The Right Course of Action For Muuse Biixi

Somaliland has managed to conduct a presidential election described by the international observers as free and fair. Much has been said and written about this historical milestone and there is no need to repeat it here. However, my advice to the president, much like the rest of the country is to end corruption, strengthen education and the health sectors. It is also imperative upon us to build an effective small government whose members are chosen not by virtue of which clan they belong to but on the merits of holding the adequate qualifications.

History is there for us to learn from and not to repeat the same mistakes once again. The Isaaq people like the rest of the Somaliland communities have a long history of coexistence and cooperation. As much as they are “Tol”; as much as the brotherly love has blossomed in their midst over the years, they also had another kind of history. Just like the brothers who disagree among themselves they have also had their fair share of disagreements and conflicts which have left a bitter memory in all of us.

No one get s a free ride to prosperity and success, and in order to achieve all the noble causes we aspire to we will have to overcome some difficult hurdles. In the height of the civil war in which hundreds have been killed and thousands maimed, there were men in our midst who relished that exercise in brutality. Motivated to a large extent by a dangerous tribal mindset men like Jama Yare and Muuse biixi went further than the rest; they had something to prove so they pushed for more confrontation which caused the unnecessary displacement and death of children, woman and the elderly alike. Jama Yare on his part relentlessly sent his orders from a far and urged his men to take over Hargeisa. Equally, Muusa Biixi was also eager to prove that he owned Hargeisa, he urged his men to kill even if it was at the cost of forsaking the “Duco” of the wise and the elderly.  He famously declared to thousands who gathered in the Khayriya area of Hargeisa “Anigoo wax dili kara duco qaadan maayo” wich can roughly be translated to “If I can kill, I will indeed forsake the blessings”.

To shed more light on this mentality look no further than Muuse Biixi, he is a man whose mum hails from the tribe of Ciidagale whom he was so eager to kill and maim. He is an uncompromising figure, callous in his calculated political moves; he uses his oratory skills to rally the ignorant in the name of tribe. His sharp tongue spares no one even those who hail from the Sacad Muuse tribe.

Some might argue that he has been through a rehabilitation of sorts since his last office tenure more than 15 years ago. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth, Muuse is a man whose life revolves around the tribe, he sees everything through the lenses of the tribe, nothing is immune to it whether it’s social or political. In all fairness, Muuse is not alone in this, many of our people are held hostage to this regressive mindset. However, given that we are aspiring to become a model society whose values are based on democracy and mutual respect we should spare the masses such personalities and keep them out of both political and public spheres.

To put it charitably, the difference between Muuse and the majority of decent politicians is that he takes pleasure from seeing his opponents defeated and humiliated as we have already mentioned in the famous Khayiriay incident. It’s a stain that will always be an unwelcome reminder of a painful era that we all decided to bury and move on from.

President M.H.I.Egal (AUN) and Haji Abdi Waraabe were men who knew the magnitude of the crisis at the time. They decided to lead by good example so they chose peace over war and they decided on reconciliation. While Muuse and Jama Yare fuelled the flames of war to keep it burning, Egal and Abdi Waraabe used every trick in the book to bring about a cessation to the hostilities.

However, personal traits shouldn’t be the soul merit in which the new administration should base their selection criterion on. Similarly, educational qualifications and relevant expertise should also be a prerequisite to occupying political office. Even though it might come across as malicious, shedding light on the qualification of those who seek to hold political offices should not be off the table. Muuse was unable to attain any qualifications when he was sent to the Soviet Union for training. Although, he was trained as a military pilot it’s an open secret among those students who were there at the time and his friends that he failed the tests that were designed to assess his performance.

All in all, Muuse and the likeminded can be of use to their community but it should be through other means, maybe they should join civil societies and contribute to the betterment of this country rather than becoming divisive figures.

Adeer Muuse, it’s indeed high time that you found another trade that best suits your skills and let go of politics ones and for all.

Jibril Mohmed Ali - London

Political Scientist

Email: jibril.ali@hotmail.co.uk