Can Somaliland Afford to Award President Musse Bihi An Extension?
On January of this year, the UK government
Parliamentarians debated over the question whether or not to officially
recognize Somaliland as an independent and sovereign nation.
Members of the UK House
of commons articulated about the historical connection, mutual friendship and
the common shared interests between UK and its former British Protectorate Somaliland
for over hundred or more years until Somaliland gained its independence on 26
June, 1960.Unfortunately, five days later it unilaterally united with the
former Administered Italian Trusteeship Somali Territory under UN mandate. For
30 years under the union, Somalilanders hopes and aspirations were tragically
destroyed by the brutal dictator Mohamed Siyaad Bare and his henchmen forcing
Somalilanders to reclaim on May 18,1991the sovereignty that they gave up for
the sake of Somali unity.
The UK Parliamentarians
emphasized the facts that Somaliland has de facto recognition by European,
Canada, the US, Asian and middle eastern countries where Somaliland has
offices. In short it is very clear from reading the whole debate transcript in
the UK House of Commons that Somaliland is on the right track to gain de jure
recognition in the near future.
Sadly, that very near
future will not be realistically achieved if the current incumbent president
Musse Bihi awards himself an extension to remain in power, postpone the
scheduled presidential elections scheduled to be held on November 13 of this
year and then contest the next elections to win another five-year term in
office. Somaliland cannot afford that extension let alone another 5 years of
Musse Bihi's increasingly dictatorial rule which tragically is a major set back
on the democratic gains it has thus far achieved.
Mr.Bihi is poised at
consolidating his autocratic rule by creating an atmosphere of chaos so that
elections are impossible to hold. He has also created a strong military and
police forces loyal to him who recently killed five people in a rally organized
by the opposition parties and arrested several people and injured many others.
The government also blacked- out the internet services including Facebook and
what's up. It has also banned free publication like BBC services,
Hadhwanaagnews website, and other social media services.
Somaliland cannot
afford to give Mr. Bihi an extension or another term because of his disastrous
policies during his last 5-year term in office. On foreign policy he has failed
to pursue with due diligence Somalilands number one foreign affairs project for
international recognition and miserably neglected to create a proper banking
system for the country. There is no internationally recognized central bank or
commercial bank and that means we are cut off from the global financial system.
Under Biixi leadership,
international foreign investors were reluctant to come to the country, as he
alienated local businessmen and women by refusing them to take their advice.
The economy is in shambles. He has invested in
creating intelligence agencies, unnecessary spending on the army and the
police. By doing so he neglected to invest in technical vocational schools
which would have created skills and jobs for both sectors for the youth. Under
his leadership, unemployment is sky high and inflation is beyond control.
in addition, Mr.Bihi
already created fictitious political parties to weaken the two legal opposition
parties and win re-election by taking away votes from them. Further, instead of
uniting the people of Somaliland, he has instead used divide and rule tactics
based along clan lines to create chaos and confusion and foster animosities and
cleavages among and between clans. He has not prepared the country for the up
coming election by dismantling the Electoral Commission and replacing them with
dishonest and corrupt commissioners who are loyal to him.
For among the many
whose lands were expropriated was prominent Somali Canadian lawyer, Mr, Gamal
Ahmed Jimaleh who was recently murdered in Hargeisa over land grab when properties belonging to
his late father, Mr. Ahmed Jimaleh was illegally sold to a family that paid
bribes to corrupt judges with the blessings of the Interior Minister, Mr.
Mohamed Kahin Ahmed. Mr. Gamal, an international lawyer, was a graduate of
University of Toronto and Queens University of Kingston, Canada. Canadas
foreign affairs department is investigating the mystery surrounding his
so-called "suicide" death in which the judiciary he was attempting to
help reform and the interior minister are complicit.
Mr. Bihi spent his
five-year term in office planning to circumvent democracy and the rule of law
to extend his autocratic rule and eventually remain in power another 5 years or
more. If successful, he will plunge the country and its people into tribal
in-fighting and Somalilands current status as a de fact nation will be lost and
recognition a figment of one’s imagination.
Instead of seeking an
extension beyond the deadline for election to be held on November 13, 2022, it
would be wise for Mr. Bihi to resign and hand over power to interim care-taker
government. Somaliland cannot afford to lose all the gains it had achieved for
the past 30 years to become an international model of democracy and peace in a
volatile Horn of Africa region. It would be prudent for Mr. Bihi to resign and
save Somaliland from self destructing itself because of his premeditated and
well orchestrated tactics to remain in power by any means necessary. If he
refuses to do that, he should be impeached period.
Omer Musse Kahin
based in Toronto,
Canada
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