President Hassan Sheikh is failing Somalia -yet again. He mustn’t be allowed to worsen its problems and destabilize Horn of Africa

By The Star Editorial Board

Today, May 16, should have come and gone without a great deal of fanfare. It’s not a major national day. Nor is it a religious holiday.

If anything, it’s the day when a year ago a mainly corrupt crop of parliamentarians – 214 — reelected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the country’s ceremonial president.

It was a dark day.

A year later, Somalia is still as insecure, poor, fragmented and exploited, as it was when foreign-backed warlords toppled the country’s last central government in 1991.

There’s barely anything of significance to celebrate about Hassan’s reelection. His second term is shaping up as a repeat – if not worse — of his disgraceful first term that was marred by sleaze, nepotism, corruption, clan politics, insecurity, political instability, selfishness, lack of patriotism and sheer incompetence.

If we’re to remember Hassan’s 12 months in office, the focus should be how the PhD holder is getting almost everything wrong in Somalia – yet again. How his policies and utterances are random, illogical, clannish, shortsighted, contradictory and detrimental to the very Somali State and its long-term interests. How he is unable to craft a vision that can lead to a peaceful, united and prosperous Somalia. How he’s dismantling the Somali government by appointing his clansmen and family members, including two of his children, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and his uncle, as special envoys and advisers to overshadow ministers. And most importantly, why President Hassan does seem to lack basic critical thinking skills to untangle the country’s real social, political, economic and security ills — and above all the clan issue.

President Hassan has repeatedly boasted about his past in civil society and knowledge about “every district” in the country, but you will hardly hear him talk about the plight of the hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the country, a united Somalia, pride, the threat facing the Somali nation and the indignity of having foreign soldiers protect his office.

Somalia was unlucky to have Hassan as president in 2012. It’s a catastrophe to have him again in the Blue House, which he — because he has no grand vision — calls Villa Somalia.

In 2012, when he was picked by lawmakers to become the nation’s president, many Somalis bought his bogus bravado of being the right man for the top job and his disingenuous claim of having the skills to fix Somalia’s problems. The public’s hope was so high that some equated his advent with revolution.

It was a misplaced hope.

President Hassan quickly let Somalis down. His misrule became so ubiquitous in his first year in which he wasted on squabbles with regional chiefs. He engaged in corruption, with a UN report accusing him of trying to loot Somali assets abroad. Mogadishu residents gave his wife unpleasant nicknames for seizing prime lands in the capital city.

When he was chucked out of office in 2017, Somalis heaved a sigh of relief and collectively shouted “good riddance!”

But in Somalia’s corruption-laden politics, Hassan was back in 2022 after allegedly bribing his way back to power.

The habitually optimistic Somalis dared again to hope that Hassan had learned a lesson from his failed past, and, given a new lease on life, would be able to remedy the troubles bedeviling the country and emulate fellow PhD holders, Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and William Ruto of Kenya, and like them become a visionary, farsighted and genuine patriotic leader.

Again President Hassan failed Somalis.

While the leaders of Somalia’s neighbors are busy working at full speed inside their countries to fundamentally improve their countries’ fortune, President Hassan was busy flying around the world pursuing things no one can nail down. He has so far made more than 30 international trips and been outside of the country for more than three months in aggregate.

Moreover, while President Hassan’s poor leadership is clear for all to see, yet he has not allowed Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre to freely do his job, leading to a total breakdown of accountability and good governance in the country. Hassan continues to micromanage Hamza to an extent that he rendered the premier’s office toothless and an appendage of the presidency in a clear contravention of the country’s Constitution.

That we’re talking about President Hassan, a ceremonial head of state, and not the prime minister, the head of government, to assess the performance of the government’s first year speaks volumes about the dysfunction that transpired in one year in Somalia. It also speaks to President Hassan’s poor adherence to the rule of law, his questionable honesty, his almost nonexistent integrity, his shaky patriotism and even to his claim of being a good Muslim.

As a president, whose one of his main responsibilities is to assent to or reject laws passed by Parliament, Hassan shouldn’t have been in the limelight. He has no day-to-day role in running or supervising the Cabinet, which is legally appointed and supervised by the prime minister. The onus of success or failure should have been on the premier, not on President Hassan. Today, Somalis should have taken stock of the scorecard of Prime Minister Hamza and of his hits and misses.

But President Hassan has carried out an illegal power grab, amassing all powers in his hands, but he also exposed his incompetence. Somalis have already known the president’s know-it-all persona, knee-jerk reaction to crucial issues and disregard for the rule of law.

Last year, when the Hawadle clan rose up against al Shabab, President Hassan unabashedly rode over that wave without any second thought on its long-term effects or its sustainability. The result? Unfinished job, squandered resources and decimation of hundreds of anti-al Shabab fighters, seizure and destruction of more than 420 government vehicles. The president shouldn’t have played a catchup to herders’ uprising. He should have had in advance a well-thought-out strategy to finish off not only the terrorists, but spread peace across the country.

Instead of pausing and thinking after that debacle, the president, who adores foreigners and seems to have a belief that they have medicine for all Somali ills, has doubled down on his folly, begging foreign countries – Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti, all of whom are averse to a united and strong Somalia – to help him in ejecting the militants from their headquarters in Jilib. Why badly needed assets have been in the first place deployed to outlying areas and not to the misfits’ headquarters are perplexing.

The whole operation against al Shabab has raised doubts about the real intention of the exercise: Was it a cover-up to lay the groundwork, as some people allege, for an invasion of other regions on the pretext of combating the militants, while the real objective is clan expansionism.

