Tight race expected in upcoming Somalia presidential polls

Former Envoy of Somalia to Kenya Ambassador Mohamed Ali Nur with students in the Central Somalia town of Jowhar in August last year during his "Peace Journey" aimed at enhancing grassroot reconciliation in the war-torn country.PHOTO: STANDARD

The upcoming presidential poll in neigbouring Somalia next month promises to be a tight and competitive affair as candidates jostle to unseat the current President Mohammud Hassan Sheikh from power

So far, the Presidential race has attracted the interest of political heavy weights in the Somali politics including former President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed, former prime ministers Mohammed Abdullahi “Farmaajo” and Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed among others.

But one candidate who is generating increasing interest and buzz in the complex, clan-based politics of Somalia is the former long-time Somali envoy to Kenya Ambassador Ali Nur “Americo”, who served in Nairobi for eight years till April last year

The 54-year old father of eight is increasingly striking a chord with many Somali nationals as a symbol of much-needed reconciliation and peace for a country that suffered civil strife for a quarter of a century since the collapse of the central government in 1991.

Touched hearts

This is largely because the Ambassador touched deeply the hearts of many Somali nationals inside the country and in the diaspora when recently, he publicly forgave a man who confessed to him that he had killed his 18-month old baby in 1992 when the Somali central government fell apart and the country descended into civil strife.

In September 2014, Mr Ali Nur was having coffee in a small seaside café in Mogadishu together with a friend when a man came up and sought audience with him.

“When he told me that he was part of the gang that stormed my house 22 years earlier and brutally shot my baby, I felt strong anger rise up in me and I almost resorted to kill him because of the pain that the memory had evoked,” he recalls his eyes welling up with emotion.

“I think it is only God who intervened and calmed me down. Then I told him that I had forgiven him. We then fell into each other’s’ arms and begun crying,”

When the incident was reported widely by various local media as a symbol of reconciliation, many other similar cases emerged in various parts of the country with killers owning to their crimes and being pardoned by relatives of the deceased.

“I am not saying justice shouldn’t be done. But people have something in their hearts, and they need to clear out through reconciliation,” said the diplomat.

Ambassador Nur asserts that the continued instability in Somalia is partly due to absence of a true grassroots reconciliation process for the war-torn country.

“The reconciliation processes in the recent past led by successive governments have not produced fruit since they largely involved the politicians and clan elders only. What we need is a bottom-up approach from the grassroots to create the required environment for peace and stability,” he said

Recently, the diplomat made a whirlwind road trip throughout most parts of Somalia to meet people in the grassroots and drive home the message of reconciliation and peace. The trip was dubbed as “Socdaalka Nabadda” or the “Peace Journey”.

As an envoy in Nairobi, Amb Nur was central in easing tensions between Kenya and Somalia following the devastating Al Shabaab attack in Westgate Shopping Mall (September 2014) and Garissa University college (April 2015).

He also mobilised Somali nationals in Kenya to donate blood and provide humanitarian and moral assistance to the victims of the attacks. He also urged the Kenyan government against what he saw as profiling and harassment of Somalis by Kenya’s security forces in response to Al Shabaab attacks.

Enormous sacrifices

Nur says that if elected President, his will move speedily to secure the Somalia and regional countries from the threat of Al Shabaab.

His central strategy is to speed up the rebuilding the local security forces so as to shoulder greater responsibility in maintaining security and stability inside the country instead of continued over-reliance on African Union soldiers.

“We appreciate the enormous sacrifices that have been made by AMISOM in stabilising Somalia for the last 10 years, including the loss of many lives. But we realise that AMISOM soldiers cannot be in Somalia indefinitely. Currently, local forces cannot stand up to Al Shabaab without the backing of AMISOM. This is not sustainable,” he says.

The US-trained economist, who is popularly known as “Ali Americo” by friends, says local security personnel are going for months without salaries despite availability of funds. He attributed the anomaly to graft and lack of focus on the current Federal government in Mogadishu.

“The Somalia Federal Government has received millions of dollars in the recent years on behalf of the country’s security forces, but there is little to show for that money,” he said.

The former diplomat also indicated that he will invest heavily in creating job and educational opportunities for the youth as a peace building strategy to prevent them from being lured into criminal groups.

Nur said that Somalia has significant natural resources including the longest coastline in Africa as well as livestock and agricultural resources which can be deployed to unlock the youth unemployment crisis that is facing the country.

While serving as an envoy in Nairobi, Nur lead efforts through the courts to restore ownership of the Somali embassy property in Nairobi that had been illegally sold to a private individual way back in 1994/95. The prime property in Nairobi’s Spring Valley areas was restored in December 2010. — Correspondent, The Standard on Sunday