Twice elected. Twice failed: The political tragedy of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
On of the 99 names of Allah (swt) is Al-Ghafour meaning he who is intensely forgiving, mostly forgiving if one sincerely repents for past sins. Humans are less forgiving to those who transgress on their boundaries, laws and trust. And if they heed the advice in Quran to forgive others, they will forgive it for the first offense, but will be less forgiving for repeated offenses. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. So getting a second chance holds immense value and comes with great responsibility on the shoulders of the one getting a second chance. Hassan Sheikh Mohamed is one of the few and fortunate leaders who received a second chance from the public. Having squandered his first term on corruption, landgrabbing, nepotism and weak leadership we can now, after two years in office, assess how he is heading towards failure again and more importantly how he lost this second chance.
First term of failure: 2012-2017
When Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected to the presidency in 2012 it was a big surprise to many and a joyful event to the public. For the first time since 1991, a leader was elected that was not part of the warrying factions in the country and more importantly, he was well-known within civil society and the education sector in Somalia. He came over as an educated leader who through his civic action (SIMAD and other institutions) could steer the country in the right direction.
Fast forward to 2016, on the eve of the presidential election, the once promising leader turned out to be a corrupt leader who has enriched himself and those around him. His first term, despite the few good things he did, was tainted by the numerous land grabbing cases, the widespread corruption, the small group (Damuljadid) he surrounded himself with who exploited their public offices to enrich themselves with Hassan Sheikh Mohamud being on the top of the pyramid of corruption. The election of Mohamud Abdullahi Farmajo in 2017 was celebrated widely by the public and showed how publicly despised Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s corruption practices.
Farmaajo who campaigned on a message of fighting corruption, Al-Shabaab and riding on a nationalistic wave, turned out to be a worse president then Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Farmajo not only continued the widespread corruption of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud but brought it to new heights while at the same time continuing the same practice of nepotism and surrounding himself with a small, corrupt and unqualified group of politicians. Farmajo even came up with new ways to enrich himself and his family, like banning the Qat import from Kenya and letting his brother monopolize the Qat imports from Ethiopia. The public was quick to see through his fake nationalist credentials with his shameful handing over of a decorated SNA veteran (Qalbi-dhagax) to Ethiopia and promising Adis Ababa joint-exploitation of four ports in Somalia.
Moreover, his dictatorial tendencies and immature dreams of bringing back the rule of dictator Siad Barre while being protected by more than 18.000 AU troops was the final nail in his coffin. In 2021 the public in Mogadishu rose up and the country was on the brink of a civil war. It was against this background that Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reinvented himself and presented himself as a safe alternative to the failed Farmajo. So history was written on 15 May 2022 when Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, despite the failure of his first term, received a second chance from the parliament and public.
Second term of failure: 2022-2024
Having secured a second chance, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud nominated an individual handpicked by the principle catalyst for the failure of his first term, Mr. Farah Shiekh Abdulqadir.
Hassan Sheikh thus prioritized loyalty over competence and got neither. This false thinking led him to bring back his first team of failure, appointing the same failed individuals of his first term to key positions. As Somalis say, even a donkey does not fall in the same hole twice.
The comeback of his team of failure was the first red flag to the public. Still, the public gave him the benefit of doubt since he seemed so determined to eradicate Al-Shabaab and succeed in his second term.
In his first year, the war on Al Shabaab was progressing well and his war of words against corruption in the mosque gave him some support. Fighting corruption became a new theme in his first year, despite the fact of him dissolving the Anti Corruption Committee that was set up by his predecessor. The public forgave him this action since the anti-corruption agency was a decoy by his predecessor to hide his own corruption. However, it was better for Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to reform the Anti Corruption Committee by getting rid of the Farmajo appointed officials and transforming it into a credible and effective entity with a strong and clear legal mandate. Alas, he chose to wage war on corruption via his Friday sermons in the mosque of Villa Somalia.
