OFFICIAL I am Tres Thomas, owner of Somalia Newsroom -- AMA

[OfficialAMA]

once u finish ur PhD, wat do u plan on doing?

I would like to be a professor focusing on east African politics, because strangely on the east coast in the U.S., there are not enough of them that have that focus, in my opinion.

 

[OfficialAMA]

Hi tres and welcome.

What are your opinions on HSM's administration? Is he a bumbling baffoon or a cunning politician

Also have you ever been to somalia?

Hi, thanks. I think it's more that Hassan Sheikh has bad advisors rather than that he's a bad politician. I definitely disagree with his handling of the federalism process. At the same time, blame can be spread among most of the political elite. As the President of all presidents, though, he has to shoulder the blame for not being able to create the political consensus that he has needed to in his four years in power.

 

[Queen Carawelo]

Did you have Somalis in Alabama while growing up?

 

[OfficialAMA]

The Somali government has marginalized the Sufis in Central Somalia, banned Christmas and cut ties with Iran because they were 'spreading Shia Islam in Somalia'. Do you think religious minorities will play any significant role in the future Somalia?

It seems like Sufi celebrations are quite vibrant at the moment, and I don't think there are many Shia in Somalia to begin with. The FGS "denied" banning Christmas, but to me it's a moot issue because there aren't Christians in Somalia. Christians in AMISOM celebrated without drama, so I don't think religious minorities suffer any distinct marginalization at this moment.

 

[OfficialAMA]

Did you have Somalis in Alabama while growing up?

LOL. Ummm, not that I know of!

 

[OfficialAMA]

LOL. Ummm, not that I know of!

Hi, thanks. I think it's more that Hassan Sheikh has bad advisors rather than that he's a bad politician. I definitely disagree with his handling of the federalism process. At the same time, blame can be spread among most of the political elite. As the President of all presidents, though, he has to shoulder the blame for not being able to create the political consensus that he has needed to in his four years in power.

Also, I've been to Mogadishu and Hargeisa.

 

[Duchess]

Thank you for stopping by Tres. It's been a pleasure having you on the forum.

 

[Geeljire]

I think the Heritage survey was right that federalism is misunderstood. I also agree that it is currently, elite-driven, influenced by foreign countries, and could lead to regional admins that are too clan-oriented in nature. But one of the good things in federalism being so flexible right now is that Somalis can change it IF the process moves away from simply being driven by the Pres, regional leaders, the PM et al.

Basically, the process needs to involve more stakeholders so that Somalis can define federalism for themselves. There is too much personal interests by Somali political leaders that is crowding out discussion among Somalis.

I think the most important things that federalism has to address are security and service delivery. If federalism is not delivering on that, all the meetings in Kismayo about elections and so forth don't mean anything. So the question needs to be asked: Are all of the regional presidents and the President achieving their goal on security and service delivery for ALL of its constituents? Why is that not happening? I think it's because there is too much personal politics playing out between the whole lot. There is no transcendental political leader at the moment in Mogadishu or anywhere else that can improve the political climate unfortunately.

But what about the incompatibility of federalism in regards to Somalias homogenous majority populous, the relative small size and the countries poverty which many argues mean "it cannot afford to run multiple levels of administration".

So the question becomes, does Somalia have the requirements that necessitate federalism?

 

[OfficialAMA]

Thank you for stopping by Tres. It's been a pleasure having you on the forum.

Thanks for having me! And thanks for the interesting questions.

 

[OfficialAMA]

But what about the incompatibility of federalism in regards to Somalias homogenous majority populous, the relative small size and the countries poverty which many argues mean "it cannot afford to run multiple levels of administration".

So the question becomes, does Somalia have the requirements that necessitate federalism?

I think it takes time to build the requirments. Just because it doesn't have them now doesn't mean it can create them. I don't think there is anything about its population that makes it incompatible with federalism. But federalism is really just institutions and devolved systems of power. Somalia has few institutions and very uncoordinated systems of power, but those can be created. It just takes time. It took the U.S. 200 years to say, "We really have to give Black people rights." The only bad thing is that the international community expects Somalia to accomplish more challenging democratic tasks in just four years! It's an unfair expectation and creates the perception that it's not possible, but I think it is over time.

 

[Duchess]

If you guys have any other questions, follow Tres on Twitter.

 

[Abdalla]

Considering how corrupt the SFG is, why doesn't the international community opt for dealing with regional states directly?

 

[OfficialAMA]

Hi, welcome.

Is the Somalia military entirely up of many clan militias led by commanders of their own clan? Or is there evidence that there are exceptions?

That's a good question. It seems like they are mostly clan-based militias. I do wonder if US-trained special forces like Gaashaan/Alpha Group are multi-clan. I would think that they are.

 

[Geeljire]

I think it takes time to build the requirments. Just because it doesn't have them now doesn't mean it can create them. I don't think there is anything about its population that makes it incompatible with federalism. But federalism is really just institutions and devolved systems of power. Somalia has few institutions and very uncoordinated systems of power, but those can be created. It just takes time. It took the U.S. 200 years to say, "We really have to give Black people rights." The only bad thing is that the international community expects Somalia to accomplish more challenging democratic tasks in just four years! It's an unfair expectation and creates the perception that it's not possible, but I think it is over time.

Build requirments? I dont see that plausible at all concerning the points i raised.

Yeah this is what i think is the problem with alot of things in regards to federalism.

From the somali side of the spectrum, i feel like its mostly self centered egotism doing the talking.
They might agree on Federalism as a new model for state building , but they cannot then see that starts with research, reading books, discussing, formatting references. No, people want to jump from nothing to a new system like God in Genesis.

 

[OfficialAMA]

Considering how corrupt the SFG is, why doesn't the international community opt for dealing with regional states directly?

It does deal with regions directly. Ethiopia certainly does. Kenya does. UAE does. But at the end of the day, for national political issues, you have to consult with Villa Somalia and everyone, not just one or the other.

 

[OfficialAMA]

Build requirments? I dont see that plausible at all concerning the points a raised.

This what i think is the problem with alot of things regards to federalism.

From the somali side of the spectrum, i feel like its mostly egos doing the talking.
They might agree on the need for new Federalism as a new model for state, but they cannot then see that starts with research, reading books, discussing, formatting references. No, people want to jump from nothing to a new system like God in Genesis.

Well I agree with you 100% in the faults that are plaguing the federalism process so far. But what's the alternative? Regional administrations are here to say. In all honesty, I would like to see militia integration, revenue sharing, and service delivery take place as priorities. But you said it best, egos are in the way.

 

[Geeljire]

Well I agree with you 100% in the faults that are plaguing the federalism process so far. But what's the alternative? Regional administrations are here to say. In all honesty, I would like to see militia integration, revenue sharing, and service delivery take place as priorities. But you said it best, egos are in the way.

I think there are alternatives especially looking at in the long run. I think there is an importancy reviewing decentralized options. Like the example i gave earlier a decentralized unitary option.