Hargeysa,April 4,2016(SL-Times)-The topic of who really calls the shots in Somaliland’s Presidency has been around for most of the time since president Silanyo took power in mid 2010.Not any more .For these days the favorite question does have an answer : it’s Silanyo’s spouse Amina Waris who is in charge of state affairs in Somaliland.In fact the first lady has been running the country much earlier than has been thought.
As the president’s health deteriorated just before or immediately after he had been elected,Amina Waris was no longer comfortable with confining herself to the traditional housewifing of an aging and ailing husband.But Silanyo selected as his chief of staff a man in his early forties by the name of Hirsi Haji Ali .And in the months that followed the inauguration it became one of the more noticeable features of the new administration to see Hersi frequently filling in for the president while the latter was required to rest at home .Hersi who previously worked in the telecomunication sector and later became a Kulmiye party activist has proved to be a dynamic and chirsmatic functionary with a no nonsense managerial style.He not only handled the enormous burden of discharging the duties of the president remarkably well but seemingly also enjoyed his new status.But as time went by,Amina Waris grew ambitious; first demanding that Hersi consult with her before taking decisions about certain matters then gradually usurping the duties and resposibilities of the president.She also began to empower her son-in-law Bashe Awil.Although he didn’t hold an official title ,never-the-less,his initial assignment was to surppress the local media to stifle criticism of the government by resorting to bribes or outright intimidation.After the country’s most critical media outlets were either shut down or coaxed into silence,Bashe Awil was given the extra job of representing the goverenment(the first lady)in any business negotiations.Recently he has been bestowed with the official title of Somaliland’s representative in the United Arab Emerates though he doesn’t speak a word of Arabic.
By end of 2013 Amina Waris was the one naming or firing cabinet ministers as well as senior and junior civil servants.The first lady ran the government from her residence on the 2nd floor of the presidency building.Ministers,civil servants,business men Sultans and even Wadaads would take the stairs to see her if they wanted any thing done.Lately even visiting Turkish officials who were lobbying for resumption of Somaliland-Somalia talks in Ankara had to meet with her first.
The mòment ay official’s days at government became numbered was when he or she fell out of favour with the first lady as demonstrated by last week’s dismissal from the cabinet of the minister of Telecommunication Mohamad Jama Abgal and the commander of the Coastal Guards Mohamad Hussein Hirane.Mr Abgal was sacked because he refused to rescind a licence approval he had given to a consortium of telcom operators/carriers from Somaliland ,Puntland and Ethiopia for the installation of a new fibre optic cable to be pulled from Oman by an Omani company.Apparently the minister had to issue the license in question after the presidency gave its nod of approval for the project.But following a strong protest from Mohamad Aw Saeed ,the owner of Somcable which has been operating a partially functioning fibre optic cable of its own,the first lady intervened instructing Mr Abgal to declare the new fibre optic cable deal null and void. Coastal Guards commander Hirane lost his job after refusing to arrest a ship that was carrying out a pre-installation survey for the pproposed new fibre optic cable .It wasn’t possible to verify wide spread rumors that Abgal and Hirane had to do what they have done for money.
Amina Waris experienced her biggest shock since ascending the throne when in October last year Hersi and at least 12 other senior goverment officials ,including the country’s Foreign minister Mohamad Bihi Yoonis,submitted their resignations.The mass resignations were prompted by the first lady’s selection of Musa Bihi over Mahamed Yoonis as the presidential candidate of the Kulmiye party in the upcoming elections.Although Amina Waris had in the past cultivated her own band of cabinet ministers including Mahmoud Hashi Abdi who before replacing Hersi in November served as minister of Aviation and Huussein Duale who as the minister responsible for granting oil and minerals concessions has enjoyed the protection of both Amina Waris and Bashe Awil,however these figures proved no match for Hersi’s group which comprised the administration’s most capable ministers and veteran political operatives.Despite being politically battered, Amina Waris stayed at the helm.Now 6 months later the Somaliland government seems to be in total disarry while submerged in corruption.
As Chairman of the SNM for slightly over 5 years Silanyo proved to be politically a disasterous leader.Yet he was a power maniac who clung to the chairmanship until he was denied re-election by SNM’s rank and file at a 1990 convention.Mr Silanyo was understood to have considered stepping down at a much earlier stage as Somaliland’s president but was reportedly denied ftom doing so by his own wife.Now he will unfortunately leave behind a legacy tainted with among other things greed, corruption, and incompetence regardless of the fact that it was’t really him who called the shots at the Somaliland presidency during his tenure in office.
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