A Portrait of You!

Miles away you may be

Separated by masses of snow

And cold wintry blasts

Yet fresh is your memory

A memory cemented in my heart

By the love of you

 And the joy of our relationship

Every day

And on the screen of my laptop

Appears a photogenic portrait of you

With a face glaring like the light of the sun

And with a smile that’s the envy of the world

On a face whose gaze evokes an adventurous romance

And a nature trail down the lane of ageless beauty

If anything

The black scarf wrapped over your head

And the fine prints of henna on your hands

Inspire courage

Demand respect

Command modesty

And most of all win admiration

WHERE’S MY HOMELAND?

Dislodged I have been

Camped in temp settlements

With no flag over my head

And I have seen it all

A country fragmented

Protracted in war

Villas shelled with mortar fire

Bodies dismembered

Innocent children bleed

Mothers maimed, raped

Dads separated

The elite abroad, frustrated

And the nation pillaged with greed

Its resources auctioned underground

For cash

In a dash

And for less

A nation on the brink of extinction

Its leaders too divided to agree on policy

And its people displaced, self-destroying

I know I don’t belong in this camp

I know I aint a-forever-refugee

I know I was born into a state

Sovereign, dignified,

But where’s my homeland

IMPLICATIONS OF KENYA’S INVASION OF SOMALIA

A clear departure from its regular diplomatic tradition, Kenya has, on Sunday, Oct. 16, sent its armed forces, equipped with over 30 tanks and trucks, deep into Somalia with a mission to root out Al-Shabab. The army has since marched over 120 km and has secured about four towns.

The government of Kenya has not yet made clear its strategy to start, escalate and wind up this war. As a result, it’s difficult, at this moment, to measure and by extension to analyze the scope and the duration of this military operation.

Top government officials explained that the army is “in hot pursuit of Al-Shabab,” an enemy which threatened Kenya’s $750 million tourism industry by abducting visitors.

Al-Shabab has denied any kidnappings allegation and no evidence of direct connection exists so far.

Nonetheless, the regional implications of this war may be catastrophic to both nations.

On one hand, War is not a party where people go to sip coffee or bite a juicy cake. The cost of war is immeasurable. It’s real bloody. There’s loss of lives, there are casualties and there’s collateral damage, not to mention the aftermath psychological trauma and environmental degradation.

Already loss of lives occurred before there’s any military face-off. Five Kenyan servicemen died when their helicopter crashed at the border town of Liboi.

Additionally, reprisal attacks can occur in Kenya’s heartland. Al-Shabab has threatened suicide attacks unless Kenya withdraws its troops. I’m not a prophet of doom but the writing is on the wall if July 2010 Kampala bombing is anything to go by.

The Somali nation still mourns Al-Shabab’s Oct. 4 blasts of a ministry of education building in Mogadishu where over a hundred people died and hundreds of others wounded.

Another consideration may be the real cost of war on Kenyan taxpayers and on the economy of their country. For instance, the U.S wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have, to a large extent, undermined its economic standing in the world.

In other words, increased military spending takes gigantic amounts of resources away from public spending on education, healthcare and infrastructure. Closed as the military budgeting and oversight may be, avenues for corruption may open up as well.

Also, Kenya has been a restive economic hub in a region notorious for chaos. But that image may soon change. Kenya’s involvement in war and the likelihood of reprisal attacks may scare away the confidence of investors and affect all sectors of the economy not just tourism.

On the other hand, this war is, in essence, a breach of international law. It violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia, a neighboring state. 

Further, lack of clear military mandate and with no international oversight means that widespread cases of rape, human rights abuses, further destabilization of the already fragile security situation and an exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Somalia may be in the making.

The kidnappings, the proclaimed cause of this invasion, must be treated as criminal acts and the perpetrators pursued, arrested and prosecuted in a court of law to answer for their crimes.

Crimes committed by a few individuals should never be a justification to go to full-scale war with long term socio- economic and geo-political implications for the two neighboring states.

While the overwhelming majority of Somalis support the removal of Al-Shabab yet how that should occur is another thing. In fact, Somalis are extremely averse to foreign incursions. U.S Operations of early 90’s and Ethiopia’s invasion five years ago all ended unsuccessfully despite the mismatch in intelligence, military training, and equipment.

 The pursuit to fight Al-Shabab, though noble, might finally be a futile exercise. Chances of Al-Shabab standing up against an organized, conventional military with a better command of the air are slim. They have shown, in the past, an ability to melt down among civilian populations and remerge as a hit-and-run force capable of causing enormous damage to personnel and installations.

And such a tactic may provoke indiscriminate shelling of civilians by Kenyan army, an act that will work in Al-Shabab’s favor by fuelling local resentments against the invading army. If so happens, Kenya’s Linda Nchi mission will be not more than a pursuit dead at the start.

It’s no secret that Kenya has been under external pressure to show its military might in the wake of successive kidnappings of tourists and aid workers. Bolder foreign policy doesn’t have to involve waging wars on foreign soil. Rather, strengthened policing capacity in its homeland and a beefed-up border security may help.

