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Who Is Violating The Federal
Charter: The Warlords Or The TFG? (Bill Ainashe)
The destructive Mogadishu warlords, Sharif Hassan;
the run-away speaker of the parliament and their myopic tribalist
followers have, in recent months, used the Somali transitional
federal Charter in order to legitimize their vicious assault
against the Somali transitional federal government by citing
Clause 1. of Article 5 of the Charter which states:
The Capital of the Somali Republic shall be Mogadishu
(Xamar).
The destructive Mogadishu warlords and Sharif Hassan kept
telling anyone who is foolish enough to lend his/her ears
to them that President Abdullahi Yusuf, Prime Minister Ali
Gedi and the TFG are in violation of the interim federal Charter
by relocating the government temporarily in Jowhar after it
ended its exile in Nairobi, Kenya.
This absurd interpretation of the transitional federal Charter
is interesting for at least three reasons. First, neither
President Abdullahi Yusuf nor anyone else for that matter
has ever suggested the notion of moving the seat of the Somali
transitional federal government to Jowhar permanently. Indeed,
the President reiterated many times that the capital of Somalia
is Mogadishu and that he was eager to relocate his government
there as soon as the security conditions in the capital improve.
This meant that, as soon as the brutal tribal militias led
by the destructive Mogadishu warlords lay down their arms,
the President would be in “Villa Somalia”. Hence,
the claim that President Abdullahi Yusuf is violating article
5 of the federal Charter is false. Indeed, at best, it is
a figment of the deceptive minds of Sharif Hassan and the
destructive Mogadishu warlords.
Second, one could reasonably argue that it is, in reality,
the destructive Mogadishu warlords, Sharif Hassan and their
tribalist political followers that are violating this very
clause of the transitional federal Charter by denying the
government its legitimate right to settle down in Mogadishu
as dictated by the Charter. I will explain this point further
later in this article, but suffice it to say that the fact
is that if the warlords were willing to fulfill their political
obligations and the legal requirements stated in the transitional
federal Charter, we would not be having the current political
deadlock today. Hence, the destructive Mogadishu warlords
and Sharif Hassan, who by all accounts, turned out to be the
puppet and political loud-speaker for the warlords are chasing
their own tail to their peril.
Third, you would think, as common sense dictates, that Sharif
Hassan and the destructives Mogadishu warlords would do what
they are preaching by having the moral decency to follow the
Charter which they are accusing the President and his government
to be violating. Think again! Evidently, their approach to
political ethics and morality is, simply put, “do as
we say, but don’t do as we do”. Unfortunately,
no one seems to have the moral courage to point out this self
evident fact to the Somali populace. Thus, Sharif Hassan and
destructive Mogadishu warlords are getting away with this
flawed and contradictory political argument while the transitional
federal government looks like a lame-duck sitting in Jowhar,
with little to say about its own defense. As I have argued
many times before, the transitional federal government failed
thus far to formulate a coherent political communication’s
strategy to counter such misleading claims by the destructive
forces in the Somali political arena. As a result, this apparent
lack of strategic communications agenda is undoubted giving
Sharif and the destructive Mogadishu warlords the upper hand
in the critical struggle to win the hearts and minds of the
Somali people. Unfortunately, it may be too before the government
can successfully put an end to Sharif Hassan’s dangerous
brinkmanship.
Now, let’s be fair to the both sides by objectively
taking a closer look at the Somali transitional federal Charter
and see whether Sharif Hassan and destructive Mogadishu warlords
are in breach of the transitional federal Charter. I can grantee
you that you will be surprised when you finish reading the
rest of this article.
Following are some of the most specific articles of the Charter
that Sharif Hassan and destructive Mogadishu warlords have
violated thus far. I am sure there are many more, however,
this should be sufficient enough for the current argument.
Article 71, Clause 5: (Transitional
Period) states:
The Transitional Federal Government shall devote the
necessary efforts to restore peace and security, free movement
of people, goods and services, disarmament and collection
of illegal weapons in the hands of the public for safekeeping
rehabilitation and reintegration of all militia in co-operation
with regional administrations, traditional elders and members
of the international community.
