Sharif Hassan
The political and cultural leaders of Digil and Mirifle have gathered in Baidoa. They are divided on what the outcome of political meetings should be. A group led by former Speaker of Parliament, Sharif Hassan, favours the formation of a regional administration based three regions- Lower Shabelle, Bay and Bakool. His rivals, led by Adam Madobe, a former Speaker of the former Transitional Parliament, opposes Sharif Hassan’s view. However, he has not fully committed himself to the six-region goal espoused by the Speaker of the Somali Parliament, Mr Jawari, who said the Addis Ababa agreement between Somali Federal Government and Jubba Administration was incomplete and should be looked at it again regionally ( read: Ethiopian reconsideration).
Adam Madobe
Shairif Hassan has been accused of taking a little or no interest in entrenching or boosting Digil and Mirifle political power through early intervention to form a Southwest regional administration. He believes the accusation is baseless: “ Al Shabab ruled Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle when I was the Speaker of Parliament. We have to create something. We don’t have to destroy something,” Sharif Hassan told Royal TV reporter in Baidoa.
Digil and Mirifle political resurgence worries some clans in southern Somalia. Marehan and Habargidir, two clans Dr Afyare Elmi of Qatar University and author of Understanding the Somalia Conflagration calls migratory clans, whose militias made up the force of the former Jubba Valley Alliance that once ruled Lower Shabelle and Lower Jubba regions, have a lot to fear from Digil and Mirifle ‘political aspirations’ . This fear is not new. In 1999 Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) kicked Habargidir militias loyal to Hussein Aided in Baidoa . The message was clear: Digil and Mifile territories are no longer a soft touch. Habargidir militias formed an alliance with disaffected Marehan militias outside Kismayo, and captured Kismayo and ruled it since 2006 after the Union of Islamic Courts disbanded the Jubba Valley Alliance
The Speaker of the Somali Parliament Jawar
RRA leaders had a dream to form a regional administration based on three regions proposed by Sharif Hassan and three more –Lower Jubba, Middle Jubba and Gedo but they hardly acted on it due to political rivalries that created a Digil and Mirfile group dependent on Mogadishu warlords and political and religious potentates. The political equation is different today. Jubba Interim Administration forces have defeated Marehan militias in Kismayo; Habargidir militias are believed to have been rebranded as Somali Army units, allegedly waging a war in Lower Shabelle. Habargidir traditional leaders claim their people are victims of ethnic cleansing in Lower Shabelle.
Populist calls to form a southwest regional administration based on six regions convention may undermine Baidoa Convention. There is a hope that the pragmatism of Sharif Hassan may win the day to boost political fortunes of Digil and Mirifle clan again.
Raxanreeb
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