Finally, media personalities must be cautious in beating the drum of war and in presenting it as a romantic encounter to the public. Remember war is not an evening at a movie theater.

Author's contact: ahmednajaah@hotmail.com 

DEFYING FEAR: SOMALIA REFUSES TO DIE

This morning on my way to work, I grabbed a local daily from a newspaper box. On the  cover page -printed black- was a picture of a white apple, the logo of Apple Inc, with the portrait of a bespectacled man tacked inside the bottom of the picture. The words “STEVE JOBS, 1955-2011, THE GENIUS” also appeared on the lower quarter of the apple shot.

While I walked a block farther toward the train that will get me to work, my mind submerged deeply in a sea of scattered thoughts and has thus become a nuclei of activity, roving between places, comparing and contrasting people. Here was a man, Steve Jobs, who became an American household name for creativity, innovation and for quality of high-tech products his company, Apple Inc, has engineered, but above all, a man who had a country that was ready to reward him for his work. Steve was today mourned not only in the news media but also in family circles.

Then-and on the contrary- another event occurred to my mind. The latter happened a day earlier, in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, when, Bashar Abdulahi Nur, a young Al-Shabab fighter drove a truck filled with explosives into a government ministry building, blowing off half a square mile area, killing over a hundred people and wounding nearly 200 others. Most of the casualties were students waiting for the result of a scholarship selection exam that would have taken them to Turkey Universities. Other victims included area business owners and government soldiers, thus denying Somalia of its most productive workforce, the type that would have grown up to become the Steve Jobs of Somalia. While both events described above are extremely sad news for both nations, nonetheless, the cause, scope and magnitude differs. While Steve Jobs died peacefully, albeit the much pain to his family and nation for his loss, of pancreatic cancer, the deaths in Mogadishu were sudden and chaotic, and represent an unfortunate continuum of two decades of horrific bloodshed which catastrophically impacts on the people, educational infrastructure and socio-political progress of Somalia.

Most of Somalia’s elites have already fled the country. The appalling loss of lives in Mogadishu’s bloody explosion on Tuesday frightens those educated Somalis who glamour for an opportunity to return to rebuild their homeland. Already, Diaspora Somali entrepreneurs, scholars, athletes and artists are building other countries which provided them home away from home. Examples are abound but a few such as Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, an American citizen who returned in 2010 to become a prime minister, Abdisalam Ibrahim, the first East African to play in the premier league, Mo Farah, described as the Greatest British long distance athlete of all-time, scholar and writer Abdi M. Kusow, also a professor at Iowa State University, listed in Who’s Who in America in 2010 and whose article on Normative Order was ranked as one of the 20 most read papers between 2004 and 2009 to Nurrudin Farah’s literary prowess, come to mind.

The question that demands an answer is if we Somalis keep on killing each other aimlessly for two decades and counting, where the hell are we heading? Why are we denying our geniuses, our own Steve Jobs, a place to call home? Why are we denying our young educated folks an opportunity to build the examples of Apple and Google? Why are so many obsessed with ‘my clan is better than yours?’ And why do we worship personalities in our political system instead of focusing on policy issues that improve lives, on principles which promote the dignity, integrity and territorial sovereignty of the Somali nation? Somalia will live on. In spite of Al-Shabab’s ugly bombing mission and AMISOM’s indiscriminate shelling of civilians, Somalia refuses to die. Somalia will live on through this painful, shameful carnage but the legacy this lives will forever stay.
Author's contact: ahmednajaah@hotmail.com

Lost Pieces

I wonder if I should regret

For the misdeeds of forefathers

A nation with limitless pride we once were

And with compassionate, intellectual leaders

A nation of remarkable endurance

With forces of goodness protecting our borders

The moment we began to hate

We lost our moral compass

And a focus on our national purpose

Our duty to protect our soil we forgot

And on each other we turned

Our enemies thus got the better of us

Just yesteryears a strong nation we’re

But now in the worst of times we’re

In servitude we sold ourselves

Lost are many golden pieces of us:

Connections, identity and a homeland

We all now regret albeit too late

How dispersed we’re on the edges of the world

With families thrown apart like dust

By the winds of a dry summer

With shocks, stress and struggles to secure livelihoods

With widening generational gaps

Threatening family break-ups

It takes courage to admit wrongdoing

And lots of effort to end clan animosity

Rollercoaster of emotions mustn’t sidetrack us

A show of performance is all we need

And a real commitment to what defines us

Love, unity, homogeneity and humanity

We must respect the rule of law

And random acts of justice we all must serve

Our sins we must cleanse now

And youth movements we must initiate

And out the window old guards we must throw

And forward we must all move

I’m in Love

I’m in love

Deep, deep love

With the invisible

With the arduous

A love I no longer can conceal

V-sign representing victory over tyranny and thus freedom

I’m in love with the pretty

With the most romantic of all

With the pleasant to look at

To smell

To touch

To kiss and breathe

I’m in love with an idea

An idea that has eluded us all

A priceless idea Stolen most often

And traded for less

An idea my people cry for

I’m in love with freedom

Freedom denied to us

By our very own sons who run our lives:

Our despotic governments

Because they have the guns

To intimidate us, to shed our blood,

To take away our lives, so we live in bondage for ever

What Will You Do for Humanity?

