Day: October 23, 2025

Two Fateful Nights That Forged Puntland

Two Fateful Nights That Forged Puntland

August 30, 2015

The collapse of the Somali National Reconciliation talks in Cairo in 1997 sent key political actors scrambling. The co-chairmen of the National Salvation Council (NSC, or Sodare Group), Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and General Aden Abdullahi Nur Gabyow, managed to depart Cairo safely for their temporary headquarters in Addis Ababa.

A group of us from north-eastern Somalia were lodged at the Ghion Hotel in the Ethiopian capital. The gathering included Abdullahi Yusuf, Hassan Abshir Waraabe, Said Caduur, General Abdullahi Omar “Ina Libaax Sankataabte,” Ambassador Azhari, myself, and a few others. We were drafting responses to the failed conference in my hotel room when Hassan Abshir shared crucial news: Islaan Mohamed Islaan Muuse had phoned him, relaying an invitation for our group to attend a “Harti Conference” soon to be held in Garowe.

We debated the issue for over an hour. Hassan Abshir recommended asking the Islaan to postpone the conference, citing our pressing commitments in Ethiopia. Most of the group agreed. Abdullahi Yusuf remained non-committal.

As the youngest member, I dissented. I posed a question that, I believe, changed the course of the discussion: “Why are General Caydiid and Cali Mahdi considered the most powerful warlords in Somalia today?”

The group fell silent, looking at each other before staring at me. I provided the answer: “Because they don’t run Mogadishu by remote control, which is what you are suggesting we do. We must drop everything here in Ethiopia and all go to Garowe to hold this meeting.” It took two more days of discussion, but the decision was made: we would travel to Bosaso and onward to Garowe.

The First Fateful Night: A Decision in Addis Ababa

Concurrently, a separate meeting was organized by a group of Dhulbahante men led by Abdullahi Shariif to reconcile Abdullahi Yusuf and Mohamed Abdi Hashi. Abdullahi Yusuf directly asked Mohamed what grudge he held against him.

Mohamed replied that his issue was with Abdullahi Yusuf’s alliance with “the bad man of Somalia,” General Caydiid, while he himself preferred Cali Mahdi, “the better man.”

“Is that all, Mohamed?” Abdullahi Yusuf asked. When Mohamed confirmed it was, Abdullahi Yusuf addressed the group with the real story. He recounted, “During the time we belonged to opposing warlord camps, Mohamed Abdi Hashi came to me and advised, ‘If the Majertaines are unable to lead this time, they should hand over that role to us.’ I responded, perhaps unwisely, ‘You should belong to either Farah Garaad or Mohamoud Garaad to suggest that to me. As a Qayaad man, you shouldn’t.’”

The meeting room erupted in hilarious laughter and commotion. On that soft note, the reconciliation between the two men was complete. This was the crucial groundwork that allowed the Consultative Congress of the Puntland Foundation to proceed.

The Second Fateful Night: A Crisis in Bosaso

The second critical moment came after the Consultative Congress. Abdullahi Yusuf, then in Galkayo, received an urgent call from Elders Abdullahi Boqor Muuse “King Kong” and Ugaas Yaassiin of Ahmed Harti (Dashiishe) in Bosaso. They reported that the SSDF Executive Committee was sabotaging fund-raising efforts for the Constitutional Congress, which was to include the Sool and Sanaag regions.

We immediately left for Bosaso. Upon arrival, we found the SSDF Executive had nearly succeeded. They had persuaded Bosaso’s business community to refuse any levies earmarked for the conference. For Abdullahi Yusuf and his committee, it was an uphill battle against this internal sabotage.

The resistance grew so fierce that Said Caduur, a committee member, suggested Abdullahi Yusuf resign immediately. Our entire effort to create Puntland—the Constitutional Congress itself—was in jeopardy.

The crisis peaked during a lunch at our residence in Bosaso. Abdullahi Yusuf told me, his wife Hawo Abdi Samater, and a trader guest, Muuse Diibeeye, that he was on the verge of resigning.

I was shocked. “How can you resign when you are on the brink of a great victory?” I demanded.

“What victory?” he retorted in despair. “There is only defeat and humiliation here!”

I argued and essentially quarreled with him throughout that lunch and long after. Ultimately, he did not resign. We persevered, eventually defeating the SSDF leadership’s obstruction by raising the first 300 million Somali shillings for the Congress. We handed the funds over successfully to Islaan Mohamed Islaan Muuse in Garowe.

Victory!

That is how we held the Founding Congress of Puntland.

By Ismail H. Warsame
E-mail:ismailwarsame@gmail.com
Twitter:@ismailwarsame

[Republished].

