The chairman of the umbrella of civil society organizations, SONSAF, Mr. Anwar Abdirahman Warsame, welcomed the recent meetings held by Somaliland parties describing them as a positive way forward.
He pointed out that the roundtable inter-party meetings were necessary to guide the country towards the elections for the presidency and political parties scheduled for November 24th at the end of this year 2024.
The chairman of SONSAF said this in a statement he issued and published on their Facebook website. It read as follows:-
“The meeting and the understanding reached by the national political parties in the last few days is one that reflects the interest of the nation and is based on the facts and circumstantial needs in Somaliland today, hence is an important step that will ultimately lead the country to elections held on time.
“I once again congratulate the national political parties for showing patriotism and courage, underlining once again that the only way Somaliland can move forward is through dialogue, listening, persuasion, and unity.
“I hope that the processes of the elections will be completed so that the country can overcome the controversy of the elections that has been going on for a long time.” End.
Somaliland’s political parties, UCID, KULMIYE and WADDANI, held a tripartite meeting in Hargeisa, and the meeting discussed the issues of preparation for the elections and how all stakeholders could have the same view on the ongoing activities and the draft items that need to be completed.
The meeting was attended by most of the leaders and officials from the three parties led by the Chairman of the KULMIYE Party, who is the Minister of Internal Affairs Hon. Mohamed Kahin Ahmed, Chairman of the UCID Party Eng. Faisal Ali Warabe and Deputy Chairman of WADDANI party.
UCID party chairman Eng. Faisal Ali Warabe, who shared the points they discussed with the media, said that they agreed that the interests of the nation should be taken care of, that free and fair elections should be held, and that any disagreements that arise should not be discussed in the media.
He said. “We have agreed to have a united front for the common good and interest of the nation, to have a smoothly clean, free and fair election, avoid conflicts and any disagreements that arise should not be passed on to the media but addressed through a standing ethical committee such that the populaces may not be divided or polarized”.
He noted that they have had the understandings that hate speeches or malice should not be disseminated but they urged for sobriety.
In the same breath, the UCID chair said that the message they had for the nation was that conflicting and thorny differences has been addressed and put and set aside and that they have joined hands to pave for the best way forward.
The Chief Commander of the National Police Force Major General Mohamed Adan Saqadi, met with the General Command of the Police Force and the heads of the line international organization.
The meeting between the police chief and the organizations was attended by the leadership of the police training division, senior commanding officers and the head of international relations.
The Somaliland police chief gave a detailed report on the activities of the police force, and urged them to always show their efforts and cooperation to the police forces, and thanked them for responding to their calls.
There was also a discussion about the acceleration and strengthening of cooperation between the agencies and the Somaliland Police Force, and how to bolster further the full support they always give.
Somaliland Aviation Authority reports The Emirates UAE722 and Ethiopian Airline flight ETH690 barely missed a collision at 37,000 feet on March 24, 2024, at 12:43 AM East Africa Time. A harrowing near-miss occurred when Mogadishu Control gave both aircraft erroneous directives to meet at the same time & location.
The following statement was issued today by the Somaliland Aviation Authority
On the night of Sunday, March 24, 2024, around 12:43 in East Africa, an Emirates Airways flight UAE722 flying at an altitude of 37,000ft, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight ETH690 at an altitude of 37,000ft almost collided. after Mogadishu Control gave these two planes the same time and place where they were meeting.
A few minutes before the collision, the efforts made by the Somaliland Air Traffic Controllers and the pilot of the Ethiopian Airlines caused the pilot to quickly change his altitude and climb to 39000ft.
Not only that, the air traffic controllers in Mogadishu (Mogadishu Controllers) regularly make mistakes like these, which are a threat to the safety of international flights.
The Republic of Somaliland is highly skilled in managing the planes flying in its airspace with enough service they need, while always correcting the mistakes made by Mogadishu, those mistakes can lead to huge disasters.
We share with international agencies and the whole world that the stubbornness and lack of knowledge seen in the Mogadishu Tower is a threat to the safety of the air.
Here you can listen to the controller in Mogadishu reprimanding and blaming the pilot, saying why did you take the order from someone else.
