Democratic credentials of Somalia's Farmaajo lie in tatters

The international partners have called on Somalia's two top leaders to end their differences and engage in mediated efforts to resolve the differences expressed in their exchange of statements on 16 September 2021.

In a statement, the partners urged Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble to resolve political discord which may jeopardize the gains made in the country.

A public spat erupted last month when Roble fired two of the country's government officials within security agencies only to be overruled by Farmajo, raising fears of power struggle between the two leaders.

This ongoing political uncertainty has increased the risk of further delays to the electoral process and led to confusion over the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Security (MoIS) and National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), whose effectiveness is vital to combating Al-Shabaab and maintaining the security situation in the country.

Somalia's Farmaajo failed to hold elections when his four-year term ended in February, then moved to extend his rule by two years, a step many Somalis viewed as a naked power grab.

Farmaajo's failed governance policies evoked fears that Somalia, after years of modest yet gradual progress, could descend into the kind of clan-based bloodshed that ripped it apart in the 1990s.

Now Mr. Farmaajo’s democratic credentials lie in tatters and he is in an open confrontation with prime minister amid international calls for Somalia to hold elections immediately.

“His entire brain power is focused on his ascendancy, and how he can dominate the scene,” said Abdirashid Hashi, a former cabinet minister under Mr. Farmaajo. “His brinkmanship allowed him to get away with a lot. But now all those tactical moves have culminated in the fiasco we are in.”

Farmaajo, a derivation of the Italian word for cheese and purportedly his father’s favorite food, was once the bearer of many Somalis’ hopes.