Somalilandsun – What is cooking up at the Hargeisa town hall is not palatable nor is it something the residents can stomach.
So far the grievances expressed in the sentiments of some ten councilors may hold some water given the manner of their ways and their wordings.
They took to a different platform to disseminate their facts in what they called “as a preservation of public order”.
They may have been right given that yesterday’s reports of manhandling elected officials and forcefully barring them from attending their session may only show that their cries earlier on were somewhat credible. Groups of elected individuals cannot be barred from their places of assembly other than through laid down house by-law “order” regulations ;-after being named and warned severally (thus cautioned) as per the norms of universal debating standing rules.
Secondly, emphasis in their press conference was the fact that they were appealing to the ministry of interior and “concerned institutions” to rush in to stop further breakdown of daily operations and delve immediately into their grievances.
Given that the Cllrs have powers to impeach through majority vote, we find their appeal holding water when they called in for (as we assume or perceive) the central government and/or the anti-corruption and good governance body.
Their allegations on the mayor’s inexperience may be out of question since they installed him as their boss but we find their advices to the mayor as commendable.
Now the two issues worth munching over separately are the political one and the technical one.
We, as residents of the city, call upon the good governance and anti-corruption body to step in immediately to save the treasures of the public on our behalf. As for their politicking, we call upon the councilors to call their cue and behave in a manner that would not bring the city or country at large into disrepute.
The other bone of contention we at the THT may have about the whole issue is the fact that even before the city dwellers have been privy to the allegations of mal-administration and miss-administration going on we find and see traditional leaders and/ or groups going public in defense on the embattled faction of the city hall fathers.
When it is technical issues that are at stake, we find the publicity stunts quite wanting hence we feel that there is more to it than meets the eyes.
We expect defenses to be as technically undertaken, done or addressed as techniques may demand.
The two groups, thank goodness, are not are not having faults on tribal lines. Of the two factions, pundits may add, the grieving one are more elderly and may appeal more to the members of the public.
The city hall must come out clean for the members of public need, demand and deserve some answers.
This is an original editorial of The Horn Tribune a weekly English newspaper published in Hargeisa by the State owned Dawan Media Group