By Ahmed Abbas
Cracy is originated from Greece – Kratia – and denotes rule or power. It makes sense in combination with the characterization of the nature of an entity that holds power. One example of the many forms of exercise of power is Autocracy which is a noun of a system of government by a person with absolute power. By analogy, the substitution of Auto with Farmajo form together Farmajocracy meaning the exercise of Personal rule in Somalia by Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamoud – Aka Farmajo- starting from his election to president of Federal Republic of Somalia (FRS) on 8th February 2017. Counting from election to the president, the president has been in office for two years and six months at the time of penning this writing coinciding of June 2019. The president’s current mandate of four year is set to expire on 8th February 2021, which gives the incumbent about 18 months to come. His election was received with unprecedented jubilation. People came out to the streets to celebrate in every corner of the country and wherever Somali communities exist all over the globe.
The public euphoria was an expression of expectation that Farmajo is the one that will deliver what all his predecessors have failed. In reality, however, during the reign of farmajo all of the achievements that have been realized starting from Transitional National Government (TNG), in 2000, are either wiped, rendered dysfunctional or under threat from abuses and malevolent interferences orchestrated by no other but solely by the president. In a nutshell, the election of Farmajo started as a moment of hope but turned out to be a tragedy.
In spite of the magnification of the suffering of the people of Somalia and the shatters wielded on our path to nation building ideals by Farmajo’s presidency, there are voices that propagate false image that portrays him as honest and genuine patriot, surrounded by corrupted individuals. While this false narrative absolves the prime culprit it is unfortunate that the operators of aggressive propaganda machine can still garner some public support to their sponsor.
This writing is being deemed necessary as an effort aimed to contribute the demystification of the true nature of the typology of the rule exercised by the incumbent during his tenure, the exposer of the tragic nosedive inflicted by it on our country path to nationhood and the precipitation of Somalia to unprecedented doom if Farmajocracy continues unchecked.
Farmajo never acted haphazardly but according to a very secretive road- map with a beginning and end of which the most of its first phase benchmarks have being executed under our ayes although their actual content and consequences to the nation are not fully grasped not only by the public but also among the learned and political elite of Somalia.
To adequately understanding of the substance of Farmajocracy it is important to define the state of nation at the date of the election of President Farmajo. On that same date, the most necessary milestones for Somalia to recover from state collapse were in place in conformity with the current law of the country – the Provisional Federal Constitution. The rudiments of building functional statehood that have been put in place at the time of Farmajo election, include:
- Five Federal Member States have been established;
- Unlike the 9th parliament which was formed of the Lower House, the indirect elections that were held in the capital seats of the regional state elected bicameral system composed of Upper and Lower House by the end of 2016.
- A joint session of the two houses elected the candidate that the majority of the nation-wide electorate would favor if one person one vote was held on that same date; moreover
- The elected candidate was received with presumed assumption as the leader that will forge the modicum through which international community will help Somalia to resurrect from state collapse.
The two remaining foundational national milestones that needed legitimate settlement were the issues of Somaliland and the determination of constitutional status of the capital city of the republic within Somalia’s federal framework.
If president Farmajo would had capitalized the achievements that matured before, translated the manifested total support into unification of the mind and efforts of the people towards shared wellbeing by all citizens, and creation of conducive environment to attract international community to assist meaningfully the realization of functional state; his presidency would have entered in the annals of history as the four years that the country have done breakthrough to the realization of irreversible path to prosperous nation – state.
The fifth president of Somalia after state collapse, unfortunately, dedicated all his mind and actions the elimination of all constraints that poses limitations against the established his personal rule. In the absence of effective Judiciary, national political parties with countrywide support base and vibrant civil society; President Farmajo realized that impediments of dictatorial ambitions could be challenged by the Federal Parliament’s exercise of oversight function over the presidency and the executive branch and the existence of Federal Member States (FMSs) that constitutionally claim an stake of how the country should be governed. Because of that the epicenter of the federal government’s policies, strategies and plans of action have been the suspension of the legislature and the eliminations of the FMSs from the political landscape of the country.
One important objective of this writing is to trace back the fulfillment of these two priority agenda of the current central government in addition of exposing its current undertaking in undermining of all national interests. Prior of shading light of the suspension of the legislature and wiping of government’s missions to destroy FMSs, it is crucial to figure out the commitment of an original sin that enabled president Farmajo to progress his authoritarian style of governance. The usurpation of the executive branch by the president is the entry point to dismantle the hardly achieved nation-building progresses starting from year 2000. The entire executive has been molded as an instrument that circumvented all constitutional constraints in addition of rendering national security institutions and finance department like a putty in one’s hands.
President Farmajo exalts the eight months that he was Prime Minster to TFG particularly in sidestepping the parliament and the meticulous measures that he employed to manufacture public consent for himself by misleading and not by his government’s positive results on the ground. The elected president could not afford to err the first step that required him to appoint a prime minster that has those same qualities in addition of extreme docility to him on everything. Hassan Ali Khayre was identified as the prototype of PM in Farmajo’s mind and the one that excelled all other contenders of the position.
The president’s public address to the nation on the occasion of the appointment of Hassan Ali Khaire defined in crystal clear terms the requisites that the current PM excelled all other contenders to the premiership. Khayre was chosen as PM because in the words of the President “he will work according to my ideas and my vision”. Further the president assure the PM “will work with me on the basis of principles”. The address was concluded with a request to parliament to give him vote confidence without delay and instructed the appointee to “nominate ministers that will work according what wee believe” (See the link ).
