There is still a long way to go Mr. President

- Mr. President, in comparison to your predecessors you have accomplished a lot in a very short period. To mention few of your administration’s accomplishments; you doubled the salaries of the civil servants. You gave school fees brake to the primary school kids. Your administration carried out a partial transformation of the justice system. The old Somalia currency circulation was ended in Togdheer region and replaced with Somaliland currency. A Somaliland TV is on the air and can be watched all over the world.

A radio station that will serve the nation from Selal to Sanaag is on the works. Compared to your predecessors, these are compelling achievements; however, these are not enough, because our nation was aspiring to achieve even more under your leadership. From now on, we would prefer not to hear the past triumphs of your administration, but instead would like to know more about where we are strategically heading and what we need to achieve.

We are looking forward to see tangible strategic efforts put into the recognition front. This difficult task must be given to the most experienced, politically insistent and articulate brains in Somaliland. The recognition front requires a collective management and not to be left in the hands of a single person. Somaliland overseas representatives must be carefully reselected on the basis of their merits, experience and communication skills.

We need to hire a strong lobby firm in North America and find ways of improving the hard work of the Somaliland friends in the UK. We must wisely use the advice and influences of our friendly and neighbouring nations. We need to assertively form friendships in continental Europe, in Africa and in the Islamic world. We must seek ways of dealing with Somalia through intermediaries if necessary and start discussing the separation issue.

We need to actively involve our citizens to promote the recognition of our sovereignty. The Somaliland private sector and Diaspora Somaliland communities could be asked to contribute to a transparent national sovereignty recognition fund.

We are in dire need to find an ingenious ways of creating jobs for our unemployed youth. Your administration must double its efforts in finding investment for the Berbera port and corridor. We need to have a second look at the European community funded plan that was proposed to the Riyaale administration and was due to be contracted by Bollore Group, a French company. I was told by a Somaliland friend, who was involved with this project from inception that it can be reactivated as soon as it is approved by your administration.

The exploitation of our natural resources must be encouraged and aggressively promoted. Tourism is another sector that needs a hard work. Exploiting the Somaliland Islands and turning them into tourism resorts is badly needed. These Islands are ‘forgotten land’ and Somaliland needs to fully exert its sovereignty on these Islands. Police and coast guards can be posted there for the time being.

The Submarine optic fibre cable is another job-creating project that needs to be started as soon as possible, otherwise, Somalia will take it over and we will not only lose the opportunity of job creation, but will also irretrievably lose the independence of our telecommunications sectors. That is not all; the fibre optic cable will play a greater role in the improvement of our infrastructure, education, health and will enhance our chances of attracting foreign investors into our economy.

Mr. President, your administration needs to publish the government budget and spending online. This will eliminate government corruption and promote the international standing of our country. The ranking system of our armed forces must take a priority and the transformation of our justice system must continue in earnest. All current unqualified and corrupt judges must be alternatively replaced with the top law graduates of our universities.

The civil service is the backbone of our government and Somaliland needs a qualified and experienced people to lead this vital branch of our government. The top Somaliland civil service needs a complete overhaul. Director Generals, departmental directors and ministerial consultants must be re-evaluated and those who were selected through nepotism must be relieved from their posts. The auditor general and the anti-corruption commission are no where to be seen or heard, these two all important institutions must be fully reactivated and supported.

Mr. President, your cabinet needs more coherence and discipline. Your ministers seem to lack energy and vision with the exception of few talented and patriotic ministers. The rest seem to be fulfilling clan agendas rather than national agendas or in some cases working hard in campaigns of self-promotion and future political bravado. They all seem to be freelancing and not working in tandem on a well planned and comprehensive national policy.

This has to change as soon as possible. The right people must be expeditiously given the right portfolios and you must get rid of all the opportunistic and incompetent ones. They are not good for your administration’s legacy and not good for the nation.

Mr. President, you do not have to act as a Kulmiye candidate any more, because you are now the president of Somaliland and you need not include people to your cabinet to balance out clan affiliations. You must also change the old habit of replacing a fired incompetent cabinet member with one from his own clan. At the end of the day, Somaliland will judge you for what your administration has achieved and not the number of bungling ministers you have selected from certain clans.

Please terminate all the advisors and cabinet ministers who sing your praises, because they are misleading hypocrites and they all have hidden personal and/or clan agendas. The best advice can be sought freely from the most candid people who supported you unconditionally during your campaign as a candidate for the presidency. These are close to the people and are more prone to give you an honest picture. These people are kept away and deliberately prevented to come and see you.

It is below par and sad to see unnecessary farewell and welcoming ceremonies thrown on your behalf before and after each trip you make in and out of the capital. This affair has escalated up to an embarrassing point. It makes no sense, it is expensive, and it brings both the private and the public business to a stand still. Scores of cars and buses are used for this purpose, which are not good for the safety of our people and are not environmentally friendly.

Your cabinet of ministers and the Somaliland civil servants need to concentrate more on their official duties and not to be distracted by your trips. This extravaganza which is inherited from the former Somali Republic is again made into a national norm by the Somaliland political elite and must end and not be allowed to continue.

Finally, we must not be carried away with our meager accomplishment, because there is a lot of hard work ahead, which can only be achieved with strong leadership and with the Full Corporation and a better communication with the Somaliland citizenry. There is still a long way to go before your administration could tap itself on the back.

Yusuf Dirir Ali