By
Mohamud
Muluso
On
several
occasions,
President
Abdullahi
Yusuf
Ahmed
of
Somalia
has
maintained
that
it
is
the
priority
of
the
Transitional
Federal
Government
(TFG)
to
defeat
"powerful
terrorist
groups"
entrenched
in
southern
Somalia,
particularly
in
Mogadishu.
In
this
era
of
global
war
against
terrorism,
the
implicit
reward
of
such
strategy
is
to
attract
massive
international
financial
and
political
support
even
under
undemocratic
rule.
The
report
of
the
International
Crisis
Group
(ICG)
on
Somalia’s
Islamists,
issued
on
December
12,
has
finally
dispelled
the
notion
on
the
presence
of
powerful
terrorist
groups
in
Somalia.
The
report
unequivocally
declares,
"Islamic
extremism
has
failed
to
take
a
broader
hold
in
Somalia
because
of
Somali
resistance,
not
foreign
counter-terrorism
efforts."
In
brief,
ICG
stated
that
it
was
unable
to
proof
the
claim
of
the
Transitional
Federal
Leadership
which
consistently
overstated
the
terrorist
threat
in
order
to
attract
foreign
aid.
The
report
also
discredited
the
intense
campaign
waged
by
some
malicious
politicians,
intellectuals,
and
sycophants
in
order
to
label
many
legitimate
business
enterprises
in
Mogadishu
as
companies
fronting
for
terrorist
supporters.
Presently,
there
is
general
consensus
for
the
need
to
double-check
attempts
by
unscrupulous
politicians
and
dishonest
personalities
in
taking
advantage
of
the
current
apprehension
towards
the
potential
threat
from
a
tiny
group
of
militants.
The
report
listed
more
than
15
Islamic
organisations
and
other
number
of
Islamic
courts
and
charities.
The
easy
formation
and
subsequent
fast
dissolution
of
such
large
number
of
Islamic
organisations
provides
good
example
of
their
short-term
interest
and
opportunistic
nature.
In
fact,
the
report
says,
"The
behaviour
of
Islamists
differ
little
from
that
of
more
secular
and
overtly
more
political
factions
competing
to
fill
the
power
vacuum
left
by
the
disintegration
of
the
state."
In
this
regard,
the
report
suggests
engaging
the
political,
professional
and
commercial
leaders
from
clans
with
suspected
religious
militancy
to
gain
their
cooperation
in
addressing
the
problem.
In
this
lies
also
the
interest
of
concerned
clans
and
sub
-clans.
The
presence
of
ominous
terrorist
threat
in
Mogadishu
has
been
the
justification
for
the
relocation
of
government
in
Jowhar
instead
of
the
capital,
Mogadishu
as
the
Charter
requires.
Therefore,
any
continued
insistence
on
the
issue
amounts
to
irresponsible
stance.
Finally,
the
report
underscores
four
facts
that
deserve
considerable
attention.
The
first
one
is
that
almost
all
Somalis
desire
and
support
a
broad-based
and
democratic
government
that
takes
into
account
the
needs
and
aspirations
of
the
Somali
people
as
well
as
the
civil
war’s
underlying
causes
and
legacy.
TFG
missed
the
opportunity
to
recognise
this
public
yearning.
The
second
fact
is
that
the
international
community,
particularly
donor
countries,
should
resist
the
temptation
to
back
one
faction
of
the
divided
TFG-Jowhar
or
Mogadishu
group.
The
third
fact
is
that
international
community
should
struggle
to
bring
to
life
the
Charter
and
revive
the
defunct
Parliament.
By
characterising
Parliament
as a
defunct
one,
it
must
push
for
the
fresh
election
of
Parliamentary
leadership.
The
inability
to
take
the
first
democratic
steps
for
establishing
a
functioning
government
in
Somalia
for
more
than
a
year
is
sufficient
cause
for
change
of
the
ineffective
leadership.
The
fourth
fact
is
for
the
establishment
of
government
of
national
unity.
These
are
serious
challenges
to
address
quickly
and
collectively
in
order
to
build
solid
foundation
for
a
democratic
government.
The
Somali
political
system
is
shaped
and
dominated
by
the
clan
competition.
This
was
been
nurtured
by
both
the
colonial
and
post
independence
governments.
Some
of
the
tactics
used
by
the
political
leadership
during
the
a
dictatorial
regime
included
the
exploitation
of
clan
rivalries,
centralisation
of
power
around
the
President,
preference
of
loyalty
over
merit,
selection
of
token
figure
from
obscure
for
clan
representation,
use
of
domestic
and
foreign
resources
to
reward
pliant
clans
and
individuals,
reliance
on
nepotism
and
patronage.
Worse,
the
armed
rebel
movements
formed
in
Ethiopia
for
the
purpose
of
overthrowing
the
dictatorial
regime
failed
to
unify
their
forces
and
command
structure
because
each
rebel
movement
wanted
to
maintain
its
clan
domination.
This
failure
resulted
in
the
collapse
of
Somali
national
government
and
the
start
of
civil
war
that
caused
death,
destruction
and
widespread
human
rights
abuses
against
the
civilian
population,
especially
the
vulnerable
groups.
The
solution
for
Somali
tribulation
is
to
establish
a
legitimate
democratic
government
that
promotes
peace,
rule
of
law,
good
governance
and
is
responsive
to
the
needs
and
aspirations
of
the
Somali
people.
All
said
and
done,
everything
depends
on a
right
leadership
for
the
historical
moment
we
are
passing
through.
The
writer
is a
former
Governor
of
Central
Bank
of
Somalia
