Due to the similarities that Somalis have for instance, language, religion, etc. nobody clearly understands the background of the Somali conflict. Nonetheless, they have been contending each other for decades. After decades of internal conflict, a new Somali president; Mohamed Farmanjo was elected. His election gave a hope of solution for the Somali internal crisis. This paper will render a brief history of the conflict and discuss Farmanjo’s chances of success to eradicate the illogical conflict.
Brief History of the conflict
Before it gained its independence, Somalia was apportioned into two regions; the North under British colonial control while the South was under the Italian tenure. The north educed independence on 26 June 1960 while the south followed on 1 July 1960 convoying a unification process to establish the Somali Republic and the first independent government. However, after few years General Mohamed Siyad Barre overthrew the aforementioned government through a military coup on 21 October 1969.
Barre created a socialist state and had close relations with the Soviet Union. He also began to build a strong military force in Africa and contemplated on annexing the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, due to the fact that the region ethnically constituted of Somalians. In short, Barre envisioned on unifying all Somalis under a single flag thereby marauding Ethiopia in 1977. Per contra, a group of generals who were not eye to eye with Barres’ projects resisted against him.
Rebel forces managed to oust the Barre regime in 1991; but turmoil, factional hostility and anarchy had emanated. While, the Somali National Movement (SNM) gained control of the Northern part of the country, the capital of Mogadishu and most of Southern Somalia and the other parts of the country fell under the control of United Somali Congress. Somalia has had a dysfunctional government since 1991 when the Somali civil war occurred. The same situation presented itself in Iraq after US invasion of 2003 and Libya after the defeat of Kaddafi regime.
The implications of the conflict on the Somalians and to a greater extent on the Horn of Africa region is prominent. Millions of people were forced to flee their homes since 1990 and thousands of innocents lost their life. The Somalians are pretty annoyed from this senseless conflict and on top of that, the foreign meddling with Somali internal affairs led to the election of Mohamed Abdullah Farmanjo as president of the country on 8th of February 2017.
The preference of Farmanjo signifies that the Somali people are trying to move away from clan-based political order towards the democracy system.
Who is Farmanjo?
Farmango was a diplomat in the government of Barre. After Barre’s government was ousted he decided to live in New York and has gained the US citizenship. He has been linked with the government in 2010 and the president of that period proposed him the seat of prime ministry. Following a political dispute, Farmanjo repudiated to the US and since has founded the Justice and Equality party, and was elected as the president of the country on 08.02.2017 as mentioned above.
Farmanjo and the chronic problems
When the sorting of electoral votes began in Mogadishu, no one anticipated Farmanjo would be the new president of Somali. The results though surprised the populace and celebrations commenced on the streets of Mogadishu. These moments – the declaration of results and all candidates congratulating the president-elect – were a lesson to all nations of the region on the peaceful transition of power.
Farmanjo after the elections declared an Era of Unity. The first step he took was, calling upon members of El-Shabab terror organisation to disarm because he regarded them as a huge threat on unification. Yet, El-Shabab didn’t tender any attention to this appeal. On the contrary, they elevated their terrorist activities in Mogadishu.
Farmanjo’s possibility of defeating the El-Shabab is high as he is keen on rebuilding the army. To achieve this goal, he participated in the London summit for Somali last week. Constructing a strong Somalian army was the agenda in the aforementioned summit, and all the supporters (mainly Turkey, England, and AEU) pledged to support this initiative.
Another contention that Farmanjo faces are economic challenges. He is eager to increment the quality of the Somalians life, via integration with bordering nations such as Ethiopia. In addition, he is preoccupied to obtain pecuniary aid from Turkey, Arabian Gulf states and the West.
In conclusion, Farmanjo has the prospect to solve every aspect of the enduring crisis as long as the regional countries and the international community are in support of his effort particularly after the Yemeni civil war.
