Aug 02, 2010

Somaliland: Cabinet Announced After Free and Fair Elections.


In the wake of President Silaanyo’s election he recently picked his cabinet lead the country in the coming future.

Below is an article published by the Somaliland Press:

Power transition between the outgoing administration and incoming president Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo’s newly formed cabinet has been going smooth in the last two days with some changes already in place.

The outgoing foreign affairs minister, Mr. Abdullah Mohamed Dualeh handed over his duty and portfolio on Thursday to the newly appointed Dr. Mohamed Abdulahi Omar during a hand over ceremony that was held at the ministry of foreign affairs.

Deputy Ministers, local media and ordinary citizens attended the ceremony to witness the peaceful transition of powers.

During his address in the ceremony, Dr. Omar highlighted some aspects of the foreign policy of his government and emphasized the importance of the foreign policy for the new administration.

He stated that Somaliland’s success democratic achievements is largely due to its organic and home-grown traditional Somali methods of resolving disputes and conflicts by utilizing negotiation, mediation and arbitration and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

He said his administration will work with the international community to help Somaliland to sustain its democratic institutions, stability and peace by supporting and strengthening security, the economy and the public service sector.

“Achieving full political recognition will remain our main goal but ensuring that international community offers support to Somaliland in these sectors is of a paramount importance,” he said. “We will work with our international partners to achieve these objectives,” he added.

Dr Omar, who has been the foreign secretary of Kulmiye party, has in the past been commended for his diplomatic skills in particular for strengthening Somaliland’s relationship with U.S. congress.

He continues to say he will seek to establish closer relations with African states and the Arab world in a bid to accomplish what he describes as: “an environment in which there would be less opposition to the Somaliland’s quest for political recognition”.

President Ahmed Silanyo announced on Thursday in a presidential decree two new appointees to his cabinet. Hersi Ali Hajji Hassan was appointed as the new chief of staff.

Mr Ali works for the country’s largest private employer and the horn of Africa’s largest remittance company, Dahabshiil. While Abdullahi Mohamed Dahir ( cukuse) comes to the position of presidential spokesman.

Mr Dahir is the current editor in chief of Hargeisa’s Saxansaxo newspaper and replaces outgoing Saeed Adanni Moge. In addition, Dr. Mahamed Abdi Gabose, M.D., took over the ministry of interior, replacing Abdullahi Ismail Irro. Dr Gabose held this position during late president Egal administration.

The two officials had been long-term political adversaries. Dr Gabose was detained and jailed a number of times under Mr. Irro when he established his own political party. Mr Irro was also jailed under the Egal administration when Dr. Gabose was the interior minister.

Over, today they shared jokes about their past and Dr. Gabose promised to let the past be the past and level their imprisonments record at one each.

A huge crowd attended who were eager to hear and witness the exchange of jokes and humour from the two ministers, who reconcile their political differences and rocky relations.

Dr. Gabose, a well known medical practitioner, was political dissent during the past administration and he was in favour of expanding the numbers of political parties in the country.

The new minister of aviation, Mohamud Hashi also assumed his new role from Ali Mohamed Waran’adde. Fadumo Sudi, the former minister of the department of community and family services, transferred responsibilities to Ilham Mohamed Jama.

Other ministers that assumed their new roles were: Ahmed Haji Ali Adami, as the new minister of defence, who was the first commissioner of the national electoral commission. Hussein Ahmed aided transferred responsibilities of the department of general affairs and housing development to Saeed Sulub.

The following cabinet positions are yet too transferred; finance, press, tourism, trade and telecommunication and postal services.

While many people both in the country and abroad had welcomed the new appointees for been highly qualified and educated individuals, some locals have voiced their concern citing they have been either ignored or under represented.

A number of protests took place in Hargeisa’s isha borama neighbourhood and in the town of borama, where there was a wider protest on Thursday.

The demonstrators called on the new administration to include more cabinet ministers representing them in the new administration.

A number of people were arrested by police while local reports also indicated the police used live ammunition even though no one was hurt.

The protests came as Silanyo halved more than the old regime’s cabinet ministers. The outgoing, now opposition Udub party accused the new administration of “indiscriminately” using live ammunition to control peaceful demonstrators on Friday even though the new interior minister, Dr. Mahamed Abdi Gabose took office on Saturday.

The chief of police and the governors of Awdal and Marodi Jeh regions are still not appointed by the new administration.

The governor of Awdal, Mr. Mohamoud sheikh Abdullahi Ige has officially resigned on Saturday and urged the new interior minister to name a new governor as soon as possible.

Mr Ige said he was angered over the deployment of police from Hargeisa in Borama without his consultations. President Silanyo named Ahmed Dahir Abdullah as the new governor of Awdal region.