An Afternoon with Nadhi Gamada and Abba Yusuf, Mogadishu (1985)

Photo of Mogadishu, Somalia - 1980's

"I brought you a guest today" said Abba Yusuf as he entered and greeted my father. Abba Yusuf was the organizations envoy in Mogadishu for almost 20 years. He was practically raised by the organization and was in charge of all of it's dealings in the city. On this occasion he was hosting the OLF's Head of Political Affairs, Nadhi Gamada, who was in Mogadishu to officially open diplomatic relations with the Somali gov't. The meeting was brief and they agreed to meet again the next day for lunch.

When Nadhi arrived in Mogadishu he was briefed by Somali National Security, who told him that he was free to move about in the city. But they placed undercover agents outside of his hotel to watch him. This was done so that they can identify and gather information on OLF members in Mogadishu (incase relations went bad and they needed to round them up in the future). However, Abba Yusuf came up with a clever plan and they were able to meet at the restaurant without raising suspicion.

Sitting at a shaded table of an outdoor cafe Nadhi opened up. He spoke about everything from diplomatic relations with the Somali gov't to life in the bush. He talked about the hardship they faced, the grief of losing comrades.

"When the village that fed you yesterday, is burned down by the militia. When the comrade you laughed with today, and bury him the next day. A person would never live this life for a million dollars. But we do it happily."

Nadhi even joked that he had been in the bush for so long, that he forgot how to even walk on the street like a civilian. He was relateable. My father recalled that after spending a day or two with him, he felt as though he was talking to one of his siblings. One of the skills that Nadhi had, was that he knew exactly what you wanted to hear, so he would answer all your questions before you had a chance to ask. This is something that I also heard Sh. Xaliileeysaa say in his recent OMN interview when talking about Nadhi. The only time Nadhi had difficulty speaking about a topic, was when it came to the OLF/IFLO infighting which was going on at the time.

After completing his diplomatic assignment Nadhi returned to Oromia. OLF relations with the Somali gov't were rocky throughout the early 1980's. But after Nadhi's visit, relations never broke down again. I believe there were 2 reasons for this:

1. Before that the Somali gov't had a strict policy of only dealing with the so called Somali Abbo Liberation Front (which were active in Bale/Sidamo) and Somali Galbeed (which had been active in Harar during the Ethio-Somali border war). Both groups had collapsed by the mid 1980's and the Barre regime understood that they needed to work with the OLF.

2. Nadhi had a more relateable character and approach than prior OLF diplomats. He built not just official relations, but personal relations with high ranking military and political officials.

Nadhi continued his duties until the collapse of the derg and TGE period. Afterwhich he was tasked to head the OLF's southern wing. He eventually went missing when the TGE collapsed and armed conflict resumed in the Summer of 1992. Although nothing has been confirmed about his whereabouts, one of the people who reported to him at the time say that he was captured at Arba Gugu and killed.

Abba Yusuf was also martyred in Nairobi in 1999. May God have mercy on them.