Sahra Halgan, a self-taught gun-toting nurse, turned into one of Africa’s biggest rock stars after giving up her dreams to fight against Somalia’s dictator. She realized that her voice was just as powerful as her bandaging skills, providing comfort to injured fighters. She returned to Somaliland in 2013 to help rebuild her homeland, but tensions in Somaliland have not disappeared. She demands support from the UK and questions whether attitudes to Islam are delaying progress and recognition.
Below is an article published by The Telegraph
Sahra Halgan: The Gun-Toting Nurse Who Became One Of Africa’s Biggest Rock Stars
Sahra Halgan gave up her dreams to fight against Somaliland’s vicious dictator. Now, she’s on the warpath
By Etan Smallman
In the late 1980s, Sahra Halgan gave up her dreams of becoming a singer to join Somaliland’s independence movement, becoming a self-taught, gun-toting nurse tending to injured fighters.
But she soon realized that just as powerful as her newfound bandaging skills was the comfort she could provide with her voice.
“I don’t know why, but the people injured by gunshots – the pain was coming at night,” she recalls from her home in Hargeisa, the capital of the Republic of Somaliland. “We didn’t have anything at that time – no painkillers, no antibiotics. And I said we would sing together. Song is not just for the concerts, for the festivals, to become rich. The song becomes the medical supplies, it becomes the army, it’s everything.”
It was during this time that Sahra Ahmed Mohamoud earned her moniker Halgan – meaning fighter – that she took as her stage name.
Her unbridled faith in the potency of performance is written through every note of her third album, released on March 29. Titled Hiddo Dhawr (Preserve Culture) – the same name as the music venue she established a decade ago in her home city – it is a pulsating fusion of Somali folk and French rock, full of rough guitar riffs, palpitating percussion, and vintage keys.
It’s first single – Sharaf – is, the 53-year-old singer says, “a hymn to the pride and dignity of the human being”. It opens with her waving her national flag, with “I [heart] Somaliland” printed along its central white stripe. The state is still unrecognized by the international community.
After gaining independence from the UK in 1960, Somaliland – a territory in the Horn of Africa – only existed as a sovereign entity for five days before it was absorbed into the Republic of Somalia (which had also gained its independence, from Italy).
In 1969, General Mohamed Siyad Barre took power via a military coup, and by the late 1980s, a recession fueled internal turmoil, while Barre’s regime became more authoritarian, bombing his own people. At the same time, the anti-Barre Somali National Movement (SNM) in Somaliland took up arms and fought for independence.
Halgan supported the SNM rebels, but in 1991 – after Hargeisa was turned to rubble – she fled first to Djibouti, and then on to France.
Halgan and her band CREDIT: Xavier Courraud
Halgan had started to become famous in her home country, but in Europe, she was a nameless refugee. “No one knew who I was. I became a cleaner, I worked helping disabled people.”
She raised five children – now in their 20s and 30s – and formed a trio with drummer and percussionist Aymeric Krol (founder of French-Malian band BKO Quintet) and guitarist Maël Saletes, who she met in Lyon. All her songs are in Somali, but her French bandmates provide backing vocals.
She returned in 2013 keen to help rebuild her homeland. But tensions in Somaliland have not disappeared. For the first couple of years after she opened Hiddo Dhawr – a complex of traditional Somali huts – it was the only music venue in the city and she had local religious men arriving to try to close her down. Her response was straightforward: “I said to them, ‘during the civil war, I was a singer and my song became a medical tool, and then where were you? At that time, we needed you – where were you?’ And he didn’t give me an answer. I said, ‘leave me alone.’”
Halgan – who began singing at age 13 – is used to people trying to silence her voice. Her mother’s father was a singer, but her father’s family “don’t like it – until now. They said ‘Now you have a child, you have a daughter, why do you sing?’ And then I say, ‘I love to sing – it’s no problem.’ But they said, ‘When you stop to sing? I said, I tell you on that day.’” That day does not look like it will be coming very soon.
