be wasted, the British

Foreign Secretary, William Hague, had to rush to Mogadishu on April 25, 2013 and hold an

impromptu meeting with Mr. Mohamud at Aden Adde International Airport. Mr. Hague was the

bearer of a letter of invitation from Mr. Cameron, the British Prime Minister, to Mr. Mohamud to

visit London. In that letter, Mr. Cameron bluntly told Mr. Mohamud that he should help them

help him by showing that he is the legitimate President of the whole country and that he is a

national consensus builder by visiting Puntland before embarking on the visit to London. It took

twelve months for the international community, particularly the special representative of the of

the United Nations Secretary-General and the Ethiopian Foreign Minister to somehow get access

to Mr. Mohamud who locked himself in the cockpit to avert disaster. On August 27, 2013 the

Federal Government of Somalia signed a face saving agreement with a delegation from

Jubbaland in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. According to the SRSG‟s Report to the Security Council, it

was a very close call that shook the very foundations of Somalia‟s nascent government

institutions. Mr. Mohamud played every trick in the game to sidestep the federal constitution



By Cabdulle Muse


under which he was elected in the first place. All along, he was paying only a lip service to the

virtues of federalism while, in fact, he was undermining it.

It is also an open secret that, with the support of influential groups in his political constituency,

Mr. Mohamud opposed Somalia‟s adoption of a federal system of governance. In fact, he

admitted that reality when he was publicly confronted with accusations of tampering with 34

articles of the provisional constitution by the uncompromising and federalist former President of

Puntland, Dr. Abdirahman Mohamoud Farole. Mr Farole made the accusation in a welcoming

speech during Mr. Mohamud‟s first visit to Puntland on April 28-30, 2013.

From right Hasan Skeikh Mohamoud and Abdirahman Mohamoud Farole



By Cabdulle Muse


LACK OF RECONCILIATION AND THREATS TO PEACE AND SECURITY

Motivated by the need to contain the growing threat of the Al-Shabab terrorist group and

addressing the security concerns of the majority of the Somali people, the Security Council of the

United Nations partially lifted the arms embargo that was imposed on Somalia in 1992. The

intention was to establish a disciplined and well-equipped army to combat and defeat the

terrorists. It turned out, however, that the biggest threat to Somalia‟s peace and security is

represented by the arms traders that have close ties with the government.

A letter dated October 10, 2014 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to

Security Council Resolution 2111 (2013) and addressed to the President of the Security Council,

contains a very damaging account of information linking Mr.Mohamud to the renewed violence

since he took over power. The Report by the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea attached

to the above-mentioned letter says the following: “Clan-based political violence broke out and

sharply escalated from 2013 to the present in Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle. The fighting

has involved clan militias of the Biiamaal (Dir) and Habar Gidir (Hawiye) in Lower Shabelle and

the Abgaal (Hawiye) and Shiidle (Bantu/Jareer) in Middle Shabelle and led to attacks on civilian

settlements amounting to gross violations of human rights and, in some cases, international

humanitarian law. The complexity of the situation entails a combination of the alleged role of

senior army officers, leakages of arms to clan-based militias, use of misappropriated resources to

fuel the conflict, business interests in capturing land and other resources and political agendas



By Cabdulle Muse


seeking to influence the federal state formation process. The conflict risks spilling over to other

regions and complicates the continuing campaign against Al-Shabab”. s/2014/72 82/461 14-

60683 Annex 3.2.

Mr. Mohamud‟s actions disappointed all the external actors who had interest in stabilizing

Somalia such as the AU, IGAD, the EU and the United States. There is no better expression of

that disappointment than a paragraph in the Report of the United States Director of National

Intelligence‟s briefing to the senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 29, 2014.

Mr. James R. Clapper said the following: “In Somalia, Al-Shabab is conducting asymmetric

attacks against government facilities and western targets in and around Mogadishu. The

credibility and effectiveness of the young Somali government will be further threatened by

persistent political infighting, weak leadership from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ill-

equipped government institutions, and pervasive technical, political, and administrative

shortfalls”.