One year later, all the high profile corruption cases were acquitted not because of lack of evidence but due to political expediency. The president needed the votes to pass his controversial constitutional amendments and the political dealers around him wanted the corruption case dismissed. This not only shows how shallow his anti-corruption promise was but is an outright betrayal of public trust to secure his re-election.
In his second year the war against Al Shabaab stalled and his credibility to eradicate Al Shabaab seems to be lost. Soldiers on the front line are openly criticizing his defense minister and the government of looting their supplies and ammunitions. A fact that was revealed by the US decision to halt supplies to Danab battalions after an investigation showed that food rations ended up being sold in the markets of Mogadishu. The defense minister, known as Mr.Tiktok, was not sacked despite public outcry against his widespread corruption. In fact, lack of accountability is a major theme that punctuates the behavior of the Hassan Sheikh administration. People commit egregious crimes and incompetence and are rewarded for it.
Thus, the army commanders were not replaced and the inept Mogadishu mayor, a close ally of HSM and a key player in corruption cases in Mogadishu, are still in office. The ineffective and unqualified Prime Minister Hamza is surrounding himself with a group of advisors who crossed over from the his predecessor, Khaire ship, just to continue their corruption tactics of capturing foreign aid and buying (ill gotten) properties in Nairobi and elsewhere.
It took just one year for HSM to fall back in the same trap that cost him to lose a two-successive term. Cases of land grabbing (“auctioning” public land without transparency and accountability) and widespread corruption (even involving corruption the Hadj organization in the ministry of religious affairs and endowment) resurfaced again and are posed to taunt his second term. The Qat business of his predecessor is continued with the re-opening of the Kenya market, which is now monopolized by close allies of HSM. The countless foreign trips, a way to get large sums of cash (Sahay money), became another thing that reminded people of the first failure of HSM. If bringing back the corrupt practices of his first term was not enough, he continued in the failed footsteps of his predecessor: centralizing power and manipulating the parliament and political process to seek a third term. What he fails to understand is that the public has lost trust in him and that his second chance is squandered so another term is out of the question.
The few people who sincerely believe in him or want to give him the benefit of doubt might argue that this article is too harsh and that there is no evidence of widespread corruption. To that small group, I would say look at the global corruption perception report and how Somalia fell back on the ranking. Moreover, look at the legitimate criticism that was raised by the troops on the frontlines about misappropriation of diesel, food rations and ammunitions. Look at the shady auctioning of public lands. Look at the US decision to halt their support to Danab battalions after the investigation that revealed widespread corruption. Look at the major corruption cases that were mysteriously acquitted by the courts. Look at the countless foreign trips HSM and his government officials undertook in just two years. Look at the case of Ikran Tahlill and the repeated outcries by her mother.
Conclusion
If HSM reads this article, I sincerely hope it becomes a wake-up call to him so he can change while he still has time. The chances that this will happens are slim, but still he has time to do the right thing and change course. If not, he should know that he will go down in Somali history as the leader that failed the country not one time but twice!
To the public, this article should be a lesson not to recycle failed leaders. If someone is in office and shows you his true face, than believe it and do not believe whatever he is saying when out of office. Like Einstein said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Giving failed leaders like Sheikh Sharif, Hassan Khaire, Deni or Farmajo a second chance will be no different than the second chance Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has wasted. Choose new leaders, assess them critically, scrutinize their election promises and hold them accountable. If the public becomes hapless spectators, then the corrupt leaders will continue to fill their pockets while the suffering of the people increases. And remember, they are meant to serve the public and use the money of the public in a transparent, accountable way to better the lives of the people, not to enrich themselves.
Public money is not meant to be embezzled so why is the public watching from the side-lines how political thieves steal their money? At least the younger generations of Kenya understood this and rose up against their corrupt leaders, what are the younger generations of Somalia waiting for?
Edit: BoobQaran requested Villa Somalia for comment and will update this op-ed if VS provides comments.
By: Dayax Jimcaale