Shake-off the old habits ...

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A Response to Amb. Ahmed Hashara: Shake-off the old habits

 

Two writers, one is career diplomat, has served his country of Mauritania well, has been in the UN circle, was recently appointed for helping the reconstitution of the Somali state, and so far he is struggling to make a sense for what has been the world’s ugliest civil war in Africa. His name is Ahmedu Ould Abdalla, a soft spoken man with great enthusiasm for the future of Somalia. His comments, a direct appeal to Somali Diaspora, have been a very passionate and sincere.

 

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Ambassdors Ahmedou Ould Abdalla & Ahmed A. Hashi "Hashara"

 

The other writer, also a career diplomat, has served Somalia at the UN, has been active during Arta government, has been a spoiler of peace, and was spotted at Eritrea in company with hardliners of what used to be the Court Union. His name is Ahmed Hashara.

 

Mr. Abdalla wrote to us several times for ending the civil war and hence picking up the pieces, while Mr. Hashara played the old politics. Mr Aballa wrote to the world about the plight of the Somalis in Washington Post, Mr. Hashara dismissed this as lies and deceit from a man who lacks the basic understanding about the state of our affairs. Who is right and who is wrong and which path should the Somali people choose? This reminds me of that critical poet, Robert Forest, in his famous poem--Two roads diverged in yellow woods, and sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveler, long I stood…………and I, I took the one less travelled by.

 

Could a Somali say to another Somali, enough is enough and our fate is in the hands of God with the help of foreigners? Perhaps the road less travelled by, however shameful it may be, is always better off than that long journey of the unpredictable behaviour of our fellow country man. Cries for political partisanship from unscrupulously political hustlers, often rallying behind group mentality (religious, clan or region) with out considering the depilated Somali populace, had forced the international community to look differently on Somali case in post East Timor UN trusteeship. Can this trend be reversed?

 

Let us look some perspectives. If good Somalis are honest enough and if good Somalis believe justice, and if good and morally upright Somalis care millions of a destitute Somalis to have a state of their own, then a good Somalis should weigh the words of Ambassador Hashara. But today’s Somalis are not rational enough, not critical enough, and not caring enough to ask the Ambassador this simple question: Mr Ambassador, why would you need to convey yet another round of conference? In his piece posted on Somali websites, he justified the necessity to have for one more conference because Sharif government was formed “in exile in Djibouti”, while its members were “hand picked by foreigners including Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti”. The Ambassador goes on to say that Sharif is holed up and has no “constituent and territorial control”. According to the ambassador, the current government must fail because it lacks “security and essential services for its own citizen

 

What the ambassador never declares is his bias toward Mr. Abdalla, the UN envoy, and Mr. Sharif, the current president based on his past political activities and membership. Furthermore, Mr. Hashara did not share with us about the facts on Arta and how it relates to the current regime. Arta government, which appointed Mr Hashara to the UN ambassador for Somalia, was formed in Djibouti, was an imposition government from the top, was “holed” up in some pockets of Mogadishu, had no constituent and territorial control, and was captive to powerful warlords who had the control of Southern regions as well as districts of Mogadishu. Rather than sharing his pain of the past and give advice to the current regime, he chose to become a spook for Eritrea, the very same regime that want to settle Abyssinian grudges in Somali soil.

 

We Somalis are stakeholders of that great piece of land called Somalia. We do know that we are going through the most horrific part of our history, an ongoing conflict for more than two decades while our future is unclear: The looming departure of unilateral secessionist Somaliland, self declared autonomous Puntland, a vicious power struggle in Southern Somalia that has been mutating from clan to religious conflict, as well as a dead capital city with moral decay. Having seen all these, having been the victims in all these years, Somalis should have been more active and responsive to individuals, organizations and entities that want to derail peace, cantankerous for nothing but greed, inconsistencies for their political actions, and above all those who struggle for power to keep the status qua for their own benefits to the detrimental of the public benefits.

 

The Ambassador’s new deal begs the question: who should Somalis listen, Mr Abdalla who tirelessly advocates for Somali unity, or the myopic thinking of the remnants of Arta who are confused and want to sell extremists whom they have no commonalities what so ever?. As fatalistic as his analysis is, one thing is clear, the Ambassador is not alone and there are many like minded individuals from Arta era, so nefarious that Somali quagmire has been sold to the world as the Ethiopian hegemony, permanent and Babylonian captivity of the Abyssinians. Free Somalia from Ethiopian colonialism slogan has been a dead politics, ravaged by Sheikh Aweys and his ilk, the killing machines of Mogadishu for power struggle and prestige.

 

Had the Ambassador chosen to write history in post Arta Somali politics, we would have witnessed the later day Omar-the-pathologica l liar, the Somali fairy tale story that challenged the integrity of human security over sleaziness, the imagined wolf that became real. The wolf (Ethiopia) is coming is no longer sellable and marketers of this idea are bogged down with false nationalism in order to attain personal or group interest. I may also add to be fair for many academics----- your work and your analysis on Somali politics and Ethiopian factor are genuine, and should not be confused with my analysis on partisan Somali politicians, and I mean the Samatar brothers, Said Samatar and Faysal Roble.

 

Thus, in my humble opinion, Mr. Abdalla is right to expose the ruthless Somali businessmen across Africa and Middle East for financing Mogadishu war. He is also correct to point out the piracy and criminal activities in our country, particularly in Puntland. More importantly, he is genuine on Somali reconciliations. In contrast to Mr. Abddalla, Ambassador Hashara is wrong to play old politics when Mogadishu is pleading. Politics has a taste when stability is the threshold, and partisan manoeuvre is permissible as an art to stage a regime change considering that the outcome is favourable. Yet Mr. Hashara knows that if and when he and his friends are selected for another trail of provisional government, the outcome would still be the same. So why a learned person, if he is not unconscionable, a ruthless opportunist, would crave for power. My best advice to Mr.Hashara, focus on the rebuilding of the country, which by and large became a prisoner of its own citizens, citizens whom anarchy became a norm and thriving.

 

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