Editorial

The

Somaliland Times

Haatuf Media Network

Tel: 252-828-3783 (Soltelco), 252-213-6546(S.T.C), 252-2-528015 (Telesom)

At Togdher Street, Near Ged-deble Hotel

Editor; Yusuf Abdi Gabobe - Asst. Editor: A. Dubad & Abdifatah M.Aidid - Sub. Editors: Hasan Hosh - Layout and Design: Ahmed Jama

Now that Somaliland President Riyale has nominated Mr. Ahmed Yusuf Yassin as Vice-President, and ASAD has registered itself as an opposition party, there are some urgent questions that people expect the government to answer. The biggest

question that looms in the air is, of course, whether the Somaliland government will be able to conduct fair and free elections in the country within the remaining period of 8 months.

So far, the new President, Mr. Dahir Riyale Kahin, has vowed to hold the elections before his term in office expires by next Feb 23, 2003. And definitely Somalilanders are bound to respect the President for his word. In fact, political opposition parties in in the country, including ASAD, are unanimous in giving the new leadership a chance and staying away from asserting any political gains at this juncture.

With the newly positive political climate now prevalent in Somaliland, the President can seize this golden opportunity to advance prospects of a national consensus on the democratic process through dialogue. Opposition parties and mainstream Somalilanders have accused the government in the past of planning fabricated elections that it was destined to win. During this honeymoon period though, such criticism has been voluntarily toned down, or suppressed altogether, for the sake of national unity. But this does not mean that the demands raised in the past by critics for the introduction of sweeping reforms to the government and the government installed electoral system are not going to resurface again in the future. On the contrary, those concerns are still too valid to be neglected now, and hence will need to be addressed through a national dialogue for change and reforms, including the formation of a truly independent or bi-partisan electoral organs to supervise and implement elections at every level of government (municipal, legislative and presidential).

Therefore, it is imperative to set in motion now a national program for dialogue, for the purpose of arriving at a broad-based consensus on the kind of reform we need to accomplish, so that fair and free elections could be held in this country. Once an accord has been reached on this issue, then it would become possible for a realistic and detailed election schedule to materialize.

Anyway, holding elections will not be an easy task. We are also aware that there are some elements within the government who vehemently oppose any attempts to settle differences between the government and the opposition over public issues. Being

obsessed with the nightmare of losing power and privileges should the government become more democratic, inclusive and corruption free, these elements would be expected to try to undermine any attempts for a meaningful national dialogue involving the government and the opposition groups.

However in view of the new political landscape that has emerged in Somaliland in the aftermath of May 3, Mr. Riyale could easily overcome any opposition from within his own ranks should he choose to invite the nation to a national dialogue.

Hargeisa (SL Times): The President of the Republic of Somaliland, Dahir Riyale Kahin, has nominated House Representative, Mr. Ahmed Yusuf Yassin as Vice-President.

The nomination of Mr. Yassin, a member of Somaliland House of Representatives, has yet to be confirmed by a joint session of both houses of Parliament.

Mr. Yassin, 45, is a political unknown, and his selection by President Riyale has caught many people by surprise. His nomination on Thursday has brought to an end a weeklong intensive lobbying for the position of Vice-President. The post was hotly contested by a number of Somaliland politicians.

In the beginning of last week those expected to be nominated were Ahmed Silaanyo a former SNM Chairman and Cabinet Minister, and Abdulkadir Jirde, current first deputy speaker of Somaliland House of Representative.

By last weekend however, the name of Abdirahman Baydani, an MP, was being mentioned as the most likely choice to be made by President Riyale. By last Wednesday most people in the capital were almost certain that Baydani would be nominated. But it seems now that Mr. Riyale had changed his mind in the last minute about Baydani for unknown reasons, to the surprise of observers, with his nomination of Mr. Yassin as vice-president of Somaliland on Thursday.

The nominee has completed his high school in Somaliland and obtained a diploma in Accounts from a British college.

Mr. Yassin has been a student at the recently inaugurated law college of Hargeisa University. He worked for a joint US-Saudi project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in the early nineties.

From 1993 – 1996 he was manager and a shareholder of a livestock export firm. In March 1997 Mr. Yassin was elected as Member of Parliament, a title he has held until his designation as Vice-President last Thursday.

Finance Officials On Surprise Visit To Custom Points

Kalabaydh (SL Times): A team of top officials from the ministry of Finance have paid a surprise inspection visit to government Customs at Abarso, about 12 km west of Hargeisa and Kalabaydh, near Gabilay.

