Sunday, February 9, 2014

Somalia president fights back on ‘weak leadership’ claim from US




When former academic Hassan Sheikh Mohamud became president of Somalia in late 2012, his election was hailed as a sign of progress in a country destroyed by years of war and terrorism.
The administration of the one-time university dean was the first in Somalia to be recognised internationally for more than two decades and soon elicited aid commitments worth more than $2bn.
 
 
But the early hope was overtaken quickly by accusations of corruption, clan politics and a fight over resources including the promise of oil exploration.
In the clearest sign yet of the growing frustration among western backers, James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, last week castigated Mr Mohamud’s “weak leadership” and the “persistent political infighting” of his 16-month-old government.
But in an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Mohamud fought back, saying: “I don’t know what sources he [Mr Clapper] used but I don’t see any political infighting in Somalia today compared to the past. It is a subjective judgment based on his own [opinion].”
The public excoriation from such a senior US official is a blow for an administration that has proved unequal to inflated expectations from the international community.
More importantly, it also highlights rising tension between Mogadishu and its western partners over continued instability in a country that has endured more than 20 years of conflict, most recently at the hands of al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda-linked militants who control parts of Somalia. The Islamist group has launched terror attacks throughout east Africa, including the massacre in a Nairobi shopping mall late last year.
Mr Mohamud defended Somalia’s “democracy in the making” and issued a challenge to foreigners such as Mr Clapper to “come to Somalia, see the realities on the ground and then make whatever judgment” – a veiled disparagement of western officials who, even if they visit Mogadishu, rarely venture beyond the protected airport enclosure to brave the assassination risk Mr Mohamud faces daily.
Yet the US intelligence chief is not the first to question the progress being made by Mr Mohamud and his government. Domestic critics haVe accused the president of seeking to overcentralise power in a disparate country that desperately needs decentralised federalism if it is to avoid the failings of past dictatorship.
 
Mr Mohamud is about to work with his fourth central bank governor in less than a year, after one was accused of gross corruption by UN investigators, who said last year that $12m had gone missing from the central bank. His replacement fled the country claiming she was asked to sanction bad deals and feared for her safety if she did not heed the president’s wishes.
Almost all western donors decline to give aid direct to the government coffers because of traceability concerns. Donors are negotiating a financial oversight committee that would include their own representatives but have yet to hammer out a deal.
Mr Mohamud insists he has been “surprised how the donors have been affected [by] this thing [the central bank problems]”.

 
He denies wrongdoing although he does admit that the central bank governor’s signature was requested by his deputy finance minister to validate an account set up in Dubai to channel donations from Arab League members. Problems with the central bank’s proceedings are part of “a trial and error”, he says.But Nicholas Kay, UN special representative for Somalia, says “donor confidence . . . was definitely knocked sidewards by the central bank affair”.“There is a lot of politicking happening at the moment,” Mr Kay adds, a reference to a recent cabinet reshuffle and the government’s failure to determine the constitution.”In his defence, Mr Mohamud points out that he faces a multitude of challenges.High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link Technocrats including enthusiastic diaspora who have returned to help rebuild their country regularly complain that even low-ranking donor officials go over their heads and refuse to deal with anyone but the president, undermining efforts to build the very institutions donors say they want to exist.“There are no institutions set up in Somalia; everything has collapsed and we are starting from scratch,” Mr Mohamud says.

There is also the continued threat from al-Shabaab. The jihadist group occupied Mogadishu for several months before UN-backed African Union troops ousted the movement from the capital. But its fighters still control much of the southern rural countryside and mount regular suicide attacks on Mogadishu.


An imminent UN-backed military offensive against al-Shabaab may bring some reprieve for the president. Financed by western money, about 22,000 African Union troops from six countries, including Kenya and Ethiopia, are about to stage their first concerted operations since allied forces took control of the key port city of Kismayo in 2012. But no troop-contributing country has come forward to offer attack helicopters, despite a mandate for 12 of them.
“For the last one and a half years not much has been gained on the ground,” Mr Mohamud says. “We hope they will reach out where no Amisom [the African Union force] soldiers have reached before. This is a continuous war.”


A US drone attack on Somalia last month almost succeeded in killing Ahmed Godane, al-Shabaab’s leader. Instead it killed a group of associates on their way to pick him up.
“Godane is both the spiritual leader of al-Shabaab ideology and the political and military leader,” Mr Mohamud says. “Eliminating Godane [would have a] great impact.” Source: Financial Times






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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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