Category: corruption

PUNTLAND: CRISIS OF IDENTITY OR LOSS OF VISION?

Is PUNTLAND in a state of national crisis in every aspect of its public endeavors? Would the anouncement of a forthcoming PUNTLAND Congress or Conference scheduled in March 15, 2020, respond to this crisis or troubling political disillusionment of its residents, and youth, in particular? Would Puntland continue to hold the unity and cohesion of its constituency member regions, after it had lost parts of its founding members? Would the reckless and unconstitutional activities by the leaders of the Federal Government of Somalia take advantage of Puntland administrative and security vulnerabilities in Mudugh and Bari Regions? Would Puntland stage and maintain fiscal, public and security sector reforms?  Would democratization of Puntland governance finally come true before the end of President Abdullahi Said Den’s Term in office? Would Puntland leaders be able to manage the persistent political and constitutional frictions with Farmaajo Administration? Would Puntland so-called “universities” be allowed to continue to ill-educated Puntland youth with fake diplomas and degrees with the production of illiterate graduates with no work skills?


These are critically important questions before the Puntland Forthcoming Congress, begging for answers in fundamental ways.

Puntland Government role in this Congress must be limited only to security, funding and help in organization, but the public debate and agenda setting must come from the delegates to the conference. Delegates should monitor any manipulation by government agents and politicians. The Congress must be conducted in an atmosphere of freedom of expression and genuine debates on outstanding issues of the day and current Puntland socio-economic stagnation, whereby sick persons still embarrassingly go and seek medical care in Hargeisa and Mogadishu, after more than two decades of Puntland statehood and self-government. This is the legacy of systemic and run-away corruption in Puntland public health sector.

In a nutshell, Puntland Forthcoming Congress must be conducted along the Founding Principles of the State and in manners resembling the Founding Congress of the State with benchmarks and objectives to achieve in timeframes.

Finally, Farmaajo Administration is engaged in dismantling the federal system agreed upon in the foundation of the 2nd Republic in 2004. What is the Puntland State strategy and vision towards the New Somalia being created out of the Civil War? What is the alternative to a central dictatorship? Are there lessons to learn from that past experience and experiment in post colonial Somalia? Are Somalis ready relive tyranny and central command government?

Puntland State and its residents have still the potential to recover lost opportunities to mend past policy mistakes and re-gain blurred original vision


https://ismailwarsame.blog


@ismailwarsame


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IS PUNTLAND TOO EASY TO GET DESTABILIZED WITH QADARI RIYALS?

July 21, 2019

Many people thought that PUNTLAND is too hard a nut to crack against the use of the left-overs of Qadari Riyals from Mogadishu. Successful transfer of money laundered through N&N activists under the cover of various development projects in several Puntland cities is slowly taking hold.

The quick pace of this FGS money laundering is too fast for President Deni Administration to catch up. It is just reacting to the events, while badly failing to warn Xawilaadaha (Money Transfer Bureaus) about the crime and penalties of FGS money laundering operations in Puntland.

Money could be a tool of war, and in the FGS case, it is a destabilizing campaign. At moment, Galkayo and Bosaso, the most heavily populated towns of Puntland are FGS targets in an attempt to shake up the foundations of Puntland. Will that work out?

That depends on how the Deni Government would be able to win the hearts and minds of the youth of Puntland, the 70% of the population. It would require Puntland President to often come out of the fence of Villa Puntland and talk to the people, for if he doesn’t do that, someone else would do it for him, and it will not be humorous in the end.

In the light of the recent FGS flagrant meddling in the internal affairs of State’s jurisdictions under the Federal Constitution, the entire political, cultural and security machineries of Puntland should get into high gear to confront any destabilizing factors, including the chronic absence of youth guidance and orientation.

Let us be clear of what Puntland State stands for, where it came from, at what costs and why?

https://ismailwarsame.blog

@ismailwarsame

(Photo credit: HIRNEWS)

FOR STUDENTS OF SOMALI HISTORY

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July 16, 2019

Do you know the three phases of Somalia’s Military Government in the period of 1969 – 1991?

ANSWERS:

1. Military-Administrative Government. In this phase, Somalia had made significant progress that captured the attention of the people of Somalia and the world.

2. One-man rule Government, an absolute dictatorship. In this phase, things went wrong in Somalia, and turned to the worst.

3. Client Government. In this phase, Dictatorship gave way to the rule of corrupt elite created by the Regime and hailing from all clans of Somalia. This was the end of Somalia as we knew it, that led to the status of “failed State”

The last phase (3) is now reflected in the current Federal Government of Somalia and Federal Member States. If things go on course as they are now, what you expect for is obvious.

https://ismailwarsame.blog

@ismailwarsame

PRESIDENT DENI OF PUNTLAND STATE MAKES FIRST BOLD MOVES

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July 8, 2019
Congratulations to President Said Abdullahi Deni for making first encouraging steps towards taking the ownership of PUNTLAND STATE multifaced problems, some of which are chronic and intractable. However, these are only first steps in overalling a stagnant socioeconomic and administrative/political malfeasance that had crippled the State so long since its foundation in 1998.
The President is right to start reforming the State’s Acheel’s Heels: Security and Finance Sectors. Flashing out aging and corrupt bureaucrats from Puntland finance sector is a much welcome effort by the President.
Appointment of good people in position of authorities is not enough, though. Transparent standards and legal instruments must accompany with these official appointments. To fight corruption and mal-administration in public affairs, autonomous agencies and departments such as the Auditor-General and Accountant-General must be empowered with independent powers, financial and legal means to discharge their responsibilities. If that doesn’t happen immediately, there is nothing much to celebrate for the President’s seemingly bold official appointments last night.

