By Abdisalam Mohamud

Before we elucidate the role of the enemy within Somalia plays, let us explain what is fifth column, and put light on few examples of the lasting damage, and the raging ramifications that fifth column has affected on some states.

Fifth column means in general those who cooperate willingly and betray their own nation against its enemies by acting as subversives and spies for their foes.  Such people among them are politicians, people in the army, ordinary men, members of political parties, and officials of the state. Examples abound of the role of the fifth columns; the defeat and the occupation of the French state by the Nazi in 1940 is regarded as one of the most famous acts of fifth columns.  France was not short of an army; indeed the Germans took two million of its own army as prisoners. The collaboration of the Vichy state with the Nazi that existed during that period is attributed for the fall of France.  Also, the ugly role played by those who perform fifth column task, led to the disappearance of an independent state known as Sikkim, which was a member of the United Nations absorbed by India in 1975.  Besides, the root of the unsettled political climate in Bangladesh that has given the impetus for the rise of extremism within it is pinned on the finger pointing of who were the fifth columns during its war of independence from Pakistan. In addition, the cause of unending conflict in the Middle East has its genealogy with acts of fifth columns.

Thus, largely Somalia’s failed state and its unending clan warfare have its root of the enemy within it, that has taken the shape of “fifth columns”- fifth columns that support  the designs of its neighboring foes, particularly Ethiopia and the interests of some western countries. Little wonder, that the tentacles of   fifth column in Somalia stretch to every façade of the so-called the Federal State of Somalia along with its regional member states.

Indeed, the crown of the fifth columns in Somalia is housed at the house of the President, Hassan Sheikh, popularly known as Villa Somalia, where president Hassan Sheikh is both a performer and a facilitator of the fifth columns.  General Gabre, the master spy of Ethiopia, resides and operates at President Hassan’s residence.  President Hassan, instead of hauling Gabre to a court of law for the crimes he has committed while he was leading the Ethiopian intervention in Somalia in 2006 which as a result had massacred thousands of innocent Somali civilians as documented by human right organizations acts as his stooge.  The so-called president Hassan does what Gabre wishes and directly aids Ethiopia’s hopes to see a defunct state in Somalia. He, Hassan Sheikh does allow Gabre to dictate to him the agenda of Somali government, both locally and on the international arena.  No surprise then, Hassan Sheikh has become an instrument of an Ethiopian tool.  Shamelessly, he promotes Ethiopian sponsored agents to crucial posts in the present so-called federal state. He has recently appointed to the post of the Ministry of Postal and Telecommunications to the errant boy of Gabre, Mr. Geele.  Also, he has selected to the post of Attorney General to a man whom the Ethiopians engineered his defection after serving them well from the so-called Republic of Somaliland whom they hope to help them in the selection of the new members of parliament of the forthcoming elections in their favor . Too, he has slated to appoint a close ally of Gabre, Mr. Mustafa Dhuhulow, a deputy member of Somali Parliament, to replace the head of the Somali National Intelligence Security Agency, Abdirahman Tuure.

In addition, President Hassan Sheikh has made a habit of not only covering the misdeeds of the presence of the Ethiopian army in Somalia, but also defends the heinous acts of Ethiopia in drying the Shebelle River, the lifeline of Somali peasants by building dams that reverts its flow, and when it endangers them, Ethiopia opens up the floodgates to flood the adjoining regions of Shebelle River in Somalia as we see now the floods that displaced thousands of the inhabitants in Hiiraan region.  Moreover, his ritual has become to constantly praise Ethiopia as our brothers, though in reverse, Ethiopia is working hard to undermine the existence of Somali state in its role of creating conflict among clans, and then pretending that it wishes to bring peace among them which gives it a footing in Somali politics.

Worse still, the ill-gotten President Hassan Sheikh signed a decree by handing over the most strategic port of Somalia-the Mogadishu Port-to the Ethiopian contingent under Amisom.  He further takes a backseat at Addis Ababa’s illegal negotiations with the false regional states that signs special relations with her.  He also stands in crippling the security of Mogadishu by making the Somali National army one clan assortment, his Abgal clan, apart from making those so-called national forces as well dispensable in not paying their salaries which works in favor of Somalia’s enemies. And without remorse, after failing his duties as president, Hassan declares that our fate will be decided by the International Community if we do not settle our differences-differences that he plays a major role in their creations as evidenced by the dispute of the formation of Hiiraan –Shebelle State which he is the instigator.