Another perplexing policy of President Hassan is his decision to depend on Emirati-financed mercenaries to take charge of Mogadishu’s security when many Eritrean-trained Somali soldiers have deserted service after official frustration and mismanagement. It’s possible that what is currently happening in Sudan — where militiamen are battling the regular army — can, too, happen in Somalia if President Hassan’s proclivity for depending on Emirati-managed forces are not arrested.

A president with an iota of patriotism would have come to office sensing unease about the presence of parasitic African troops, who despite their number — at one time they were over 22,000 — failed to pacify the country. A thinking president wouldn’t have allowed foreigners to turn his country into a cash cow, particularly when local soldiers go several months without pay.

President Hassan’s fanciful mantra of “Somalia at peace with itself and with the world” appears to have been a euphemism for surrendering the country’s sovereignty to others. The misguided plank has already put the Somali State at a disadvantage, as relations with foreign countries are not based on mutual benefits, but on the benefits of others at the expense of Somalia.

For instance, Somalia’s relations with Kenya would only be valid as long as President Hassan allows Kenya to earn millions of dollars each year through poisoning Somalis with its harmful drug called Qat. Djibouti’s ties will only exist as long as the president remains a stooge for its dictator Ismail Omar Guelleh and executes his dictates. Ethiopia’s ties will only blossom as long as Somalia allows its troops a free hand inside the country. America’s relationship will only continue as long as Somalia provides Washington free military bases. European Union’s ties seem are incumbent upon Somalia’s acquiescence to the looting of the country’s marine resources by the bloc’s ships.

Nationally, President Hassan, who’s known for his clannish tendencies, has proved to be an unmitigated disaster. The Cabinet, which was selected by the president himself, is teeming with members who have little expertise or experience of their portfolios. As if that was not enough, the president appointed special envoys, a large number of them from his clan, for issues that can be handled by government ministers, a move seen by many as an attempt to bypass the ministers from other clans.

Worse, according to The Somalia Star sources, the president, at the urging of dictator Guelleh of Djibouti, who seems to have a hobby of perpetuating chaos in Somalia, is actively working on a grand scheme aimed at installing pliable administrators in Garowe, Kismayo, Baidoa and Dusamareeb, especially when — or even if possible before — the terms of the incumbents expire. Hassan’s diabolical strategy threats to plunge Somalia into a clan warfare similar to the one that followed the fall of late President Mohamed Siyad Barre.

The president’s clannish consideration and indifference to the country’s territorial integrity were laid bare by his lackadaisical approach toward the war in Las Anod, where unionists and secessionists are fighting. The president lost an opportunity to strengthen the country’s unity and end Hargeisa’s rebellion, but he decided to boost the odds of the Isaaq clan, a distant relative, by appointing a special envoy — as if Somaliland was an independent country — to work on talks between the foreign-backed secessionists and Somalia State.

To say President Hassan’s first year was a huge dumpster fire is an understatement.

Understanding what makes President Hassan tick is key to untangling his illegal power grab and his failure so far.

President Hassan — who’s devoid of charisma and empathy and surrounded by fanatics from his clan — is unfit to lead Somalia, an ailing country wracked by ruthless foreigners that are pitting Somalis against one another while looting their resources and stunting their development. Ruling Somalia is beyond President Hassan.

Detecting President Hassan’s incapacity to unpack Somalia’s problems is not rocket science. He’s too self-centered to see the bigger picture and too clannish to see beyond the interests of his very close kinfolk. (He has recently defended his family members’ involvement in government affairs.)

In fact, the president comes across as someone who has not appreciated the root causes of the country’s problems. His answers to complicated problems are simplistic and shallow. He even seems as a person who lacks self-awareness, as his statements contradict each other.

President Hassan will always be President Hassan, a leader whose speeches are always loose, vacuous, rambling and myopic. There’s be no hope that Somalia will see real improvement under his remaining three years.

We, therefore, urge Somalia’s international friends to scale back their dealings with President Hassan, as any military and monetary assistance to Somalia during his tenure will most likely be misused. President Hassan has no national vision — and the past one year was proof enough that he is incapable of thinking of issues beyond his selfish and clannish interests.

We also urge the UN Security Council not to lift the arms embargo on Somalia under President Hassan’s rule, as the entry of new weapons into the country could easily be a catalyst for new clan wars, ethnic cleansing and even genocides.

We call on Egypt to cease its association with President Hassan and Spy Chief Mahad Salad. For, its ties with the pair could erode its age-old bond with Somalis. Cairo’s long-term interest won’t be served by unpopular leader, who can’t even travel by road to Baidoa, a city that is 155 miles from Mogadishu.

President Hassan must be isolated nationally and internationally. His policies in Somalia are not only a threat to Somalia, but to the wider Horn of Africa. His ill advised policies run the risk of reviving the the forgotten animosity between the Hawiye and Darod clans. President Hassan has opted of his own volition to be an agent of mismanagement, corruption and representative of clan interests.

Somalis need peace, a united country and social service. President Hassan is not the right leader to deliver them. He shouldn’t be allowed to take Somalis and the world for a ride once more, worsen Somalia’s problems and destabilize the region.

“When people show you who they are, believe them the first time,” said Maya Angelou, an American civil rights activist, warning of people like President Hassan.

President Hassan has failed to get any meaningful things done in the past year, even after usurping the prime minister’s and ministers’ duties. He deserves to be ostracized for failing his people, his country and the world’s expectations of him.

President Hassan fooled everyone once, let’s be wiser this time around. Let’s not reward failure.