MINNESOTA, 20 February 2014— The Somali Institute for
Peace Research (SIPR) has today issued a press release warning the active and
deliberate derailment of the Baidoa federal state building process.
In the press release, SIPR Founding Executive Director,
Sakawdin Mohamed, writes “spoilers must not disrupt Somalia’s federal state
building process and its peaceful democratic ways of establishing regional
administrations in order to combat terror and lawless or the return of warlords
in the Southwest regions.”
Over the past 25 years, the people of South-west Somalia
have suffered through a devastating atrocities, famine, terrorism and massive land-grabbing
which have forced millions to flee their homes, and innocent men, women and
children in Southwest Somalia suffer continuing attacks, illegal check points,
extra judicial killings and acts of terror many of which are launched by
Al-shabaab terrorists and by uniformed militias hired by the Somali Federal
Government whom are all taking advantage and feed on the constant lawless, lack
of local regional administrations as well as the deliberate leadership vacuum
that exists in Southwest Somalia . While
promising grassroots, locally owned federal state building process and consensus-building
talks for the formation of Southwest Federal State is currently underway in Baidoa,
one individual player threatens to derail the entire process for personal gains.
Regional experts declare that the Baidoa federal state
building process is Southwest's best hope for a peaceful and stable future for
Somalia and the entire Horn of Africa region.
It is therefore the duty of the Somalia stakeholders to forcefully speak
out together to ensure its success.
“Evidence, eye witness reports and delegations on the ground
confirm that there no two opposing conferences or meetings going on, but there are
few paid-agents who are organizing a staged showoff. These spoiler elements have long benefitted
the continued chaos, and were numerous times cited in UN Monitoring Groups
reports to the Security Council. These
spoiler networks have the intention to derail the one-year old Baidoa process.
The elders started this conference a year ago with the constitutional mandate
and support agreement from Somali President, who later withdrew his support
just to side with warlords and for tribal motives.” Said Mr. Mohamed, who added
that the spoilers were “trying to derail, dilute, obstruct, and even forcefully
harm” the integrity of this grassroots federal state building process through
intimidation, bribery, and influence-peddling.
SIPR, however, emphasized that any interference in the
democratic locally owned and constitutional based federal state building
process in these recently liberated areas of Somalia should not be tolerated
and should be sanctioned by the UN’s highest body.
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