New Somali government takes shape

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 23 September 2000

NAIROBI, Kenya -- "I am excited and hopeful about the new Somali government, and continue to pray daily," said Bertha Beachy who directs the Eastern Mennonite Mission and Mennonite Central Committee (EMM/MCC) Somalia office in Nairobi.

For more than nine years Beachey has watched as hopes for peace in the region have risen and fallen. During the past decade Somalia has been in a virtual state of anarchy with no central government.

When hope for peace and a new government rose earlier this year in April and May, Beachy called the church to special prayer. Meanwhile, President Guelleh of neighboring Djibouti, was coordinating a new peace process.

In April the traditional and religious elders from major clans arrived in Arta, Djibouti, for talks. In May the real work began with more than 2,000 representives of the various Somali factions and negotiators present. The talks culminated in an interim three year constitution, the choice of 245 parliamentarians, and the election of Abdiqassim Salad Hassan as the new president of Somalia.

Then on August 30 the new president arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia, from Djibouti accompanied by 90 of the parliamentarians. More than 100,000 Somalis welcomed the new leaders with banners, the former Somali flag, and songs from the 1960 independence era. Not a shot was fired!

The new president of Somalia attended the August millennium meeting at the United Nations (U.N.) in New York and assured the assembly that a democratic Somalia would make a strong member. Thus Somalia was present at the U.N. for the first time in ten years.

"Will it work?" Beachy asked. "Some fear blood letting, but many of the people have a will to work because they want a future for their children. I find the most hope in the convictions and actions of the women who have struggled to keep food on the table. Quite a number have had some form of peace training."

Since leaving Somalia because of political turmoil in 1994, EMM and MCC workers have worked from a Nairobi office to facilitate traditional elders and women's peace conferences, assist in education and refugee concerns, and continue contact with friends from the past.

"Please continue to pray for the new government of Somalia and for peace in the region!" said Beachy. "There's a hard road ahead, but we're filled with hope after a decade of anarchy. God can help to change what no one else can."

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org