Checkmate in Somaliland: ARS to Extend an Invitation to Siilaanyo?

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
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[ Posted On: 2008-07-10 ]

With the presidential elections in the breakaway Somaliland practically cancelled, with the probable winner, democratic leader Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Siilaanyo), living under constant attacks and threats, with the two factions of ARS deliberating in Sanaa on the Djibouti Agreement and Somalia’s re-liberation, and with much blood spilled in the streets and the squares of Hargeisa, it is perhaps high time for the authorities of ARS to consider the extension of an invitation to the great Somali patriotic leader of the Kulmiye party.

Deliberating and finding common ground with Siilaanyo, Northern Somalis’ only popular leader, is essential for the ARS leadership in their effort to liberate and reunite Somalia – before they engage in the long struggle of rehabilitation, development and socio-economic progress.

The ensuing benefits would be great for both parts, who would be reciprocally strengthened in their parallel commitment undertaken in different parts of Somalia. More particularly, Siilaanyo would be able to mobilize larger masses in breakaway Somaliland, making of the Somali nationalism and All-Somali patriotism the political platform that would first bring Kulmiye in power at Hargeisa, and second consolidate the position of the Isaaq within a re-united Somalia.

Considering options, while talking to the ARS leadership, Siilaanyo should demand and finally get recompense for atrocities undeservedly caused to the Northern Somalis in the 80s; furthermore, parity between Mogadishu and Hargeisa should be discussed and roles should be divided. Following the example of Turkey, Somalia should feature two capitals in the future: a political capital (like Ankara in Turkey) and an economic – financial capital (Istanbul).

On the other hand, through an agreement with Kulmiye for the parallel proclamation of elections in Somalia and Somaliland for the Constituent Assembly of Somalia, ARS will have eliminated one more obstacle that stands in the path of Somalia’s reunification; with the elections held in Somaliland, the breakaway state should cease to exist, being incorporated within the limits of a greater Somalia.

At the same time, ARS should demonstrate their commitment to peaceful procedures and resolution of problems, sending one more message to the entire world that they are able to pacify through negotiations and rule by Law.

Furthermore, an alliance with Kulmiye strengthens automatically the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia during the period of an arm-wrestling with TFG until the constitutive elections. The ensuing weakening of Puntland brings forth an additional advantage in this regard.

I will complete my suggestion, producing in support the contributions of two Somali authors. I republish two insightful articles that shed light on the total collapse of Somaliland; the first is written by a shrewd Somali journalist, Mr. Mohamoud Hassan Haji Omar, who focuses on the disreputable campaign of lies and defamation carried out in Somaliland by the renegades and the thugs of Rayale against Siilaanyo. The second text is elaborated by the Somali intellectual A. Duale Sii'arag, and starting with few verses by W. B. Yeats, makes state of the political occurrence in the ailing pseudo-state.

Both texts are convincing enough to eradicate once forever the shameful lies and the preposterous lunacies of the notorious Somali renegade, Ahmed Kheyre, the subservient scribe of Huda Barkhad, the dysmorphic brontosaurus of Hergeisa.

Mr. Kheyre (indicatively: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/67722) is another compiler of fictional nonsense and derisory poppycock as regards Somaliland; we will have the opportunity to get a more inward vision of his lies in a forthcoming article.

Bashing Siilaanyo and his wife
By Mohamoud Hassan Haji Omar

Lately, I have been sickened to read some articles in WardheerNews and Awdalnews that amount to despicable character assassinations and downright defamation of the veteran and venerable Somali political leader, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Siilaanyo), and his wife, Amina Jirde. What shocked me is not so much that some Somalis will stoop so low as to denigrate Siilaanyo’s image and integrity. After all, he is used to be subjected to baseless and gratuitous attacks as a political leader. Rather, it is that any one will hit him below the belt and publicly vilify his esteemed, defenceless wife, or that any responsible websites will publish them.