Furthermore, Hassan Sheikh has aborted the constitutional role of the federal parliament in shaping the future of the Somali state by abrogating their role and adopting a well crafted discord oriented document conceived by the enemies of Somalia, the International Community, but claimed by the clan- based federal states as their own agreed formula to base the formality of conducting the election of the would-be deputies of the forthcoming Federal Parliament elections. Last but not the least, Hassan has unmasked his fifth column’s by himself by officially writing a letter to the UN Special Envoy requesting that the Ethiopian contingent of Amisom to secure both Villa Somalia and the conducting of the coming election, which means our affairs should be decided by Ethiopia. And above all, he submitted to IGAD to constitute the formation of Hiiraan-Shebelle State.

However, the heads of the regional states are no lesser players of fifth columns than the president. In fact, it is hard to measure and differentiate among them their degree of fifth columness.  That notwithstanding, the claimant of the most educated among them seems to be the worst collaborator with Ethiopia. And he is Abdiwelli Mohamed Gaas, the president of Puntland.  He sells a false impression in his betrayal of his community that Ethiopia, a country holding around a begging bowl whose people are dying in hunger would invest, and boost the economy of Puntland. Shockingly, Gaas claims to have studied economy.  Worse still, the assistance given by Italy to develop Puntland, Gaas disguises it as help coming from IGAD which is a mask of another name of Ethiopia to facilitate her expansion.  Apart from that, instead of improving and expanding the most important port of Puntland, the Bossasso Port, he has come up with a plan to develop a new port meant exclusively for the use of Ethiopia at Gara’ad, though it will be build on an international aid given to develop Puntland.  Furthermore, his frequent visits to Ethiopia, even when he is needed to be present in Puntland as was the time it was under attack from Al-Shabab, acts as the banner boy of Ethiopia.  And more importantly, his right hand man is a former Ethiopian minister whom he has given him the post of the Ministry of Commerce of Puntland.

Also, Abdiweli Gaas is used as the punching bag of President Hassan when Ethiopia wants to force Hassan its objectives. He, under the advice of Ethiopia refused initially the method of 4.5 of power sharing among the Somali clans, and he boasted that under no circumstance will he accept that formula. He changed his stand at the direction of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia got two of their men implanted at the federal level in return.

Indeed, the other remaining leaders of the federal regional states are creations of Ethiopia. They are not worth mentioning as Somali Federal State leaders. That does not exclude the so-called Republic of Somaliland despite its efforts to falsify the Somali history in its claims to be recognized as an independent state.  Silanyo, the clan leader of Somaliland made false claims in his efforts to assert their separateness by stating that other Somali regions that are now under Ethiopia and Kenya have decided that they should not be part of greater Somalia in the speech he made on the 18^th of May.  However, that is far from the truth. The Western Somalia known as the Ogaden region under Ethiopia and the Northern Frontier District (NFD) under Kenya, were handed to those countries by the mother of the creation of all border disputes, the British, respectively, in 1955 and 1962. And to the credit of the people of NFD, they overwhelmingly rejected on a national referendum held by the British and monitored by the United Nations to ascertain where their trust belongs to; they strongly chose to be part of the Republic of Somalia and to the chagrin of so-called Somaliland, NFD before it was separated from Jubaland by the British, were called together as Somaliland; so the name Somaliland is not exclusive to the so-called Republic of Somaliland.

However, as the so-called leaders of the Republic of Somaliland are under the grip of Ethiopia, the leaders of the federal states of Somalia like Ahmed Madoobe, Abdikarin Guuled, and Sheriff Hassan respectively, who are the heads of Jubbaland, Galmudug and South Western State, have submitted themselves to the rule of the Somali region under the domain of Ethiopia- a region that terrorizes its Somali inhabitants and has as their leader a man who claims not to be a Somali, but an Ethiopian. He, in fact, acts as the long Ethiopian hand by sending his terror gang called Liyu police to terrorize the Somali clans bordering his region. Hence, their collaborations are clear examples of betrayal of their nation, and a classic fifth column act in action.  None, therefore, whether the head of a state or the leader of a federal State, deserves to be at the helm of Somali leadership; indeed, they have to stand trial for high treason.  And, it is the duty of every Somali to root them out and work to remove any Ethiopian resemblance of influence in Somalia too.

Abdisalam Mohamud
Email: abdisalam246201@gmail.com

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Abdisalam Mohamud is apolitical analyst on world affairs.