The inspection team, which arrived at Kalabaydh at 4 am, was led by the Minister of Finance Hussein Doodi. The Minister was accompanied by his DG Ahmed Daud and director of Customs, Ali Qorseef.

Daily Customs revenues collected at Kalabaydh currently vary between 60 – 65 million Somaliland Shillings. This is a far cry from the 14 – 15 million drawn daily from the outpost 8 months ago.

Users have attributed this remarkable increase to the efforts of one man: Ahmed Abdillahi Omar, the Customs supervisor of Kalabaydh.

ASAD Registers Itself

Hargeisa (SL Times): The largest political opposition party ASAD has been registered with the government commission in charge of registration of political organization.

In a press statement issued on Thursday, ASAD described its decision to register itself as demonstration of good will and solidarity with the people of Somaliland in the light of current circumstances.

In the past ASAD had refused to register itself after the Somaliland government declined to take into consideration a number of complaints raised by ASAD with regard to the electoral process.

Hargeisa (SL Times): Somaliland Council of Ministers discussed last Monday the Somali Civil Protection Programme in the light of UNDP dismissal of Mr. Jeremy Brickhill.

A number of government officials and civic leaders have expressed dismay at the sudden removal of Mr. Brickhill from the programme.

Hargeisa (SL Times): The 11^th Anniversary of May 18, Independence Day is being celebrated today throughout Somaliland.

Somaliland fought a 10 yearlong liberation war against the repressive regime of Siyad Barre.

On May 18, 1991 the people of Somaliland under the leadership of the SNM resolved at a congress held in Burao to reinstate the sovereignty of Somaliland. June 26, 1960, is the date in which the country got its independence from colonial Britain.

Registration Of Political Parties For 2003 Polls To End 17 May

Hargeisa (SL Times): The commission in charge of registering political parties in Somaliland has announced that the registration exercise would end in 17 May [2002].

The commission is working on the modalities, which would enable political parties to participate in the forthcoming elections, to be held after eight months.

The registration exercise ended in March [2002], but it was extended by two more months by the Somaliland Council of Elders.

It appears that the commission for registering political parties will allow registering those parties that were strongly opposed to the late president, Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal.

Family Of Four Swept Away By Floods Near Port Of Berbera

Hargeisa (SL Times): The heavy rains pounding Sheikh District [about 70 km south of the port of Berbera] in Somaliland have killed at least four people.

Three children and their mother were swept away by raging flood waters after a stream in the area called Oman broke its banks. The three children, a boy and his two sisters, were playing in the stream before the floodwaters rushed in. Their mother, who was standing on the edge of the stream at the time, attempted to rescue the children, but she too was swept away by the floods. The bodies of the mother and one of the girls have been recovered. Efforts were continuing to search for the bodies of the other two.

Hargeisa Local Government Is Bankrupt

Disturbing picture is emerging amid revelations of mismanagement in Hargeisa municipality. In Somaliland, there are only a couple of sources that generate more revenue than Hargeisa municipality. To learn that Hargeisa municipality is insolvent - unable to pay staff salaries - is a poignant reminder of how corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation of funds are pervasive. According to Somaliland Times, (edition 15), the Mayor of Hargeisa instructed the Secretary to bailout a newspaper rather than pay staff salaries. In light of the leadership changes, it is opportune to stem corruption.

That being the case, Hargeisa municipality is unable to meet its financial obligations. Technically, this means the City is bankrupt. But common sense dictates that if it comes to either paying the salary or bailing out a newspaper, the Mayor would choose to pay the salary of his staff. But that wasn’t the case in here. The Mayor has chosen the latter. Is bailing out a newspaper part of the services of the City?

In general, local governments provide a myriad of traditional services for the community. Hargeisa municipality, however, doesn’t provide any: it doesn’t haul garbage, it doesn’t repair infrastructure, it doesn’t pay security services (police) nor does it pay salaries of elementary school teachers. For those of you who are old enough, you might remember that Hargeisa municipality used to pay salaries of elementary school teachers. These were the good olden days and they are gone. No point of being nostalgic, but bailing out a newspaper was never part of the services provided by local governments. It is the first time in history that Hargeisa local government becomes insolvent (bankrupt). When the City funds programs and projects that are petty and political, the financial position of the City soon becomes red. This indicates that there is no accountability, and the Mayor is accountable to no one else, but himself. This situation is ripe for potential corruption. This reflects badly on the Mayor and his managerial capabilities. Hargeisa municipality has expanded the City’s tax base, without increasing services, by levying tax on all goods intended for sale in the city. As a result, revenue has grown considerably and paying staff salaries shouldn’t have been a problem.

