Issue 201

Mr. Mohamed Omer’s (Haatuf correspondent for Awdal region) misleading tract masquerading as intelligent commentary on the rising support for Somaliland in Awdal region borders on being frivolous. (Somaliland.org)

While on the surface Mohamed sounds authoritative by throwing in some big words, attentive readers will soon discover that he has no clear understanding for the reasons of such rising support in this region.

It is true that support for Somaliland independence is rising in Awdal region as well as other region of Somaliland . It is also true that opposition to the Somaliland project is dwindling across all regions of the country.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or possess extraordinary political insights to figure the reasons why. As the Somaliland government becomes more entrenched and as its abilities to collect revenue increases, its abilities to deliver services also increase.

Increasingly the Somaliland government and its intuitions are gradually getting stronger and as a result people across all regions are reaping the benefits associated with this progress. Also law and order is getting uniformly established across all regions of Somaliland , people are feeling save and secure in their communities.

These are only a few of the tangible benefits that the Somaliland government is able to provide regardless of who the president is.

Mr. Omer’s humorous commentary blithely ignores the strong support that significant majorities in Awdal region always have for Somaliland ’s independence from the South. This support has little to do with who is the president at any given moment.

This support is based on the principles of self determination for the people of Somaliland . Unlike other regions of Somaliland Awdal has received little in the way of development from either the civilian government or its successor, the Siyad Barre dictatorship.

Few people may have nostalgic memories of good times in Mogadishu but the great majorities of Awdalites have no fond memories of Mogadishu ’s misrule for forty years.

Many of us Awdalites supported Somaliland ’s independence as soon as it was declared. We may have not have been enthusiastic supporters of the SNM but we saw the desirability of self determination for the people of Somaliland .

Many people myself included supported and even welcomed the first SNM government in Somaliland . Even during the dark days of the late president Abdirahman Tur’s rule, support for Somaliland independence among the Awdal people was equal if not higher than other regions of Somaliland .

President Dahir Rayale Kahin’s rise to power is only one of the factors in Awdal’s rising support for Somaliland . In fact if you look at the last parliamentary elections, Udub the president’s party scored only a marginal victory over its rivals. That doesn’t sound like a wringing endorsement for him.

In my estimation Mohamed Omer is trying out various comments and musings in order to see how they sound and how other people may react to. These kinds of statements don’t really reveal what the commentator believes.

He seems to be testing what he can get away with. He is not interested in representing his honest observations of what is really going on in Awdal. It is preposterous for him to suggest that if Mr. Rayale wasn’t Somaliland ’s President, Sool region will have more supporters for Somaliland than Awdal.

Such childish statements reveal the real amateurishness of Mr. Omer as a political commentator. Without realizing it he gives away where he is coming from. But then this is the sort of stuff Haatuf is famous for.

Taageerada Reer Awdal Ee Somaliland Maxaa Sii Xoojiyey? Warbixin – Maxamed Cumar, Weriyaha Haatuf Ee Boorama

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