Even though he went to school, Mr. Mohamud, by virtue of his membership of the United

Somali Congress‟s notorious Youth Club (better known as Mooryaan or thugs) does not believe

in peace or reconciliation despite the fact that Article 111.1 of the Provisional Constitution is

calling for the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Nor does he believe that

holding a Truth and Reconciliation Conference will help alleviate the animosity and mistrust

mostly fueled by suspicion between different communities or clans. On the contrary, Mohamud

attributes the blame for what he considers a national political paralysis to the fact that there is no

clear winner of the so-called „Somalia Civil War‟ particularly between the Daarood and Hawiye

clans. While acknowledging that atrocities were committed during the civil war, he sounds like

an apologist for his comrades in arms: the USC. In fact, while addressing a town hall meeting of

his supporters in his first visit to Brussels, Belgium, in January 2013 he told his audience that

the “Mooryaan that killed, raped and wreaked havoc in the country are heroes to

some”. President Mohamud thinks that his mentor and hero, General Aydeed, was cheated of the

chance to win it all for his clan after the “MANIFESTO GROUP” hatched a conspiracy against

him and installed Ali Mahdi Mohamed as an interim President before the General had even a

chance to go to Radio Mogadishu to announce the demise of General Mohamed Siyad Barre‟s

regime. Mr. Mohamud knows how hard it is to have a second chance in life, reason why he is so

determined to score a decisive win this time. That is why the entire national security apparatus,

including the so-called National Army, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Ministry,

the Somali National Security Agency, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades of the so called Somali

National Army SNA are totally commandeered and staffed by Gen. Aydeed‟s cronies and clan

militia, Habar Gidir sub-clan of the Hawiye. In fact SNA is the Same acronym for Gen.

Aydeed‟s Somali National Alliance (SNA).

General Mohamed Farah Aydeed was the Chairman of the United Somali Congress (USC), a

coalition of Hawiye sub-clans led by his Habar Gidir group. In my opinion, the General

squandered a golden opportunity that rarely presents itself in a country‟s political history by



By Cabdulle Muse


opposing the appointment of Mr. Ali Mahdi as an interim president. The latter‟s appointment

was intended to forestall any political vacuum that may arise from the ouster of Dictator

Mohamed Siyaad Barre. Farah Aydeed considered Ali Mahdi‟s appointment as a personal affront

to him and waged a relentless war against Ali Mahdi and everyone else who opposed him, and in

the process, virtually destroyed Somalia‟s national capital and eventually lost his life.

Even though the appellation Ali Mahdi was not a household name at the national level, he was a

well-known and well respected businessman and a parliamentarian under the democratically

elected civilian Government toppled by the military junta that took over power on October 21,

1969. He was also a prominent member of the “Manifesto Group” which transcended clan

politics and attracted the nation‟s best minds from all walks of life, including the retired highly

respected First President of the Republic, Mr. Aden Abdulle Osman. The Group adopted Gandhi

style peaceful resistance tactics and wrote the historical Manifesto document on May 15, 1990.

The document bluntly told the dictator to step down and urgently call for a conference f national

reconciliation and salvation in which opposition groups and government participate with a view

to charting a way for an orderly transition from a one man rule to a pluralistic civilian

administration. The regime‟s reaction to the demands of the Manifesto Group was predictable

and thuggish at best. Orders were subsequently issued to personally eliminate the individuals the

regime considered to be the catalyst and the glue holding the Manifesto Group together. As a

result, Hagi Muse Boqor Osman, a prominent politician and a candidate for the Presidency of the

Republic prior to the military coup of October 1969, as well as Hashi Wehelie, a respected

businessman, were killed in a mortar attack while co-chairing a meeting convened to discuss the

modalities of a national reconciliation and salvation conference. The regime‟s brutality, however,

did not save its leader from demise. In fact, the popular assault on his fortified palace forced him

to run for his life in humiliation wearing a sarong.

At the beginning, General Aideed came up with seemingly legitimate arguments to challenge Ali

Mahdi‟s authority by saying that the USC cannot appoint anyone to a position of authority

without consulting with other opposition groups because the process will not be inclusive

(LOOMA DHAMMA). This argument, however, lost any validity when two reconciliation

conferences held in Djibouti in June and July 1991 endorsed Ali Mahdi as President and asked

all factions to accept his authority. Mr. Aydeed, however, decided to defy the Somali consensus

because, deep-down, he saw himself as the legitimate contender of the presidency, and launched

a relentless war on Ali Mahdi.

