When the hyena is the judge, the goat has no rights.
-- An African proverb.
Recently, Somalia’s South West
State (SW) presented a list of candidates for the country’s Upper House. The
list was orderly, timely, and even met the 30% quota for female representation.
The seamless way in which the list was presented garnered praise and adulation
from certain circles in the international community. It was, after all, a lot
better than the political wrangling taking place in other regional states such
as Jubaland, Galmudug, and Puntland for selecting their respective potential members
for the Federal Upper House. In reality, there are palpable reasons why the
SW’s selection process went smoothly: utter corruption.
The SW state leader, Sharif
Hassan, is paradoxically malleable and does not bargain hard in getting the
region’s share for national political positions. Both Somaliland and Puntland
received an extra three members, a total of 11, for their share in the Upper
House. The SW was allotted eight and there was no fuss or grumbling.
The federal commission for
elections has four members from the SW who are all Mirifle. This means, no
representatives from Biyamaal, Digil, and other groups in the region. The SW
state election committee is another matter. It is headed by none other than
Mohamed Abdullahi Mursal, the state minister for the Office of the Presidency
and a nephew of Sharif Hassan. Mursal is a young man with no prior government
experience before his uncle made him the de facto premier in the SW. Why a
state minister would preside on the state’s election commission is beyond the
pale. For one thing, the state is run by Mursal’s family and the ultimate boss
is Uncle Sharif Hassan. The state is a family fiefdom on the one hand and a
money-making machine of self-enrichment for its members on the other. Sharif Hassan appoints who he wants and
removes who he wants. Got any problems with that?
Sharif Hassan is not all about
money. He has political cronies who prop him up and give him the political
cover to appear that his administration has representation from other groups.
One family has been an important political ally.
Warsame Ibrahim Aliyow Ibrow is
the sultan of Jiido, a sub-clan of Digil. Ibrow—no need to jot down his name
because you will be hearing it a lot—is a Somali American from Minnesota. This
young man (see, SW loves to invest in youth) came from a prominent family in
the town of Qoryooley. His father was a traditional chieftain who passed away
in 2012 and Warsame was selected to lead his people. Why Warsame? According to
an interview Warsame gave to Somali-Mai TV, he was unique among his male siblings
because he had an aptitude for all things political; he followed Somalia’s current
affairs from his comfort in Minnesota, and even studied International
Relations. Impressive, right? Warsame,
who was coroneted in Minneapolis’ Little Mogadishu, immediately ingratiated
himself with Sharif Hassan, then the speaker of the National Parliament. The
two formed an alliance that gave the old notion “scratch my back and I will
scratch yours” a new meaning. Ibrow’s unholy alliance with Sharif Hassan has
reaped some tangible benefits:
1. Sayid-Ali Ibrahim Hassanow Ibrow is the deputy
head of the state election commission. He is a cousin of Warsame. Sayid-Ali has
neither government experience nor education. Why bother?
2. Zamzam
Ibrahim Aliyow Ibrow, a candidate for the National Upper House, is a cousin of
Warsame. Her mother is Kuushow Aliyow Ibrow. I told you, the Ibrow name is
becoming a brand name in the SW. Zamzam has no experience in government.
3. Salim
Aliyow Ibrow, Warsame’s uncle, has been promised to be included in the next
Federal Parliament, which is coming to a theater near you. Salim is the sister
of Kuushow Aliyow Ibrow. Are you still with me? Now, this Salim Ibrow—I am not
joking—is uniquely qualified to be a parliamentarian. He is a veteran
politician and an intellectual who had held many cabinet positions. See, not
all Ibrows belong in a basket of incompetents.
The 16 members selected as
candidates for the Upper House from the SW have one thing in common: They are
not expected to defy Sharif Hassan’s wishes. Many of these are unknown
quantities who have been, as a SW politician recently said, “dad laga soo aruuriyay dariiqyada”
(people gathered from the streets). Only eight will make the final cut. Speaking
of streets, one guy was a street vendor, one a taxi driver, and one woman sold Qat, a mild stimulant plant. A word of
caution: selling Qat is a promising
career in the SW because Sharif Hassan himself was once a Qat trader before he entered politics. In fairness, Ibrahim Ali
Ahmed “Ayatullah,” a candidate for
the upper house, was a former school principal.
The next process is the selection
of the SW members for the next Federal Parliament. It does not look good.
President Sharif Hassan has been asking for $50, 000 per slot from those
aspiring for that position. That’s 50% off the original price. He realized that
$100k was too steep for the sons and daughters of the SW. The region lacks nouveau
riches who are willing to invest in a corrupt system, i.e., a$50k in Cadaado,
Garowe, and Kismayo for a political position is peanuts. Sharif Hassan has made
it clear to wanna-be parliamentarians to cough up the dough or else they can
kiss that lucrative job goodbye. It is not clear if the money—like a marriage
dowry—can be paid in advance or if it can be paid at a later date.
Sharif Hassan, who will declare
for the national presidency soon, has been collecting a war chest for that race.
Rest assured though, there is little
chance he will be the next Somali president. His major goal is to become a
kingmaker, a job he is qualified for. He has told some of his close friends
that he wants his half-brother, Mohamed Haji Abdinur “Madeer” (now the Somali
Health Minister), to become the next premier. It is not a crime in the SW to
dream big. Did I mention that PM Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke, a close ally of
Sharif Hassan, sacked two female cabinet members in June 2016? One of them was
Hawo Mohamed Hassan (Mirifle-Hadamo) in favor of Madeer. Talk about election
politics! Unfortunately, there is only one female cabinet minister left in
Somalia today. One thing is clear: President HSM, who supported his PM’s misogynist,
Trump-like action, is not courting women votes.
In a nutshell, the SW is a state
in which Sharif Hassan acts as though he owns it. He has made sure to exclude
capable SW figures from his administration. He wants to banish Mohamed Osman Jawari,
the speaker of the Federal Parliament, and Mohamed Adan “Fargeeto,” the national Finance Minister, from future national
government. Okay, I know Jawari has been a major disappointment. At any rate,
Sharif Hassan does not care much about the international community because he
knows how to manipulate the system. As long as his cronies are taken care of politically,
and the federal guidelines for selecting members for both chambers of
parliament are superficially met, then it is fine.
Now, which was the first state to
furnish the list of candidates for the Federal Upper House? Just checking if you
are still paying attention.
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