The Mayor of Hargeisa Mr. Abdirahman Mahmoud Aided has today issued a stern warning to all unlicensed hawkers who have been blocking spaces used by pedestrian.
The Mayor who was speaking to the press in his offices announced that the city council will begin a massive cleaning campaign which aims to clear all passages which are part of the city drainage system before the raining season begins.
The Council man warned that the council won’t hesitate remove all those hawkers and unlicensed street vendors who have currently occupied spaces reserved for pedestrian and those who have erected structures used to do business without even paying one cent in form of taxes in newly refurbished pavements in the city center.
At the same the Mayor of Hargeisa urged city residents to depose off their trash in designated pickup locations so that the city garbage collection can easily pick up their trash in a bid to avoid blocking of city drainage system by resident garbage and to hazard caused to the environment and public health.
“The council campaign will kick off on Wednesday morning clear the city drainage system and we shall also spare no street in the city center”, he said.
Senior staff and junior employees garner essential skills which are in compliance with the international laws and regulations governing money transfer during a one day training season held at Mansoor Hotel.
The one day training session was undertaken by all departmental heads, supervisors, cahiers and tellers measures into place that counter international money laundering. It does this in several ways: it makes financial institutions undertake several new special measures against money laundering, Groups linked to terror, Drug traffickers, illegal Arms dealers and by restricting or prohibiting the use of certain types of bank accounts.
The head of money transfer section at Dahabshil Mr. Abdurrahman Ali Abdi urged the company highly trained staff to utilize the newly acquired skills while offering company’s service to the customers in accordance with the international conventional standards set for money transfer.
“Today’s training is part of a continuation of similar trainings the company staffs have undertaken in the past in regard with international money transfer rules and regulation, although this one is unique considering the fact it’s the first incompliance American requirements and also reiterates the money transfer company commitment to provide protections, including disclosure requirements, and error resolution and cancellation rights, to consumers who send remittance transfers to their families ,relatives or businesses in a foreign country,” he stated.
Mr. Abdurrahman Ali Abdi on behalf of Dahabshil International thanked Mr. Ali Mohamed Goodir and Mr. Mohamed Ali Nuur AKA Siddiq who is in charge of Dahabshil branch in Minnesota, USA for organizing and facilitating todays training.
Also present at the one day training event were the Governor of Somaliland Mr. Abdi Dirir Abdi who lauded the company’s management for their efforts in making sure staff at every level in the financial institution undertook the crucial training which not only serves the company’s interests but those of the national well.
The Governor of Somaliland Central Bank also reminded the trainees to be vigilante while executing the daily duties when it comes to the monitoring and the identification in detecting would be in breach of international regulations such money launders, drug money and human traffickers and that they’re dealt with thus making sure genuine customers are safeguarded.
Also addressing the training event was the Director General Mr. Abdullah Hassan Somaliland Central Bank who reminded trainees on the importance with keeping compliance with international norms when it comes to international money transfer , the DG also extended his appreciation towards the the company’s management for including controllers from the Central Bank’s Fraud Detection Department in the one day training.
Mr. Albert E. Brady of AEB consultancy services acted as a moderator and whose firm offers legal advices to the international money transfer company awarded the trainees certificates of participation.
The Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs in collaboration with Mercy corps organize a two day event to be funded by the USAID aimed at bringing together the various stakeholders to discuss the Somaliland Youth Development Fund which will for the first time to be used in implementing National Youth Policy which was launched by President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud Silanyo recently.
The two day event which held in Hotel Mansoor attracted cabinet ministers, intellectuals, civil societies, University students and the various stakeholders and to be facilitated by Mercy Corps staff is to be focused on the implementation of Somaliland National Youth Policy bill that was recently approved by the cabinet and which will be for the second time expected to be approved by cabinet to be followed by Presidential approval which hence pave the way for the bill to be adopted as a law.
The Chairman of SONYO Mr. Mubarik Ismael Thani speaking at the opening of the two day said, “The Somaliland National Youth fund will play an important role in alleviating the status of the youth in the country through the economic enablement of Somaliland youth and that Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella) will plays its role in mobilizing and empowering young people in Somaliland, the youth fund expects to draw 2% from allocation the national budget and which will administered by a national committee which will be appointed by President drawn from governmental agencies, International agencies willbe tasked with implementing the national youth policy and representatives from the ministry of Sports and Youth.
The Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Hon Ali said Regal speaking at the opening ceremony of the two day event said, “Today is an important day for the youth in this country in addressing the needs and priorities of the youth in form of the support the current government offers and which are vital in mobilizing young people in Somaliland in order to engage with development issues and the Government is now taking a deliberate step to address the challenge of youth unemployment and I would like to announce that soon the national youth policy bill will for the second time brought before the cabinet for approval as you’re aware H.E President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud Silanyo has alreadydonated $ 100,000 towards the youth development fund.
The Youth Affairs Minister refuted allegations leveled against SONYO in social media outlets recently terming them baseless and unfounded.
The State Minister of Education and Higher learning Hon Ahmed Nuur Faahiye and the Deputy Minister of interior in charge Hon Abdullah Abokor and Mercy Corps representative Mohamed Ali Jama were among the few dignitaries who spoke at the event.
I was saddened to learn on March 11, 2014 about the death of Somalia’s greatest vocalist, Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec. Mohamed Sulayman’s demise reportedly came after a short illness with unspecified cause that confined him to a German hospital for the last few months.
About a month ago, we shockingly learned through the Somali online media that the deceased had appealed in vain to the Federal Government of Somalia to pay for a vital surgery. He received no answer and his appeal to a nation that he had entertained so long fell on deaf and dumb ears. The posthumous condolence message from the Federal Government of Somalia to his family is akin to “water under the bridge.” But Somaliland’s offer to give him a national burial is at least a solace
Tubeec For over fifty years, Mohamed Sulayman “Tubeec” regularly entertained this “nation of bards,” in the words of Sir Richard Burton. His wailing as well as wise words, all conveyed to us in his unique and sweet voice that often resonated well with all Somali speaking, are too many to recount them here. Suffice here to say all Somali-speakers can sing with ease one or more songs of this icon.
The circumstance under which he was born and then died is historic. Mohamed Sulayman was born in the small town of Laalays, near the port ciy of Berbera in 1946, or as some say 1941, and died as an impoverished refugee in Germany in 2014, just like hundreds of Somalis have passed away as members of the ever-growing Diaspora Somali community.
As a nation who pays less homage to the Christian version of birth dates, his vital dates would probably be remembered as simply as the great singer who was born and died when Somalia was under two different mandates a la UN trusteeship and UN-AMISOM (Waqtiyadii trashiibka iyo Waqtigii Argagixiso la dirirka). Both dates mark the absence of Somalia’s sovereignty.
In a way, he was born in a period when most of the Somali speaking nation was under UN-European mandate – up from the 1940s. He died when a similar but sinister mandate is re-imposed on the only part of the Somali nation that tasted independence. This isn’t good time for conscience Somalis to engage in the nuance of history lest that invokes the pain that comes with self-infliction.
The sadness in our hearts makes one sing the Somali blues of Salaan Carrabay:
Dhaqashiyo mar bay kaa yihiin dhereggu xaaraane….”
In his case, he was spared from watching the unabated ugliness that defines what I called the 21st Century “nigger” i.e Somalis, in contemporary African.
At the beginning of this year, former Prime Minister AbdiRazak Haji Hussein, one of the last survivors of the Somali Youth League leadership, died in Minneapolis, Minnesota on a day the winter was cruel and unforgiving at minus 25 degrees. Few days before that, AbdiAziz Nuur Xirsi, who is considered to be one of Somalia’s early leftists and pan-Somali ideology framers, also died in Boston. Death in the Diaspora or watching your own nation going through a slow death is part of our larger experience in displacement due to statelessness.
As is to each according to his ultimate day, we mourn once again the unceremonious passing of our best Somali vocalist in modern music. Only this time, we mourn in shame because the ultimate visited him at our ugliest time – a time when we are even disagreeing on our existence, our collective history, our poetry, our national mythology, above all our religion. Before I eulogize the nation, I rather eulogize one of its symbols, Mohamed Sulayman, wishing that I never live to eulogize the Somali nation state.
