This Sunday, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud made history as the first person to be elected president twice in Somalia’s early democracy after a landslide victory against the incumbent Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, aka Farmaajo.
In a contest of more than 36 candidates, both men made it to the third round of what is believed to be the most competitive election in the country’s history. In the end, 66-year-old Mohamud won and will now steer the affairs of the Horn of Africa nation for the next 4 years.
During his first visit here, Mohamud served from 2012 to 2017 as head of the Federal Government of Somalia, the first government to be formed after the end of a long period of unrest that began in 1991. .
The long-standing civil society activist and educator only fully entered politics in 2011 when he founded the Coalition for Peace and Development Party.
Early life and career
Born in the town of Jalalaqsi, in the central region of Hiiraan, Mohamud earned an undergraduate degree in technology from Somali National University in the capital Mogadishu. He went on to earn a master’s degree in technical education from Bhopal University in India and worked in Somali education early in his career.
During the 1990s, he had extensive experience traveling through southern and central Somalia, promoting children’s education amid raging violence.
Throughout the tumultuous period that Somalia endured during that period, Mohamud remained at home, unlike some of the Somali leaders who sought asylum abroad.
When the United Nations peacekeeping force, UNISOM, left the country in 1995, he teamed up with civil society groups to lead reconciliation efforts to bring the warring factions back together. together.
He is known in the region for his involvement in these family disputes and is remembered for his role in the negotiations in 1997, which ended the era of the infamous “green line” that divided north and south of Mogadishu since 1992.
Mohamud was part of a local committee that succeeded in unifying the two halves of the city, which were controlled by two powerful rival clans – Mohamed Farah Aideed and Ali Mahdi Mohamed.
Mogadishu residents still remember the so-called green line and many people lost their lives trying to cross it. “It is a death zone,” Mohamed Ahmed, a 69-year-old father, told Al Jazeera.
“It cut off even close family members but after the line was removed everyone was celebrating, the city came back to life and I remember Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as one of the people who helped. We carry on with our normal lives.”
In 1999, Mohamud helped found the Somali Academy of Management and Administration, which later became one of the largest universities in Somalia.
Get involved in politics
Mohamud founded the Coalition for Peace and Development Party in 2011 and, as its leader, continues to challenge transitional government President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
In 2012, he was elected as the country’s eighth president, running on the foundation of a new federal Somalia with full diplomatic relations with the rest of the world after three decades of war and administrations. consecutive forwarding.
His government has inherited several mandates, including completing an interim constitution, creating federal member states, and fighting al-Shabab, an armed group with links to al-Qaeda. to overthrow the government and implement strict interpretation of Islamic law – and build a strong nation. The army can guarantee the security of the country.
But Mohamud was also able to bring regional leaders together to build consensus on key national issues using what he calls “nomadic diplomacy” – the concept of culture. Somali about elders sitting under a tree to settle disputes, forgive each other and lead their clans to peacefully coexist – to resolve major differences
“Nomad foreign policy is very transparent, straight to the point, and no problems are confusing,” he said in a 2013 TEDx Mogadishu promotional video.
In September 2015, he established a national consultation forum bringing together the leaders of member states in the region to develop a comprehensive electoral process. The forum was also instrumental in achieving major political consensus until it was dissolved by his successor, Farmaajo, who defeated him in the 2017 election.
After peacefully handing over power to Farmaajo, he continued to be active in the country’s politics and began building coalitions to return to the presidency.
Allegations of corruption
Mohamud’s first administration has faced serious criticism, allegedly Corruption is rampantlimited media and abuse of power.
In one case, the United Nations Monitoring Group accused the government of supplying weapons to ethnic militias and al-Shabab. Special Cursed 2013 Report accused of a conspiracy between the president and a US law firm, Shulman Rogers, to “steal public funds”.
It said the Maryland-based company had conspired to redirect the recovery of offshore assets belonging to the Somali central bank. The government denied the findings
Yussur Abrar, the central bank governor at the time, resigned. She has only been in office for seven weeks but says she cannot continue because of corruption concerns.
In her letter to Mohamud, she said: “Since my appointment, I have been repeatedly asked to sanction transactions and transactions that are contrary to my personal values and violate my fiduciary duty. to the Somali people as the head of the nation’s monetary authority”.
Return to the presidency
For the past two years, Mohamud has campaigned fiercely to unseat Farmaajo, who the opposition accuses of “turning the country back to dictatorship”.
In his electoral manifesto, he promised to build “Soomaali Heshiis ah, Dunidana Heshiis la ah” (a Somalia at peace with itself and at peace with the world).
In his acceptance speech on Sunday after being declared the winner of an election that had been delayed by about two years, he spoke in a conciliatory tone from inside a fortified tent in Mogadishu and promises to build an inclusive government.
After being sworn into office early Monday, Mohamud stood next to his predecessor and said: “Our country needs to move forward, not back… We will solve our problems by using our current law, don’t stop at yesterday but think about tomorrow. ”
But the next four years will be difficult for the new leader, who is faced with a multitude of challenges, including al-Shabab, which has stepped up attacks and recaptured swathes of territory. government-controlled territory in recent years.
He will also have to build trust in a country polarized by fighting between federal and regional governments, as well as tackle rising inflation and severe drought affecting millions of Somalis across the country. across the country.
During his election campaign, he promised to run an inclusive, rule of law government and push for economic reforms that would bring about a self-sufficient Somalia that could feed itself.
But that’s a tall order, analysts say.
“Hassan Sheikh is lucky, he is the first Somali president to get a second chance,” said Afiare Abdi Elm, executive director of the Mogadishu-based Institute for Policy Studies.
“He has enough experience and a great understanding of the key issues… [but] a lot will depend on how he manages competing and irreconcilable groups/interests, society’s high expectations for service and resource mobilization. ”
