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POLITICS-SOMALIA: A Bumpy Trip Home
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI, May 9 (IPS) - Violence has marred the first visit to Somalia by the
country's prime minister since his appointment last year - and served as a
reminder of the challenges facing the East African nation's transitional
government.
Reports indicate that fighting in the southern port of Kismayo prevented
Ali Mohammed Gedi from traveling to the town over the weekend. This came
after a blast occurred Tuesday (May 3) at a stadium in the capital,
Mogadishu, shortly after the prime minister addressed a crowd there.
"Up to now it has not been established whether it was an attack or an
accident, but investigations are going on," the head of Somalia's
presidential press service, Yusuf Baribari, told IPS in the Kenyan capital
of Nairobi, noting that 15 people had been killed and over 60 wounded in the
explosion.
Gedi emerged from the incident unhurt. His visit to Somalia began Apr.
29, and apparently concluded May 7.
The transitional administration was established last year in Kenya, after
the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre by tribal factions left
Somalia without a government. Talks to set up the administration got
underway in 2002 under the auspices of the Inter Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD) - a regional grouping. Several previous attempts to
restore government in Somalia had failed.
The administration is currently operating from Nairobi, security concerns
having prevented it from moving to Somalia. However, pressure from regional
leaders for the administration to relocate is growing.
Certain members of the country's 275-seat parliament (MPs) believe
government should move to Mogadishu as required by Somalia's transitional
constitution, even though the capital is widely viewed as being the most
dangerous spot in a country riven by faction fighting.
Others, including Gedi, prefer to be based in the relatively safer cities
of Baidoa, about 220 kilometres south-west of Mogadishu, or Jowhar some 90
kilometres north-west of the capital. A move to Mogadishu would be
undertaken once the capital's numerous militias had been disarmed.
Baribari insists this matter has been largely resolved.
"MPs recently voted over where the government should be based and an
overwhelming majority voted in favour of relocation to Baidoa as an
operational site and a liaison office in Mogadishu," he said. "Only a small
group voted for the whole government to be based in Mogadishu."
However, several of the most important figures in Somalia's 74-member
cabinet were reported to have walked out of the session where this vote took
place - including Osman Ali Atto and Musa Sudi Yalahow.
These are amongst the faction leaders who control Mogadishu, which - as
with the rest of Somalia - was divided into fiefdoms after Siad Barre was
ousted. The leaders are also said to oppose the deployment of a regional
peace-keeping force to secure the return of Somalia's government.
As IPS reported on Mar. 18, a vote on whether peace-keepers should be
allowed in the country resulted in a brawl, with most MPs voting against the
proposed deployment. At issue was the possible inclusion of Ethiopian forces
in the mission - something that many legislators have ruled out, citing
Addis Ababa's previous support of rebel activity in Somalia after a border
dispute between the two countries.
Somalia has long laid claim to the eastern Ogaden region of Ethiopia,
which is inhabited by ethnic Somalis. In 1977, Mogadishu invaded this area -
but was successfully repelled.
IGAD foreign affairs ministers have tried to resolve tensions around the
deployment by announcing that only two of the group's member states - Uganda
and Sudan - would send troops to Somalia in the event that the peace-keeping
mission went ahead. The remaining countries, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya,
are to provide logistical support for these troops - expected to number
almost 7,000.
However, reports indicate that this has not entirely allayed Somali fears
of a more substantial Ethiopian involvement in the operation.
Debate about the need for regional peacekeepers has also been shadowed by
memories of the last foreign intervention in Somalia, which was staged in
response to widespread hunger in the country.
The United Nations mission ended in disaster after efforts to disarm
Somali militants went awry - leading to the death of 24 Pakistani
peacekeepers and 18 American troops in 1993. Hundreds of Somalis are also
said to have died in these clashes.
Matt Bryden, director of the Horn of Africa Project at the International
Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, says differences of opinion over
crucial issues such as the seat of parliament need to be addressed.
"The most urgent task for the president is to try and unify transitional
institutions by getting parliament together to speak in one voice so that
the process can move forward," he told IPS.
"This is a government of national unity and has to operate on consensus.
As long as we see different parts of government taking isolated decisions,
nothing is going to be resolved."
Somalia's government, headed by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, will
rule the country for a five-year period after which general elections are to
be held.
A region in the north-west of the country, Somaliland, declared its
independence after the fall of Siad Barre - but has yet to be recognised as
a separate state by the international community. Another part of Somalia,
the north-eastern region of Puntland, views itself as autonomous.
(END/2005)
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