THE NEW GABRE

Gen Gabra and Mohamud Ali (The new Gabra)

BY RETHABILE EVANS Oct 7, 2019,

The description "the new General Gabra" could easily apply to Mohamud Ali, with his easy access to key offices and institutions.
A Somali-American from Phoenix Arizona can charge a fee of "only five thousand dollars” to meet the Prime Minister or President. During our conversation, he called both President Farmajo and Prime Minister Khaire using WhatsApp. They answered his call right away. He demonstrates his power and his close relationships with senior government officials including ministers and the regional government of Jubbaland, Hirshabelle and South West.

Mr. Ali currently works as a US site coordinator and was hired by a contractor of CRC (Crisis Response Company) LLC based in Virginia. He worked, prior to his current job, for the US Somali Embassy as a translator. “This powerful man can fix you an appointment with the top three leaders of Somalia, president, prime minister and speaker of Somali parliament with one phone call through WhatsApp. I have met with him in Istar restaurant in MIA to interview him, pretending that I would like to meet with the Somali prime minister,” replied Ms. Evans —a freelance journalist who has investigated this notorious man— “though it is pricey to go through him, he gets the job done. He looks very humble, soft-spoken but of course, every minute of my time, I was reminding myself that I am sitting with crazy money-making schemer known as 'the new Gabra,'" she added.

Mohamud Ali has refused to answer questions from reporters and hasn't replied to emails sent to him regarding corruption. His moral clarity has been in full view, especially as it relates to making a quick money at the expense of Somali security and political agencies. This has sparked a conversation between various social groups, including ranking generals from Somali army forces and some members of civil society, marking Mr. Ali as “the new Gabra” in Somalia today. What might have prompted the conversation about Mr. Ali after both international and local media has reported on his blatant influence on both the security and political sectors of the Somali government. The Somali people’s view of Mr. Ali is comparable to Gabra's influence during Abdullahi Yusuf and Hassan Sheik Mohamud’s governments. This has led to Africa Today (AT) launching an investigative report about his power, particularly his accusation by different agencies that made “the talk” of Somalis’ public.

“To be sure, the two men (Mr, Ali and Gabra) are very similar in vastly destroying records against Somalia as a country and its people; therefore, this is one of my civic duties, to shed light on and inform Somali public on this issue affecting my country which has made incredible progress, momentum of both security and politics. This progress needs to be sustained.” Replied Maryan

Maryan Abdul —a mother of three children, member of the Somali civic society whose work is currently primarily focused on building the capacities of civil society for participating in development actions, in policy dialogue for peace, and for supporting local peace initiatives— explained her view about Mohamud Ali’s latest scandal. Maryan strongly criticized CRC (Crisis Response Company) LLC based in Virginia for keeping Mr,Ali in Somalia. “I wonder why this company has ignored the different Somali officials who wrote complaint letters to the appropriate offices. What more can we possibly do? I suggest CRC provides us an answer and transfers its corrupted employee somewhere else,” she added.

The United States has reopened its embassy in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, nearly three decades after it was shut as the Horn of Africa nation plunged into civil war. The move has followed after the well-coordinated US-led efforts to rebuild a strong army for post-war Somalia appeared to be more promising than it could have ever been and offered a glimpse of hope for the rebuilding of the fractured army that is charged to take over the country's security from African Union forces before their purposed withdrawal from Somalia by 2020.

However, improving relations have suffered a major blow, thanks to one man using the US government name and appointing members of his corrupt team into government potions. Evidence has come out of a steady stream of misleading, corrupt information he fed to the US Somalia mission that prompted the United States to cut funding for the Somali army.

During his time as a US Embassy translator, Mr. Ali was using the power of the deputy ambassador Martin Dale, therefore, becoming the driving force behind his style and attitude. He understood that in the business he is in, there are fluctuations and changes he must adapt to in order to succeed. He couldn’t reveal his power, knowing he could have been fired by doing so. Regardless, he was a successful political manipulator and has developed a good friendship with Gabra, his role model at the time, through their hard work and dedication to their dirty missions.

