By Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
In five earlier articles (The End of Secessionism in Somalia. Part I–Journalist Nur Ahmed Gagab Injured by Riyaale´s Guards - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/94292; The End of Secessionism in Somalia. Part II–Somalia´s Peace to Trigger the End of Evil "Ethiopia" - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/94311; The End of Secessionism in Somalia. Part III – Somaliland Elections Under Chaotic Circumstances - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/94423; The End of Secessionism in Somalia. Part IV–Denunciation of Misinformation Posted in Saylac Website - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/94444; The End of Secessionism in Somalia. Part V – North Somalis Appeal to the World Community Vs. Riyaale - http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/94722), I focused on developments that took place in, and issues pertaining to, Northern Somalia whereby we attest the last days of a treacherous and mendacious dictator, as the quasi-totality of the local Somalis are determined - in the forthcoming presidential elections - to put an end to the tyranny that survived due to Abyssinian support and Riyaale´s servility to the bestial Anti-Somali racist Abyssinian dictator Zenawi.
In the present article, I republish an insightful composed by the Somali commentator M. A. Haragwaafi, and two earlier but well-timed opinion editorials by Sagal Say Wallahi, an astute analyst; a few weeks before the forthcoming presidential elections in the northern part of Somalia, the two columnists´ perspectives reflect North Somalia´s public opinion and the overwhelming embarrassment of the indigenous populations with the shameless dictator of Hargeisa and his paranoid wife.
Somaliland: Where is the President?
By M. A. Haragwaafi
(Amongst others: http://samotalis.blogspot.com/2009/03/somaliland-where-is-president.html)
Hargeysa 14.03.09 (xaqsoor). Friendly governments of Somaliland dispatched a series of delegations spearheaded by British Ambassador to Ethiopia Ambassador Norman and Swedish high level delegation led by Senior Ambassador Marika Fahlenand representing Sweden as well as European Union. This delegation includes MR. Magnus Carlquist, The Director of International Development Agency (Sida). Sweden will take the rotating leadership of the Union soon. A high level delegation of United States are on their way to Hargeysa, led by a senator who is a member of the powerful Committee of Foreign Affairs and USA's ambassador to Djibouti.
These delegations met opposition leaders headed by the leader and presidential candidate Mr. Ahmed Silanyo of Kulmiye, the National Electoral Commission and the government headed by Vice President. They also help separate meeting to the Leaders of the two legislative bodies. Members of every delegation expressed their surprise that the President is out of the country at this crucial time. A member of British delegation hinted that the President told them his trip will take 2-3 days only. One of the Presidential secretaries who met this reporter, said" The Swedish delegation gets angry whence told that the President is away and VP is not authorised to take any action concerning election matters." One of the delegation angrily said" Your President doesn't care. Mr. VP the situation is very serious and for the sake of the country, we need a quick solution. We are your friends. But after all it is your problem. If you do not care for your country, our help will not matter."
The VP promised to contact the President and assured them, that he will insist the President to come home with the first possible flight.
Somalilanders wonder the sense of responsibility of President Riyale, who has the tendency of going abroad every time the country faces crisis. The opposition exploit quite well this unexplainable behaviour. Some call it timidity, others say he wrongly shows off his importance, as no one in his government can negotiate lest propose solution. Some commentators in the local newspaper even hinted the president creates crisis and have the intention either to remain on the chair or bring Somaliland into national collapse, imitating EX-dictator Siyad Barre who said" After me there will be no Somalia".
Based in Hargeysa, Mr. M. A. Haragwaafi can be reached here: haragwaafi4@yahoo.co.uk
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Ina Barkhat from the Silent era.
By Sagal Say Wallahi
(Amongst others: http://gargaar.blogspot.com/2008/08/guess-whos-coming-to-dinner-ina-barkhat_03.html and http://xaqsoor.blogspot.com/2009/03/somalilandguess-whos-coming-to-dinner.html)
Practically unknown prior to their rise to power and faced with simmering social discontent, Somaliland's presidential NSS couple are so obtrusive in lavish spending and flamboyant lifestyle many people should not envy in the parlous state of our economy.
