Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI, Oct 11 (IPS) - Political observers have welcomed the election of a new president for Somalia - but warned that stiff challenges lie ahead for the war-torn East African country.
Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a 72-year-old former army colonel, was voted into office by 270 of the 275 members of the recently-inaugurated Somali parliament. The poll took place at the Kasarani Sports Complex in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, as it was not considered safe to hold elections in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
An initial field of 28 candidates was whittled down in two rounds of voting, leaving Yusuf to contest the final round with Abdullahi Ahmed Addow, a former minister of finance. Yusuf won with 189 votes against the 79 cast for Addow, and will serve for a five-year term.
Other candidates who were defeated or pulled out included Abdulkassim Salat Hassan, president of a transitional government for Somalia that was set up in 2000, in Djibouti. Given a three-year mandate, Hassan's administration had little success in establishing control beyond certain areas of Mogadishu.
Asha Ahmed Abdalla, the first female presidential candidate in the history of Somalia, and Hussein Aideed, an influential faction leader in Mogadishu, also contested the poll - which was observed by regional foreign affairs ministers and members of the diplomatic corps, among others.
By the time parliamentary speaker Shariff Hassan Sheikh Aden was ready to announce the name of Somalia's president late Sunday night, the Kasarani complex was filled to capacity with a 4,000-strong crowd.
Waving Somali flags, those present burst into song and dance and cheered wildly as the president-elect walked to the front of the hall to be received by dignitaries. However, silence descended over the crowd as Somalia's national anthem was played, and a Kenyan police officer raised the Somali flag.
”I promise I will do my best to reconcile the Somalis and restore order in our country once and for all,” Yusuf said in his acceptance speech.
The new president assumes leadership of a country that has not known central government since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown. In the civil war that ensued, faction leaders divided Somalia into numerous fiefdoms that they have been reluctant to relinquish control of.
A region in the north-west of the country, Somaliland, broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991 - and refused to participate in talks to re-establish central government in the country. In May 2001, residents of the territory voted in support of Somaliland's self-declared independence.
The northern Puntland region, in its turn, declared itself autonomous in 1998, under the leadership of Yusuf.
Statistics compiled by aid organisations indicate that fighting between rival faction leaders - and the disease and famine which the civil war made Somalis vulnerable to - have claimed about one million lives. About two million people have fled the country.
According to the United Nations, about five billion dollars will be needed to rebuild Somalia.
”I will not only be president by name for five years, but will seek to achieve what I was elected for, that is reconstruction of Somalia by building infrastructure. This, I am calling on the international community to help us (with) - to walk with us,” Yusuf said after his victory.
Khaleef Hassan, a political commentator, told IPS Sunday that a truth and reconciliation commission should also be set up to investigate human rights abuses in Somalia during the past years of lawlessness.
”Reconciliation is necessary. People were hurt, and they need to be told why whoever committed the ills did so, for them to heal and forgive,” said Hassan. ”This commission must involve neighbouring countries to monitor how hearings are being conducted, to ensure transparency.”
He added that the commission would need to be far-reaching in scope: ”The reconciliation process must be at national level, district level and village level to ensure that every person - even the grass roots populations - participate in the process.”
Perhaps even more pressing is the thorny issue of disarming militants in Somalia.
Faction members in the country are believed to be in possession of thousands of weapons which often find their way into Kenya - posing a security risk to that country.
Speaking at a conference in April this year where a protocol on small arms reduction was signed, Kenyan Former Affairs Minister Kalonzo Musyoka said that an estimated 60,000 illegal firearms had filtered into Kenya from Somalia.
Candidates in Sunday's poll were reportedly obliged to sign a declaration in which they promised to surrender arms in the possession of their followers. The importance of disarmament was also highlighted by Yusuf.
”I assure you that I will establish the remaining organs of the government, and straight away embark on a disarmament process, with the help of the international community,” he told those at the Kasarani complex.
Yusuf is expected to be sworn in on Oct. 14 in Nairobi, after which he will appoint a prime minister - who will select a cabinet.
Sunday's poll is the result of a peace process that began in Kenya in 2002 under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development - a regional organisation that comprises Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Eritrea and Djibouti.
A ceasefire for Somalia was signed in October 2002, and a charter stipulating how the country's new government will function endorsed early this year. The parliament, a transitional body, was formed in August along clan lines. Tribal groupings are also expected to influence key government appointments.
Somalia's new prime minister is expected to come from the Hawiye clan, for example, as this group has traditionally controlled either the president or head of government's office. Other important clans include the Digle-Mirifle, Dir and Darod. (END/2004)