Why blame thyself while you can blame the president (Rayale)

Distinguished readers, before I get into details, let me turn your attention to the following quote:


“Democracy is a process by which people are free to choose the man who will get the blame”.
Laurence Peter.

Is there any truth in it? I don’t know about you, but to me, in its translated Somaliland version, there is truth in it. As a matter of fact it appears that the idea of putting the blame on the President for all the everyday problems is becoming the ritual of the day.

In Somaliland, it seems that our people have developed a unique mythology about democracy. The unique Somaliland form of government is where you can directly blame the President for anything. In contrast, no blame goes neither to those elected to represent the public in the parliament nor those authorities in the federal, regional and local governments. The blame of any thing that gets wrong, big or small goes on to the president. And his Excellency gets no praise for any thing done right. To me, it smells like a one man show. In respect to the quote and as practiced, it is fair to say then, since Rayale was elected democratically, according to the Somaliland public mythology, we all have the constitutional right to put all blames squarely on to him.

The world respects the position (president) as the highest and puts value on the title. But in Somaliland, it seems that all the value and respect associated with the presidency is stripped off and that the office is changed to the federal bureau of blames where people (public and private) get relief and comfort. In Somaliland there seems to be no form of government structure in between the President and the public. Therefore, the President is directly responsible for everything. President Dahir Rayale is/was blamed for many things. Check out some of the many blames that usually go or have gone on to his highness, the President of the Somaliland Republic:

The lack of recognition of Somaliland by the world, the blame goes directly to the president. The retreat of the Somaliland forces from Dhahar, the blame went to Rayale. The affects of Sool and Sanaag topography and weather, the blame was pushed to the President. The hostile environment in Dhahar as exposed by the former minister of defense, as usual, the blame was pushed to Rayale. Burglar in Hargeisa, the blame goes on to Rayale. Miscarriage in Burco, Rayale gets the blame. Domestic family dispute in Berbera, the President gets the blame. The ill-advice of the fortunate boys in Hargeisa (the cabinet) to the President, Rayale gets the blame. The misjudgments of the authorities of the different governments, the President gets the blame. The price of qaad goes up because of unforeseen circumstances, the President gets the blame. Too much noise in the streets of Hargeisa, the president gets the blame. The public don’t respect the traffic laws in all the big cities; President Rayale is there for the blame. A verbal conflict in the mijilises of Borama, the president is blamed. Garbage in the streets and roads of every city and town, the blame goes to Rayale. It Looks like Somalilanders have discovered an easy way to squarely put the blame on the president.

Being a human, I make mistakes every now and then. Recently, I seem to be getting tired of blaming myself for every thing that gets wrong. I have been looking for a person to blame for all my problems. I learned from my fellow Somalilanders. I chose to fellow the fast track and put the blame on the president for all my problems. Mr. President, with all due respect, from now on I decided to play the game like any other Somalilander. Sorry Mr. President I have no choice but to blame you for all my wrong doings. I will keep the praise for the good, but you will have to get the blame for any thing that gets wrong. Yes, why not? Every body does it and I am of no exception. I want to jump into the comfort zone and have fun. After all I elected you for that Mr. President

My recent article about the SNM crimes generated a lot of response. I received e-mails in the tens in which there were both praises and insults. I was accused of supporting you just because of you being an Awdal native. You got it Mr. President, I blame you for that. Some accused me of supporting you because of me being your nephew, you can append that on the blame list my President. I was accused of being a triblist; you squarely get that blame Mr. President. I lost my car keys this morning, I blame you for that too Mr. President because every body in Somaliland blames you for any thing that happens and I am a Somalilander and elected you, I therefore have every right to put the blame on you. One of my customers withdrew a contract for advertisement in my magazine this morning, I blame that on you Mr. President because you were blamed for the withdrawal of the Somaliland forces, both withdrawals seem to be identical and I have to blame you too. One of my business consultants advised me on a marketing strategy which did not work well as planned and I blame you for the failure because you are always blamed for the ill-advice of your ministers, the advice from my consultant is of no different, I therefore, have to blame you Mr. President.

Mr. President, I blame you for the “all in one” like a shampoo policy that Somalilanders practice. Mr. President, you did not train your citizens to know the different entities of the Somaliland communities. The separate and different entities of Isaq and Gadabursi being tribes, SNM being a group, Somaliland being a country and your Excellency being the elected President of the country. The blame is on you Mr. President because, had you trained the public how different these entities are, they would have known that each one of the entities is separate and has nothing to do with the other and I would not have received the many e-mails and would not have been accused for the many senseless accusations. Had you trained them Mr. President, they would have dropped the notion of “either with us or against us” a long time ago and Somalilanders would have a healthy debate on anything with respect and dignity.

Mr. President, I hope you will forgive me for putting all the blames on you, believe me sir, I have no choice but to do what all the Somalilanders are doing. Remember Mr. President as they say “do as the Romans do.” I hope that you will agree with me to blame you rather than blaming myself.

All in all, to any Somalilander where ever you are, if you have any problems, get the fast relief and blame President Rayale but remember to keep the praise of anything good for yourself. Always Keep in mind that:

“Democracy is a process by which people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.”

You elected President Rayale, he is all yours, get the fast relief, go ahead, make his day, and have a glorious time blaming the President for all that is wrong with your world. For sure you will find it very therapeutic.

P/S if you don’t like what I wrote, please don’t bother to write to me, get into the zone of comfort, join in the fun and put the blame where it belongs,,,,, blame the President.


Suleiman Abdi Dugsiye
Ottawa