By Ibrahim G. Sharmarke

Unfortunately but truly, some humans and almost all Somalis have the despicable predisposition to look for easy and far-fetched ways to make sense of any phenomenon they deem extra ordinary.  The commendable conclusion that one doesn’t have readily-made facts or that further observation is required of them causes a consternation in their narcissistic souls. The result of this mindset is always an incorrect opinion or false notion that is based on simplistic and invalid reasoning or inaccurate facts.  Same is true – in terms of viciousness- for listening, unquestioningly believing  and spreading notions and opinions arrived in the foregoing fashion.

One good example is the popular fallacy among the Somalis that summarily explains why Ethiopians have a different Christian Calendar than most of the rest of the World. It goes like “Ethiopians deduct the few  years that Italians colonized them from their history.” Understandably, this has been conjured up by someone who because of their lack of knowledge could not find the right answer, and due to sheer hubris could not state the obvious that they don’t know. The fact -as I am sure most of you know- is that Ethiopians dispute the commonly accepted  birth year of Prophet Jesus Christ (the slave of God) peace be upon him, hence their outstanding difference with the Gregorian Calendar.

The rampant accusations in the Somali political circles and written media against Farah Abdulkadir, the Minister of State for  Presidency of Somalia is a case in point.  Wild allegations are awash that the MP has an undue influence on  President Mohamud. People went as far as referring the State Minister as the de-facto President of Somalia. Nowadays  if you are so gullible a substantial number of so-called political insiders can have you believe that  he is the person behind the raw between Sheikh Mohamud the President and Shirdoon the Premier.

It gives me quite a vexation to read or listen to such baseless accusations because I know the facts as they really are; I can recognize concoctors of most of the fabrications; the raison d’être for such rumors;  and the desired outcome.  These accusations annoy me because as misleading as they are the  motives behind them  are all the more grossly malevolent.

The bone of contention between the two principals has nothing to do with Mr. Abdulkadir or any other potential minister. It has all to do with who  will -or rather will not-  be the Prime Minister of Somalia come January. The President by his own desire and will wanted  the Premier gone, no justifications provided.  Never there was any  quarrel between the two over who will include the next cabinet.  For more than three months President Mohamud was sending veiled  and sometimes explicit signals to Shirdoon and his allies that he does not desire to have him nearby  beyond the end of this year.

Early September, and at the conclusion of Vision 2016 Conference, the President rightfully said in a publicly  televised speech:  “…..I acknowledge and own up that the government fell short of most of your expectations. Very soon, there will be a massive and bitter changes in the government. I want everyone of you to know that and bear with us in the coming tumultuous period. ”

For those of us who have been in government business for so long, as reshuffle is not synonym with massive change, it was abundantly clear that the President aimed at something proportionately higher.  The strategy of the President in conducting his business aimed at convincing or arm-twisting his famously loyal friend into leaving the office with the least kerfuffle is another story for another article.

How does a person of wisdom reconcile the prevalent allegations that Mr. Abdulkadir and Co. have been usurping the constitutional prerogatives of the Office of the Prime Minister for the past year, with the new revelations that all of a sudden the same Abdulkadir wants the incredibly nice Prime Minister out of office.  Either there was no such  usurpation at the Prime Minister’s Office in the first place or Abdulkadir  has nothing or less to do with the machinations towards the ouster. Let’s  try to think rationally and be fair for God’s sake.

My personal observation is that three different groups are either fabricating falsehoods or exaggerating possible missteps of  the person in question. The first and most deleterious  group are the politicians within or without the parliament whose favorite candidates were defeated by Farah’s in September 2012 election.  This group is wickedly more strategic than the rest of the pack for they intend to frustrate taint and scare the Minister of State  into shrinking into a small man or shunning the politics altogether, disparage the Premier and smear the President himself in the process.  Their motto should be  “Project Smear and Derail: 2016.”

The second group are shenanigans from the President’s  clan who assume that they are supposed to be the ruling entity, and that Mr. Abdulkadir is robbing them of not only their rightful proximity to their cousin’s ear  but also their exclusive bragging right as well as their ability to sell or contract out the whole country and its contents to the nearest and most available bidder. Some of this group – a tiny minority to be fair- simply cannot comprehend  how a man whose clan is not adequately numerous  or heavily armed  can have  a say let alone a remarkable  influence on the direction of the country. Natural twins in thinking to these clowns can be the less informed relatives of Premier Shirdoon for the same malicious reasons. What these groups don’t seem to appreciate is that aside from helping the President come to power,  the man is now a cabinet member and  a State Minister for the PRESIDENCY. His closeness to the President comes with the territory.

The third group are the jealous  dwarfs in the cabinet. These are the empty suits that attend the cabinet room once a week for a shallow chitchat and pathetic photo-ops. The dwarfs are mostly  comprised  of former mediocre website editors, scarred body guards, sluggish nice men, jaded cynics, well-known yes-men, and  other famously incompetent seat-warmers. Some of these honorable men and women  resort to blaming the usual scapegoats: Dam-Jadid or “the sect’s spiritual leader”  whichever comes handy for their  own cluelessness, ineptitude and ostensible dereliction of duty.  After all, these are the same cabinet members who voted for the lifting of international travel restrictions on a Somali millionaire who also happens to be a  terror-financing  suspect.

By the way, contrary to the persistent fallacies, according to sources who are privy to the Islamic movements of Somalia, Farah Abdulkadir is not even a member of Dam-Jadid. Again, let’s be fair to the guy for a second: While no one is arguing that he is a choir boy, most accusations against this man are not only a hogwash but they have their own intended all the more sinister purposes.

Ibrahim G. Sharmarke
Email:igsharmarke@gmail.com