Abdi Noor: Hassan Sheikh, right-wing candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize

NAIROBI, Kenya – The present onslaught in opposition to Al-Shabaab, political stability and indicators of financial revolution in Somalia are sufficient to earn President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud the distinguished Nobel Peace Prize, argues Abdi Noor Mohamed, a Nairobi-based safety guide with UK clash decision knowledge.

Since the ouster of army ruler Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia has been beneath fixed clash, starting from inner political squabbling, inter-clan preventing and now violent extremism. The resurgence of Al-Shabaab and IS-Somalia militants has even made it tough for the state to type a steady authorities.

But within the final six months, there was major progress in all points, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud taking credit score, specifically within the financial revolution and army progress within the Al-Shabaab conflict. These, Noor believes, are robust motives to make Hassan Sheikh a robust candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize this yr.

The Nobel Peace Prize is the foremost coveted and most mentioned amongst different Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel, the person behind the thought of ​​the prize, recounted that the prize must be awarded, amongst different {things}, to “the individual who shall have achieved the foremost or the greatest work for brotherhood between nations, for the abolition or discount of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses ”.

Africa has produced notable Nobel Peace Prize laureates, chief amongst them former South African President Nelson Mandela, Kenyan environmentalist Prof. Wangari Maathai and most not too long ago Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Dr. Ahmed’s recognition has sparked combined emotions as a result of the clash within the Tigray area and different components of Ethiopia.

When he was elected for a second time period in May 2022, Hassan Sheikh reiterated his dedication to push for concord and reconciliation within the state. At the time, Somalia was vastly divided alongside political, ethnic and even social traces, making it extraordinarily ungovernable.

And regardless of the challenges, Noor notes, Hassan Sheikh has managed to deal with each clan and sub-clan variations, basing most of his efforts on session and reconciliation. Reconciliation, he notes, is the noblest trigger {that a} Somali management can harness for tangible financial transformation.

Fortunately, he says, Article 111I of the Somali Constitution presents for the institution of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to ”promote countrywide curative, reconciliation and unity and to make sure that problems of impunity, revenge and different triggers of violence are processed. by means of a authorized and state-directed procedure”.

On diplomatic fronts, Noor says, President Hassan Sheikh has embraced the range of East Africa and alongside the Horn of Africa and made memorable journeys favourable to Somalia. Since his victory in May 2022, Hassan Sheikh has visited Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia to advertise improved overseas relations.

By having good relations with the nations within the East African area, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was ready to get hold of higher cooperation from these nations within the battle in opposition to al-Shabaab. The cooperation could also pace up Somalia’s integration into the East African neighborhood, he provides.

Although the president has not recounted this categorically, some specialists within the area interpreted a ‘Somalia in concord with the world’ to intend that Somalia’s revanchist and irredentist insurance policies are quickly coming to an conclusion. Somalia has before advocated for the restoration of territories it strongly felt belonged to it. Somalia has not but withdrawn from this situation.

Hassan Sheikh has been on the the front traces spearheading the conflict in opposition to Al-Shabaab, which safety specialists say is now on the horizon. Early this yr, the president famous that Al-Shabaab may be absolutely eradicated from Galmadug and HirShabelle states, which they’ve managed for over a decade.

So severe has the assault been that over 300 al-Shabaab militants have reportedly been killed. The group has misplaced a number of the foremost strategic cities, inclusive of Gal’ad and Haradhere cities in central Somalia, the place they had been thrown out a few week in the past by safety forces with the assist of the USA Africa Command, ATMIS and the nearby militia.

Apart from the issue of ending the riot, there are various different challenges. In order for the nearby safety equipment to have the mandatory competencies and coaching, the Somali authorities ought to implement a complete reform of the safety sector. In addition, the authorities ought to keep away from human rights violations in its present army operation.

The Al-Shabaab insurgency is the only largest impediment to a peaceable Somalia. The insurgency has killed lots of hundreds of Somalis and devastated the state’s economic system. It has not spared the neighboring nations both. It has attacked Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Besides activating army fronts, President Hassan Sheikh has turned his focus to scaling lower back the group’s economic faucets by notifying economic establishments and enterprise proprietors. Al-Shabaab has run an annual finances of $100 million, primarily from nearby revenues.

Furthermore, the president is preventing for the incorporation of clerics and spiritual students within the ideological battle in opposition to al-Shabaab. Last week, over 300 clerics met in Mogadishu, backing calls to finish violent extremism whilst pledging to discourage youth from being recruited by the militants.

Empirical proof helps the president’s claims. In their lengthy 2008 examine, How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons in Countering Al Qaeda, Seth G. Jones and Martin C. Libicki checked out 648 terrorist communities that existed between 1968 and 2006 and examined how terrorist communities ended, he says.

They discovered that; ”Terrorist communities conclusion for 2 important motives: Members determine to undertake nonviolent techniques and be part of the political procedure (43 percentage), or nearby regulation enforcement arrests or kills key members of the group (40 percentage). Military electricity has hardly ever been the first motive for the conclusion of terrorist communities (7 per cent)”.

Hassan was purported to be the primary president beneath the newly launched federal system (2012-17) however misplaced to Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed higher referred to as Farmajo in fiercely contested polls in 2017. He would return final yr after a protracted political duel wherein Farmajo tried to increase his time period of workplace.