AN OPEN LETTER TO SOMALIA PRESIDENT MOHAMED ABDULLAHI

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AN OPEN LETTER TO SOMALIA PRESIDENT MOHAMED ABDULLAHI

Dear Mr. President

Congratulations for being elected to the highest position in your land and as the 9th president of the Federal Republic of Somalia. Indeed, becoming the leader of a country that ranks top poorest nation in the world is not an easy task. Mr. President, it’s true to say that your election stands out in particular as unprecedented in the history of Somalia’s political behaviour. It’s also true to say that your election defied all predictions and the power of clan allegiance in the ordinary political arena of the Somalis in Somalia. What is more, Mr. President, you upended the regional and international pollsters, in that you didn’t follow the established “informal” rules and guidelines of the political game matched to your predecessor’s elections in the past.

Mr. President, it’s likewise correct to say that your public supporters and vote campaigners were mostly if not all youth, in their formative years who never experienced stable and controlling government in their country ever since 1991. Desperate as they were, their political emotions and sentiments were nothing other than to ascertain opportunity to see and feel the true sense of functioning and controlling state at home. Diaspora’s led social media campaigns and the profile building struggle to manipulate the political choice of the people in your favour that finally brought your landslide victory, of course, deserve to be lauded. However, Mr. President, did you gauge how much they know your “diaspora-youth” dominated legislatives (parliament & Senators) the political realities in Somalia and the regional stake supremacy?

The fact is that, nearly 44% members of your parliament and senators are from diaspora not only that, approximately 45% of your current members of parliament and senators are youth between the ages of 25-37 years, this is something to worry about. My fear is that, the same political emotions that push this youth to dominate parliament and their Senators in your support earlier might as well aggravate them to oust you through vote for no confidence without giving a chance for a second thought, Mr. President, be careful!

Mr. President, Somalia has good experience when it comes to youth lead government and the diplomatic disaster that followed, which isolated Somalia from the rest of the African countries between 1960s-70s to 80s. If you can remember Aden Abdullah Osman Daar who was elected as the country’s first President in the year 1960 right after Somalia’s independence at the age of 51, perhaps he was among the oldest in the party and was four years younger by the time of your election as the Somalia’s 9th president. Just like you, President Adan Osman was elected by the Somali National Assembly dominated by youngsters, energetic and nationalist through the party ticket of the Somali Youth League (SNY). His first Prime minister was Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke aged around 40, a position he served at the peak of Somalia’s political and diplomatic onset as a new state that coincided with growing highest of the cold war era where ideologies and the arms race was the only instrument of the bargain. This was then injury time in the world’s political playground; only matured and veteran politician whose decisions and emotions were guided by experience and exposure were likely sail through, regrettably Somalia was not then privileged to have such elders. What happen then?

Instead of consciously focusing the development and progress in its real terms for the newly born country, to foster and dissipate all efforts possible to achieve lasting peace and stability environment with their immediate neighbours which was/is a natural reflection of the “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” principle. They open a new front and diverted all much needed internal resources to neo-nationalism, this is not to undermine the great work of SYL, but the act was not untimely.

In 1963, the infant government in Mogadishu puts off diplomatic relationship with the British government after the latter allow the disputed Northern Frontiers Districts (NFD) to include Kenyan government at the time of relinquishing her independence. Mr. President, was it in order for such small country with then population of 2.7 million, just heeling from the wreckage of the colonialist with chronic deficiencies in all of her administrative capacity to increase production for an economy tilting towards toughest survival level to take such thoughtless conclusion?

Imagine, Mr. President, this newly born State [Somalia] was at the sometime relying on Italian and British subsidies, which funded about 31 percent of her overall country budget in the first three years of her independence. Mr. President, don’t you think the diplomatic cutoff decision of president Aden Abdullah Osman’s government was not well-thought-out and was one of the diplomatic inanity any sane government consider against such powerful nation that already provided grants to your poor people?. Still objecting to the demarcation of the 1,000-mile borderline with Ethiopia, which was drawn by colonial powers.

In 1964, Somalia embarked on ferocious war over the Ogaden region. Thirteen years later war erupted again over the Ogaden region, but this time Ethiopia was backed by Soviet and Cuban forces that inflicted a heavy defeat on its neighbour after the stubborn military government of Siyad Barre rejected the USSR call for regional détente over the territorial disputes and instead offered to solve the issue through the diplomatic table. Again, Siyad Barre’s military regime operating on an empty treasury dismissed persona non grata on the Soviets union [then superpower] diplomats in Somalia thus instructing them to leave the country within twenty-four hours. Was it not rushed decision with equal courtesy to that of 1963?