The Djibouti Conferences did not only reaffirm Ali Mahdi as President but they also exposed

Aydeed‟s real intentions. He never wanted Ali Mahdi or any other individual other than himself

to succeed Siyaad Barre. He believed that the leading role which his militia played in the ouster

of the dictator gave him the necessary legitimacy to succeed him. However, since his argument

that Ali Mahdi‟s appointment lacked legitimacy backfired on him after the Djibouti gatherings,

he now portrayed his opponent as an inept imposter unfit for holding such a high profile office.

We feel the reverberations of the war he started in 1991 a quarter of a century later.



By Cabdulle Muse


President Mohamud was elected, inter alia, to pacify the country and reconcile its citizens, but

what is exactly happening now three years into his four-year term of office? Let us see.

In the letter from the chair of the Security Council Committee (S//AC.29/2014/SEMG/OC.8) the

United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea referred to “a clan-based network

within the Government security forces notably from the main Hawiye subclans, the Abgaal and

Habar Gidir which had a privileged access to official weapons stocks. Sources within the army

have informed the group that brigades 1 and 3 in particular, composed of Abgaal and Habar

Gidir elements and traditionally based in Jowhar and Afgoye, respectively received large

amounts of weapons from official stockpiles amid escalating clan conflict in Lower Shabelle and

Middle Shabelle. 68 areas around Jowhar…….and 68. On November 26, 2013 two army

logistics officers in Mogadishu reported to the Monitoring Group that Brigade 3 elements and

associated Habar Gidir militiamen were driving Biimaal sub-clans off their land in

Lower Shabelle, while Brigade 1 militiamen were doing the same to Bantu tribes in Middle

Shabelle. The two officers reported that the two brigades received preferential access to army

logistics. The information was corroborated by a foreign military intelligence official and a

Somali intelligence officer in December 2013. (S2014/726/32/461 14-60683). Afgoye was the

epicentre of serious clan-based violence, land conflicts and human rights abuses between

November 2013 and May 2014 with Abgaal militias clashing with Bantu militias and Habar

Gidir clashing with the minority clan Biimaal and associated militias. As clan conflicts unfolded

in those areas, the Monitoring Group has observed increasingly complex and fluid relations

between the army and armed actors in Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan regions.

Amid sporadic co-operation between Habar Gidir and Abgaal units, militias that have not been

defined by the federal government as part of the security forces have acted in concert with the

army (See Annex 3.2 for a case study on threats to peace and security in Lower Shabelle and

Middle Shabelle) 79. Furthermore, the monitoring Group has obtained evidence implicating

Musa Haji Mohamed “Ganjab” , a fellow Abgaal/Waesle sub-clansman of the President and his

close advisor, in the transfer of weapons to Al-Shabab and other forces unbeknown to the army.

Musa “Ganjab”, a prominent Somali businessman, had in the past acted as a logistical facilitator

for Al-Shabab. In the years 2013 and 2014, he was a key figure in the President‟s efforts to

recover Somalia‟s overseas financial assets (See Annex 3.2). At the same time, he maintained

relationships with key individuals in the security sector, notably the army chief of logistics,

Colonel Abdullahi Moalim Nur, the former Minister of the Interior and National Security,

Abdikarim Hussein Guled, the President of Galmudug, Abdi Hassan Awale “Qeybdiid”, and a

former warlord by the name of Abdi Nur Siad “Abdi Waal”. The latter was previously reported

by the Monitoring Group to be involved in the private security industry ostensibly on behalf of

the Federal Government and its efforts to equip and train military forces. He is also responsible

for setting up an armed private security company operating in Mogadishu”.

The renewed clan fighting in many parts of the country is deliberately instigated by Mr.

Mohamud‟s allies using state assets and powers to further their personal, group or clan interests.

All they have to do, for example, is to pin the tag “National Army” to a known clan militia and

bestow the rank of “General” on a notorious thug and let them preach peace and dispense justice,

Al-Capone style, to any community with which they come in contact. Isn‟t that what the Habar



By Cabdulle Muse


Gidir (Hawiye) and Abgaal (Hawiye) operatives did to the Biimaal (Dir)

and Shiidle (Bantu/Jareer), respectively? The same treatment was meted out to the Surre (Dir)

in Deefow and Kabxanley villages of Hiiraan Region by Xawaadle (Hawiye) militias. These

militias and the official Federal military forces are interchangeable. Hundreds of people,

including women and children, were killed and many more were displaced after setting their

dwellings to fire in various villages. Google Deefow and read the response:

Somalia: Deefow and Kabxanley have been burned by Somali Government Forces.