A group of seven (G-7) cousins, all Canadians of Somali descent, are taking unprecedented  action to reduce the sufferings of thousands of Somali refugees displaced by famine and internecine civil war.

 The G-7 have under the banner "Step Up for Somalia" walked hundreds of kilometers, from Calgary to Edmonton, to create awareness and raise money for the cause.

So far the group has surpassed their target goal but their effort goes on.

Please visit their blog: http://walkforsomalia.tumblr.com/ or read the article below  for more information:


Step UP for Somalia


A group of teenagers is walking from Calgary to the province's capital to raise money for Somalia.


Saturday, August 06, 2011



A group of young Somali-Canadians are walking to raise money and draw attention to the famine in east Africa.
The group, made up of seven cousins, calls themselves Step UP for Somalia.

The teenagers are walking from Calgary to Edmonton this weekend.

They say their walk symbolizes the walk many Somalis are making in Africa on their way to refugee camps in Kenya.

The group's goal was to raise $10,000 but they have surpassed that and have now raised more than $12,000.

This week the federal government stepped up too and will match their donations.

"Well we are all of Somali heritage and we have been watching what's going on in the media. Reading about it in the news papers and you know what people are always sloughing it off not doing anything about it and we thought we could do something in our own unique way , as responsible people and make a difference," said Madina Abdi.

The group is still accepting donations throughout the weekend.

For more information or to make a donation visit the Step UP for Somalia website.

Dr. Yusuf Hassan Wraps Up North American Tour

Dr. Yusuf Hasan Abdi, the parliamentary candidate for Kamukunji constituency,a cosmopolitan group of seven neighborhoods which include the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh, wrapped up his tour of North America with a last stop at Chicago, U.S.A. on Wednesday, July 20 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A flyer hanging inside the conference hall where Abdi spoke  on Wednessday

Against the backdrop of smothering heat waves across most of the States, Abdi spoke at the East African Community Center, a nonprofit that serves the Somali community in Illinois, to a crowd of a hundred people gathered to listen to his agenda for Kamukunji.

"I grew up, schooled and got my first job in Kamukunji," said Abdi. "I have been an activist for change from an early age."

The largely receptive crowd also probed the candidate on his political and development agenda.

"Would you be different than other politicians who make promises to get elected but forfeit on their pledges once in office?" asked Mohamed Aden, a Kenyan who recently moved to Illinois.

Abdi emphasized how his work for political change in Kenya forced his family's flight into exile in Tanzania before finally relocating to the UK.

He explained how he founded organizations that fought for political reforms when Kenya was under one-party system and that his election to parliament will help him in his efforts to expand democracy and social justice.

Abdi (right) in white shirt and blue tie poses with supporters.

Abdi was elected the first chairman of Ukenya, an opposition party he co-founded with other fellow Kenyans from different ethnic demographics, an indication of his ability to work for a peaceful, democratic Kenya without tribal ethnocentrism.

Abdi who also founded Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners,a civic rights organization that agitated for freedom,justice and improved human rights practices, promised to "reduce youth unemployment rate and improve security, and infrastructure," outlining his top three priorities if elected.

He explained that he intends to rebuild the Kamukunji road transport system, protect its residential rights,and defend it's political and economic interests.

When asked why he ran for Kamukunji which never had a Somali member of parliament and why he thought he was the right candidate for the job, Abdi's response was quick and simple.

"Obama's 2008 election to the U.S presidency inspired me," he said."I would like to use my vast humanitarian, communication, law and diplomacy experience to promote dialogue and build my country."

A July 29, court ruling is slated to pave the way for the date of the by-election.

Abdi is a former senior policy adviser to the U.N. in New York and a former journalist who served as the head of BBC World Service for Africa and senior editor of Voice Of America.

He has a PhD in Communications from Wits University in Johannesburg, and double master's degrees, one from University of London specializing in Politics and Public Administration and another in Law and Diplomacy from Tuft University's Fletcher school of Law and Diplomacy in Boston.

Abdi's U.S tour was apart of a larger mission to explain his bid to win the constituency and to ask the diaspora Somalis to encourage their families in Kamukunji to come out and vote on the election day.

Somali P.M. Names a New Cabinet

Somali PM Names New Faces For Cabinet

By Hiiraan Online Reporter
Wednesday, July 20, 2011





The Prime Minister of Somalia Dr. Abdiweli Ali on Wednesday named his cabinet although backsliding from his previous promise of naming right-sized ministries in his government.
A total of 18 ministers were named in the prime minister’s proposal where new names were sourced depending on clan affiliations based on 4.5 formula. Dr. Ali had entirely reshuffled the former Farmaajo cabinet bringing in new names for parliamentary approval.

