By Ahmed Ugaas

In many cultures, conformity is more important than the truth. Truth is a relative term and requires to be qualified as each person clings to his version of the truth. The truth I am referring here is the self-evident and common-sense truths unlike the dogma or the self-serving ones.

Advances in technology and, consequently, prevalence of the social media such as Facebook and Twitter are blurring the line between the truth and the half-truths. Prior to the advent of social media, the main stream news, which were ethical and trustworthy, such as CNN, NY times, and Washington Post, were our source of news. Today, we receive spins, conflicting each other, from all kind of sources and each one claims to be the ultimate truth. Because of this confusion, the current US president, Trump, whom a lot of people believe is not fit to lead, was elected and became the president of the most powerful country in the world.

This social media frenzy has swept across continents and its negative impact is felt more in the third world where main media penetration was minimal. In Africa, where no major media was present, Regimes resort to FB and Twitter to disseminate exaggerated information to discredit their opponents, and to misrepresent their own achievements.

In Somalia, a Buffalo city housing authority supervisor, Mohamed A. Farmajo, with no tangible achievement or experience in government is elected as president. Many pandits attribute the success of his election to his campaign’s use of social media.

Farmajo is inept, ineloquent, and aloof president, yet he has supporters though they can’t put their finger on why they support him. After the blunder of Qalbi Dhagax and the attack of Abdirahman Abdishakur, the government lost all supporters except the most zealous and those who support because of self interest and clan lineage with the president.

Farmajo’s momentum is winding down and the people of Mogadishu are tired of his rhetoric and false promises and they are demanding tangible results from the government. The government’s loss of grip was evident in Kheyre’s irate behavior when he rebuked condescendingly the young army cadet recently.

My advice to the president is, firstly, he should come before the Somali people and apologize the political mishaps under his watch and promise that he will work for the interest of the nation not for the interest of his reelection. Secondly, he should assure us that he is the president and that the buck stops with him. Finally, he should know that we are not going to blame Kheyre or anyone else for any political fallout, and in addition to that, in case of major political issue, he should come forward, address the nation, and take an action to remedy the situation instead of ignoring it.

The regional states met in Baydhabo and the agenda on the table was the Federal government’s failure to lead and thier appropriate course of action. There have been continuous conflicts between FGS and regional states since Farmajo’s inauguration. Farmajo and Team have set their sight on the regional states 2020 MP nomination process and they want to replace the current leaders with their own friends, so they can craft a formula for Farmajo’s reelection.

This obsessive behavior of political control is obvious to both international community and Somali people and it will come to an end in a drastically like his predecessor Hassan Sheikh.

Ahmed Ugaas
Email: madeeyo71@gmail.com