DAWLADDA PUNTLAND                          PUNTLAND STATE OF

EE SOOMAALIYA                                            SOMALIA

 

PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA 

GOVERNMENT PROGRAM FOR THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD ( 1998-2001).

 

GAROWE, THE CAPITAL CITY OF PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA

 

 Presentation of the President of Puntland State of Somalia, H.E. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, to the House of Representatives and the Council of Ministers  on the Government program for the Transitional Period, 1998 - 2001. 

Introductory Speech  

Your Excellencies,  

First and foremost, please  accept my warm greetings. 

As you are all well aware, Article #7.1.  of  Puntland Charter illustrates that the Government of Puntland for which you have recently elected me as its leader, is composed of the following three segments :- 

The Legislative Council

The Judicial Organ

The Executive Council

 

These divisions are parallel in role significance, the powers entrusted to them, rights of implementation of functions and national responsibility; but they have separate job descriptions and different operational functions. The major objectives of this administrative framework are based on the following  points :

 

Planning and specification of relevant divisions of labor.

Control of wrong decision-making and abuse of power.

The general check and balance of power.

 

We can deduct from the above principle of administrative division of labor, that the three powers of the Government cannot separately and  successfully operate without the collaboration of the other. Therefore, successful accomplishment of the designated political, social, economic, cultural and national goals shall depend on the full co-operation and collaboration of the three power organs of  the Government, with the expectation that they will demonstrate honesty, sense of responsibility and a co-operative spirit.

 

Your Excellencies,

 

After we have experienced thirty years of mal administration and eight years of disintegration, it is fortunate and a great pleasure for us all to meet here today in GOVERNMENT FORM. Article #8.1 of Puntland Charter allocates the legislative power to the House of Representatives, elected throughout the regions by the people of Puntland State, and  specifically Article #10.3 section (x), defines that the House of Representatives has the right to accept or reject the Council of Ministers after the nomination by the  President, and also has the right to approve or disapprove the Government program for the transitional period.

 

Your Excellencies,

 

I, being the President of Puntland State, the political leader of the nation, and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, am here today participating in your first ?session as the chairman of Council of Ministers, presenting members of my council and the Government program for the transitional period  (1998 - 2001), and as referred above both are constitutional and require your official ratification.

 

Your Excellencies,

 

I request that you allow me in this historical opportunity, to outline certain points that are prerequisites to the establishment of Puntland State of which we are involved in its creation and also related to the different political stages we went through the last thirty eight years. As you are aware, the former Somali Governments have totally failed the nation due to their -practices and inappropriate public administration, among which are the following :

 

·      Lack of social and legal justice and favoritism.

·      Violation of  the law and  lack of legal enforcement, lack of protection of human rights and civic rights, and abuse of power.

·      Corruption, nepotism, robbery, misuse and  mismanagement of  the financial public resources which became the rule  and the objective of all.

·      The use of tribalism as a political weapon and politicization of clans.

·      Lack of patriotism and sense of nationalism.

·      Lack of national planning and balanced socio-economic programs.

·      Ignorance

 

Your Excellencies,

 

Those political strains have emerged from the beginning of the first self Government of Somalia in 1956. It could be said , therefore, that Somali people have never experienced a proper governmental ruling. The accumulated political frustrations and mismanagement of so a called democratic national Governments of the first nine years after  independence (1960 - 1969),  have ended  up in the assassination of the President and made inevitable that the political power of the nation fall into the hands of a military dictatorship in October 1969.

 

Leave alone progress and constructive development, the military regime strongly increased the already existing dilemmas and problems. Due to these excessive political obstacles, political opposition movements and armed guerrilla fronts have directly confronted the military government that resulted in the downfall of the dictatorial system in January 1991.

 

Your Excellencies,

 

The disintegration caused  destructive tribal civil wars, which further brought heavier problems than those we experienced during the thirty years of national Government. This painful war, new in the history of Somalia, and perhaps of mankind, resulted in a continuous crisis. The downfall of the central Government brought in heavy human disaster, perhaps punishment and curse from heaven. Among these painful men and material toll were the following :

 

·      Bloodshed, death, genocide, injuries, enmity and hostility.

