Osman blamed the 1961 coup plotters on ambition and anti-democratic propaganda, not genuine grievances.

Evidence

Prime Minister Sharmarkee spoke to parliament the morning after the coup and reported that order was restored in Hargeisa. The president waited to speak to the nation until a senior government delegation dispatched to the region reported back. He grieved the loss of life but was adamant about the importance of maintaining the rule of law and the integrity of the democratic institutions: “My heart is saddened … both by the cutting off of the lives of the two young men who were killed, and by the fact that such a number of our country’s young men have ruined their own brilliant future as honored servants of the fatherland. It is equally clear that these young men were led astray not only by ambition to obtain ranks they would have obtained with the passage of time, but also by subversive propaganda of certain parties which, believing democracy to be an indication of chaos and arbitrariness, have for a long time done nothing but stir up the people against the constitutional order, letting people think this was criticism, without, on the other hand, giving any idea of how they would act if they were in the place of men who now have responsible positions.” — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 1378