Somalia Under Farmaajo

Under President Farmaajo, Somalia is blighted by the double whammy of untethered corruption and recycled dictatorship cleverly packaged as nationalism. By all accounts, President Farmaajo, aided by his conflict entrepreneur Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire, and his reclusive, radical-cum political operative, Fahad Yassin, has run the country aground. For the first time since the Third Republic was revived in Arta in Djibouti almost 20 years ago, the country is in real danger of further disintegration or outright internecine war.

The President has deliberately transformed the security apparatus from protecting the state and its citizens—a primary responsibility enshrined in the Constitution—to a militia hell-bent on regime security at the expense of virtually everyone and everything, including civilians and national resources. That is why Al Shabaab has regained more territory over the past two years than over the eight years before that. 

In fact, Farmaajo has facilitated the infiltration of Al Shabaab in the security sector, particularly in NISA, as documented by the UN Monitoring Group. Effectively, former senior figures of Al Shabaab are now collaborating with the Farmaajo Administration in its regime security priority, at the expense of state security. 

Zakariye Ismail, a kinsman of Farmaajo and once the head of the feared Amniyat cell within the Shabaab, is now in charge of regime security for Farmaajo. The objective is to repackage dictatorship in the façade of nationalism by usurping more powers and disempowering oversight and accountability institutions.

Regardless of how many PR specialists Farmaajo hires to whitewash himself, his image is beyond repair. He will spend the next two years stealing natural resources and other sources at will. He understands very well that his chances of a second term are practically nonexistent. 

Sowing Tensions in Somalia

 

Qatar and Turkey found in Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo a willingness to rebel against the principles of peace. On the other hand, Farmajo was ready to make major concessions to be close to Doha and Ankara. Some political circles fear that the coordination between Farmajo and Erdogan will lead to an increase in tensions inside Somalia and undermine reconciliation with Somaliland. 

It seems that Doha and Ankara have played on this chord and convinced the Somalian leader that his popularity could be multiplied with the high level of cooperation and coordination with them. 

Farmajo did not realise that this trend would lead his downfall, especially with the extremist movement Shabab destroying many security and military institutions. Shabab has become something like a state within the state, or in other words a parallel state, with its own political orientation, military and judicial apparatus. The extremist movement has re-emerged after receiving various types of support from both Turkey and Qatar.

Sowing tensions in Somalia with the help of Ankara and Doha threatens to strike stability not only in Somalia but in the entire Horn of Africa.

Qatar's Red Handed Fingers in Somalia

An even greater tragedy for the Somali people is how Qatari influence and Farmajo’s over-reliance on Doha reversed years of security progress. It was at Qatar’s suggestion that Farmajo appointed his Svengali, Fahad Yassin, to head Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) even though Yassin, a former Al Jazeera journalist, had no security or intelligence background. 

Under Qatari tutelage, Yassin dismantled key pillars of the agency, systematically and methodically replaced professional and experienced operatives with amateur sycophants and effectively served as a clearinghouse for Qatari intelligence operations in the Horn of Africa. NISA operations no longer focus on the battle against Al-Shabbb, and instead are geared to silence political opposition and critical voices in civil society.

Faramjo has eroded the ability of the Somali Armed Forces, which prior to 2017 had made strides to becoming a competent, broad-based, and professional force, to fulfill their legally sanctioned role to defend the Somali people and the state and be a bulwark against the machinations and murderous violence of Al-Shabab and similar radical groups. Instead, they now serve as a paramilitary force and an extension of Yassin’s NISA, and are often used to harass and intimidate political rivals and perceived enemies in the supposedly uncooperative federal member states. 

Indeed, several terrorist incidents and the recent increased campaign of assassinations that resulted in the killing of two regional governors- Mudug and Nugal in the Puntland region of Somalia appear to have Qatari fingerprints on them. According to the New York Times, an audio leak of a 2019 phone call from the Qatari ambassador in Somalia appears to confirm his direct involvement in a suicide attack that took place in the port city of Bossaso. At best, NISA is incompetent in preventing such actions; at worst, Yassin may have made some individuals complicit.

Somali Soldiers Chant the Turkish Anthem In Libya

Turkey has expanded its presence in several Arab countries by always using the pretext of providing military support and training. That was done in Syria and Libya in particular. Turkey also uses a second key called political Islam, for the same goals.

The training operations carried out by the Turkish army in Somalia include basic training for about three months in Mogadishu, and then transporting the soldiers by air to the commando center in the state of Sparta, western Turkey, as all the mercenaries of various nationalities who were trained there, receiving additional training for three months. Those soldiers who completed their training in Sparta would join the ranks of the Somali army, to complete the tasks assigned to them and participate in sensitive operations.

The statements of high ranked Turkish officials about these sensitive operations did not tell the truth. When 15 to 16 thousand soldiers graduate from the Turkish training center, one third of the Somali army would be trained by Turkey. Some leaked information revealed that Turkey intends to send Somali mercenaries to Libya, to participate in the possible battles of Sirte and Jufrah.

Despite the UN resolutions that called on Ankara to stop its intervention in Libya, especially the takeaways of the Berlin conference and despite the Turkish ambassador’s denial of these leaks, his acts say the opposite. Ahval website reported that the Somali soldiers have learnt Turkish language, reading and writing, and alongside the Somali national anthem, they chant the anthem of the war forces and the Turkish Izmir Military anthem.

The Ottoman Occupation of Somalia

Turkey’s establishment of a military base in Somalia has raised many questions about the limits of the Turkish role in Africa in general and in Somalia in particular, the Somali position and its impact on the national interests of other international and regional powers. The base, which foundations were laid in March 2015 occupy 400 hectares and house three military schools, dormitories and depots, over an area of 400 acres, at a cost of $50 million.  

Erdogan's has desired to promote his image as a leader of the Islamic world starting from Somalia, by contributing to the settlement of the political conflict there, restoring security and providing humanitarian relief. Turkey found favorable conditions for achieving its goal while Arab States were busy putting their house in order in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolutions.

Ankara decided to engage actively in conflict settlement and reunification of Somalia, through sponsoring talks between the government in Mogadishu, the authorities in Somaliland and regional administrations in Puntland Jubaland and others. Nevertheless, the real purpose of establishing the Turkish military base in Somalia goes far beyond the scope of protecting its economic interests in Africa. 

security was never absent in any Turkish initiative in

Somalia because the Somalia’s strategic location

security was never absent in any Turkish initiative in

Somalia because the Somalia’s strategic location

security was never absent in any Turkish initiative in

Somalia because the Somalia’s strategic location

Turkeys quest to establish a military base in Somalia reveals new tools in the Turkish foreign policy towards Africa: using the elements of hard power, after managing to achieve several breakthroughs in Africa by using the elements of soft power. This raises questions about the reasons and the timing of this shift and its possible replication in other African countries.