LAASCAANOOD AT THE CROSSROADS: FROM DEFIANCE TO VIABLE REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION

By Ismail H. Warsame | Warsame Digital Media (WDM)

The Existential Question

Laascaanood stands at a precipice. It is a city politically isolated, economically exhausted, and strategically contested, caught between the competing sovereignties of Puntland and Somaliland. Both claim its territory; neither commands the allegiance of its people. The residents of the SSC-Khatumo region are thus stranded in a geopolitical limbo, their future hanging in the balance.

The predicament is Shakespearean (Ina Mohamed Abdulle Hassan) in its drama but profoundly Somali in its tragedy. The question now haunting every elder, intellectual, and activist is the most fundamental one: To be or not to be? Will Laascaanood forge itself into a functional, autonomous entity, or will it be crushed in the vise of regional power politics?

The Geopolitical Quagmire

Puntland anchors its claim in history—the 1998 charter that established its borders. Somaliland invokes the colonial boundaries of the British Protectorate. Both arguments are legalistic, both are absolute, and both ignore the will of the people on the ground.

The result is a perfect stalemate. Laascaanood’s relationship with Garowe and Hargeisa is now one of profound distrust. It is viewed by Puntland as a wayward relative and by Somaliland as a rebellious province. And from Mogadishu? The Federal Government offers little more than empty declarations—a masterclass in political theater that provides photo-ops but no practical power.

The Mirage of Mogadishu

The brief alliance between SSC-Khatumo and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government has proven to be a mirage. Promises of recognition, integration, and funding evaporated upon contact with reality. No ministries were granted, no significant development funds were allocated, no diplomatic weight was thrown behind the cause.

Mogadishu found it more convenient to use SSC-Khatumo as a pawn to pressure Hargeisa and harm Garowe, all while quietly withholding the resources necessary to build a sustainable local administration. The Federal Government took the political capital; SSC-Khatumo was left with the political debt.

The Abyss of Economic Reality

Beneath the high politics lies a crushing economic reality. Laascaanood’s economy is medieval, running on livestock and remittances. Diaspora money pays for emergencies, not for enterprise. There are no factories, no paved roads, no banks. The tax system is ad-hoc, and the “government” operates more like a committee for resistance than an engine for development.

The youth, disillusioned by the failures of both local and national leadership, see only two paths: exodus or extremism. Without an economic foundation, political aspirations are built on sand.

The International Betrayal

Adding insult to injury is the stance of the international community, led paradoxically by the United Kingdom. The very power that drew the colonial borders now champions their inviolability in the name of “stability.” But this is a stability of the grave—a preference for the quiet of a repressed region over the messy, legitimate struggle for self-determination.

Western diplomats, comfortable in their Nairobi embassies, prioritize neat maps over just outcomes. Once again, Somali destiny is being debated in foreign corridors, its people treated as subjects of a geopolitical experiment rather than authors of their own fate.

The Enemy Within

Yet, the greatest obstacle to SSC-Khatumo’s survival may be internal. The movement is plagued by divisions, a lack of a unified vision, and an absence of professional administration. Leadership is often rooted in historical lineage rather than modern statecraft.

A movement cannot be sustained on defiance alone. Laascaanood does not need more declarations or diaspora debates; it needs an institutional spine: a professional civil service, a transparent budget, and a actionable roadmap for governance based on law, not just legacy.

The Road Ahead: From Defiance to Governance

For SSC-Khatumo to truly “be,” it must transform its spirit of resistance into the architecture of a state. This requires three concrete actions:

1. Build a State, Not a Stage: Shift from a rhetoric of protest to a culture of service. Establish a local administration that delivers security, justice, and education—proving its legitimacy through competence.
2. Forge an Economic Foundation: Move beyond a pastoral and remittance economy. Develop a fiscal plan, establish control over trade routes, and invest in the livestock value chain to generate revenue that funds real autonomy.
3. Pursue Principled Diplomacy: End the strategic isolation. Re-engage with Puntland from a position of strength, and present Mogadishu with a clear, non-negotiable demand for constitutional inclusion and resources.

SSC-Khatumo cannot remain an “emotional republic.” It must become a functional polity.

Conclusion: The Choice is Ours

In the end, the fate of Laascaanood will not be decided in Hargeisa, Garowe, or Mogadishu. It will be determined by the will, wisdom, and discipline of its own people. The international community may look away, and old powers may oppose it, but the ultimate question remains:

Can the leaders of SSC-Khatumo translate the raw courage of defiance into the enduring work of governance?

If they cannot, Laascaanood will remain a city of shadows, its people forever asking the same, unanswered question.

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© 2025 Warsame Digital Media (WDM)
Hard-hitting Analysis. Truth Without Compromise.