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Time for New Leadership in Puntland
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"A real leader faces the music even when he doesn’t like the tune."
Nelson Mandela
Almost three years after Cadde Musse has been elected President of Puntland, his administration has become synonymous with missed opportunities, corruption, and polarization. While his accomplishments are nothing to sing about, his failures are many. Chief among them are lack of transparency, incompetency, shadowy oil deals, rampant corruption, the imprisonment of journalists, and the potential disintegration of Puntland just to name a few.
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There was high hope when Gen. Cadde won the election on January, 2005. In Post Abdillahi Yusuf’s iron fist rule, many envisioned Puntland to thrive as a center for commerce and land of opportunities while the General is at the helm. His many years of residence in the Democratic country of Canada, created the hope that Gen. Cadde would be well equipped to tackle the pressing issues of the State and lead Puntland to peace, socio-economic development and prosperity. Regrettably, soon after he took power, his incompetence and lack of leadership qualities became quite evident.
His first test came in Adhi –Cadeeye, where Somaliland and Puntland soldiers came face to face in confrontation. Many thought his close ties to Somaliland would help ease the tension, however Cadde didn’t make any significant improvement on the conflict and the tension continues where it may escalate at any moment to an all out war that will devastate the harmonious cohabitation of the Northern clan-based communities. In fact the General has treated this conflict as insignificant, and has yet to set foot in many parts of Puntland such as Buuhoodle, and parts of Sanaag and Sool to assess the situation and formulate any meaningful constructive policy to address the issues and sources of conflict.
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Adde Musse coming back from one of the many of his foreign trips where he usually signs deals with dubious companies that are supposed to invest in the various economic sectors of Puntland. |
The daunting challenges that faced Putland such as corruption, education, health, port management, and internally displaced refugees from other parts of Somalia, particularly those risking their lives to the wild seas took a back seat to silencing the free press. A major blunder that occurred shortly after the General was elected into office was when his administration closed down the weekly Shacab newspaper in a decree signed by his vice president. WardheerNews editorialized the ill treatments of the free press by the Puntland administration in July 2005.
The recent incident in Garowe where on July 26, 2007 angry demonstrators threw rocks destined for the general, a huge insult and a shameful one for any sitting leader, is a testimony of the public displeasure with his failures.
Thievery of the public funds has been the main focus of the General’s administration. Lately his administration and associates have also gone into the business of printing counterfeit money. And as expected this has visited havoc on the economy of Puntland. Inflation was reported to have risen up tremendously causing the Somali shilling to devalue from 16,000 to 21,000 against the US dollar. The administration’s inability to cope with such inflation and put forward fiscal policies to curb it has weakened the public trust in the Cadde administration.
There is also a critical power struggle between the Parliament and the administration which has further devastated the ability to govern, leading to a division within the ranks of the policymakers, hence weakening Puntland as an effective regional player. The people of Puntland have tuned out from the General’s administration. In effect, the polarization of the communities has reached its peak, leading to a political uncertainty and a potential disintegration, where local regions are voicing their displeasure and dissatisfaction with Cadde’s administration.
The recent call for the establishment of Makhir State is a living proof of Cadde’s inability to govern its constituents effectively. It is plausible to conclude that the formation of Darwishland may not be unthinkable in the near future. The blatant disregard for the region and the bold acts of Cadde to set policies that fit his personal agenda has in fact alienated the public and has weakened the strong position Puntalnders have envisioned for themselves. The General’s arrogance and poor performance during his tenure may lead to institutional disintegration, failure of governance and a possible eventual collapse of the central authority in Puntland.
Puntland needs a leader with a clear vision, integrity, charisma, and diplomatic skills and political acumen. The time has come for Cadde to yield to a leader that can effect change within Puntland. A leader with a clear vision, well stated mission, and less political baggage is what Puntland needs in these tough and uncertain time in Somalia.
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Eng. Mohamed Ali Mirreh |
The recent announcement of Eng Mohamed Ali Mirreh for the candidacy of the presidency of Puntland is a positive and timely development for the Regional State. Eng. Mirreh’s consideration for the position was reported to have come after he was approached by many concerned Puntlanders representing diverse community interests to rescue the Regional State from disintegration in the hands of the General and his cronies. Eng. Mirreh has the right credentials and is certainly qualified for the position. He will bring integrity, leadership, consensus building, good governance and charisma to the Presidency of Puntland. For the People of Puntland Regional State this is no doubt a golden opportunity not to be missed.
WardheerNews will follow with interest the candidacy of Mr. Mirreh and the entire election process of Puntland.
