The Kampala Accord: Is Sharif Hassan less Somali than Sharif Ahmed?

By Abdikarim H. Abdi Buh
June 12, 2011

“When the boots of the international community is on your neck it doesn’t matter
whether it is the left or the right”

For the first time in the past two decades the Somali people marched in the streets of some districts of Mogadishu protesting, in the false assumption that they have a government, against what mistakenly appeared to them as a shadowy agreement signed by Somalia’s top politicians under the auspices of the international community (IC) that keeps them in office. The president and the speaker of a sovereign democratic state, of which Somalia can’t be classified as one, have no right to sign a document of that significance without the explicit approval of the parliament and the government but in trusteeship Somalia all disputes are, by and large, referred back to the (IC) and their judgment was always final without appeal and this case is no different as there are numerous similar precedents on record.

The endorsement and backing of the agreement in the case of  Kampala Accord rightly rests with President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda whose boys stand between the presidential palace and Al Shabab Al Mujahidin, Premier Zenawe of Ethiopia who has been running the country for the past two decades, and Amb. Mahiga who is an international diplomat tasked by the UN to oversee the Somalia project. To deny the IC that puts the unscrupulous so called Somali politicians in the presidential Palace, pays and protects them, to have the last say appears to be to many thinkers as midsummer dream.

The agreement, as it stands, appears to the novice in Somalia’s politics, to have been negotiated in the firm assumption that the Somalis are so thoughtless that anything can pass right under their noses without them taking any notice. The current anger in the streets of Mogadishu remains to be seen if it at all reaches fruition.  TFG’s army, Police and all sections of the society that live in the government-held districts joined hands in a two-day rally to show their disapproval of the dismissal of Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmaajo”, but the repulsive truth is the Kampala Accord is too strong to be reversed by the poor and disorganized people who are under the mercy of the same IC itself.

The bickering exercise between the executive and the legislative body is not a new development but has been there since the inauguration of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). It was the only trade the TFG perfected and was centered all the time upon the power greed of individuals. To reach the top jobs, the two Sharifs, like their other friends in the den, went through all sorts of indescribable abominations and showed time and again that they have neither creed nor pride to lead a nation so what is the fuss if the speaker calls the shots this time? In the world of the TFG, irrespective of their performance, Prime Ministers, speakers, presidents come and go as fast as the speed a bullet travels in the air and the tradition will stay in place until Somalis come to their senses and sort out their differences. 

The fact that their names, the Sharif’s, sounds and tastes like Saudi Arabian, were friends for so long, stole so much together and are still the only choice on the menu then why not pick the untested one! Who has Puntland and Ahlu Sunna under his wings?

President Sharif Ahmed is famous for his lack of foresight and impaired decision taking while his counterpart, speaker Sharif Hassan, in contrast has both qualities in plenty but used to take pleasure in using his talent in the creation of chaos and mayhem. Maybe he will use his talent differently this time once he secured the top job which is his as per the terms of the accord.

The beautiful project Somalia – everyone is a winner!

“I am delighted that we have managed to overcome the deadlock in such a constructive way,” said Augustine P. Mahiga, the United Nations’ political envoy for Somalia.

According to Mahiga’s statement, the deadlock was about the extension of the life of the government and that of the parliament but was not about a choice between the two feuding politicians. Whoever comes as a winner has to dance according to the tune of the IC and fortunately none can throw back the contract as so many are lining up to replace them instantly without a second thought.

Ethiopian prime minister is rubbing his hands with glee because the speaker of the house, who is Ethiopia’s poodle, finally has walked out of Kampala with his head high. President Ahmed, by signing the agreement, also signed away his powers and voluntarily accepted to be reduced effectively to a dummy-status but the good news is no one will lose sleep over his demise – his grandfather’s bones were exhumed from Mahadday and bagged recently by Al Shabab’s grave demolition squad.

Uganda’s Museveni will keep his troops in Mogadishu at least for a year and so will have not only cash flowing in to his coffers  but  will lend him stronger leverage in the international political circles where  political governance is an issue.  The question that resonates in the minds of the Ugandan elite is the government’s claim that the Army was sent to fight terrorism but if that is the case, then why the Americans and the Europeans abstained from sending their army to Somalia when they dispatched so many to Iraq and Afghanistan?  For America and Europe to throw their dollars to Somalia in exchange of dumping in Ugandan and Burundian troops ,where all other Africa countries declined, only sheds light as to  why Musevani’s Uganda is the only country in the world where walking to work is a crime.

Ambassador Mahiga will most probably be promoted because through his good offices he secured plenty of work for the lords of the poverty industry. The world’s largest refugee camp was declared to have run out of space – thanks to the consequences of recent barbaric wars in Gedo and Lower Jubba.

Conclusion: - keeping the status quo of one step forward two steps backward

Despite the setback they suffered in Mogadishu Al Shabab will stay in business for the foreseeable future. AMISOM forces paid a very expensive price in moving Al Shabab from one trench to the next and so will have no more appetite to chase the elusive AL Shabab. Al Shabab have changed their war tactic to hit and run which makes them rather more lethal by the day- The latest casualty is the TFG’s Interior Minister killed by his own niece. Al Shabab is strong enough to keep the TFG and the international community engaged in project Somalia well beyond the one year mandate – the future of project Somalia is as bright as ever.

No matter how much Mogadishu and Somalia love Prime Minister Mohamed Farmaajo and no matter how much he achieved during his short time in Office, sorry to say, but the decision to keep or fire him rests squarely with the IC which has an agenda of its own. The only one, among the whole IC members, who has the Somali interest in his heart, is President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and unfortunately he is no match to Uganda and Ethiopia; the heavy-weight leaders of the region. The only way out for this nation if it is to be saved from the disastrous condition that it was in for the past 20 years, is for its sons and daughters to take it back from the wolves that are feasting on it and their domestic poodles and abandon for good the petty politics that have destroyed this once great state and restore afresh its status among the family of nations.

Abdikarim H. Abdi Buh
WardheerNews, London UK
E-Mail:abdikarimbuh@yahoo.com