Deni and others owe Somalia a duty to cooperate against al-Shabaab

EDITORIAL | Said Abdullahi Deni, the President of Puntland State in Somalia may be ambitious. But he and other politicians in the country must know the greatest enemy of the people is one: al-Shabaab.

This is why demand that Deni shows in word and deed that Puntland will not be going against the grain of the Federal Government of Somalia in the latest bid to improve security in the country. This week, Deni was hosting Abdiaziz Laftagareen, the President of South West, in Garowe.

The meeting is important because Deni hadn’t had attractive ties with most of the federal state leaders in the past in spite of the regions facing almost the same set of problems.

Puntland, of course, is the most stable of the five federal states, having been around here for more than two decades. There is some form of responsibility that comes with age and Puntland is no exception.

But that is beside the point. Ever since Somalia completed its dragged elections last May Mr. Deni’s public posture has been unclear. He had been an opponent of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud but lost out in the second round of the vote won by Mohamud. Deni and Mohamud both opposed any term extensions for Mohamed Farmaajo, Mohamud’s predecessor who was defeated in May, and whom they both blamed for the surge in al-Shabaab activity.

Unfortunately, the similarities seem to have ended after Mohamud was sworn in. Deni hasn’t been a strong ally of President and Prime Minister Hamza Barre and their policies. Our sources say he has gone on to galvanise support from those opposed to Mohamud in the federal states, ostensibly to undermine the federal government including going as far as engineering a censure on the President. Why does he enjoy these wrangles? One reason could be that there are strong indications Deni wants to delay elections in Puntland as he plots to run again for Presidential elections in 2026. Being a powerful federal member state leader could give him fuel to influence votes in other federal member states, it seems.

Whether it is Deni or other political leaders in the federal states, however, the message should be clear by now that undermining a crucial national policy of the federal government will just amount to shooting yourself in your foot. A federal government that is seven months old requires the institutional memory of existing agencies to thrive. Puntland could be a good reflection as it has had relatively stable programs at insecurity.

For Deni, however, it seems personal ambition has trampled on national duty. A man who opposed term limits now sways in the wind about the possibility of running again in Puntland. There is nothing wrong with personal ambitions. The problem comes when those ambitions blur the choice for the good of the country. Deni and President Mohamud do not need to be friends to work on a common national goal. But to use political differences to hurt a war on terror is itself self-defeating.

Deni’s loss at the presidential contest back in May must not be his excuse to ruin what we have built so far. Elections will come and go but Puntland and Somalia in general expect that leaders can dust off their differences and stay on course to defeat al-Shabaab.

Failure to recognise this could only risk one thing: A Somalia that keeps looking over its shoulder.

GAROWE ONLINE