Dr.Abdirahman Baileh in New York: A Demonstration, a Debate and a Public Record!

By Hussien Mohamed Yusuf

Dr. Abdirahman Duale Baileh’s appearance at a demonstration in New York calling for Somaliland’s recognition has stirred an understandably strong reaction. He is a former foreign minister and finance minister of Somalia, and his position today appears strikingly different from the one many people associated with his years in public office. The moment offers an opportunity to reflect on a wider feature of Somali politics: the speed with which prominent figures can change course, and the difficulty the public faces when those changes arrive without an explanation.

Political views can change. Experience can alter a person’s judgment, and no former official should be expected to hold every position for life. Somaliland’s status, in particular, is a question shaped by deeply held convictions, painful history and competing ideas about the future. People on all sides deserve to express their views. The issue for a former foreign minister is not whether he is permitted to take a new position. It is whether he can explain how he reached it, especially when he once represented the Somali state on the international stage.

Much of the Somali media reaction reflects this apparent contradiction. Dr. Baileh’s public record extends well beyond his ministerial appointments. Through poems and songs, he expressed affection for Somalia, its people and their shared future. Many Somalis heard in that work the voice of a committed national figure. It is little wonder, then, that seeing him advocate a position they associate with a different political future has left them asking questions.

Yet his earlier work should not be used to put his identity on trial. A poem written in hope remains part of its author’s history, even if his political judgment later changes. Nor does a position on Somaliland’s recognition determine whether someone belongs to the wider Somali cultural community. The public can acknowledge the sincerity of what Dr. Baileh expressed before while still asking him to account for what he believes now.

That distinction matters because personal accusations rarely bring clarity to a difficult political debate. The more useful questions are direct and substantive. What changed in Dr. Baileh’s assessment? How does he reconcile his present advocacy with the positions he represented as a minister? What future does he believe would best protect peace, dignity and opportunity for the people affected? These are fair questions for a public figure who has spoken with authority on both sides of a consequential political journey.

The unfortunate pattern is broader than Dr. Baileh. Somali politics has seen leaders adopt positions that the public would once have considered unlikely, sometimes with little effort to explain the reasoning behind them. Such shifts can leave citizens uncertain about what their leaders stand for and whether public commitments will endure beyond a particular office or moment. A politician’s right to reconsider should be accompanied by a willingness to speak honestly about the reconsideration. That is how change becomes a contribution to public debate rather than another source of distrust.

I recently had a genuine discussion with a friend about why so much attention has focused on Dr. Baileh, while Professor Samatar’s decision did not provoke quite the same reaction. The person I spoke with offered a thoughtful explanation: Dr. Baileh served in senior positions in the Somali government and, through his poems and songs, built a public record that many Somalis associate with national unity. His appearance at the New York demonstration therefore surprised people who had followed both his political and artistic work.

My friend also drew a distinction in how the two men explained their decisions. Professor Samatar spoke openly about his dissatisfaction with what he described as a political duopoly between two clans, which he believed left other Somali clans without a fair voice. Whether one agrees with his assessment or not, he gave the public a reason it could examine and debate.

Dr. Baileh has not yet offered an equally clear public explanation for his change of position. That may be why questions about him remain so prominent. A candid account of what led him to support Somaliland’s recognition would help move the discussion beyond surprise and personal criticism, and towards the political issues he believes deserve attention.

Dr. Baileh appearance in New York need not become a contest over who is a “true” Somali. His years of public service and his artistic work are matters of record; so, too, is the position he has chosen to express now. The responsible response is to examine the ideas, ask for an explanation and allow room for a thoughtful answer. Somali politics would benefit from more of that candour, particularly when the questions at stake reach so deeply into people’s sense of history and belonging.

Hussien Mohamed Yusuf
Email: hussienm4@gmail.com

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