Last week, Somaliland’ government gave an early release from jail to Sheikh Muhammad Ismail and Muse Ali Aw Yusuf. Granted that one of these convicted terrorists had spent 7 years in jail, while the other spent 6 years there, still, the early release raised some questions about the judgment and competence of the current Somaliland government when it comes to security. There are several reasons for this. One, President Ahmed Sillanyo’s administration has approached the release of the terrorists as if it were letting go of some common criminals, and not of people who want to turn the whole country into a slaughterhouse. Two, there was no indication that the released individuals have shown any remorse or that they had pledged to stay away from the type of activities that landed them in jail. Three, Sheikh Muhammad Ismail has not disavowed the fake videotape that was made by his supporters which purported to show Somaliland’s security torturing him, a videotape that is still used to discredit Somaliland.
All of these are serious matters. But what has even made them more ominous are the previous spectacular failures in maintaining the country’s security, such as, the infiltration of hundreds of ONLF militias into the country, and the on-going assassinations of government officials in Las Anod. Initially, Somalilanders were willing to give the new administration the benefit of the doubt, but many months have passed and nothing was done. So now we have a situation where people are questioning the government’s ability to keep the country safe.
At least one source of the problem is widely known: the occupants of two of the top positions in charge of security, namely, the minister of interior, and the head of intelligence, both have no background or experience in security or intelligence gathering, and that has a lot to do with their poor performance. If President Sillanyo wants to show that he is serious about the security of the country, he has to sack both of these officials, and put in their place individuals who know what they are doing, as part of a wider plan to overhaul his government’s approach to security.
The current approach is simply not working. Somaliland’s government knows it. The country knows it, and Somaliland’s enemies know it. The only question is: why is Somaliland’s government not doing something about it?
 

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