SOMALILAND AND PUNTLAND SHOULD BE RATIONAL TO AVOID
TROUBLES OF THE SOUTH (Published November, 2018).
By advocate Mohamed Ahmed Abdi Ba'alul.
Exporting southern problems to the north will not be a solution for the war-torn population in Mogadisho and Kismayo. Being free from war businesses in Somalia, Farmajo’s presidency seems to be a glimpse of hope for those who learned about his appearance in Shekh Sharif's interim government. Because of his inexperience and untested personality, Farmajo seems to be unwise when he is tempted into Arb’s tug-of-war games.
Farmajo’s tenure, was unwilling to attain its territorial claims through deadly military engagements. Last month, It was evident that Farmajo was doing whatever he could to disturb Somaliland’s investment opportunity, in which Dubai and Ethiopia are expected to develop the infrastructure of Ber-bara port. Farmajo was doing this to please his Qatari and Turkish patrons, disregarding the development of this investment will contribute to the region. He mobilized his Mogadisho Parliament to ridiculously outlaw the tripartite treaty, and ousted Jaware (Chairman of parliament) who appeared to be confused about the substance of that motion. Respectively, they never stopped to call the Security Council's attention to terminate the investment deal, and now, enough to sink the ship, Farmajo is building up armies and weapons in the name of Darodism along the border.
Before those manipulations, Puntland as a neighboring region had shared common things with Somaliland. Both administrations have developed cooperative policies in many respects, including security, commerce and social movement. The political stability and the resilience of Somaliland was a model for Puntland— which is the only region that succeeded in building up a functioning administration in Somalia. Like Somaliland, they defiantly decided to do business with the UAE, which was not in favour of the Federal Government. If we put it in Somaliland’s perspective, this was seen as a rightful choice; for Garoowe administration to develop its infrastructure in the same way that Mogadisho improved its air and seaports with Turkish investment. It is not right to interpret the military counteractions as antipathy towards those who live across the border, but if asked, Somalilanders will not hesitate to admit what the stability of Puntland's polity means to them, since it provides them a buffer against the stresses of the South.
What makes Sool and Sanaag a contentious issue was not the cross-bordering ideal of Darodism that we recently heard from Groowe. These claims were not there before Abdillahi Yousuf. It is him who said that including Dhulbahante and Warsengali figures in Garowe conference was no more than a political maneuver aimed to disturb Somaliland's effort toward recognition. On the other hand, Somaliland had no interventionist policy, seeing that it had done nothing to interrupt the arrangements of Puntland's First Conference, whereas Mr Yousuf admitted in his Halgan and Hagardamo book his involvement in conspiracy before the nascency of his Garowe bureaucracy.
It is good for Puntland's unskilled leader, and his colleague, Farmajo, to read the memoir of their Forefather (Abdillahi Yousuf) before they answer whether Tukaraq is a worth-fighting issue or not. Las-anod was left to itself to directly choose its local council, since Garoowe had failed to get its first elected Mayor. The basic question that one should ask himsef is whether Abdulhakeem Amey of Puntland is the true advocate for Sool people, or the 25 councilors whom they supported with their votes?
If Puntland claims Sool and Sanaag territories on the basis of its blood-relation logic; it should define its attitude towards the people with whom their relatives are coexisting with; are they cast from another planet? It is a shame for its administration to engage their peace-loving people in the uncertainty of a brand new, ethnic-related hostility. Somalilanders believe that people would be lucky, if they took advantage from their kinship with Puntland and citizenship in Somaliland at once. Nothing prevents them from being the brothers of one and the cousins of the other.
The pastoral life of those regions does not need territorial restrictions and patrolling troops, but to live out the troubles of the urban classes. So Puntland’s argument is nothing more than demagoguing Somaliland people with hatred. Previously, Abdillahi Yousuf had failed to adopt his Nazi-like pan-darodism advocacy, when the lower juba Marehans of Kismayo refused to be-dictated from Graroowe, and chose a non-clan-related alliance with another group (Hawiye, eyr). In this regard, only Harti communities will neither be logical nor empirical strategy, since there is no well-defined social topography that demarcates Harti-clans from their neighboring clans.
Whatever their clans, Sool and Sanaag populations are interwoven in society. They are ecologically compelled to live side by side, despite their lineage diversity. The socio-economic structure of this area is non-urbanized, sparsely populated, where the lives of its communities depend on sharing pasture and water. So the dissidence of the Diaspora and certain office-holders in Garowe is not serving for the interest of their pastoral communities.
Yes, there are many things that are wrong in the make-up of Somaliland’s political structure. And I believe that wrongs cannot be righted by those who hang-out in Garoowe, but by those with whom the life and the development of their constituency is concerned. Although Somaliland is not a politically repressive or restricted environment, it has to do more to demonstrate its willingness to actually respond to the political grievances of Sool and Sanaag people.
There should be more openness and flexibility from the part of the government, whenever the question of what the future of Somaliland's statehood holds for non-isaks, is on the table. Thanks to intellectuals like Ali Khalif, Ahmed Samatar and Hagle-tosiye, who shared the conviction that says 'Sool and Awdal should not treat themselves as the guests that wait to be served, rather standing in the ‘heat of the kitchen'
No comments:
Post a Comment