Hiiraan Online

The season of surprise and hope is coming February 8th 2021. Politics is like any other conflict. Backstabbing, cynicism, lies and all other human wickedness comes to surface during the campaign. But the danger is when the candidate elates merely self-interest and corruption blend, the true essence of power seeking comes forth. The reason to seek power is to present the best ideas and serve the society to the utmost, but misuse and profiteering is not aligning the intended principles of the whole exercise of elections.  The guise of patriotism and ability to overrate the individual capacity might shroud the true essence of leadership. This clouds what should be truly sought in a candidate, which is typical of the third world mentality. There is no record to support the claims of the candidate or his credentials and his political philosophical makeup. Since we are a tribal community the sheer notion that guides us is which tribe the candidate belongs to, as a matter of pride for the people. The injection of foreign money also undermines the true sovereignty of the voting electorates.                         

 It is the time assigned to elect the president of Somalia. The whole nation will go to elect first the members of Parliament and later the MP will elect the next four years president.   The excitements of the competing contenders are running high as each appeal to the national audience.  It also brings hope, as people expect to elect someone that has leadership quality and understanding of the norms of governance. Meanwhile, it brings surprises since an unexpected individual may come out as a winner. The whole exercise is the production of our losers and winners; to sort out a crowded field in which each presents talents and leadership. The cycle renews the national conscious and rekindles the true causes of common good. Moral verities of the individual will get much attention in order to search the President. We remember for example Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo of 2017 as uncharismatic and boring as he is, he presents himself as nice and an outsider of the powerful tribes in Mogadishu, won the election with the help of the ‘No more Abgaal ‘motto engineered By Honorable Fiqi against the sitting President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, who was from the indigenous tribe in Mogadishu. Mr. Farmajo filled a vacuum and timely suited the political condition of the country. Oratory skills and organizational ability of the person seeking the contested seat plays a very important role. However, President Farmajo naturally lacks presenting eloquent speaking abilities, while President Hassan sheikh talentedly displays superb demagogic speeches along with effective organizational ability. President Hassan made continuous appealing speeches, but his moral character put him down.  He obviously misread the mood of the nation and misjudged the morale integrity of the Somali people. He tried hard with the government machine and resources to bribe the electorates to help him for his handpicked members of parliament in order to vote for him for the presidency. But he failed even after he spent fifteen million dollar the night before the presidential election!  It is a cycle that refreshes itself every four years. It is the selection of choices, issue and personalities. 

As long as we project issues as matter of tribe and money we will continue to be under the suffering of bad governance. Somalia is dealing with unfortunate calamities due to bad choices that continue to shape the national image. I hope president Farmajo will not run again and spare his time and resources for the good causes that are fit to him. I believe that he is a nice person, likeable maybe, but to manage a nation that has multiple internal and external problems he demonstrated his lack of understanding the mechanics of those matters. In the same manner, former president Hassan should not try to run an office again since he failed to deliver on his promises. He may speak eloquently, but the political circle and elitists are disdained at his false rhetoric and his capacity to corrupt. I originally held the belief that he is the best president after Siyad Barre, as he eloquently speaks and his intellectual sharpness but he failed me as being corrupted to his very core. He cannot distinguish what is best for him and what is best for the government. His belief that he can bribe the whole nation to succeed has manifested itself in his political death. He looked down on the people. For sure, money is not the only thing; other factors play a big role, especially the integrity of the person. Four years has been enough for him to present the best he had, if there was anything to be had at all.

Hassan Ali Kheyre, the current prime minister, it has been rumored that he is going to run for the presidency. First, it is not good to run against the president that appointed you. During his tenure as prime minister he demonstrated self-centeredness, arrogance, and self-righteousness. He may have well-tailored suits, with expensive sunglasses but he is merely an empty shell. He has been lecturing as a school class master to the sick and poor people in Mogadishu with abusive language that is unprofessional to his post. He degraded the ability of the Somali professionals as he appointed a foreign national to the highest financial position of the banking system of the nation. Besides, he is the creator SOM Oil Company that intended to defraud, with the help of foreign vultures, the national resources of the nation. Somalia may even look poor but they are not stupid. The social media and good wishers of the nation have clearly told him that he is not fit to be trusted with the highest post of the nation. This is a time to elect a new person that has the characteristics of leadership and truthfulness, with a strong knowledge and belief in the Somali culture.