Collapse of Talks in Kismayo Was Unfortunate
Ahmed Said Abwaankuluc
OPINION
The collapse of talks in Kismayu between the Kismayo administration and the federal government of Somalia was in every way unfortunate one in the sense that such collapse of talks could have been averted by the parties. Averting the collapse of talks could have made a great deal of common sense for the whole of Somalia in general and for the futuristic dream of building a Somali State in the name of Jubaland; in the context of the whole of Somalia, solving the hot potato politics of the Jubaland would have been an excellent precedent for building other Somali States in the country in a peaceful and agreeable manner. It is very clear that the both sides have lost a good opportunity to reach an agreement.
By reading a reliable sources online both in English and Somali, right after the collapse of the talks, I gathered the key ingredient of the disagreement that kicked the final straw that dragged the meeting to its demise was dancing around constitutionality of each side’s argument on how to solve the deadlock, with the federal government proposal to build a six-month interim administration in the area while scrapping the long standing arrangements by the current Kismayo administration and others to build a Jubaland administration right away without resigning in their views to an interim administration; there is nothing wrong with both ideas but in my opinion, building the Jubaland administration from now on would be a nicer option when we look at the past history of conflicts and warlord culture coupled by clan competition vying for the good resources in Jubaland area especially in Lower Juba and its capital of Kismayu.
It is a wise advice for the federal government and Kismayu administration to come back to the negotiating table and device a compromise with peaceful means to solve their differences; if an administration is declared in Jubaland without the blessing of the federal government, then the legitimacy of such administration will in jeopardy, and likewise, if the federal government does not facilitate the birth of a Jubaland administration whereby the Jubaland people are in the driving seat, then such administration would be a de facto one with an airport and a seaport with high probabilities of being dealt with by certain countries with or without the interests of Somalia.
Ahmed Said Abwaankuluc
Minnesota, United States
xaawaleey1@hotmail.com
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