Is The President of Puntland playing with Fire?

[Xudeedi]

Is The President of Puntland playing with Fire?

 

 

Friday, April 07, 2006

 

For quite a while I was following the troubling news about Puntland regarding the conflict surrounding the controversial mining exploration in Majayahan, in the outskirts of Bossasso, Somalia—a conflict in which about 8 to 10 people have already died within the last few weeks, and about a dozen have been injured.

 

In the beginning, I have actually been feeling docile about the whole thing—following news items carried in this website or that—not able to make headway as to the nature and the magnitude of the problem. There were rumors after rumors about mineral exploration, at first, then rumors about moneys changing hands between a foreign company and some of the members of the family of Adde Muse and, probably, also government officials and others. All this were rumors to me until there were deaths. Deaths and deaths; and more deaths of real people, with blood and flesh.

 

Then this. Some person by the name of Ashley--a man or a woman—probably neither—but, perhaps, some entity using a false name, wrote to GaroweOnline , one of the websites which has been diligently covering the news of the conflict. Ashley, interestingly, complains about the fact that the website has been covering the news of the Majayahan item. And, disgustingly enough, this callous and insensitive something (person or organization) starts their complaint as follows:

 

“I am interested in your coverage of the conflicts that are rumored to take place regarding the mining of natural resources in the state of Puntland. Your articles seem to constantly portray negativity towards the course of action the Puntland government has taken."

 

I do not probably need to say any more to express my shock to the world. You can click the above link to read the rest of the short article. I am shocked as I begin to wonder who is this person? Who does he or she represent—the government of Puntland, or the Australian mining company (Range Resources) which has allegedly gotten the infamous deal in the area? Whoever it is, the writer does not conceal their position as to which side they have taken or their intention as they say:

 

"I have read Range Resources most recent summary and they appear to be following due diligence and protocol with regard to understanding the area, building an experienced geological team, and entering into negotiations that will ultimately bring about the best possible outcome for the people of Somalia."

 

Goodness Gracious! Where does this stop? When will it stop? When will Adde Muse (the President of Puntland) and his cronies stop the mayhem? When will Range Resources begin to even think about the poor souls dying in that barren, sun scorched corner of the world, which some call home? When will the government of Ali Geddi, the President of the TFG and/or the Speaker of the Parliament warn General Adde of the fire he is playing with and the consequences of his actions? When will the Australian government begin to even pay attention to the reports of those (from both sides) increasingly dying because of the actions of one of its own national outfits?

 

Letting people die as a result of greed and the pursuit of self-interested schemes is inhuman; hiring public and media relations companies, not only to promote an unjust action, but to discourage reporting on the matter, is criminal in my opinion. In this spirit, I urge and plead with the Somali media to seriously pursue this issue with a view to silencing the voice of those vicious forces trying to stifle the cries for justice and to discourage the pursuit of the truth.

 

Further more, and by way of solutions:

 

*The government of Puntland must pull back its troops besieging the area immediately and allow an opportunity for talks with the leaders of the community. So far he has been steadfastly adamant at defeating the defense forces of the community.

 

*The President of Puntland should allow for a third party intervention to move his troops out of the area and to allow for talks to start.

 

*The TFG should consider the question more seriously than it has officially done so far. It is actually a shame that President Yusuf has not uttered one word about the matter, at least, since people have started dying—forget the time before that. President Yusuf has, at a minimum, a moral responsibility to address the issue. He cannot ignore it. After all, he is the previous President of the Republic of Puntland, if nothing else.

 

*The elders of the community have already released a Communiqué in which they expressed their desire to resolve the conflict through dialogue. The communiqué is already a week old, but the fighting was still going on two days ago as a result of the continuous government attacks.

 

*Still, the community should continue to let cooler heads prevail and err on the side of peace in their defense strategy.

 

*All entities must cease and desist from actions which might escalate the conflict to avoid further loss of live.

 

 

Abdalla Ahmed Hirad

A concerned Somali Citizen