County News
This image tells a lot about what the world want to see in African politics, but too hard to find.
Screen-grab of former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (right), President Farmajo (Centre) and former president of the interim government Sharif Sheikh Ahmed at the the inauguration ceremony in Mogadishu. (Courtesy)
MOGADISHU—The elections in Somalia and the smooth transition of power between the former president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is a classical example of what the African Union and the global community want to see in African politics, but too hard to find.
On Wednesday at the highly fortified airport at the capital Mogadishu where the inauguration ceremony for Farmajo was taking place, two of the previous presidents of the Somali governments were invited to witness the occasion.
President Farmajo hailed the presence of the former presidents as a sign of political maturity.
“We are honoured to have former presidents with us here today,” President Farmajo said at the beginning of his inaugural speech.
“This image consolidates our democratic values which we inherited from our founding ideals,” Farmajo added.
Looking on was the President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn who are notorious for brutal crackdown on dissents and political activists.
In Ethiopia, demonstrations began in Oromia last November. Protests have also sprung up later in the Amhara region.
Oromia and Amhara are the homelands of the country’s two biggest ethnic groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says that more than 400 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces in Oromia, although the government disputes this figure.
President Ismail Omar Guelleh has won a fourth five-year term on April last year. Opposition groups had complained of curbs on freedom of assembly before the vote, while rights groups have denounced political repression and crackdowns on basic freedoms.
Guelleh’s strong hold on power is largely attributed to divisions within the opposition and to government repression of dissent.
In Uhuru’s Kenya, the opposition party leader Raila Odinga contested the 2013 elections at the Supreme Court. Although the courts favoured Uhuru’s victory, Raila remained adamant of the ruling.
In just a fortnight ago, Raila claimed that the ruling Jubilee was using the intelligence service to commit election malpractices six months to the polls.
In a statement by the Press office, President Uhuru Kenyatta commended Somalia for successfully holding a peaceful presidential election, saying it was proof that the Horn of Africa country was heading in the right direction.
President Kenyatta observed that the election held recently gave renewed hope to the Somali people and international community the country was on the road to full recovery.
“The way the election was conducted and the subsequent peaceful transfer of power has made us very proud,” President Kenyatta said.
Somalia has the most fragile government in Africa, but the country has proved on Wednesday that, indeed, it remains a beacon of hope in the murky waters of African politics.
