On February 8, 2017, Somalis all over the globe expressed their hopes in the election of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. He succeeded former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud as the fifth president in the era of post Carta Peace Convention of 2000.
“Farmajo Iigeeya,” or “take me to Farmajo” became a spur-of-the-moment national slogan on the eve of February 8, 2017. It was globally televised. Unlike Gil Scott Herron’s “revolution will not be televised” of the 1960 civil-rights era in the US, Farmajo’s hope-laden change was indeed televised.
This powerful message was driven home for a maximum impact by an iconic image of a destitute young Somali-Bantu man emotionally screaming “Farmajo Iigeeya!” Some saw in this image the end of an era of misery, poverty, and lawlessness.
To the dismay of millions of Somalis, those words were abused by the very man for whom the bell rang. Following his infantile move to select an unimpressive cabinet, his visionless, mediocre communication skills, and his subsequent pedestrian approach to complex issues were all early signs of a wrong direction that country took.
Only 30 days into his term, on March 20, 2017, I wrote an article titled “Farmajo: The Saga of Missed Opportunity.”Here is my concluding remarks of that article:
“On February 8, 2017, president Farmajo was given the one powerful tool, political mandate, to … rebuild Somalia afresh. Unfortunately, he failed to harness such an immense political capital and instead gravitate back to the hell hole that he felt comfortable. Unless he changes course, which is unlikely, his legitimacy and the short-lived mandate he had until recently may not come back to him.
Since then, I have watched the country drifting farther to the abyss. Of course, some relative improvements over previous years have been achieved. A case in point is the establishment of a small elite but mighty military contingent. That would have been celebrated had he not used it to terrorize oppositon leader and suppress popular sentiments.
“Farmajo Iigeeya,” or “take me to Farmajo” became a spur-of-the-moment national slogan on the eve of February 8, 2017. It was globally televised. Unlike Gil Scott Herron’s “revolution will not be televised” of the 1960 civil-rights era in the US, Farmajo’s hope-laden change was indeed televised.
This powerful message was driven home for a maximum impact by an iconic image of a destitute young Somali-Bantu man emotionally screaming “Farmajo Iigeeya!” Some saw in this image the end of an era of misery, poverty, and lawlessness.
To the dismay of millions of Somalis, those words were abused by the very man for whom the bell rang. Following his infantile move to select an unimpressive cabinet, his visionless, mediocre communication skills, and his subsequent pedestrian approach to complex issues were all early signs of a wrong direction that country took.
Only 30 days into his term, on March 20, 2017, I wrote an article titled “Farmajo: The Saga of Missed Opportunity.”Here is my concluding remarks of that article:
“On February 8, 2017, president Farmajo was given the one powerful tool, political mandate, to … rebuild Somalia afresh. Unfortunately, he failed to harness such an immense political capital and instead gravitate back to the hell hole that he felt comfortable. Unless he changes course, which is unlikely, his legitimacy and the short-lived mandate he had until recently may not come back to him.
Since then, I have watched the country drifting farther to the abyss. Of course, some relative improvements over previous years have been achieved. A case in point is the establishment of a small elite but mighty military contingent. That would have been celebrated had he not used it to terrorize oppositon leader and suppress popular sentiments.
Farmajo: Factors Impeding his Re-election - WardheerNews
Farmajo: Factors Impeding his Re-election
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