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Recently, Rakiya A. Omaar posted an article that alleged Somaliland President Dahir Rayale Kahin of imprisoning two individuals in 1988. Credible people came forward who declared that Dahir Rayale had helped them during that time. Those of us who grow up with him and who have known him most of his life know him as a decent and an honorable man; a man who is cautious with what he says or does; a man who will never harm any body but will go out of his way to help if he sees someone who is in need of assistance- The timing of the article, just a couple of months before the presidential elections in which Dahir Rayale is the front runner and the favorite to win the race, raises serious questions about the motives of Rakiya. In the opinion of many, Rakiya is seen as a proxy for the Kulmiye Party which was distant second in the municipal elections and their expectations may be that by utilizing her credentials as human rights advocate and reminding people of the death and destruction in the late 1980s and depicting Dahir Rayale as the villain of that dark era, that it will give a shot in the arm to trailing Kulmiye Party. As they say, desperate people do desperate things. We know now her organization is in essence a political entity masqueraded as human rights organization. Any person who reads that article knows this is not about human rights but about presidential politics, pure and simple. Why now? Dahir Rayale has been a prominent individual in Somaliland politics over the last 12 years. He attended the 1991 Burao conference. He was one of the principal organizers of the Borama conference the following year where the late President Egal was elected. He was held in such high respect in Borama that his counsel in conflict resolution between individuals and sub-clans was sought. He was a governor of Awdal region. He was respected businessman. He was Somaliland's Vice-President for five years. To ascertain the Kulmiye camp is not behind this smear campaign, we call upon the party leaders to distance their party from this story and to renounce those who want to introduce wedge issue into the campaign. But it must be understood wedge issue do not work. A case in point is the State of California, which is multiracial as much as Somaliland is multi-clan. Former Republican Governor Pete Wilson used wedge issues in order to win large support from the white electorate. He would support issues that were anti- Hispanic in order to appeal to the white electorate. For example he supported Proposition 187, which banned children of illegal immigrants from attending public education. The result was the Hispanic population in the State some of whom would have voted Republican all joined the Democratic Party. The Hispanics jointed Blacks and White liberals to give the democratic party a large majority in the State. During the last two general elections, the democratic party won the office of the governor, gained a majority of both Houses and won all state wide offices. In short, wedge issues have buried the Republican Party in California. Rakiya's story has the same purpose as proposition 187. It revisits a painful period in our history. Its anticipatory effect is to stir the emotions of the Isaaq electorate and drive them into the Kulmiye camp. On the contrary, the effect will probably be akin to that of Proposition 187 in California. In political campaigns, it is quite common to see other candidates and their spin-doctors heap criticism on the front-runner. But this attack borders on slander. The work is cut out for President Rayale and his supporters. He must defend his integrity vigorously day in day out until Election Day. His must give the people the clear choices they have: between his record of harmony and stability and those polarizing forces intent on divide and rule. There is reservoir of sympathy among the public with the way he was slandered. If he wages an aggressive campaign, he can win the election handily. Residents of Awdal who numbered nearly 30% of the voters in the municipal elections have every reason to closely watch how this story unfolds. In the unlikely event this works for the opposition, it would set a precedent, which would mean that at any given time any of them have a real shot at a high office, any person can, under the color of human rights, cook up a story, and torpedo his or her candidacy. This is a bit unsettling, isn't it? But we are confident the Isaaq voters will reject this hate. On another issue, Rakiya used the term Non-Isaaq to describe other clans, which brings to mind an exchange between Steve Biko and his defense attorney during the 1977 trial of the young black activist: Soggot: At the first GSC, was the question of the term Non-White raised at all, do you know? Biko: I think students in fact took a decision to the effect that they would no longer use the term Non-White, nor allow it to be used as a description of them, because they saw it as a negation of their being. They were being stated as "non something " which implied that the standard was something and they were not that particular standard. They felt that a positive view to life, which is commensurate with the build-up of one's dignity and confidence, should be contained in a description, which you accept, and they ought to replace the term Non-White with term Black. Nearly thirty years ago, young black South African students refused to be called Non-White because as Steve Biko put it eloquently it was " a negation of their being" and not "commensurate with the build up of ones dignity and confidence'. The peoples who live with the Isaaq are the Warsangeli, Gadabursi and Dhulbahante. Are those names that complicated which would necessitate the use of shortcut? There is no excuse for the usage of such hyphenated terms at this time and age. By Adan H Iman Adan_h_iman1000@hotmail.com |
| A Challenge For the Kulmiye Party to Distance Itself From Rakiya's Divisive Article And Run A Clean Campaign |
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| Foosiya Yuusuf Xaaji Aadan |