·      Dispersal, displacement and refugees.

·      Power struggle to rule and reign by illegal means such as using force, corruption and by politicization of tribalism.

·      The creation of artificial boundaries between Somali clans, confining each ethnic group in its original indigenous roots.

 

This misguided philosophy of self-centered politicians segmented the country into small blocks and sheikdoms. The power greed and the continuous struggle to reach the top undermined the positive objectives of the nation and the continuous efforts of the reconciliation process which started from 1991 and continued to 1997 in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, Egypt, Somalia.

 

Your Excellencies,

 

The last setback was Sodere event in Ethiopia, specifically the failure of  previously reached agreements by NSC, particularly the cancellation of the Bosaso Conference following Cairo Declaration of 1997. The cancellation of Bosaso National Reconciliation Conference gave way to despair and shattered any hope for national reconciliation in the foreseeable future. This situation led to the people of Puntland and Jubaland to rethink and redefine their political future. This resulted in the Garowe Consultation Conference of March 1998. At that Conference, as you may recall, a fateful decision had been taken to hold  The Garowe Constitutional Conference of May 15, 1998, to establish the Puntland State of Somalia.

 

The Garowe Consultation Conference of March 1998 made a decision of far-reaching consequence for the Somali National Reconciliation Process: The notion of recreating Somalia from Top-down Approach had been abandoned with the replacement of a new concept: The Bottom-up Approach, the establishment of separate regional administrations, leading to negotiations between equal regional states to pave the way for the reconstruction of a central federal system of Government in Somalia.

 

Thus, the Puntland State is an experiment and first step towards the new Somalia.

Moreover, the creation of Puntland  State was a by- product of the instability and confusion of Somali political arena, and of the failure of so many efforts in the national reconciliation process. Consequently, the people of the regions of Sool, Sanaag, Nugaal, Mudug, Bari and Buuhoodle District who share common ancestry  decisively agreed upon to move forward to form Puntland State of Somalia.

 

Your excellencies,

 

I personally witnessed all these successive dilemmas. I also lived through the then prevailing social injustice of the previous governments and thus, struggled for three decades (1968 - 1998) to make substantial changes in the socio-political system and to re-direct the destiny of the nation to proper perspective. I confronted oppression and numerous personal and family hardships in the process.

 

Thanks to God. Today we are setting up right the foundations for the new Somalia, starting with the grass-root level.

 

I am confident as a head of Puntland State that I can rely on you, and you will give me full support and co-operation to accomplish the above essential objectives.

 

In the meantime, I hereby present respectfully to you, my Council of Ministers and the Government program during the transitional period of 1998 - 2001. In this regard, nine Ministries have been created, with the intention to advance religious, political, security, economic, social and cultural affairs of Puntland State of Somalia.

 

Your Excellencies,

 

Once again, I salute you. I hope that Allah will assist you in  your new endeavors and responsibilities that the communities you represent entrusted in you.

 

Thank you!

 

 

political PROGRAM

external relations

1.  Puntland State shall respect and endorse all international principles and laws, and shall implement in its domain all international  treaties, agreements, and laws that previous Somali governments have lawfully entered into and signed in the interests of the People of Somalia.

2.  The Government of Puntland State endorses  and shall practice The United Nations Charter, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Convent of  Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Moreover, Puntland State shall strongly abide and fully implement the organisational and regional charters such as those of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), The Arab League,  Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and IGAD.

Puntland  State believes that conflicts and disputes that prevail in many areas of the world can be solved by dialogue and by peaceful negotiations between parties concerned.

 

Puntland State is strongly interested to have good relations with the International Community, in general and the neighboring countries, in particular.

 

A.    Security and Political Affairs.

 

The prolonged and destructive Somali Civil War has caused the loss of lives of thousands of people and the destruction of the socio-economic system as a whole and displacement of hundreds of thousands to the extent that this dispersal is the today’s  "Somali Diaspora".