The following is the list of ministers obtained by Hiiraan Online

1- Ahmed Hassan Gaboobe (Ugaas Bille), Minister for Justice and Religious Affairs

2- Mohamed Mohamud Haaji Ibrahim, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs

3- Hussein Arab Issa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense

4- Abdiwahab Ugaas Hussein Ugaas Khalif, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry

5- Abdisamad Maalim Mohamud Sheekh Hassan, Minister for Interior and National Security

6- Abdinasir Mohamed Abdulle, Minister for Finance

7- Asha Osman Aqil, Minister for Women and Gender

8- Abullahi Haji Hassan Mohamed Noor, Minister for Agriculutre and Livestock

9- Dr. Abdiaziz Sheikh Yusuf, Minister for Health

10- Abdulkadir Mohamed Ahmed, Minister for Information and Postal cooperation



11- Mohamed Muhudin Sheikh Mursal, Minister for Labour, Youth and Sports

12- Abdirahman Sheikh Ibrahim, Minister for Fisheries and Natural Resources

13- Adan Abdullaahi Adan, Minister for Transport

14- Abdirahman Hosh Jibril, Minister for Constitutional affairs and Reconciliation

15- Jaylani Noor Ikar, Minister for Housing and National Development

16- Abdulkadir Mohamed Diisow, Minister For Water and Energy

17- Prof. Ahmed Aydid Ibrahim, Minister For Education, Higher Studies and Culture

18- Abdullahi Godah Barre, Minister for Planning and International Relations

China on the Rise!

Read this Guardian article on China's growing infrastructural investment.

• Peter Walker
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 June 2011 13.38 BST
• Article history

A bridge too far? China has opened the world's longest sea crossing. The eight-lane, 35-metre-wide structure cost £1.4bn. Photograph: KeystoneUSA-Zuma/Rex Features

China, which seems to complete mammoth infrastructure projects on a routine basis, has claimed another world-beater with the opening of the longest sea bridge.

The 26-mileJiaozhou Bay crossing connects the bustling port city of Qingdao, south-east of Beijing, to the industrial district of Huangdao.

The eight-lane, 35-metre-wide bridge opened to traffic on Thursday morning, China's Xinhua news agency said. Built over a four-year period the project cost about £1.4bn and uses 5,000 pillars. It shortens the driving route between the two locations by about 20 miles.

Somewhat inevitably, the bridge takes the world record from another Chinese sea crossing, the 22.5-mile Hangzhou Bay bridge, which opened in 2008, connecting the cities of Jiaxing and Ningbo, south of Shanghai. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, at almost 24 miles, is slightly longer but crosses an inland waterway rather than open sea.

China is constructing an even more ambitious bridge. Work began in December 2009 on a Y-shaped structure linking Guangdong province in southern China to Hong Kong and Macau. Building is expected to be finished in 2015, and the bridge is expected to cover about 31 miles, although only about 22 miles will span the sea.

SYL: a League a Head of it's Time

Please watch this very informative video about Somali Youth League (SYL).
It's available on YouTube courtesy of Muctar 11.

A TALE OF TWO MOHAMEDS

This week, a people’s revolution is building up in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city and beyond. Demonstrations have so far taken place in many parts of the country. The Somali Diaspora in Europe, North America, Africa and other parts of world have also or are planning to join the protest against the resignation of Prime Minister (P.M.) Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed aka Farmajo as required by the June 9, Kampala accord signed, to end the political disagreement, between President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, the speaker of the parliament.

Also, going viral are a growing number of songs, lyrics, poems, and homemade videos mocking the President and the Speaker. These literature carry messages intended to express outrage against the forced resignation of the popular premier. Users of social networking sites like Facebook are forming groups such as One Million Supporters for P.M. Mohamed Abdullahi, and We Support Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo-the Prime Minister of Somalia, which now has nearly ten thousands members. Others are signing online petitions  to shore up support for Farmajo. This, to be happening in Somali politics, must be unique, a real novelty indeed.

Forty years ago, another Mohamed walked onto the corridors of power, in the same city, through a bloodless coup on Nov. 9, 1969. His name was Mohamed Siyad Barre. He promised sweeping political, economic and social progress.  Mohamed delivered on many of his pledges on the first few years of his administration including writing of the Somali script, improving public infrastructure, creation of light manufacturing industries and standing up to Ethiopia, a neighboring bully and one of the last colonial powers in Africa.

However, ten years of remarkable social and economic development, lasting between 1969 and 1979, was offset by another decade of retrogressive policies characterized by nationalization of privately owned businesses, intolerance to dissent, arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, corruption and nepotism which ultimately led to the ouster of the military regime in 1991.

Both Mohameds were born in parts of Somalia, hail from the same sub-clan of the Darod clan family, both rose to positions of executive power and did so when each had lived almost five decades of their lives, and both were bespectacled.

The contrast can, nonetheless, be any sharper.  Barre was a military man by training with no formal academic background and seized power by illegitimate means, suspended the constitution and ruled the country by decree. He almost ruled the horn of Africa nation for life, until a popular rebellion against his reign removed him from power by the bullet, a very unceremonious way to leave office.

