By Mahmoud.I.Jama
The current administration has institutionalized and legalized corruption, nepotism, clan favoritism and has gone beyond. He did few good things, but let us be honest every president since we regained our independence has done some good things as well. They built the foundation of the and the structure that he is pranging about and working on. He inherited the complete government structure he is pranging about. He did not add any new structure to it, as a matter of fact he destroyed some of what was there before like media, freedom of thought and expression and freedom of speech and movement.
He cannot even control his own party that elected him as a president, you know why because he does not want to include them in governing the country. He wants to run the show by himself and with his cronies. How is that possible in a democracy? That is why the party members are abandoning his party in droves and unfortunately Kulmeye may as well vanish like the yu yu as did Udub before him.
He does not give press conferences or speak to the public in public squares like the Kharia I even head he is renting the place to his friends. He closed down independent papers, imprisoned free thinking journalists and some of them might be in jail as we speak. He controls single handedly the executive, legislative, judicial and media. The democracy I know these are four independent entities and it is unconstitutional to interfere with them. How can you prevent a presidential candidate or a opposition party from visiting a region or a city. They should have the same rights that he has and go anywhere they want.
As for achievements he has done few things like building new government offices, which by the way were not funded by his government, but by USAID,UNDP and others. The capital city Hargeisa has no running water or electricity except his little so called presidential palace. The road are crumbling including the one in front of so called palace and the bridges are deteriorating. He spent $15 million dollars from the government of Kuwait on renovating Egal International and Berbera International. JiG-jiga airport in Etihopian region five it coasted only $5 million dollars to build a brand new airport larger and better than any of our airports. The Ethiopian hydroelectric transmission lines are at Togwajaleh on the Ethiopian side. All he has to do is to negotiate with Ethiopia like Djabuti that is currently getting its electricity from Ethiopia. He does not know how to prioritize his little bet projects. Finally I want to say is I hope we have a presidential debate in the upcoming election and see and hear on the national media what the candidates are made off. Then the public will decide whom they want to to lead them for the next five years.
Another issue close to my heart is expatriate laws. Even though we contribute a lot to Somaliland either by finances or advocating for Somaliland of seeking recognition , we do not have a vote and we feel disenfranchised. All the parties when they touring Europe and North America the first group that meets at the airport is the diaspora. Diaspora contributes to local projects taking place in Somaliland whether it is roads or schools but we do not have a vote. That is unfair and undemocratic if ever there is one. We wanted to be registered like everybody and vote in general elections. The next one may be too late, but we insist on have a vote in the one after. All you need is make arrangements with the above countries. And pass a law in the parliament.
Mohmoud.I.Jama
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Email:mohamoud.h.jama@gmail.com
