By: Ilham Hassan
HARGEISA (Somalilandsun) – Somaliland is a democratic state that has its institutions that are based on equality and justice for all citizens regardless of their status.
Somaliland has come a long way since declaring its independence from the rest of Somalia on 1991. The businesses were booming and were mostly run by women. It is estimated that 70% of the population are women. Despite that women in general have struggled to have their input in politics and other means of advancing the country. These obstacles have always been there traditionally.
Those who are opposed to the role of women are tribal and religious leaders who do not want these women to advance or compete with their fellow countrymen. These people claim that women should be at home taking are of domestic issues rather than country issues. However, they have no justification from the religious point of view.
Since Somaliland has declared its own state for nearly 22 years, 5 democratic elections were held, and an estimated of 85% of the electoral are women and youth, and many intellectual citizens noticed that women should be on the front seat to lead the elections or compete the candidacy with fellow men with lots of support from the population as a whole.
It is unforgettable that that women played an important rol in the latest municipality elections in the country with huge support form the public. Regrettably, none of the women had the opportunity to grab seats for these local elections. It is arguable that all these women were singled out not to represent at the municipality, and every effort was made to ensure that none of them proceeded to next phase.
All those honorable women believe that they were rigged and could have challenged the electoral commission but resigned for the sake of not creating chaos within the population, as the situation could have deteriorated should they have gone ahead with challenging those looters.
Women will not be put off by these barbaric actions, but will fight to reclaim their justice, as they are citizens themselves, and would carry on the fight to ensure that there is justice for all.
ilhamali8@gmail.com