Few years ago, when Mohamed Hashi Elmi was the Mayor, there was surplus. What has happened since? Is the city providing more services today or has the revenue decreased? The reason seems to be corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation.

If prioritizing the uses of the scarce resources isn’t mandated, wasteful eye-catching petty projects are financed. Rather than providing services to Hargeisa residents, the Mayor is busy in installing traffic lights, displaying a jet on the main street, mobilizing students for political ends and bailing out a newspaper. Hargeisa doesn’t need traffic lights; it needs to repair roads. There is enough manpower – traffic officers- to direct the traffic. The traffic jam isn’t because of the number of vehicles on the road, but rather, it is the terrible condition of the roads. Repairing the roads should have been the priority rather than traffic lights.

One reason a project like the traffic lights is undertaken is for embezzling and misappropriating public funds. Was there any bidding? Who was the contractor? Who appraised the project? Who oversaw and supervised? What happened to the records? How much did it cost the City? If any of those questions can’t be answered satisfactorily, the likelihood of corruption and fraud is very high. Does anybody know how much the traffic lights and the display of the jet cost the city? Staggering! Has anybody bothered to question and check?

Funding a newspaper isn’t part of the municipality’s obligation. It is misappropriation of funds and it is illegal. Is the newspaper owned and published by the municipality for the benefit of Hargeisa residents? What is the connection? Does the municipality subsidize Haatuf, Jamhuuriya and other newspapers? Why does the government need a newspaper of its own? Does the charter of the municipality stipulate the newspaper as one of the obligations of the municipality? Does the city have a budget? Was the expenditure appropriately allocated in the budget as a bailout of a newspaper? What else the city funds? Wouldn’t you like to know? These are legitimate questions and the authorities should provide answers. Subsidizing an unprofitable newspaper is bad business anyway. The government has Radio Hargeisa by herself, and there are many other newspapers whose services the government can utilize. In case the Mayor doesn’t know, the revenue collected from the Hargeisa residents and businesses primarily belongs to Hargeisa dwellers, and the services it provides should be for the benefit of the community and not for the benefit of a political newspaper. There are enough independent newspapers the community has access to. In case the Mayor doesn’t know, it is illegal and criminal to use public funds for political ends and the Attorney General should take note of this.

The action of the Secretary who rejected the Mayor’s instruction to bailout a newspaper is indeed laudable. The secretary has demonstrated a sense of good judgment, responsibility and statesmanship. The Secretary should be rewarded with the highest honor. Let it be known that those who authorize, sign or disburse government funds unlawfully are all guilty. A fitting analogy is that of alcohol “ku wa khamriga iibiya, ka soo qaada iyo ka caba, danbigoodu waa isku mid”.

What makes this proposed misappropriation more poignant is that the staff and their families are going hungry. The Mayor is subsidizing illegally an unprofitable political newspaper at the expense of his staff and their families. If the Mayor is going out of his way, why didn’t he fund Hargeisa Hospital? That would have been justifiable, but a political newspaper! That is insensitive, illegal and outrageous.

By and large, whenever key positions are dispensed for political affiliations, the public suffers. This tendency chooses the mediocre over the qualified, and it should come to an end. Those who have the qualifications and the integrity should serve the public without considering political affiliation. Many among the politicians lament that the qualified are outside the country but that perception is exaggerated if not biased. The best and the brightest, the most experienced in every discipline and profession are in Somaliland.

For example, there are many with local government experience in Hargeisa and other cities as well. This isn’t to plug in for someone but since this issue is related with managing municipalities, a gentleman with the highest integrity who held the position of Executive Officer for a long period comes to mind. Omar Jama would be the first choice in everybody’s book and he has never been asked, presumably, for political reasons. It is regretful to mention one person, but it was done to illustrate the depth, the integrity and the experience and the professionalism that is abundant in Somaliland. Surely, there are many like Omar whose experience hasn’t been utilized.

In fairness to the Mayor, such practices aren’t unique to the Mayor’s office. It has been widely reported that such practices are endemic in most of the government transactions and offices. Corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation of government funds are phenomena that have become pervasive, laudable in some circles and tolerable at large.

In Africa, the lack of accountability, transparency and the predilection of dispensing key posts for political affiliations is the root of mismanagement; and mismanagement is the root of poverty and misery. Deliberately, misappropriating meager resources robs funds from the tuberculosis hospitals, maternity wards, security, education and the like. This tendency of misappropriating funds is a blatant corruption and it should be prosecuted without fail

The infestation of corruption is a sign of malignant tumor that spreads like wild fire, incinerates and degenerates morality, impedes economic growth and robs from the needy. Society that tolerates corruption, tolerates injustice, tolerates illegal gain, and tolerates perennial poverty. Somaliland has a chance to cut off the malignant tumor and undergo the therapy of transparency and accountability. Rest assured that there is no shortage of competent professionals with high integrity in Somaliland, but there is shortage of political will.

