Back Home Politician
Big belly, small mind, ill-fitting polyester suit, grandiose ego—these are the 4 building blocks of Back Home Politician. College degree? Good morals? Administrative and technocratic competence? Who needs any of
that when
qabyaalad and
af misharnimo can get you to the big leagues in Somali politics—yet Somalis wonder why theirs is the worst country in the world. Back Home Politician hasn’t read a book in several decades (and probably can’t read), but he’s closely involved in creating Somalia’s new constitution. He is profoundly corrupt yet gives speeches against
musuqmaasuq every week. He is officially against
qabyaalad and 4.5, but yet he is an expert manipulator of
qabil politics and knows how to work a crowd based on
qabil chauvinism. If he’s from Puntland, his favorite word is “federaal.” If he’s from Mogadishu, “Benadir State” is always on the tip of his tongue. If he’s from Gedo, you’ll never see him there but he is a frequent guest at Nairobi's luxury hotels. Once, in a previous government, Back Home Politician was appointed minister; he was so corrupt he even stole the ministry’s vehicles on his way out of office. He may even have signed Somalia’s ocean territories—and billions in resources— away. Whoops. Whatever city he has a position in, Back Home Politician is involved in a land dispute with a poor family. Although
dhaqan iyo din is one of his political rallying cries, Back Home Politician likes the ladies and has several young ones visit him in his hotel room or villas, although he is not married to any of them. Back Home Politician cares about poor people—or at least being pictured “helping” them. Always in campaign mode, he tours diaspora cities to speak to
jaaliyada soomaaliyeed, although in reality everyone in the room is from his own
juufo (closest kin group). The 2021 elections are around the corner, and Back Home Politician has his eyes set on Villa Somalia. In his mind, he is the only one capable of rescuing these people, the only one deserving of this high office. His clan thinks so too. There’s a very good chance he’ll become Somalia’s next federal president—or at least the UAE hopes so and is funding his campaign. If he becomes president, expect the familiar story of incompetence, corruption, tribalism, and lack-of-progress to go on in Somalia. But don’t expect Back Home Politician to accept any responsibility for the predicable failures on the radar for him. He will blame s
hiisheye, al-Shabaab,
qabyaalad, the arms embargo, lack of
ictiraf, Mogadishu—or just about anything except himself for all of his (many) shortcomings. When he leaves office, Back Home Politician will retire to the lavish villa he built for himself in Nairobi, Ankara or Dubai and will spend his days lazily lounging around and enjoying his loot (aka the stolen tax money of hardworking Somalis). In his down-time, when he’s not seeing a steady stream of supplicants and cronies plotting to return him to power, he will take to social media, sharing his vacuous and self-serving political opinions. His Facebook page has thousands of likes from clan sycophants, who will respond to his posts with comments like “sax
mudane ilaahay ha ku xafido.” Back Home Politician will read these comments, smile, and realize these suckers are his for life.
Aside from being a big driver of dysfunction in Somalia, Back Home Politician keeps everyone in the diaspora and fans the flames of
qabyaalad and political stagnation. He is one of the most vile, and tragically most reoccurring, archetypes.