Halgan mentions the UK’s history with Somaliland—the British protectorate was established in 1884—and says: “The people of Britain, I demand support for our cause.” She asks whether it is attitudes to Islam that are delaying progress: “What is preventing us from being recognized? It is our right. We got our independence in 1960. We need a reason why we aren’t recognized, if it’s not because of religion. What is the world waiting for? We can do this but what are they waiting for from us? I don’t know. They must respond.”
Singer Sahra Halgan
However, she has lost none of her belief in the liberating capacity of music. “When you sing, everybody comes to see you and is laughing and dancing,” she says. “In this world now, everything divides people, [whether] it’s political, religious, [or] financial. But we have only one thing to bring us together. It’s music.”
Sahra Halgan’s new album, Hiddo Dhawr, will be released on 29 March
Somaliland’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, held a conference on the translation of the basic five regulations of fuel production that is expected to last for six months.
Regulatory rules such as, National Subject Fuel Regulations, Information Resource Management Regulations, HSE Fuel Regulations, Fuel Measurement Regulations and General Regulations for Fuel Upgrades are the basics concerned.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Saeed Ahmed Jibril, the technical adviser for the Oil Affairs, Saeed M. Dama’, Eng. Mahmoud Jamac (Jabali), the director of the Ministry of Planning, Muna Abdillahi, the director of the Oil Department, Yusuf Muse, and several engineers from the Oil Department.
The meeting was opened by the Director of the Petroleum Department, who informed about the importance of the reformation and the translations of the said regulations, which contributes to the attraction of investment in natural resources such as oil exploration and production, as well as the accountability of companies in agreements with the government.
Eng Saeed Dama’ and Eng Mahamud Jabali, also gave suggestions and added how important it is to establish the laws and regulations of the country’s fuel.
At the end, the meeting was closed by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry Saeed Ahmed Jibril who spoke in depth about the importance of the country having the rules and regulations complete, and its importance in investiture. He urged the engineers and experts concerned complete the tasks in focus timely.
A delegation of Hargeisa local government has represented the nation Taiwan in an international exhibition conference.
The international conference known as “Smart Cities Summit and Expo” was officially opened in Taipei, Taiwan, which was attended by officials from the local government of Hargeisa, which included the Director of the Planning and Development Department of the local government, Khadar Yusuf Ali, civic Cllr. Yasin Omar Abdi and Cllr. Jamal Osman Abdillahi.
The international exhibition, which is important for the exchange of knowledge and experiences on the development of cities, was attended by representatives from different cities of the world, international companies engaged in the creation of modern technology, specialized experts and various urban officials from all over the world.
It focuses on collaboration, sharing of innovations, and accelerating the implementation of high-tech solutions to address the challenges of the world’s cities, climate change, reducing air pollution, greening and modernizing global urban towns.
In conclusion, Taiwan is a country with which Somaliland has a healthy cooperative relationship, both educational and economic, in which they cooperate on cultural and economic issues on both sides.
A delegation from FAO and the European Union went on a working trip to Togdeer Region and inspected the farmers in Beer and Kabadeere.
The Co-ordinator of the Ministry of Agricultural Development in Togdeer region, Abdirisaaq Abdillahi Ibrahim who led the delegation, gave a report to the officials of the FAO and the European Union on the agricultural production of the areas they inspected and also gave briefs on the plans to increase agricultural production in the region.
The coordinator of the CadRE project that the Ministry is conducting in Togdeer, Mohamud Jama, also explained the mode of the activities of the project carried out in Togdeer.
Some of the farmers in Beer and Kabo-deere areas expressed their appreciation for how the Ministry of Agriculture Development and its partner organizations are standing by the farmers, praising the efforts of the Coordinator of the Ministry of Agriculture in Togdeer.
On the other hand, the head of the FAO organization in Somaliland and Somalia, the head in charge of the European Union (EU) in Somaliland pointed out the importance of increasing agricultural production, such as the projects of the Ministry of Agriculture development saying that they will carry out agricultural projects in Togdeer region, based on the needs of farmers in Togdeer region.
Somaliland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rhoda J. Elmi, emphasizes the strategic importance of the Gulf of Aden for global trade, particularly for oil and gas shipments. She stresses Somaliland’s crucial role in safeguarding the waterway from piracy, terrorism, and other illicit activities despite limited resources.