These shameless attacks on a respected married woman, a mother and grandmother at that, is un-Somali, un-Islamic, unethical and unprofessional no matter from what perspective one looks at it. No doubt, Silaanyo and his wife will weather these innuendos and smear campaigns. But when the dust settles s and the chicken comes home to roost, the real losers of bashing Siilaanyo and his wife are not only the authors of the articles. Far more seriously is the damage that would be done to the credibility of the websites themselves. When that happens, we are all losers for we need them in these desperate troubled times.

The alleged denial to Ali Jirde to marry, or adopt children, or dispose of his property, has been used as a pretext to demonise Silaanyo and his wife. Most people know that there has been no previous history of any quarrel within the Jirde family. The fact of the matter is that Ali Jirde had lived a long and happy life with his former deceased wife and also with his extended Rer Jirde family. Silanyo only comes to the picture to the extent that he is married to a member of the Jirde dynasty but otherwise he is completely out of the loop and has nothing to do or has any automatic say on matters pertaining to the internal affairs of the Rer Jirde Family. Amina herself constitutes only one member of the numerous Jirde Family, all of whom no doubt share their devotion to Ali Jirde and for taking care of him in every respect in his vulnerable old age.

Given this harmonious history of the Jirde family, what is all this ballyhoo about the legitimate concern of the members of the Jirde family as to how Ali Jirde conducts his remaining days now that he is over 90 years, when full control of his mental and physical faculties are patently questionable? A man of his situation, with no biological descendents and having enviable property is surely an easy prey to all those who want to exploit or manipulate him. To fend off these fortune hunters whoever they may be is not greed on the part of Amina or any other member of the Jirde family but what any other Somali family would have done, something in conformity with Islamic Sharia law and customary Somali traditions.

Much has been made by the authors of the articles about the right of Ali Jirde to adopt children. Adoption is a western practice and not one in line with Islamic Sharia law or Somali traditions. Of course, any Somali, man or woman, can “adopt” a child to the extent that one acts purely as their guardian and benefactor until such time as they grow and become self reliant. But such adoption, meaning guardianship, does not confer any legal parental right or entitle legal inheritance. As a guardian in full control of ones faculties, one can freely dish out ones property to adopted children. But there comes a point, such as now in the case of Ali Jirde, when the benefactor is old and perhaps senile in which case any actions he takes now cannot be considered as those of a man in his right mind. No such objection would have arisen had he disposed part or all of his property at a time when no one would have challenged his mental condition. The same logic goes for a woman who would want to marry a man over 90 years old. Surely it is not love or sex appeal that draws them together. It can only be his assets that are the real attraction. His next of kin have therefore justifiable reasons to oppose such a sham marriage.

The overriding consideration is whether Ali Jirde is in good hands and that his Rer Jirde family are giving him the love and care he needs. About this there is no doubt- Which means all the crocodile tears for Ali Jirde among the authors of the articles is nothing more than using the old man as a stick to beat Siilaanyo. This is a mean, politically motivated potshot at Siilaanyo and the aim is to hurt him at this critical juncture before the forthcoming presidential election. I have no doubt he will remain invincible and rest as a dominating giant who dwarfs all those pygmies strutting on Somaliland’s political stage. Should Siilaanyo be elected president, Amina for her part would be like no other first lady, given her education, medical professional experience and sophistication. The two would make an outstanding double unlike any other in Somali political history. This is my say on the matter as a non- Somalilander with no axe to grind and from my distant vintage point at Buuhoodle.

