Nowadays, it looks the luck of Somali
people and state is changing for good and finally the light at end of
the tunnel is getting brighter and nearer and many both in Diaspora and
in the country feel uneasy because the end of TFG may not bring
continuity the newly achieved gains of the past year. Many Somali
intellectuals are happy to see transitional period is over but yet
worried things may turn back without the right leadership.

On
31st of July, members of Constituency Assembly approved the new
provisional constitution of Somalia. This was a process that started
seven years ago and for all practical purposes were not going anywhere
until a year ago, when a new Prime Minister came on board with a cabinet
of mainly professional s who he called them back from their comfort
lives over the world.
The Prime Minister, Dr. Abdiwali M. Ali,
himself, a professor of economics from Buffalo, NY took over a shambled
government, at a time where al-Shabab were occupying two-third of
Mogadishu, hundreds of Somalis were dying daily because of worst
draught for long time. Regional administration weren’t talking to TFG
and overall morale was descending fast.
Many doubt that a
professor from New York can change the course and saw him another PM for
long list of trial and error exercise. Today, to the credit of TFG
forces and AMISOM but equally to his leadership, Mogadishu is free and
al-Shabab is on the run. He established an independent Disaster
Management Agency to deal with the draught emergency relief work. His
understanding in problem solving and the art of diplomacy led
international community to pour help for Somali people to counter the
draught. Within 90 days things turned to get better.
However,
what separates him from other leaders in the past 20 years or so is not
only the handling the draught problem or kicking al-Shabab out of
Mogadishu but coming up with a Roadmap with a time line to tackle four
major tasks:
1-Security: with a National Stabilization and Security
Plan that deals from securing the country, strengthening the Somali
forces and preparing administration for newly liberated towns.
2-Good
Governance: re-establishing and strengthening national institution, he
also established an independent anti-corruption commission. As an
academic he put emphases on education with a result of 3000 students
taking abroad for higher education.
3- Reconciliation: First time
in 20 years that regional administrations are cooperating with and
working side by side with central government, these were not the case 18
months ago. 135 Somali Traditional Clan elders from all over the
country are working together in Mogadishu and have chosen 825
Constituency Assembly that just approve d the provisional constitution
and will in few days select members of parliament. This exercise is a
historic one because after two decades, the new Somali Government will
lose the Transitional status in its name.
4- The constitution
was a major component of the Roadmap and recent approval of the
constitution is the most important achievement so far for this
government.
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