TPEC should share blame for stalled democratisation process in Puntland

[Deeq A.]

Abdirisak Ahmed Said, TPEC Chairman, should brief Puntland political associations on allegations made by his predecessor.

The political situation in Puntland jeopardises the democratisation process. It serves the interests of reactionary politicians ,who see decentralisation as a threat to their power base, to discredit a process to which all political stakeholders are committed.

The blame should not be pinned on only Puntland government; Traditional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) shares the blame for putting the democratisation process on hold. The former TPEC Chairman Guled Salah alleged that Puntland government withheld funds intended for democratisation process — institutional capacity building for political associations among other tasks. Guled has never brought the government’s ploy to the attention of stakeholders (political associations).

TPEC successfully oversaw pilot local elections in 2021.

TPEC is mandated to oversee finances for the democratisation process. If, at any stage of the election season, TPEC had become aware of a plot by Puntland government to put pressure on commissioners to have the pilot local government elections planned in such a way that gives Kaah an advantage over other political associations, TPEC should have notified us of irregularities.

Transparency, accountability and credibility are three of TPEC’s core values. I doubt that TPEC has lived up to our expectations if one were to use those three values as a yardstick. Let us forget that donor countries have paid the funds in TPEC’s account with the Finance Ministry. To clear any misunderstanding TPEC should brief political associations on allegations made by the former Chairman.

The democratisation process aims to devolve power to districts who will elect their MPs and a President, as Puntland constitution stipulates. It is the only way out of the corruption that has deprived Puntland of its reputation as the progenitor of the Somali federal system after the state collapse in 1991.

The author of this article is a member of a political association in Puntland.

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