Is Somalia's Flight to 2016 on the Same Flight Path As

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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 9 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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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 17 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

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!

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

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

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]