Why We Should Refuse Rayale’s Tour Of Deception

By Jamal Madar, London, UK

We are led to believe that president Rayale and his ministers will be paying a working visit to Britain, Germany and the US. However, the president’s first leg of visit to the United Kingdom turned out to be a cosmetic exercise designed to pull the wool over the eyes of the hapless Somaliland people. The president and his acolytes are trying in vain to portray this visit as a genuine effort in seeking recognition for Somaliland when in fact the president was invited to contain radical Islamic activity in Somaliland as part of the Global War on Terror. In return, Britain will help Somaliland in the fields of education, finance etc;

Britain and the US fret about the seismic wave of Islamism sweeping Somalia and therefore see Somaliland, as some senior US military officers put it, as the “first constitutional Muslim democracy in the Horn of Africa (HOA) and [a] proven partner in GWOT [Global War On Terror]”. Nonetheless, both Washington and London, are studiously and hypocritically avoiding the subject of Somaliland’s recognition in the international fora. But what is so bizarre about this whole visit is that the president’s spin-doctors would like us to believe that the president is working incessantly to seek recognition for Somaliland.

Let us briefly examine what the president’s visit has entailed and will likely entail:

BRITAIN

Some self-styled Somaliland representatives in the UK, and there are no shortage of these, were jostling to join the president to meet with Foreign and Common Wealth Minister for African Affairs, Lord David Triesman. As usual, the president and his men briefed the Minister on Somaliland's achievements since 18th May 1991 [and I cannot, in all honesty, mention one single achievement made by this president and his clique of usurpers] and historical relations between Somaliland Republic and the United Kingdom were reviewed, including areas of cooperation between the two States. For his part, the Minister and his officials re-emphasized the importance of safeguarding peace and stability in the region, the advancement of democratization process and fighting international terrorism, meaning the containment of radical Islamic activity in the region.

In the end, the president and his delegation have achieved no tangible results out of this meeting for there was no an iota of change in Britain’s policy towards Somaliland’s recognition since Edna Adan, the former foreign minister, issued a joint communiqué with Lord Triesman and other FO officials last year. Thus, the delegation concluded their two-hour working visit to the UK Foreign Office and returned back to their hotel. But UDUB supporters would have us believe that this was a historic and successful trip that will soon reach to fruition.

The president could have assigned this meeting to the foreign minister since it was not commensurate with his status but he was desperately in need to score political points against his opponents. This is not only a devious exercise designed to rejuvenate his flagging popularity but it is also a blatant attempt to throw dust into our eyes in this day and age when information and news are available at our fingertips.

If the president had really achieved any measure of success in his meeting with Lord Triesman or if he had achieved at home anything to be proud of, do you honestly believe, in your heart of hearts, that he would have shied away to face his own people? The president discredited himself and had no choice but to remain holed up at his luxury hotel in London while his family is indulging in a shopping spree at fashion boutiques and upmarket stores in London.

GERMANY

The president had prior appointment with his doctors although this was postponed several times in the past. Apart from his dental appointment with doctors at Hanover University Hospital, the president [might] also meet with the Head of East Africa Division at the German Foreign Office as well as German businessmen who had shown some interest in the past in rehabilitating the dilapidated Berbera Cement Factory.

Whatever business the former spy master may carry out in Germany, he is not prepared to miss any golden opportunity that will help him delude the Somaliland public into believing that he is doing a good job for the country. The president’s visit to Germany is obviously more of personal in nature than working visit. Hence it will have no appreciable benefits to the impoverished masses of Somaliland.

USA

The president was invited by Somaliland Policy and Reconstruction Institute (SOPRI), which is rumored to have UDUB leanings. This is was one reason why, as some contends, the president was keen to accept SOPRI’s invitation. At any rate, what the president will achieve, or how it will help Somaliland in practical terms, by attending this conference is beyond anyone’s guess. The president knows that there are more pressing issues at home that need to be dealt with urgently than attending meetings and conferences in London and Washington DC at this point in time. But let us hope for the time being that this SOPRI conference will have more substantive outcomes this time around.

The president, having repeatedly failed to form lean and effective government comprising intellectually vibrant ministers, is trying, out of desperation, to turn his litany of failures to some degree of success that could be packaged and sold to the Somaliland people on his return to the country. But the brutal reality is that he will temporarily bask in the glitter and glamour of Washington- DC and will take a break from the ever-increasing howls of criticisms at home. He will probably see the Undersecretary for African Affairs at the State Department and perhaps one or two congressmen if that has been pre-arranged.

Whatever Rayale does however, it is unlikely that he will shrug off the image of his appalling presidency since time immemorial in the history of Somali politics.

Nothing is more shameful in the world than a president who refuses to face his own people. This only reinforces the contention that this president rules the country by way of deception.

The propaganda therefore being tossed around by senior government officials about the success of this tour of deception is admittedly low genre, and does not deserve to be replied, but there is a proverb that says: “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”

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