Somalia: A Vicious Cycle of Tribalism and Corruption




The powers that be have hired a new Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed. As per the usual the never-ending debacle has surely began. Somali politicians numbering in the millions the world over are all lining up to praise or condemn the new man on the guillotine. In the last few hours I have read more statuses on the subject than I could process. The underling theme is either hate or extreme jubilation, the combatant shattered democracy grinds along. Yes that is what it is, two warring camps that have commenced the battle.

The fight is based on tribalism and the hope and prayer for serious nepotism on behalf of the new man.  All the while I am forever weary of the evil sublime method in the way neocolonialism keeps its agenda hidden amongst the natives of my continent. No one is actually seeing the elephant in the room. The Somali government is infested with corruption yet gains more and more funds. The international donors are lining up with their interest and the central bank is leaking like a sieve.

We are nothing more than a delusional people who are afraid of accepting the reality spread out before us. I don't know the new PM but nevertheless I can’t help but question his appointment.
Right this moment one camp is getting anxious, and they will say you can’t judge him. Any human who lies about not being judgmental is not in tune with his or her faculties. The only control we have over our judgments are whether to share them or not and that is down to prerogative.

For the aforementioned reasons regarding the corruption, I can't help but wonder whether his integrity is intact. He wouldn't have taken the appointment if he were uncompromised. The system is a maze of fraudulent and immoral processes and will eventually consume him. Right this moment the other camp is getting anxious, and they will say he will change things from the inside. Well reality has given us many examples. In fact these examples number the same amount as the new men and women in the Somali government. There has been no change or even a indication of a new direction from these individuals. 

Therefore appointing a new person who has the right criteria will not make a difference be he or she a saint or a devil. The status quo will be maintained regardless, mind you I am in contact with many of my peers within the Somali establishment. This leads us to the point of conformity, and this has become a trend in many of my generation. These are people I considered stanch activists against corruption, tribalism and neocolonialism, these people have submit to the system they stood against completely.

The fact of the matter is you cannot change the rotting core of anything from within, that is a fools errand and we are all aware of this certainty. The system will eventually change these people because conformity is based on self-compromise. This is totally different from compromising in a given situation and the difference must be clearly understood.

I was recently presented with a video of Mogadishu, and it seems that for the poor people who live in the camps littering the city and its surroundings, nothing has changed. The depravation is overwhelming and present on every street corner except in the new diaspora central of the bullet riddled capital. The women are being raped and prosecuted for being victims without any of these former activists uttering a single word. The government officials are selling land faster than Siad Barre, Ali Mahdi and Mohamed Farah Aidid destroyed the paradise of Somalia.

Yet every other day some young new government official will put up a Facebook status about the wonderful new development plan of the hardworking government. They will try and convince us of the stride towards change and how our peers are finally making in roads into government. A few months later they will be in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya crying about how they have been used and abused as pawns by the old gluttonous politicians. 

Even more concerning is that no recent President, Prime minister, other official or any Somali NGO has really pushed for reconciliation amongst the people of Somalia for the atrocities of the civil war. By reconciliation I don’t mean lets hold hands as one country, that ship has sailed or sank depending on your version of history. I am referring to any single group of people acknowledging the murders of the hundreds of innocent people and the current problems, and developing a consensus on the coexistence of the countries inhabitants.

Be it federalism or a unitary government, such a consensus is a must in order to put any further bloodshed aside. From the current state of affairs the possibility of new formed states warring is a very near possibility. Kismayo is a perfect example of such a problem being replicated across the state.  

The former colonialist are present and are rubbing their hands at the prospect of finally exploiting the abundant oil reserves and other minerals. The government is on free for all my cousins spree and the poor are further being pushed aside. The future is bleak and anyone who says otherwise is gone beyond rescue or is an active a member of the corrupt elite. 

Hamza Egal © copyright2013 all rights reserved.  


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