Somaliland’s summer of trial: looking beyond the lean cabinet

The new president of Somaliland, Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, unveiled the policies of his administration in his inaugural speech in Hargeisa, the capital city of Somaliland.The President's speech addressed the major challenges that are facing his administration and soon after offered the public the long awaited modern and lean cabinet that was marketed as an icon of efficiency. The small cabinet tabled by the president took the Somaliland people by surprise as its composition and distribution defied the long-established order and as such can safely be classed as a revolutionary one. The president appears determined to move the politics of Somaliland to a new realm which has its challenges and rewards – President Silanyo who is at the very end of his political shelf life is out there to make his own legacy but whether he will ends up in the political wilderness of pre – Egal times ( SNM era) or becomes Nelson Mandella of Somalia remains to be seen.

President Silanyo

The new cabinet is much slimmer than that of his predecessors even though there is significant room for further trimming if the gist of the exercise is to deliver affordable and all inclusive one. Members who are counted to have soft belly for the secessionist  agenda has some presence  in the cabinet, but the majority have strong affiliations with the moderate mainstream Islamists(not the Shabab) . With the exception of few, the bulk of the cabinet are novices to the region’s politics.  Kulmiye activists and the SNM veterans who were the back bone of the president’s campaign were left out on the wash line to dry while the election financiers (Islamist business community) are calling the shots – for instance Dahab Shil (the banker of Somalia) secured two important ministerial posts for his employees.Read More