The Problem Is Not a Lack of Worship—It Is the Absence of Accountability

By Dayib Sh. Ahmed

In the aftermath of a devastating war that has claimed countless lives, destroyed homes, scattered families, and shattered dreams, the people of Somalia have risen once more not in despair, but in determination; not in resignation, but with a spirit of resistance against humiliation and continued suffering. For decades, Somalia has endured conflict, poverty, displacement, political fragmentation, and institutional collapse. These realities provide important background to the question raised by Dr. Abdurahman Baadiyow in his article on WardheerNews, “ Much Worship, Little Morality, What Is Wrong with Us? ” His question invites us to look beyond the visible symptoms of Somalia’s crisis and examine the deeper moral, social, political, and institutional forces that have shaped the country’s prolonged tragedy.

The Question Is Not “What Is Wrong with Us?” It Is “What Happened to Us?” If Somalia is a deeply religious society, why have we remained trapped for more than three decades in conflict, poverty, political division, corruption, and weak governance? Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Full mosques, fasting, prayer, Qur’an recitation, hijab, and Hajj and Umrah do not necessarily mean that Somalis have failed in their religion. They may instead reveal a critical distinction between personal faith and political institutions. Ordinary citizens do not control national Branches of Governments, appoint political leaders, command security forces, or manage state institutions. Those responsibilities belong primarily to political leaders and institutions. Consequently, when state actors breach the public trust, citizens absorb the psychological fallout of structural failure. This is where the work of psychiatrist and trauma expert Professor Bruce D. Perry at Yale University School of Medicine, and co-author of What Happened to You? offers an important way of thinking about Somalia’s experience.

Reflecting on his career studying trauma, Perry wrote, “Throughout my career, I have focused on understanding how stress and trauma alter the human experience behavior and emotional. When people have killed one another, taken each other’s property, and never confronted the past, expressed remorse, or sought redemption, deep behavioral and emotional wounds can develop. These unresolved experiences can produce suspicion, fear, resentment, and mistrust, making genuine reconciliation and the rebuilding of social trust extremely difficult.” His insight reminds us that prolonged violence, insecurity, displacement, poverty, and social breakdown can profoundly shape individuals and societies. Somalia has experienced generations of precisely these conditions. But understanding our wounds does not mean excusing our failures. The deeper question is therefore not simply, what is wrong with us? It is What happened to us? What happened to our institutions, and how to fixed, the public trust, justice, accountability, and political responsibility after state collapse, civil war, and decades of insecurity and poverty?