From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Sep 29 2009 - 17:23:41 EDT
Somalia: Sheikh Sharif's weakness will be his ultimate demise [Editorial]
Sep 29, 2009 - 11:20:42 PM
http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Editorial_29/Somalia_Sheikh_Shar
if_s_weakness_will_be_his_ultimate_demise_Editorial.shtml
SUNDAY EDITORIAL | Sheikh Sharif's character weakness poses a grave threat
to the international community's financial and political backing, which
could backfire with disastrous effect.
The number one issue surrounding the Somali conflict is a matter of how
genuine the parties directly or indirectly involved are. Often, the
officials of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) are accused of
lacking legitimacy among the Somali public, in part due to the fact that
most TFG officials are well-known crooks with ties to the Somali civil war.
Internationally, Western powers with the U.S. government at the forefront
are accused of neglecting the root causes of the Somali conflict and
aggressively dealing with the effects of war, as demonstrated by the
targeted killing of an Al Qaeda terror suspect by American commandos on
September 14, 2009. Somalia's neighbors are accused of abusing the chaotic
situation and supporting different sides of an enduring civil war, for
national advantages that are often detrimental to the restoration of a
peaceful and stable Somalia.
Among all these actors, the most important role is played by the TFG
officials. Today, the TFG enjoys more support than any other "interim
government" in Somalia since the violent collapse of Gen. Barre's 21-year
military dictatorship in 1991. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who led the rise of the
Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in 2006, then considered a Taliban-type movement
by U.S. officials, became Somali president in Jan. 2009 at the conclusion of
UN-brokered peace talks in the neighboring Republic of Djibouti. The
international community hoped that Sheikh Sharif, who was a prominent figure
among Somali Islamists, could marshal support among the Islamists'
grassroots networks that provide manpower and funding support to advance the
Islamist insurgency against the Western-backed TFG in Mogadishu, Somalia's
war-battered traditional capital city. Further, it was hoped that Sheikh
Sharif as Somali president could inspire young Islamist fighters to join his
cause - much as they did in 2006, when thousands of Islamist fighters joined
the ICU's popular war to overthrow Mogadishu's hated warlords.
To put it mildly, Sheikh Sharif has failed catastrophically in his capacity
to lead Somalia from the ruins of war. The UN's Special Envoy to Somalia,
Amb. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, campaigned for President Sheikh Sharif's interim
government as the "best hope" to restore national order in Somalia. However,
eight months into his administration, President Sheikh Sharif's interim
government is looking identical to the interim government of Col. Abdullahi
Yusuf, who expelled ICU fighters from Mogadishu with the backing of
Ethiopian troops in early 2007, thereafter igniting the ongoing Islamist
insurgency. Most recently, addressing the UN General Assembly, President
Sheikh Sharif called on the UN to remove the 1993 arms embargo on Somalia -
following, it seems, the exact footsteps of President Yusuf who had asked
the UN for the same thing.
Sheikh Sharif has the characteristics of a weak leader. If the TFG is a weak
institution in and of itself, then Sheikh Sharif's character weakness poses
a grave threat to the international community's financial and political
backing, which could backfire with disastrous effect. The TFG, under Sheikh
Sharif's stewardship, has been unable to combine all the security forces
under a single command to fight the insurgents; naturally, this disorder on
the ground in Mogadishu has led to frequent deadly clashes among Somali
government forces. Further, he has been unable to reign in support from
Islamist guerrillas, whom have labeled him a "puppet" of the West, and he
has lost control of towns and regions dominated by members of his own clan,
thereby making him a leader without a constituency. Important towns like
Jowhar - seized by Al Shabaab insurgents - come to mind.
A more pressing example of President Sheikh Sharif's character weakness is
his inability to control some Cabinet ministers, especially Finance Minister
Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden, a shady character with intimate ties with
Mogadishu's hated warlords. In a recent trip to Saudi Arabia, President
Sheikh Sharif was "questioned intensely" about the Finance Minister's
powerful role in the Somali government. According to informed sources, Saudi
government officials expressed serious concern with
<http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_MPs_accuse_F
inance_Minister_of_corruption.shtml> a recent statement issued by a number
of Somali lawmakers, who accused Finance Minister Sharif Hassan of
corruption and urged Arab countries not to give him donor funds. The Finance
Minister, the sources added, suggested that a rival group of Somali MPs be
"bribed" to issue a press statement to counter allegations of corruption
against him. So far, such a press statement has not been issued publicly by
the rival lawmakers, however, but in a bloated Somali Parliament with 550
MPs, expect anything.
Leadership requires intellect, courage, charisma and resolve. Especially in
a country torn apart by endless wars, the characteristics of leadership play
a pivotal role in the survivability of the leader. What damages Sheikh
Sharif's ability to lead is his dramatic 360-turn from ICU chief in 2006 who
actively campaign against foreign troops - the single most divisive issue in
Somali national politics - to blatant and unashamed support for foreign
troops currently in Mogadishu under the auspices of the African Union.
Most important of all, a genuine leader must truly care about his own
people. Judging by the evident weakness of character and the influence of
shady officials close to him, Sheikh Sharif's demise will come by his own
doing.
Garowe Online Editorial, <mailto:editorial@garoweonline.com>
editorial@garoweonline.com