In this opinion article, The Betrayal Within: How Abdirahman Irro’s Presidency Is Being Deliberately Ruined, journalist and political analyst Harir Yasin argues that President Abdirahman Irro’s administration has been weakened by internal divisions, the controversy surrounding the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST), and broader concerns over governance, accountability, and leadership. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
By Harir Yasin
Introduction
Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi “Irro” entered Somaliland’s political stage as a man of promise, a reformist voice who pledged to restore credibility and accountability. Yet today, his presidency is collapsing under the weight of betrayal not from rivals, but from the very colleagues he empowered. Ministers, secretaries, and aides have turned governance into a racket, and Irro has stood silently, watching as his name is dragged through scandal after scandal.
The most explosive of these scandals is the proposed 2.5% GST tax, a measure that has united citizens and business owners in outrage. What should have been a fiscal reform has instead become a symbol of corruption, foreign interference, and deliberate sabotage of Somaliland’s economy.
The Inner Circle of Sabotage
Irro’s closest colleagues were entrusted with executing his vision. Instead, they have weaponized their positions against him. The Minister of Presidency, secretaries, and advisers have converted ministries into personal fiefdoms, where clan loyalty outweighs competence and corruption is the currency of power.
Every scandal that has erupted from nepotistic appointments to the “G+1” housing affair has been tied directly to Irro’s leadership. His colleagues understood that his reputation was his greatest asset, and by attaching their failures to his name, they ensured that his footsteps would be remembered as failures.
The GST Tax: A Burden on Citizens and Businesses
The introduction of the 2.5% GST tax on every sale has become the clearest symbol of this betrayal. Families already struggling with inflation see it as another hand reaching into their pockets. Traders and entrepreneurs warn that the tax will strangle commerce, forcing them to shut down operations. The business community has gone so far as to declare that by the first of August, they will close their businesses entirely if the GST is enforced.
This is not reform—it is economic sabotage. Instead of strengthening state revenue, the tax threatens to collapse Somaliland’s fragile private sector, alienating the very people who drive the economy.
The VIVA Scandal: Foreign Hands in Somaliland’s Taxation
Parliamentarian Abdikarim publicly revealed that the GST tax would not even be collected by the Ministry of Finance, but by a foreign company based in Bulgaria named VIVA. Allegations swirl that some of the shareholders of this company are cabinet ministers themselves.
If true, this is not taxation for the public good, it is taxation as a racket. A foreign firm, allegedly tied to insiders, would siphon money directly from Somaliland’s citizens and businesses, enriching elites while hollowing out the state’s fiscal sovereignty. The symbolism is devastating: Somaliland’s own government outsourcing its taxation to a foreign company, while ministers allegedly profit from the arrangement.
For citizens, this revelation confirmed their worst fears. The GST tax is not about reform, it is about exploitation. It is a scheme designed to enrich a few at the expense of the many, and Irro’s silence has bound his name to it.
The Leader Who Watches
What makes this betrayal extraordinary is not simply the treachery of colleagues but the silence of the leader himself. Irro has stood by, passive and unresponsive, as scandal after scandal unfolded. He has not dismissed those who ruined him, nor disciplined those who tarnished his name. His refusal to act has become indistinguishable from approval.
In politics, silence is never innocent. To watch corruption and sabotage without resistance is to endorse it. Irro’s refusal to confront his colleagues has allowed them to write the story of his presidency, and they have written it in the language of decay.
A Legacy in Ruins
Irro’s name, once synonymous with hope, is now inseparable from corruption, nepotism, and passivity. His silence has allowed others to define him, and they have defined him as weak, complicit, and incapable of defending his own vision. His colleagues have succeeded in deliberately ruining him, but his failure to act ensured that history will not absolve him.
The GST tax controversy, with its foreign company collector and alleged ministerial shareholders, is the clearest evidence yet that Irro’s colleagues are not merely incompetent—they are deliberately sabotaging him. And he, by doing nothing, has become the silent accomplice to his own destruction.
Conclusion
Abdirahman Irro’s downfall is not the work of rivals or fate it is the deliberate sabotage of his closest colleagues, amplified by his own silence. The GST tax scandal, with its foreign collector and alleged insider profiteering, is the final nail in the coffin of his credibility.
What began as a promise of renewal has ended as a cautionary tale: a leader who stood by while his trusted circle dismantled his legacy, leaving his footsteps tarnished beyond repair. His presidency will be remembered not for reform but for complicity, a stark reminder that leadership without accountability is indistinguishable from betrayal.
