Osman declined the SYL presidency to defuse factional divisions

Evidence

Those opposed to the proposition refused to acknowledge the results of the second round. Osman put forward a compromise motion that required the elected president to nominate as many as forty-six candidates from which the congress would elect eighteen CC members. All but four participants voted in favor of the compromise motion. As the delegates got ready to vote for president, Osman declared that he was not interested in the post. Subsequently, Sheikh Issa Mohamed, SYL treasurer since its establishment, was elected by a majority, and Osman prayed for him. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 392