Galkayo under siege as Galmudug gathers its militia at the outskirts of the city

Gen. Abdi Hassan Awale “Qeybdiid”, reviews his force and gives stern warning to Puntland

on 10 July 2015. See video

http://marqaanmedia.com/?page_id=6462



By Cabdulle Muse


Galkayo, the provincial headquarters of Mudug Region, Puntland State, was one of the main

cities in Somalia that bore the brunt of the Civil War when USC militia under the command of

Abdi Hassan Awale (Qeybdiid), General Aydeed‟s chief of staff, attacked it under the cover of

darkness and massacred one thousand men, women and children in their sleep. Currently, the

city is again under siege by the same man; this time, however, under the command of the former



By Cabdulle Muse


interior and security minister, Abdikarim Hussein Guled whose involvement in the diversion of

Somali National Army (SNA) weapons to clan-based militias, particularly those under the

command of Qeybdiid, was revealed. (For details read the United Nations Security Council

Report S/2014/726). Abdikarim Hussein Guled is now baptized as president of an

unconstitutional entity called Galmudug and given the heavy assignment of ceding Galkayo and

the rest of Mudug region from Puntland.

Executive power of the federal government vested in the federal cabinet

According to the Interim Constitution agreed upon by all the Somali stakeholders in 2012, one of

the President‟s constitutional responsibilities is to appoint a prime Minister whose job it is to

discharge the executive functions of the government after appointing a council of ministers and

obtaining the confidence of Parliament. Having appointed a prime minister and having overseen

the Council of Ministers installed after obtaining the approval of the legislature, the President

was supposed to ease up to his role as a statesman and guardian of the constitution and let the

Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers exercise their executive duties as per the provisions

of Article 90 of the Constitution. Sub-articles (a-q) of Article 90 elaborate the responsibilities

and powers of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Sub-article (d) empowers the

President to appoint a prime minister and to dismiss the government if it does not get the

required vote of confidence from the Council of the People (i.e Parliament) by a majority of

50%+1.

The remaining 16 items of Article 90 clearly limit the President‟s powers and give these powers

to the Prime Minister and his council. There are constitutional prerogatives of executive nature

which the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers may exercise and pass on to the President

for consent only. These include the appointment and dismissal of the commanders of the armed

forces at the federal level; dismissal of ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers;

appointment of the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the High Court and other judges at the

federal government level. In the unlikely event that a declaration of a state of emergency may be

required, the President has to act by the joint recommendation of the Prime Minister and his

council and the Judicial Services Commission. At the international level, the President‟s powers

have also constitutional limitations. International treaties can be signed by him only after

recommendation by the council of Ministers and ratification by the Parliament.

Does President Hassan know or care about his constitutional limitations? Obviously not!



By Cabdulle Muse


President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in negotiation with Japanese Preme Minister H.E Shinzo

Abe

By the way, who‟re these people in Mr. Mohamud‟s official delegation? No Cabinet members

and no parliamentarians

As he was not satisfied with the constitutional arrangements that gave him very limited powers,

the President virtually hijacked the flight and decided not to let anyone in. Rumours now abound

as to the safety and status of the flight after takeoff.

Many observers, including the two former prime ministers whose ouster from power was

masterminded by the President as well as some parliamentarians believe that the flight has been

hijacked by the President and his Al-dam Al-Jadeed scoudrels. DJ is a secret religious society

that carefully planted itself in the midst of the so-called charity organizations which flourished in

Mogadishu‟s lawless environment during the past quarter of a century, and as a result, now

dominate the entire civil society of Somalia. Mr. Mohamud and his Dam Al-Jadeed (New

Blood), a more insidious militant splinter group from an older organization called Al-Islah

(Reform), cut their teeth in that environment. The group attracted public scrutiny when its

internet communications (e-mails) were exposed possibly by disgruntled members of its own. In

any case, by the second half of 2012, the group had staged the biggest peaceful political coup in

Somalia‟s history when Hassan Sheikh Mohamud became the President of the first

constitutionally installed government in more than 20 years. Someone described Mr. Mohamud‟s

meteoric rise to power as a messianic miracle and compared it to the unlikely occurrence of

picking someone from a street in London and installing him/her in Buckingham Palace.

