HOUSE OF SPEAKER SEAT CHOSEN, HOW?


Things are looking real rosy in Mogadishu at the moment. We have officially nominated a House of Speaker. Mr Mohamed Osman Jawari was elected by MPs with a majority in a smooth transaction. For those of you that are mystified how the process goes, it’s pretty straightforward. Let me explain in further detail.

Before the election, it was decided in principle on an agreement called 4.5. What does this 4.5 mean? Well, this 4.5 is a share of control between the 4 major clans of Somalia and 0.5 consisting of the minority. For those of you that are common in Somali affairs, you would understand that in Somalia, Clan is a major factor in society. One cannot come into a house and re-arrange the seating and furniture. You have to first acknowledge the way things are, and then maybe from time to time, try to arrange on a step by step basis, the interior of the building.

Somalia has 4 major tribes consisting of: Hawiye, Darood, Diir and Rahanwayne. They are part of the 4 agreement parties and 0.5, being the minority clans and others. The top jobs in the Country are: The President, The Prime Minister and the House of speaker. If one tribe gets the, for example, presidential seat, then the Prime Minister and the House of Speaker must be from another tribe within that 4.

Today, the House of speaker chosen was from the Rahanwayne tribe replacing Sheikh Hassan Aden, who himself was a Rahanwayne. He was running for the top seat but within his reach due to the fact that his tribe is already represented by the new House of Speaker.

Now, the fight is on between the 3 remaining tribes; Hawiye, Darood and Diir, for the presidential seat. There are 26 candidates in the race. The major runners being, the current President Sheikh Sharif of the Hawiye tribe, the Prime Minister Abdiweli Gass of the Darood tribe and several others consisting of the Hawiye, Diir and Darood. Any Rahanwayne must now step aside from the race due to the fact that it has a representative who now heads the House of Speaker. However, if a Hawiye member is chosen as president, then he must select a prime minister from the 2 remaining tribes, which are Darood and Diir. This was done so that the 4 major clans can share power and can all have influence on Somalia.

 I hope this clears up a lot of confusion because I was just as confused before I arrived in Mogadishu. Personally, I couldn't care who is who, just that Somalia is freed of extremism and this “Clan” ideology. But like I said earlier, it cannot be done over night. Rome was not built in a day, and I’m sure we Somalis recognise that. But with Faith, hope, Education and a coming together, we can build Somalia in a few years.
We are tired of being spread across the globe. It is time we Somalis showed the world our talent and hard work.

On a final note, whoever gets the top job must recognise the youths of Somalia. Whether we come from abroad or are locals. I despise the term Diaspora. It feels as if we are being labelled. We are Somalis. 

When we are abroad, we fight to be recognised as Somalis because that is who we are; Somalis. We fight for Somalia and raise the awareness of Somalia wherever in the globe we may be.
Let’s get together and FREE SOMALIA!

Mohamed Hassan (Dj)

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