John Stephen Katende

15^th Aug 2011:

Back to Kyeyo: Ex-Somali PM Mohamed A Mohamed

The former Prime Minister of Somali’s AU backed Transitional Federal Government [TFG] Mr. Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed who was forced to resign his post following a Museveni brokered meeting of TFG officials in Kampala has rejoined the company he worked for in the US before he became Prime Minister, The Telegraph newspaper has reported.

In its report, the paper says, seven weeks ago, Mohamed A. Mohamed was leading thousands of officials and security forces from the Prime Minister’s office in Mogadishu, in an effort to crush Islamist insurgents and avert drought and famine.

On Friday morning, Mr Mohamed logged on at his cubicle at 100 Seneca Street in Buffalo, New York. As the state transportation department’s compliance officer for region five, he checked that 12 per cent of the money being spent on the new highway 219 was going to ethnic minority firms.

Having been pushed out of Somalia’s notoriously fragile government, Mr Mohamed, 49, has returned to the job he held before being plucked from obscurity in October 2010 to help lead his country. Asked how it felt to be back in Buffalo, he said: “…It’s a mixed feeling”.

“…Both jobs are important,” he said. “…I’m working in civil rights, to protect African-Americans and Hispanics from discrimination. When I was prime minister, I was trying to liberate Mogadishu from al-Shabaab. So the purpose is the same. It’s just two different titles.”

Photographs of official appearances he made while in office – including an address to the UN Security Council – have been tacked to his partition walls by colleagues, who also baked him a “welcome back” cake iced in the blue and white of the Somali flag.

“…It’s very nice of them,” he said. “…It’s a good place to work. I really enjoy what I do and I’m really glad to be back.” He does, however, clearly pine for the role he was stunned to be handed after travelling to the UN in Manhattan simply to meet with Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, Somalia’s president.

“…I wanted to be part of the process that helped end the civil war that has been in place for the last 20 years,” he said. “…I wanted badly to be part of that. And to create a permanent government.” As a crisis-torn Somalia moves back into the spotlight, he concedes they did not manage it.

“…But we did great things against extremism, to push them back,” he said. “…When I took office they were about 500 yards from the presidential palace. Al-Shabaab has now vacated the city. They have not been defeated, but they lost the fight for Mogadishu.”

Mr Mohamed said he stepped aside to resolve a paralysing three-way dispute between himself, the president and the Speaker.  “…I went there to be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he said.

Warnings he delivered to the rest of the world earlier this year – that Somalia was about to be hit by a devastating new famine – have tragically been vindicated. The country’s worst drought in 60 years has killed 30,000 infants and left 640,000 more starving. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have fled to Kenya, with the UN warning that refugee camps cannot cope.

The father-of-four, who moved to Buffalo in 1989 to study at the city’s university, and lives with his wife Saynab, said Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, and his special envoy to Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, must shoulder responsibility for failing to push the international community into action.

But he also has firm instructions for his ultimate line manager.  “…I would like to see President Obama do more,” he said. “…This drought is worse than 1992, and President George Bush senior had the leadership to lead the international coalition to go there and deliver food there to the needy people. Mr Obama has the same responsibility to exercise his leadership.”

He appears frustrated that from his current vantage point there is very little he can do. “…I foresaw this problem back in January,” he said. “…But nobody listened”. END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.