By Abdikarim H. Abdi Buh
April 19, 2011
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| President Ismail Omar Guelleh |
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President Ismail Gouleh was expected to win his third- term with outright majority due to the simple fact that he faced only one rival in the poll, independent candidate Mohamed Warsama Ragueh, former head of the Constitutional Council. Mr, Ragueh, an unknown quantity in the political circles of the country is universally assumed, by the Djiboutian masses, to have been pushed in to the ring by the ruling party activists to act as a window dressing for public consumption after the opposition parties chose not to partake.
A minority of the politicians in Djibouti were betting that Mr. Ragueh will attract the votes of the discontented which when pooled in one pot could give the incumbent president a bleeding nose. The same politicians were giving the independent candidate a percentage of no more than 32% which could have been a miracle, given the circumstances, had it materialised. The count validated by the constitutional council on Wednesday was 19% to Mr. Ragueh which is a lion’s share for a novice who hardly campaigned a day let alone invested money or other resources during the run up to the elections.
A minority of the politicians in Djibouti were betting that Mr. Ragueh will attract the votes of the discontented which when pooled in one pot could give the incumbent president a bleeding nose. The same politicians were giving the independent candidate a percentage of no more than 32% which could have been a miracle, given the circumstances, had it materialised. The count validated by the constitutional council on Wednesday was 19% to Mr. Ragueh which is a lion’s share for a novice who hardly campaigned a day let alone invested money or other resources during the run up to the elections.
Djiboutians “Don't try to get blood from a locust; God didn't put it in there.” An African proverb
Djibouti is a tiny barren mini state that has no natural resources and has the harshest weather in Africa and most probably the world. According to The World Factbook, Djibouti has a total land mass of 23,180 square-kilometres (sq. km.), of which only 0.04% is suitable for agriculture (arable land). In other words, less than 10 sq. km. of the total land mass in Djibouti is arable in the sense that it can support vegetable and some fruit trees but not staple foods that demand large tracks of fertile land and abundant water- food is 100% imported and potable water is very scarce in most of the times.Continued
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