Last week, rioters descended into the streets of some Somaliland cities causing mayhem. Hargeisa, Somaliland capital suffered the worst of the riots. 6 people died and dozens of police officers were injured at Waddani party riots in Hargeisa and other towns, according to operational commander of Somaliland police force, Gen. Ibrahim Abdi.
The commander stated that the rioters were armed with deadly weapons such as guns, rocks, knives and matches and refused to follow police instructions. Unfortunately, the police fired on the rioters to protect themselves.
On Thursday, we watched disturbing videos in which men ,women and children refusing to follow the instructions of the officers, throwing rocks into a private businesses, breaking into stores, and stealing merchandise, stoning, stabbing, and shooting at police officers, these are criminal acts.
Those who want to demonstrate peacefully should not be confused with rioters. Peaceful demonstration is permitted under JSL constitution; however, violent attacks against police officers, burning down businesses, looting, vandalizing, — this is not a demonstration, it is a riot!
Our law enforcement officers are committed to serving our communities, to protecting our citizens and delivering justice with appropriate discretion.
Somaliland police was reconstituted from a ragtag militia who liberated our country from the authoritarian Somali government in 1994. Although our police have gradually improved their capacity, they are still ill—equipped and underfunded.
Our police forces do not have protective gear such as bulletproof vest, helmets, riot shield, baton, and government issued pistols. It is unacceptable to send our men and women to confront well-armed thugs determined to cause maximum mayhem without adequate and appropriate protective gears.
They do not also receive adequate funding for their training and pay. They receive the lowest pay, yet they are willing to serve our citizens day and night. They play a vital role in protecting and keeping us safe.
We must provide our police and fight fighters adequate funding and training. Bad and menacing people are still committing crimes, and we need police to respond to those crimes in a timely fashion.
Rioting is not the answer to Somaliland’s manufactured election crisis. We must allow more political parties to compete in the 2022 presidential election. The charade of the three-party political system must end now.
There will never be a power vacuum in JSL. Our next President will be elected through a democratic process. We will never accept mob violence, hooliganism, looting, or burning down our cities as means for a regime change.
Degrading, and disrespecting JSL police and fire fighters is unpatriotic and wrong. It is reckless and irresponsible for some failed politicians to badmouth our police officers for doing their jobs. In fact, JSL police operate daily to keep us safe, including Waddani party leaders, from mayhem and chaos.
Some of these leaders are Finnish citizens. Their children are living comfortably in Finland. The Finnish government provided their children free food, schooling, housing, and health care. Ironically, they want the children of the poor families to die for their plot to grab power through mayhem. This is a pathetic.
Our enemy is plotting JSL to collapse within, and they are using failed politicians and Somalia apologists to do their bidding.
We are aware of the seriousness of election delays, but the most basic responsibility of the government is to maintain public order and safety. We must stand behind our law enforcement officers, the fire fighters, and the armed forces to keep law and order, and to protect our nation. We should not allow a small but highly vocal, and ‘hate factory” media to undermine our peace and stability.
We should never waver in our support of these men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our peace and freedom in which others have fought and died in the past.
Please salute every police officer and fire fighter you see and thank them for their service. We wouldn’t be among the safest communities in the horn of the Africa region without their dedication and service.
Allah bless JSL
Source: Ali-Guban Mohamed
Founder and Editor
Gubanmedia.com, an online source of news and commentary about the Horn of Africa.
aliadm18@gmail.com
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