US ambassador Yamamoto remains a controversial figure in the Horn of Africa. A statesman with a long yet shady history in the region. Mr Yamamoto built his name during his time as the US ambassador to Ethiopia. During that stint he remained the most powerful Western diplomat in the country.
That period was marred in unprecedented atrocities and human rights abuses, particularly in the Ogaden region. Ethiopia’s government unleashed widespread ethnic cleansing and dehumanized the entire civilian population of the Ogaden all under the watchful eye of Ambassador Yamamoto during his tenure between 2006 and 2009.
Mr Yamamoto was close with Jendayi Frazier, a senior state department official who was complicit in whitewashing war crimes taking place in the Ogaden as reported by various international organizations, in particular Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Most importantly, an international case against the Government of Ethiopia’s gross and egregious violations in the Ogaden is currently under consideration in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights based in Banjul, Gambia.
The brunt of these atrocities took place during Donald Yamamoto’s time as ambassador between 2006 and 2009, yet the senior US diplomat didn’t bat an eye and even empowered Ethiopia’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Somalis in the Ogaden by turning a blind eye and shielding Meles Zenawi from any form of accountability.
Fastforward a decade later and Mr Yamamoto is in Mogadishu. This time maneuvering as the US ambassador to Somalia. Can a man with such a lengthy track record be trusted in Somalia ? This is a question myself and many Somalis are wondering. Mr Yamamoto’s ties to multi billion dollar oil corporations such as Exxon Mobil are also questionable and raises concerns.
Time will tell and determine Yamamoto’s legacy in Somalia but things are already getting off to a bumpy start. Under the ill advised initiatives of Yamamoto, the US is backing a very unpopular an autocratic regime in Mogadishu with dictatorial tendencies. The regime in Mogadishu is plagued by rampant corruption and human rights abuses.
The US has historically been known as a beacon of democracy but for some odd reason the US Mission to Somalia has chosen to go against its own principles by empowering Villa Somalia’s reckless and dangerous internal policies, which is setting Somalia on a crash course.
For the time being it seems that ambassador Yamamoto’s relationship with Exxon Mobil in Oil rich Somalia is more important than sticking to his mandate.
Written by Mohamed Abdulkaadir