How this previously unknown secret group was able to succeed in its first attempt to grab power

could be the subject of a future documentary; but one factor among many is already known. The

Group was the sole beneficiary of a generous grant by the Emir of Qatar ( For details read the

July 2013 report of the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea pursuant to

Security Council Resolution 2060 (2012), Somalia(S/2013/413). Abdi Aynte, who is mentioned

in that report as one of trusted carriers of millions of dollars in cash from Qatar, is currently a

Minister for Planning and International Co-operation in the Federal Government of Somalia.

Mr. Abdissalam Hadliye Omar is a former Governor of Somalia‟s Central Bank. He resigned



By Cabdulle Muse


from his position when the Report of the Monitoring Group accused him of „running a patronage

system and a set of social relations that defy the institutionalization of the state‟. He was also

accused of turning the Bank into a slush fund and not being able to account for the disappearance

of US$ 12 million. Mr. Omar has now been recycled in Mr. Mohamud‟s administration as

Minister for Foreign Affairs. And the biggest scoundrel of all, the former minister of interior and

security who was mentioned in the UN report as the man responsible for the diversion of

government weapons to his clan militias Abdikarim Hussein Guled is now baptized as president

of an unconstitutional entity called Galmudug and given the heavy assignment of ceding

Galkayo and the rest of Mudug region from Puntland. May Allah forbid, when a crime against

humanity is committed against women and children in their sleep, Mr. Mohamud should be held

responsible.

Anonymity mistaken for good virtues

Anonymity is not a virtue and in politics it could be really dangerous. Mr. Mohamud was so

anonymous that the majority of the Somali people heard about his participation in national

politics only after his election. Over the past quarter of a century, we have seen the country move

from one catastrophe to another and the national news dominated by the “Men of Disaster”, to

use Mohamud Togane‟s lexicon, the very men who were directly responsible for fueling the

disaster that befell our nation. The events of the past twenty five years have left a pessimistic

impression in the Somali psyche. From the Somalia front, all I expect is bad news is an

expression you often hear. In other words, anybody in the news and any news item from that

country must be about the “Men of Disaster”; therefore we mistook Mr. Mohamud‟s obscurity

and his name's absence from the news for good virtues.

When Mr. Mohamud decided to put his name in the hat among 24 other men vying for the same

position and his name was drawn, he flashed such an effusive smile that brought the whole

nation to joyfully laugh with him. Later, we realized that it was a smile of incredulity showing

unbelief. He was displaying a reaction that is not much different from any regular lottery jackpot

winner and ever since, he’s been suffering from “Sudden Wealth Syndrome”, a psychological

disorder that affects most huge lottery jackpot winners and causes them to wildly spend every

penny they got in a short period. Instead of accepting this honor and the responsibility that

comes with it with humility, he outsourced all government institutional authorities to his office

by forming his own ten member cabinet and choosing his prime minster without consulting

anybody including the Parliament and the other stakeholders. Mr. Mohamud spent all his

political capital on petty mindedness and acted like a petty dictator.

That’s when Dr Ali Khalif Galaydh aptly spoke about what power has done to Mr. Mohamud. He

compared him to that hapless old milkmaid who would regularly transport on her back a milk

container to her customers in town. One day, on her daily run to deliver milk to her regular

customers, she had to respond to a call of nature. After relieving herself, however, her dress got

snagged on the milk container thus exposing her behind for the whole world to see! As the

town‟s people try to make her conscious of her naked butt, she would respond to their calls by



By Cabdulle Muse


saying: the milk is not for sale; I am on my way to deliver this milk to my regular customers and

you are not one of them! Irrespective of any questions or comments, the milkmaid would give

the same response: the milk is not for sale; I am on my way to deliver this milk to my regular

customers and you are not one of them. Now, power has rendered Mr. Mohamud as demented as

the unfortunate milkmaid. Dr. Galaydh said, if anyone approaches Mr. Mohamud on any topic,

he cuts him off with the mantra: “My government is no longer transitional! My government is

no longer transitional! My Government is now permanent!”

Mr. Mohamud, What else have used for that recognition other than your personal benefit?

Mr. Mohamud, you failed us all.

By Cabdulle Muse

Email: [email protected]

Is Somalia’s flight to 2016 on the same flight path as ... · Three long years and three months...

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