On the other hand, premier Mohamed, a civilian with diplomatic experience, was appointed by an incumbent Somali president and approved by the legislature. He then formed a cabinet of meritorious technocrats whose professionalism and integrity was unprecedented and set benchmarks to measure the progress he wanted them to achieve. He instituted accountability and transparency frameworks in his administration, instruments essential to the success of a legitimate authority. He visited not only the frontlines of the current battlefields his administration is engaged in against the rival Al Shabab militia but also Martini Hospital on Feb. 23, where some of the veterans of 1977 war live and he began to pay a monthly pension to those who served their country with honor and were disabled three decades ago, scoring another first for a months-old administration. He became the first premier in ten years to pay active servicemen their well-deserved dues regularly and on time.

Further, Mohamed has called upon the U.N Political Office for Somalia to account, asked U.N. agencies in Kenya to operate out of Mogadishu and the U.N. Security Council to step up support for the African Union Mission in Somalia. Additionally, Mohamed checked on the excesses of the parliament and rejected unnecessary foreign interference intended to micromanage Somalia’s political affairs as exemplified by the boycott of the Nairobi consultative meeting organized, in April 12-13, 2011, by Ambassador Augustine Mahiga, the U.N.’s Special Representative for Somalia. 

The quality of Mohamed’s education shows in his work. He has a master’s degree in Political Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo and he called highly educated Somalis to return to help rebuild their country while Barre sent then Somali elites into exile with the fear that they will take over the reins of power if he allowed them to reside in the country.

Mohamed was born in Mogadishu in 1962, seven years before Barre assumed the presidency and had refrained from participating in Somalia’s bloody civil war. While Mogadishu residents chased Barre 20 years ago, they are now protesting to keep Mohamed lead their nation, with two supporters already losing their lives, a demonstration that Somali people need competent, visionary leaders and that clan division is not inbred in the main street’s blood but instigated by politicians who want to cling to power.

Finally, the message the recent protests and the example of these two Mohameds send to Somali politicians, if anything, is that the people reject clan divisions, nepotism, incompetence and corruption. Rather, the Somali people will judge their leaders on sound character, good governance, institution building and the provision of public services. As it appears, premier Mohamed has passed this test. He has demonstrated an exemplary leadership, something that has become a rarity in today’s Somalia and has thus initiated a legacy of fortitude, excellence and heroism against which future Somali premiers will be measured. He, therefore, deserves to lead the nation to a better future for all.

REENGINEERING SOMALIA

The June 9 Kampala agreement (KA) between the Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, after months of political squabbles, stipulates the extension of the Transitional Federal Government’s lifespan to August 20, 2012. The KA agreement charges the Transitional Federal Institutions to make constitution, deliver security, prepare for election, and undertake parliamentary reforms and political outreach within the framework of one year.

President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Photo taken in 2009

Nonetheless, most Somalis believe the current members of parliament, speaker of the house and the president lack the experience, education and integrity necessary to deliver any of the reforms necessary to usher in a new era of a stable Somalia.

However, between now and August 2012, the TFIs can and should do the following:
• Finish and approve the national constitution.
• Select a representative electoral commission with appropriate professional qualifications.
• The electoral commission must appoint a committee of prominent persons (CPP), from home and abroad, who will nominate members of parliament for the August 2012 government.
• Candidates for such parliamentary positions must have both competence and college-level education necessary to get their job done. The CPP must perform essential background checks to verify the qualifications of all candidates.
• Current legislature must reapply for their jobs without any further unilateral tenure extensions upon the expiry of their present term. Only those who demonstrate commitment to peace, development and the cause for Somalia must be re-nominated.
• Abolish the infamous four-point-five (4.5) power-sharing clan formula.
• Number of parliamentarians for the August 2012 government must be limited to 135. If 4.5 remains power-sharing basis then the share of each major clan must be cut to 30, half of that agreed upon in 2004 Nairobi Reconciliation Conference.
• Then a parliament so formed must elect a president and a speaker. The president then appoints a premier who will form the cabinet.
• A government so elected must be allowed to serve a full four or five-year term and the ‘interim’ tag must be removed.

Somalis must unite and stand with such a government to improve security and the delivery of public services. Only then will Somalia be free to protect the rights of its citizens and exercise territorial control over its soil.

REMOVING FARMAJO WILL KEEP SOMALIA IN THE INDIGNATION OF ANARCHY

Rapidly moving events occurred in Somalia lately. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) dislodged Al Shabab militia from control of most Mogadishu districts, including the vibrant Bakara market. Unsettling disagreements between President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan was solved in Kampala, Uganda. But it’s this agreement which stipulates Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed aka Farmajo to resign within thirty days that has angered the majority of Somalis and is the subject of this article.

First, Sheikh Sharif nominated Farmajo on October 14, 2010 and the transitional federal parliament approved him on October 31. Two weeks later, the premier appointed a “lean but capable” cabinet whose professional qualification was unmatched in the history of the nation. This first step has won the hearts and minds of the Somali people and has raised new optimism in realizing the elusive hope of a more peaceful Somalia.

Second, Mohamed has set himself a goal to change the way business is done in villa Somalia. On governance, he fought the rampant corruption that characterized the previous administrations including that of Ali Mohamed Gedi and Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmaarke. He demanded efficient service delivery, and ended bickering within the cabinet.

