The social media hashtag “#PuntlandFirst” is divisive. The hashtag strongly suggests separatism. Secessionism opens a door for the disastrous and deeply corrupt Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as a palpable alternative.
The broadest definition offered for the hashtag is self-preservation before saving others. This startling assertion only reinforces separatism inclinations.
Puntland cannot exist without Somalia. Nor can Somalia exist without any of its parts.
The greatest threat facing Puntland is poor leadership. Prior to Said Abdullahi Deni assuming power in 2019, Puntland was on a streak of relative stability.
The region has been on a downward spiral since. Under Deni’s leadership, residents fled conflict in Bossaso for the first time since the start of the Somali civil war in 1991.
Bossaso was one of the few cities in Somalia that avoided mass displacement during the civil war. The city became an oasis destination for many fleeing a civil war.
Many were internally displaced in successive clashes since Deni resumed regional power. Lives were lost and property destroyed under Deni’s leadership in Bossaso.
Clashes and tensions became common in Garowe as well. June 20, 2022, was the climax for Garowe, with numerous deaths and injuries.
The Puntland democratization project has been abandoned. A rigged process and daylight robbery of electoral activities replaced past political norms in the region.
People in Puntland have yearned for some form of justice for years. Opportunities to establish such a system have kept fleeting away from the region.
On my recent trip to Nairobi, I interviewed a young and brilliant jurist. The jurist made considerable sacrifices to help the region develop a judicial system. The identity of the jurist will not be divulged for security reasons but will describe some of the cases shared.
One case involved an election dispute. The head of the justice stole files and took them overseas. A travesty was made from justice.
An effort to create a portal to establish digital footprints for citizens to report incidents of corruption was blocked. Staying in power was prioritized over transparency.
As part of the effort to stay in power, Deni went to extraordinary lengths to try to take credit for the unionist victory over secessionists in Las Anod. In reality, Deni could have done nothing to stop reinforcement coming when Asad Osman Abdullahi (Diano) gave his militia to go Las Anod.
Moreover, Deni could not stop other clan militias even if he wanted to. He had no choice but to get behind a popular cause.
Thus far, Deni has poorly managed the politics of SSC-Khatumo. He opposed SSC-Khatumo becoming a fully-fledged regional administration. The 17 members from SSC-Khatumo he included in the regional parliament were politically expedient but very wrong for the region’s future.
The assertion that the Puntland constitution required those 17 members to be selected is a red herring. The document also states that SSC-Khatumo elders and cultural leaders must sign off on these members. The latter clause was selectively shoved aside.
Deni contributed more than anyone else to Mohamud’s return to Villa Somalia. It was Deni’s lack of foresight and egregious political calculation that led to Mohamud’s return to power.
Now that we have established the basics of Puntland’s immediate threat, the hashtag “#PuntlandFirst” opens a door for Mohamud. The hashtag’s strong inclination for separatism makes Mohamud appear as a palpable alternative despite the grave danger he presents to all of Somalia.
Mohamud’s few remaining defenders are quick to invoke Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia in 2006, pointing fingers at Puntland. The insinuation is that there an existence of an undercurrent allyship between Puntland and Ethiopia.
There is no pride in having Ethiopian tanks rolling into the streets of Mogadishu in 2006. This event marked one of the darkest episodes in Somalia’s history.
Abdullahi Ahmed Yusuf and Ali Mohamed Ghedi bear the most responsibility. The duo provided political coverage for this invasion despite having no control over Ethiopian troops.
The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) harbored extremist elements. The Al Itihad Al Islami movement which was folded into the coalition had radical wings which splintered after Ethiopia’s invasion.
The result of the splinter was the emergence of Al Shabaab. Ethiopian tanks in Mogadishu forced Somalis to overlook Al Shabaab’s brutality. The motto was to drive Ethiopia out at any expense, including collaborating with Lucifer.
ICU leaders had a more valid strategy for controlling extremists than Ethiopia’s tanks. Their strategy was to keep them inside the coalition tent rather than outside.
Inside the tent rather than outside is an age-old political strategy. Lyndon Johnson, the 36th American president who established himself as a brilliant political tactician and U.S. Senator before ascending to the White House after the death of John Kennedy, confided to an aid about political stickler in his party. Jonson’s allies want to isolate the political stickler for always spoiling political plans.
One political ally demanded that Johnson excludes the political stickler from a critical meeting. Johnson refused.
Johnson responded that “I don’t like that son of bitch either. But I rather have him inside the tent pissing out rather than outside pissing in.” This approach has become legendary in America’s political power sharing.
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed came to this conclusion on his own when he led the ICU. Ahmed is not a fundamentalist. The uproar over his handshake with Hillary Clinton, the American Secretary of State at the time, demonstrated a leader closer to the Sufi doctrine of Islam than Al Shabaab militancy.
In the final analysis, the notion that Abdullahi Yusuf and Ali Mohamed Ghedi wanted to liberate Mogadishu with Ethiopian tanks is preposterous. The assertion opens the door for Mohamud’s indefensible and egregious conduct since returning to power on May 15, 2022.
Deni’s conduct of rigging and robbing electoral activities in the region is the greatest immediate threat to Puntland. It is one of the most significant contributors which enabled Mohamud’s clear danger to Somalia.
The hashtag “#PuntlandFirst” only exacerbates the situation by strongly suggesting separatism. Secessionism makes disastrous and widely corrupt Mohamud a palpable alternative to some.
Author is a Technology Entrepreneur and long time civic leader. Follow him @fuguni.
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