By Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdilahi
(Somalilandsun) – One of the major resources in Somaliland at the moment is enjoying with is the wealth provided by UN and INGO’s which are residing mainly in Hargeisa.
The prosperity should be distributed equally among the regions in order not to have unequal access to resources by the people in all regions of Somaliland. The UN and INGO give each year plenty of employment opportunities, Development projects, services including car rental and housing accommodations and investment in the form of funds to uplift the lives of the people and infrastructure to Hargeisa only and other people elsewhere in Somaliland including two that of Awdal do not get enough of their share. In fact the policy of the Somaliland government regarding economic development should show strong tendencies toward egalitarianism or else the disparities in the income between the people who live in Hargeisa and other regions of Somaliland will be wider in the years to come.
The government institutions are the second to the resources provided by UN and INGO’ organizations whereby a huge amount of money and employment is expended and acknowledged respectively. The representation of the staff in the government institutions as well is not shared equally because the allocation of the jobs is not either on the basis of quota or formula for sharing everything including among others power, jobs and the economy. I take an example to some of the African countries, for example Ghana, where jobs, wealth and power are provided on quota basis with the exception of few highly specialist posts which is offered on a free and fair exam to obtain competent new entrant.
At the moment, major Somaliland government budget is spent in the capital and no other city feels the benefits of the budget, and that could lead many people in other parts of Somaliland rather than Hargeisa think differently or feel injustice incurred against them as stated recently by Somaliland good governance and anti corruption of the country’s parliamentary on budget expenditure of the ministry to the country regions. I suggest reducing disparities between Somaliland regions; one region should have, for example the port another airport other the seat of the parliament and so forth, by that I mean it enables the government to have equal access to the wealth of the country.
I think the current political problems are due to the above mentioned, therefore the government together with the parliament should have close discussion on the matter with the parliament and other concerned institutions to resolve the matter. However, blame goes to Parliamentarians of awdal; it is their duty to raise about the complaints or issues in which people of awdal are facing such issues are In addition to those mentioned above, these include: lack of access to job opportunities both government and private sectors and also shortage of investments either from Somaliland developments fund or whatever. The fact is that the people of awdal are marginalized; they don’t have adequate jobs, government offices and other essential infrastructures for example, roads, hospitals and schools let alone ports and airports.
The blame also goes to ministers from awdal region who failed to raise the issue in the cabinet before the sultans made a noise of disgust. I hope the concerned ministers may have advised the government adequately, but there may be a lobbying group of awdal who use the group around the president’s hearing to advise the president negatively in order to perpetuate the present situation and that is why the political matters in awdal are absolutely not in safe hands.
The blame goes to the vice president who is said to have full control and runs the affairs of the region; meaning that nobody else is allowed to interfere with the internal administration of awdal by that it enables him either to change any personnel from and into the region bearing in mind their ability to perform their duties, failure to do so means to fire them because they failed to fulfill their duties. The problem observed is that neither officer were fired nor changed in the aftermath of political turmoil. In addition, there is no power sharing within the people of awdal. These two factors combined may have fuelled the fire in awdal. The government needs to review its policies on the region, including to that of the entire administration of awdal region and the coordination between the region and the central government to correct the administration.
The entire administration and political mechanism in place in Borama is weak and are not in a opposition to deter aggression. Eventhough, reinforcement to strengthen peace and security is being delivered to awdal region; they are not getting enough support both from the local police force and higher authorities and that made them disappointed. However, one thing is for sure that the army brought in improved the security.
The president should adhere consistent policies on awdal and take appropriate advice within his government, but not outside and make necessary reforms needed to make sure that the responsibility and resources are both shared. It is also requested from him not to either underestimate or overestimate the present situation and failure to do so will make the matters worse than ever. The president himself needs to sort out the problem by using information receiving from various sources within the government.
However, the problem of awdal started when Somaliland government was established in borama and subsequent government did not pay attention to it. Unlike before, it seems that the present government has the appetite to solve the socioeconomic problems of the country in order to pull the country and its people together.
Thanks,
By Abdirahman Ibrahim Abdilahi
Contact : abdirahman270 @gmail.com
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