Cadde Muse Administers a Final Blow to Pro-Puntland Lascanooders

Cadde Muse Administers a Final Blow to Pro-Puntland Lascanooders

Finally, the charade came to an end yesterday. After months of chest beating and bellicose promises to bring back Laaska into Puntland fold come hell or high water, Cadde Muse admitted finally what everybody knew: there was a secret agreement between Puntland and Somaliland conceding to the latter full administrative and political over the entire Sool region. This groundbreaking revelation created a political upheaval inside the Puntland parliament with several MP openly calling for the president resignation for what they perceived as national treason. Certainly, one can understand Pro-Puntland Lascanooders confusion and outrage over Cadde confession and his rather convoluted responses. After all, they have been taken for a ride since in retrospect the so-called military exercises to recapture Lascanood were merely deceptive posturing. But in all fairness Cadde Musse gave plenty of time to the naïve and gullible Pro Puntland Lascanooders in order to fully understand that his administration did not include the SSC region. For the record, let’s revisit some of these earlier signs.
- 1- Upon Abdillahi Yusuf resignation from Puntland presidency in July 2004, Cadde Musse went on to the record by claiming that SSC citizen Abdi Hassi was not entitled to lead Puntland because “he hailed from a peripheral region”. Then, Cadde threatened to take up arms if Hashi was allowed to even add one day to Yusuf presidential term even if the regional government was at the time in a state of military stalemate with Somaliland over Lascanood. The culmination of these clannish pressures ultimately led to Abdi Hashi humaliateling defeat in January 2005.
- 2- Cadde Muse failed to go to Lascanood to pay a decent tribute to the late beloved SSC Garaad Abdi Qani upon his in 2006, ostensibly citing urgent meetings with Abdillahi Yusuf in Mogadishu. Even if a mere couple of months earlier, all Sool Garaads respectfully attended the deceased Islaan burial in Garowe. And to add insult to injury, Puntland VP, Lascanooder Afqudhac, was prevented to attend Garaad Qani burial whereas all elders from Burco to Erigavo respectfully convened in Lascanood. My fellow Lascanooders did not forget this utmost humiliation and the subsequent visit of Adde was met with fierce popular uprising.
- 3- Cadde Muse failed to stand up for SSC people human rights when two of my fellow Lascanooders were killed unarmed and shackled inside a Garowe jail. This unprecedented act of savagery went completely unpunished and was a command of Hassan Abshir (a would be Puntland president). Indeed, once he learned that one of his clansmen were allegedly killed by two SSC officers, Mr Abshir came from Mogadishu in order to teach Lascanooders “ to live in dread fear of the noble men of Garowe”. We know the rest. And worse of all, this abominable was enacted when Sool Garaad were precisely in Garowe following the Garowe Islaan . The Somali adage Nimaad kabihiisa tolaysaa kafantaada tolaya could not find a better illustration. Ironically enough, in an unrelated event, the ers of a SSC officer were by freed force from the same Garowe jail by Hassan Abshir clansmen a few months later. Talk about a shameful double standard. The message sent wouldn’t be clearer: the life of SSC citizen is not worth much in Garowe.
- 4- After the y fight in Addi Caddey in October 2004, Cadde Muse commander in chief, colonel Caddhays, without consulting any SSC elder, decided to put an end to the military standoff with Somaliland. And in an uncalled form act of contempt, Cadhays went to say that no SSC land is worth fighting for.
5- Cadde Musse systematically maintained a strict discrimination against SSC officers inside the military. No SSC man was allowed to have full authority on any given brigade as Lascanooders were routinely cantoned to deputy commander positions. SSC officers had their loyalty constantly questioned and their military actions symmetrically denied. Case in point, during the last Puntland military blowout, only two officers, both from SSC, distinguished themselves on the filed: General Saciid Shoodhe and Coloned Jaamac Yare. In reward, Cadde Musse put the blame of Lascanood defeat squarely on Shoodhe shoulders who was subsequently removed from any leadership position and transferred to Garowe. Meanwhile, Jaamac Yare, who was until recently viewed as the most able to take on Puntland military leadership, was unexpectedly removed from the new Puntland military hierarchy put forward by Cadde Musse earlier this month. Therefore, it is not surprising that another mythical SSC officer, Yusuf Quuje, chose to abandon the apartheid minded Puntland army and to add his contribution to the development of his hometown Lascanood.

Undoubtedly, Cadde Musse give SSC people numerous heads up when it comes to his views on Puntland composition. What he said yesterday inside Puntland parliament is hardly a surprise. As the old Somali adage, doqonto adkeega ku dhufo hadii kalee iyada ku dhufo, and indeed for too long, Pro Puntland Lascanooders have chosen to remain deaf and dumb in the face of mounting evidences. The only reason adde Muuse let the charade “Lascanood is part of Puntland” go unchecked is that he needed to sell out Sool natural resources to foreign interest. If Cadde Muuse can today afford a multimillion house in Dubai, and if Garowe can today aspire to become the Dubai of East Africa (Cadde own words), it is clearly because the hefty upfront payment from Range resources has been used to that effects. There was a time in my childhood when trucks traveling the Lascanood- Galcayo corridor did not stop in Garowe because the Nugaal capital region was deemed too small. Before leaving Laaska, children were frequently asked to visit the washrooms because the next stop would be Galkayo.
Mohamed Sougal
www.soolsomaliland.blogspot.com