Justice is not something confined to the situations where judges and juries handle certain cases. On the contrary it is a requirement for doing everything of any nature, characteristic, kind or crux of the matter. If it is Meritocratic, Fairness or Utilitarianism concepts of Distributive and Retributive theories of justice, you would never stumble upon a concept that contends elders of age and gives them exclusive rights with no cogent grounds whenever it comes to the question of who should make decisions at national, regional and local levels. Therefore, putting legal limitations in place for consolidating a democratic political system with so-called inclusive participation and rights to vote or to be voted for can be described as an imprudent and impulsive move.
The Municipal Elections Act (referred to as Law No. 20) has provisions in it such as article 34 which sets the minimum age for candidacy to be 35 years of age. This is contrary to the definition of youthful age in the National Youth Policy (15yrs to 35yrs). Thus, this means that only citizens beyond the youthful age have the right to be voted for. Therefore, this is either intentional or unintentional marginalization dared to be put in place by the law-makers. Youth are legally hindered to be part of the local councils. They are not allowed to be members of parliament and government council of ministers. The national constitution which is the most supreme reference does not allow for the youth to be in the parliament and in the government cabinet of ministers but not to be councilors in the city councils. The Somaliland National Youth Umbrella realized the difficulties attached to the amendment of the constitution in this current time and space. Because the constitution is silent on the age requirement of local government candidacy, it seemed strategic and practical to firstly focus on participating in the local governments. The Law No 20 campaign for lowering minimum age requirement by at least 8 years has already started and made itself on the top of political discussion. It is this issue that I'll attempt to analyze in this piece of writing.
Agreeably, it is marginal and unfeasible to spurn the youth to become actively and constructively involved in their own governance and to instill a sense of community ownership and cooperation in Somaliland's economical, social and political development.
As Somaliland has been struggling to rebuild the state, youth have been a major player in the reconstruction and took the most significant role in the process. This is an argument which I always draw whenever I am talking to the people and whenever I am writing on the stuffs related to the youth and their contribution to the reconstruction of Somaliland as a nation-state with hybrid democracy. I buoy up my argument with the facts you can easily notice when you study the contemporary history of Somaliland. SNM could not work, sustain its struggle and turn its dreams into reality without the imperative support of the youth. Somaliland could not embark upon the peace and stability initiatives without the endorsement of the youth who were holding guns and having heavy weaponry in their hands and militias' camps. The young militia men were those who obeyed their elders without conditions, put their guns down and managed to rehabilitate their selves. Again, they were those who dared to safeguard their nation by persevering the challenges of poverty and paucity of opportunities. This is remarkable fortitude and courage which really deserves meaningful acknowledgement. In the democratization process, youth are heroes worth to be noted and learned from. Without our youth, I doubt our elections would be successful as such. They were managing the voting process and at the same time were voting for the parties. They were conducting the parties' rallies and were looking after the stability and the peacefulness of the process. In this regard, let me give the credit to the youth and say to them you are really those who stood up and made our democratization process successful. Despite the immense contributions of the youth, there are numerous sociopolitical challenges faced by them which, if not addressed, may spoil their positive role. 75% of the youth society in Somaliland are unemployed and most of them have been unemployed for the last consecutive three years (this is what has been found out in a youth status survey conducted by the Somaliland National Youth Organization, SONYO Umbrella), our youth do not have appropriate places (youth centers) to come together, exchange their views and empower their selves. The education and health facilities are so limited. Geographically, Somaliland belongs to a region, namely horn of Africa, which is hostile and almost lacks law and order. Furthermore, terrorism, violence and chaos had become a permanent feature of this part of the world.
Therefore, taking all above-mentioned issues and facts into account, we must draw our attention to the situation and the demands of our youth. Is it right, logic or even prudent to censure the ambitions of the young talents in Somaliland and prevent the youth from participating in the municipal elections. To my idea, denying 70% of the population and keeping the majority of the population isolated and away from determining the future of this nation is not only unwise but also can serve as a stepping stone to a divergence which can lead the country to an anomalous direction.
Let me tie up the points I have marked in this article and underline my call to the elders, policy-makers and authorities of Somaliland and request them to give attention to the demands of the youth. The youth are today matured. They learned a lot and acquired practical experience in state-building. They can be entrusted to take the responsibility of making the future bright over their shoulders. Thus, they currently need to be allowed to participate in the local governments. If their demands are met and their ambitions are supported, then Somaliland would be truly a country which its entire citizens are eligible to vote (already possible for everyone) and to be voted for (currently not possible for the youth). As a result, this will consolidate the hybrid democracy we opted for running our nation and complete the democratization process.
I hope the members of the House of Representatives will realize the facts on the ground and stand up to give the youth the rights they truly deserve. I hope they will support the bill of Act 20/2011 amendment and remove the legal barriers and limitations in that Act.
Saeed M. Ahmed
SONYO Umbrella Executive Director
Youth Activist and Researcher
Hargeisa, Somaliland
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