On security, he instituted a timely payment of salaries for the army protecting the nascent TFG. This has stopped the practice of soldiers deserting areas they liberated or selling their weapons to the rebel groups and helped in the capture of more territories in Mogadishu, Gedo and other regions. He demanded African Union peacekeepers to stop indiscriminate shelling of unarmed civilians’ residential areas. He improved the working relations among various army agencies and therefore revitalized peace building operations.

On international relations, the premier travelled to the United Nations and Arab league countries to ask them to bolster diplomatic relations and support efforts to bring law and order back to Somalia. Additionally, he reached out to the Somali Diaspora through deeds and words, asking them to join his government and work for their country. He demanded U.N agencies to relocate and operate out of Mogadishu just like they do in Baghdad, Iraq and Kabul, Afghanistan, two countries that face similar security challenges.

Third, following the signing of Kampala agreement (KA), Mogadishu residents took to the streets asking Mohamed not to resign, a protest that has been echoed elsewhere in the country. Mohamed has proved his deep grasp of the Somali problem and has devised tangible solutions within six months, results his recent predecessor couldn’t deliver in a year and a half. In less than 24-hours after the KA news was out, groups have formed, even on social networking sites, to support Mohamed. One such assemblage is the Facebook group, We Support Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo -The Somali Prime Minster, that has nearly 5000 members. Other Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to the premier’s portrait to stand up with a leader that has a promise to revive Somalia, a nation that lost millions of people in war and displacement over the past two decades.

Finally, KA is a conspiracy to sustain the current status and very much sound the death knell on the gains Somali cabinet has made over the last six months and any future progress that would probably be achieved. The new government that would be formed after Farmajo’s exit would nominate notorious warlords and incompetent parliament members to cabinet positions, to keep Somalia in a vicious cycle of failure. Somali nationals must reject anarchists and support the prime minster by:
• Joining the ranks of Mogadishu residents and taking to the streets, in Toronto, Minneapolis and London, of their dissatisfaction of the KA to express public outrage
• Demanding PM Farmajo to stay put until he cleans up the mess, gets the job done and puts Somalia back to its feet or until such times that a better person for job is available.
• Asking the two selfish Sharifs to resign and more so the speaker of the parliament
• Withdrawing support from the bloated number of legislature until reforms are made
• Demanding the parliamentarians to show results in promoting peace and stability
• Demanding an immediate end to the current and future executive wrangles
• Asking politicians to inform the Somali people, at home and abroad, about the political situation of the country
• Insisting on transparency and accountability in appropriation of revenues and in service delivery

Farmajo does not need to be a premier. Rather, it’s the job that needs him. The ongoing unprecedented demonstration in Mogadishu streets is an expression of public satisfaction with results Somali people need to see in their leaders. His removal from office is a likely retaliation for his efforts to fight public corruption and incompetence. The Somali people must understand that it takes qualified individuals not beholden to clan interests to bring change to Somalia. However, the current crop of legislatures doesn’t want merit and would fight for mediocrity unless the Somalis everywhere check on their excesses.

Author's contact: ahmednajaah@hotmail.com

The Somali

I have always made fun of cats on Facebook posts. I have, at times, said my cat is better or smarter than your girlfriend just to tease my friends. So, on one random Google search, i came across a video about the Somali posted on www.AnimalPlanet.com, which is also available on YouTube.

Interestingly, the Somali, in this case, was not a descriptor of the people of Somalia as is often the norm. Rather, it was the name for a breed of cat probably of Somali descent (please see the video posted below):



To learn more, you can also check out the link below: http://www.catsofaustralia.com/somali.htm

Pieces of My Heart

Everywhere are pieces of me

Pieces of my heart

The farm we left

The homes we never see again

The fields I played in to train

Fields I played in to train

The childhood cut short by displacement

The toys I wanted to keep for me

The schools my siblings attended

My childhood sweetheart

The neighbors we miss

The lost innocence of my youth

The dream to return home

To build a motherland

I barely know

Home (Motherland)

The memory of civil war campaign

The ensued devastation

All the mysteries I can’t explain

And remain pieces of me

Lost! Missing!

All a long way gone

Pieces of my heart

I would love to find

Beating the System!

Did you ever feel what you learned in high school was not challenging enough and that you wanted to look elsewhere for an opportunity to develop the skills you needed or acquire the knowledge you so much craved for? If you answered yes, then you are not alone.

Check out the link posted below (video from CNN) to find out what i'm talking about: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/05/27/dnt.boy.finishes.college.kero?hpt=C2

MARRIAGE ON THE END OF A PHONE LINE

I read Zamzam Abdi's article "Marriage over the phone thrives among Somali community." The article presupposes that the main reason why young women in Africa marry their suitors from abroad, say from London, Toronto or Minneapolis is purely economic. I think that is a very simplistic explanation. It does not take into account the separation that happened to people who were in each other’s lives before the man moved overseas nor does it take into consideration that it costs almost the same raising a family in Africa while the man lives abroad since he has to support himself and also his wife and kids. You can call this double-spending. May be it will even cost less if the man had married and lived abroad with his family.

