Mogadishu should be liberated to liberate Somalia
Somalia, a country dominated by warring parts including radical religious fanatics, is yet to stand on its feet despite the international efforts to rehabilitate the country. The epicentre of the current chaos is the Somali capital which is the headquarter of the national leader, the Prime Minister and his cabinet.
Similarly, it hosts the representatives of the UN and the representative of the foreign countries. Similarly, it is the headquarter of the foreign forces who protect all the above-mentioned entities from Al Shabab forces, a home-grown religious radical. This group, the religious radicals, and the Somali politicians in Mogadishu share a common belief that they are the God-chosen leaders and everyone else has to line up behind them. Neither of them backs up their self-importance.
In reality, the Somali capital is controlled, to some extent, by Al Shabab through terror. They collect tax effectively; executing any mission they want without fear and, according to reliable sources, able to task anyone, particularly those in the lower and middle levels of government, to work for them on fear of death. Unfortunately, because no one can provide them with security, such people have no other option but to cooperate with Al Shabab or run for their life across the ocean, which is another type of risk.
But yet, the so-called Somali leaders, the president and his prime minister, who are heavily guarded in their offices and residences by foreign forces, have other crazy ideas. They have some sort of imaginary thinking that they control the entire country and therefore should interfere in every aspect of the peoples’ life.
Most alarmingly, they continuously attempt to decide, sometimes unsuccessfully, who should be elected as a State Premiere (State President[1]) in the Federal States. This kind of interference creates unnecessary tension and enmity among the people in the States who would otherwise live together peacefully.
The President and his Prime Minister use money intended for needy Somalians, which has been donated by the international community, to achieve the ambitions set out by their imagination. These factors outlined above are the reason the Somali people believe Mogadishu should be liberated not only from Al Shabab but also the current Somali leaders in order to fully liberate Somalia politically, physically and socially.
BY: Omar Mohamud Farah (Dhollawaa)
[1] The word Premiere is the title given to State leaders in Australia and other federated countries, but In Somalia the State leaders are called Presidents and it is believed by many that this is one of the reasons the national president is allergic to this title.
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