President Paul Kagame has praised the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheik Mohamud, for promoting policies that promote unity and reconciliation over clan-based politics in his country.A praise penned by Kagame that made Mohamud’s profile to accompany his nomination in Time Magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2013, describes him as a symbol of Somalia as a country emerging from conflicts towards stability and prosperity.“Emerging from the presidential contest of September 2012, Somalia’s Hassan Sheik Mohamud is discarding destructive clan-based politics in favour of anticorruption measures and national reconciliation as well as embracing vital security-sector and economic reforms,” President Kagame wrote in the U.S.-based magazine.President Mohamud has been named in the magazine’s 100 most influential people, this year, along with several other world leaders, artists, and icons including US President Barack Obama, American artiste and entrepreneur Jay Z, and Taliban shooting victim Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani schoolgirl advocating for girls and women’s education.Somalia has been torn apart by two decades of civil war, mainly fuelled by clan-based conflicts with several warlords as well as organised crime such as activities of pirates in the Gulf of Aden and domestic terrorists of Al Shabab who are reportedly linked to global terrorism group Al-Qaeda.And Kagame said despite a 17,000-strong AU force having finally helped to restore security in Somalia, its President still has a tough task ahead to rebuild his country.“Almost 20 years of rebuilding in Rwanda has taught us that there is no definitive manual for leading nations through and beyond debilitating conflict. President Mohamud is faced with the difficult task of balancing much needed international assistance with asserting Somalia’s right to govern itself,” Kagame says. “There should be no illusions about the challenges that come with governing a nation torn apart by two decades of civil war.”The list also includes Malawi’s first and Africa’s second female President, Joyce Banda, and Egypt’s Bassem Youssef.Africa’s first female president, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, commended President Banda as a leader who is “committed to using her position to improve the lives of women across the continent, not just in Malawi.”Alluding to the fact that she is no longer the sole female President in Africa, President Sirleaf said she was delighted she is “not alone in Africa anymore”.Every year, Time Magazine presents a list of the 100 most influential people in the world, from artists and leaders to pioneers, titans and icons.President Kagame himself has previously featured on magazine’s list, which is developed as a result of a debate among several academics, researchers, and analysts.
