Category: Education

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


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WHO COULD BE SUPPORTERS OF N&N  ELECTION 2020/21 IN PUNTLAND?

September 29, 2019


If an election were held in Puntland today, whom do you think would vote in support of N&N?
It isn’t a wild guess work, but a predictable scenario based on keen observation on the mood, utterings and attitudes of sections of the Puntland population.

  1. Historically, there were portions of the population in the State, who are uncomfortable with the numerical superiority of the Majertain sub-clan groupings. These would vote N&N at expense of Puntland interest.
  2. There are young and politically naive social media fans, who know neither the history of Puntland struggle nor what N&N stands for.
  3. There are people, who fell victim to Dr. Ali Khalif Galayr’s type of hate speech directed at Puntland  State.

Consequently, all these groups are turning out to be anti-federalists and anti-self-government in their campaign to discredit the formation of federal member states in favor of a strong N&N led central government, even dictatorship from Mogadishu.

Historically, this political culture of hatred towards certain sections of Northeastern population had been cultivated and developed by the former military regime of Siyaad Barre. President Farmaajo is a product and student of that repressive regime. This is Farmaajo’s basis for purging Puntlanders from Federal Public Service, exactly in the same way Siyaad Barre did then. That is why Puntland students are being punished for belonging to the wrong Federal Member State. He isn’t learning from recent Somali political history. As he got chance and a shot at Somali politics, he didn’t know enough persons of Puntland origin. As TFG Prime Minister, he was compelled to tap someone seemingly from Northeastern Regions of Somalia. He placed his bet on Abdiweli Mohamed Ali (Gaas), his fellow resident of US Buffalo NY State, the only one person he knew from Majertain, and also Gaas was former resident of Dusa-Mareeb in Galgaduud Region of Central Somalia, where Farmaajo sub-clan family hails from. President Farmaajo now thinks that even Abdiweli Gaas had betrayed him as the former had lost the Somali Prime Ministership to the latter.


Given the situational analysis of Puntland, any administration in Puntland ought to study and pay attention to these societal contradictions, as it should address any real or perceived grivances harbored by certain sections of Puntland residents, including Somali IDPs.


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THE FAILED CITY OF GALKAYO

Garowe, May 19, 2019

Italian Colonial Administration then called Galkayo “Rocca Littorio” or the fortress of Littorio, after the name of Italian battle ship, Littorio, in honor of city history for producing brave fighters and being the avant-garde of resistance for liberation and independence, a bedrock of SYL Great Somalia and SSDF, the first Somalia’s opposition (1978-1991) to the dictatorship of the Military Junta led by General Siyad Barre. It had known liberal values that raised and gave equal opportunities to those historically considered in Somalia as the untouchables like the families of Samaters, Salhaans, Bootaans, Ayah Dhowres and others, and where a woman thrives as the head and master of the household – a unique characteristics of the City that made it stand out in entire Somalia.

The City of Galkayo, and Mudugh Region in general, is home and origin of almost all prominent politicians, top military brass, generals and historical figures of Somalia.

To avoid some readers raising their eyebrows, I leave that for you to count the names in the list of prominent Somali political and military figures from Mudugh. Take it as homework, but don’t forget to share the list with me later.

Galkayo was home of reknown first class neurosurgeons, gynecologists and orthopedics, receiving patients from the sub-region as whole. It was the forefront in telecommunications even before the foundation of Puntland. One would recall Radio Galkayo, Radio Daljir, Galcom and first Internet service in Northeastern Regions. Galkayo used to be the Centre of Education for the entire former Northeastern Regions of Somalia for high school students. Galkayo ranked first in export of huge livestock and fresh meat to the Gulf States.

Galkayo used to get its notoriety in ideas, adventure and anocdodal excentricity. Yet, the City has been abysmally failing lately and had its residents in disarray and divided. It is no longer the historical City of Rocca Littorio.

Galkayo is now a town looking at Garowe, Mogadishu and Hargeisa for role model. It is a city where her best had left town or contemplating to do so. It is now a town that had lost its sense of community and collective purpose; a city where its prominent residents were and are now targets for murder and assassination without any consequences for justice served; a city that had failed to send its best political representatives to the ruling bodies of Puntland and Somalia. It is now a city where its traditional leadership doesn’t take cue and wisdom from its predecessors.

Galkayo is now a town where Somali leaders occasionally visit when there is a sensless community problem, no longer go for ideas, business or leisure because of the incurable divisions, bickering and severe sub-clan rivalry.