“You can’t avoid sickness if you have bacteria in your food or environment at home. Gabra and Mohamud Ali are a combination of bacteria and viruses that harm the nerve of our politics and security sectors,” stated a businesswoman in the Hodan district of Mogadishu. “Mr. Ali is going to be added to the list of the most hated persons in Somalia. How someone who speaks the Somali language could replace Gabra today" she added.

What do these two men have in common?

They were born in the country of Ethiopia. Colonel Gebregziabher is said to have been born in the historical city of Axum,Tigray province. Mohamud was born also in the historical city of Jijjiga, Ogaden province.

The General joined the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) struggle in his youth and fought in the Ethiopian civil war. After the overthrow of the Derg regime in 1991, he had a brief stint in the Mekele City administration before joining the then newly formed Ethiopian army.

Mohamud Ali came from a poor family and also struggled during his youth. He left Jijiga for Garissa, staying with some of his relatives as he began high school in the city. He was given a Kenyan ID card (known as Kitambulisho). He was later given resettlement in the US as he had claimed to flee the civil war in Somalia. He landed in Phoenix, Arizona where he studied journalism at Arizona State University and later worked at VOA.

General Gabre and Mr. Ali got to know each other in Nairobi as they formed a partnership with striking similarities to the Somali government during the formation of Jubbaland State, both working with Ahmad Mohamed Islam (Madobe) at the time. Gabra had influence over IGAD and Mr. Ali brought the US embassy on board against opponent Hassan Sh Mohamud’s government.

In their roughly three years combined in IGAD, and US embassy, Gabre, and Mr, Ali has forged intersecting paths. Each has earned a reputation for defending president Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe)’s administration while undermining federal government objectives in Jubbaland and denying the rights of other stakeholders of that administration. Mr, Ali, and Gabre have acknowledged each other as a friend as soon as they teamed up to fail SNA’s integration program in Kismayo and surprisingly succeeded.

The two became marching forces, the two of the biggest influences in the international community supporting the Somali government. Inside Somali politics, they became household names to reckon with, though only Gabra was famous at the time.

Gen Gabre and Mr. Ali offered a unique political power but differ in how each delivers his work. Mr. Ali prefers to downplay his power and play a behind the scenes role, while outwardly pretending that he has no power; however, General Gabre’s power was always outwardly visible in the media. He believed as long as he is an intelligence officer for his country and stays in Somalia as a cover-up of an Ethiopian representative for IGAD, then no one can do anything.

Mohamud Ali’s record since 2017:

A) Feeding misleading, corrupt information to the US Somalia mission.

As soon as Mohamud Ali became a US Site coordinator in mid-2017, the SNA faced obstacles. Mr. Ali wrote reports to the US government accusing huge corruption inside the Somali National Army. Eight thousand soldiers lost their food and fuel. Apart from the food, each soldier at the front line around Mogadishu was getting paid $100 stipend from the US government at the time.

“This Mohamud guy put Somali forces in a weak position and emboldened al- Shabaab to be more aggressive as the solders lost the moral. He literally offered great support to Al-Shabab (al Qaeda-linked militants),” said the former commander of the defense force Gen Axmed Jimcaale Geedi, who wrote complaint letters to the US government.

B) Somalia parliament speaker’s international community pressure to resign.

Former Somalia speaker of parliament refuses to resign amid political crisis but Mohamud Ali claims the credit of rallying international actors’ support to pressure Speaker of Somalia parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari’s resignation as he was requested by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.

C) The arrest of former al-Shabab deputy leader Mukhtar Robow.

Mr. Ali has been accused of involvement in the South West elections. Different sources confirmed that he was the brain behind the Somali government’s arrest of a former al Shabaab leader who was running for a regional election which has also sparked deadly clashes in the southern Somali city of Baidoa, imperiling the country’s fragile democratic process.

D) Mohamud Ali VS Danab

Somali national army soldiers stand in formation during a logistics course graduation ceremony onAugust 2018. Soldiers from Somalia's advanced infantry Danab battalion spent 14 weeks training with the U.S. 10th Mountain Division.

The Somali Special Forces known as Danab, launched operations recapturing Sabib, Bariire, Ceel-Salin and finally liberated Awdhegle town in Lower Shabelle region. Awdhegle was a key town 70 kilometers of Somali capital Mogadishu and was handing over to SNA holding forces.

