The Halane compound, a heavily fortified compound in Somali’s capital, is preparing for an eventual meeting between the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia and regional leaders to sign the final deal on the federal elections under the UN and foreign representatives watch.
It took some time for Said Deni, the Puntland leader, to join his sidekick Ahmed Madobe, the Jubaland strongman, who arrived five days earlier in Halane, Mogadishu.
Since the beginning of last week, it was announced he would show up with Ahmed Madobe. But Deni was missing for many days which is not unusual since he has the bad habit of coming late to meetings. This time, however, there was something new.
The reason for Deni’s absence lay elsewhere. After emphasizing for so long that his disagreement with President Farmajo was his concern for Somalia as a whole and not just Puntland, he was caught up by the mess at his doorstep.
Recent events have proved that he has much to do on in Puntland than worry about Gedo, Banadir representation, constitution or security in Mogadishu.
The last few years, Puntland was so badly managed that it was gripped with hyperinflation that made life unbearable in Bosaso, the commercial capital of Puntland state, Garowe and elsewhere. Any protest about the worsening economic situation was harshly suppressed.
The worsening of Puntland economy comes with a widespread corruption in all government’s agencies and at the highest level.
Living wage is so horrendous, army and police are unreliable. Recent Bosaso prison attack was expected as prison guards would do anything for money.
When Deni’s inner circle of friends and family is so dipped in corruption, one cannot expect a better behaviour from subordinates.
Human rights took a hit too. Deni jailed journalists for simply reporting on his mismanagement of Puntland or its unpopularity.
Deni took extreme anti-constitutional acts. He illegally sacked elected members of parliament, bypassed his Vice-President by appointed key allies in the government and in the army. He prevented also his VP from using the official media outlet.
Last week, MP Dhore, one of eight lawmakers whose immunity was revoked, said he was targeted because of what he knew about President Deni’s election. He said that during the 2019 Puntland elections, Deni who was a candidate offered him bribes to vote but he refused.
Bosaso Mayor Abdisalam Bashir Abdisalam has resigned following a statement from the office of Puntland leader Said Deni.
In the statement, the president also ordered the Puntland Auditor General to investigate the management of Bosaso municipality’s finances.
He sacked high ranking police officers, in particular Garowe Police Chief whom he blamed for not taking orders from him.
In Gardafui region, an isolated area, the UAE wants to take over to control the maritime around the Socotra Island. The local population is already at odds with the Deni administration since they have been left out of any development project.
By delaying his coming to Mogadishu, Deni could not face the international community that he called for help in his disagreement with Farmajo over the elections. He decided to clean up his yard before giving lessons to the federal government.
If Farmajo would follow the Puntland leader example, Deni would be in jail, Somalia would be a Police State or would strip rioting MPs of their parliamentary status and their immunity.
Since his bizarre speech on Federal Elections that angered many in Puntland, Deni is more and more insecure and his actions more and more unilateral. He put heavily armed militia on roads around main cities and searched cars for any signs of public demonstrations.
In fact, Deni inherited a rotten system and he campaigned to fight corruption but he surpassed previous presidents and now the regional state is on verge of collapse.
Puntlanders now know what they want and what they don’t want. They don’t want Deni’s mismanagement, corruption, police state, clan-based discrimination, nepotism, foreign takeover over their land, sea and resources and food insecurity.
They want security, decent living standard, unity, good governance, rights and freedom, a strong central government, independence from foreign meddling.
