Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame announced his candidacy for Somali president in the 2016 election.
The announcement was made at Hotel Jazeera Palace, attended by politicians, intellectuals, members of federal parliament, and leaders of other political parties.
Chairperson of Wadajir party, Kamal Gutale, said that the party has decided to participate in this year’s presidential election and announced Abdishakur is the party’s flag bearer.
Abdishakur held various political positions in Somalia including being a minister, a member of federal parliament, advisor to the president and a senior political advisor to UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Somalia. He is a respected politician among Somalia and members of international community.
“The current leadership has failed to provide political leadership, national vision and political stability”, said Abdishakur Mr Abdishakur has pointed out that the current leadership has not achieved much about building national army that protects sovereignty and the constitutional order , securing and stabilizing the country, eliminating Alshabaab and taking over the responsibility from AMISOM. Abdishakur added that the government did nothing to revive the institutions that are mandated with restoring law and order, as well as national sovereignty such as the police, intelligence, and prison services.
The candidate highlighted that improving public finance management institutions and fighting corruption are essential for good governance, the taxation and revenue generations leads to national self-sufficiency and political independence, and bridges relationship between the government and its citizens, enhances public services and building infrastructures.
“A government without internal revenue is like a car without a fuel”, said Abdishakur.
Corruption, he said, is a disease that is spread in all parts of the government, especially in national fixed assets, which are distributed illegally. “The president doesn’t differentiate between his decisions and the law,” said Abdishakur, adding “corruption has become a symbol for the current leadership, which decided to solve every problem with bribes.”
The candidate also talked about the state of the country’s judiciary, saying that President Hassan himself acknowledged by his words that his government has failed in reforming the justice system. “Judiciary is a base for good governance and if the president has acknowledged the failure, I don’t understand why he is seeking reelection?” asked Abdishakur.
“Bureaucracy is the backbone of administrative machinery and of the public service. Without them, the government cannot function, because it is the engine. National army, judiciary, and public administration are the pillars of the state. Today all government communications are both verbal and physical contacts and that is why we see continuous and endless meetings,” said Abdishakur.
He said that current administration has failed to deliver the tasks that mandated by the constitution including reviewing the provisional constitution, preparing the country for one-person one-vote and establishing of federal members states.
Abdishakur unveiled his political plans will focus on reconciliation, by launching a national dialogue on the contentious issues of relationship between the center and the regions, revenues and resources sharing, and national security architecture.
The candidate urged Somalis to be self-reliant, facing their challenges, saying that he will seek his peoples mandate and recognition by furthering national interest and determining to restore dignity and freedom by building a national army. “Clan militias can’t form a national army. Somalia can handle Alshabaab by itself, as shown by the manner in which Puntland, Galmudug and Ahlu Sunna defeated the group. We also need national police, intelligence, and prison services which are the backbone to security, law and order and fighting terrorism,” stated Abdishakur.
“The country needs to tackle corruption urgently and the only way we can do that is to establish a body consisting of Somali and international experts with the mandate to investigate and prosecute those suspected of being involved in the wide-spread corruption”, he concluded.
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