A TRADITIONAL LEADER ACCUSES SOMALILAND MAYOR IN ERIGAVO OF FANNING HOSTILITIES AT WAQDARI

[Deeq A.]

 Badhan (PP News Desk) — A traditional leader from Las Qoray has levelled serious allegations against the Mayor of Erigavo Ismail Haji Nur. Suldan Ahmed Bashir  Du’ale recounted how clashes at Waqdari erea North of the administrative capital of Sanaag began several months ago.

• Erigavo Sanaag faces accusations for partiality

“Militias from an Erigavo-based subclan  have occupied Waqdari. We lodged a complaint with Erigavo administration about the serious trespass into a communal area. We went to Erigavo and remained there for three months in the hope of finding a solution to the problem” Suldan Du’ale said in a statement for the media to present his side of the story. “Before lodging the complaint we have spoken to the elders of the occupying militias. They proposed a wider inter-clan talks. We objected to their proposal because,  the matter is specific to the two subclans involved who, due to long-standing interactions, have ties whose members know each other well.”

Sultan Du’ale alleged that the intervention of Erigavo Mayor in the form of an order to stop the construction of a Mother and Child Health Centre at the occupied area and withdraw occupying militias has not been enforced. “The Mayor instructed occupying militias not to abide by the edict” Suldan Du’ale said. While there is no evidence that Erigavo Mayor acted partially in this case, the silence of the regional administration over feuding and the Mayor’s shared subclan affiliation with militias that committed the trespass raise questions about competence and commitment to protecting communal agreements.

• Suldan Du’ale: Trespass into a communal territory caused the conflict

Sultan Bashir said: “Land rights of the two subclans are clear. We have documents showing how the British Empire demarcated territories” for clans that had signed Protectorate Agreements.  In 1995 the late Somaliland President Mohammed Haji Ibrahim Egal sponsored the Erigavo Communal Agreement. The agreement laid foundations for respect for citizens and property rights in Sanaag. Suldan Du’ale accused Ismail Haji Nur of failing to honour his duty to act impartially to all citizens.

Somaliland Minister of Interior has not launched an inquiry into Waqdari territorial dispute that might engulf the whole region.                                                        

© Puntland Post, 2020 

The post A TRADITIONAL LEADER ACCUSES SOMALILAND MAYOR IN ERIGAVO OF FANNING HOSTILITIES AT WAQDARI appeared first on Puntland Post.