There is no better way to eulogize Mohamed Sulayman than dipping into our rich repository, and that of Abdulahi Qarshi’s (the late guru and another Reer Waqooyi and an icon of Somali balwo and hees) weepy and wailing words in “Waa ayaanba ayaan” comes handy.
With the following meditative and brooding gem lines of farewell contained in these stanzas, we shall all accept the passing of Mohamed Sulayman and his final journey to join Faisal Cumar, Macallin Dhoodaan, Mohamoud Tukaale,Yam Yam, Mohamed Ali Kaariye, Gaarriye, Mohamed Ahmed Dhabarloo, Abdi Khadar Hassan, the lady whose first name needs no second name, Uma Mogool, as in Uma Kalthum, and many others.
Waa ayaan ba ayaan, Duni Aakhiro sabaanoo
Nina aanu lahaan, dhab dur looga idlaan
Waa arooryo samaan, iyo maalmo adkaan
Dad aroosanayaan, darna aas tagayaan
Waa ayaan ba ayaan, Duni Aakhiro sabaan
Ilamaan la’laan, ubad baan la’lahaan
Abid baan la mudnaan, oogadaa la tugnaan
Hadii aan la ogaan, war Soomaali ahaan
Ifka waydin xumaan, akhiraa ka daraan
waa ayaan ba ayaan, Duni Aakhiro sabaan
Nina aanu lahaan, dhab dur looga idlaan (1950s)
Mohamed Sulayman was a man to whose New Year’s song, “Sannad waliba Hoodo iyo waxuu Hadimo leeyahay…” we tuned every year at the passage of time. For a nation that does not observe its own equinox or doesn’t follow clearly defined four seasons, his song about the changing hands of the passing year to the New Year was our own version of Nawruus.”
“Waan heesayaaye, Sannad waliba hoodiyo
Hawl iyo dhibaatiyo, Wuxuu hadimo leeyahay
Waa laga helaayoo, hadhow lagu xasuustaa.
Kii noo hagaagee, noqo loo han weyn yahay.”
Yes, we all die, and as such the year 2014 took him away from us, along with AbdiRazak Haji Hussein and AbdiAziz Nuur Xirsi – Yes, I can’t resist but to mark 2014 the year we all experienced a huge national loss in the art and political culture as well.
Mohamed Sulayman was a rare artist who was credited to have reminded us the changing seasons, with all the tribulations and jubilations that un-ceaselessly come with the change of the last digit of the calendar each year.
In the song “Sannad waliba hoodiyo Hawl iyo Dhibaatiyo, waxuu Hadmo leeyahau…,” packaged in his penetrating and delicious voice, he gives each and every one of us a chance to take a stock of what goes right or wrong at year’s end. It indeed gives some of us a priceless second chance to right our past wrong doings that we inadvertently committed against friends, family members and colleagues. It also reminds us that there is always tomorrow for a better day.
Mohamed Sulayman died poor in pocket but rich in heart only because we gave him a rare commodity that we refused to give to our bad and bogus leaders. We collectively considered him and his songs our sole connection and conduit to the celestial divinely powers to whom once a year we atoned to cleanse our follies.
Also, his indomitable song of “Hooyoy La’aanta” (composed by Hadrawi) is special to many of us. In a patriarchal society where women is oppressed, maligned and physically mutilated, Mohamed Sulayman broke ranks with the nation’s archaic tradition. In defiance to some of our antiquated cultural traits, he reminded us in the best voice possible that our mothers are indispensable to our wellbeing and our sanity, thus deserving the utmost words of praise.
He reminded us without our mothers, nothing would go right! This indeed is a damning judgment against our own culture that misses no opportunity to put down our women.
Whether it is by coincidence or not, his death only two days after we commemorated women’s day (March 8, 2014) speaks to the deeper connection between the deceased and our sisters and mothers.
Whereas Nuradin Farah has championed the cause of women and explicitly “bemoaned their plight” in our society in the written word for over forty years, beginning with the publication of “From Crooked rib,” (1968), forcefully conveying the complex yet controlled pain always experienced by Somali women, Mohamed Sulaymaan departed on us the virtues and centrality of our mothers in song lyrics.
