Ottawa man thrust into Somalia's pirate world Former gas bar owner returns to homeland to become president of lawless Puntland Louisa Taylor, Ottawa Citizen Published: Thursday, November 27, 2008 OTTAWA-Whether he's a king among pirates or an ineffective leader in a lawless land, at least one thing is clear about Mohamud Muse Hersi: before he became president of a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, he was enjoying retirement in Ottawa, watching his children become adults and talking politics with friends in the coffee shop at the Herongate Mall.
Now he is the head of state in Puntland, home base for many of the Somali pirates terrorizing shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden. The main port of Bosasso is flush with the booty of pirate raids, which is estimated to be more than $60 million in the past year - while the annual budget of Puntland is in the neighbourhood of $20 million.
Critics charge that Mr. Hersi - also known as Gen. Adde - is colluding with the pirates, allowing them to operate from Puntland ports and hold hijacked ships for ransom just offshore. Mr. Hersi has denied the accusations, and members of the Ottawa Somali community are angry that someone they know as a principled soldier is being smeared as a pirate.
Email to a friend
Printer friendly Font:****Farah Aw-Osman knows Mr. Hersi from his early days in Ottawa. Mr. Aw-Osman, executive director of the Canadian Friends of Somali, immigrated to Ottawa in 1989. The men were neighbours and acquaintances, as well as fellow sons of Puntland.
Mr. Hersi "is not part of piracy, I can promise you," says Mr. Aw-Osman. "The pirates are stronger than his forces."
However, "his rule has failed - there is no law and order in Puntland now."
Mr. Hersi, a general in the Somali army and later an ambassador, fought to topple former dictator Siad Barre. He arrived in Canada as his country's military attaché in the 1980s. After claiming refugee status, Mr. Hersi owned and operated a Richmond Road gas station until his retirement.
"He has very nice family, very quiet," says Mr. Aw-Osman. "His kids are well integrated into Canadian society - they are pure Canadian."
Puntland, the northeastern part of Somalia, declared autonomy in 1998 as successive civil wars racked the southern part of the country. The government of Puntland is not looking for international recognition - instead, it seeks to be part of a Somali federation.
Fairly peaceful for many years, Puntland became a battleground in 2001 when then-president Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed refused to accept electoral defeat by his rival, a member of the same clan as Mr. Hersi. Clan leaders contacted the former general in Ottawa and asked him to join the fight.
"He's being labelled as a poor gas station owner who somehow became president," says Mr. Aw-Osman.
"This guy was well-respected within the Somali government, he was a big shot. ... He took up arms and he fought against Yusuf."
Despite defeat in battle, Mr. Hersi was invited to participate in peace talks for several months. Eventually, the Puntland parliament elected Mr. Hersi president in 2005.
Last August, Mr. Aw-Osman travelled to Garowe, the capital city of Puntland, as a delegate to a European Union-funded conference on Puntland's future.
Representatives of the Puntland diaspora came from all over the world to discuss rebuilding civil society as the country prepares for elections in January. But the conference never happened. Mr. Aw-Osman's old neighbour from Herongate - now H.E. President Hersi - cancelled it at the last minute.
"His excuse was that individuals involved in the organizing of the conference were campaigning for individuals running against him, which is true," says Mr. Aw-Osman. "In Canada, that's not a legitimate argument, but in Somalia, people would see it as an effort to mobilize society against his regime."
To apologize for the cancellation, Mr. Hersi invited the delegates to a long lunch at his heavily-guarded compound in Garowe, a home Mr. Aw-Osman describes as very simple. Mr. Hersi asked Mr. Aw-Osman about life in Ottawa, and assured the delegates the conference could go ahead after the January election.
"We respect the government of the day, but there's no better time for the diaspora to get involved than now, when there's a critical need when it comes to security," says Mr. Aw-Osman. "That region was a success story for the last 18 years, it was flourishing when it comes to peace and rule of law. But now the lawlessness is out of hand."
Most Somalis condemn the violence of the pirates, but understand why they are flourishing, says Mr. Aw-Osman, who has three young cousins in jail in France on piracy charges.
"Piracy starts inland. The problem is the lack of a central government in Somalia - there are no jobs, no schools, so there are millions of Somali youths sitting there with nothing," says Mr. Aw-Osman.
"They are recruited by fundamentalists who give them hope of going to paradise in the fight against infidels, or they are recruited by the pirates, who say, 'Come with us, capture one ship and your share is $40,000.' What kid says no to that?"
Rumours swirl that Mr. Hersi is profiting personally from oil drilling contracts in the region, but not many accuse him of collaborating with the pirates, according to Mr. Aw-Osman.
Mr. Aw-Osman says many Somali seniors in Ottawa come to feel they might be better off being in their own homeland.
"At least there they are somebody. They are remembered and admired for who they were and the role they used to play in society," says Mr. Aw-Osman. "Here, they are nobody. That's why you see a lot of older Somalis going back to be part of the nation-building."
But Mr. Hersi's efforts to steer Puntland toward democracy have failed, Mr. Aw-Osman says, in large part because he has been away so long.
"It's no longer the country he knew, the people he knew."
Yusuf Ahmed, 80, has known Mr. Hersi since 1960, when they lived in Mogadishu. Before Mr. Hersi returned to Puntland, the two used to spend afternoons together at the Herongate coffee shop. He rejects any suggestion his friend is supporting the pirates.
"He is a clean man," says Mr. Ahmed. "He believes in democracy and works on bringing peace to others."
Mr. Hersi used to invite elders from a cross-section of Somali tribes to join them at the coffee shop. But since he left, says Mr. Ahmed, it's not so popular.