In spite of theatrical self-posturing of claim of authority and arrogance behavior vis-a-vi both to his immediate and distant subordinates, Mr. Hassan Ali Khaire is anything but prime minister in substance, since he is not discharging constitutional functions of the holder of such office. The current Somalia’s pseudo – PM has executed to the letter the imposition of farmajo-cracy. The installation of a council of ministers which is perfectly fit to the sample that farmajo imagined is the first test that Kheire has passed as one fit to the post. Few discrepancies to the prototype of the cabinet that the president wanted was ratified with an immediate effect through forced resignation and most undignified dismissal of individual ministers that have manifested sense of dutifulness to the country. After becoming assured that he is in perfect match with the president’s personal ego, premier Hassan has been given the second assignment that required him to align the entire executive branch to the wishes of the president without him appearing at the forefront at the same time. This has created false image according which Farmajo has given his PM free hand to exercise his power. What in effect khaire accepted is to take the blame of all what he is doing for and on behalf of the president for a calculated opportunity cost that might include any thing but successor plan to the presidency to himself.
As the mission of the conquest of the executive has been accomplished the Lower House of the Federal Parliament has become the first casualty of the Farmacracy. The implementation of the suspension of the Federal Parliament started with an arbitrary initiative of removal of immunity from number of sitting MPs of the Lower house without minimum consideration of reason and proceedings, all defined by the constitution, to strip immunity from a member of house. The move has been rejected by the Speaker of the House, Mohamed O. Jawari, because of its baselessness. Aware of the impossibility of getting 2/3 majority of the house to outvote the speaker from office, Jaware has been forcefully removed from the office by orders of the President. Since then the successor speaker H.E. Mohamed Mursal has been subjected to the unscrupulous abuses whenever he tried to discharge his constitutional powers. Moreover, the president controls at least half plus one of its members which is sufficient majority to deliberate only agenda items that pleases the president. This same majority is sufficient to fail the quorum of the by not show up when Farmajo and khaire instructs them not to attend the plenary session of the house.
Regarding the role of the Upper House both the president and the cabinet presided by Hasaan Ali Khaire seems not acknowledging the existence of the Upper House as constitutionally established legislative entity.
President Farmsajo was well aware that Farmajocracy shall not thrive as long as there are FMSs that constitutionally claim stake in the way that the country is to be governed. Consequently, wiping FMSs from the political landscape of Somalia became right from the start and remains the main focus of the central government. The first attempt to achieve such objective has been the indefinite suspension of holding the elections of successor presidents of Gal-Mudug and Hir-Shabelle following the resignation of Abdikarim Guled from the presidency of Galmudug on 26 February 2017 and impeachment of Ali Abdullahi Ossoble by Hirshabelle state Assembly on 14 August 2017. The prolonged delay of these elections would have given the Federal Government the pretext to directly administer the two areas through governors and districts commissions appointed from the center. The burial of two FMSs within the first year of Farmajo presidency would heightened the FG’s confidence that the still surviving FMSs of Puntland, SWS and JPL will be remnants that will not last long.
Because of the then newness of Federal Goverment it lacked all strings to block the snap presidential elections of Galmudug and Hirshabeelle. The former Minister of Interior and Federal Affairs, Abdi Farah Said (Juxa) was very resolute to uphold to provision of Article 120 of the provisional constitution according which “the establishment of legislative and executive bodies of government of Federal Member States is a matter of the constitution of Federal Member State”. Ahmed Du’aale Geelle on 3rd May 2017 and Mohamed Abdi Ware on 16 September 2017 as presidents of Galmudug and Hirshabelle, respectively.
Since accepting the cooperation with FMS, as required by the constitution, is tantamount to renunciation of Farmajocracy, and intensive operations of regime change in all FMs was launched and is currently going in full gear. The purpose of such campaign is not the installation of proxy FMSs authorities but as an interim measure to first stagnate FMSs and subsequently accuse them ineffective to justify their dissolution. A classic example is the way that central government treated President Abdulaziz Laftagareen of which it has support his election to South West State presidency. Villa Somalia’s did not only deny support of any kind to President Abdiazis Laftagareen but it has thwarted all his homegrown initiatives of mobilization of community policing and local reconciliation.
The score card of Farmajo presidency is all negative and mentioning any positive step taken during the close to three years in office is absolute mockery at best. The current government did not took single step to face Al-shabaab in the battle field and snatch them from the hideouts that terror group organizes heinous operations that continuously slain the life of innocent citizens. Unpatriotic policies of the government had become detrimental to the improving rapprochements between Somali communities and on the contrary deepened discord among the people. Further, instead of seeking collective support from international community, President Farmajo capitulated to tinny number of countries that are hostile to Somali’s interests in exchange of his protection while all intended commitments by the willing international partners have been frustrated because of lack support from the Federal Government.
The piecing together of the unfolding of Farmajocracy illustrates that confirmation of fresh mandate of four years of the incumbent is the worst that can happen to Somalia.
This writing is a call to eject the current president from the office by the next transition with democraticmeans that are adequate to the current reality of the country by the next transition. Democracy is emphasized to express the crystal clear fact that Farmajo cannot emerge from an electoral process that enjoys the minimal standard of sanity.
Since the subject of writing is not targeted to a person but the style of governance employed by a given person, the scope of the immanent election must not be centered solely on unseating president Mohamed Abdullahi. It must be a platform for a choice of genuine legislators of the two houses of the Federal Parliament that include sufficient majority not only the election of a president that is God fearing, faithful to the ought to office and observant of the constitution and laws of the country to the letter. A sufficient majority of next legislator must be also committed to render accountable all the holders of offices that the constitution requires to account the houses.
Ahmed Abbas
Email: [email protected]
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