U.S. Africa Command aided the buildup of a specialized commando brigade in Somalia that has emerged as a key force in the fight to reclaim territory held by al-Qaida-aligned insurgents. During a visit to Somalia by AFRICOM’s Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, talks with the country’s leadership centered on the progress of Somalia’s Danab (Lightning) Advanced Infantry Brigade, a military statement said.

“We’ve learned the importance of factoring in cultural and region-specific considerations,” Waldhauser said in the statement. “We work closely with our Somali partners ensuring the composition of specific Danab companies is appropriate for the security sector where they’ll be employed.”

Africa Today (AT) interviewed Gen Axmed Jimcaale Geedi (Cirfiid) former (CDF) Commander Defense Force of Somalia in his home at Villa Baido, Mogadishu and he expressed that all these signs of progress and success of libation against Al-Shabab were going on, while knowing that there are individuals working hard behind the scene to fail our special troops. “I know against all odds that we will succeed, and knowing that commander of Danab (jJeeni-Qaar) doesn't take any crab from anyone ” he replied when asked who he was referring to it. He started laughing and said, “You know who I am talking about, the new Gabra.” Another general with Gen Cirfiid's house at the time of the AT interview added “Unfortunately; Mohamud Ali now heavily involves SNA and his agenda is to destroy Danab which is the only our national asset to save the future of this country” The general requested his name to remain anonymous and provided AT’s with backing documents for his points. See the letter below of this article written by Commander of Danab special forces; Major Abdirahman Omar Warsame (Jeeni-Qaar) to his join operation commander of the USA.

Gen Gabre’s record during his time in Somalia

General Gabre has been involved in Somali politics since 2007 when he entered the country as the head of the invading Ethiopian army which sought to drive out the Islamic Court’s Union. He is accused of being complicit in war crimes during the invasion, including the indiscriminate shelling of civilian population centers in Mogadishu. Since Ethiopia’s defeat of the ICU, General Gabre has remained inside the country as Addis Ababa’s point man for Somali affairs. Many Somalis are dismayed with the substantial political influence General Gabre has accumulated since he entered the country. He allegedly has an office inside Villa Somalia

Colonel Gebregziabher Alemseged, a former Ethiopian army commander who headed operations during a large part of Ethiopia's 2006-2009 invasion and subsequent occupation of neighboring Somalia, has recently parted ways with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

General Gabre giving instructions to a member of Somali parliament who is also serving as the Federal Justice Minister of Somalia, Farah Sheikh Abdul Qadir during Hassan Sh Mohamud’ s government.

General Gabre looks through papers of Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs during the international diplomatic summit during Hassan Sh Mohamud’s government.

August 29, 2013, in Addis Ababa, The Federal government of Somalia on Wednesday signed a peace agreement with Jubaland in Addis Ababa. The deal comes after week-long deliberations and includes the recognition of Jubaland’s administration by the Federal government. The delegation from Mogadishu was led by the State Minister for the Presidency, Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, while the Jubaland representatives were headed by its leader Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Madobe.

In a surprising political upset, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo was declared Somalia’s new president on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, Farmaajo defeated the immediate former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud following two rounds of voting by lawmakers in the capital city’s a heavily fortified airport.

On Wednesday night Mohamud faced a landslide defeat to Farmaajo, who was considered the candidate of ‘change’ who rejected foreign interference in Somali affairs and corruption, and mass public celebrations erupted all across Somalia including in the capital Mogadishu where celebratory gunfire was heard throughout the night as tens thousands of jubilant citizens poured out into the streets.

Gabra could no longer be effective in his job in Somalia as an intelligence operative, even President Farmaajo in 2017 becoming the second president to deny him access to him and the presidential palace, Villa Somalia.

Thus even when Maj-Gen. Gebre returned to Somalia and continued to circulate in later years as a representative of the eight-member nation Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), he behaved in the same manner. He was free in his dealigns with Somalia officials as with his hired hands in every corner of the country. He tried to do what he is good at appear friendly until people do his dirty job and he dumps them in bad ways in the end.

Africa Today's Documents: for Writing this Report.