“Muse Bihi Abdi Selective Transparency Is Not Accountability
Calls for the public disclosure of sensitive diplomatic negotiations are unconvincing when they ignore Somaliland’s own established practice. During previous administrations, including under President Muse Bihi Abdi, several consequential memoranda of understanding were negotiated and signed without full public disclosure at the time.
Most notably, the January 1 2024 memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia granting long term coastal access and potential military and commercial arrangements in exchange for steps toward recognition was never published in full. The public learned only partial details through official statements and external commentary, while the core legal text remained confidential due to its strategic and security implications.
Similarly, the 2017 military and security agreement with the United Arab Emirates which enabled the establishment of a foreign military base in Berbera and included extensive security and economic provisions was not released in full to the public at the time of signing. The same pattern applied to port and security arrangements linked to Berbera in subsequent years.
Even Somaliland’s engagements with Taiwan including early cooperation frameworks following the opening of representative offices were governed by memoranda whose operational details emerged gradually rather than through immediate full disclosure. This reflected diplomatic caution not secrecy for its own sake.
These examples establish a clear precedent. Diplomatic negotiations involving recognition military cooperation or strategic alignment are not conducted in public especially when Somaliland faces active hostility and external pressure. That reality did not change with a change of administration.
If confidentiality was justified then it cannot now be selectively condemned. Demanding transparency only after leaving office is not principled accountability. It is political inconsistency. One cannot govern by discretion and later campaign by disclosure.
This is not about personalities. It is about credibility standards and institutional responsibility. Those standards must apply equally before office during office and after.”
By Calikhadar Xasan Cismaan (Cali-kubbad).