If Nuradin’s work gave us the intellectual understanding of the women question and the associated class and cultural constraints, Mohamed Sulaymaa’s song gave us solace and comfort in remembrance of the good deeds delivered by our mothers. He also reminded us how much we owe to each mother regardless of clan, class and culture.
In particular, his song gave me unparalleled company and comfort when my own mother passed away in Dec, 2010 in the midst of unforgiving Minnesota winter. Sulaymaan’s soothing song was there to give me a room to grief while paying homage to all the complex things about growing that she had broken into easily understandable blocks.
Since then, any time a faint of my mother’s image sneaks into my reminiscences, I confidently turn to Mohamed Sylaymaan “Hooyoy la’aantaa (Oh! Mother without you….) and deal with my grief through this gem song. May the king of vocal (boqorkii codka Soomaaliyeed) Rest in Peace (RIP), and may Allah reward him with Janah.
Funeral Prayers for the late Musician Mohamed Suleiman Tubec
By Goth Mohamed Goth
The late Musician Mohamed Suleiman Tubec who passed away while undergoing medical treatment in Germany last week was buried today Mogadishu, capital of Somalia.
Late Mohamed Suleiman Tubec died in a hospital in Germany where he was admitted two months undergone two surgeries and following a long battle with a life threating lung disease. He died at the age of 73.
Somalia’s Parliament Speaker, Prof, and Mohamed Osman Jawari who is also the acting president of the country presided over the state burial ceremony said Tubec was a national level artist and he will be buried in Mogadishu, the country’s capital city.
Many Somalilanders are in still asking questions about the controversial decision taken by the family of the Late Tubec’s to bury his remains in Mogadishuinstead ofBerbera of Somaliland, where the deceased Artist Tubec hails from originally.
Federal Government of Somalia made clear that the deceased musician will be given a state funeral with full national honors.
The funeral service for the late Musician was held on Sunday in Mogadishu, according to the Information Minister of Somalia Mustafe Dhuhulow who headed the SFG ministerial committee tasked with organizing the late musician funeral.
The decision by the Family of the late musician comes as a shock for Somaliland government had named previously named a national committee tasked with organizing a state burial.
On the occasion of the World Day against Cyber Censorship, Reporters Without Borders today publishes the 2014 edition of its “Internet Enemies” on the sitehttp://12mars.rsf.org. This document reveals the secrets of institutions, within states, implement repression and violations of freedom of information online.
Institutional practices “Internet Enemies” must be reported and known to many. This is the condition that international institutions, including the United Nations and Europe, will take up these issues and legislate to stop it.
Reporters Without Borders urges Internet users around the world to join this initiative.
Get Involved! •Sign up for the online campaignlaunched on March 12 by Reporters Without Borders, to make your voice heard • interpellez on social networks, the Heads of State in charge of these institutions • Change your avatarTwitteror your profile pictureFacebookwith thelogo “against online censorship”Reporters Without Borders
Internet is a public good. Do not let the “Internet Enemies” institutions as a weapon to serve their interests.
In recent Security Council briefing the secretary general of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon on Somaliland and Somalia had this to say on the current political situation on Somaliland.
“In “Somaliland”, relations between the Government and the opposition deteriorated. The Justice and Welfare Party claimed it had been denied freedom of movement and permission to hold peaceful demonstrations against the Government.
Meanwhile, Mr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi “Irro”, Speaker of the “Somaliland” House of Representatives and Chair of Wadani (opposition party), announced his support for the holding of a national dialogue conference as called for by the opposition parties. On 18 December, talks held between “Somaliland” President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo and Speaker Irro resulted in an agreement on the holding of a conference, provided that a neutral party would chair it.
From 16 to 19 January, a third round of talks between the Federal Governmentof Somalia and “Somaliland” was hosted by Turkey in Istanbul. The two delegations adopted a communiqué, establishing a joint secretariat in Turkey to institutionalize the process and agreeing that talks should take place every 90 days. Furthermore, the communiqué provided for the establishment of a joint air traffic control board. Italso condemned the “atrocities committed” by the former Siad Barre regime,“particularly” in “Somaliland”.
If you dig a hole for your fellow brother, remember to dig one for yourself.
