Month: January 2019

PUNTLAND PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION CEREMONY

The idea behind a Transition Team during a smooth take-over of power in the aftermath of an election result is to make sure the New Team is in place and ready to own the transition ceremony. You can’t mix the old and new teams as it happened in Puntland State yesterday night. That was a recipe for chaos.

Overall, though, the Inauguration Ceremony was a successful Somali political story. Yasmin, the moderator, had undisputedly carried the day by covering up any hiccups the event experienced at initial seating arrangement.

Graduate School of Government?

USA Harvard Kennedy School of Government had graduated Mr. Abdiweli M. Ali Gaas, who had appointed Puntland Public Service Commission in his last day in Office at Puntland Presidency, while the Union of Islamic Courts had produced Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who had decreed new Somalia’s regions, districts and promoted militia commanders to the rank of generals in his last days in Office at Villa Somalia. What a legacy in Somalia’s statecraft!

PUNTLAND: MADAX-KA-NOOL

For 20 odd years people of Puntland State couldn’t figure out that political changes wouldn’t happen necessarily from the top. They are adicted to wrong expectations from the State President. They have even invented a name for this malaise: MADAX-KA-NOOL ( the President is everything). They ignore the fundamental historical fact that change is people driven, and that they are the only ones that can cause meaningful changes to the political realities. Hence, no need to blame leaders for failed expectations. They need to change their attitudes towards their government.

Nedless to say that they have to be constructive and realistic, they have to engage in critical approach to issues of importance on state self-governance and national priorities. Government is here to be accountable to the people, not the other way around. That democratic principle is not negotiable. For Failing to understand this fact, blame only ourselves.

How to Succeed in Somalia’s Clan Politics

Based on my personal observation as well as other keen observers of concern of recent clan competitive elections in Somalia in the absence of a multi-party democratization option, to succeed one needs a combination of four critical elements:

  1. A strong support from sub-clan power base as a launching pad.
  2. A network of committed, proactive and engaged groups of people, who are driven by ideology, professional or business interests beyond their clan attachments ( e.g. a basis for a political party).
  3. An early mobilization of necessary financial resources, and at least, one year of organizational preparation leading to sound and strategic planning.
  4. A strong media coverage of the election campaign.
In this context, running for election on someone’s own financial resources is a recipe for financial ruin, an unsustainable exercise for self-destruction. Most importantly, clan-based selected MPs would never conclusively represent the aspirations of the masses they were supposed to represent. They are easily manipulated by corrupt money, group interests or personal financial obligations as clearly demonstrated in all recent elections in Somalia.
It is also remarkable to note here that this clan-based selection of MPs, some of them represent their constuencies less than others, making them especially soft targets for corruption and personal intimidation.

Tragically, it is safe to conclude now that recent Somalia’s clan-based elections have fundamentally eroded and discredited the moral legitimacy of traditional leadership, a victim of corrupt money and political manipulation.

Somalia’s elections based on clan selection arrangements for its constituent parliaments have finally hit a dead-end. If not discontinued, these will certainly lead to renewed political unrests and violence.

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THE NEW PRESIDENT OF PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA HAS HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

via THE NEW PRESIDENT OF PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA HAS HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

THE NEW PRESIDENT OF PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA HAS HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

TAYEEN & TIIGSI (QUALIFY & ASPIRE) is the Election Campaign Slogan of the New Puntland President, Said Abdullahi Deni.

Now that the election is over, the President immediately had taken first bold steps by claiming ownership of issues: he had held important meetings with commanders of the security forces, instructed civil servants to return to their duties and gave a number of directives to the officials of the Ministry of finance. The initial administrative measures indicate the President had already hit the ground running. It is yet to be seen though how the President will handle the serious challenges facing Puntland: runaway corruption in government, multiplication and overlapping of ministerial portfolios, mandates and their unsustainable numeracy and cumbersome inefficiency.

TAYEEN and TIIGSI will be put into the test within the next 100 days.

By Ismail H. Warsame