Even Puntland leaders shy away from visiting Galkayo due to senseless commotions, inherent lack of purpose, social cohesion and community leadership. Who wants losers and individual brokers looking for personal interests only?

By the way, the current self-introductory visit by Puntland President, Said Abdullahi Deni, to Mudugh Region, is a small opening for Galkayo residents to show-case unity and collaborative spirit on the ashes of decades of decay and political decadence.

Galkayo is now the infamous town of “Little Asha Elyas” gang-rape and murder.

Galkayo is the not la Rocca Littorio any more

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A NATION IN TURBULENT TRANSITION

Garowe May 17, 2019

You may not be aware of the fact the name, Somalia, didn’t exist in the sense of a united central entity as a country, but as ethnic group among East African peoples before 18-19th century European colonial powers of Italy, Great Britain, France, Portugal, and Turkish Ottoman Empire from Egypt. Most historically known self-governing entities in Southern and Northeastern parts of what is presently known as “Somalia” didn’t have the notion of Somalia as a country. Colonial Italy led the way in the creation of the concept of Somalia as a country for its own colonial objectives and administrative-political expediency for a united colony.

These powerful nomads in the Northeastern, Northwestern and Central parts of “Somalia” had had no sense of a country beyond their grazing localities and water wells. The Southernmost agriculturalists of Bantu extraction had had no specific identities other than they were remnants of perished local slave-owning sultanates and chieftains with occasional visits, rule or influence from Arabs looking for slaves and fortune in East Africa, usually coming from the sea and Zanzibar.

The concept of Greater Somalia didn’t exist before Somali Youth League (SYL) political campaigns for independence from as recently as the year of 1943. Even the notion and the term of “Greater Somalia” (Somaliweyn) was conceived and coined by former British Foreign Secretary, Bevin, before Britain abandoned the initiative and had decided to transfer the Somali territory known as the ” Haud and Reserve Area” to Ethiopia in 1954. At the time, Ethiopia was demanding from Britain to agreeing swallowing Hargeisa and Zeila as part of Haud and Reserve Area as well.

The struggle waged by the Head of the Darwish Movement of Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan against British Colonial Administration and Emperial Ethiopia was a mixture of Islamic extremism, nationalisn and bad approach to self-government blind-sighted by fight for local control over grazing Somali nomads. The British wanted cheap meat for its military garrison in Aden, South Yemen. The Sayyid wanted loyal clans for supply of fighting men for religio-nationalistic wars. He also wanted to model after Sheikh Ahmed Gurey in his attempt to conquer Abbysinia. Darwish Movement was in-transition to statehood. It never had a chance to succeed. Bad approach to self-government was the root cause of its failure.

Enter the era of independence in 1960 from colonial administrations of Italy and Britain. The colonial masters had left a country in-transition to statehood. They left behind a Somali political elite of their design with very limited preparation, education and skills to run a modern government and poor state with no infrastructure or institutions to talk about. Despite all these, Somalis did well in the first few years after securing the national independence with fledgling democratic culture and successful presidential, parliament and municipal elections that was the envy of black Africa at time. The native political and business elite, who had little training by colonial powers, were in-transition themselves to learn the art of government and statecraft. Yesterday’s nomads poured into over-crowded urban cities, specially Mogadishu and Hargeisa, with no social and labor skills. They too were in-transition to become, as least, normal citizens of a new country called the Somali Republic. The new Somali Government was now in-transition to become as viable as any government on earth.

The Government of the Somali Republic didn’t survive long as it had suffered from military coup of 1969 led by General Mohamed Siyad Barre. That Military Government lasted in office for twenty-one years long in-transition to multi-party democratic elections and people’s self-rule. It never fulfilled the promise to transition to democracy.

The Ogaden war of 1977 -78, rebellion against the dictatorship, people’s uprising and vicious Civil War that followed had cut short the long military reign of the General and his Client-Military Administration.

The world came to learn the phrase “Failed State” of Somalia, total collapse of public institutions and breakdown of law and order. Upheaval, uprooting of people, mass displacement of residents from cities and towns followed in-transition to peace and normalcy.

National Reconciliation Conferences had finally produced “Transitional Governments” from the year of 2000. These Somalia’s transitional governments are, however, still in-transition to multi-party democratic self-government – back to square one in-transition.

The Federal Regional State governments are too in-transition to full-fledged federal states, some of them are still needed to satisfy the basic requirements of the Transitional Federal Constitution for their legal formation and very existence. The entire country and its state institutions are in-transition, some of the goals and objectives of which will not happen in my life. But, as long as things are in-transition, there are always opportunities to move Somalia forward. Be hopeful.

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