All indications
point to the dismal failure of Eldoret Conference
Abdirizak
Omar Mohamed
Toronto, Ontario
By now
we must have lost count of the number of reconciliation
conferences we have had for the past 12 years. Is the Eldoret
conference in Kenya another one doomed for failure? And
how is it different than the previous peace conferences?
To measure the success or failure of its outcome depends
on the answer to the later in conjunction with other elements
such as the IGAD involvement, the Arab league and the Organizations
of African Union and etc.
The
composition of the major players is not different than the
participants of the past Arta conference with the exception
of members of the Ethiopian backed SSRC who are attending
the Eldoret conference. However there are other players
who are missing from the Eldoret conference namely the members
of Somali-land and their participation is paramount to the
success of its outcome and the rebuilding of a united Somali
nationhood. These warlords have failed to reconcile 12 times
in the past why should we expect them to reconcile now!
Hope for the best but expect for the worst to come out of
this yet cycle of reconciliation.
The
rhetoric is that the international community is interested
to get involved this time, and thus we should expect the
outcome to be positive, we should not be deceived into believing
that, Why should we? With the meager financial support thrown
to the palms of the organizing IGAD committee a.k.a. (Technical
Committee). Their participation is only confined to the
logistics support as the international community is concerned.
Major western media are shunned out of the Eldoret peace
conference and are instead preoccupied with the news of
the Sniper hunt in Washington area or Alqaeda activities
in the Middle East or the trigger- happy Bush’s ultimate
goal of invading Iraq.
Let
us revisit the Ireland Peace initiatives to gain a perspective
of some of the elements that resulted its successful outcome,
it was not until the parties engaged fully, under American
eyes, that the breakthroughs of the peace process became
evident. The question we keep asking is as far as the American
support is concerned, did the Americans sent any one who
has the caliber of Senator George Mitchell, who successfully
chaired the peace talks in Northern Ireland to this Somali
peace conference in Kenya? I leave the answer to the reader!
Peacemakers come in many hues. Like Ireland, Somalia is
far too important to be left just to governments and diplomats.
Peace "comes dropping slow", as Yeats wrote, but
it needs many hands to bring it about, including full support
and complete involvement of international communities and
the expertise of the western world and not only the IGAD
members who have their own hidden agenda. Emphasis should
have been placed and the conference should have been politicized
and given coverage by the international communities for
it to bring about fruition for the efforts invested.
Today,
the UN's moral authority is sorely wounded, bleeding from
its wounds in Bosnia, in Rwanda, in Afghanistan and its
inaction in Somalia would only worsen the plight of millions
of Somalis and challenge its authority in pursuit of peace
through out the globe. One thing that International communities
agreed upon on numerous occasions is the fact that governments
that cease to function such as Somalia become feeding grounds
for terrorists and yet they are silent to participate fully
in the Eldoret peace conference.
Another
factor that is worth million smiles for the success of this
peace conference is the genuine intentions of these warlords
who are present in the conference. And they must show that
everyone has a direct interest in achieving peace –
an interest that reasonably outweighs any interest these
warlords have in pursuing other ends. And this will only
be realized in the aftermath of Eldoret conference, as they
will conceal their true feelings during the peace negotiations
for fear of indictments. It is important mentioning that
through out the south of the country inflation has gone
down and food price sharply declined what could be better
than this to coincide with their departure.
The
absence of Somali-land members on this historic peace negotiations,
the lack of support from the international communities,
the lack of experience from the organizers of the conference
coupled with their own hidden agenda on Somalia would only
contribute to its dismal failure. Equally, given the credibility
of the participants of the peace negotiations and the pre-
conference rhetoric by some of the warlords and our experience
with the past peace conferences all point to one thing.
We must keep our hand close to our chests and hope for the
best, but this is yet another peace and reconciliation conference
doomed for failure.
Abdirizak
Omar Mohamed
Abdirizakm@hotmail.com
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