Mahad Wasuge

Somalia experienced a leadership change in early 2017. After months of parliamentary (s)elections, lower and upper house parliamentarians were sworn in in late 2016. The two chambers of the federal parliament elected Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo as the president of the state. Within two weeks a prime minister was appointed and the parliament unanimously gave him their vote of confidence. The prime minister announced a large cabinet and the parliament, as per the constitution, endorsed the government in late March 2017.

On Friday evening 15th July, a faction of Turkish military forces attempted to topple the democratically elected President, Erdogan. The group declared a martial law on Turkish state television in Ankara. President Erdogan asked citizens go to streets and oppose the coup d’état. The tanks and helicopters of the group clashed with citizens and police in the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. On early Saturday, president Erdogan landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and it was apparent that the coup failed. At least 265 individuals were killed and more than 1440 were wounded. The Turkish government accused Fethullah Gulen as the mastermind of the failed coup. More than six thousand army officers and judges many of whom believed to be supporters of the exiled cleric are detained by authorities. Turkey’s opposition parties and many world leaders condemned the attempted coup. But the U.S. and its European allies in NATO reacted to the coup with caution, urging restraint.

Somalia is a nation where its people often focus on discussing about the nature of politics. Those people also look forward to holding positions in the government, regardless of their educational status. We see almost all Somalis claim that they are well-versed in issues related to politics. Strangely enough, most of those people never admit they are ignorant of the rudimentary knowledge in politics.

I started writing this piece when I was listening to one of Dahir Ga’amey Somali songs that he composed after his visit to Buulaburte. In the song, he vividly described the natural beauty of the city – lyrics that resuscitated my dormant memory.

Waxa aan bilaabay qoraalkan waqti aan dhageysanayay mid kamid ah heesaha Daahir Gacameey taas ee uu curiyay mar uu booqday Buulaburte. Heestan waxa uu fanaanka si qurux badan ugu qeexay quruxda dabiiciga ah ee magaalada.

Tan iyo markii uu dagaalkii sokeeye ka qarxay Soomaaliya, dalka waxa uu galay nidaam darro jirtay muddo ka badan labaatan sano. Maadaama uu dagaalkii sokeeye sii dheeraaday, kumannaan qof ayaa ka carartay dalka si ay naftooda u badbaadiyaan. Kuwa dalka ka qaxay waxa kamid ahaa dhalinyaro isugu jiray rag iyo dumar.

Since the civil war broke out in Somalia, the country descended into lawlessness over twenty years. Because of the prolonged civil war, thousands of people fled the country to salvage their lives. Among those fled were the young men and women.

When Somalia gained its independence in 1960, subsequent Somali governments structured a centralized unitary state. In the post-independent system, the President, Prime Minister, and the speaker of the parliament were those in the highest political leadership. After consultation with the political leaders, the President names the Prime Minister and then the Prime Minister appoints his cabinet ministers following a parliamentarian approval.

am taking an online course on Public Policy Challenges in the 21st century. In the first week of the course, the professor and the students were exploring issues that are likely to dominate the US public policy agenda in the year 2030.