A candidate to become
president of Somalia came through St. Cloud on Friday
hoping to attract support from the growing Somali
population here.
Mohamed Saleban Warsame,
who moved to the United States 15 years ago and lives in
Columbus, Ohio, stopped at the Islamic Center and the St.
Cloud Area Somali Salvation Organization and visited a
number of Somali-owned businesses. He is scheduled to give
a major speech today in St. Paul.
Somalis who live in the
U.S. cannot vote in the election, but they have money they
can give to campaigns and have a great deal of influence
on family members who live there.
Somalis in St. Cloud
talk every day about the election, which will take place
early in 2011, said Mohamoud Mohamed, executive director
of SASSO.
“To have a base here in
the U.S. is very important for every candidate,” Mohamed
said.
Warsame, who goes by
Mohamed Saleban, is a former analyst with Chase Bank and
now runs his own accounting business. He is a member of
the Somali Youth League political party, a group that
advocates nonviolence.
He said he wants to
bring the lessons of democracy he’s learned in the United
States to Somalia and rid the country of violence by
ending piracy and terrorism.
“We would like to have
an effective government,” Warsame said.
A handful of people
stopped by the SASSO office in east St. Cloud to hear
Warsame speak.
Halima Hussein of St.
Cloud said he’d won her support. “Now, it’s perfect,” she
said.
Although she cannot
vote in the election because she has moved to the U.S.,
women in Somalia can vote in the upcoming election.
His message seems to be
getting through.
“I support him because
he will make a lot of changes. We live here in America
peacefully, and he will help people in Somalia do the
same,” said Anwar Ali Salim of St. Cloud, through an
interpreter.
“He has a good message
for the young, current generation,” said Mohamed Mohamed
of St. Cloud.