Your Excellency, by virtues of chance, you are elected as a president to lead such country with records of frustrated foreign policy both regionally and internationally. Unfortunately, Mr. President from the look of your foreign policy, you seemed to be acting almost the same fashion of your predecessors. Why? Because, after assuming office as the 9th President of Somalia, that is, on the 23rd of February, just a week or so after your inauguration you made your first official trip to abroad in Saudi Arabia. Precisely a month’s later, on the 23rd of March you made your first official visit to one of your immediate neighbour Kenya that has the second longest borderline with your country.

In a healthy foreign policy environment, Kenya would have been the first to visit. In that, apart from being your neighbour, Kenya hosts nearly half a million of Somali refugees. Similarly, a month later you took-off to Abu Dhabi city, the capital of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday 4th of April. Still, you didn’t decide whether to visit Ethiopia―of which your country has the longest borderline [1000 miles], shelters large Somali refugees and a provider to AMISOM forces.

Mr. President at the end of the day you are the president of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are much more strategically important to your country than Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States that host negligible portion of Somali refugees in a destitute situation full of abuse and harassment. Mr. President your country’s peace and security is much more linked and viewed with the kind of pertinent foreign policy, you adopt towards these countries much more than the bilateral economic relationship you’re desiring from Saudi Arabia and Gulf States. Because at this moment internal peace and security is a big concern of your country than foreign trade with the Arabian Peninsula.

Mr. President, I remember on the night of your election, just hours after, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president was among the first heads of States to send messages of congratulation displaying his happiness to see Somalia electing president peacefully and democratically. In a diplomatic interpretation, this shows that he wants to prove to your regional neighbours and IGAD members that he was supporting you throughout the process. What is the game he is up to play? Exploit the fake diplomatic friendship he pretends to have with you, corrupt your political profile with kickbacks and in exchange use your country as an outdoor play area for a proxy war against your regional IGAD member countries (Ethiopia & Sudan).

Mr. President, as I write this letter to you, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s Cairo regime is accused by their brethren Sudan of mobilising and supporting Sudanese rebels and other opposition movement against the legitimate government of Omar Al-Bashir in abide to destabilise the country, as a result of this interference, tensions are already high between Cairo and Khartoum, and security concerns prevail over bilateral ties.

Mr. President as you already know the population of your country as of today, according to the latest UN estimate is 11,328,448, this means Somalia’s share of world population is equivalent to 0.15%, while the median age of your country is 16.6 years, of which again only 41.9% are urbanised with tiniest or none availability of social amenities essential to every Somali individual. Mr. President, this position is a great responsibility, and indeed, it’s the only topmost position always driven by a higher “invisible hand,” and as you know the decisions you take or act upon are normally different than the ordinary remarks of street mass demonstrators in favour of your election.

Today, your country is one of the world’s most unstable nations and is by some criteria a failed state. Somalia is the centre of the piracy epidemic that hit the Indian Ocean in recent years and is also home to the regional most dangerous terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Mr. President is it good bet when your government is in trouble and doesn’t even control the district where the presidential palace is located; is it not good bet when your government lucks a federal constitution that defines the roles and responsibilities of regional states, the pie share of national cake and federal defence system that is shared by all regional states to lobby for diplomatic friendship, economic integration, and a common interest from Gulf Cooperation Council countries whose sole interest is to get military location and mobilise a collective war against the Houthis of Yemen.

Mr. President, indeed this is not a priority for your country. The venues to win diplomatically the trust and the support of the “invisible hand” of your immediate regional stakeholders neighbours (Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti) is a big issue on the table. And forging mutually beneficial relationship with the countries of the region and major partners are as well strategically imperative for your country much more than any other peripheral country. Finally, Mr. President put in mind that past events of your government is an important only to those who accept and admit and wish to learn from it, as the English proverb goes; a king promises, but observes only what he pleases! Thank you Mr. President and May ALLAH give you long life with good health and peace of mind despite all the problems you are facing as the leader of this nation.

Thanks

Regards

Ali Sheikh
April 23, 2017

Can be reached at Dhagaweyne3@gmail.com
Source:http://aigaforum.com/article2017/An-Open-Letter-to-Somalia-President.htm