We, the people of Balligubadle, do hereby condemn in the strongest terms possible the decree number: JSL/M/XERM/249-2296/032014, issued by President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo, on 3rd March 2014, regarding the Ministerial-Level Steering Committee and The Task Force (hereinafter referred to as entities) responsible for the registration of Somaliland Citizens for the purpose of issuing them with National Identity Cards/Voter Identification Cards, in which Arab clan was calculatingly, deliberately and deceitfully excluded from these entities as though members of Arab clan are non-citizens, and therefore treating them differently is legitimate.
Let it be known that these two entities do not concern the people of Balligubadle and its activities and/or services will be robustly resisted by all means necessary in all areas populated by the people of Balligubadle from east to west of the country.
We equally condemn the exclusion of other clans from both these important state entities responsible for the registration of Somaliland Citizens for the purpose of issuing them with National Identity Cards/Voter Identification Cards.
We particularly point out the following:
Knowing that these entities were secretly formed in a smoke-filled back room, outside the proper channels of the government, and that no consultations were carried out involving other Somaliland clans concerned,
Notingwith concern that the composition of both entities in question was knowingly, blatantly and calculatedly designed in such a way as to tip the scales in favour of certain clans while deliberately excluding others from the equation,
Stressingthe fact that the people of Balligubadle have no trust or confidence whatsoever in these entities because of the recent experience regarding the massive election fraud and irregularities that occurred in the last Local Elections held in the country on 28 November 2012 in which many Arab voters were disenfranchised by deliberately and criminally dumping and burning their voting papers in the dry-river bed of Hargeisa,
Cognizant of the fact that, in this day and age, clan allegiance is still unfortunately vitally important than the national interest of the country, coupled with the indisputable fact that the sole objective of those overrepresented in these entities is to vastly inflate the size of their respective clan-families in anyway they can, whether through multiple registrations or other fraudulent means, so that they could demonstrate their numerical strength and subsequently enhance their clan prestige,
Reaffirming our unwavering commitment for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and unity of Somaliland,
Emphasizingthat peace and stability within Somaliland, the strengthening of State institutions, economic and social development and respect for human rights and the rule of law are necessary to create the conditions for a durable state and further emphasizing that this can only be achieved by treating all Somaliland citizens equally and fairly,
The people Balligubadle have decided to completely and utterly reject the legitimacy of the Ministerial-Level Steering Committee and Task Force which do not fairly represent members of all Somaliland clans.
We believe that honesty is the best policy. In this case, there is no scintilla of doubt that these entities were founded on deception and manipulation from the outset and are therefore devoid of the slightest moral legitimacy to conduct a vital task such as the registration of Somaliland citizens. The criminal elements that formed these entities do not have the interest of the Somaliland people at heart but rather their own clan interests.
If there is no secret evil plan involving scheming, deviousness and Machiavellian practices, then there is no reason why equal representation for all Somaliland clans should not be accepted without fear or favour.
The registration process is fatally tainted by corruption before it has even gotten off the ground.
We call upon all western donors not to lend support to this undemocratic and non-transparent process as failure to do so will only lead to unnecessary disturbances in Somaliland.
In this time and age, all manners of content – magazines, movies, music, books – are pouring into one’s home through one’s cable television line. The cable is now known as broadband because, even though it looks the same, technology has made it fatter and faster. So what is good for technology appears to be good for man, otherwise how one could explain and understand what the people want to watch, read, achieve and aspire to.
As everyone should know by now, and too few seem to remember, very little in this world turns out to be precisely what it seems to be. Over many of the scenes we witness today there hangs the jaunty romantic air, half cynical, half idealistic, half realistic, of an old fashioned habits about politicking – lots of cracks, corrupt societies, some understated soul searching, plenty of uncultured characters. The picture reminds us that public actions are motivated by private needs that only look suspicious, which people are not supposed to see them happen, and, that in any event, public figures and politicians are to be too hasty an instrument to explore them properly.
The trouble is that all people, young and old alike, have really failed to describe the problems they encounter without fear and favor. If there is a reason analysts are so oblivious, intellectuals so reluctant, people so doubtful, politicians so confused, it is how our political mentality grows with our national aspirations.
The true understanding of what we are going to achieve and aspire to at this time is a matter of our concern. A shared poverty, for instances, is a source of solidarity across the board. It is an area that has received less attention than it deserves. The oversight is understandable.
