Hiiraan Online

by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf
Friday, May 16, 2008

The house of cards of so-called democracy in “Somaliland” is crumpling!

Yes, I did hear Bashir Goth’s bugle of plea for sensibility to safeguard democracy and however wrong he is on this mirage, he is a man of great intellect who is armed with the idealism of national pride.  But too bad that his is partially allocated—not for the whole nation (see “An Open Letter to Somaliland”)!  And too bad that there are none, nil, zero of all those personalities he listed, who has the vision and the foresight to lead the lost to a land laden with the lights of hope, thus rising the pillars for a lasting, stable peaceful, democracy!  That is why I am sad!  No Somali with a conscientious mind would have a problem with a promising democracy.  But democracy in “Somaliland” has neither had the means nor the wheels to baby-walk.  And as the sagacious soul and a genuine Somali, one of the very few still standing, Jama Mohamed Khalib said, the legs of which democracy would have learned to walk on the north were prematurely amputated by yet another despot (see “All to whom it May Concern”).    

Having said so let me digress a bit by asking, to begin with has there been a democracy in the “Somaliland?”  And before all those malfeasances of dictator Riyale came to light: paying off the House of Elders so it yields a profit of investment return (extending his term), firing governors at will, creating enclaves of countless regions with malice intent, imprisonment of Qaran opposition party leaders, as well as media personalities, price control, monopoly of gas and petrol, ban on independent radio and television and worse of all Kleptomania, have there been law and legal limbs to stand on?

I tried to answer some of these questions in a research paper for non-Somalis of which I am going to share a brief page or two with you.  The paper was about the successive leadership failures in the northern Somalia and the limitless opportunities missed.  When reading this paper, please remember that it was a while back and that I was not addressing the rest of what was once called Somalia!  I will say more about the missed opportunities in the north of a second paper.  Here goes part I now: 

Leadership for the Common Vice!

How the northern Somalia “Somaliland,” the better stable part of the nation now, has been lost into a gridlock of deflective leadership.

The real source of cluelessness is not the personality nor IQ.  It is how we think and make sense of the world around us.  Regardless of intellectual wattage, we are out to lunch if we use the wrong idea for the situation at hand.

Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal

There have been a fever and a great deal of drum beating in northern Somalia “Somaliland” for world recognition.  Not long after the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, the northern part of the nation declared unilateral secession and ever since has been a de facto independent state with relative success.  So the mantra that of which the proponents of “Somaliland” regurgitate with gusto in the coffee shops, internet caves, websites, local TVs and radios around the globe is that in “Somaliland” the senseless violence that is all but too common in the south has ceased, established rule of law is fostered and obeyed by the masses, three branches of government (judiciary, executive and parliamentary) are functioning, the present president Dahir Riyaale Kaahin, who was chosen  by free and a fair election is in command, two opposition parties (KULMIYE and UCUD) have the legal rights to dissent, business men and women are free to practice and propagate economic ideas, and press freedom practiced is vibrant.  At least this was the case for five to six weeks ago! 

Thus, the pertinent questions that one must address are how much of these claims are simply phantasm?  How much can be substantiated?  And what role has the leadership or there lack of play in all?  .    

In comparison to the south, one indisputable success is all but too certain that violence has been reduced to minimum and perpetrators of most common crimes pay a price. Nevertheless, the plaque of the political turmoil that has rendered the south paralyzed is abundantly present in “Somaliland” though somewhat tamed. Thus what one can argue is that “Somaliland” has nothing substantial to show for all its rhetoric of self adulated, democratic progress, besides just chanting that they are “better than the southern Somalia!”

