Rejected by the elders four times & sidelined by his boss, fate grants Werar last laugh

By: Abdirahman Khalif

WAJIR—In the run-up to the 2017 General Elections, a lean, ambitious young man in his 30’s appeared before a panel of Mohamed Zubeer elders seeking a candidate to endorse as the next member of Parliament to represent Wajir South.

Due to several factors, the elders couldn’t help but drop his bid. The young man accepted his fate and nursed his wounds as happened previously in 2007, 2010 and 2012.

Ahmed Ali Mukhtar, 39, recollected himself from the setback and came back to Nairobi dejected. All doors to vie while banking on the support of his kinsmen were slammed right on his face.

While plotting how to spoil the show for the the clan elders who left him out in the nomination process under the “fiiq” slogan—out of the blue—he was approached to deputies for the Jubilee candidate seeking the gubernatorial seat.

Mukhtar, who has” Werar” as his moniker, immediately accepted the offer and just like that, he was beginning to have the last laugh at the elder’s cost and all those who couldn’t see potential in him. Werar is a Somali word which roughly means “attack”or being on the “offensive.”

When the 2017 poll results were announced, Mohamed Abdi emerged the winner of the governor’s race, setting off a one-and-half year of court petitions and counter appeals.

However, Werar’s victory was short-lived; he begun feeling sidelined in the administration he’s now serving as Number Two.

According to several sources who Kulan Post contacted for comments, Werar on several occasions protested against lack of “respect from the First Lady and section of top staff at the Office of the Governor.”

“At some point, it got so worse that his office was starved of funds and his staff outrightly denied allowance and other previlleges,” one senor staff at the Finance department of the county who wished not to be named, revealed.

Immediately after the polls, former governor Ahmed Abdullahi and contender Ahmed Muhumed moved to the High Court where Abdi’s win was overturned due to contested academic credentials.

When the ruling was challenged at the Courts of Appeal, a three-judge bench upheld the High Court ruling.

Seeing an opportunity to lead Wajir from a tiny window hole, Ahmed Ali Mukhtar engaged lawyer Nelson Havi in a bid to be enjoined as interesting party in the appeal case at the Supreme Court. Mukhtar urgued that while the governor’s academic papers was questionable, he be spared of the election nullification since his papers were in order.

He further stated that he felt prejudiced since his only “undoing” was the fact that he deputized embattled Mohamed Abdi.

When the Supreme Court quashed the two verdicts by the lower court, the kitchen started becoming too hot for the deputy governor. Infact, the governor pushed him to the backseat.

On several occasions, Werar notified his close friends and advisors of plans to resign over “contempt and frustration by the governor’s handlers.”

At some point two years ago, his official driver was recalled and plans to set aside funds to refurbish his official residence was halted. Governor Werar still operates from Wajir Palace Hotel since he has no decent place to call home while in Wajir.

All that changed on Monday, when the Senate upheld an assembly impeachment against the former governor, Mohamed Abdi.

The sequence of events since one month ago, turned the table in favour of Werar.

Ali Mukhtar was born in Dilmanyaley location where he finished his early education. He later joined Wajir High School and moved to Sudan for his bachelors degree.

At Strathmore University in Nairobi, Mukhtar pursued a Master’s course on Policy and Public Administration.

“My pledge of service is premised on objectivity and professionalism. I appeal for your support,” he said during his swearing ceremony at the county headquarters.

For a man who suffered several career-threatening blows, it remains to be seen whether he will take revenge on his detractors or pursue a path of forgiveness and service delivery.