Somalia's parliament today approved a former Grand Island resident as the country's prime minister, but some are already questioning whether Mohamed A. Mohamed will be able to make a difference in the war-ravaged country under attack from al-Qaida-linked militants.
The Somali native, who resettled in Western New York in 1990, was named prime minister of his troubled homeland Oct. 14 by the Somali president. However, the vote on the nomination was delayed several times because of a disagreement between the president and the speaker over procedure. The president wanted lawmakers to vote by a show of hands, while the speaker preferred a secret ballot.
Lawmakers voted by a show of hands, 297-92, today in favor of Mohamed, said Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, speaker of the transitional parliament. Mohamed is now expected to name a cabinet in the coming weeks.
Until last month, Mohamed lived on the island with his wife and four kids while working for the state Department of Transportation in Buffalo.
The 48-year-old University at Buffalo graduate was a refugee advocate and soft-spoken leader in the local Somali community. While his road to the appointment was never made clear, friends here said Mohamed had worked for the Somali Embassy in Washington, D.C., and was still plugged into politics back home.
Despite those connections, observers say he faces enormous challenges. The Somali government currently controls only a small part of the capital, Mogadishu. It has accomplished little since its inception in 2004 and the country hasn't had a fully functioning government in nearly two decades.
"Somalia is not America," Amina Nur, a mother of seven children, told the Associated Press referring to Mohamed's time spent in the U.S.
"Like many overseas Somalis that came from Western countries after the collapse of the government in 1991 and are now parliamentarians and government officials, he doesn't know the difficult situation of the country and cannot lead an effective cabinet in the terms of ... setting a comprehensive security plan to combat al-Shabab and terrorists," Nur said.
Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab and allied Islamic militants have been trying for three years to overthrow the government. The militants control much of Mogadishu and southern Somalia.
A former governor of one of Somalia's southern regions, Qasim Mohamed Nur, said the new prime minister may succeed where his predecessors have failed because he does not carry any political baggage and is from the country's south, where al-Shabab holds sway.
"I think if he gets support of the Somali people and government officials he would succeed to lead his cabinet on the best way to liberate much of the southern regions from al-Qaida and al-Shabab militias," he said.
Mohamed maintained connections to his homeland while working in the Somali embassy from 1985 to 1989, according to his resume. The political upheaval prevented him from returning to his country, forcing him to seek asylum in the United States according to friends. He resettled in Buffalo, where he was a student at UB from 1989 to 1993, earning a bachelor's degree in history. He also earned U.S. citizenship.
After college, Mohamed served as an at-large commissioner for the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority from 1994 to 1997; a case manager for a lead abatement program in Buffalo from 1995 to 1999; and a minority business coordinator for the Erie County Division of Equal Employment Opportunity from 2000 to 2002. According to his resume, he also taught conflict resolution and leadership skills at Erie Community College.
Since 2002, Mohamed had worked as a civil rights manager with the DOT in Buffalo.
Mohamed and his wife, Zeinab Moallim, have two sons and two daughters, ages 7 to 19. The family first settled on Buffalo's West Side, according to friends, before moving to Amherst and most recently, Grand Island.
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