by Yusuf Abukar (Gosar)

Over the last 15 years many unpleasant things where said about the people of Mogadishu rightly or wrong due to the unspeakable acts perpetrated by the so called Warlords and few Warlord like-mined individuals. And this is proven to be the case by the recent events that have been taking place in Mogadishu over last few weeks. The people of Mogadishu have shown that they are prepared to sacrifice for the sake of their faith not just for their clan (contrary to the generally held view that many Somalis would die for their clan but not for their faith). In my view this has always been a myth and as our history shows, Somalia is associated with many Muslim heroes who fought for their faith and country like Sayid Mohamed Abdalla Hassan and Ahmed Gurey.

As to the recent events that have been taking place in Mogadishu, first we all know how it started for that reason; let us not waste our time by trying to rehearse it. Getting rid of the Warlords is a major step forwards towards the stability of our country in general and Mogadishu in particular therefore, let us hope and pray that these days to be the last few days of the Warlord era in our country. The people of Mogadishu have once again (since October 1993) shown that they still hold their Islamic and cultural values despite the ugly civil war which seemed to have completely changed the characteristics and the quality of the Somali people (such as sparing the lives of the elderly, women, children as well as in-laws and friends in Tribal war situations). Again this is evidently shown by the units of militias with their heavy weaponry switching sides with relatively low casualties and as the Chairman of the Union of Islamic Courts recently said “this war is between the people of Mogadishu and the Warlords”.  I say to the People of Mogadishu I solute you from my heart.

Bit of Warning and advice.  

First and the fore most, we as Somalis wherever we are in the world we ought to extend our support moral or other wise to the people of Mogadishu and the surrounding areas particularly as they try to take control of Jowhar which is the only base and the current main source in providing illegal funds and weaponry to the dislodged Warlords which is being channeled from Ethiopia and other places which we all know about. The people of Mogadishu should not rest and should not be complaisant until they take control of Jowhar which I hope to be in their hands as I write this. Secondly, the people of Mogadishu should try hard not to fall into the old trap of clanism and sub-clanism so their victory not to be pre-mature by avoiding any clan based interests and emotional appeals from some of the so-called clan leaders who unquestionably will attempt to portrait the overwhelmed Warlords as victims of another clan not of their own. I am in no doubt that these defeated and already disgraced warlords will try relentlessly and by all means to re-group and amass all they can to mobilize mercenaries and weaponry to return to their old habit as this is only thing that they are good at. Thirdly, the Union of Islamic Courts should prove themselves to the people of Mogadishu and the rest of the country that they are good alternative force to Warlordism and clanism by restoring peace and stability to the city, by opening the ports and air ports and proofing to the world and their critics in particular that they are capable of running the city at least and this in turn may lead them to be entrusted by running the country.   

We have lessons to learn  

The Union of Islamic Courts have been able to over power the Warlords by the grace of God and because the people of Mogadishu have fed up with the Warlords. As one aid worker was quoted as saying “living under a Warlord who entrusted his soul with a Satan in exchange of an illusive power is like living in hell”. Therefore, if the Union of Islamic Courts are seen as incapable of meeting the expectations of the inhabitants of Mogadishu by providing basic social services such as security, education and health services, then they should not blame any one else but themselves. The same goes to the Transitional Federal Government as there are already rumors which suggest that some individuals in the TFG would have tried to act in a similar way as the crushed Warlords if they had the means i.e. suitcases full of US dollars and the manpower. Instead of thinking the unthinkable now, the TFG should do it is best with the help of the friendly and brotherly states of the world to ask the international community not to give a haven for the discredited Warlords. It is manifestly known that national leader is a national leader and a powerful person as long as he has the confidence and the trust of his people (not the confidence of foreign powers) and there are many example of this. The president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez who is seen as the most out spoken anti-American president was overthrown in a coup widely believed to have been orchestrated by the Americans and within few days he was reinstalled by the Venezuelan people after they took to the streets and rejected the coup leaders. The winning of Hammas in the Palestinian elections is another recent example, despite the boycotting of Hammas and spending millions of dollars for lobbying on behalf of the PLO by the West and portraying PLO as the only party that capable of running the Palestinian territory and any other alternative will be a disaster for the Palestinian people. And now we can see the fate of the Warlords in our country and the triumph of the Islamic Courts. Once again let us all hope and pray to Allah that this to be the end of the Warlord era and to make the new administration good alternative to our people and country.  

 Yusuf Abukar (Gosar)
E-mail: [email protected]