I urge President Dahir Riyale Kahin to make his priority to stem corruption and not to pursue recognition. Stemming corruption is within your power, Mr. President, but delivering recognition isn’t: it involves the accord of others that may/mayn’t share your vision.

Open Letter To The President Of The Republic Of Somaliland, Dahir Riyale Kahin

Let me begin by extending my feelings of comradeship and solidarity with you Sir, given the grave and fateful responsibility bestowed on you by the people of this country through the constitution of this country.

Sir, I also wish to congratulate you for being the first leader of this Republic to be constitutionally elected giving you unprecedented legal and constitutional legitimacy compared to the last two Presidents of this Republic. This fact alone is a sterling moment of political triumph for this country and indeed a tremendous contribution to the struggle for democracy in our region and in Africa.

The Ethiopian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, during the burial of the late President, understood the incredible impact that our transfer of power will mean for the region and Africa as a whole. The Minister understood that it is the struggle for democracy that will free the people of this region from the fear of change. The transition is an open invitation to all countries in the region to embrace constitutional government with robust forms of democratic institutions. Indeed, as a matter of political fact, Somaliland has one of the two constitutionally elected Presidents – the other being Kenya where the transition is yet to come – in a region with seven heads of states.

In this vein, I wish to record my feelings of pride and respect to the administration, the Parliament, the Guurti, the Chief Justice, the Armed Forces, and ordinary citizens of this country for following the constitution that that they were sworn to uphold. I thank them as a citizen of this country for doing their duty.

Sir, as you are well aware there are many outstanding issues to consider given the coming elections. You Sir have a tremendous amount of goodwill and support from the people of this country. It is evident by the messages of support you have received. It is critical that you spend this goodwill wisely, support an open atmosphere for politics, ask for accountability and integrity from your government, seek out the opposition by making the election process and the institutions that govern them fair, open, and credible.

Sir, I listened with attention during you inaugural interview with the Somali Section of the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) on the recent events in our country. Let me register my pride at the adroitness and panache with which you handled yourself, showing the depth and political intelligence that marked our late President. Sir, that interview brought out your ideas on where we can expect your government to lead us. Your suggestion that the current government will largely stay intact is an important message of stability and continuity.

However, I must state here for the record that there has been a fundamental political change in this country. The late president dominated the political landscape like a colossus, his passing away has changed the political deck in this country and we must recognise it.

In my opinion there has to be change in this administration for there to be change in the country. The people of Somaliland expect – now that your mandate emanates directly from the 97% of the population that voted for the constitution – that you send them a strong message that you are in charge! Sir, you are the first elected President of this country who has 97% vote of confidence, the parliament does not have this vote of confidence, nor does the Guurti.

I urge Sir to confirm the highest official in the Supreme Court, and the judiciary in the country should be given complete independence so that we may continue our journey down the path of democracy.

I must reiterate that your leadership will only be useful once you surround yourself with the very best and brightest men and women that Somaliland can offer. They also must be young people. Somaliland has them working inside the country, in organisations and civil groups, internationally in the very best institutions of learning and government. These men and women are in the hundreds in groups like the Somaliland Forum.

Last but not least our celebration of 18^th May is on the way as I write. I want to end by saying that we ought to pay tribute to those who fell in this land so that I may have the right of free speech, so that I may use my pen freely to say openly what I feel about my country and share them with my fellow citizens.

By Eng. Abdi M. Farah (wiiwaa) Oakland, CA USA

As a concerned citizen and an engineer who can understand the technical and management problems facing the Hargeisa Water Agency, which is responsible to the water resources, pumping, supplying and managing; it bothered me to read about the water shortage dilemma that is facing the residents of Hargeisa and the surrounding area. Even though I live in a city that is 22,000 miles away from Hargeisa, and not affected by water shortage facing my beloved city of Hargeisa; I have a few questions and some suggestions to the authority of that Water Agency and the Somaliland government. Before I ask any question or make any suggestions, I would like to make clear that this article is not written to blame anyone or point fingers at anyone, but to describe and find a reasonable solution to this dilemma. I know there are many engineers who have more expertise than me in our cities in Somaliland but why are they not involved on this great dilemma facing our people and where is the nobility of being true to your profession?

