Lack of planning and preparation is a major cause of Somaliland’s ills
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EDITORIAL
As Somaliland’s election keeps being delayed time after another, one thing is apparent. In addition to all the selfish maneuverings, attempts to establish political advantage and point scoring by the various political players that has led to several postponements of the elections, there is another reason that is not so obvious, but that has, nevertheless, played an important part in the elections not taking place, and that is the prevalence, among Somalilanders, of a culture that does not stress the importance of planning and preparation.
If we look back in history, lack of preparation was behind one of the biggest disasters that befell Somaliland, namely, the precipitous union with Somalia. The whole thing happened so fast it would make your head spin. The British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Alan Lennox-Boyd, announced in December 1958 that his country would grant independence to Somaliland in 1960. As if getting the country ready for independence in a year and half was not problematic enough, once independence was achieved, Somalilanders only took five days to decide to merge with Somalia!
That pattern of not preparing for important events, even when we have had enough advance notice is still with us. Just look at our coming elections. The government had five years to plan for the elections, but it did nothing about the elections during most of that time, and now the elections are behind schedule. Similarly the Upper House extended its own term for four years in 2006, but until now, not a word was heard from the Upper House about preparations for its own elections, and it is very likely that only when the end of their term is very close, in 2010, they would start making some noises about elections.
If Somaliland is to move forward, this pattern of poor or lack of planning and preparation must be broken. The first step is not to reward officials with term extensions when they fail in their duty to make elections take place on time. After all, nothing concentrates the mind of a public official than the fear of losing his position.
Source: Somaliland Times
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