Monday, June 20, 2011

Containing the Somali problem

 General Aronda Nyakairima threatened somali pm at gunpoint 
Somalia Premier forced to quit his Job .gun pointed to his head.
Ambassador Mahiga doesn't really want Peace in Somalia ?  update


Somalia’s TFG (transitional federal government) which backed by the international was suppose to bring peace to Somalia but it has failed and its mandate was to end in August this year . Under the leadership of Sharif Ahmed (the former leader of the Islam Courts Union) it could never overcome its own incompetence and corruption, which frustrated the international actors like the UN, Somalia’s neighbors and the West (who actually run Somalia).
The mandate of the TFG was to end this coming August but now it was extended for another through a deal between the president and the speaker of the parliament (named Kampala accord).
Of course, the Somali people have no say in what government is created for them and whether its mandate is ended or extended: this is decided by Somalia’s neighbors (all of them borderline failed states), the UN Office for Somalia (UNPOS) and the West.
For the past 20 years, Somalia had more than a dozen pseudo-governments, all of them created in a neighboring country (Djibout, Kenya, Ethiopia … etc) and all of them paid for by the UN and the West. All these governments came to Mogadishu, millions of dollar were sank into them until their mandate ended. The process starts again in another neighboring capital, another government is created, its mandate ends … you get the picture. This is over 20 years, with tens of thousands dying or fleeing the country.
Instead of pausing and reflecting on the fact that this formula isn’t working, the “international actors” continue to do the samething over and over again. Along with many other Somalis, I seems to me the goal is to contain the problem in Somalia and not to solve it. This way everyone wins, except the Somalis.
Take Uganda for example where this latest deal to extend the government’s mandate was reached. President Yuweri Musevini has troops in Somalia, a lucrative source of income for him. He sent his troops to Somalia for “peacekeeping” at the time when he decided to change the constitution for him to run for another term in office (he won in another sham election). Since he’s fighting Al Shabab, there was little or no criticism from the West on President Musevini.
The UN Office for Somalia employs hundreds of staff but they operate out of the comfort of Nairobi. Millions of dollar designated for the people of Somalia never reach Somalia. Ethiopia and Eritrea have both been fighting a proxy war in Somalia since 1998 each supporting an opposing side, and neither of them is keen on a united strong Somali state.
This has created a Somali political elite who seek office and legitimacy from the UN, neighboring countries and the West and not from their people. They campaign in Nairobi, meeting with UN envoy to Somalia, the US ambassador in Nairobi or the president of Djibouti but they don’t go to Somalia or speak to the Somali people.
The problem is first and foremost the Somalis themselves but the international involvement in Somalia is an important factor in sustaining the conflict for Somalia for so long.
Articles By Abdirahman Warsame

Museveni sneaks into Somalia , Obama urged to support democratic change in Somalia

No comments:

Post a Comment