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by Saeed Furaa
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Dear Mr. President;
Your Excellence Mr President, let me begin to extent my warm sincere commiserations in as far as your efforts in bringing Somaliland together. You have by far been the most prominent figure in the structuring and development of Somaliland and that is very brave of you. With due respect my good sir, I must draw to your attention certain issues that I have found disturbing and utterly inhuman that is happening in Somaliland at this moment that you read this correspondence. Factly speaking almost 90% of the Somaliland population is starving because of unemployment and for those who are employed are so employed privately as much as informally despite the economic approaches that are in place as we speak. I wish not to be misunderstood but that question the nature and importance of travelling arrangements that you have embarked upon in the last couple of years. I’m further aware that your main focus was on recognition of Somaliland which wasn’t successful, anyway.
I have read with no certainty that young adults in need of better future are committing suicide during such quests and if they move home something tell me that there is deeply something wrong with the socio-political and economical life that is there which is a matter which requires greater attention. Sir I call on stronger economic intervention to deal with the problems at much larger scale. I have deep affection for Somaliland and I take it that you do too but your international trips should be broader and more focus be on economics and social studies in remedying the situation before we loose all of our people through despair.
Comparatively speaking South Africa has problems as much as we do but they have strong economic policies and this brings in more social equality and people begin to feel more secured and free. I must stress this with view to the up-coming elections. As I have observed with many but to mention few democracies is that one of the things that makes it work is for the people to feel like you’re to offer something different from the present and if you do not change on strategy you’re most likely or rather the party loose in the coming election. One thing that remains indisputably true is that Somaliland is in despair economically and there’re deep social ills. People go to bed hungry and this is a scene which people don’t accept but are used to. If we are to change Somaliland for good we need to change Somaliland by entering into governmental relation to train and equip people to get skills that are essential for a better Somaliland. South Africa followed the same strategy post Mandela release in 1990 and South Africa remains the only leading country in the continent in economic structuring and development. The question is are we ready for change? Do we have human resource to manage that change? Our young are leaving everyday in search of something bigger and it indicates with distinction that there’s something we don’t offer them. Let’s begin to examine the conditions and unbundle the problem.
I have spent enough time reading about the history of Diaspora and Diaspora and I pick something to the effect that people tend to come home when it seems like the country is stable and this is still startling, because one would imagine that skilled people must stabilize the economy and make it more formal or rather formalise it if it appears without doubt that it’s informal. Greater good is to come out of Somaliland because we have enormous natural resources like oil, petroleum, live-stock, economic land and minerals (which are not discovered yet) and we could develop ports and fishing industry and most people in Diaspora can do that because of the skills they are acquired abroad.
Mr President with due respect you remarkably failed to see all these which could have in turn benefited our people. How many projects that you have initiated that have significantly changed lives of the people? Let’s stop with the rhetoric and work towards a sustainable development projects to the benefit of the starving and dying masses. I have one other issue which is that education has been known these days as ancient, to be something society can depend on for change and sustainability. Our education system needs to change to meet the demands of the ever changing society. We need stronger educational policies that can challenge our social conditions. We need stronger exchange programmes that our people can rely on and get invaluable knowledge outside. I propose change Mr President and I’m not against you or anyone. I’m for Somaliland till death withers me away.
Naming More Provinces in Somaliland.
I’m writing through the window view and I have great affection for my intellectual abilities and analysis. Mr. President, take this not as an attack but an examination of your decision to divide Somaliland in 12 provinces. This division comes at the height of elections and of course it will raise certain question, infact it has raised certain questions already in the public corridor. My question from my little window is as follows: Exactly why at this point in our history that you decided to dissect Somaliland in this fashion? Could it be for politically motivated reasons? If so, what are those reasons?
I must say that to decide to do that I assume that it has taken a lot of thinking from you and your cabinet and I think even those at Diaspora like myself are entitled to speak for change in Somaliland. I must remind you that I’m not taking a position against you or anything of that sort. I’m just questioning the integrity of your decision and not your standing as the democratically elected president of the people of Somaliland. I think the division is a wise move in general scheme of things but the time at which you decided to divide is not in the best interest of the Somaliland people. My reasons are as follows: Firstly, how do you make division at the point where we’re not standing groudedly as a nation in economic sense? Division requires more than just formalization but further it requires the finances to achieve that end. We need money for development and to achieve economic integration and this will be easier if we are sitting at six provinces. I understand that you might say: what difference will it make because in principle we’re still sitting at six. The answer would be: we assume more responsibility when we divide them by 12 because manageability would become an inevitable question.
But on a more uncomfortable matter I think this division undermines democracy. In multilateral and multi-representative democracy, I suppose that other political parties must be heard and this division inapt the balance of power over the electorate using the state property in the sense that it is the state land that is divided and not the party’s land. Your decision is founded on state property and not exactly your party’s property and the electorate is most likely to sympathize with your decision for division and not understanding exactly why and which property is being divided. This is effect smacks of democracy and political fraud.
Another thing which I think is essential to a healthy democracy is press liberty and this is another aspect which is visibly undermined and less defended in Somaliland. Let me ask you this Mr. President: How much has the media commented on your decision to divide Somaliland in the manner in which you did? In a healthy democracy you speak to the media and defend your decision. You call on other political party to engage in meaningful discourse about the impact your decision is to have on Somaliland and this aspect has been notoriously violated in your term of office. Why?
Good luck Mr. President,
Concerned Somaliland Citizen,
Saeed Furaa, South Africa
E-mail: [email protected]