Baidoa's 'Couch Potatoes'

Ever wondered what the so-called parliamentarians are doing in Baidoa? Rather than intermingling with their constituents and listening to their problems they have chosen to sit infront of satellite televions and watch useless programs that are of no benefit to the welfare of the people they are supposed to serve with dignity and unreserved energy. These are men and women who have sworn by the Holy Qur'an to uphold the constitution of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and to work tirelessly for the nation yet from the day they were sworn in, the situation in Somalia has gotten to worse with killings, plunder, maiming, and displacement becoming the norm while they sit leisurely like couch potatoes in luxurious hotels surrounded by Ethiopian tanks and artillery that are meant to protect them from the people they are supposed to serve with dignity and without fear.

On the other hand, they are busy munching the nutritiously stimulating herb (qaad)like cows with widely spread out robotic body parts listening to propaganda radios and spreading lies while at the same time breathing vituperations on cellphones directing secret militias. These couch potatoes have become a disgrace to the Somali nation and to the international community that has spent millions of dollars for 18 years in pursuit of peace for Somalia.

Ironically, someone somewhere is making payments in wages for their monthly upkeep without knowing the evil in their mindsets. It is a disgrace to make remittances to people who don't perspire or don't do any kind of work. These men are fortunate in that they are paid to stay healthy, eat well, and shower daily. They don't have to worry about their clothing, towels and napkins, soap and toiletries, and even their daily Qaad chewing sessions. In modern democracies, one has to be disabled or have mental problems to get government assistance. Retirees get paid their lifetime savings in sequences until they are gone.

Of course there are the good and the bad in these army of evil in Baidoa, but the truth of the matter is, warlords-turned-parliamentarians being fed with a silver spoon is a bad idea. They must be conspiring day and night to scuttle the peace efforts for Somalia. They are experts with 18 years of experince on how to divide-and-rule the people through the use of monstrous young men wielding AK 47s and afew other corroded Soviet-era armaments that are always at hand.

Alas! some of them can be seen shuttling between Baidoa, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, and Dubai without worries of any sort even after all those killings that are well documented and well known to humanitarian agencies and human rights organizations. Why can't they be apprehended and kept behind bars so the remittances they collect can be used to feed those they displaced?

That has a beginning has an end. There is no doubt Somalis will free themselves of these dirty men and one day, after all these 'couch potatoes' are gone, those of you fortunate enough to live will reflect the past and avoid a repeat of past mistakes. God willing, Somalia shall be free of warlords soon.