 

Furthermore, we have inherited from the civil war that followed general confusion and apathy, a loss of psychological  balance, loss of hierarchical discipline of society, lack of conformity to  religious and cultural norms, and violation of law and order. Worse of all the most dangerous the after-effect of the civil war was the fact that all weapons indiscriminately fell into the hands of irresponsible youngsters, who unlawfully used them as a means of economic resources, and who in the pursuit of that objective terrorized, robbed and hijacked innocent people..

 

Although, this instability greatly affected all areas of Somalia, nevertheless, Puntland State was relatively calm and more peaceful, more cohesive and when compared with the other regions of the country. The prevailing relative stability and more peaceful atmosphere attracted thousands of people outside its original indigenous groups,  to Puntland,  which doubled the socio-economic and security burdens of this area.

 

Therefore, recognizing the importance of peaceful environment, the Government of Puntland State, shall focus on and give first priority to  SECURITY, and shall immediately restore law and order in its domain of administration,  by re-establishing legal enforcement organs such as  Police force, courts and prisons. To fulfill these objectives the government shall carry out the following steps ;

 

1.      The Government shall immediately create a strong Police force, which can enforce the legal norms and safeguard the security of Puntland State. This Police force shall consist of two major segments :-

a.   Local Police :   The local Police is the peace enforcement institution largely concerned with the maintenance of law and order in urban set-ups.

b.   Border Police:  Darawish Police Force whose function is to protect and safeguard the general security of Puntland State, including the rural areas and Sate boundaries.

The Police force shall be selected from the former trained national police force, trained militia and suitable citizens.

 

There should be disarmament and demobilization of militia and the general public by designing specific schemes and program related to retraining, and job creation as an effort to overcome the disastrous effects of the civil war. In General, since peace and security are prerequisites to viable socio-economic development, Puntland State Government shall focus on and put all possible emphasis on the issue of security. The Government shall establish communication networks for demobilization and reorientation of  the masses, in particular, directed to the youth  such as radio programs, articles on in the news media as well as launching public debates on these issues. The Government will also plan programs for de-mining the lands of Mudug, Sool and Sanaag regions and Buuhoodle District.

 

B.    Decentralization system

 

1.      Puntland Government shall carry out decentralization of regional administrations in which the  masses participate in the decision-making process as illustrated in Article #18. of the Puntland Charter.

 

2.      The Government shall nominate a State Committee for population census and statistics for animal resources of Puntland State  as  illustrated in Article #28 of the Puntland Charter.

 

3.      After the completion of Puntland Constitution by the legislative body  (The House of Representatives), the Government shall establish a committee to carry out a countrywide  referendum on the draft constitution of Puntland State.

 

C.    National Reconciliation Process

 

Reconciliation efforts started in Djibouti in 1991 through Cairo in 1998, and all attempts and even signed agreements totally failed. Among the major reasons  for their lack of success in the process are:

 

1.      The major participants had no common ideology nor common framework of reference to be the basis for binding reconciliation and everlasting solutions.

 

2.      Some of the Somali faction leaders were demanding unjustifiable rights and unwarranted privileges as a condition for reconciliation.

 

3.      Foreign intervention has been diverting the real objectives of the negotiations and reconciliation.

 

Puntland Government and its people, however, are strongly concerned about the prolonged national disintegration and the absence of a central Government resulting in continuous enmity, mistrust, instability, socio-economic backwardness as the biggest obstacles to national reconciliation.

 

The fact that Puntland Government is the first regional administrative State of the Federal system of Somalia, it shall take pioneering steps towards the realization of a United Somalia, as illustrated and fully defined in Article #1 of the Puntland Charter.