A Reality Check on Rayaale’s Somaliland
By: A. Duale Sii'arag

The darkness drops again; but now I know
Those twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour comes round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

The Second Coming. By W. B. Yeats

Greetings from Maan-hadal salon, one of the many happy watering holes in Hargeisa where everything under the sun is discussed and varied topics are skimmed through everyday with no explicit or implicit objectives. Loose, smooth debate and long chats are the inherent features of Maan-hadal. Many spirited conversations grace the eloquence and lively discourse of reasoned arguments and genial discussions that became the hallmark of Maan-hadal. It is sometimes referred to as the incubator of exhilarating and uplifting ideas. A talk-shop and crossfire par excellence! Self-styled political scientists and pundits fiercely exchange diametrically opposed views, with the very help of my beloved catalyst, the Awaday – that lubricates our social gathering and stimulates the intellect.

Though vocal, voluble and loquacious in conversations and articulate arguments and discussions plied back and forth, penned expressions were not forthcoming from Maan-hadal, lately. Renowned Maan-hadal physicians and anthropologists, who have been engaged in exhaustive diagnostic assessment of Somaliland’s illnesses, deliberated the need for a reincarnated SNM for the second emancipation of this beleaguered people from the degrading hegemony of the recreated henchman of the notorious Siad Barre’s regime. In this piece, Maan-hadal would briefly ponder the state of health of Rayaale’s tyrannical regime.

In 1997, the late Mohamed Ibrahim Egal handpicked Daahir Rayaale Kaahin as his new Vice President - a minion addition to his unwieldy and unpopular cabinet of Prima Donnas and mediocrities. He was sworn as a care-taker president after Egal’s death in South Africa on 3 May 2002. Rayaale won the presidential election held in 14 April 2003 with a margin of mere eighty votes. Rayaale’s election was clearly a protest vote against the Somali National Movement (SNM). As a resistance movement, the SNM had been successful in rallying the support of the populace against the repressive military regime.

Notwithstanding its astounding feat in routing the unruly marauding forces of Siad Bare’s regime, the SNM tragically failed to come up with a viable political program to steer Somaliland towards the road to peace and recovery or to constitute a cohesive visionary leadership in the aftermath of the demise of the dictatorial regime. Taking advantage of the serious leadership deficiency that bedeviled the SNM, the remnants of the ousted regime and a jumbled assortment of cunning political prostitutes and crafty opportunists – locked in a marriage of convenience - took a firm hold of the newly-constituted authority. An apparent antithesis of the desired outcome of the peoples struggle for good governance.

Today Somaliland remains helplessly tethered and stifled under a tottering tyrannical regime that bore unmistakable resemblance to the one it ousted in 1991. Trampled human rights, brutal and corrupt dictatorship, rapid urbanization, economic stagnation, diplomatic isolation, environmental degradation, and abject poverty are triggering unsettling unease and anxiety, aggravating further the plight of the largely impoverished population. Ironically enough, the Somaliland administration has been commandeered by the remnants of the very regime with which the people had fought against it, gallantly. The high and mighty in present-day Somaliland administration, including the strongman - Daahir Rayaale Kaahin, and the all powerful minister of Interior - Abdillahi Ciro, were faithful stalwarts of the authoritarian regime that committed horrendous crimes against the people of Somaliland. Both were senior ranking officers of the feared and ubiquitous National Security Service (NSS) of Siad Barre’s regime which was modeled on another equally notorious secret police – the former East Germany’s Stasi. As devoted informants, both Rayaale and Ciro stayed clung to the dying regime of Barre till the end, hoping to administer the last rites to the dictator.

Rayaale presides over a police state that routinely infringes on civil rights where the state of human rights continues to deteriorate at a rapid pace. His corrupt, repressive, and dysfunctional regime has the tendency to employ unsavory instruments to suppress dissent through kangaroo courts, press gags and detentions without trial. Rayaale and his large entourage of cohorts and cronies have not missed any opportunity to siphon off the locally generated meager revenue and stash the loot in foreign banks. They have demonstrated unrivalled ingenuity in exploiting the laws of the jungle to further their self-interest and detrimental hegemony in the most cynical way possible.

