Day: July 5, 2021

CHECKS AND BALANCE OF POWER IN PUNTLAND

The chronic Madax-Ka-Nool (lone head of the state show) political situation in Puntland State doesn’t expect challenges from the State’s dysfunctional House of Representatives. It was a rare move on the part of MPs to issue some independent resolutions the other day. Is it self-perservation, having witnessed some members of their colleagues easily impeached and expelled from their ranks or a meaningful attempt to re-assert their constitutional powers?

Many observers believe that the new attempt to grab power by Puntland Parliament is limited to enhancing their positions as unassailable branch of the government rather than insuring checks and balance of power for the common good of the people of Puntland and for the purpose of re-introducing good governance to Puntland State.

It looks that Puntland MPs are seeking more say in selecting senators this time around, besides jockeying for acquiring bigger junks of the corruption money sharing in this election cycle. A few others say it is first baby steps to challenge the traditionally exclusive powers of the State President and his governance style of one-man show in running Puntland government, whereby the State President doesn’t seem to understand that he is also the Head of Government to be accessible to all heads of departments (ministries) and members of the House of Representatives. Puntland President isn’t only the Head of State. He has to run the government too on daily basis, and that his executive powers fall within the Cabinet collectively as an executive prime minister. He wasn’t elected by the people. This is a parliament system that came through selection process, and therefore, with shared responsibilities and responsible to parliament.

On the top of the above observations, there is fear among some members of the House from the consequences of upcoming Puntland election in two years, and these, mostly from Sool and Ayn Regions, predict that the planned 1P1V in Puntland could erode their political fortunes. Upcoming Federal elections may also have some impact on the cohesion of President Deni’s own political team in the Cabinet, House of Representatives and power brokers at large.

Whatever the case might be, Puntland House of representatives has a long history of being a toothless institution. Their past performances and corrupt practices for vote selling don’t give any hope or confidence to the residents of Puntland State.

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HAJI ALI BIHI (BIXI) HIGH SCHOOL IN GALKAYO

Performamce and Progress Card

  1. The School was founded in 2002.
  2. This school is in its 17th year of Students Graduation with 903 students completing studies.
  3. School enrollment is currently as high as 803 students, 120 of which are orphans from the community.
  4. 319 school graduates had secured scholarships so far to institutions of higher learning.
  5. The premises of Haji Ali Bihi (Bixi) High School are still inadequate to cover the needs of the community.
Premises of Haji Ali Bixi Secondary School in Galkayo

A SAD STORY OF ELECTION CORRUPTION IN SOMALIA, PUNTLAND

Reliable news source has relayed to this blog,WDM, a tragic story on Puntland election corruption in 2018. The story narrates that a titled elder at the time approached a man to request for lending a car on the eve of Puntland Presidential Election. The elder didn’t want to use his car for fear of being identified. The elder took four newly elected Puntland MPs in the loaned car and visited every presidential candidate that night. When he failed to return the car to the owner for the following next four days with his phone unreachable, the owner started searching for the whereabouts of the elder. When, finally, the elder had been located, he confessed to the man that on the eve of Puntland Election 2018, the elder and his accompanying four MPs were at door steps of one of the vice presidential candidates when the morning prayer was called for from Garowe mosques.

The tragedy is that this story holds true everywhere in Somalia, while Mogadishu is considered the town worse hit by the epidemic of runaway political corruption. Mind you, this wasn’t an isolated story, but a typical one in the scale of widespread corruption in politics.

Somalia adios!

https://amazon.com/author/ismailwarsame

ON KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION THEME: HOW TO HANDLE NOISE-FILLED SOMALI TEASHOPS AND BARS

Locate an empty spot with no tables or chairs. Grab a chair and sit down in that free space. The waiter would approach you to take your orders. He or she will bring you a small table. At same time, they would feel that you are special.That way you would minimize the noises around you. Others in the shared space would take notice of your presence and would tune down their loud voices. Those who may join you at spot would get the message that you aren’t fond of noises.

As an effective way to bring down uncontrolled noises in a teashop is to turn on a loud phone ring song recorded from a donkey. God says it was the most hateful song on earth.

https://amazon.com/author/ismailwarsame