In Somaliland , tribal arrangement continue after 25 years.

[galbeedi]

For 25 years, Somalialnd failed to establish government institutions and the rule of law. Of course the region is peaceful compared to south central Somalia and despite corrupt politicians, communal harmony exists between the people. Men and women of good will among the religious leaders, business community, civil society and elders are constantly watching the excess and transgressions of the politicians and interest groups. Without these noble people's mediation , civil and communal conflict would have happened long time ago.

 

No one is denying the tangible achievements the people of Somalialnd have made for the last 25 years, but if you look closely, especially for the last six years, the government institutions have been replaced by tribal arrangements, delaying tactics and putting aside the rule of law for another day. They refused or failed to implement the rules of law and build any credible institutions. No single issue have been resolved through proper channels , whether it's parliament , courts or cabinet.

 

 

 

While everyone was preoccupied with negotiating between Cali khaliif faction of Khaatumo and Somaliland, the Hargeisa oligarchs were plotting against the peaceful people of Awdal. Early last week Siilaanyo and company visited Borama to discuss the so called ( Saami Qaybsi) proportional presentation of the parliament It has been since 1997, that these oligarchs were resisting to implement a rule of law based representation of the parliament. In 2005, then president Rayaale forced the people to accept a temporary arrangement for now while promising future elections based on districts and the number of registered residents.

 

Last year , Siilaanyo delegated the issue to a bogus institution called " The academy of peace and development" to find a way to implement a new formula for parliamentary elections. After one year of useless research ,or I should say chewing "Khat"--how else would you describe the incompetence---they decided to pass the issue to the three political parties. Rather than research different scenario's of equal representation, based on sound numbers and rule of law , the false academy , spent another day with the political parties and together decided to bring the issue to the senile president who could not even decide where or when to go places. " Waxaan isla garanay in aan dib madaxweynaha ugu celino". The incompetent tribal counsel decided to keep the status quo.

 

It is the typical work of tribal arrangement system where the interest of the tribe is put ahead of the rule of law or the people in general. One asks , why this family is refusing to build institutions and implement government based on rule of law than tribal arrangements?. In tribal arrangements, progress is slow and the status quo is maintained. Housing disputes, thefts, assaults, and all other crimes are resolved through tribal arrangements , not through courts or legal means. Police will arrest someone after you paid him to do so, and will be released after he pays another one. The same goes with the government. People would shoot polling stations and commit armed mischief , yet after tribal arrangements , they are released. The tribal consensus in the parliament and other issues are to keep the status quo for now. No voting takes place and the members parliament may have political names of the parties, but they never vote through party line nor in the principle of loyal opposition.

 

The largest tribal cover up in history of the Somali people.

 

I wrote this issue before, but the organized online propagandists for Somaliland buried their head in the sand. Back in 2010, a colleague of mine who was involved in the NGO's and through his line of work met president Siilanyo at the palace. He told me that the man he met had no any expression in his face and other than greetings said nothing , he added that the man was in some series health issues. Then , in 2011, a visit to Djibouti, in the middle of the meeting , Ahmed Siilaanyo just closed his eyes and went in to sleep. His handlers immediately stooped the meeting and rushed him in to a private room. That was when Some businessmen in Djibouti asked C/raxman Cirro to seek the leadership of UCID party, since Siilaanyo is in weak state of mind. Now , you were probably wondering why am I mentioning this today?. Well, there is another fact about the state of the old man that is covered by all concerned.

 

Last week when he arrived in Borama to discuss ( Saami Qaybsi ) the parliament representation formula and the reopening of polling station in districts that were already voted in Lughaya, one man who was present , told us the news that I and many others already knew. He said, " during the meeting, a heated back and forth debate has taken place between the elders and two of his ministers, while Ahmed Siilaanyo just sat there with his dark glasses", he continued, " after an hour of talk and no agreements in sight, one of the ministers asked Siilaanyo ( Madaxweyne shirka inoo soo xidh") to close the meeting". He pulled a letter from his pocket and said " Thanks everyone , I will make a decision and will let you know on the parliament issue and the so called reopening of polling in Lughaya". Two words and that was it. He said," now we all know Siilaanyo is not the one who decides these issues, and is only a figure head taken to places by not elected aides. How did everyone agreed on this cover up. Opposition leaders, members of parliament and the media. I can not explain other than say it is a family and SNM affair of cover up. The man said that he knew his condition was not that good before, but now everyone knows that Ahmed Siilanyo does not run Somaliland . He just signs papers arranged by others.