In a post on her X account on Thursday, Ambassador Rhoda Elmi criticizes the “One Somalia” ideology, which she believes overlooks Somaliland’s peaceful and democratic aspirations and ignores its efforts to secure the Gulf of Aden. She argues that this ideology has failed to address piracy and terrorism effectively.
Ambassador Rhoda Elmi calls for international recognition of Somaliland’s sovereignty, arguing that this would strengthen the country’s ability to combat piracy and terrorism and contribute to regional stability. She warns that continued neglect of Somaliland could have negative consequences for the region.
Her statement reflects Somaliland’s desire for international recognition and its belief that it can play a significant role in ensuring the security of the Gulf of Aden.
The complete message of Ambassador Rhoda is provided below:
Recent events have proven the immense strategic importance of the Gulf of Aden to world trade, serving as a vital conduit for international trade, particularly oil and gas shipments to and from the Persian Gulf, destined for markets in Africa, Europe, and beyond.
Somaliland’s recognized strategic position and its extensive 850km coastline covering the southern end of this important waterway, as well as the efforts it has made to ensure the smooth flow of goods and energy resources passing through it, protecting it against piracy, terrorism, and other illicit maritime activities, albeit with limited resources are, oftentimes overlooked, by some in the international community who are increasingly set on pursuing a dangerous and destabilizing One Somalia ideology, that’s rife with historical regional conflicts and political instability.
This ideology is also in direct conflict with the peaceful, sovereign aspirations of the people of Somaliland.
Recent events also lay bare its shortcomings, as evidenced by recent piracy attacks on Mogadishu’s doorstep as well as sustained failures, over the past 17 years to effectively combat Al Shabaab.
Simply put, this policy produced little progress, and its continuation, unsustainable as it is, rewards failure, inhibits progress, encourages complacency and corruption, and could fuel instability in an already volatile region.
Henceforth, it is imperative for the international community, particularly those reliant, directly or indirectly, on the Gulf of Aden for their trade and energy needs, to revise their approach, start fostering genuine engagements with Somaliland based on mutual respect and the overdue recognition of its people’s sovereign, democratic aspirations. Any further neglect of Somaliland is simply untenable and could have negative consequences for our region and beyond.
Why is the current administration so stubbornly bent on propping up a sclerotic, untrustworthy regime in Somalia with little legitimacy and even less effectiveness?
by J. Peter Pham
Writing in this forum, Tibor P. Nagy, Jr. and Joshua Meservey made an eloquent case for why the agreement granting Ethiopia—the world’s most populous landlocked country—naval access on Somaliland’s 740-kilometer coastline “has the potential to benefit the entire Horn of Africa region, Egypt, and the security of the Red Sea.” If such is the case, why are some of the harshest criticisms of the deal coming from the U.S. government, with National Security Council director of strategic communications John Kirby describing the White House as “troubled” by it? The Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs also reiterated the State Department’s support for “Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” Alas, the case is another example of the foreign policy bureaucracy entrenching policy that is not only decidedly not in America’s interests but also appears hopelessly detached from any political realism.
Realpolitik must start with the facts. Somaliland was a British Protectorate that became independent on June 26, 1960 and received immediate recognition from three dozen states, including a congratulatory message from U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter. Five days later, the former Italian colony-cum-trust territory of Somalia received independence, and the two newly independent countries attempted a union that was so botched that it might have qualified for farce if the subsequent human toll had not made it tragic. As even the African Union Commission has acknowledged on two separate occasions, “The fact that the union between Somaliland and Somalia was never ratified and also malfunctioned when it went into action from 1960 to 1990 makes Somaliland’s search for recognition historically unique and self-justified in African political history. Objectively viewed, the case should not be linked to ‘opening a pandora’s box’” [italics in the original].
