By Ismail A Mohamed 

Politics and Politicians change with circumstances but pervasive lack of leadership among Somalia’s political elite is a prevalent trend. There is no cohesive and coherent grass roots level of civil society to fill the power vacuum of the Somali peculiar situation. The incumbent president Hassan Sheikh symbolizes predicament; he was selected to propel the country into a stable, prosperous and peaceful future, instead his dithering and lackluster administration has opted to take off the lid of the root causes of the country’s disintegration into civil war, tribal politics, a throwback to a dark past. He implicitly and explicitly supports some section of the society while alienating others, anyone who tries to criticize his failed policies is intimidated or silenced in extreme cases.

The corruption pervades the echelons of power, the lucrative contracts and key positions are given to the pals of the government, and the administration was publicly embroiled in acrimonious corruption case with the former Central Bank Governor who left the country in a hurry a few days into her assignment fearing for her life. The security of Mogadishu has deteriorated to an extent where no government entity is safe. The presidential palace and the parliament were attacked multiple times, members of parliament are continuously killed, notably the recent cold blooded murder of Sado Ali Warsame, a prominent national figure and an activist in the heart of the capital city Mogadishu. How a government that cannot provide security to its own lawmakers can lead a country or run the machinery of the institutions it’s supposed to run.

The radical group of Al Shabab has exploited the slackness and unwillingness of the administration to tackle the security of its citizens. The never ending cycle of disagreements between the president and whoever becomes the prime minister hinders any political progress, and there are no independent government institutions that can end the abyss.

The semi-autonomous regions might offer a short term solution in the absence of a functioning central government but they also fail to grasp the opportunity to build strong regional institutions and vibrant economy that could have been the foundation of nation building from the bottom up.

No government can function effectively in the long run without some notion of collective participation in the political process, so it is imperative that all citizens to get involved on how the country is run in order to emancipate the seats of power from the incompetent and the corrupt politicians who squandered the dreams and the aspirations of the society. There is a glimmer of hope in the horizon as the youth and the educated class are spontaneously taking interest in politics. The Irony is can they act sooner.

Ismail A Mohamed
Email:cagoof@hotmail.com