Concern, then, is not a matter of what one imagines but of today’s insight. And today’s insight becomes tomorrow’s rationalization. There are points to consider, if one has a radiant presence and still has the will to bless his/her future with a display of poignant maturity, free from intrigues and inclinations.
Every nation that believes in living and working together for the common good, appreciates and applauds the idea of investing in all people from the moment of birth. Because it is one investment that enriches all people by influencing them in a positive way. Enabling the people to pass more than a touch of wisdom along to subsequent generations.
One of contemporary Somaliland’s strengths has been the centrality of politics to our imagination. This gives democracy energy, elicits excitement and participation. But you have to occasionally wonder whether this obsession with centrality of politics is really about solving social problems or finding excuses for them. Just think the puzzle that has cropped up in Somaliland parliament recently that has a bearing on Somaliland’s long-term future. It makes one wonder if politics is a symptom or a disease.
Politics is important. It is deeply thrilling. But there is a danger that Somaliland politics has become the narcotic, the narcotic that numbs the pain of not recognizing that we do not trust each other enough. There is also a striking absence. Where is the energy in politics? Where is the groundswell of nobility and novelty among politicians, where is the evidence that Somaliland politicians as public representatives recognize the gravity of their social responsibilities? Does the mania for politics and power stem from any functional justification? Or does it stem from an attraction to position and privileges?
The simple answer is, of course, that the mantra for politics stems from an attraction to positions and privileges. The story of what happened in Somaliland parliament seems to confirm this proposition. Whatever happened, the dispute was an aimless bust, unaccompanied by a visual sense or structural scheme. It was just a project that had gone through a series of tony moves, motives and hotel lobbying in the vagrant of hope of witnessing a privileged moment.
Somaliland parliamentarians proved that they cannot cultivate their intellects, enrich their minds, and enlarge the sphere of their social responsibility. They demonstrated that they could only keep their hearts closed and cramped. Pathetically enough, they just proved that they are cash-oriented and not cause-oriented.
There is no point lamenting the absence of a genuinely liberal impulse in Somaliland politics, if politicians are rife with mistrust. The point of becoming a politician is not to achieve particular and personal objectives; it is to sublimate the defects and deficiencies of the public into actions which could help to build up and preserve principles of civility. Liberal values and liberal minds are in short supply not because of politics failed us but because Somaliland politicians failed politics.
It is as if the entire edifice of Somaliland politics is built not to produce pedagogic outcomes, but to deliberately compensate for the politicians. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If selfishness is the starting point, insincerity will also be the outcome. It is simply that vested interests have taken over.
It is right to feel that our political culture is infused with dishonesty. We are obsessed with fibbing about facts because this is less elusive than the real problem, which is intellectual dishonesty. This means saying things you do not really believe. It means starting with conclusion you wish to reach and coming up with an argument. It means being untroubled inconsistency between what you said yesterday and what will say tomorrow, or between standards you apply to your side or the other guy’s.
Look at the irony of this mentality. It is as if cynical actions and aims create the order of today’s Somaliland politics; as if the divisive effect won’t go away; as if just a handful of arguments, not ideas, are what mends our ways.
Somaliland people have constantly been frustrated by two things. Where does Somaliland live and where does it rot? Does it live only in public as some assert, or does it rot in politicians as some others contend? He who by his efforts perceives of the loftiness of how Somaliland citizens emerged comprehends the soul of this land of ours, the soul of resilience.
Of course, politicians have played an awful role in producing the dismal picture we see in Somaliland politics. The biggest story in it is the perfidy of the politicians – the self-abdication of all public figures. Who is then responsible for the crime on quality and merit? The victim is Somaliland: a nation as goods as the people who lead it.
The belief that politicians are selfish is so widely cherished that it is almost part of Somaliland’s civic religion, along with that stuff about being created equal. Whether this belief resembles the reality we all share is an issue that does not arise. But outright whoppers by politicians are not fairly rare
How nations are led? Good governance, transparency, accountability, Justice? Of course. Yet the effect of all those factors can be remarkably enhanced by the addition of one more thing: caring, adult supervision. And it is the most important thing.
The beauty of ruling behavior is matched by the beauty of its morality. And it is the absence of the latter quality that extinguishes Somaliland politics. Someone with no integrity is trying to lead you and you are the gofer.
