Puntland—On
Life
Support:
Part II
Salah Fatah
July 16,
2007
Just when
you would
have thought
that things
could not
get any
worse in
Puntland
with the
well
documented
corruption
and human
rights
abuses,
including
the Robert
Mugabe style
burning down
of a
sprawling
shanty town
at the
outskirts of
Bosaso
city—where
more than
two hundred
and fifty
homes were
destroyed—Cadde
Muse seems
to be going
off the deep
end. Cadde’s
time in
power is
becoming
increasingly
costly for
the
hardworking,
law abiding
people of
Puntland. He
is actively
subverting
the rule of
law to which
he was sworn
to uphold.
For
starters, he
is seeking
to summarily
dismiss both
the City
Council and
Mayor of
Bosaso city
for the
bogus
offenses of
failing to
tow the
line. And
it gets
worse by the
day.
 |
Cadde's
administration
is
undertaking
schemes so
unimaginable
and
alarming,
that even
the most
hardened
felons would
probably
hesitate to
act upon
them. It
has to do
with his
lunatic plot
to sell off
Somalia’s
famed, but
fragile,
coral reefs
eco-system
(that
supports
diverse
marine life)
at the Gulf
Aden coast,
piece by
piece, to be
shipped
abroad by
the
shiploads to
foreign
buyers. He
either does
not
understand
the
consequences
of the long
term
ecological
disaster
resulting
from his
catastrophic
sale of one
of Somalia’s
key
intrinsic
natural
resources, a
resource
that took
untold
thousands of
years to
form, or he
is unfazed
by his
fixation
with the
enormous
perils
attendant to
his penchant
for absolute
rule. Either
way, Cadde’s
corrosive
activities
represent a
clear and
present
danger to
every Somali
man, woman
and child
for abusing
the power
that was
entrusted in
him by the
people of
Puntland.
Unfortunately,
his
aggressive
and often
illegal
policies are
destroying
the goodwill
among the
partners of
the regional
administration,
hastening
the
dissolution
of the
partnership.
As of today,
he has
attempted to
arrest the
Speaker of
the
Parliament
for calling
for an audit
of the
government’s
finances and
for not
accepting an
illegal
decree. The
Speaker is
at the
present time
free, thanks
to forces
loyal to the
constitution
and beholden
to Cadde
Muse or his
rubber stamp
courts. One
would think
that such
diligence on
the part of
the Speaker
would be
welcomed by
the Chief
Executive,
especially
at a time
when
revenues are
going up in
double
digits while
government
employees
are unpaid
for months
at a time.
But in Cadde
Muse’s
Puntland,
you would be
mistaken.
Why would
opening the
books
provoke such
a visceral
reaction?
Perhaps the
prospect of
finding
embarrassing
financial
discrepancies
is a strong
motivation —
that is if
books were
kept in the
first place.
Reasonable
people will
agree that
Puntland
today is a
hypocrisy,
not a
democracy;
therefore,
waiting over
a year or so
for
elections is
an exercise
in futility
and a costly
one at that.
Puntland can
not and
should not
be allowed
any more to
be run like
a personal
flea market.
By now, even
the most
ardent
supporters
of the
present
administration,
whose motto
has been,
Ilaahow
Cadde Muse
Xoolo sii
aan ka
xoogsannee,
must come to
terms with
the dire and
desperate
conditions
their fellow
Puntlanders
are burdened
with and
muster the
courage to
take the
drastic
measures
this
situation
calls for.
Puntland is
on life
support—whether
or not
Puntlanders
are able, or
willing to
resuscitate
it remains
to be seen.
Stay tuned.
Salah
Fatah
E-Mail:sfatah2@yahoo.com
The author
has also
published
the
following
articles @WardheerNews: |