A resurrected National Security Service (NSS) – the notorious and most despised instrument of oppression of the dethroned Barre’s dictatorial regime – has been recreated and unleashed to keep the unwary public under surveillance. Men with known passion for undercover work and the art of eavesdropping keep preying on the unsuspecting civilian population and of course, Maan-hadal. Similarly, the infamous Red Berets of Barre’s regime has been reincarnated to safeguard Rayaale’s tenacious grip to an increasingly unpopular and repressive power.

The Rayaale administration regularly interferes and influences the performance of the judiciary system that persistently implements the Penal Code of the deposed regime. An omnipotent extrajudicial Security Committee – an exact replica of Siad Barre’s Guddiga Nabadgelyada, that comprises the Minister of Interior, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Defense, the Commander of the Police, the Commander of the Armed Forces, the Governor, and the Mayor of Hargeisa, has the power to arrest citizens without court order and indefinitely.

The Hargeisa Central Prison is overflowing with innocent persons arbitrarily detained by the unconstitutional Security Committee. The largely dilapidated cells are filthy and overcrowded while the communal pit latrines are full, oozing with foul smell. To satisfy Rayaale’s insatiable passion for punitive measures, the old Mandheera Prison has been designated as a detention facility for political prisoners. The prison population in Somaliland is increasing exponentially which may eventually force Rayaale to build more detention centers to lock up half the population, if the taxpayers could afford to foot the bill.

Rayaale spared no one in his ignominious lust for incarcerations. Editors and journalists of the two prominent and widely-read newspapers in Somaliland, Haatuf and Jamhuuriya, are repeatedly arrested and intimidated with a view to silence and suppress the spirit of free speech. Rayaale has not spared even the most venerated religious Ulemas and eminent clan leaders from his unrestrained extrajudicial persecutions. A case in point is the humiliating treatment meted out to the prominent politician and traditional leader, Boqor Cusman Buur Madow, after aptly criticizing the belligerent policies of Rayaale towards the Sool and Sanaag regions. The latest victims of Rayaale’s coercive powers are non other than Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabboose and Eng. Mohamed Hashi Elmi - two highly respected political luminaries with reputable track-records. Dr. Gabboose and Eng. Hashi together with Jamal Aideed, another prominent politician, were arrested and detained at Mandheera last week as prisoners of conscience, accused of forming an illegal political party. Would this incident herald the much-awaited coup de grace of the despotic regime?

Somaliland is not strange to supreme ironies. Most of the innocent captives languishing in the overcrowded, untidy prison cells in Hargeisa and Mandheera are the yesterday’s heroes of the resistance war against the brutal dictatorship who spilled their blood for the cause of justice and freedom. With a new vicious dictatorship firmly implanted, history is repeating itself in Hargeisa today. How long would the people of Somaliland afford to tolerate the rule of the jungle and self-serving dictatorship?

Lost in oblivion, the Somaliland intellectuals continue to maintain a stony silence on Rayaale’s unrelenting power abuse and human rights violations and their long-term ramifications on prevailing peace and stability and the delicate symbiotic relationships between the clans that commendably succeeded in burying the hatchet. For many intellectuals, healthy and constructive criticism towards Rayaale’s callous regime is a virtual taboo. Any justifiable sound criticism is erroneously feared to entail adverse effect on the quest for international recognition. Likewise, the threat of Rayaale using the Gadabuursi card- a unionist constituency prior to Rayaale’s ascent to power – perhaps terrifies the majority of the supporters of the secession option. The intellectuals are also losing sight of the downhill slippery slope that Somaliland is fatefully and gradually being propelled to. Alas, apathy and indifference are the order of the day.

The best way forward for Somaliland is to unshackle itself from the yoke of dictatorship and solidify the pillars of democracy. Free press, independent trade unions and public accountability are sine qua non in ensuring the necessary checks and balances on arbitrary government. Certainly, Somaliland needs today the reincarnation of the SNM to liberate itself from the clutches of the re-born old tyrannical regime.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 51, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

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