By Abdul Ghelleh

With Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia dead and Matt Bryden down and out, we must finally put 21 years of madness behind us, and fast. And don’t forget; we have a lot of catching up to do as we can’t afford to make the same stupid mistakes over and over again. It’s high time to keep the momentum going, and no doubt things are improving in our country. Let’s rebuild our country and speed up the social and political development programmes for our people. Somalia has never had it so good.

If we are capable of destroying our country and fuelling our own civil war from inside and outside of the country for more than two decades, surely we are more than capable of designing and restructuring a new Somalia in under half a decade. Of course, we can go from strength to strength.

And let’s capture the scene; the fresh breeze is blowing in our direction. On August 7, the UN Security Council had a short discussion on the Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group’s latest report. A senior SC source quoted by Inner City Press: ‘there are negative reviews of Bryden's performance, he is leaving’. We now know that he has been fired and that he is no longer able to meddle in our national sovereignty. And a day after the new Somali Parliament was inaugurated, the news came through that Meles Zenawi, the charismatic Ethiopian leader who most of us blame for the disorder in our country, has died.

And to boost the new optimism which prevails over our brighter future destiny, the resolve of the International Community to support Somalia until she stands on her feet is firmly in place. What else would you wish for your country at this critical stage? We must not miss the unique opportunity presented to us and we must unite behind the efforts to cool the atmosphere in order to move forward and catch up with our neighbours. ‘Hassan or Farah flew to Nairobi or Addis Ababa’ has become the accepted social routine for people visiting relatives back home for more than 20 years. This coming winter, I want to visit Mogadishu or Hargeisa, and possibly fly direct from Istanbul or London Heathrow.

If we really want to break from the past and clear the path for our people’s progress toward rebuilding our lives, we must elect a new president who does not believe in our web of complex clan systems. We all know that the clan politics is what destroyed our nation to beyond recognition; the clan politics is what gave birth to Al Shabaab lunatics; the clan politics restrict the individual’s abilities to discharge his or her duties and responsibilities, making previously good and active character totally immoral and idle. In fact the clan system erodes the community cohesion and brings a good social and governance programme into disrepute. Aren’t we, Somalis, the experts in this?

I have never backed anyone to lead our country before. I must admit, however, that in these past few days, I am sometimes spoiled for choice as there are few people contesting in the elections with untainted integrity and of good character. And for the first time since 1991, I identified the right man who is able and suitably qualified to help stabilise our broken society. I made my mind up.

Professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar must be elected the new President of Somalia. I don’t know him personally and I am not from the same region as him. But Professor Samatar’s speeches and written materials have convinced me that he is the best person to be the next Somali President. A couple of credible colleagues of mine also expressed favourable opinions of Professor Samatar. And after I looked everywhere and spoke to a number of people who know him personally - Somali and non-Somali - I have not heard or discovered single negative views of him. Professor Samatar is anti-clan favouritism and well known anti-corruption campaigner. He is focused with clear agenda to reverse our past misfortunes. Professor Samatar can help brighten our bleak future.

Professor Samatar did not write or compose these lines: ‘Diidnaye ogow dalkayaga ninkii doonaayayoow, inuu duudsiyo raboow, annagu diidnaye ogoow’. But after he fired away the song during a recent speech to a global audience, most of us associated these Somaliness, powerful and nationalistic words with the professor.

I now call upon all non-clan believing Somalis everywhere to join me in asking our selected constituent Members of Parliament to vote for professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar on Sunday August 26.

A beautiful and colourful dawn is in the horizon; please do not allow anyone to obscure it from us. After more than couple of decades of brutal civil war and social anarchy, I need a fresh start. How about you? Together we can fix our country for the better and for good.