Garowe (PP Commentary) — It has become a talking point in Puntland about the opportunities that the Puntland State has missed since 1998, when the first post-1991 autonomous administration was founded. Successive Puntland administrations have failed to transform its tradition-bound institutions into modern ones reflecting the principles articulated by the founding President of Puntland State, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. Yusuf stated that a federal system was the way forward for Somalia. Twenty years ago, Somalia adopted a federal system. Puntland, an ardent advocate of the federal system, is the least pro-federalism member state. All power is concentrated in the executive branch of the government in Garowe.
Ahmed Said Aw Nur served as the Education Minister and Fisheries Minister under the administration of Puntland President Mohamud Hirsi (aka Adde Museh). Recently, Aw Nur wrote an article posted on his Facebook page to highlight opportunities that Puntland missed when it was the only federal member state with political leverage to expedite the end of the transition in 2012, among other political feats. Puntland leaders did not grasp the significance of the post-transition period. Aw Nur argues that Puntland did not seek a Special Arrangement of its own similar to the one that Somaliland administration secured in 2013 at the New Deal Conference in Brussels for development aid.
The second missed opportunity Aw Nur mentioned, though somewhat unconvincingly, is the failure to print currency solely for Puntland. Puntland has always printed Somali shilling of its own, which is legal tender only in areas controlled by Puntland. In 2020, when former Puntland Finance Minister Hassan Shire Abgal claimed that the Somali shilling from regions outside Puntland was driving up inflation in Puntland, Garowe money changers refuted his claim. They said only Puntland-printed Somali shilling was legal tender in Puntland State.
He mentions failure on the part of Puntland leaders to institute a policy to keep arms only in the hands of authorities. This failure “has resulted in intra-clan conflict” argues Aw Nur, who faults the ties Puntland forged with the United States in 2002 during the War on Terror era for the security challenges with which Puntland is grappling. ‘Puntland missed opportunities it might not ever see again,’ Aw Nur concluded his essay.
© Puntland Post, 2024
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