President Hassan Sheikh has been flying around apologising for his poor foreign policy decision making after the Ankara agreement to Eritrea and Djibouti. Senior officials at Villa Somalia and the Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs have briefed the media privately that the sudden unplanned missions to Eritrea adn Djibouti this week was for Hassan Sheikh to explain to both leaders why he is flip flopping on Somalia’s position on Ethiopia accessing the Red Sea. Hassan Sheikh so far only offered apologies and excuses according to insiders at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the presidents office.
Both Djibouti and Eritrea originally thought the new alliance between Somalia-Eritrea-Egypt was going to keep Ethiopia away from the Somali sea and protect both of their national interests. Now, none of their interests are safe because Hassan Sheikh has backtracked on the alliance he desperately sought from Eritrea and Egypt after the hasty Ankara agreement.
The inclusion of Ethiopian troops was originally refused by president Hassan Sheikh and his National Security adviser. Now, they are backtracking again and confusing messages are coming out of Villa Somalia and the Foreign Minister Fiqi. This is another example of the one man show Hassan Sheikh has made into Somalia’s foreign policy. The one man show is failing Somalia and endangering its national security.
Apart from the international relations failures Hassan Sheikh is embroiled in he is also facing many different inter-clan wars at home. He is absent in domestic politics and ineffective abroad. Somalia is not at peace with itself or the world: it is confused and at war with itself and isolated from even its neighbors. This is a serious situation and Somalia’s national interests are in more danger than ever before with Hassan Sheikhs failed leadership.
