Ibrahim Mead Ottawa, Canada The only way to rescue Somaliland is Consultation and compromise- part-1 Among sequence of events “shock and awe” is the latest in Mr. Siilanyo’s administration. “Shock & awe” is a phrase reserved for the effects of self-inflicted disaster suffered by entities which does not think right. Somaliland qualifies this . At times I feel Somaliland lost its conscience, at other times I feel that probably she is destined to find her self in a hole of her digging when she elected one who does not listen, one who does not learn and one who does not lead. That is where Somaliland is now. I wish he didn’t do it, but he did it! The President defended corruption! He defended the Hargeisa Airport scandal. He defended the General Energy prompt departure from the country. He defended the indefensible with out fully, factually and honestly explained the truth of the matter to the nation in a nation wide speech. He did not do that, instead the President attacked who ever raises questions regarding this scandal and the corruption ridden administration of his! I wish he didn’t do that. I wish he took this as a teachable moment and seek full explanation from his corrupted Ministers in this fiasco which tarnished the integrity of the nation, but he did not do that. He blamed others, he blamed concerned others! “We didn’t do it. We didn’t do it, even if we did it!” the President’s argument sounds like that! It is a moral outrage to defy and manipulate the facts which are the moral deficiency and the out of bound corruption which the administration made it a normal practice, since they changed the government of the people and for the people to a ‘family owned enterprise’ What Mr. Siilanyo and clique are doing is so bizarre that instead of confessing and correcting their mistakes and move on, they instead insisted that they did not do any wrongs even if they did it! And as a matter of fact they did it! As usual they denied and passed the blame to the moral people, and to the founders of this country who when they can not take it any more what Mr. Siilanyo and clique are doing to the country called for Consultations Redirection and Correction. That consultation is what Mr. Siilanyo is ‘allergic’ to it. As they turn the government to a family enterprise, He may then wonder why a family owned enterprise is any body else’s business! The clique spent so much in dollar terms to diminish and demagogue that noble call coming from the people and from the Forum for consultation. Instead of heeding these moral calls they harass the conscionable who are calling for consultation. Consultation is the only way out. The corruption which has no bounds busted the international investments in which General energy and Ethiopian Airlines are the latest casualties. Siilanyo must not blame for his blunder and the corruption of his closest four to the moral citizens who called this practice what it is. Such practice kills governments and countries and it ought to be stopped. It is the wrong way to run any doable government. There must be accountability to the mortal damage which Somaliland has received from the government of Mr. Siilanyo. That is what they denied and don’t want to do. Allah is all knowing, all hearing and all seeing. He knows what has happened. Denying and saying “we did not do it even if we did it” is appalling and it is not the answer. Addressing the nation and explain truthfully why both the foreign corporations retreated and left the country is the right path to take! Scapegoat and demagogue the concerned civil society is the wrong path to take and that is the path the government took. United we refused to be obliterated. United we liberated Somaliland and united we prevailed. United we averted civil wars and revenge driven wars. United we kept Somaliland peaceful and stable. How did we go there? We went there by way of Consultation, Consensus, Common ground and Compromises in all matters of national importance. Mr. Siilanyo and his crew deviated from this noble and virtuous undertaking. They resorted to politics of deception and division to justify the misappropriation of public funds. They embraced belly-politics. They embraced the mind set of “our-way-or- the high way”. They enforced that attitude by misusing and abusing a sector of the police force with strange insignia (RRU?) to threaten the moral and the conscionable and the concerned sector of the civil society. They resorted to divide the communities and then manipulate that division. Lately the President went to Burao and asked that community for help against Hargeisa! That is not wise move, it is indeed insane but that is how the President and clique work. Divide and conquer is what they know! They embraced an evil policy of betting one community against the other and that is why he is crying foul in Burao lately. That journey is also intended to cover-up the latest debacle stemmed from the corruption of his administration regarding the misappropriation of Kuwait donated funds to build and renovate Hargeisa Airport. The Ethiopian Airlines move to go out of the country as well as General Energy which also left the country even though Mr. Siilanyo is saying it just froze the operations, what ever that means! They changed the democratic government of the people and for the people in to a ‘family owned small business.’ Those who did this, shame do not worry them. Indeed shame a shames their actions! Such shameful actions necessitate an intervention by way of Consultations and Conflict resolution to rescue the country whether the oligarchies like it or not. Conclusion The merits and virtues of Consultation: “The idea of seeking counsel is a moral virtue and fundamental in democratic governance and it is a moral foundation in Islam which we subscribe to it. Notwithstanding the divine revelation, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) had superior intelligence that he never needed any advice. Yet, in order to make Muslims realize the importance and the value of counseling so that they may make it a part of their basic programme of life. From another angel, it is a way to increase the power of thinking in people. The prophet of Allah used to call advisory councils for consulting Muslims in common affairs of enforcing divine commands not legislation. He was giving more importance especially to the views of wise persons to such an extent that in some matters he even used to give up his own thought and accept that of the advisors. The prophet of Allah’s vision (s.c.w.s.) in furthering the Islamic objects And aims was Consultation. One of the Amirul Momineen (r.c.) once said in one of his sermons: No support is more satisfying than consultation. Mr. President, heed the call coming from the moral and conscionable citizens and act upon it instead of resisting it and denying it before it is too late, if you care the integrity and existence of Somaliland. Peace and prayers Ibrahim Mea