 

The latest news is that there are three groups running the tribal arrangement system of Somaliland. First group are mostly women led by the wife and her aides including the in-laws. The second group is the east Burco crowd , who after the departure of Hirsi Xaaaji Hassan relegated to the second tier, but still has some powers to fire and hire as they wish. The third group is Muuse Biixi and the Hargeisa oligarchs who are literally sitting at the table. Hirsi gaab rightly thought that Biixi was not good enough to manage Somaliland, so he brought some educated people and others, but was finally defeated by the ladies and the rich oligarchs. After realizing that Siilaanyo is a dead man walking , Muuse Biixi decided to enter the rooms were decisions are made and take part of the internal tribal arrangements. . He was encouraged to take the power early before the nominal elections even takes place. Each one is bringing his own puppets in the system regardless of duplication, incompetence or government effectiveness. As we speak , there are more than 60 ministers, deputy minters and state minters in the system with nothing to manage or administer.. It just bribing and buying people through bogus appointments. Another 50 or so who were fired as ministers are rooming in Hargeisa hotels seeking positions. folks, we do not make up this stuff. To be sure, the latest shuffle of the interior minister is number four after, Gaboose, Duur, Waran cadde and Faratoon .

 

In Awdal, people expect this oligarchs in Hargeisa to keep the status quo and do not do any harm. The people are following their tribal movements especially in Lughaya where West Hargeisa anarchists were agitating for a while. They tried to create conflicts as soon as Siilaanyo was elected, but at the time, he rejected their anarchy for fear of being destabilized before he even finished his first year. Now that Siilaanyo is in decline both in health and government control , Ina Biixi and his allies decided to push their tribal interest at the forefront. They brought back Nuux Tani, the disgraced former army commander, accused of aiding those who attached the sleeping villagers in Seemaal , and at the same time, they appointed his cousin to be the governor of Awdal region. As we speak the new interior minister from Sool region, announced six area around Lughaya to be reopened for vote for the next election without making a decision. These villages belong to Awdal as always, and when polling stations opened, some anarchists shot the polling stations and stole the computers. They were arrested, but as usual they were released through tribal arrangements.

 

Just like in conflicts in Ethiopia were ethnic groups fight boundaries, the ethnic groups belonging to Hargeisa community want to take a village of less than hundred people from Awdal to Hargeisa, because they are different ethnic group than the majority of the inhabitants of Lughaya district. In a nut shell that is the realty of Somali tribal issues of 21st century. The local people voted already in Lughaya district and the anarchists have one counsel among the 17 district counsel members, but now they want to carve these villages to Hargeisa and create conflict with Awdal and coastal people.

 

Personally, I do not see any advantage of controlling a couple of villages in a barren land with starving resident. These are the same area that had drought and other issues last year. When I did ask people " why do the Hargeisa anarchists keep pushing this issue every election cycle while refusing to take part in the registration process ?, Some people believe that a lucrative NGO contract is being arranged by some Hargeisa oligarchs and they could not get this without the consent of the Lughaya residents , so they trying to curve out these villages to Hargeisa region and cash in .

 

Well, the problem is the Awdal people are awake today and can not be robbed at day light. I do belive the Hargeisa oligrachs will pay a heavy price this time around. This plots from the Hargeisa oligarchs might eventually unite the Awdal people and take the necessary steps to protect their land. Polling in Awdal was closed months ago, but to keep the conflicts and satisfy the anarchists, another second polling will take place with people coming from Hargeisa and other places. Also, a warning should be given to the new rented stooge from Sool , who as the newly appointed interior minister, proclaimed that he is working to figure out which region these villages belong. Well, Mr. Fartoon, Awdal boundaries are well known, so be careful how you thread. Warancade may have been corrupt, but everyone knew that he would never have pushed this illogical issue pushed by anarchists , and that is probably one of the main reasons they replaced him.