As Crosby and Bryson have aptly stated, “leadership for the common good requires a high degree of mutuality among leaders and followers.   However, leadership for the common vice takes an exact opposite road.  Leadership for the common vice is dictatorial, abusive, arrogant, ignorant, corrupt and artlessly incompetent.  So with all the assertion of democratic progress, one can not help but encounter an arch of injustice, rampant corruption, and a mount of human rights abuses as well as incompetent leadership in “Somaliland.”  This culture of charting a course and keep pounding at it without a calculated return is the ultimate curse of cluelessness that Somaliland is consumed with.  In other words, through that artful rhetoric of alleged democratic boost, if one dares to follow the road of where the three branches of Somaliland government should be at work, disappointment is all but too evident.  The signs of leadership for the common vice are too ghastly to ignore.  The fact that there are two ceremonial branches (the judiciary and parliament) of government and a powerful yet an inept executive office is alarmingly disturbing.  The anomalies of executive office are many but the most egregious of all is kleptomania.  The president unfortunately has aligned himself with Mobutu of what used to be Zaire, robbing the treasury and using the “national” revenue as his own. The president of “Somaliland” has set a rumor record of owning the most expensive villas and mansions for a Somali politician prior or subsequent to Siyad Barre in both the north and south.  He is said to have one mansion or villa in the Scandinavians, two in United Arabic Emirates and one in Djibouti.  What are not disputed however, are one in Egypt, one in Borama and the acres and acres he robbed from the common man, including the public land from the University of Amud of which the news papers, one in particular (Haatif) that wrote about it, wrought Riyale’s wrath on itself and sustained severe penalty of jail time for its editor in chief, investigative reporter and the publisher.  (The irony of it all is that, Siyad Barre, the man that has been accredited to the demise of Somalia did not have a single property in a foreign land, and even in Somalia was living in a government owned property up to the last day in power.  And Riyale’s predecessor, Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, a Machiavellian felon of Somali clannish politics, did not himself own a single property in a foreign land either).  It’s also well known fact that the poorest “nation” in the world “Somaliland,” has the highest paid president.  President Riyale receives the largest heard of state salary (half a million dollars) in the world, though the average income of a dollar a day is the norm in “Somaliland.”.  His cabinet ministers live in luxurious, lavish life styles where the rest of the population, particularly children are deformed with lack of nutrition, primary schools are on a primitive stage, medical care is at the medieval time.

The Judiciary branch of where eleven justices should adjudicate and address litigation of legal matters from the Supreme Court bunch is nothing more than a ceremonial office, for they are all beholden to the president.  Riyale is the sole authority that signs their meager checks, nominates, confirms and of course can fire them at will.  Only the chief justice is subject to confirmation of two houses, the Parliament and the House of Elders of which both totally are overrun by the president.    Furthermore, the justices are so susceptible as well vulnerable to an unsavory influence and simply can be bought, for they live off bare minimal necessities where Riyale’s ministers packed dollars into their suitcases. 

The parliament, which consists of House of Elders (Guurti) whose members were chosen by a consensus of their clans, and 83 members of the Parliament who had been elected by the public but on a purely clan line, is also too weak and too fragmented to confront the executive branch.  Each member of the Parliament is a member of supposedly two opposition parties (UCUD and KULMIYE) and the ruling party (UDUB).  UDUB, the ruling party, the most robust financially as well as politically, is saturated and run by Riyale and his retinue of ministers.  UDUB owes its financial strength, political might and membership source to the president.  In addition, though the other two parties are registered as opposition entities, obstacles to overcome in an attempt addressing any national concern are numerous.  UCUD, for example, is run by a man whose personal principles and integrity have all been questioned. The chairman of UCUD is known more for his gaffes than for his substance.  He is a man who preaches hate, barks with prejudices and passes on buffs of pure inanity at times but more importantly, he has allied himself what UDUB whenever he would have matter to citizens.  The other opposition party KULMIYE, and is the only one that seems to show a wisp of challenge to woo the largest segment of the public.  Yet whatever feeble effort it has mounted to call Riyale and his cronies to account has been mostly ineffective. And worse KULMIYE has yet to show an alternative card, not single policy delineation different than the status quo!   

The House of Elders is where the least educated, clan minded force is concentrated. Thus, the ability for the House of Elders to oppose the president is minimal. The fact that one can not ignore, however, is that these men were mostly the same ones that had brought about the peace and stability in which “Somaliland” has been boasting and bragging about.  But now the House of Elders is too weak, too ill-informed and too naïve to compete in the political arena.  Fort that, it is losing whatever leverage of clan influence they used to utilize.  And because of political and financial incapability the whole house can be bought with pennies.  As a matter of fact, it has been bought and paid off by Riyale.  So without due course, the house extended his terms.  Thus, urging us to conclude that there has neither been a democracy nor the basic pillars that can hold one upright in “Somaliland!  Consequently the house of cards, called democracy is falling on May 15, 008.  How much and where it is going to fall are the only questions!  Riyale and his imbecile cronies are not going to leave quietly and there are neither the means nor the minds to march them out!