A villa in Cairo next to their former faqaash masters, a fishing company, a hotel, a farm and the airport tower in Borama, to name just a few, are the new acquisitions snatched thanks to their mafia-like practices. Somalilanders have been through a whole heap of things together and cannot afford to relive the excess of post-independence ruling clique. That's why citizens must continually ponder on how the redistribution of wealth throughout the country is fettered by the first couple and by this administration damaged by massive government nepotism, corruption and despotism.
The best way to detect the culture of the rich-quick schemes, self-aggrandizements and dictatorship is to observe the attitude of ina Barkhat, the First Lady, who does nothing for our development but displays her flash cars, her flash official holidays, managing always, after a number of serious mishaps, to outdone herself in everyday political malapropism when delivering lofty perorating speeches in camera and in public like her jaahiil husband President whose political glib-talk is increasingly becoming filled with cant and utter nonsense. She never does anything with style or class consequently acquiring a reputation as this country's premier fashion repellent toad. Between you and me and my caano geela on my table, her walk, with the fake bouffant hairdo, is not lithe and graceful either, still some are comparing her with Siyad's Khadija and others are considering her the new ina Xayd but without the beauty and the charm.
No one knows why, in these trying times, ina Barkhat is so inclined in life's little luxuries while the average Somalilander can barely make ends meet. Ina Barkhat's latest moves are unprecedented – previous Somaliland's First Ladies were practically unknown to the public - and should be seen as a flashback from the silent era, the time when Imelda Marcos was the leader in opulent lifestyle that she had trouble adjusting, after she was stripped from her powers, to the mundane realities of life. Our little Ina Barkhat, a conniving and greedy woman, clumsily grabs lands from ilma Sheik Ali Jowaher, poses herself as the new female Mahdi before reer Bali Gubadle, throws $50 000 at reer Gabilay, puts in jail journalists accusing them of insulting the "good name" of her husband.
It does not stop there obviously. To erode gradually Somalilanders' rights, she delegates her Somaliland's dirty tricks to her many minions and for her overseas hare-brained ideas to a horde of jesters who see democracy primarily as an unavoidable double-dealing cutthroat politicking and reer reer business. In the Diaspora, the first person who comes to mind is Dr. Jaajale Tani of dirt-poor and dusty Dila whose only legitimacy is the time he spent in Syad's Gulags, forgetting that his reer abti, beesha dheexda, Issaaq, lost over 70 000 lives for the liberation of Somaliland.
From a modest home of a family who lived off the land of others, here comes ina Barkhat, ready to eat the whole pie with a vengeance, a fiesta in which Somalilanders will have a mortifying experience at the dinner table when Somaliland dhulkeygo stops short and the nation is finally all for grabs. Luckily, Somalilanders are showing, in the best tradition of the SNM, more and more signs of discontent.
The Cloak-and-dagger Boys Inc. of Somaliland
By Sagal Say Wallahi
(Republished here: http://xaqsoor.blogspot.com/)
The cloak-and-dagger boys of Somaliland have a sharp eye for what they perceive as the enemy of the nation. Synlayo, Ina Xashi, Gabosse or anyone else with SNM antecedents are allegedly destroying Somaliland's long march to recognition.
They even dismiss Qaran's good old-fashioned political activism as terrorism to cash in on America's one-dimensional foreign policy. One reason: Ina Riyale, a tinpot dictator from tiny and obscure Quulul Jeed, is surrounded by sycophants frightened to give him reality checks about Somaliland's political situation.
The irony is that many former NSS hit men are pointing fingers at yesterday's mujahidins. Once again, Somalilanders have found themselves growing increasingly angry at the absurdity of these allegations, most are not overimpressed with Udub late remarks. Look no further. Riyal's recent declaration of war before the two Houses shows the autocratic shift in Somaliland political system. Riyal's speech was full of blahs (with a dose of anti-Semitism) and committed a very well known astronomer fallacy. Astronomers draw lines all over the universe and as soon as a new star is discovered, they claim copyright. Our Colonel claims he is behind every single project in Somaliland, just like the grandiose self-delusion of the addict. Somaliland's little boy from Quulul Jeed confuses also political gimmicks with legal and legitimate arguments. For example, as of 15 of May, the opposition parties did not recognize the political legitimacy of the government. Rightly so. On the 15th, Ryale's regime was neither legal nor legitimate. Not legal because the extension was based on a dubious decision by the atavistic Guurti. Not legitimate because the extension was not based on consensus and compromise, but on the Guurti unilateralism. This recent political behavior has triggered, among sensible individuals, a fresh argument about the role and the place of the Guurti. Somalilanders feel also that Riyal seems to have entrenched himself politically and will be difficult to move, for he controls the Supreme Court, the Guurti, the tools of oppression (the army, the police and the so-called Nabad Sugiid) and close to 70% of local governments. Somalilanders sense this drift towards totalitarianism because over the years they have demonstrated certain prescience in detecting Ubu-like tendencies.
