http://hiiraan.com/op4/2013/dec/52721/t ... start.aspxFirst of all, I would like to congratulate His Excellency, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed on his new job as the Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia, a country, in the Horn of Africa, that is still faced with the daunting prospect of overcoming more than two decades of conflict and state collapse. By the grace of God, he will manage to deliver, God willing.
This short piece of writing strikes a note of expressing the impression I got of the new Prime Minister in general and his recent tour, on his 2nd day in office, to four places in Mogadishu in particular. That visit was noticeably significant, in a sense, as it came just less than 40 hours after his endorsement by the Federal Parliament of Somalia as the Prime of the Federal Government of Somalia, with a view to pushing through his work and getting ahead in it.
After being approved in a record-breaking vote by the Federal Parliament, His Excellency, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed, the new Prime Minister officially took office on the 26th of December 2013. He is an economist by training with strong background in business development and resource mobilization. The appointment and confirmation of Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, at this critical juncture of Somalia’s history, marks another attempt to give new momentum to peace-building and state-building efforts of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in line with the Six-pillar policy set out by the president, the Somali Compact, the Vision 2016 and other plans and programs of the current administration.
As you would expect, the Somali people are used to accepting political newcomers despite themselves and choose to give them the benefit of the doubt. Mr. Ahmed is the 18th Prime Minister since 1956 when Somalia was UN Trust Territory under the Italian administration. He is the sixth Prime Minister in six years.
In the face of his tight schedule and far from his back to back consultations with the stakeholders in the run up to announcing his anxiously awaited cabinet formation, the new Prime Minister has set the prototype of his utmost priorities and immediate tasks ahead of his upcoming administration. The choice of the four places he decided to pay his first visits is indicative of how well he is committed and set to get along in his new job to deliver on his pledges differently by focusing on putting the house of Somalia in order by addressing internal issues. By these well-chosen and according to plan visits, the Prime Minister has set out his priorities by answering some burning questions in the minds of the impoverished Somalis.
On the 2nd day following his confirmation, the new Prime Minister visited the ailing Somali Music legend Abdi Tahlil Warsame and paid a flying visit to Rajo camp which is home to thousands of Somali Displaced families. Then He inaugurated Moalin Jama Secondary School and finally toured the famous Mogadishu Port.
Through this tour, the new Prime Minister has actually turned the attention to the plight of the Somali masses in terms of caring for the sick, resettling the Internally Displaced people as well as educating Somali children and managing the government revenue. Theses much-needed social and financial services are to be delivered, if the government wishes to win the minds and the hearts of the deserving sympathy Somali people. The current permanent government, and of course, its successive predecessors, is most vulnerable on those fronts.
As first things first principle, the tour has gone to prove that the soon to be formed government of Prime Minister will place great importance on the much-needed public services delivery with an emphasis on health, education and social and financial recovery which are the core tasks of any sensibly credible government.
To have the common touch, the Prime Minister visited Abdi Tahlil Warsame, a prominent songwriter and singer who has been bed-ridden of late, finding out how he was and helping him out with kindness. Such a rare gesture and high level visit to the most vulnerable part of the society could be a big boost to the confidence of the Somali ordinary people in their political leadership.
Selecting out those particular places for his first visits, Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed has proposed his course of action and made his debut as the New Prime Minister. He is expected of coming up with programs and plans that will deliver, touch wood. That is the hope Somalis have for the future this time round. In view of that tour and judging him by his touching base with the masses, the New Prime Minister has got off to a new start.
