By Liban Ahmad

Mohamed Abshir Waldo, who passed away in Nairobi on Saturday 5 March 2016 was, at different stages in his career, a footballer, a journalist, politician, leader, researcher and peace activist. He was a witness to major social, political, and economic changes in post-colonial Somalia since 1960, when the Somali Republic came into existence after the union of northern and southern provinces. During the 1960s, Waldo was a broadcaster at the Radio Mogadishu and BBC Somali Service. He was appointed the director of the Somali Broadcasting Service in charge of Radio Mogadishu and Hargeisa, Somalia’s only two pre-state collapse radio stations. He was a graduate of Columbia University Journalism School.

When the organised opposition to the former Somali military dictatorship set up bases in Ethiopia, Waldo joined the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). He was briefly an interim chairman of the SSDF after the former Ethiopian government of Mengistu Haile Mariam had arrested Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the founding chairman of the first armed Somali opposition outfit.

After the collapse of the state in Somalia in 1991, Mohamed Abshir Waldo returned to Somalia and served as a spokesman for SSDF. The revival of SSDF as a major stakeholder in post-1990 Somalia politics is arguably linked with the decision of the interim government Prime Minister, Omar Arteh Ghalib, to dissolve the Somali National Army in January 1991. Ghalib instructed the Somali Army contingents in North Galka’yo to surrender to SSDF. This prime ministerial order entitled SSDF to be in charge of North Galka’yo, Nugaal and Bari regions.

Shortly after Somali political leaders concluded the second reconciliation conference in Djibouti in July 1991, General Mohamed Farah Aideed, Chairman of the United Somali Congress, who was angered by the reappointment of Ali Mohamed Mohamed as an Interim President, vowed that his militias would attack Abudwaq and Balanbale districts in Galguduud. This was a flagrant violation of cease-fire agreement reached in Djibouti.

Interviewed by the BBC Somali Service on General Aideed’s declaration of war on Abudwaq and Balanbale, Mohamed Abshir Waldo said that SSDF would honour the Djibouti agreement but would defend territories under its control against any attack.
What was remarkable about the interview is that territorial control of SSDF extended, in theory, to Abudwaq and Balanbale districts. Somali Army contingents in Balanbale and Abduwaq did not surrender to the United Somali Congress, as instructed by the Prime Minister of the interim government installed by United Somali Congress (USC). Those two districts and Galk’ayo were under a constant attack from USC militias in Galguduud and Mudug regions.

Mohamed Abshir Waldo played an active role in reconciliation conferences for Somali political leaders. In 1998 when the preparatory conference to form Puntland was underway, Waldo ran brainstorming sessions to discuss the nature of the autonomous administration, intra-clan power-sharing and the role of traditional leaders in institutions to be formed .

The formation of Puntland State attracted the attention of researchers at the former War-torn Societies Project and Puntland Development and Research Center. Waldo was a resource person due to his deep knowledge of Somali culture and modern political history.

His writings on Puntland generated debates, so have his views on federalism. In an essay he wrote before the twelfth anniversary of Puntland, Waldo reflected on the gap between rhetoric and reality. “Within Puntland, it is learned that not all the expectations of enjoying the fruits of a democratization process and the development of the economic potential of the region could be fulfilled within the timeframes set out in the first Charter of Puntland State by the Constitutional Conference. The people of Puntland are still learning that it takes more than wishful thinking to mobilize the potential of the people and fully exploit the resources of a country, and that it requires qualified and competent leadership to achieve those goals” he wrote.

In a widely cited paper on piracy, Waldo had brought to the attention of the environmentalists and the international media “toxic waste dumping and pirate fishing by foreign vessels” in the Somali coast. He received invitations to take part in discussions on Somalia such as those held at the Rift Valley Institute to which he contributed his views on social, political and economic dynamics in Somalia since 1991. Mohamed Abshir Waldo argued that Somalia’s salvation lies in the emergence of leaders who put reconciliation and inclusive political institutions above parochial political culture. Inna lillahi was inna ilayhi raji’un.

Liban Ahmad
Email:libahm@icloud.com