Mr. Prime Minister,

Academic experts in Somali history and politics believe that no one can save Somalia from itself. We on the other hand do not agree on every interpretation made by people who claim to be Somalia “experts” and who frequently concoct words like ”Somalia has became a syndrome, a failed state and haven for international terrorism since 1992/93 after the US humanitarian intervention became a political and military failure.” The rest is history. 

Generally, when people in the West speak about Africa, they speak of wars, genocide, corruption, nepotism, vote buying, hunger man-made famine, disease and all the other disasters in the history of mankind, and Somalia had more than it’s share of these human calamity.

I don’t want to question the method in which you have been appointed as the Prime of Somalia, and the action of the rookie parliamentarians who were not elected by the people for obvious reasons. In other words, you cannot have elections in a chaotic country where the gun rules.  We can’t question every action at a time when the rest of the world labeled Somalia as a failed state and other dreadful names.   Prime Minister Prof. Ali Mohamed Ghedi

Notwithstanding all the labels that had been crafted by the so-called wizards and the media, there’s now a glimmer of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Therefore, it is your primary objective to take your case directly to the people in order to make the glimmer a full sparkle 

I read somewhere that you are a man who adopted the revolutionary slogan “Hadal Yar iyo Hawl Badan (Roughly the English equivalent of Action Speaks Louder than Words). But in a country where talk and shouting matches are national pass-time, it would be difficulty to convince the people to talk less and join in nation building from Ground Zero. I don’t think Hadal Yar would be able to take you out of trouble.

However, there is a precedence to exhort the people to work hard; the revolutionary government encouraged people to engage in vital projects, such as Ololaha Nadaafidda, Iskaa Wax u Qabso, Bacaad Celinta, nationwide literacy campaign, teaching nomads how to fish, to mention only few. Hence, the slogan Hadar Yar iyo Hawl Badan. This effort worked well with General Mohamed Siyad Barre and his military regime until everything went belly up, due to mismanagement and official inertia and indolence.

I am inclined to believe that comprehensive peace is now possible after more than a decade of anarchy and mayhem. The good news from Mogadishu is that the joint Islamic Courts are in the process of cleaning up the mess in Mogadishu with the help of peace loving citizens, arresting dozens of the thugs who kept the people hostage to the gun

As to the question of soliciting the African Union to send African peacekeepers in Somalia, it is like trying to grasp straws in the air. The fact remains that the African Union could not even afford to send three hundred African peacekeepers to Dafur, let alone the 20,000 or so requested by the President. The question of logistics and funding are the main perpetual dilemma facing the organization.

Mr. Prime Minister,

Operation Back Home would succeed, but only after effort and total commitment. It would be fitting finale to this stage of your career. And now, look at the bright side. Reports from the capital say the inhabitants of Banadir and its environs in their overwhelming support to your appointment as Prime Minister is an advantage and a plus, and it meant enhanced bottom line. A reduction of overhead, you might say. Your predecessors, Ali Khalif and Hassan Abshir did not receive such exhilarations

The alternative is to stand aside and let the war criminals have their ways. Heaven forbid!

Our man in Mogadishu reports the gunmen are running low in ammunition, since their use intensively in the early phases of the street battles, had now trailed off to virtually nothing, and the price of ammunition has become unaffordable for many. He said militia from the joint Islamic Courts are taking advantage of the ammunition shortage, and the volunteers from the various sectors of the capital are an agreeable surprise, because they had witnessed their loved ones and neighbours slaughtered, and they want a revenge. They are determined to get even because they were driven beyond the limit of endurance and now they want to have their dignity back.

Sadly the stark truth of what they were up against had been brought home when a highly respected army general, Mohamed Abdi, was gunned down by masked thugs just as he was leaving his neighbourhood mosque last week. He was critically wounded and his condition is said to be critical. Several weeks ago former director of Al-Barakaat Money Transfer Company died the same way. The list of doctors and intellectuals killed by the same gangs is endless.

Mr. Prime Minister, 

As you can discern from this situation report from your hometown, the inhabitants have at last moved and reacted as if every street battle is a matter of life and death, which pretty much, it is. This gives you the idea that the inhabitants do not need outside help to put the armed gangs out of action, that’s if they keep the momentum. Another suggestion that has been tossed around is to recall men and officers of the disintegrated Somali National Army and the police force to help clear the mess. Many of them are still alive and kicking, and are ready serve their country once again.

 War generates its own momentum regardless to the cost. Of course there will be too much damage and loss of life in an urban warfare, but in the end the people will win because of their numerical strength and determination.

This isn’t a lecture from the textbooks. I’ve been there when the clan warfare had erupted immediately after the downfall of the former dictator. Believe me, I know.

As for the warlords, it is a well-known fact that they are not the kind of people you can negotiate with. They bluff; they kill, if you don’t get to them before they get to you. But without their drug-crazed militias to do their dirty acts, they would be sitting ducks. Most of them are the leftovers of the former military dictator and suffer what medical science calls P.T.S.D. (Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder.)

So take your case directly to the people. Only then Operation Back Home will be fruitful.

I do not wish to become a messenger of doom, but the thorny question of forming a cabinet is the heart of all problems in today’s Somalia. It’s a choice between stuffing in your Government with incompetents and semi-illiterates to please certain heavy weight clan elders, or fill in your new cabinet with technocrats, i.e. PhD holders. For example, Ministry of Foreign Affairs portfolio should be given to a person with Master’s degree in political science and international affairs, the economic portfolio should go to an economist, the industry portfolio should to go to an engineer, the Health portfolio should be given to a doctor of medicine, and so on. Obviously, you’d think they weren’t going to be easy to find them. But I can assure you there are people at home and in the Diaspora who are qualified to fill those positions.

The right person for the right job; that’s what it is all about.

No doubt, the powerful warlords/faction leaders/clan elders are already laying doggo in an ambush and only waiting to strike their repulsive deal with you, grinning from ear to ear. Your choice is either to accept their deal or tell them to go to hell and form a government of technocrats, and be prepared for the inevitability of what was to come in a country where clan loyalty shows its ugly head again.

Each man has his own destiny, and out of apparent disaster often comes good. Transparency, accountability, equality, civil liberty, justice for all, telling the bitter truth, free expression and respect for human rights are the hallmark of good governance

Good luck, Mr. Prime Minister.