 

Therefore, the Puntland Government will welcome an open and constructive dialogue and peaceful negotiations with any Somali group(s) with a similar regional administrative system, based on grass-roots support. The formula and framework which Puntland State believes in and endorses to be the basis for lasting reconciliation, reunification and re-establishment of a central government in Somalia are the following;

1.   To abandon the former administrative structure of Somalia which was the "top down approach"  and  replace with the "bottom up approach".

2.   The reconciliation process should start with neighboring  regional communities which still have unsettled disputes between them.

3.   Any faction or group who occupies by force any regions, districts, and/or areas should evacuate immediately and return to its indigenous people as the civil war began  in Somalia.

4.   All new planned aggressions towards any other territory should be immediately ceased.

5.   Private and public assets of the Somali nation unlawfully held by factions, groups and/or persons should be openly discussed and agreed upon on the mechanism and timing for their return as among the first conditions for national reconciliation.

6.   To establish separate regional administrative states with common ethnic, geographical or cultural base as an  objective foundation of a future Federal Somalia.

7.   To negotiate for  an objective and realistic power sharing formula between all parties concerned.

8.   The Future Capital City of the Central State should be a subject for negotiation and a bargain chip in the power-sharing formula. Such City must have special legal status to prevent  any future claim by a state in the federation or clans in the vicinity of the Capital..

Given the above terms are accepted as basis for national reconciliation, the Government of Puntland State is willing and  prepared to sit down with any interested party ies) for reunification of Somalia, and shall establish an office in this regard.

 

 

 

 

D.    Puntland State and its Neighbors

 

Among the founding principles of Puntland State is to live peacefully with the World, in general, and with other Somali parties, in particular. In this regard, the Charter of Puntland State clearly illustrates that the population of Puntland is a peace-loving one which is determined to peacefully co-exist with their neighbors.

 

Considering the close relations, intermarriages and cultural ties, physical and geographic proximity, and commercial inter-actions, Puntland Government is prepared to call and have brotherly dialogue with all neighboring communities on co-operation,  collaboration,  socio-economic development of  the sub-region. The State is committed to the protection and safeguarding of the workers of the international  community and local NGOs involved in the social welfare, regardless of their political views and ethnic identity.

 

Furthermore, Puntland State shall put emphasis on having direct communication with the neighboring regions such as North West Regions of Somalia.

 

 

ECONOMIC PART OF THE PROGRAM

 

The  people of Puntland are blessed with vast natural resources of which livestock and fisheries are the backbone of the economy. Animal husbandry and fishing are the main stay of the subsistence and the lifestyle of the population, most of whom are nomads and fishermen.

 

Live animals and fish products are the main exports of Puntland, thus providing foreign exchange to support the import capacity of the country; and , forming the basis of practically all trade and business activities, export and import.

Economic development and social progress in Puntland will be founded on policies plans, and strategies that are closely linked to animal husbandry and fisheries. Accordingly, the Government of Puntland will take the following steps, among the others :

 

1.   The Government will make urgent contact with the Government of Saudi Arabia to lift the ban imposed on Puntland livestock export by Saudi Arabia.

 

As fundamental policy, the Government :

 

a.   Supports free business enterprise and private ownership of property.

b.   Welcomes private foreign investment, separately, and/or in partnership with Puntland citizens, and will grant legal protection (i.e. security, transfer of capital and profits), and other appropriate facilities such as land and licensing permits.

Among the primary duties of the Government of Puntland are the development and the protection of the natural resources of the country, among which are livestock, fisheries, environment, and minerals.

 

A.   LIVESTOCK

 

Live-stock is the first pillar of the economy in Puntland. For this reason, the Government will soon take steps for the development of the general live-stock industry, including measures to

safeguard the quality of  the animals exports, and indeed other exports of Puntland for that matter :

 

1.   The Government will develop animal health services in order to establish

internationally accepted Health Certificates for livestock export from Puntland State.

2.   The Government will protect and improve the environment for animal husbandry,

grazing, water resources etc.

3.   As a matter of urgency, the Government will prohibit, by law, the export of female and uncastrated animals.

4.   The Government will soon prohibit, by law, trading in and  the import of certain

industrial products that have been classified as harmful to the environment and livestock such as certain plastic materials.

