Mogadishu (PP Editorial) — The incumbent President of Somalia Dr Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that talks with Al-shabaab were possible only when the proscribed group “is degraded”. He sees the group’s strength lies in its territorial control. President Mohamud has an untested theory about dealing with transnational terrorism in Somalia: Once Al-shabaab loses territories they will be forced to come to the negotiation table from the position of weakness.
This theory misses the main ideological point on which Al-shabaab principles are based. Al-shabaab views Somalia as a modern-day Caliphate where A Somali has no citizenship rights above any non-Somali who professes in Islam and “immigrated” to Somalia. For any talks to have a meaningful outcome, Al-shabaab must abandon its rejectionist position on the sovereignty of Somalia.
Al-shabaab recruited foreign fighters whom the leadership of the group cannot abandon unless their future gets spelt out clearly. Will they be put on trial in Somalia or will they be repatriated to their country of origin regardless of the consequences?
Al-shabaab is an organisation whose ideological tentacles have permeated almost all aspects of Somali politics and businesses. Many business owners, who do not pledge allegiance to Al-shabaab, were forced to pay tax to fund the group’s operations. In the south Al-shabaab benefits from the corruption of the federal government and local governments. It owes its questionable judicial prominence to settling property disputes in districts where rightful owners were dispossessed by powerful squatters.
Al-shabaab filled the vacuum once occupied by warlords. In Mogadishu, most police officers were former clan militia members or leaders. They control districts of the capital city along an agreed pre-2006 quotas. Mogadishu is still as divided as it was before the Union of Islamic Courts defeated an alliance of warlords funded by a western country as a counter-terrorism apparatus.
As long as Somali citizens perceive the Federal Government of Somalia to be a hotbed of corruption Al-shabaab will exploit the citizen disillusionment with the federal institutions. The more the Federal Government of Somalia retains the pre-2006, warlord-empowering structures as a basis for governance, the more Al-shabaab will regain territories and loyalty.
© Puntland Post, 2023
You must be logged in to post a comment.