In the spirit of theological quotation allow me to say “the pen of an intellectual is mightier than the sword of a warrior” in your case my friend you are working with washable crayons based your article conveniently titled Somaliland Politicians: Lack of Sensitivity and Political Acumen. Having said that I would like to report a crime and not just any crime but egregious and heinous crime against F.A.C.T.S committed by Mohamed F Yabarag. You have robbed the letter F and turned it into fictitious lies .I do apologizes for the redundancy but I hope I made my point clear. Then you continued to commit adultery against the letter A with your inconsistent case against tribe.
You speak very fondly of SSC and its members, mind you that it is a tribal movement that has risen out tribal needs. Your crime spree did not end there, oh no, not at all. You had the audacity of robbing C of its dignity and name sake when you educated us on the geography of Somaliland and its tribal significance. I would advise you to Google Somaliland map and would leave at that for now. However, that was not enough to satisfy your unknown intentions. You jump over common sense and his buddy self respect, tumbled your way toward the letter T when you said “Somaliland’s secession does not appeal to feasible economic, ideological, or political significance”.
While it is untrue in every sense of the word, Somaliland has been economically developed now then under Somalia. Its people’s entrepreneurial spirit is ever more flourishing in an independent Somaliland then when it was under the occupation of Somali dictator. After further investigations you were also seen taking the letter S, last member of the FACTS family when you said that most of Somaliland intellectuals are against the independence of Somaliland. Let me just say that it is intellectually dishonest to make such a generic and superficial statement. Yes, there is a continuing dialogue with regards to power sharing and how to create and preserve durable institutions.
However, to make a misleading statement in order to validate your narrative is simply taking a page out of an old and tired playbook. I would urge you to be more specific and give us names as well as their views, rather than make a murky statement that is without F.A.C.T.S. My playful response is simply just that but please allow me to make few serious and prudent statements.
There is nothing wrong with tribe. Tribe has political advantages that can narrow the gap between tradition and modernity. Tribe has been the mechanism used as the unifying force at times of war and conflict. Historically tribe has always played a complementing and supportive role in Somali government. After the fall of the Somali government and all of its institutions it was tribe that came in and filled the void created by the departure of the Somali government. It is the social safety net of the Somali people. At the same time if misused and abused it can be a divisive force for selfish people with bad intentions. . At moments of crisis’s it is tribe that would be called upon to bring about resolution and peace, therefore It is misleading and frankly disingenuous to devalue the importance of tribe in Somali politics or use it as a scapegoat for the absence of true leadership. I am intrigued to see and hear the majority of Somali society distain for tribe in Somali politics while they continue to support incompetent leaders based on their tribal affiliation.
The recognition of Somaliland and its legitimacy as a fully fledged statehood does not dependent on the international community acknowledgement, but rather the stewardship of its leadership. In every few years it seems to come to a political cross road. It is at this juncture of political cross road that its government and the people of Somaliland desire to preserve a peaceful and fully democratic nation come to a test. Sometimes these crossed roads or moments of truth come in the form of an election, constitutional reform, electoral reform or dealing with the issue of how to add more seats at the political table. It is at this moment of decisiveness when the nay Sayers like Mohamed F Yabarag come out of the woodwork and say to the international community “You will see that Somaliland is nothing more than tribal control region of Somalia” or the most common statement “It is an Isaaq controlled territory”. While the international community eagerly awaits to witness the demise of Somaliland, something out of the ordinary happens. It appears that common sense and commitment to nationhood yields to chaos and self-interest. Once again the critics of Somaliland are proven wrong. The government and its people decide to move forward towards building a democratic nation. Much to the disappointment of its critics the country and its people continue to move forward toward better and brighter future.
A nation cannot have an aspiration of democracy and freedom without an involved, active and concern citizen. A government cannot govern without accountability and reason. Despite the formula used to form the government of Somaliland or the role tribe plays in its political landscape, it has managed to accomplish what has evaded most countries in Africa. A multiple successive and peaceful elections that have been given clean bill of health by the international communities. The people of Somaliland have met if not exceeded, all of the prerequisite in becoming a democratic nation. In the eyes of many objective and reasonable observers Somaliland can be seen as a beacon of hope for the region, a government governing with the consent of its governed. If we compare apples to apples the current government, as well as, the three previous administrations served its people very admirably. Their commitment to democracy and the rule of law have paved the way for true nationhood.
Djibouti, Kenya, Eretria, Ethiopia and Somalia are nations that are members of the international community. However, if a poll is conducted today in these countries and one of the questions asked is, would you like to have a government that is reflective of its people’s democratic aspiration I wonder what the answer would be? How many fair and free elections have the citizens of these countries or MR Yabarag have experienced in their lifetime? The republic of Somaliland has had more free and fair elections then Djibouti, Eretria, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Since 1991 Ethiopia has been governed by the same leader. In Djibouti one can make the same argument that is has been ruled by the same leadership since its independence. Kenya had two changes of leadership in more than two decade. The last election might put Kenya in the same faith as Somalia. Eretria has had the same leadership since its independence.
There are very few nations in Africa that can boast the democratic accomplishment Somaliland has had since it reclaimed its independence. The majority of the Somali intellectuals have this grand illusion about Somali unity and maintaining the great nation of Somalia. Their effort to discredit the existence of Somaliland has had some minor setbacks for the pursuit of independence. Their argument has gained some traction in the early part of the 1990s. However, the transformation of its leadership focus from independence to the rehabilitation of its internal political structure has been the turning point for the country peace and stability it has today. Some (Mr. Yabarag) might argue that, there is lack of majority support within the country for Somaliland pursuit of independence. I believe there are philosophical differences in some regions of the country over the issue of power sharing. The issue of political integration and power sharing is very different from not supporting the rebirth of a nation.
The inability to clearly draw a distinction between these two competing narratives by Mr. Yabarag is a travesty and unholy. I truly believe and clearly understand that without the full participation of its entire citizen, there cannot be a genuine attempt in nation building. However, it’s insincere to simply take a very dismissive position and confuse the issue of imperfect governance with the issue of opposing the existence of millions of people. Power sharing and governing issues can be resolved through shared interest and healthy respect for a political process based on tradition and cultural commonalty. Once our brothers and sisters in Somalia develop a deep sense of respect and appreciation for indigenous political resolution, the quicker they will have a strong Somali government that is compatible with its citizen’s aspirations.
Diriye H Abdilahi
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