Our Colonel has his serie B ideologists defending him. Browse any pro-regime web site - particularly Awdalnews and Qaraannews - and you will see how today's writers stifle people's conscience. Long time Faqaash supporters such as the 3 stooges – Ina Sulub, Ciiro and Cawil, born again Somalilanders who were chosen for their capacity to stir up old wounds and to manufacture consent - squabble day and night about SNM's political heritage. They attack Gabose's origins. They put a know-it-all face and became convenient revisionists who spend most of their time exploiting 1994, the year of our minor civil war. They're deliberately trying to erase SNM's heritage to balm their guilt and past political choices. Let's check our historical facts: of the 33 or so of Somaliland's peace and reconciliation conferences, 22 were organized under the auspices of the SNM. Considering the mayhem and the total destruction of our cities by the Faqaash, it was quite an extraordinary achievement. And am not even counting the political genius of the SNM in crafting our political system (our bicameral system was invented during the struggle) So Mr. President, we know you are the only person in Somaliland and beyond who reads our constitution, but you should stop saying nothing happened before ina Cigal. Quite frankly, Mr. President you are too good for your boots. There is nothing anybody can do if, in the 80's, you and your 3 stooges were the main collaborators of syad's fascist regime. You are not alone because the wheels of herd mentality are in motion, a flashback from the 80's when this click was supporting Syad's fascist regime. Once a collaborator always a collaborator, I suppose. People could expect political blunders from the 3 stooges and their lack of historical perspective is understandable, but not from Dr Mahamud Tani, one of Somaliland's historical figures.
Dr. Tani's faulty parallelisms and historical falsifications show his one-sided stand and clearly reveal Udub's disingenuous attitude towards our young democratic polity. Tani brandishes the French Resistance as a model, but he forgets that most collaborators were killed within few days of the liberation. Anything goes to keep his inadeero in power. Tani and his NSS ideologues portray virtually any historical fact/fiction as a relevant political issue. This new breed of gulwadee uses Synlayo's political history, imagined or real, as the main culprit of today's social ills while hiding Riyal's infamous obscure past during his NSS years when he was involved in SS style repressions. Evidently, Dr. Tani has lately identified himself with his former prison guards, suffering from a clear case of Holocaust Syndrome where victims cooperate with their oppressors. Dr Tani, for obvious reason, is watching and backing the stooges rolling back Somalilnders' fundamental rights and destroying the SNM political experience in the name of untold politics of pardon. For the trained eye, Tani seems to be as blind as ever, loosing even his two cents grip on reality and blasting away at friends and foe alike. An act of a lost innocence? I sincerely doubt it, because Tani and his UDUB Inc. (Tani's adeero is one of the main figures in Ryale's cabinet) constantly recycle reactionary ideas and political clichés to belittle anyone who tries to articulate an oppositional discourse.
Taken as a whole, UDUB's basic message is that servitude is essential for our political space. We are told that political bondage and cult of personality are not as remotely as important as defending noble causes and many other things that Somalilanders accomplished against all odds. Consequently, they arrest, inflate and instigate in the name of a cheap patriotism while using political clichés such as wining the hearts and minds of Somalilanders and sexual imagery "ina rayale dhabta ku fadhiya". As we all know, sexual imagery has a profound, though often subliminal influence on people's political senses. The phallus becomes the central political object. The quintessential question is: who is doing whom? I suppose, yesterday's feeble collaborators are on the receiving end. For this NSS regime, politics is a swing joint where political debauchery are the rule of the game. History teaches us that such political adventurism go hardly unpunished by the tides of upheaval. If Somalilanders do not select their next president wisely, they will suffer again to remove the cloak-and-dagger boys from power. They just cannot afford to feel wistful about the democratic perks they're giving up.
Sagal Say Wallahi can be reached here: sagalainashi@hotmail.com
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