/ 15 June 2005

There’s still no place like home for Somalia’s president

For the moment, it is the homecoming that wasn't. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf left Kenya on Monday to relocate his transitional government to Somalia. However, the flight carrying the head of state was subsequently diverted to Djibouti. Reports indicate that poor runway lighting in the southern Somali town of Jowhar prevented the plane from landing.

For the moment, it is the homecoming that wasn’t. Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf left Kenya on Monday to relocate his transitional government to Somalia. However, the flight carrying the head of state was subsequently diverted to Djibouti.

Reports indicate that poor runway lighting in the southern Somali town of Jowhar prevented the plane from landing. A far larger threat, however, is posed by the lack of security in Somalia, where central government collapsed in 1991 when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted by tribal factions.

The current, interim administration was only established in 2004, after about two years of talks held in Kenya under the auspices of the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). (This regional organisation comprises Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.)

Ongoing concerns about the lack of stability in Somalia, which has been divided into fiefdoms by competing warlords, prevented the country’s new parliament from returning home after the election of Yusuf last October.

The administration has been operating in exile, from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. However, regional and international pressure for it to take up the challenge of returning home has been growing.

“I can confidently report to you today that the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia is relocating to Somalia as of today,” Yusuf said on Monday at a farewell party for his government, hosted by Kenyan officials. The event, which took place in Nairobi, was also attended by diplomats and IGAD country representatives, amongst others.

Afterwards, Yusuf and a seven person entourage of political and economic advisors left for the airport, accompanied by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

“The rest of the ministers will follow tomorrow, and everyone will have gone by Friday,” said Yusuf Baribari, a spokesman for Abdullahi Yusuf. “It is a great feeling…At long last we are going back to our country to fulfill our duties.”

These optimistic statements aside, Somalia’s government is divided over where it should be based.

Yusuf and his allies, who enjoy little support in the capital of Mogadishu, have insisted that the administration set up operations in Baidoa — also in southern Somalia — and Jowhar. A move to the capital would take place once Mogadishu was deemed sufficiently secure.

This policy has been endorsed by a majority of legislators in the 275-member parliament, who voted for the government to have offices in Baidoa and Jowhar, and a liaison office in Mogadishu. However, a sizeable minority of parliamentarians is said to be pushing for an immediate return to the capital. These legislators include faction leaders who control large parts of Mogadishu.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that parliamentarian Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade, who also controls Baidoa, is opposed to having the government relocate to this city — apparently because it may lead to him losing power in Baidoa.

Last month, fighting erupted in the city between forces loyal to two ministers, Sheikh Aden Madobe and Hassan Mohammed Nur Shatigadud, and Habsade supporters — claiming 13 lives. Madobe and Shatigadud support the president’s decision to relocate to Baidoa.

Reports indicate that Habsade also fears the city’s proximity to neighbouring Ethiopia could be to the advantage of Yusuf, accused by some of being an ally of Addis Ababa.

Relations between Ethiopia and Somalia have long been acrimonious. Somalia invaded the Ogaden region of Ethiopia during the 1970s, and Addis Ababa is said to have supported Somali rebels in later years.

In March, Somali legislators voted against a deployment of about 10 ,000 IGAD peacekeepers in their country, on the grounds that it might include Ethiopian troops. East African foreign affairs ministers apparently decided, later, to avoid deploying soldiers from Somalia’s neighbouring states in any peacekeeping mission to the war-torn country.

Addis Ababa has reportedly been accused of providing military support to Yusuf so that he could attack Baidoa — a charge Ethiopian officials deny.

Matt Bryden, an analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG) who deals with the Horn of Africa, said that opposing factions in the Somali parliament urgently needed to resolve the dispute over government headquarters.

“We need the two sides to come together, talk and reach common ground. With two groups with dissenting views about the capital…we do not have a functioning government in Somalia,” he said on Monday. The ICG is a Brussels-based think tank.

“It looks as though the president is moving independently. It is a real risk if the two groups do not dialogue,” Bryden added.

“IGAD must advise President Yusuf to reach out to the opposing side in order to reunify the TNG (transitional national government). If this does not happen, it will be the beginning of the end of the government.”

The need for channels of communication to be kept open was also emphasised by Francois Lonseny Fall, the United Nations special representative to Somalia.

“We hope that that the Transitional Federal Government will use this opportunity to further the process of institution building and promoting peace through intensive dialogue on several issues, and in particular on where to relocate to inside Somalia,” he said at the farewell party.

Under the agreements negotiated in Kenya, Yusuf is to govern Somalia for five years after which a general election will be held.

Thousands of lives are said to have been lost during the past decade in Somalia, while many citizens have been displaced or forced to flee their country.–IPS