TFG Leaders Abroad: Who Is Watching the House?

“What is the difference between a vulture and a TFG President?
A TFG President gets Frequent-Flier Mileage”. An Old ‘Amended’ Lawyer Joke
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In the late 1970s, I was an independent student in Cairo preparing for the General Certificate Examination (GCE). I had a great deal of discretionary time and was fortunate enough to have landed a job with the Somali Airlines office in Egypt. One day, the prominent Somali radio broadcaster Yassin Haji Ismail, came to our office along with another man. I asked Mr. Ismail where he was headed. He told me that he and his colleague were the nucleus of a Somali delegation going to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to attend a conference. I curiously asked him when such a gathering was supposed to commence. “Actually, the conference ended yesterday but we are going there any way,” replied Mr. Ismail. I was baffled by his nonchalant answer but kept quiet because, by this time, I had a fair idea what these government delegations were all about. I saw many government ministers going through Cairo at the time and doing anything but diligently representing their country. I knew of some ministers who were especially fond of belly dancers as well as Cairo’s burgeoning night life.

It was already embarrassing that Somalia had missed that Yugoslav conference but at least Mr. Ismail’s delegation was small and much less cumbersome.

In the span of one week in January 2011, the TFG President, Sheikh Sharif, Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed “Farmajo”, Speaker of the House Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, and several other ministers were out of Somalia at the same time. I kept wondering what was left of what was only last week characterized by the UN Special Envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Mahiga, as a “lean” and “technocratic” cabinet. These leaders’ trips covered at least four of the five continents. All these leaders, obviously, would justify their official visits, but I wonder who was actually watching the house during their absence.

President Sheikh Sharif, the Interior Minister, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and a number of parliamentarians arrived in Djibouti on January 16th. The presidential visit was described as a series of consultations with leaders of the host country as well as participating in the launching of police training for 500 Somali recruits that is currently being offered by AMISOM. Then on January 18th, Sheikh Sharif and his entourage left for Egypt to attend an Arab League conference that was supposed to discuss, among other things, the recent upheavals in Tunisia.

That same week, the Speaker of the parliament also attended a conference in the UAE for Muslim parliamentarians.

Perhaps, the most embarrassing conference was the one that took place in Oslo, Norway. Three separate Somali delegations went to that country to participate in a conference that was supposed to tackle Somalia’s security and humanitarian issues. First, the Somali Ambassador to EU and Italy, Nur Adde, and Mogadishu Mayor, Mohamoud Ahmed Nur “Tarzan”, came together; Then the TFG Foreign Minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar, came with his delegation, and finally Deputy Minister in the TFG Prime Minister’s Office, Sahro Mohamed Ali Samatar, came with her own delegation. The conference was organized by the Nordic Union of Somali Peace and Development organizations. All the guests were speaking on behalf of the TFG but each delegation was surprised to see the other. The Norwegian government officials must have been confused by the presence of these Somali officials in their midst.

Can anyone blame the TFG leaders for escaping the claustrophobic environment of Villa Somalia?

At least one TFG Minister, Dr. Abdinur Mohamed, was in Pakistan meeting with Somali students. The Education minister is an old buddy of mine and we both graduated from the same university in Ohio. Although I haven’t seen or talked to Dr. Abdinur since 1986, I wasn’t surprised that his mission to Pakistan seemed productive. Abdinur is a hardworking man with exceptional leadership qualities.

Prime Minister Farmajo went to the U.N, gave a speech there, had a break to visit his family in Buffalo, NY, and then left for Italy to attend a conference there.

Are all of these conferences important enough for such high-ranking Somali officials to attend?
For instance, the Arab League conference in Egypt was attended by a handful of head of states. Many countries were represented by foreign ministers.

I guess there are more questions than answers regarding this phenomenon of frequent-flier mileages.

Sheikh Sharif has more frequent-flier mileage in his two-year tenure as TFG President than Siad Barre had in 21 years of ruling Somalia. But then, Barre did not have to worry about a radical group gunning for him every time he left Villa Somalia. Barre rarely attended UN sessions, OAU gatherings, or Arab League conferences during his tenure.

I hope the TFG leaders will stay in Villa Somalia for the remaining seven months of their term and start working on some of the pressing issues that need to be tackled before launching another flurry of air travel; prompting screams of what Italians would say, “Chi sta badando la casa?” (Who is making sure that the house [is being watched]?).