M. A. Suleiman
The people of Somaliland are facing a major challenge. In less than six weeks, they will be presented with an opportunity to elect a president through a popular vote, for the first time in the history of the new republic. UDUB, the Government Party, has nominated Mr. Dahir Rayale Kahin for the highest office in the land and there are many inside and outside the country, who support his candidacy. Mr. Rayale is not the right candidate and should not be elected. The people of Somaliland should not take this responsibility lightly; they should resist the pressure to elect a man who has a questionable past, a mediocre track record as interim President and who lacks the most basic qualifications to lead the nation. As the age-old saying goes, "those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them".
A cursory look at Somaliland’s history over the past couple of decades clearly depicts a disturbing pattern of courageousness and naiveness that is intertwined in an oblivious manner. We have shown remarkable resilience and steadfastness when it comes to defending our new sovereignty and denying any association with the rest of Somalia - because we all remember the inhumane treatment Somalilanders had suffered during Siyad Barre’s reign of terror. But when it comes to the "enemy within", we demonstrate an incredible political naiveté that is far too quick to "forgive".
Let me set the record straight from the beginning. What happened in Somaliland and the events that led to the creation of the new republic are a common knowledge. The heroic struggle of our people against oppression is well documented and accessible to anyone willing to delve deep into it. My purpose of writing this personal opinion note is to expose the hypocrisy being thrown around these days in the name of "political correctness" by some individuals and groups who are hell bent on rewriting history and manipulating facts to serve their political purposes.
Ever since Rakiya Omar published her recent article about the atrocities that were perpetrated in Somaliland in the 1980s, I have read a plethora of negative reaction to her timely advice that the victims of these atrocities should not be forgotten. These are words of wisdom coming from a highly respected human rights activist who has injected a rare introspection into the current political debate in Somaliland. Those who have taken cheap shots at Raqiya’s motives cannot succeed in smearing her internationally acclaimed reputation. Indeed, no amount of smearing can detract from her powerful argument that Somaliland cannot afford to elect to the highest office in the land someone who has been accused, and not yet absolved, of serious human rights violations against our people. That message is loud and clear. Attacking the messenger is a fashionable tactic - a thinly-veiled attempt to change the subject and it will not succeed. Remaining silent and not speaking about this smear campaign is nothing short of complicity. I am sure that no one in his right mind and conscience will feel comfortable with that characterization, particularly considering the magnitude of the crimes that were committed in Somaliland during the period Mr. Rayale was a senior member of the notorious National Security Service (NSS).
The person at the center of the storm is Mr. Dahir Rayale Kahin, the President of the Republic of Somaliland, who has been appointed to complete the term of the late President, Mr. Mohamed I. Egal. The storm itself is whether this man could be or should be the legitimate president of the young fledgling nation. That storm has generated a heated debate among the Somaliland people everywhere, a legitimate debate that must be encouraged. But the rule of the debate must be properly defined, so that people can be given an objective analysis to make informed decisions. Democratic governance demands no less.
Rayale’s long service as a senior official of Siyad Barre’s dreaded National Security Service (NSS) is a matter of record, not conjecture. He was the man in-charge of the NSS’s headquarters in the strategic port city of Berbera in the 1980s, a sensitive time that was the peak of Barre’s genocidal campaign against the Isaaq. The NSS as we all know was an organization that was in the vanguard in that campaign. Modeled after the KGB, the NSS used the worst forms of torture known to man.
As Raqiya Omar documented in her much celebrated book," A Government At War With Its Own People", there were witnesses who lived in Berbera and elsewhere in Somaliland whose testimony directly implicated Rayale Kahin in the atrocities that were committed there. Admittedly, Rayale has not been tried and is not yet convicted of these alleged crimes. That is because Somaliland has not yet developed a system to try those people accused of crimes against humanity. The fact that he has not been tried does not absolve him of complicity either.
Even if he were found to be not directly responsible for the massacre in Berbera (and that is a big "if"), there is amble circumstantial evidence to show that the notorious organization that he led perpetrated these crimes. The NSS’s main role was to terrorize the people of Somaliland to discourage them from supporting the Somali National Movement, the very organization that finally liberated the country and declared Somaliland a sovereign nation. Honorable people, who did not participate in the terror campaign against the Somaliland people, in those dark days, did one of two things: They either left the service of that brutal regime in disgust and fled, or they joined the SNM and took up arms against the regime. Rayale did neither and continued to serve the regime loyally until it collapsed.
The electorate of Somaliland must not ignore this undeniable fact. I can understand why Mr. Rayale is completely silent about this matter, since it broke out into the political debate. It is embarrassing! I can also see why Mr. Rayale’s loyal supporters are so eager to purge it from public debate: They have lost the moral ground by defending the indefensible! Imagine a world were the perpetrators rule the victims; where the villains preside over the heroes; where justice succumbs to the injustice; where truth is folded under covers and falsehood is given a legitimate footing; and where the perpetrators become the voices of victims which are rendered voiceless. To take the argument up a nudge, imagine if Sharon was to become the president of the Palestinian Authority, or Hitler was to preside over the Knesset, or Slobadan Milosevich was to be the president of the new Republic of Bosnia-Herecegovina.
