Guelleh’s games won’t work

EDITORIAL

It is taken for granted that politicians and the truth are not the best of friends. For most politicians, the truth is an elastic matter that can be bent and manipulated to fit their agenda and fulfill their purposes. In countries with an open and sophisticated political culture such tampering with the truth is done cleverly and in such a way that it would not seem an outright lie. But in countries with one-man dictatorship, politicians do not bother to even try to dress up their lies in a more acceptable garb. Take the case of Djibouti’s President-for-life Ismail Omar Guelleh who in a BBC program went on and on praising his own record, and then in order to compare it with the pre-independence living conditions in Djibouti said, “Markii u gaalku naga tagay (When the French left us)”, as if his Somali audience did not know that although Djibouti did receive formal independence from France, the French never actually left Djibouti and Djibouti still serves as a French military base, just as it did in colonial times.

This is not the only time that Djibouti’s President insulted the intelligence of his Somali audience by saying or doing something that he wanted Somalis to take a certain way, when it was clear to them that his actions or statements meant something else. A good example is that Ismail Omar Guelleh often projects an image of himself as someone who cares about fellow Somalis, when, in fact, many Somalis see Djibouti as an entity that has made every effort to take advantage of the difficult situation of Somalis. A case in point is Djibouti’s attempt to take over the export of Somali livestock, the only commodity exported by Somalis. Djibouti is so determined to force all exports of Somali livestock to go through its port that when Somaliland objected, Djibouti immediately and unceremoniously expelled Somaliland’s representative from its soil. It is a measure of the depth of the negative view that Somalilanders have of Djibouti’s government that most Somalilanders were not surprised by Djibouti’s actions, and the reason Somalilanders were not surprised is because they already knew Djibouti’s many attempts to sabotage their country.

But it is not only Somalilanders who are aware of the government of Djibouti’s ill-intentions toward other Somalis. Even southern Somalis, who used to praise Ismail Omar Guelleh when he put up the Arta show for them, are now questioning his intentions. What has triggered southern Somali ire is the fact that the American drones that spy on terrorist activities in southern Somalia, and American airplanes that hit targets in southern Somalia, are based in Djibouti.

If Ismail Omar Guelleh thinks that inviting a few Somali expatriates for a sports tournament or holding a meeting for third-rate academics is going to change his image among Somalis, he can think again, because it just won’t work. Somalis know that Ismail Omar Guelleh wants to make a quick buck at their expense, and no amount of crocodile tears by him and other Djiboutian officials will change that.

Source: Somaliland Times

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