Rayaale’s Government , The Rule of ‎Law and the New Government (Part II)‎

Ahmed Irrobeh

1. A summary of Part I and an overview of Part II

In part I, I discussed the ideals that in my view motivated many of the participants in the struggle to liberate Somaliland namely, the establishment of an open society free from tyranny and repression, a government adhering to the rule of law and abiding the rules of good governance such as freedom from corruption while doing its best to bring about rapid economic development in the country. In part I, I also discussed how Rayaale’s government (and those before it) failed to live up to the first three ideals. In second part , I shall show how this government also continuously misses the opportunity to realise the fourth ideal i.e. economic development.

2. Avenues for Economic Development

To my mind, there are three main avenues for economic development in Somaliland with or without recognition. These are:

1. The development of the country’s abundant natural resources such as hydrocarbon and mineral resources with the help of foreign companies;

2. The development of other natural resources such as fisheries, forestry and underground water with the help of NGO’s;

3. The development of other resources such as agriculture, livestock, the rangelands, etc firstly by facilitating the future development of these resources in terms of laying the foundations, infrastructure and regulations needed to guide and positively stimulate their development using state funds and secondly by developing these resources further to attain self-sufficiency in their products by using the financial returns that will accrue to the state in the future from the development of hydrocarbon and mineral resources.

3. The Development of Hydrocarbon and Mineral Resources

A report published by the United Nations (UNIDO, 1988) states, “One fact that has been established beyond doubt is that Somalia is rich in mineral wealth which needs to be unearthed”. The share of Somaliland in this mineral wealth is enormous. The report indicates that geological surveys have established the existence of the following minerals in the northern regions (i.e. Somaliland ): gypsum/anhydrite, quartz, gold, kyanite (mercuric chloride), lead-barite, poli-metallic mineralization (lead, copper and zinc ) and coal. The existence of some of these minerals has also been confirmed in a book written by Brian White, a British geologist familiar with the country. The UN report even mentions some of the locations of these minerals. For example, quartz is found in the lafarug-Da’arbudug area, gold-quartz mineralization occurs in several locations in the vicinity of Hargeisa, the gypsum deposit is near Berbera, coal is in the Sanag region and the poli-metallic mineral formations, kyanite and lead-barite all occur along the basement complex i.e. the Gollis range. Other reports also indicate the existence of all kinds of gemstones such as rubies, beryl, emerald, aquamarine, etc.

The UN report discusses the hydrocarbon reserves of former Somalia by saying, “Occurrences of oil and natural gas have been confirmed but their commercial potential remains unproved”. It indicates that the geological structures favourable for the accumulation of hydrocarbons exist in the country. We know from former geological surveys by oil companies that in Somaliland these favourable geological structures occur in two areas, namely the Guban coastal plain and the sedimentary rocks in parts of the Nugal and South-eastern Sanag.

It is amazing that a country with such abundant resources has been unrecognised for 15 years. The right policy would have been to use these resources for achieving recognition by asking the foreign companies that were interested in exploiting them to lobby their governments to recognise Somaliland . This is particularly true of those companies that formerly had concessions for the exploration of oil in Somaliland . These companies include Chevron, Shell, Conoco and others. On the other hand, if these companies were unwilling to lobby their governments, we should have invited other companies such as the China National Oil Company (CNOC) who had shown intense interest in exploring for oil in Somaliland in 2 000 during Egal’s presidency. Somebody who had seen the Chinese in Hargeisa told me that they were extremely interested in the search for oil in Somaliland . Moreover the Chinese were eager to do the work without waiting for diplomatic recognition.

Instead of exploring all these avenues Rayaale’s government has been dealing with companies who had no oil exploration background such as Rova Energy Company (REC), a Canadian insurance company and a host of similar enterprises that were apparently formed for swindling Somaliland and discouraging genuine oil companies from investing in the country. Two geology experts from Somaliland who are currently based outside the country have recently exposed REC as a fraudulent firm established by a Somali woman and an Indian man with the intention of reselling the concessions they had won to interested genuine oil companies at a lucrative price. It appears that the chief interest of the Rayaale governement in this deal was the $500 000 REC paid as a signature bonus. Did the money go into the government treasury?

4. The Development of other Natural Resources

As mentioned above the development of other natural resources such as water, forestry, fisheries and rangelands could be accomplished by presenting projects in these sub-sectors of the economy to the Non-governmental organisations working in the country for funding. One project in this group that has successfully won funding from these organisations and is currently underway is the reforestation of Daalo near Erigavo. I wonder why the government has not applied for funding and expertise to improve the water supply of our capital city to, for example, the British NGO, Water Aid. I am sure the British Ambassador to Ethiopia who is always in and out of the country would have helped the government in this regard.

On the other hand, the government could use its limited resources in laying the foundations for the future development of agriculture and livestock. The most urgent task in this field is to divide the country into agricultural areas and livestock grazing zones with a view to banning the use of the currently fashionable enclosures in the areas set aside as livestock rangelands. Other projects for government sponsorship include agriculture, water and range surveys designed to study and eva luate these resources. Is Rayaale’s government interested in carrying out these activities?

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