Imagine being present when your country gained independence but now living as a refugee in a neighbouring country. That’s the story of 73-year-old Ahmed Sheikh Ali.

 
By Kassim Mohamed
 
At the heart of a shopping mall in Eastleigh, a suburb of Nairobi City, Ahmed prepares for his daily routine. After opening his shop he begins by dusting the shelves. He sells books, many of them he authored himself. When I paid him a visit he had a few customers waiting to buy his books. They range from the political situation in Somalia to Somali culture across the globe.
 
In the afternoon, a group of young men gather outside his shop to drink tea and to talk to him about the past - a task he gladly performs unless he’s too busy.
 
Father of 11 children, and grandfather of 6, Ahmed once sat in the judiciary of the late Mohamed Siad Barre’s government. “I remember the day we gained independence. I was 23 years old and very youthful."
 
Burning
"We were so happy; it was like we had broken ourselves from the chains of slavery. After independence, our country became one of the best in East Africa. All sorts of institutions were established from universities to banks. Things were looking bright up until the moment when some people decided to overthrow Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Ever since, my country is burning.”
 
Ahmed is optimistic that his country will be stable in the next few years. “The last 50 years of independence were mixed; some good some bad. But I hope the next 50 years will bring the people of Somalia the peace and prosperity they deserve. The common man has not committed any crime but is paying the heaviest prize from killings to humanitarian catastrophes like drought.”
 
'Peaceful nation'
Ahmed currently lives in Nairobi with his family but has his relatives still locked in a country that’s nothing short of a war zone. Most Somalis are optimistic that their country will rise from the ashes again and that one day it will rejoin the world stage as a peaceful and independent nation. Until then, praying is the only thing they can do to change their fate. Ahmed, being no exception, hopes his prayers will be answered one day.