News Saturday, Aug 28, 2010
August 28, 2010 Appointments, Disappointments

The new broom of President Silanyo sweeps through the executive branch with 45 appointments and more to come

Observer (Hargeisa)- The long-awaited list of new appointments finally came out on Thursday afternoon. Forty-five senior government posts changed hands with an executive order from the Presidency. More appointments are expected to come, but the main coveted posts are now filled.

The list that came out of the Presidency was replete with surprises. The new appointees are marked by youthfulness and lack of experience, but some such as the new governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Abdi Dirir, are veterans with many years of experience. The Director-General of the all important Ministry of Finance is now the Director of Sales and Marketing for Telesom, the mobile operator. The new Director of the critical Hargeisa Water Agency is described by colleagues as young with no prior experience in the management of a major utility concern. He previously worked for an auto-parts importer and then at the new Hargeisa operation of SOMTEL, whose Director during that brief period was Hersi Ali Hassan, the President’s Chief of Cabinet.

Perhaps the most talked about and surprising appointment is that of Somaliland’s representative in Ethiopia, Somaliland’s major trading partner and the Horn of Africa’s regional power. The new Ambassador-designate is Mohamed Hassan, a youth organizer who works for the International Republican Institute in the Hargeisa office. He replaces a veteran diplomat and former Ambassador to Canada and Nigeria. The post was established by Colonel (retired) Abdillahi Askar, an SNM commander who grew up in Ethiopia and spearheaded SNM military operations from there in the 80s. Ethiopia’s current representative is a retired military general of the Ethiopian army, who replaced another senior official who was at one time Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Finland. Mafrish commentary hinted at downgrading of Somaliland’s relationship with Ethiopia, although there are rumours that the President himself will be travelling to Ethiopia soon to mend or cement that relationship (we are not sure which is the case).

The appointments also cut deep into the labour force. The new National AIDS Commission is now filled with senior KULMIYE central or executive committee members who occupy not only the Chairmanship, but such junior positions as Monitoring and Evaluation, Clinical Officer and Administration and Finance. It is not clear why these technical positions have become entitlements dolled out to party operatives. The smell of money can be very attractive.

Surprising too was the appointment of Mr. Jamal Aideed to the nearly defunct National Demobilization Commission (NDC). The Qaran Deputy-Chairman spent several months in prison along with his Qaran colleagues Mohamed Hashi Elmi and Dr. Gaboose, the new Ministers of Finance and Interior. Do we have militias to disarm or is someone in government running a phantom operation to justify the continuing existence of this institution.

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