5.   The Government will reorganize the marketing system of livestock export, which is currently  under non-documentary trading in foreign markets and subsequently

eliminate business risks and financial heavy losses, e.g. lack of guaranteed prices and

payment through letters of credit, for example.

 

6.   The Government will initiate programs to secure International  markets for the

products of Puntland fishermen.

7.   The Government will encourage legal arrangement between the citizens of Puntland

State and  big international fishing companies for joint ventures. Such arrangements will require the on-shore establishment of fish processing plants and purchase of the output of local fishermen.

8.   The Government will take urgent and serious measures against the wide spread

poaching on Puntland seas by foreign fishing vessels, and  further follow up the suspicion of poisonous waste dumping in Puntland waters.

9.   The Government will soon put in place marine guards with appropriate equipment to safeguard Puntland seas marine resources.

 

B.   AGRICULTURE

 

Agricultural production in Puntland is generally small, although the potential for expansion exists in some of the regions. Aware of the special importance of agriculture for food production,  the Government will  :

 

1.   Provide technical services, training, and equipment to existing farmers, and encourage others to enter farming.

2.   The Government will encourage small mixed farming.

3.   The Government  will undertake extensive research programs concerning the

development and expansion of agricultural production.

 

C.    FOOD PRODUCTION

 

The Government will give serious attention to the encouragement of food production andrelating processing facilities with a view to attain food self sufficiency and food security  in the Puntland State. This should generally be based on the natural resources of Puntland, mainly livestock, fish and agriculture.

 

E.   INDUSTRY

 

1.   The Government of Puntland will encourage the establishment of industrial plants in the country, based on local natural resources in meat, hides, skins, milk, fish and gum products.

2.   The Government will soon rehabilitate  industrial plants which have been idle since the beginning of the civil war. In so doing, the Government will seek assistance from private businessmen.

3.   The Government will undertake  assessments  regarding industrial needs for water, power, industrial sites, etc.

4.   The Government will give all possible encouragement to local businessmen to create small scale industrial plants to help in job creation and the acquisition  of industrial skills.

5.   The Government will give preferential treatment to local industrial goods in  port

tariffs and other import charges.

 

F.   MINERALS

 

Even though no comprehensive investigation has yet been made on the minerals potential of Puntland, traces of many minerals are known to exist in the country. For this reason, the Government of Puntland will :

1.   Work towards agreements with International companies for mineral exploration in the country.

2.   Make contacts with the companies previously engaged in petrol exploration in the

country for them to resume operations with a view to explore the possibility and  exploit petroleum resources in the country.

3.   Put in place laws on the exploration of mineral and other natural resources of the

country for the development and protection of these resources.

 

G.   Energy

 

1.   The government will encourage the utilization of water, wind and Solar energies.

2.   The Government will increase the awareness through publicity of the population

regarding the use of more modern domestic stoves (Burjikooyin) to use energy from organic sources (Charcoal of the dry wood) more efficiently.

 

H.   Public Finance

 

There has been no organized public finance from the start of the Civil war in Somalia. But now that Puntland has been established as a regional Government of future Somalia,. it is necessary that the Government Finance:

1.   A budgetary framework which :-

a.   Balances revenues with expenditures.

b.   Identifies sources of revenues, tariffs, etc.

2.   The Government will soon reconsider the present tariff system and rates for the

country's export-import trade.

 

I.   Economic Agencies and Trade  

 

Public economic agencies serving trade and business have been non existent in Somalia, Puntland included. These include banks and insurance companies. To close this gap, the Government will encourage:

 

1.   The establishment of private Commercial banks and Insurance's, in order to create

saving and Loan facilities for the Citizens and Businessmen of Puntland.

2.   The Government will temporarily introduce measures to substitute for the absence of Banks and Insurance company to deal with the current difficulties facing our Businessmen, such as lack of International guarantees through confirmed letters of credit.