How about when a young woman returns from the West to marry her prince charming in Africa? Is she doing it for economic reasons? I think, not.

Societies often transition in time and space and cultures thus become dynamic. Social norms change to reflect a society’s new realities. The case of over-the-phone-marriage, though a recent phenomenon among Somalis, also occurs in other non-Somali communities but what is your reflection on this topic?

Uncovering the Truth: Government Lies and Media Duplicity on War

War Made Easy is a 2007 hour-long documentary film that analysis U.S foreign policy particularly its involvement in military combats from the 1960's Vietnam to the Iraq war of 2003.

The film features Norman Solomon, an American media critic and is narrated by the American actor Sean Penn. It exposes how successive presidents used effective public relations to start, escalate and sustain wars.

MANUFACTURING CHANGE FOR A NEW SOMALI AGE

The Somali state collapsed in 1991 primarily in the hands of its own people. It’s reeling from destruction as its sons continue to shoot at each other ever since. Enormous devastation of public infrastructure and robbery of private property still persists with unrelenting proportions. Our collective failure to foresee and tackle internal differences makes addressing external intervention almost impossible.

As a matter of fact, Somali nationals already know enough of what happened more than I can inform in this article. So, inventing solutions to the nation’s turmoil are thus in order. The pressing issues must first be addressed in piecemeal. One such issue is to understand the Somali governance system and another is to, as a result, increase civic engagement. Both these matters are necessary precursors to resolving other more substantive political, economic and social issues.

First, the Somali people need to understand the structure and the workings of the Somali political system. We’ve experimented with every governance system there is, whether it’s democracy, autocracy, scientific socialism, Sharia-based but as it appears none has worked effectively and the average Somali has thus lost enough capacity to grasp the fast-changing systems. And for the last 20 years, the several interim governments born out of reconciliation conferences held outside the country all died before any could deliver effective results on Somali soil. To add fuel to the fire, the current transitional federal government has 550 extremely underperforming parliamentarians who unfortunately neither enacted laws nor pursued active public reconciliation during their term. As would be expected of informed citizens, no roaring protest, in words and deeds, has ever been organized against the bloated legislature probably because we don’t understand the inner working of the system.

Interestingly, Somalia has more parliamentarians than the 535-member bicameral congress of the United States yet again the U.S. has 34 times more population than Somalia. This is strangely an absurd number of lawmakers for a country, which depends on foreign aid for its national budget and has no control over its territorial land, sea and space.

Additionally, Somalia has unusually high premier and presidential turnover. Power wrangling has seemingly become an acceptable culture at the top with three presidents moving in and out of Villa Somalia the last ten years alone, and with each hiring a minimum of two prime ministers and firing when they disagreed on policy matters. Executive power struggles affect public service delivery but most of all threatens the political stability and civic understanding of the direction the country is headed. 

So to understand politicians for who they are –politicians- is essential. Somali parliamentarians have proved, time and time again, that they care more about their positions and their power, much less about what the common man thinks and needs. We are aware that Somalia’s .SO domain name, a crucial internet infrastructure, has been auctioned off to a Japanese company, embassy buildings around the world sold to foreign investors and the nation’s airspace is, since 1991, run by U.N from offices in Nairobi. These are just but a few gross misappropriation of national resources. And this very much makes Somalis as people who abdicated their national responsibilities to monitor power. Inside knowledge of what happens between our politicians and other stakeholders are critical in order to hold them accountable for their acts, omissions and the wrongs they do commit.

To correct this botched system, educated Somalis must willingly come forward and with unyielding dedication to serve their country. They must come up with a system that works, inject fresh ideas into that political system and must also replace the old guards. This is the right moment. It’s the most opportune time to rise and answer the call of the bleeding homeland. There’s no shortage of a new blood save for structural disorganization. There must be overwhelming willingness to fulfill our duties toward our nation. The public must stand united behind leaders who serve the interest of the Somali people without regard to what region one hails from. In order to achieve this, we must unconditionally respect each other, disavow violence by all means and use clan differences as an opportunity to unite our countrymen and thus bring consensus to our political system.

Second, it’s essential to initiate civic campaign to inform the minds and engage the hearts of the young people. Warring factions have used the youth as a force for destruction for the past 20 years. We must now use them as a force for social change by first making them understand the real consequences of their actions. The youth must realize that, in society, no one is just a single person and should therefore learn to care about the impact of their actions. An individual’s acts can set a precedent (good or bad), reinforce a quality or undermine what others wanted to improve. So they must learn to avoid setting a bad precedent or emphasizing a negative activity that affects society unconstructively.

Besides, it’s important for Somalis to understand that social reform doesn’t just happen. Young Somalis need to learn how to manufacture change for a new Somali age. It takes one person to make a lot of difference. It takes the small example of a few and the deeds of the rest following the pattern to cause a significant transformation in the attitude and behavior of society. Of course, young people are more open to change but they need a directing, patient leadership to guide them to where they necessarily have to be. So those who have the opportunity should not just wait for someone else to create civic engagement and consequently, social change.