Since the de facto breakup between Somaliland and Somalia more than three decades ago, the two have gone along very different paths. Somaliland has largely succeeded in maintaining peace and security in its claimed territory and establishing a stable government based on one-person-one-vote elections. Unusual for the region, Somaliland’s incumbent presidents have been defeated at the polls, and the political opposition now holds the majority of seats in the legislature. Somalia, on the other hand, has undergone extended periods where its territory has been a haven for pirates and terrorists. Its so-called government can best be described as coopted, and the last election even approximating a “free and fair” contest with universal suffrage took place in 1969.
Given this context, there is no scenario remotely moored to reality under which the 5.7 million people in Somaliland—the majority of whom were born after Somaliland proclaimed its renewed independence in 1991 and have never lived under the “administration” of Somalia—would conceivably opt for a new union. Mogadishu’s claim to legitimacy could only be brought about by force, unleashing the conflict and bloodshed critics of the Ethiopia-Somaliland deal wish to avoid.
In fact, between the collapse of the Siad Barre dictatorship in early 1991 and the second term of the Obama administration, the United States did not recognize any government of Somalia until 2013. In 2010, a brief before the U.S. Supreme Court by then-Solicitor General Elena Kagan even went as far as to specify that while the United States supported “the efforts of the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] to establish a viable central government,” it “does not recognize the TFG as the sovereign government of Somalia.
Although the legal brief did not delve into detail, there were well-grounded strategic and international legal reasons for the United States’ position.
First, sovereignty carries with it not only rights but also obligations, many of which, notwithstanding the Obama administration’s 2013 facile recognition, the unelected regime in Mogadishu still struggles to meet in any meaningful sense. The Chief of the General Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, underscored this point in an Addis Standard interview: “the Ethiopian military controls around 60 percent of Somalia’s land mass,” enabling the so-called government to stay in Mogadishu, and that “if the Ethiopian Army were to withdraw, [he] doubted that the federal government would remain.”
Second, while recognition of the ineffectual regime in Mogadishu adds little to the fight against terrorism, without it, the United States and other allies in the effort would have a freer hand.
Third, the extent to which the Mogadishu regime and its forces are themselves penetrated by terrorists and other extremists is a subject deserving separate treatment. Somalia’s cabinet includes ministers like Mukhtar Robow (aka Abu Mansur), onetime deputy leader of the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab terrorist group (he left after losing a power struggle but has never renounced his ideological commitments) who once had a $5 million bounty on his head now rescinded at Mogadishu’s request. The security forces have also repeatedly proven susceptible to penetration and even cooptation by extremists. This past weekend’s attack by Al Shabaab gunmen on the SYL hotel in the most heavily fortified part of Mogadishu, close to the presidential compound, once again raised uncomfortable questions about the extent to which the regime’s security apparatus has been compromised.
Beyond its effectiveness, there is ample reason to be concerned about the Mogadishu regime’s diplomatic allegiances. While the representative of Somalia voted with the overwhelming majority of the United Nations General Assembly in 2022 to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, barely one year later, then-Foreign Minister Abshir Omar Jama traveled to Moscow to sign several agreements strengthening bilateral cooperation with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who promised to help “meet the material needs of the Somali army,” notwithstanding the UN arms embargo still in force on the country. China also considers the Mogadishu regime to be a key ally, especially given Somaliland’s strong ties with Taiwan, and Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has been quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry as pledging that, “Somalia firmly adheres to the one-China policy, remains an important strategic partner of China, and will continue to stand firmly with China and support China in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
All of this begs the question of why the current administration is so stubbornly bent on propping up a sclerotic, untrustworthy regime in Somalia with little legitimacy and even less effectiveness. Better relations with Ethiopia and Somaliland would contribute to regional security and prosperity.
Pulitzer-winning theater critic Walter Kerr once memorably dismissed an upstart actor as “suffering from delusions of adequacy.” Regrettably, the same can be said about the Washington bureaucracy’s dogged insistence on “one Somalia” when such an entity has not existed for more than three decades—a period now longer than the unhappy cohabitation between the former British Somaliland and Italian Somalia. Unfortunately, in the real world—where terrorism, conflict, and famine loom large over the Horn of Africa—such fantasies exact an all-too-heavy toll.
Ambassador J. Peter Pham, a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a Senior Advisor at the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy, is a former U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel and Great Lakes Regions of Africa.
