Turjumaad ayaa la diyaarinayaa

By Mohamed Abdi Mohamud (Xalwad)

There is a quiet assumption embedded in how Somalia is covered, that what matters happens in major cities, along tarmac roads, and within reach of international cameras. Bosaso and Galkacayo receive their share of attention. But what of the districts that lie beyond the paved road? What of the communities that have built something remarkable, largely unseen?

In late April of this year, the Association of Local Governments of Puntland (ALGAPL) conducted an outreach mission to five member districts; Bosaso, Galkacayo, Baargaal, Ufayn, and Eyl. It is the latter three that I wish to write about. They are mid-sized districts, each sitting off the main tarmac road, each requiring hours of difficult travel to reach. And each one carried a story that deserves to be told.

What I found was not what many would expect. These are not struggling outposts waiting to be rescued. They are, in many ways, models of community-driven development, of social cohesion, and of what decentralisation can look like when it quietly works.