In any city in the world people had always planned the water needs of their cities and Hargeisa is no exception. So let’s ask ourselves, why is the problem coming back month after month and no solution? In any civilized society their governments or private firms that are responsible for that matter meet water needs. Let me ask the following questions and make some suggestions.

Economic problem? (Who has the authority to budget, spend and collect the fees)?

My answers and suggestions are based on public information (since I'm not in Hargeisa), the interviews and reports from Somaliland Times, Jamhuriya and Haatuf newspaper. Particularly, an interview given by the director of Hargeisa water agency Mr. Omar M Handulle (Boobe) and inquires I made about the water system two and half years ago during my visit to Hargeisa. It is my understanding that the main water resources for the City is from Geed-deeble, which has twelve wells and only four pumps are pumping water according to Engineer Ali Mohamed Hassan on his comments to Haatuf Newspaper on April 2002. He stated that the resources are not sustainable for the inhabitant of the city who number 600,000 instead of the 300,000 that the water supply system was designed for. First of all, the original Chinese report available to the water agency should act as starter for solving the problem, and if that is not enough they should hire a consultant (Local engineers who would be capable and cheaper than hiring from overseas as NGOs would like to) to conduct a study to update data on the city's water needs, resources, storage facilities, and supply system.

As I remember, the water supply systems' main pipes are so small they are inadequate to supply the water needed for the whole city, so my suggestion on this item is to add two sets of five main pipes with a minimum diameter of 24 inches (610mm) north to south and east to west. These additional pipes will increase both flow rate and pressure of the water system, which is very low at present. However, increasing of the pipe's grid system will not add a water resource that is not there, therefore the pumping of the wells must be increased from four pumps to at least 6 to 8 pumps and construct large storage facilities in and around the city. The water resources problem is not only a local agency crisis but also a national one and the government in power should make national priority to solve the problem. The government should put a project that will provide relief at the current crisis and find long-term solution for the whole country's water needs. Anytime you are planning any type of project you are expected to plan for the next 5 years, 10,15, 20 and 30 years etc. A water resources project is no different. Hargeisa's population has increased tremendously in the last thirty years (exception of 1985 to 1991 due the civil war) and if the trend continues Hargeisa's population will double in less then twenty-five years from 600,000 to 1,200,000

Hargeisa's Population predictions for Facility Design Capacity

2*160gallons/person/day (Western standards including Fire/Industrial use.)

So any project should be planned accordingly whether it is water, sewage, roads, bridges, schools, health facility or land planning. I guess if the problems were technical, they would have been solved long time ago. I believe the management has been changed a few times recently and that is not healthy for the agency, or any agency for that matter because each management team can implement their program as they see fit but if changes occur so often one can't measure any agency's progress or lack thereof. Thus, leave a management team in position for while and that team should be accountable to their progress or lack of progress. The Economic issues are really no brainier because the agency is capable of supporting itself as director Boobe indicated. But the fee collections should be more reliable and the current government or any future government shall not use the money as income to subsidize other government agencies or departments. The income of the agency must be used for the improvement of water reliability, storage facilities, and water supply system and rehabilitation.
Wasting of water due to leakage is very high 15%, as Eng. Ali M. Hassan indicated and it is unacceptable in our type of environment where water is very scarce. To avoid wasting scarce resources, rehabilitation program must be implemented to replace all the deteriorating supply system while major projects are in the works.

Funding from other sources than Somaliland government must be acquired. Most of us who are outside the country believe the NGOs who do very good work of generating or raising funds for their specific projects, waste more money on mostly overhead cost than they spend on actual programs. However, either in Ministerial or agency levels a team of management and engineers should be put in place to look for funding on their specific projects (a water project for this example), since funds will not come to our shores, if we don't go after the money.

All the NGOs in Somaliland or any other country usually put programs and specific project before they start looking for funding in each fiscal year and our teams should look into ways of learning from their counterparts. Believe me, it won’t be easy since Somaliland is not a recognized country yet. Since Somaliland is not recognized country, the IMF, World Bank and other international financiers will hesitate to fund projects like water project, which will need tens of millions of dollars, and we have no choice but to knock all the doors to get where the funding is available. This will be good example of no pain no gain. Somaliland's business community is morally responsible to assist their people's needs since they are the ones who benefit from the consumptions of goods and services in our country. Even if the business community is reluctant to provide cash aid they can provide additional high capacity water pumps for the water agencies or provide medical equipment for the general hospitals and clinics of their community instead of cash.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the people who work hard on the public service sector in the health and water area. The benefits these staffs provide can be attested by the improvement of the standard of living of our community.