The Nation (Nairobi)
ANALYSIS
November 7, 200
Oscar Obonyo And Gitonga Marete
Nairobi
Somali leader used to live in Tudor
A number of politicians from the region across Africa who have, over time, used Kenyan soil as an operational base have curiously risen to become President. Even Africa's "new kid on the block", Abdulahi Yusuf, operated from the coastal town of Mombasa in the early 1980s.
Ahmed Mohamoud, 30, the current occupant of the house and son to a wealthy Mombasa businessman of Somali origin who was killed in April 1985, still remembers his encounter with the newly-elected President, then one of the Somali warlords.
"The President and a host of his political strategists used to visit and spend nights in my father's house. In fact, I served them with tea on several occasions," recalls Ahmed who was then 11 years old.
The Somali leader lived with Ahmed Farah -- a chief confidant and financier. From Farah's residence he held secret meetings with the members of his Majeerteen clan living in Mombasa, most of who were members of his party, Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF). Yusuf used to invite allies
"In the early 1980s, Yusuf and my father used to invite other allies at our home and hold lengthy meetings as they laid strategies on how to topple the late Somali dictator Siad Barre," recalls Ahmed.
Yusuf was sworn into office as Somalia's head only last month at a colourful ceremony in Nairobi, witnessed by more than ten heads of state including the host, Mwai Kibaki.
So far, Yusuf may be the only regional leader who has staged his political war from here and got crowned on the very Kenyan soil, but a host of others apparently lived in the Capital City of Nairobi.
Yusuf accordingly joins that special league of "humble" foreign residents who rose to the highest office in their homeland. This lot includes Tanzania's Julius Nyerere and Uganda's Idi Amin Dada who resided in Ziwani estate.
Others are Rwanda's Paul Kagame who lived with an uncle in California estate in the mid 1970s, Militon Obote of Uganda who resided in Kaloleni in the late 1950s and Malawi's Bingu wa Mutharika. Sudan's Dr John Garang, a potential leader, has lived in Lavington for over a decade.
The two-bedroomed house where the Somali President resided is located in the then up-market Tudor residential estate, about 50 metres from Khamis High School.
It is on the ground floor of a one-storey building flat which houses four units. Its current occupant is Farah's son, Ahmed. Not been redone for years Its outer wall has a greyish rough cast that has apparently not been redone for many years and the main door has no grills.
Its wooden windows are equally in a state of neglect and the black paint coating on them has faded as some is peeling off.
"Look at the state of this house," observes Ahmed pointing at the faded paint on the walls, windows and the broken door handle, "one cannot believe that the current President of Somalia lived here."
When his late father resided at the building, then an imposing mansion, the family house was lavishly furnished to suit the taste of the high and mighty.
Today, there is no furniture in the sitting room save for a lone weathered dinning table, placed near the door. At mealtime Ahmed sits on a mat on the floor with his entire family of three sons and a daughter.
And he cannot afford to purchase furniture in the house, let alone renovate it. But it is the history behind the legacy of the house that has kept gnawing at his life, even to the extent of causing him mental breakdown.
It beats imagination that the now dilapidated and neglected house, is the same one Abdulahi Yusuf used to spend nights during his secret visits to Mombasa.
Recalls Ahmed's 71-year old grandfather, Abdi Noor: "Yusuf was a nice and frequent visitor. He used to spend nights at Farah's Tudor house and sometimes at my house." The old man is a Mombasa based transport businessman.
The 70-year old military strongman, first landed in the coastal town for his political operations after fleeing his home country following his failure to overthrow Siad Barre's government in 1979.
He established a base in the coastal town of Mombasa where he led a guerrilla movement aimed at unseating Barre, obtaining support from Ethiopia - which at that time was at war with Somalia.
According to Ahmed, Yusuf established an SSDF office in Mombasa, at a building opposite Ziwani Mosque. He recalls that SSDF supporters used to converge here everyday after evening prayers.
There was also a radio station, Radio Halgan, broadcasting from Somalia, that kept the Somali community informed of SSDF developments.
"My father kept close contact with the war in Somalia and every evening we would listen to the radio station. Each time SSDF captured a town in Somalia we would celebrate," says Ahmed.
He says Abdulahi's shadow information minister who was based in Nairobi then would send pamphlets and magazines updating them on the progress of the war in Somalia.
"It was at this very office that every information was reviewed and passed on to other Somalis," he says.
Sadly though, his father paid dearly with his life for his enthusiasm and support for the group.
On April 4 1985 after his evening prayers at the Ziwani Mosque, Saba Saba, Farah walked alone to his house (his Toyota Hilux car had been at the garage for a week) when a gang of about ten men armed with daggers and other weapons stabbed him several times leaving him for dead.
Ahmed recalls that someone rushed into the house with the news that his father had been attacked. In minutes he found himself standing over his father's lifeless body - a scene that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
"He had been stabbed nine times in the stomach and had a deep cut on his forehead," Ahmed says and starts blinking uneasily as his eyes well with tears.
The dealings between the Somali leader and Yusuf kicked off when the latter was escorted to Farah's house by his brother, Musa Mohamoud.
"On arrival at my father's home in Tudor, my uncle Musa welcomed him and here is where the President and my father met with other SSDF supporters," he says.
An army commander in the 1960s who studied in Italy and the former Soviet Union, Yusuf was jailed for refusing to take part in the military coup led by fellow officer Barre in 1969.
In prison, he spent time with the late Somali warlord, Mohamed Farah Aideed. He was released in 1975 and three years later, he headed the first attempt to overthrow the Somali dictator with the help of Ethiopia's Haile Mariam Mengistu.
Barre immediately set on a scheme to clip SSDF's strength by eliminating its members and financiers. This was how Ahmed's father met his death.
Later Yusuf fell out with Mengistu over the country's claim to Somali areas, and was jailed in Addis Ababa in 1985.
He was only released when Ethiopia's Soviet-backed regime fell in 1991. Since then he has reportedly received backing from Addis Ababa. Met future Somali president After his release in 1992, Yusuf came back to Nairobi where he settled. It was during one of his visits to Nairobi that Ahmed says he met the man who was to become Somali President at Hurlingam in 1996.
In the 1990s he returned to his native Puntland, and soon emerged as the region's pre-eminent leader.
In 2001 he was deposed in Puntland, but recaptured the territory a year later. A non-smoker and a teetotaller, non-drinker, Yusuf is married with four children.
Elected by the Somali parliament, Yusuf is now expected to rebuild his country following a 13-year-old civil war in the country.
The challenges facing his new government are herculean- enormous. The United Nations has estimated that at least US$5 billion will be needed to rebuild Somalia in the long term.