by Omar S. Omar
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Media reports have indicated widespread irregularities on the selection of the traditional clan elders. I would like to briefly demonstrate and prove that indeed this is true.
One of the specific cases is the case of Suldaan Faqi S. Suldaan Faqi who was among the elders invited to the meeting (see the linkhttp://horseedmedia.net/2012/05/06/liiska-magacyada-odayaasha-dhaqanka-ee-muqdisho-ku-shiraya/). Suldaan Faqi attended the opening ceremony on the first day of the meeting, but on the next day while in his room the chief of the Somali police (General Sharif Shekhuna Maye) has ordered him to leave at a gun point and replaced him with a bogus Suldaan who is the cousin of the General. The objective of his expulsion is merely based on the selection of the upcoming of the new MP’s for the Somali parliament in which there is a complete disagreement between Suldaan Faqi, and General Shekhuna. Suldaan Faqi believes that people with integrity and quality should be selected from a cross the Tunni clan, while the General (also from the same clan) disagrees and wants specific names to be the nominees.
During his retirement life (mid 1990’s-2011) in Sweden, General Shekhuna wrote a book with a pseudo name falsifying the history of the Sultanate of Tunni and that book with other bogus documents is now made available in every office of the TFG in Mogadishu by General Shekhuna.
The question now is what is the real story? Here are the facts tracing back to 1844 regarding the truth about the Tunni sultanate.From extracts of the Journal of Royal Geographical Society of London by Lieutenant W. Christopher, Commanding the H.C. Brig of War Tigris on the East Coast of Africa.The Lieutenant writes “in the evening of the 19thday I landed at the town (Brava) in an armed boat to call on the chief and deliver the letter of Imam Seid Seid of Zanzibar together with letters relative to the wreck of a bugalo having British property a board, which was very urgently wanted at Zanzibar”. “I was received in a warm friendly manner, to my surprise, and conducted to the best-looking house in the place by a Somali Chief named Hadji Awisa (who is the great grandfather of Suldaan Faqi) who carried in his hand a highly ornamented sword, which I was later informed, was sent to him by Seid Seid of Zanzibar” (Journal of Royal Geography Society of London, volume 14, 1844).
After the death of Suldaan Hadji Awisa, his son Suldaan Faqi bin Haji Awisa (see picture below) was sworn to the throne; he later died in 1949. On October 18, 1949 the representative of the Italian government who was at the time colonizing southern Somalia sent a letter of condolence to the family of the deceased Sultan (the letter written in Italian is included in this article).
After the death of Suldaan Faqi in October of 1949, his son Shegow Faqi bin Haji Awisa (no picture) became the Sultan of Tunni; he later passed away in 1986. From 1986 to 2007 his younger brother Suldan Omar Faqi bin Haji Awisa (see picture below) became the Suldaan of Tunni. Suldaan Omar Faqi Haji Awisa attended both the Arta and Nbegathi peace conference before his death in October, 2007 ((Attached is the letter of invitation from IGAD in 2003).
On January 18, 2008, Suldaan Faqi was selected as the Suldaan of Tunni after unanimous decision from the family including his two surviving uncles and the majority of the clan (see his ceremony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVHwcJnt1Sk)
These historical documentations prove that Suldaan Faqi S. Faqi is the genuine Suldaan of Tunni- Shangamas.
After all these evidence, the TFG is still hesitant to make any decision on this issue; though some prominent TFG leaders have privately questioned the legitimacy of the bogus Suldaan.
Omar S. Omar
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