By Mohamed A. Osman

Former NEC candidate of the last
Presidential Election from Awdal

We are engaging our community, and return, politicians about things that are vital to people and different segments of the society. The case in point is the corrupt, lacklustre leadership of Mr. Mohmoud Abdilllahi -- the current Governor of Awdal. In this missive, I will try to shed some light on few deeply troubling issues regarding the region’s gubernatorial leadership failures, including rampant corruption, incompetence and flagrant abuses of basic human rights to cite among few.

The incumbent Governor, better known also as the little Basha of Awdal (likened to the perennial corrupted regional rulers of the Ottoman Empire around the world) due to his overload and longevity in the office, has no clue about the ins-and-outs of the gubernatorial duties. As result Awdal has been in chronic leadership state of crisis that has resulted in poor public service and host of other ill-managed centralized rule of concoction for years. We need a new Governor who will bring fresh ideas and true leadership quality to the region: a public figure and new blood that are not only capable of dealing with successful election campaigns but also one who able to perceive the sorts of rural and urban socio-economic, administrative problems and devices a mitigation formula for the natural and man-made disasters that the region is facing in this critical juncture.

The man has became a white elephant that drags regional finances down to its knees when within a short period completed his bosh Villa in Borama and lavishly furnished at the expense of the public purse, and this is yet one more example of penalty business-as-usual politics in Awdal over the decades. It appears that under Mohmoud’ bankrupt leadership saving a penny to improve the life of the ordinary people to be an impossible task, if not tantamount to ultimate crime, while still consuming five Kilos of Kat on top of 100 $ or so other expenses per day to sustain an artificial, extravaganza lifestyle.

With such cold-blooded, callous leadership type, Awdal community has suffered immensely under a cruel and out of touch policies for the past several years, especially those less fortunate to support themselves paid hefty price. The culture of graft and deviance of the administration has no bounds.

We have seen the irregularities and dubious outcome of the last presidential election. We also remember the security lapse and leadership neglect upon the murder of Ananela Tonoli, which could have been easily avoided by targeting the root causes, e.g., a hitherto surveillance on the daily activities of the agitators on street protests before the incident occur. More importantly, the most disheartening thing is the way natural disasters that devastated in rural areas including the latest freezing acid rain were dealt and the lack of effective response on the part of govn’t in general. The pattern is too familiar: few years ago there was a sever drought that hit in the coastal area where scores of nomadic families perished and to the unbeknown of both regional and Hargeysa pseudo-officials.

Governor is not supposed to involve in judiciary affairs and cannot jail anyone without reason, but that is exactly what he has involved in his term. The latest incident relates to the sole decision of the governor to put in jail two innocent citizens (Messrs Musa A.Osman and Yasin A.Osman) over two months in a filthy and overcrowded inhumane conditions without legal recourse.

They were released just before last Ramadan and still remain in legal limbo status. Standing up for their farm property rights against a petty confiscation scheme orchestrated by non other than the administration its self was the only alleged crimes so far. Where is a decency, fairness, or sagacity of leadership skills here? Where is the rule of law and citizenry basic rights? How anyone, let alone responsible leader, can get away with such blatant abuses? This case is by no means an isolated one -- it is familiar pattern that has become the norm over the years, and consequently most people live in fear to protect their basic personal and property rights. Detaining someone for months or even years without shred of evidence is outrageous act and it must stop in its tracks for the sake our peaceful co-existence.

It is encouraging that some voices are finally being heard about the scandalous state of affairs surrounding the illegal incarceration of these two gentlemen and similar cases. They deserve nothing short of wholehearted empathy from any conscious citizen. No doubt, the governor’s infantile, behind-the-scene actions about the incident was motivated by either simple greed other ulterior motives or both. Whatever the case, he has to confront the mess and take full responsibility and the only way to deal with is perhaps public inquiry.

