Somaliland at 21: Coming of Age

[Ace of Spadez]

Somaliland – The past, present & Future.

 

Happy May 18 every one. We’ve lost a giant among men in Dr. AbdiShakur Jowhar, Allah yarhama on all the Muslims who passed away. We will continue the work of our heroes and pick up where they left off.

[NGONGE]

Salaam Spadez. Hope all is well with you, saaxib. Don't you think your title is a tad optimistic?

 

SL had developed and progressed during those twenty odd years but I wouldn't use the 'coming of age' declaration just yet. There is a lot of work to be done before we can claim that SL has come of age. There are journalists to be freed, poor Oromos to be left alone, the justice system requires major improvements and the accountability of government needs urgent attention. Nonetheless, 2012 is a million times better than 1991.

[Ace of Spadez]

Wassalaam NGONGE, Alhamdulilah I’m well. Inshallah I pray the same for you and your family. You’re right I am being optimistic.

The there is a long journey ahead before we can claim “Mission Accomplished”. However, there are many things worth celebrating amidst the things we’d like to change. I welcome your critique and agree with your sentiments about the issues we’ve yet addressed. Now let me in on why I am so optimistic. Since the inception of Somaliland, whenever there is change in the horizon the electorate has been resistant. I’d be worried if we were being stagnant. In 1993 the great change was giving power to civilians. The second wave of change was going from clan gatherings to multi party democracy & ratifying a constitution. There were many at the time who wanted to continue the clan gatherings. Now comes the next wave of change in our young democracy where we’ve come of age. The next local elections will be based on voting for individuals rather than parties. Another change coming is the ability to form new parties if the old ones haven’t delivered. I also believe in the next elections, we will see the things you mentioned namely the media and fighting of corruption being the bread and butter issues rather than the old yard stick of how much money/contracts will supporting this political party earn me. In essence Somaliland is maturing, and in human terms, has become an adult. No one adult accomplishes their life’s work at the tender age of 21, but we can safely say we are well on our way. The greatest optimism is the new found do it yourself attitude of our people. A number of road projects, from hargeisa to Djibouti, hargeisa to borama, hargeisa to to buroa, buroa to ceerigaabo, hargeisa to salahley, hargeisa to baligubadle are being built by the locals and diaspora. Long gone are the days we’ve only contributed politically but I feel there is a renaissance in the making of helping Somaliland become self sufficient. There is so much foreign NGO’s can do. I think the new formula is public private partnerships. So far, that formula has worked on a limited scale but it is the green shoots that I see for the future. As you’ve agreed, that Masjid looks a lot better today than it did 1991. We’ve indeed come a long way.

[Ace of Spadez]

The spirit of Somaliland & its future lies in the path set by Dr. Jowhar. On this joyous day, let us pray for our brother and the countless other Muslims we have lost. He was truly an inspiration, spending half the year in Hargeisa to treat our fellow citizens and non citizens alike. To get to know more about him read Jama Musse Jama's tribute on the life of Dr. Jowhar.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Oromos we dont need oromos.

[Blessed]

Illaahay ha u naxaariisto, Ina Jowhar. He was indeed a hero. We have come a long way but we have still steep hill to climb and many challenges and obstacles in our way. InshaAllah khayr. It's good to hear from you AZ.

[Ace of Spadez]

As-Salaamu 3alaykum Blessed. Its been a while walaal. I hope everything is good on your end. You are quite right walaal the challenges are many, and there is yet a long way to go. However, we must take stock of what we’ve achieved and value what we have already. We must say Alhamdulilah, the worst is behind us. We can only go up. The momentum is with us.

[Jacaylbaro]

There are always challenges in life .... Somaliland so far managed to go through most difficult times without any external assistance.

 

That Picture speakes louder than 2000 websites and millions of words.