Bashir Goth
In its issue, 2nd -8th March 2013, The Economist magazine drew a rosy picture of Africa in a 14-page special report of what it described as “the world’s fastest growing continent,” with a cover page title “Aspiring Africa”, featuring the picture of a giraffe with an exaggeratedly long neck scanning the far horizon. This is the second time in a little over a year that The Economist hits such a high note on the rising economic role of Africa. In December 2011, the magazine’s cover carried an illustration of a boy flying a rainbow-colored kite made in the shape of the continent, with the title “Africa rising.” More than a decade ago, however and exactly in May 2000, the magazine branded Africa as “the hopeless continent,” above a cover image of a militia man holding a weapon cropped in the shape of the map of the continent. One of the articles in the latter issue painted a picture of a continent ravaged by war, famine and disease.
In the 2013 issue,
the magazine portrayed a continent witnessing a fast growing economy with a GDP
expected to grow by an average of 6% a year in the next decade. It highlighted
that while a decade ago only three
countries out of 53 had democracies, the number has risen to 25 since then and
only four (Eritrea, Swaziland, Libya and Somalia) out of its current 55
countries are lacking a multi-party constitution, noting that even the last two (Libya and Somalia) would soon get one.
Among other
things, the magazine cited the reduction of violence and the return of peace
and stability as the main cause for the economic, political and cultural awakening
of Africa. It was heartwarming to see
Somaliland included in the magazine’s political map of emerging African
democracies, but what was even more delightful was to see Somalia described as
a place where “building sites now outnumber bomb sites.”
Why I quoted The
Economist? Because since the Magazine’s “hopeless continent” issue in 2000,
most of the continent’s perennial hotspots on which the magazine based its
negative attitude have made tremendous political and economic improvements
after their civil wars came to an end. Conflicts died out in countries like
Angola, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and others.
It is only
Somalia that still stands out as the ugly duckling and waits to join its swan
sisters in their flight from war and poverty to prosperity, good governance and
respect for the rule of law.
However, with the
removal of the plague of Al Shabab from the major cities and the establishment
of the new Somali Federal government, Somalia seems to be moving towards the
right direction. Mogadishu is bustling with construction, business and cultural
activities, people are sunbathing on the beaches, women are once again driving
and enjoying their freedom and the diaspora Somalis are flocking back to the
country bringing with them investments and badly needed entrepreneurship and
professional expertise and one hopes not with the intention of looting and
running back to their foreign safe havens.
The international
community is also doing its part to ensure that the baby steps being the taken
by new Somali government towards recovery develop into a steady and vigorous
walk. The US recognition of the new
government was a warm welcome and a curtain raiser for the huge enthusiasm the
world has for the Somali people to lift their country from the internecine
fratricide war and economic deprivation and to contribute to the world’s peace
and stability instead of being a source of terrorism and piracy. The partial
lifting of the arms embargo is a “vote of confidence” as pointed out by the
Argentinean Ambassador to the UN and a small measure to help Somalia to move
away from the international trusteeship and regain its sovereignty as stated by
the British Ambassador to the UN.
The question is, are
we as Somalis, ready to seize the moment? Are we willing to put our tribal
sentiments aside and help the government to achieve its goals in improving the
country’s security and justice system? Are we willing to put the building of
our nationhood before erecting fences between our clans? Are we willing to work
together to rid ourselves of the curse of piracy and terrorism and show the
world our acumen for entrepreneurship and innovation? Are we ready to safeguard
our country from being an easy prey to foreign greed, our seas to be the permanent
dumping ground for world waste, our natural wealth usurped by unscrupulous
corporations, our whole country swallowed by neighboring countries and our
existence wiped out from the world map?
Well, if you
think my concern is just an absurdly alarmist call for a fictional doom’s day,
think again. We have already seen the abyss and we know what it looks like to
be without a country, without dignity, without pride and to be roving, begging
refugees on whose face every door is closed, whose identity is suspected at
every airport, whose name is mocked as a symbol of lawlessness, failure and
violence. It is enough that the term Somalization has become a fearful and
notorious word for political failure and endless fragmentation of any country in
the 21st century political lexicon.
There is no doubt
that the road to recovery is long and strenuous. And naturally people would be
eager to see quick improvements in their livelihoods, security and the
establishment of the rule of law, but it is also true that despite the best of
intentions, the government will surely sometimes falter in its efforts deal
with the monumental problems it faces and due to its chronic lack of capacity
and resources. The most vital contribution we can make to help the government to
achieve some of its goals is to be patient and tolerant with it. It has already
achieved a lot in the short time that it has been in power. The government has
already made remarkable gains in its foreign policy. In less than six months it
got international recognition, partial lifting of the arms embargo, attracting
some foreign investments and improving the security of the areas liberated from
Al Shabab.
On the domestic
front, the government has removed dozens of the notorious check points where bandits
and clan militias used to rob people from their hard earned meager incomes. This
is not a mean feat for a government that faces the task of cleaning up the
physical mess and mental scars left by more than 20 years of war and mayhem.
This doesn’t mean
that we have to give carte blanche to the government and overlook its wrong
doings and shortcomings. On the contrary, we have to be vigilant to keep an eye
on the government’s dealings to ensure that the government is accountable to
the people and that power and resources are distributed as fairly as possible and
justice is delivered where it is due. Apart from reinforcing security and
defeating the remnants of Al Shabab, the other urgent priority for the
government should be to establish an independent justice system that could and
should immediately start a process of documenting all crimes committed against
the people over the last 20 years. Justice should be where the healing of the
Somali people starts and where the government should put all its power to
deliver it. Criminals who held the nation hostage for 20 years and more should
not be allowed to get away with their crimes. Warlords, rapists, looters who
robbed food from refugee children, Al Shabab and extremist hypocrites who tortured
the Somali people in the name of Islam and caused immense mental and physical
agony to them should face their victims in court.
This is the hour
for patriotism, if we have an iota of patriotism remaining in any of us; the hour
that we have to look each other in the eyes and take responsibility for what we
did to our country; the hour that each and every Somali should think what she
or he can do for our country and not for our clans; the hour that we should all
realize that no single clan can stand alone and it is only through the overall
prosperity and wellbeing of our country that all clans can prosper; the hour
that we have to collectively say: Yes, it is time we have to catch up
with the rest of Africa.