File Photo/Somali Times
First term of failure 2012-2017
When Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was elected to the presidency in 2012 it was a big surprise to many and a joyful event to the public. For the first time since 1991 a leader was elected that was not part of the warring factions in the country and more importantly was well-known within civil society and the education sector in Somalia. He came over as an educated leader who through his civic action could steer the country in the right direction.
Read: Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh history of corruption 2012-2017
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Fast forward to 2016, on the eve elections, the once promising leader turned out to be a very corrupt leader who has enriched himself and those around him. His first term, despite the few good things he did, was tainted by the numerous land grabbing cases, the widespread corruption, the small group (Damuljadid) he surrounded himself with who exploited their public offices to enrich themselves with Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud being on the top of the pyramid of corruption. The election of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo in 2017 was celebrated widely by the public and showed how publicly despised Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud’s corruption was.
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Second term of failure 15 May 2022-2024
Having secured a second chance, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud nominated an individual handpicked by the principle catalyst for the failure of his first term Farah Shiekh Abdulqadir, but who lacked public appeal or even the qualification necessary to be the head of government. Hassan Sheikh thus prioritized loyalty over competence and got neither. This false thinking led him to bring back his first team of failure, appointing the same failed individuals of his first term to key positions. Even a donkey does not fall in the same hole twice.
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The comeback of his team of failure was the first red flag to the public. Still, the public gave him the benefit of doubt since he seemed so determined to eradicate Al-Shabab and succeed in his second term. In his first year, the war on Al Shabab was progressing well and his war of words against corruption in the mosque gave him some support. Fighting corruption became a new theme in his first year, despite the fact of him dissolving the anti-corruption agency that was set up by his predecessor. The public forgave him this action since the anti-corruption agency was a decoy by his predecessor to hide his own corruption. It was better for Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud to reform the anti-corruption agency by getting rid of the Farmajo appointed officials and transforming it into a credible and effective agency with a strong and clear legal mandate. Also he chose to wage war on corruption via his Friday sermons in the mosque of Villa Somalia.
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One year later, all the high profile corruption cases were acquitted not because of lack of evidence but due to political expediency. The president needed the votes to pass his controversial constitutional amendments and the political dealers around him wanted the corruption case dismissed. This not only shows how shallow his anti-corruption promise was but is an outright betrayal of public trust to secure his re-election.
In his second year the war against Al Shabaab stalled and his credibility to eradicate Al Shabab seems to be lost. Soldiers on the front line are openly criticizing his defense minister and the government of looting their supplies and ammunitions. A fact that was revealed by the US decision to halt supplies to Danab battalions after an investigation showed that food rations ended up being sold in the markets of Mogadishu. The defense minister, known as Mr.Tiktok, was not sacked despite public outcry against his widespread corruption. In fact, lack of accountability is a major theme that punctuates the behavior of the Hassan Sheikh administration. People commit egregious crimes and incompetences and are rewarded for it.
Thus, the army commanders were not replaced and the inept Mogadishu mayor, a close ally of HSM and a key player in corruption cases in Mogadishu, is still in office. The ineffective and unqualified Prime Minister Hamza is surrounding himself with a group of advisors who crossed over from the Khaire ship just to continue their corruption tactics of capturing foreign aid and buying illegal properties in Nairobi and elsewhere.
It took just one year for HSM to fall back in the same trap that cost him his first term. Cases of land grabbing (auctioning public land without transparency and accountability) and widespread corruption even involving corruption the organization in the ministry of religious affairs and endowment) resurfaced again and are posed to taunt his second term.
The business is continued with the re-opening of the Kenya market (which is monopolized by close allies of HSM). The countless foreign trips, a way to get large sums of cash, became another thing that reminded people of the first failure of Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. If bringing back the corrupt practices of his first term was not enough he continued in the failed footsteps of centralizing power and manipulating the parliament and political process to seek another term. What he fails to understand is that the public has lost trust in him and that his second chance is squandered so another term is out of the question.
Look at the global corruption perception report and how Somalia fell back on the ranking. Moreover, look at the legitimate criticism that was raised by the troops on the frontlines about misappropriation of diesel, food rations and ammunitions. Look at the shady auctioning of public lands. Look at the US decision to halt their support to Danab battalions after the investigation that revealed widespread corruption. Look at the major corruption cases that were mysteriously acquitted by the courts. Look at the countless foreign trips Hassan Sheikh and his government officials undertook in just two years.
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud appointed the founder of Al-Shabab terrorist group Mukhtar Robow as the Minister for Endowment and Religious Affairs was a big mistake. This is a parochial view of peacebuilding.
Public money is not meant to be embezzled so why is the public watching from the side-lines how political thieves steal their money? At least the younger generations of Kenya understood this and rose up against their corrupt leaders, what are the younger generations of Somalia waiting for?