Indeed, President Abdullahi Yusuf and his government are
trying very hard to achieve above objectives by reassembling
the collapsed Somali national security institutions including
the Somali National Army and the Police. What’s the
warlord’s response to such important political and security
initiative you may ask? Well, they are crying foul by accusing
the president of igniting a new civil war. Pathetic! The fact
is that Sharif Hassan; the run-away speaker and the destructive
Mogadishu warlords are the biggest obstacle preventing the
government’s endeavor to fulfill the objectives of the
above article. Thus, the warlords and their political allies
are the barrier to peace and successful completion of Somali
peace process. Indeed, Sharif Hassan and his myopic tribalist
warlords are at best slowing down the efforts to bring about
broader political settlement in Somalia and at worst they
are destroying that effort in its embryonic stages.
Article 71, Clause 8: (Transitional Period)
states:
Effective from the conclusion of the Somali National
Reconciliation Conference held in Kenya, all militia organizations,
armed groups and factions in the territory of the
Somali Republic shall cease to exist and shall turn in their
weapons to the Transitional Federal Government.
Well, you do not need to be a constitutional lawyer to figure
out that the destructive Mogadishu warlords have clearly violated
this article by refusing to disband their illegal tribal militias
and lay down their arms as stipulated in this article of transitional
federal Charter. Unfortunately, Sharif Hassan is acting as
a load-speaker for those who trying to detail the Somali peace
process by beating the political drums for the illegal and
destructive activities of the warlords. The irony here is
that the destructives Mogadishu warlords are cabinet members
of the government they are complaining about. Indeed, some
of the ministerial portfolios of the warlords include both
internal and external security of the country. Hence, if they
were honest about finding solutions to the security chaos
in Mogadishu, they could have done it in a heart beat. More
importantly, they own the brutal tribal militias that are
preventing President Abdullahi Yusuf and his government to
restore law and order in the devastated city of Mogadishu.
Article 28, Clause, 3: (Parliament) states:
The members of the Parliament shall represent the unity
of the nation.
Yet, the warlords have divided the country and particularly
Mogadishu among themselves. In addition, they introduced illegal
military check-points for their own personal greed with utter
disregard of the economic and security well being of the Somali
people.
Article 31, Clause 2: (Eligibility Criteria
for Membership of Parliament) states:
A person shall be disqualified from being a Member of
Parliament if that person:-
(a) Holds any other public appointment other than as member
of the Cabinet;
Despites this clause in the federal Charter prohibiting the
members of the federal transitional parliament to hold public
positions, the warlords kept their role as brutal tribal chiefs
and leaders of the illegal militias that are terrorizing the
Somali people in and around Mogadishu.
Now, let’s look closely the specific articles of the
transitional federal Charter that Sharif Hassan; the run-away
speaker of the TFG has violated.
Article 34: (Procedures in Parliament)
1. The Parliament shall hold two (2)
ordinary sessions annually.
2. The Parliament may be convened in extraordinary
sessions by the Speaker at the request of the President or
upon requisition by one third of its members.
3. Meetings of Parliament or its committees
shall be valid with the presence of half plus one of its members.
Yet, in a clear violation of this article, Sharif Hassan
rejected many requests President Abdullahi Yusuf made asking
for an extraordinary session of the parliament in order to
address the current political and security situation in the
country. As we all know, Sharif Hassan blocked all the attempts
the President and the Prime Minister made since the government
ended its exile in Nairobi. Indeed, contrary to his role as
neutral Speaker of the parliament as a whole, Sharif Hassan
decided to lead splinter group into Mogadishu and saw the
seeds of the current political deadlock. Unless we are blind-folded
by myopic tribal loyalties, it should be clear to everyone
that Sharif Hassan is solely responsible for splitting the
parliament into two opposing factions.
Article 38: Proceedings of Parliament
Every Parliamentary sitting shall be presided over by: -
(a) The Speaker or
(b) In the absence of the Speaker any of the Deputy Speakers;
(c) In the absence of the Speaker or any of the Deputy Speakers,
such other Member of Parliament as the members shall elect.
In short, it is a mystery to how the destructive Mogadishu
warlords and their myopic political load-speaker; Sharif Hassan,
could argue that President Abdullahi Yusuf and his Prime Minister;
Ali Gedi are violating the transitional federal Charter. The
fact is, as demonstrated above the warlords and Sharif Hassan
are not only clear violating the Charter but they are killing
the very spirit of the Charter, namely, Somali unity and national
reconciliation.
One Nation, One Somalia! (Western Somalia-Ogaden and NFD
are included)
Bill Ainashe
Washington, DC.
United States
Internet: www.ainashe.net
Email: wainashe@hotmail.com
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