Ibrahim Mead Ottawa, Canada Comrades in Corruption Corruptors of the executive and the legislature joined hands to rob the struggling communities in the name of repairing roads! Those who voted for the new Tax hike did not ask where the money donated to Hargeisa Airport went before they pass more money to the oligarchy administration of Mr. Siilanyo! They did not care about that as far as they could collect bribery paid from the public money! The comrades in corruption agreed to tax the people more as to receive more money. The people they asked to pay more tax live less than two dollars a day on average!! Some unspoken words between a) the people b) the executive and c) the parliament “In the service of your personal profit as well as ours, I send you this money in exchange with your vote, and don’t forget that it is us who are keeping you there after your term of office expired” A message from the initiators of this new tax hike on the poor! “Sorry tax payers, poor or no poor don’t bother the new tax hike. Don’t heed the agitators, the so-called opposition groups or political parts what ever survived from Siilanyo’s ax of eliminating serious political parties? What happened was that after the money earmarked for the Hargeisa Airport has been spent we needed more money, this time for the Roads under my right hand man. We moved the Roads department to my office. You see when money is involved we take such action to protect the money. Now pay the tax and keep the peace. If not complied and if resisted this new Tax, “RUU” (Siilanyo’s terror police) may pay you a visit.” The executive said. “Where are they? Where are our representatives? We only saw eight deputies stood up for us, where were the rest of the flock?! We are squeezed hard that we can not feed our children any more.” People lamented. “Sorry tax payers, poor or other wise. We needed the money to satisfy our greed. We legally represented you five years only. The executive gave us an easy and uncontested contract. We are accountable to them. In fact we are accountable to the money. Who hates the sound of money? We are in sink with the executive. We are in cahoots with them. You people, who cares about you any more. We scratch their backs and they (executive) do ours like wise.” The Representatives minus the conscionable eight responded. Once to every nation or people comes the moment to decide in the strife of standing up against corruption and for lifting up their struggling people. It comes the moment to decide in the contention of truth and falsehood and for the good or evil. Somaliland decided on the corruption side. The House of Representatives and the Presidency decided on the evil side. Bribery from the house of Siilanyo to the parliament was the hottest transaction of the day yesterday (23 September-2013). The money the house of Siilanyo was giving out to the parliament was the tax from the poor and the struggling people of Somaliland. The bribery was paid to the representatives to pass more tax on the already struggling people. Although they said that the money will be used to repair roads however there will be no accountability as other funds before it. Where is the money donated by Kuwait to repair and rebuild the international air port of the capital city, Hargeisa?! People that have no moral Resilience in their lives make the decision to ask from the struggling people to pay even more tax which will end up in the pockets of the trio who joined hands to serve their wants. The trio (Guurti, parliament & the executive branch) exhibited a despicable sinful act of vote selling and buying as to squeeze the poor and the struggling people of Somaliland! Decay and corruption in our government: Do you ever wonder why the house of representatives and the presidency elected by the people of Somaliland to represent them in government, no longer represents them, nor do they support and defend the Constitution of Somaliland as each and every member is pledged to do so by their oath of office? What has happened? The answer is corruption. Corruption so widespread, that it already threatened not only our democracy and the rule of law but also the existence of the Republic. It is now threatening the survival of our Somaliland. Corruption is so generally accepted in Siilanyo’s oligarchy administration that it far exceeds most other dangers, as it trickled into the most critical branches of government like the “Guurti, the parliament, and the executive branch itself”. It endangers our national life. From the moment our newly elected Representatives assume their posts in their respective institution in the nation’s capital Hargeisa, they are introduced not to the rule of law but to the rule of money, where ever that money comes from! Decaying from within: Our beloved nation is being destroyed by corruption. While most people go hungry in every corner of the nation and proper health care is beyond the reach of the over whelming majority in our society the trio is busy accumulating wealth as much as they can. Through the pursuit of money, and more money we have lost our conscience and moral fabric. We allowed our people to decline. Somaliland is rotting away under Siilanyo, not because we lack resources we are in decline, but because too many have accepted corruption and care a bout it, than the future of our country. Repairing Somaliland dignity and democracy: It will be very difficult to reinvigorate our decaying dignity without wide popular support to the conscionable sector of the civil society, i.e. the Centre for Consultation and others. Just Tax the people will render many services and businesses to be degraded into rackets for the already struggling small businesses. To revitalize integrity and our democracy, we need a movement for greater integrity throughout our society. Yes, to stop the corrupted oligarchy entity which is destroying our country is the urgency of now. Bring back the government for all the people will require us to examine our lives and make the effort to be honest and fair in all dealings. Integrity is urgently needed for reliable Representatives in the future if we survive from our present self inflicted condition. Integrity must come from the people who elect and send their representatives to Hargeisa. The best way to repair the decay of Somaliland lies not in anger and in blaming on each other, but in examining and improving the integrity of our lives. People characterized by honesty and truthfulness will elect leaders with those qualities in public. As the saying goes that a cursed government is as good as the people who put them there! The stakes are enormous. However Peace and Prayers from my side Ibrahim Mead