I intend to use the occasion for some stocktaking. Where does Somaliland stand today? What are our achievements? What are our failings?
In our short journey as a young nation state, we have nurtured stability so well that its roots are strong and deep. This is the biggest achievement, but the praise goes to the people, because they are in charge of the order.
When I take stock for Somaliland’s failings, the first thing that comes to mind is the failure of the faulty of our ruling behavior and justice system to keep up with the times.
As all of us remember, during the election campaign, Siilaanyo promised to be a uniter, not a divider. He promised to be a reformer and a resurrection. He promised good governance, transparency, accountability, sound justice and freedom of expression. The result?
Siilaanyo came to the field of Somaliland presidency with less experience than any other previous president. He proceeded to run the affairs of the government with an ad hoc committee. He simply sat back and stayed out of the fray. The result is that the man who talked more about what he would do than how he would do it finds that his bet has been called. Siilaanyo did not succeed in making real the dream of good governance that he sold in his election campaign. He has never even offered the nation a poem of reconciliation. His powers of persuasion are so weak that it is impossible that he will succeed in healing the nation and building consensus. He made his inexperience a virtue, his vagueness a shield, his sins a sign of sincerity.
Whether it is insanity or insincerity or a combination of both, Siilaanyo’s ability to tune things out has failed. The tension between his intemperate and his capacity for insincerity is so unique. It is mirrored by the clash between inexperience that borders on ignorance and arrogance born out of grievance and some experience with failure. It is also reflected in his willingness to surround himself with Hirsi Gaab and his likes on the one hand and his disdain for haughty individuals on the other.
The office has been won, the honor remains to be earned
International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto)
Authorities in Somaliland must re-open the offices of an independent newspaper in Hargeisa, says the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).
According to an IFJ affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), Hubaal newspaper in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has been closed since 13 December, 2013, following a raid by the police rapid reinforcement unit (RRU). Police continue to occupy the newspaper’s headquarters.
“We are deeply disturbed by the actions of Somaliland authorities to shut down Hubaal newspaper and forcefully occupy its offices,” said Gabriel Baglo, IFJ Africa Director. “Authorities in Hargeisa should halt their on-going crackdown on Hubaal and allow it to operate without fear of reprisal”.
Somaliland police have accused Hubaal newspaper of dividing the police leadership and misleading security officials, while also claiming that they obtained a court order to close the paper down, although the NUSOJ says they failed to produce this order during the raid.
“The continued closure of Hubaal and presence of police in their offices is nothing but censorship and an attempt to intimidate other media from being critical,” said NUSOJ Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman. “Somaliland should withdraw all its forces immediately. Hubaal newspaper and its journalists are exercising their journalistic duty and the authorities must not target them because of their media work.”
Harassment of Hubaal newspaper and its journalists has increased since April 2013 as the newspaper has been covering critical issues. On 11 June 2013, a Somaliland regional court in Hargeisa banned the publishing and distribution of the paper.
On 3 July, Hubaal editor Hassan Hussein Keefkeef was sentenced to two years in jail, while the paper’s manager Mohamed Ahmed Jama Aloley received a one-year sentence. Both men were also ordered to pay a 2,000,000-shilling ($350) fine each, Marodi Jeh Regional Court Judge Osman Ibrahim Dahir told the media.
The two journalists were found guilty of reporting “false news”, “slandering top Somaliland officials”, and “falsely accusing employees of the Ethiopian consulate of smuggling alcohol into Hargeisa”. The President of Somaliland later pardoned both journalists and the newspaper was allowed to resume its operations.
On 24 April 2013, two gunmen attacked the headquarters of the newspaper, injuring managing director Mohamed Ahmed Jama. The two gunmen are believed to be Somaliland police, and one of the policemen was caught by the Hubaal staffers and was later released by Somaliland authorities.
“Clearly this is systematic campaign to censor and intimidate an independent newspaper in Somaliland. Hubaal is a victim of its reporting about what is really happening in Somaliland,” added Baglo.
The IFJ urges Somaliland to ensure that independent media outlets are not harassed, and to allow Somaliland journalists to practice their profession without fear of retaliation.