3.   The Government will  encourage the existing Chamber of Commerce to reactivate its functions.

4.   The Government will immediately establish a State Bank whose main function initially will be in the form of  Government Treasury. The Bank will initiate steps for ways and means to issue new notes to replace the aging  Somali banknote.

 

J.   Economic Infra-structure

The economic infra-structure of Puntland includes sea-ports, airports, roads, power stations, etc. ; These facilities all suffered the devastation of the civil war through lack of maintenance and non-completion of works pertaining to them particularly in the cases of Bosaso Port and Galka’yo Airport. To deal with these weaknesses the Government of Puntland will:

1.   Undertake maintenance works for the completion of Bosaso Port .

2.   The Government will undertake maintenance and extension works to the relatively bigger airports such as Galka’yo, Garowe, Bosaso, Las-anod and Baran.

3.   The Government will give special attention to the maintenance of the paved roads

which link the Regions of Puntland.

4.   The Government will, as a matter of  urgency, re-organize the management of an

strengthen the security of ports, airports and roads.

 

THE SOCIAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM OF PUNTLAND STATE OF SOMALIA

 

I.          Institutions of Social Control

 

The Social behavior of a given Society is generally controlled by the Cultural, religious and the legal structures that exist. Therefore, aside from local cultural values and  religion, jurisprudence and the written laws are the major institutions of Social Control. These are the fundamentals for the continuation and the smooth running of societies. Therefore, realizing the importance of the  Institutions of social control, the Constitution of Puntland State makes the Judiciary System an independent state branch, and gives both the Supreme Court and Attorney General full Powers. However, the Ministry of Justice and Religious Affairs has been largely created for co-ordination and linkage with different functions and grades of the judicial system in one hand and the executive administrative apparatus on the other hand .

 

Further more, Puntland Government will ascertain that justice is served and that proper manifestation of the legal  system reach every member of the society, and insure equal rights and equal opportunities for all regardless of sex , regional residence, political ideology and Philosophical view points:

 

To realize the above objectives,  Government shall implement the following:

 

1.                     To serve justice, and provide legal equality to all citizens which the Islamic religion constitutes.

2.                     To promote religious education by:

 

a) Raising the standards of the syllabus of religious education of both formal and informal, public or private.

b) Creating an Institute of Religious Studies as a source of religious knowledge and clarifies  complicated religious and sharia issues.

c) Raising the levels of education of the personnel of the judicial system and men of religion.

d) Conducting public awareness programs on the proper practice of religion and true manifestation of Islam.

 

3.  Respecting and fully implementing the Charter, strengthening and practicing other laws of the State, UN and other International Laws, treaties and agreements and specifically conforming to human rights laws such as personal rights of the individual, the freedom of expression, respect of political ideology, protection of private properties,  etc.

II.      Social Services

 

Puntland State shall attempt to re-activate and improve all necessary  Social Services, that have been neglected in the past and have been brought to stand-still during the eight years period of national disintegration. Social service institutions and programs that require immediate and priority attention are the following.-

            Education

            Health

            Labor and Personnel

            Youth and Sports

            General Communications ( Land, Sea, Air and Telcom).

            Water and Electricity

            Culture Heritage

            Social Welfare

 

            However, of all these social services, education and health  are the fundamental institutions since they affect the lives of the Population and the basis for economic prosperity, they deserve the most attention.

 

A.      Education

 

Education is essential and is high priority of the state, and is the key factor to the maintenance of knowledge and special skills that give the individual the ability, development of character and mental capacity.  Educational system can be defined as the factory producer of the nation’s manpower (  Intellect or skilled Labor). It’s the basis of national human resources, the determinant and major contributor of the socio-economic development of the country.

 

However, for some time the quality of education of the country as a whole was low, and has been in limbo since 1980's and was totally destroyed and brought into stand still during the disintegration period.

 

Therefore, the Puntland Government shall put emphasis on the restoration, quality of education in general, and to realize these objectives, the State shall take the following steps:-