As much as a lot people will be uncomfortable with the parallels that I am drawing here, the truth of the matter is: people who abuse their powers and commit heinous crimes against innocent civilians should be held responsible and should be forced to face the charges against them in a court of law, be it local or international in jurisdiction.
There is a disturbing aspect to all this. The Somalilanders in the diaspora have jumped on to the political correctness bandwagon and appear to be watching events that could have serious consequences for their newly found nation. Many, it appears, are not daring to speak out simply because they may offend someone or they are afraid that they may be branded "qabiili" by another. That is wrong!
Those of us who sought refuge in Diaspora should take the high moral ground as many governments (like Canada) have enshrined a clause in their immigration policies that people who held senior level positions in regimes that were deemed to have committed human rights violations should not be admitted in. Similarly, we should enlighten our brethren in Somaliland not to accept to be governed by individuals who participated in their persecution. If we don’t, what kind of message are we sending to the likes of Ganni and Morgan and the rest who are closely watching the events that are unfolding in Somaliland?
For the benefit of those who might be reading this out of context, here is a brief historical background of Rayale Kahin’s ascension to power.
Rayale Kahin was the officer-in-charge of the NSS’s headquarters in Berbera in the 1980s. When the liberation forces of the Somali National Movement (SNM) drove Siyad Barre’s forces out of Somaliland early in 1991, he fled the city of Berbera via a barren, dusty coastal road, which eventually took him to the town of Las Anod. Witnesses who saw him escape indicated that Rayale was traveling in a convoy of cars and trucks that included brand new land cruisers. Remember that as part of a decree issued by Siyad Barre to the NSS, people who were Isaaq by birth were not allowed to own or drive land cruisers. Hence, Rayale and his NSS forces were in effect confiscating all these vehicles upon arrival at the port of Berbera. There are some corroborated allegations that Rayale Kahin cashed on his loot, as the convoy was auctioned in Las Anod shortly after his arrival there.
When the SNM liberated the country, its leadership wisely chose a policy of reconciliation as opposed to that of confrontation and revenge. This gesture of goodwill on the part of the SNM gave some people with questionable backgrounds an opportunity to creep up the political mainstream. The late president, Egal, whose animosity to the SNM veterans was well known, handpicked Rayale Kahin as his vice-president. Egal’s intention was to alienate the SNM and keep it out of Somaliland’s mainstream political arena. With the passing away of Egal, Rayale Kahin found himself sitting at the helm of a fledgling democracy.
Putting aside his dubious background, Mr. Rayale’s track record as Interim President is at best very poor. His decision-making process is defective, flawed, and unpredictable. The following blunders that he committed during his brief term in office are testimonial to his lack of sound judgment:
- His first state visit was to Djibouti. Ismail Omar Gelle, Djibouti’s president, is a staunch opponent to Somaliland’s drive to sovereignty. He was the sponsor of the Arta Process, which resulted in the so-called Transitional National Government (TNG). Gelle is still committed to deny the people of Somaliland their right to self-determination. One wonders then why Rayale saw it fit to pay a state visit to someone who is clearly hostile to the notion of Somaliland becoming a sovereign state. This is the sort of stuff that gives conspiracy theorists something to buzz about.
- His total ignorance of the geopolitical situation of the Horn has also already translated into a serious hardship for many Somalilanders. During his term in office, the Somaliland-Ethiopian border and the goods and services that cross between the two nations has suffered a major setback. There have been border closures and the Somalilanders who used to crisscross the border freely are currently dealing with major restrictions including payment of tariffs. While he was courting president Gelle who is very much anti-Somaliland, he alienated the Ethiopian government, which is sympathetic to the creation of a sovereign Somaliland. Our poor people are paying the price for Mr. Rayale’s diplomatic incompetence.
- His ill-fated decision to go to Las Anod cost Somaliland an enormous political capital in two critical ways. First, it started a civil conflict that tarnished Somaliland’s peaceful image internationally and damaged reconciliation efforts internally. Second, by his rapid retreat, he acknowledged that Sool was indeed outside the jurisdiction of Somaliland. No one can understand why he ventured into that territory without the necessary preparation.
Finally, the Presidency of a nation is an honorable, challenging, and demanding job. In today’s very complex and intricate world, progress, and even survival, of nations depend on enlightened leadership that can articulate a vision and an agenda to achieve national goals. Mr. Rayale Kahin has demonstrated neither. Only seasoned politicians with relevant academic backgrounds could withstand the trials and tribulations of today’s ever-changing world. In this regard, Mr. Rayale Kahin is void of any of the basic leadership qualities that a nation looks for in its head of state. In fact, he has no personal, professional, or moral legitimacy to be the president of Somaliland. I have reached this conclusion based on objective analysis of this man’s past record and experience. I strongly believe that the people of Somaliland, who have suffered for so long, deserve a better candidate. It is about time that the people of Somlailand take a critical look at the man and boot him out of office. If the people of Somaliland miss the opportunity that April 14, 2003 presents, then God, the almighty, help us and help Somaliland.
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