It is equally important to appoint bureaucrats on merit and qualifications through competitive interviews and exams, including their through vetting and background checks, while taking into account the necessary employees diversity at ministries and agencies. President Deni seems not bringing in new qualitative ideas and innovative system of personnel recruitment. He has immediately embarked upon doing business as usual.

It is also the right time for the President to make an appropriate Cabinet Reshuffle as six months is more than enough to evaluate the performance of individual ministers. There is no point in keeping on a non-performing Cabinet Member.

PUNTLAND STATE has been held back for much of its existence by two major crippling factors:
  1. Epidemic corruption with impunity
  2. Weak and equally corrupt House of Representatives.
Puntland House of Representatives were solely responsible for all that went wrong in Puntland, I can ascertain this with authority. They were the reason why we have “Madax-ka-Nool” government here. It is a sham Parliament in both its election (in fact, selection process) and legislative operations. Until this House and its leadership behavior change, a goodwill of the Executive and its compliance with laws and regulations of the land can’t be expected, not to talk about checks and balance of power.
To sign off, I must share my personal experience with you that the people of Puntland love their government as they equally admire competent, transparent and honest leaders. They will definitely fall in love with President Deni, only if he earns that public trust.
@ismailwarsame

Postscript:

Puntlanders might have been a bit disappointed with the current setup of the Ministry of Energy, Water and Mineral Resources in the terms of lack of employees diversity. Based on the historical background of these agencies now coming under a ministry, the President couldn’t do it better otherwise without risking a political capital for the time being because of known sub-clan considerations and contradictions. These agencies are now also better off, being attached to a ministry for funding and more public transparency.

In tribal politics, no politician can assert his paramount leadership role, however, without first securing his last word command on his immediate sub-clan power-base.

SOMALIA: WONDERING GENERALITIES AND NO MEANINGFUL SPECIFICS

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July 7, 2019
EDITORIAL
Politics and policies are boring when there are no benchmarks, no priorities and no defined policy objectives to achieve. When government actions are attended aimlessly with no standards, no monitoring mechanisms and no performance evaluation, it would amount to wondering in the dark, boring and dull existence for those required to discharge public responsibilities.
To complete the process of re-instating the failed state of Somalia, both the Transitional Charter and Federal Provisional Constitution had clearly defined the benchmarks to achieve, among them, the review of the Federal Constitution, establishment of Constitutional Commissions and timeframes to realize these constitutional and policy objectives.
Instead, you have a static condition, political paralysis and artificial gridlocks that had turned everybody cynical and hopeless among the general public.
There are reasons for this happening. When a selected Leader, MPs and the Cabinet came through vote rigging, vote buying, influence peddling and all inherent corruption manipulations to be where they are today, their next most concerns are how to recuperate the financial losses (investment), and return on investment, getting ready for the next vote-buying projects at expiration of their stints.
If the general public is too ignorant, uninformed and had lost faith in themselves that they could make any difference in their unenviable existence, not to mention about their inabilities and lack of community awareness to come together for collective political actions, then it becomes remote to do much in societies like Somalia.
This is what is wrong in Somalia. How long will it take for this society to get informed to act together on common purposes? Long time, you bet. The Chinese saying, however, has it that a 1000 steps journey starts with the first step.
So, let us start stepping up.
@ismailwarsane

EDITORIAL: WHY PUNTLAND STATE HAS FALLEN BACK

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July 3, 2019
Successive leaders and administrations of Puntland have been losing vision and strategic planning for both Puntland and Somalia. In the absence of think tank, thought leaders and any attempts to study Puntland core systemic problems, had led to a situation of political pararlysis.
Over the years, existing local research centres, international and local Non-state Actors, NSA or NGOs as well as the civil society groups here and throughout Somalia, had been taught into and are all bent on engaging in international donor-friendly programs and projects. They don’t want to rock the boat, while at State level, amid corruption, lack of capacity for resources mobilization, expansion of revenue generation and having chronic bottle-neck budgeting issues of merely meeting the minimum State obligations, this political paralysis had been taking over the entire mandates of all Puntland Administrations – Administrations that even couldn’t figure out introducing pay-parking city regulations that can pay off the entire monthly salaries of all city and state employees comfortably, thus to be able to ear-mark and re-allocate the rest of the state revenue to socio-economic sectors and infrastructure projects. This is just an example of how to expand revenue generation. There are many other ways to fill up the government coffers by providing much needed services to the residents, in exchange.
In Puntland, like the rest of Somalia, there is no much planning for what to do next next day. It is hard to complete a long journey without pre-planning. It is equally impossible to reach at destination you don’t know, trouble-free.
This is why the State of Puntland has lost its way during its historic journey as the main Pillar of creating The New Somalia.