puntyland government still not payinf employee

Somalia: Parliament, clan elders critical of Puntland administration
9 May 9, 2007 - 3:04:39 PM




GAROWE, Somalia May 9 (Garowe Online) - Politicians, clan elders and intellectuals gathered on Wednesday in a small town in northern Somalia to participate at the conclusion of a peace-making deal between two warring sub-clans.

Puntland government officials, including Vice President Hassan Dahir Afqura, were present alongside influential traditional leaders and one vocal lawmaker in Burtinle, a district southwest of Garowe, the region’s administrative capital.

Clan officials who spoke at the meeting said a final deal had been reached between the two sub-clans who fought over disputed land in February and March, leading to at least 10 deaths.

The two sub-clans battled over ownership of Agare district, a desert strip located between Nugal and Sool regions of Puntland.

Representatives from both sub-clans, as well as mediators, had been engaged in negotiation talks for weeks before announcing the final peacemaking deal.

But the event marking the clan peace deal soon delved into sensitive political matters when a traditional chief and a parliament leader openly criticized the Puntland administration and its policies.

Islaan Isse Islaan Mohamed, an influential clan chief from Nugal region, said at the meeting that the Puntland administration “cannot belong to a single sub-clan,” adding that power must be equally distributed among Puntland’s various sub-clans.

The traditional chief of Nugal said there is apparent systematic “injustice” in the way the Puntland government operates, and warned officials to immediately take action against such injustices.

Salaad Ali Hared, the First Deputy Speaker of the Puntland Parliament, said there is no government in the world that fails to pay its employees.

“I urge the [Puntland] administration to pay its workers their rightfully earned salary,” First Deputy Speaker Hared said, adding that the administration cannot consider itself a government unless it pays its employees immediately and regularly.

MP Hared also requested that Puntland’s traditional leaders keep a close eye on political developments in the region and urged them to intervene if “things get worse.”

Yasin Abdisamad, a clan elder from Mudug region, said he does not consider the Puntland administration as a “proper” administration.

Puntland’s vice president, Hassan Dahir Afqura, was the ranking administration official at the meeting.

Afqura said the gathering was designed to celebrate a peace deal reached between two brotherly sub-clans who fought each other recently, adding that it was “not necessary” to express political opposition at such a place.

Opposition parties are not allowed in Puntland, even though the region’s democratic constitution calls for the establishment of a competitive multi-party system.

Last week, First Deputy Speaker Hared warned administration officials who return to and operate from the capital Garowe, instead of the Red Sea port city of Bossaso, where many Cabinet ministers spend most of their time.

Clan chiefs have largely remained in the outer spheres of politics in Puntland, but commentators say critical comments from Islaan Isse Islaan Mohamed indicates a change in tone, perhaps due to worsening relations between the administration and the public.