Walk The Walk Mr. President!

I would like to congratulate Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud for the achievements of his first h undred days in office. I would also like to remind him some of the long list of pledges he made to this nation during his long journey to the presidency of Somaliland.

Mr. President, during the presidential campaign you promised this nation (if elected) that you w ere going to reform the way Somaliland government business is conducted. Now that the nation took your words to their hearts and elected you as a president in landslide, the nation is still  w aiting for you to fulfill your part of that agreement. It is of great importance that you make  pro ductive moves early in your administration rather than later.

Mr. President, you know first hand that the justice system in Somaliland was in wreck before  a nd when you took office and it is still being reduced into ruins and is getting worst by the hour. The nation is waiting to see you do something about it and do it now not tomorrow and not the day after. The whole system needs to be overhauled from the Supreme Court to the district  le vels.

Corruption was made a ritual by the previous administration and was taking place even as the nation was queuing to vote, and you in your own admission found the treasury not only empty but that the nation was in debt and salaries to the civil servants were not paid for months  bef ore your inauguration into office. The minister who is accused to have been liable for all the  cor ruption in the country cried wolf and started menacing the nation with civil war, after he was asked to open the financial books for public scrutiny. Mr. President, the nation has given you  th e mandate to do away with corruption and would like you to put your foot down and allow the Auditor General to execute his duty impartially, promptly and efficiently.

Mr. President, our youth and children are our future and you promised to give priority to the  i mprovement of their education, so then our future generations will be able to compete with  th eir counterparts in the world and will bring prosperity to our nation. Educational reform  togeth er with healthcare should have the right of precedence in your administration.

The Somaliland armed forces have played a vitally important role in the protection, safety and stability of our country and they deserve to be better equipped and better treated. Mr. Presid ent, we would like you to rebuild the structure of our armed forces and establish a fair ranking system based on the experience and the educational merits of each and every soldier or police person in our armed forces. May I suggest that a military and police academies to be  establish ed. The vast experience of our SNM officers can be put into use after such institutions are built. We all know that generations are growing old in a fast pace and our trained armed officers are not immune to this phenomenon.

Mr. President, the nation would like you to have the best possible transparency in your  adminis tration. I for a person would be very appreciative if you publish the Somaliland budget online  a nd disclose all the spending, income revenues and international financial assistance we receive from foreign countries. This will make your administration the first in Africa to have such a  tran sparent system. This will not only enhance your administration’s credibility in the eyes of our citizens, but will also attract foreign investment and will augment our chances for legitimacy and recognition.

Mr. President, our nation would like you to resolve the submarine telecommunications dispute between the two companies in a Somaliland-style mediations. This unnecessary row can be  re solved both legally and amicably. Somaliland and your administration do not have the time and resources for this conflict to continue. I hope both sides of this disagreement will heed to a fair oversee agreement, because we need this project to be done with as urgent as possible.

Mr. President, I would be grateful if the free media is respected and even promoted by your  ad ministration. I do not believe that Somaliland needs a Ministry of information; instead we can ha ve an independent commission to oversee our state and private media. In my humble opinion, S omaliland Government does not need a Minister whose sole duty is to be exclusively a mouth-pi ece for the government. The Presidential spokes person and other Ministers could take that ro le. Moreover, Somaliland can no longer be a victim to the slanderous propaganda and mal-cultu re of the Somalia owned TVs. Therefore, your administration must consider creating a national TV that can be watched both inside and outside the country.

I applaud you for taking very valuable steps in promoting the recognition of our beloved  count ry world. Thank you again for what you have done for our country in your first 100 days in offi ce. You have talked the talk for the last eight years, now is the right time for you to walk the walk.

May Allah bless Somaliland!