 

 

 

On the east, in Sool region , despite the talk of peace and power sharing , the scope of the movements are narrow and short sided. Reliable people told me that despite the smoke screen, the whole things is nothing more than the east Burco guys trying to reconcile with their neighbors before Siilaanyo leaves office. We hear a lot about power sharing and the vacating of government positions, but in reality , these communities would never do that. Rather than replace the fat cats , they targeted Cali Warancade , the only minister with some powers to challenge the family coalition and oligarchs in Hargeisa. " Ragga laga rabo in ay kuraasta ka kacaani waa la garanayaa ee yaan qiiq a isku qarin".

 

Of course we can not ignore the overtures coming from Cali khaliif and some Khaatumo community members to change strategy and make peace with Somaliland. Also, we can not ignore the moves that Ahmed Samatar and company are making to Sool in order to bring Cali Khalif on their side, which is why Biixi is going to Buuhoodle. Some Awdalites assured me that the days of C/raxman Zaylici as vice presidential candidate are over, and will be replaced by Ahmed Samatar himself. Samatar and Zaylici are cousins , and can not occupy two top positions without excluding other Awdalites. Also, Zaylici could not defend Ina Biixi from the direct assaults coming from Awdal community, so they want Ahmed Samatar to lead the charge.

 

I always believed that Somaliland was a tribal arrangement were the northerners found consensus, peace and harmony among themselves until Somali state comes back. When you compare the calamities that did happen or happening in south central Somalia, that arrangement have succeeded it's purpose of temporary peace and development . So, on that note, until a government based on rule of law emerges , or the eventual union of Somalia, which ever comes first, let us keep the peace and the arrangement for now. Having said that , the best option for a real government administration to emerge in Somaliland can only happen after the " Habro" are replaced from the leadership. I do believe the SNM community do not have the temperament to build institutions and rule of law, because , many , even among the lay people will tell you " Adeer Sharcigu waa waxaan ka soo dagaalanay". If they apply the rule of law they may lose the tribal arrangement system.

[Saalax]

Galbeedi the problem with reer Awdal is they invite a

snake to their house and expect it not to bite. I have

been watching from the sidelines about this issue, I

know Muuse Bixi and his community is behind it.

[galbeedi]

Saalax you are correct. How about Mexicans voting for Trump. This snake is carried by certain stooges , but I can assure Reer Awdal will not be fooled. Before, 80% of them were expected to vote for Wadani , now it could it be over nineties if Jamaal Cali and UCID become irrelevant.

 

Oodweyne,

 

I respect your wisdom and the call for cooler heads to prevail. It is useless to fight for few barren villages. You always have strong arguments although sometimes you keep trying to preserve the party line . One thing that I would take from your response is that the expectations and the arithmetic should converge in the same direction.

 

You said:

And that in turn will tell you how clannish society – like Somalis in general – this kind of “social goods” (or basic political requirement) can’t be done unless there is a strong and prior “social-contract” that can withstand any “arithmetical revelation” of the kind a national census would bound to produce within a clannish society, like ours in the Somali peninsula.

 

That is a good promoter if we start working on that direction without excuses. Most people believe this is a ploy to create issues and register illegal residents and inflate the numbers in order to steal elections. I can assure you we will not stand if this snake Biixi tries to steal both land and elections.

 

They might be our maternal cousins , but they are outlaws and warlords. " Abtigaa lama gawraco", but they did. I think the best revenge is to defeat them in this election.

 

 

 

[maakhiri1]

Nice piece, Galbeedi,

 

There are things that bond (isku kuuleeya) communities together, and build a good functioning state, fair elections, Pms elected equal representation, fighting corruption, fighting tribalism, nepotism, transparent, good judicial system, fair employment,

 

Unfortunately, the opposite breaks the foundation of any state, Nepotism, tribalism, no rule of law, Qawda mawashii waxna ha u qaban, not walking the the talk.