In the end, increased public understanding of the Somali political system and a more organized civic society can engineer an effective battle against the culture of political corruption, impunity and can certainly improve human rights and bring a lasting peace to Somalia.

A NEW VISION FOR SOMALIA!

I have read Ms. Sindiya Darman’s article “Somali First or Somali Only?” about the issue of clan identity and how one responds to it. It reminds me of my own challenges as a Somali and the past encounters I have had.

I must say that clan identity is real among the Somali people even in the 21st century and comes up in most discussions especially among men at cafes, business points and other places where people meet. How people respond to it depends on their level of education, age, lifestyle among other factors.

I was a late comer to the city I now live in. I mean there were significant numbers of Somalis present when I moved there. However, I realized that they were not organized and they faced socio-cultural and legal challenges including education, immigration and security. So I decided to make a difference in my community and thus joined a group of seven who were already trying to form a community organization.

Two of the group members came to me at my apartment one late spring day in April and they explained to me how they wanted to form a community-based organization and that they needed me on their team. As if I knew this was going to come up, I accepted their invitation but on the condition that they won’t discriminate among themselves and among the members of the Somali community who we wanted to serve, in accessing services and employment opportunities. And they all agreed with me. So I joined the team. I must have been naïve then. As I would learn later, the team of seven had one Hawiye, one Rahan weyn, one Isaaq and four Darod clan members.

The work began and we registered an organization with the appropriate state agencies and the effort to build it from the ground took off with a smooth start. As the process materialized, two people, one darod and one Isaaq refused to show up for assignments much less bring ideas and money to the table. This however was out of poor performance and poor organization of their priorities rather than anything else. They may probably and, erroneously so, have believed they could still be part of the organization because they belonged to clans that ‘would have to’ be represented at the table no matter what. Not really.

We were down to five. Four months later, the Rahan Weyn brother exited because he believed in his own words “the Darod and Hawiye who swallowed his clan -caused his clan so much havoc- in Somalia wanted to be his president in America and that he couldn’t allow to happen.” I was shocked to hear this because it’s the one condition they promised me will never occur. I tried to persuade him otherwise but he would remain adamant and has thus quit the organization. It’s true and it saddens me as a Somali that the Rahan Weyn community suffered so much in the early 1990s that Baidoa was declared the city of death but how long can we be trapped in the past.

So, four of us remained on the fast moving train. The president and vice president, both darod, began to fight over the replacement of the Rahan Weyn brother, until their rift became irreconcilable. Each wanted to bring someone from their sub-clan on the board. I felt betrayed. I felt that I was on the wrong team and decided to quit. The president and VP each tried to win my loyalty but I knew it was over and never entertained to be treated to such low level politics. I wanted to bring people together and wanted to build a united, stronger Somali community but I realized that I didn’t have the right players on my team. So it was time to call for an end to the game. We timed out. And the organization collapsed with my departure.

Several months later, the Somali residents in my city called for a general meeting and I was invited to participate and was in the end elected to an 11-member team commissioned to build an organization for the community. It took us three months to put up all the structures necessary to build the organization. I then became a founder and the Secretary General of the organization out of a consensus.

When the organization opened an office center, it took many people by a surprise that a young man unknown to most long-time residents of the city was now an executive secretary. Word went around and people started tracing my clan origin. Those who couldn’t find out and of course they were over 98% of them decided to call me that I was from their clan just to give themselves credit or take pride in me while many others also began to call me mean things or clan names just to demean what I stood for: a Somali vision where ideas, education, merit and strong character matter without any need for clan allegiance.

I realized that some people were not interested in the beautiful ideas I had, in the colleges I attended, in the degrees I earned, or in the direction I wanted to take them to and where I wanted them to be in 10, 50 or 100 years, much less what legacy they wanted to leave their kids. Nonetheless, Two years later, the organization we founded is fully operational, providing services for all and sundry.

My decision not to honor clan allegiances comes from my parents. They always told me to make the world my family. To treat other people including those who come from a different clan, faith group etc, like they were my mom and dad if they were senior to me or like a sibling if we were age sets. This is more profound than anything I could learn from anywhere else. Then came my schooling with people from all the nations of the world, all faith groups, varying walks of life or skin color, you name it and we coexisted without stepping on each others’ toes; much more even helping each other when necessary.

As I learned in my working relationship with Somalis, clan divides. People trust you more when they know you don’t have allegiance to your clan because then they know you can dispense justice squarely. It’s up to the young Somalis to envision new pathways for our society and to inspire the change we want to see to happen. I also think that the young, educated and the wealthy are less clannish than others who are neither. One thing i certainly know is that liking and standing up for my clan over others gets me nowhere further than if i treated everyone equally and made everyone a player in my team. Actually, bringing every Somali on my team opens me up for more ideas and more opportunities than if i just stuck with my clan-mates. It's time we begun thinking outside the box especially those who hope to change the direction of Somali politics. And like Ms. Darman, I hope my wife will come from a different clan than mine when that moment finally arrives.

Author's contact: ahmednajaah@hotmail.com