Somaliland is not yet out of the wood.

Somaliland is not yet out of the woods

Seventeen long years have gone since Somaliland reclaimed its
independence from the defunct Somali state that used to govern what
was collectively known as Somali Democratic Republic whose capital was
Mogadishu, a city razed to the ground by the murderous alliance of
Abdillahi Yusuf's tribal militia and his godfather, Meles Zenawi, the
butcher from Addis Ababa, once nurtured in the same city.

Apart from its early years, Somaliland has experienced a relative calm
and peaceful co-existence between all its residents regardless of
their background and political/tribal allegiances. A lot have been
achieved over the years, including off course the partial
democratization process that took root in most of Somaliland
institutions (The house of elders, Guurti, has yet to be
democratised). My intention here is not to highlight the numerous
achievements the country has made over the years as that is obvious to
all of us, but to underline the pitfall and dangers that are still
lurking around us, which could easily derail the progress of the last
17 years.

Since the hotly disputed and acrimonious presidential election in 2003
between Mr. Rayaale, the incumbent, and Mr. Silaanyo, the main
opposition leader in which the former has just won by the thinnest of
margins (80 votes), a new phenomenon has crept into the Somaliland
political system. The mutual understanding and political compromises
that served us well and gave us nicknames such as "Africa's best kept
secret" has made way to a downright tribalism, intolerances, vicious
political opportunism and above all a proliferation of clannish
Sultans, Akils, Kings, Ugases, etc.
Every clan and sub clan has more of this group than ever before.
Sultans and Akalis of yesteryears were peacekeepers, not politicians
unlike their counterparts today. The sheer number of this lot alone
has created confusion and mistrust, and at times they seem be running
out of position in their constituencies/clans. In Somaliland today, a
simple incident can bring about masses of people into the streets of
our main cities and towns such as the one we have just witnessed in
Dumbuluq, Hargeisa which resulted in unnecessary death and damage to
properties. This incident could have been avoided had cool heads
prevailed on the parties in conflict, especially the government.

In the latter years of Rayaale's government, Somaliland is stumbling
on one incident after another. It is apparent that a large section of
our community, from east to west, has lost faith in this government to
the extent that a trivial thing can continue unresolved for a long
spell, hence hindering any progress the country could have made. The
whole government programme of 2007 was lost because the executive and
the legislative branches had locked their horns for more than eight
months on issues they could have resolved easily should both parties
have had the guts and the will to do so. Suspicions and mistrusts have
shrouded all Somaliland institutions to a degree that the country is
being grinded to a near standstill. Nothing is acceptable to this
government. Even the mediation committee set up by it and headed by
the prominent Hadrawi has failed to resolve the gaping differences
between this hapless government and the uncompromising legislative
body.

As far as this government is concerned, nothing is wrong in Somaliland
so long as we have peace. There in nothing wrong with this notion as
peace is the most important element in peoples lives, but to sustain
peace the government should not only show pragmatism and good faith in
dealing with the opposition and other stakeholders (something not
associated often with this government), but to create opportunities
for the thousands of youngsters who graduated from our recently
established universities and schools, even if this means carrying a
big begging bowel for their sake.
We cannot continue saying "let us keep the peace" while thousands of
youngsters are staring hopelessness and despair in the eye. Where is
the Somali notion of "Nabad iyo Caano", peace and prosperity? Peace
should give dividends to the community at large, not the ruling lot
and their close associates. Despite our relative peace and
tranquility, we are not faring better than our war-plagued brethren in
Southern Somalia when it comes to people, especially youngsters,
bracing themselves for the unknown in the high seas in search of
better lives. Awdal, the home region of Rayaale and mine, has lost a
large number of its brightest youngsters to the horrors of high seas
because the future is bleak in Somaliland.

One might ask who is to blame for this unfortunate and sorrow saga
that we found ourselves in the midst. Well, the answer to this
question is obvious. The blame lies squarely at government's doorsteps
because it has the ultimate responsibility of running the country. To
prolong its reign and dodge the wish of the electorate, our government
has often chosen the path of confrontation over the path of compromise
by extending its reign without due justification to the dismay of
many. Despite recent agreements, my gut feeling is that it might yet
extend its term again on the pretext of "keeping peace". This
government has reneged on almost every agreement they have reached
with the opposition, often with the blind support of its biggest ally,
the un-elected house of elders, better known as Guurti.

This government is also marred by corruption, inefficiency and
confrontation. It spent most of its term arguing with the opposition
and any other group you can think of instead of going ahead with its
development programmes. Somaliland people want to see a government
taking actions and talking less, i.e. a government that walks the
walk, not a government that talks the talk. Furthermore, this
government has contempt for the press, the only group who can
influence the public. Good governments use the national press to
greater effects. Instead, this government sees the press as evil and
public enemy number one. By anyone's book, such a government does not
deserve to see the light of day, let alone continue in office.

Conventional wisdom tells us that if governments stay in power for far
too long, they become complacent and take things for granted.
Somaliland government is an example of this. In Somaliland, we have a
government that blames all the ills of the nation on the opposition.
We all know that the opposition does not run the country, the
government does. We also know that good governments take justifiable
blames on the chin when things go bear-shaped, and sometimes do the
hounorable thing: make way for others to govern. We have made some
progress in Somaliland, but that progress may be undone by our
stubborn government. We are not yet out of the woods.

Mohamed F Yabarag
myabarag@yahoo.co.uk