Another weakest link of the current administration is the pervasive interference in the municipality politics. Local issues have the most obvious direct impact on people’s daily lives. Its responsibility often involves street safety, property ownership, waste disposals, transportation, and tax collection and so on. So it is essential for all tax payers to hold accountable their local civic leaders. Citizens should hold accountable local councillors for their actions and malfeasance .Tax payers must make sure whether they are getting back the value of their contributions.

Governor has little or no say in it, but the man had no idea why he has been meddling in municipal matters. City politics is not about party politics; there is nothing about local service that fits into a national party platform or political agenda. Most of the issues faced by the city council should be dealt from the point view of the city council as a whole or from the perspective of the various constituents; the system worked for years without party politics. It should be leftalone and the Governor should stay out of municipal politics. However, one cannot help but suspect that the Governor of Awdal has his own sinister secret agendas (probably at the behest of his boss plus other personal greed) for the disrespect of local democracy and endemic human rights violations.

Mr.Abdillahi has shown neither experience nor knowledge of regional authority and liability as well. He has nothing beyond obvious archetypal Gulwade traits and seems someone naïve whenever faces with tough new decisions that are relevant to responsible governance issues. He is a tribal minded person who is busy with pitting one part of the community against another; he has no socio-economic developmental agenda whatsoever. The man only represents a nightmarish divide and disharmony among people and leading eldersthat Awdaliltes simply can’t afford at this juncture. But given the frosty relations that now exist between himself and communities in the aftermath of widespread abuses and administrative debacle, it is difficult to see how and where the winds would blow in the next elections. In any case, Rayale’s regime has to blame no one but himself for the fallout. It is pity that Awdal Community where god has bestowed so many intellectual and savvy administrators in the ex-republic’s history, Rayale has chosen to condemn them under the thump of inept and notorious sycophant just like Gen Barre’s era. No wonder many people lament nowadays that “wax uu noqon lahaaba rakaab kiisaa xun” or Rayale has bad company whatever his weaknesses might have been.

The man is known for crafting contradictory messages making it ever harder to know where he actually stands on given key issues. The controversy with the incumbent is not just his authoritarian leadership nature and the way in which he articulates the issues, but also the ominous disrespect for the community he was supposed to service on equal bases and justices. Worse still, he reinforces the culture of empty arrogance by reminding everyone often “I am in charge” whenever raised questions about his erratic behaviour.

Given years of blunders by the Governor, no one has clue yet why and how long Mr. Rayale will pull him under the rag. The sympathy of his long time confidante/cabal and dear kin (sorry to mention the obvious) is not surprising but is it worth of the effort and electoral backlash or alienation of the region forever? Awdalites need new face who is doing his job and working on behalf of the people, not the vice versa. A new governance infrastructure is long over due since the current one and his antics cannot provide genuine transparency and accountability with a sound command and control structure.

In a nutshell, Awadalites, like the rest of the country, face serious problem. There is a wide credibility gap of the public trust with respect to the government officials. In other words, people have already lost confidence and feel that Rayale’s regime doesn’t care anymore no matter how they feel about the antics of the regional administration, and they are anticipating positive change pretty soon .Majority of the citizens convinced that current regional Gestapo as being total fiasco and out of touch, if not lacking consensus and responsive attitude.

Mr. Abdillahi has been in the office for too long. Besides of being notoriously corrosive figure who disregards the basic rights of citizens and rule of law, he is also too corrupted and incompetent beyond description. We need a change before elections and the sooner the better. It is about time to be vacated the post for capable and caring civil servant with clear vision and progressive socio-economic agendas. This is a serious issue that should be given priority above all. It is about time for change in favour of responsive, capable official who truly believes in the community spirit and rule of law at heart. A timely and effective decision rests with Rayale’s regime. Turning in blind eye is no longer a viable option.

Translated, collaborated and forwarded by Mohamed A. Awale

Mohamed A. Awale

Moe-awale@hotmail.com