By Hussein Dahir Obsiye

The opposition leaders’ quick condemnation, without enough information (or disregarding the information) of ‎the Somaliland government on the ouster of the EU Representative is very alarming; it could impede this ‎country’s progress, and could take it back to the clan infested political entanglement, which one would think ‎was long gone.‎

It does not take a rocket scientist to see how involved the EU Representative was in Somaliland internal affairs ‎ignoring the government’s authority. Any one who looks around can easily see the Representative’s blatant ‎disregard for the country’s sovereignty.‎

The EU Representative infringed Somaliland sovereignty numerous times, but I will only site a couple:‎

‎1.‎ One of the main and current issues was the EU Representative’s refusal to forward the EU 2006 ‎development plan for Somaliland to the Ministry of Planning and Coordination, where as all other ‎Governmental Organizations, UN different agencies, and International NGOs forwarded theirs to the ‎Ministry for coordination.‎

In fact, in all developing countries, the Ministry of Planning and Coordination handles the development of the ‎country, and decides which part gets what development projects, so that the available resources are evenly ‎distributed. The Minister of Planning and Coordination of Somaliland wants to do what the rest of the World ‎does.‎

To achieve that goal, the Ministry of Planning and Coordination completed a national assessment, and already ‎earmarked certain projects for certain regions based on the regions’ needs. The Ministry of Planning and ‎Coordination assessed that some regions need animal husbandry projects; others need water projects, yet ‎others need agricultural projects. Some regions dependent on trade, and all they need is good roads.‎

The Ministry has all these projected national plans, and only by knowing the total available donation from the ‎EU, the UN and the NGOs, the Minister can prioritize the required projects depending on the severity of the ‎need and resource availability.‎

But, the EU Representative rejected the Ministry’s plan, and insisted to handle the EU donations by himself ‎disregarding the Somaliland’s sovereignty. The Minister wants to handle the resources, because, according to ‎reliable sources, over $210 million US were spent on Somalia on 2004, of which Somaliland supposedly ‎received around $70 million US. But, if one goes around Somaliland, one cannot see or pinpoint where the ‎money was spent. That is the reason the Ministry of Planning and Coordination insists to coordinate and ‎account for every dollar donated, and avoid wastage and project duplication

I read from the Haatuf newspaper that the EU rehabilitated bridges, but is that any where near $70 million ‎US? It also printed that the first family had a role in it. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be doing their job. The first ‎family’s job is to protect this country from the likes of Ahmed Washington and the current Prime Minister of ‎Somalia, who brags on the number of UN projects he cancelled from Somaliland when he was in office here in ‎Hargeisa. Mr. Washington will probably brag on what he did to this country sometimes later. These people ‎don’t like this country, and they are working hard to stop this country. ‎

‎2.‎ The second issue is that of the HIV/AIDS campaign. Somaliland established an HIV/AIDS Secretariat, ‎which plans to handle the campaign at a national level. But the EU Representative refused to transfer the ‎designated amount of the EU donation to the national Secretariat, and he started a parallel HIV/AIDS ‎program.‎

Both of these national issues and many more clouded the Representative’s motives, and created suspicion. ‎Anyone who is familiar with the issues questions the Representative’s sincerity, and wonders if the ‎Representative is longing for the South and ex-Somalia. And, since the guy is from the south, it augments to ‎the suspicion.‎

However, what is amazing is the opposition leaders’ quick condemnation of the Minister of Planning and ‎Coordination. My question to them is: did these two guys know the issues that lead to the Representative’s ‎ouster or not?‎

If the answer is the former and they did not know the underlying issues for the ouster of the Representative, ‎they should familiarize themselves with the country’s day-to-day issues and avoid further embarrassment, and ‎apologize to the Minister and the people of Somaliland.‎

But, if the answer is the latter, and they intentionally slandered the Minister, one would think that these guys ‎have ulterior motive, which one cannot speculate.‎

What are even more amazing are Haatuf's articles; a newspaper is expected to check the reliability of all ‎information before it prints. Who would one believe, one’s President or a captured criminal? I would ‎like an answer from Haatuf. Why didn’t Haatuf check the story first before slandering the first family?‎

In conclusion, every Somalilander must try hard to familiarize him/herself with the country’s issues, so that ‎he/she understands the government’s actions or inactions and avoid hasty decisions.‎

hdobsiye@msn.com