HARGEISA —The first four months dubbed 120 days of the President’s tenure was an initiative H.E. Musa Bihi Abdi heavily underscored whereby from the word go he impressed upon his chief executive officials to see to it that his visions, pledges and promises were adhered to the letter and of course, timely for that matter.
So far the Head of State’s hands on method of leadership that bonds with both the grasp and knowledge of the issues at stake vis-à-vis the seriousness he deals with matters is a pointer of what is in store ahead for the future of the people and the country of Somaliland as we briefly glance over the achievements so far in the past 16 weeks or so.
Despite the usual pros and cons with all the expectations, hullabaloos, constraints and unforeseen bottlenecks usually associated with major change of guard, the Kulmiye administration under President Musa Bihi Abdi has done a wonderful work given the timeline in juxtaposition to the programs he projected to implement as per his laid down plans.
Under the duress caused by the serious inflation and famine that afflicted the nation as the President took over, he has managed to see to it that much of what he wanted to do has successfully taken off the ground and going well into the prescribed direction and path.
The successes have been quite palpable on both the home and foreign fronts and equally, in the same breath, as far as both short and long term plans are concerned.
On the foreign fronts, the nation has seen the largest influx of foreign dignitary visits who have all of a sudden decided to take the country more seriously that as has been for quite a while.
Following three quick successive trips to Djibouti, Ethiopia and UAE and also after the sealing of the DP World and SL agreements reports favorable to the country’s investiture suddenly blossomed, the latest being Genel Energy’s announcement a fortnight ago of starting the ultimate real drilling of petroleum in the country, come next year.
Similarly, the friends of Somaliland in the name of the UK All Parties Parliamentary Committee for Somaliland revisited the country after an over a decade hiatus.
The first and foremost amongst priorities to be embarked upon was that of good governance and developmental aspects for factors of production.
In this case, the state started with the streamlining of the civil service just as it did with the revising of the national priority areas hence revamping its policies.
The agricultural sector which has since seen quite in impetus injected in, is part of the almost 35% the national budget earmarked for aspects that pep up development sectors that are potentially productive.
Dozens of hospitals and MCHs hitherto not in operation has been put into gear just as the education sector has seen school equipping scheme ignited by the distributing of school books to pupils country-wide.
Salaries have already seen the teaching and security sectors receive a whopping 29% increment.
The support to electrical power and lighting industry that has seen se
veral major towns like Burao, Borama, Buhodle, Sheikh, Gebiley and Badan is just a point to note.
Similarly, major trends going on and are in process in the water resources, youth and associated social services and infrastructure are quite remarkable.
When all the above is put into consideration, hence given the big war which is also in process being waged against inflation that has gored into the national economy, it is worth noting that the first 120 day of H.E. Musa Bihi Abdi is quite impeccable and commendable and surely lifts our spirits up confidently.
By: M. A. Egge