WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-07-25 Time: 16:00:01 Posted By: News Poster
By Risdel Kasasira
When former Somalia Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Fermajo resigned following Kampala Accord, many Somalis, including soldiers, held a demonstration in the capital Mogadishu in which four people died. Mr Fermajo became Prime Minister in November last year and resigned last month, in a compromise move to allow the Transitional Federal Government to be extended for one year.
What should be done about the current famine ravaging Somalia?
This drought is the worst in 60 years. The international community can intervene when there is a humanitarian crisis and right now, they could do more. If this does not happen quickly, you will see a lot of people dying. We always regret inaction in these kind of situations. We regret the genocide in Rwanda, or Bosnia where very many people died. I hope we do not have to talk about three million deaths in Somalia. We need to act now before the problem worsens. This is a slow genocide perpetrated by al-Shabaab. They will do anything to take over the country, even stop aid or medicine from getting to the areas they control. The international community can decide not to allow this because people are dying everyday. We have to deal with them! I hope that leaders, such as from the United States, who have the resources, should lead in this effort. Not only in terms of food, we also need more soldiers so that the food gets to those who need it.
What made Somalia degenerate into the current state of lawlessness?
Tribalism was the cause of the problem. People are divided based on clan lineage. Somali people speak the same language, have the same culture and religion, but of course, people always find differences. Also, bad leadership has been another problem. During the warlord time, leaders were sectarian, they used “us against them mentality”. “I protect you against other tribes who want to take your land, your prestige or your honour”. Thirdly, Somalia has been abandoned and I do not know what we have done that caused the international community to abandon us like this. Somalia is not the only country that has been through a civil war – Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, name it – also have! But someone, either Western countries, or fellow African fellows came and saved those countries. That is why I see that President Museveni and the President of Burundi have done something that I can only describe as pan-Africanism. We really appreciate and are very grateful for their sacrifice of coming to Somalia where no one else wants to go. The international community came in when Somalia became a haven for terrorism, but again, even though Somalia can be equated to Afghanistan, still we do not see similar attention from American and Western countries.
Why is Somalia not accorded the same treatment as Afghanistan?
To be honest with you, I do not know, that is something I have been struggling to understand. If you look at the situation in Afghanistan, it is almost identical to that in Somalia. You have al-Qaeda very active and recruiting every day in Afghanistan. You have something similar in Somalia. You have a weak government in Afghanistan, which attracts terrorists. These terrorists cannot come to Uganda, for example, because it is a country with a strong government. Terrorists want to go where they see a weak government and a divided nation. This is the situation in Somalia and in Afghanistan. Also, Afghanistan is a tribal society just like Somalia is. If Western countries succeed in defeating al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, where are these terrorists going to go? They have to go to a similar environment, which is Somalia.
What did you achieve during your six months as Prime Minister of Somalia in the fight against al-Qaeda and al-Shaabab and how?
Al-Shabaab was controlling 50 per cent of the capital city and half of the country. They were gaining more territory and support every day through their reign of terror. People used to go home at 5 pm because it was dark and there was no security. But before I left, people were staying out on the streets, drinking coffee or socialising until midnight. We could see the difference we made, especially in Mogadishu. Everything was based on the morale of the army. Before I became Prime Minister, there was a period of about 45 days when the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces had not been provided with food by the government! Sometimes, if they had not had food for three days, they did not know where their next meal would come from. This was due to misappropriation, mismanagement and corruption. After I took office, I managed to provide them with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes we even give them snacks – a can of tuna and dates. Not only that, if they succeed in an operation, maybe capturing a couple of houses, we give them a bonus. We have created incentives.
Do you think the Somali government will flush al-Shaabab out of Mogadishu and Southern Somalia next year?
Yes, I hope, with the help of Amisom, if they continue at the same pace we were going. Now we control between 75 to 80 per cent of Mogadishu and al-Shabaab has been demoralised though you still cannot underestimate them because they have the capability to re-organise and come back hard. If we continue with the current pace without any interruption, with the help of Amisom, I believe the government will be able to liberate the country from al-Shabaab in the next one year.
There have been reports that it is actually Uganda that forced you to resign. What is your comment?
Well, Somali people have no suspicion of any involvement by Uganda or Burundi. They feel that what President Museveni is doing is extra. He could stay here and take care of his country, but he helps other countries to stabilise. He has helped Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Somalia. Why other African leaders are not able to do that is a challenging question. President Museveni has no other agenda, but to help Somalia because we have been abandoned by the international community. Part of the Somali problem was political infighting. This took up a lot of energy needed for fighting problems such as terrorism. When I came, I had one thing in mind – to make some progress and not to be part of the political infighting. But when I encountered political infighting, I realised that I would not be able to complete the task. The political infighting was only on one issue: the way forward – meaning that the transitional period would end in August. We, as an executive body, favoured a one-year extension of the transitional period. We favoured delaying elections until next year so as to build a foundation. Then whoever comes at that time will build on that.
I understand it was one of the Speaker’s conditions for you to resign. What is the Speaker’s problem?
I am still asking myself! You cannot talk about power sharing in our situation in Somalia. You have a bigger enemy in Somalia: al-Qaeda and al-Shaabab. You cannot talk about those little things! He talks about positions, but what positions? We do not even control the entire capital city! It is absurd. What power? I do not understand what goes on in his mind and to be honest with you, a lot of people have an opinion about his motive but first of all, we need a country at peace. If we did not have al-Shaabab, I can understand this as a power struggle. But since we have al-Shaabab and Amisom is the only hope for us, half of the nation is somewhat autonomous like Somaliland and Puntiland, and we have a drought, the only thing you have is hard work. We need hard work, nothing else, no power struggle because the people are suffering. We have nothing to share! We do not have the same background, we do not have the same priorities. He was in the government before as Minister of Finance under President Sharif, and before that, he was Speaker under Abdullah Yussuf before the two clashed. The same thing he did with President Sharif. He knows how to manoeuvre. Anyway, I wish him the best and hopefully, Somalia will come out of this situation and stand on its feet.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 24 July 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201107250915.html?viewall=1