Somaliland’s Police Commander, Mohammad Saqadi Dubad, revealed this week that his department is planning to add a mounted police unit and expand the number of police stations in the capital, as well as start patrols at night. This is good news and we welcome it. But there is one big problem with the police commander’s announcement: many of the planned measures seem to be targeting ordinary criminal activities, whereas the real threat to Somaliland’s security currently emanates from politically motivated terrorism by religious extremists who are opposed to Somaliland’s democracy. Terrorists themselves have said many times how much they hate Somaliland’s democracy, and how they will do everything they can to destroy it. Such statements were not limited to low level officials or their Somaliland-born stooges, but were made by their top leaders such as Dahir Aweis and Hassan Turki. It was not limited to words either, but was backed by action, particularly around election time.
The latest such terrorist attack was the one that took place in Hargeysa in October last year, which led to the death of 24 people and the wounding of over 30 in three separate attacks on the presidential palace, the Ethiopian Trade office and the premises of the United Nations Development Program.
With such a recent reminder, and with the presidential election drawing nearer, one would have expected Somaliland’s government, opposition parties and the public to give high priority to improving security and preventing terrorist attacks. Unfortunately this is not the case, and whatever steps were taken are not the level that the situation demands. Needless to say, protecting public safety and ensuring that the elections take place in a peaceful environment is the government’s responsibility. But ordinary citizens can contribute.
The international community, too, has a stake in the success of Somaliland’s election. Successful elections in Somaliland, provides Somalis with a Somali-led and owned model for taking care of their political affairs without resorting to warlordism, religious extremism or anarchy. That is why the international community has paid for the biggest portion of the election funds. But that is not enough. In order for the Somaliland model to be successful and provide a serious counterweight to fanaticism and terrorism, the international community, and the US and Britain in particular, need to widen and deepen their support for Somaliland. They could start by helping Somaliland with the means and the know-how for improving security in the run up to the presidential election.



 

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