Illey fires his Vice President and names a low-level civil servant as VP of Somali Region

[Deeq A.]

SOMALI REGION APPOINTS A LOW RANKING CIVIL SERVANT AS A NEW VICE-PRESIDENT AMID DEEP POWER STRUGGLE

The President of the Somali Regional appointed a new vice-president after firing the former president Abdihakim Egal who has been a Vice-Administrator for the last seven years. However, Abihakim Egal has always been seen as an ineffectual bench warmer (place holder) with no political base. He was not always seen in a favoring light by the people in Shinile Zone where he hails from. He was always seen as someone doing Abdi’s, The Regional Chief Administrator, bidding biding.

Though Abdi owed him a huge political debt, after all, he was casted the decisive vote the tipped the balance towards Abdi’s favor after a bitter political struggle in the executive committee of the region’s ruling party. The other fact that that adds a wrinkle to this fascinating saga is the fact that he hails from Shinile Zone which is currently rocked by protests and unrests that my work as a precursor for protests and demonstrations in other parts of the Region.

As per reports, both the Zonal and most local Woreda administration officials has been chased out of their administrative towns. This seemed like a move by Abdi to appease and quell the protests in Shinile Zone by installing a new figure that hails from that same zone as Vice Administrator and to use him as a tool to quell the protests while maintaining clan dynamics and a veneer of legitimacy. However, the twist came after it was revealed that the post would go to a low ranking civil servant rather than Miig Bile, the favored and often rumored contender who currently serves as the Youth and Sports Bureau Head as well as ‘Social Media’ Advisor to the President. He is well known for extensive sharing and reposts of images of the president well in to the wee hours of the morning.

As per the word on the street, that unwise choice of inexperienced low ranking civil servant seems to have already backfired as it already offended the already edgy people in Shinile Zone. They took it as an insult to injury by nominating an unqualified and inexperienced member and to pretend like they have a voice in the affairs of the region. In that same reshuffle and power tussle, the Ethiopian Somali Peoples Democratic Party (ESPDP) Chairman has been unceremoniously removed from the Chairmanship of the party in a controversial way after he claimed that the removal of the Vice-Administrator without due process is and was tantamount to an illegal purge according to sources that spoke to JJH.

The purge of Mohamed Rashid Isak, Abdihakin Igal and other cabinet members, further complicates the turbulence within the ruling party especially during unrest in some parts of the Region while it is brewing in some other major cities such as Jigjiga, Diri Dhaba (Dire Dawa), Dhegahbur, Kebribayah, Awbere and Moyale!

Editor’s note: This is an unfolding story and we will update it accordingly.

[Holac]

Country	Ethiopia
Region	Somali
Zone	Sitti
Capital	Shinile
Area
• Total	29,693 km2 (11,465 sq mi)
Population (2014)
• Total	946,968
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

 

 

[Holac]

A population of 1 million is huge for Ismail Omar Ghelleh's family in Ethiopia. It is possible the number is even bigger than that. That is great. 

 

 

[Old_Observer]

Low ranking civil servant

That is both funny and cruel. It says nothing about competence, just that the man was not party hack and minister in the government.

Says nothing if the man worked in the water projects, the success story the federal government and federal parliament wanted to teach and train all kilils on project management on time on budget and quality completion. 93 dams within 2 years unheard of in any history in Ethiopia.

It says nothing if the man was working in the health care and education sectors success stories in the region

It syas nothing if one time or another the man worked on security and police departments.

What is low, what is high in this regard? What is his education, what is his experience...all that not wanted to come out.

 

Even Mr. Olad's Jigjiga Herald missed proper conduct in reporting on this issue.

 

[maakhiri1]

illey is a survivor, and mostly like this is a pre-emptive strike.

[galbeedi]

It is pre-emotive strike. Party chairman Mohamed rashid  was the perfect replacement for  Illey , I myself mentioned him as the next leader . It seems the social media monitoring guy had read our reports and was rewarded . Who knows this could our own old observer elevated for job well done 

The cumar ghelle family immigrated Djibouti in early twentieth century just like those from awda lites from the cost. Their primary home is the Somali region. Also we awdalites have more people in the zone than Somaliland. 

In fact three groups who have paid the highest price for the colonial dismemberment of the Somali region are the  dhagaxbuur community, the awdal community and cumar ghelle.  All of them live in three different countries. 

[Old_Observer]

17 minutes ago, galbeedi said:

It is pre-emotive strike. Party chairman Mohamed rashid  was the perfect replacement for  Illey , I myself mentioned him as the next leader . It seems the social media monitoring guy had read our reports and was rewarded . Who knows this could our own old observer elevated for job well done 

I am still same position until this whole thing is settled down. Maybe they will ask the Russians or Israelis to upgrade the software.

Actually too much Oromo Oromo including the pictures posted made the whole thing a farce. Somalis were so disappointed including those who had great questions about the expansion of the capital, the changes in development plan and the grading of priorities etc.

The people do not have facebooks, but some elders even spoke publicly that the whole thing was disrespectful of the Somali.

Elections are due for towns and zones and districts, unless the Federal government postpones them as well. Get ready you have time. Even if Iley retires, the system is set to continue same style at least for next president.

17 minutes ago, galbeedi said:

In fact three groups who have paid the highest price for the colonial dismemberment of the Somali region are the  dhagaxbuur community, the awdal community and cumar ghelle.  All of them live in three different countries. 

There is nothing worst than this situation in the creation of countries that really disappoints me even with current governments. They could make land swap and at least have a big size of any people in one country.

You can see in Europe as well with Holland and Belgium and France and Belgium, so much so Belgium did not have government for 2 years, was run by beaurocrats. Split people by borders, through no fault of their own is the ultimate injustice.

Especially when they are made small here small there small everywhere.

[galbeedi]

By the way , there were more Vice Presidents who were replaced although illey sometimes may have two Vice Presidents at the same time. There was one awdalite mowlid hayir who was Vice President from 2013-2015. When the Suldaan wabar issue started illey replaced him. 

[Old_Observer]

Why would someone and claiming to be a Somali, organize this knowing full well that few days before Ramadan starts, there is an open conference of the kilil where literaly every segment of the kilil participates.

Society's grievance are openly aired. Government ministers all have to be there and answer every question from a water well, to roads, schools, health clinics, justice, etc.

Its done every year and is an example other kilil's are copying.

 

I will show you here what an Amhara portal put as headlines. This portal and sites attached to it, has never ever printed or shown videos of anything positive that happened in the kilil.

በደጋሃቡር፣ በሽንሌና በጅጅጋ ተቃውሞው በርትቶ ቀጥሏል | ልዩ ኃይል ወደ ሕዝብ ተኮሰ | “ዳውን ዳውን አብዲ ኢሌ”

Translation:

"In Deghabuur, in Shinnille, in Jijiga the rebellion is getting stronger all the time. Liyu has been unleashed on the people. Down Down Abdi Iley"

This site is like the stormfront for Ethiopia. Most collection of chauvinists children of Menelik, most angry that Ethiopians can preserve and if they can deveop their languages and culture and most of all self governing. No more district governors being sent from Shiwa/Amhara to the zones of the Somali or anyone else. Their main slogan is "one Ethiopia, one language, one culture, one identity" and some of their members one religion.