To kill and take out an innocent human being’s soul is akin to obliterating all human beings on earth. What’s happening in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital city, is mind boggling and beyond comprehension indeed. Many awful crimes are being carried out in this month of Radman, and countless numbers of civilians are killed and maimed in the capital on a daily basis, thereby turning the once beautiful city into a butcher house. Mogadishu is bleeding profusely, but someone has got to stop the bloodletting.

It’s the only Somali people that can stop the bloodletting in Mogadishu and elsewhere. When Somalis stop butchering their fellow Somalis, then the bloodletting is probable to stop, and only then wounds can heal. But it’s unfortunate to realize that nothing seems to be persuading the Somali people in Mogadishu to stop killing each other, and look to other avenues for the prolonged affliction.

Bombing civilians’ houses and blowing up populated hotels is the norm in Mogadishu. The city has become a battleground between two forces, but the unfortunate ones are the helpless civilians, who are caught up and sandwiched between the two warring sides: Alshabaab and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) assisted by Ugandan peace keeping soldiers. The Ugandan soldiers keep the peace of the TFG; if Ugandans leave Mogadishu, the TFG will be gobbled up overnight.  Each side nullifies the other and accuses it of destruction and the civilians’ demise. In fact, the media are busy communicating Mogadishu’s misery and how its sick and hungry civilians are suffering regularly. They go out and come back when trouble subsides, for they don’t have any other alternative.
Who owns Alshabaab, and who does the TFG represent? Alshabaab is an Islamic group whose objective is to impose a one particular Islamic school of thought on the Somali people, irrespective of the people’s Islamic school of thought. Alshabaab’s tolerance is equal to zero; they have to see everything through their lenses. They draw the bulk of their support from youngsters, mainly Somalis. The group defies everyone, so their goal towards Somalia isn’t clear yet; they claim that they strive to rule Somalia according to the Islamic Shariah, but their obstinacy and ruthless wars have mystified the Somalia people. The group is internationally supported and is bent on to get rid of some things that the Somali people have cherished for a long time, such as the Somali flag. The Islamic group has already come up with another flag, a black one, and erected it in some parts of the country.

The TFG, on the other hand, has been assembled from Somali clans; its structure is built on a formula called “4.5”: Four big Somali clans and a coalition of minor Somali clans.

Over the course of the Mbagathi, Kenya reconciliation process, the 4.5 formula (this is what’s reported often times) was the only reconciliation method that was saleable to the clan’s representatives. Because religion, culture and other components had failed to bring the Somali clans together, the clan based formula had to be tried out. However, it’s quite clear now that the 4.5 formula is failing to work a well.

At a time when the end of the TFG’s time is approaching, nobody knows what’s in store for the war ravaged country, or who will inherit the Transitional Federal Government. But one thing is clear: if the Status quo of the country is kept, particularly the southern regions, the Somali people will continue to bleed; and the division among themselves will deepen. The disintegration is already there; Somalia is reduced to regions denouncing each other and pointing fingers at one another.
Many people were hopeful and optimistic when President Sheikh Sharif came to power. Because of his past history, people thought he could come up with a new philosophy and bring every opposition group to the negotiating table, thus bringing about a durable peace in the southern regions particularly, and in the whole country generally. However, that perception is gone with the wind. Presently, the TFG led by himself is squeezed in few kilometers of Mogadishu; and the president frequently flies abroad to shore up a support for his embattled administration. I was among those people who had written about a different leadership style that President Sheikh Sharif could come up with and present.

Somalia is for Somalis. The country is neither for Alshabaab nor for any other group. Somalia is for all Somalis, so everyone should be a significant part of its revival and building process. And whoever tries to coerce the population won’t succeed. It’s incumbent on the fighting groups in Mogadishu to halt the war and respect the month of Ramdan, for God’s sake. If people don’t respect Ramadan and refrain from shedding blood, what else would they respect? Mogadishu’s hospitals are overflowing with dead and wounded civilians. That is shame in Ramadan. Get your sanity and stop shedding blood in Ramadan.

Mohamed Bakayr
E-Mail:mohamedbakayr@hotmail.com

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