Somali Peace Rally (Galkaio City)
PRESS RELEASE
October 6, 2004
At the heart of the current Somali peace conference in Kenya lies the challenge of seizing a unique historical chance to elect vibrant leaders with clear vision who are capable to fashion new approaches, policies and practices that will stand the test of time.
As history has dealt a cruel hand to our people, the distance to be traveled by any future Somali nation-state on the road to human progress will indeed be subject to the quality and collective ingenuity of Somali's future leaders. Sadly, Somali warlords are fundamentally determined to pursue parochial and insular objectives ranging from trade, military and clan interest.
Somali warlords and dictators are devoid of good leadership quality material and as such they do not deserve to take the centre-stage of Somali nation-building at the expense of national sovereignty, unity and cohesion. They inherited and wish to perpetuate one-man system that did not tolerate dissent of any form and that abused human rights as a matter of course.
Accommodating such myopic leaders in the centre stage of Somali politics will be another signal that the country is once again doomed in the foreseeable future. In other words, electing such ill-disciplined warlords and dictators to the highest position of any future Somali state would be a political course aimed to reward them for their atrocities, which in turn will encourage injustice and impunity.
Therefore, the SPR strongly recommends the new "anointed" Somali parliament in Kenya to facilitate the establishment of technocratic Government with vibrant leaders elected on the basis of individual capacity, with deep understanding of current conditions by their people, with a clear vision of the future, and with the ability to consider long-term consequences of any formulated policies.
The constant lamentation of suffering Somali people is to get true Somali leaders with good quality who are capable to give much effort to promoting a culture of peace and reconciliation throughout the country and to facilitating institutions with capacity to plan and effectively manage Somalia's post-conflict development programmes, make a periodic refreshing appraisal of country's problems and constitutionally facilitate a national election to transfer power through a national elected government.
The constant lamentation of suffering Somali people is also to get leaders who are equipped with knowledge of changes taking place regionally and internationally, and can effectively manage Somalia's post-conflict development programme to make real progress in peace building and poverty reduction, and improve socio-economic and political status of the country.
The SPR thanks the government of Kenya and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for the hard work they put into moving Somali peace process forward. The SPR expresses its support for an appropriate U.N. role in peace plan.