The National Council of Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella), the premier youth umbrella organization working to empower the youth in Somaliland have concluded their 27th ordinary session with seven point declaration.
In a press release with the “Ref. No. SONYO/027/NC6/14”, issued by the chairperson of SONYO Umbrella Mr. Mubarak Ismail Taani following the conclusion of the two day meeting reads as following:
The National Council of Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella) has concluded their 27th ordinary meeting which begun Feb 28th– March 1, 2014 at Scandinavian Hotel in Hargeisa. During the two day meeting, the National Council discussed a wide range of issues affecting the youth today such as; the economic enablement of the youth and identification of the needs and priorities which are vital in mobilizing young people in Somaliland in order to engage with development issues. The National Council also underlined the role of Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella), in mobilizing and empowering young people in Somaliland.
The Seven point declarations of the 27th ordinary meeting are as follows:
1. The National Council commends Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud “Silanyo” for the establishment of National Youth Development Fund which will be an essential part for the implementation of Somaliland National Youth Policy. The National Council deems the establishment of the National Youth Development Fund as a right step towards the right direction in combating with youth unemployment and illegal immigration. Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella) which took lion’s share for the establishment of the National Youth Development Fund is ready for the implementation of the Youth Development Fund which the umbrella considers an essential key for job creation for young people, sports development and the fight against illegal immigration. The Youth Development Fund will be managed by a council consisting of representatives from SONYO Umbrella, the Ministries involved in youth development, civil society members, representatives of Somaliland businesses, religious scholars and scholars selected from the community.
Somaliland’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Tourism (Pictured in the center) with the National Council members of SONYO Umbrella following the conclusion of their 27th extraordinary meeting in Scandinavian Hotel in Hargeisa. Photo by SONYO Media.
2. We are very pleased that Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella) became the premier youth umbrella committed to accomplish the goals set in the umbrella’s 5 year plan and National Youth Policy which carries tangible programs which will uplift the socio-economic conditions of Somaliland youth.
3. The National Council welcomes the one million U.S Dollar money provided by international donors who support Somaliland to address the different needs of Somaliland Youth following a joint appeal by Somaliland government and SONYO Umbrella. As a member of Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) management Committee, the Umbrella extends its sincere thanks to the other government members of the SDF management committee for their support during the Umbrella’s campaign that made possible for the allotment of funds. We recommend that the fund should be used in youth development programs such as; job creation programs, building new sports stadiums and the rehabilitation and decoration of the existing stadiums.
4. The national council sends congratulations and compliments to the members of Somaliland’s upper House of Parliament (House of Elders) for their work of mediation that resolved the wrangles of the House of Representatives. The National Council also praised the members of the House of Representatives for accepting the recommendations of the House of Elders mediation committee.
5. The National Council calls for all members of the country’s local councils to be aware of their responsibility. We call for the elected members of the local councils that Somaliland youth who gave them their vote during the local council elections are observing and evaluating their responsibilities and actions. We also call for the conflicting local councilors to resolve their disputes as soon as possible, and the Umbrella is ready for any technical assistance needed.
6. Based on the need of a platform in which Somaliland youth address their issues and what future holds for their country, we propose to hold a national youth summit, the first of its kind in the country. Therefore, Somaliland National Youth Organization (SONYO Umbrella) and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism declare together that Somaliland Youth Summit will be held from 11 to 12 August 2014. In the summit, Somaliland youth will discuss the current and future issues affecting Somaliland youth. The outcome of the summit will be a formal resolution with a tangible recommendations and priorities of the current situation of Somaliland youth. The summit will be held annually and coincides with World Youth. As a result of this coincidence, the resolution of the summit will add an extra voice to the other resolutions that will be issued from youth summits around the world. The National Council calls for all stakeholders of youth related affairs in the country to partake the forthcoming Somaliland Youth Summit.
7. Finally, we call on all citizens, businessmen, Somaliland government, National political parties, members of the two Houses of Parliament, elected local councilors and Somaliland public to participate in the contributions to the construction of Somaliland National Youth Organization – SONYO Umbrella headquarter in which construction work already started after President Silanyo laid the foundation stone. Upon completion, the National Youth Building will be a center for fostering intellectual competencies of Somaliland youth and a discussion forum in which Somaliland youth exchange their views and advice.
As we celebrate the anniversary of our proud military victory over the powerful Europeans in the 1890s, we should be reminded of the ongoing plight of mixed ethnic Ethiopians, one of the people reborn out of the womb of Adwa.
When we examine the existing condition of identity politics in Ethiopia, Post-1991 politics and the governing status quo in Ethiopia continue to impact our people’s narrow interpretations of identity. “I am Gurage”, “He is Oromo”, “she is Amhara” … such are the expressions we hear everyday in the streets. Most Ethiopian citizens are still forced and urged to self identify to one ethnic group; whether or not they actually descend from one, two or more ethnolinguistic ancestry. We even see this injustice during the national census and when obtaining identification cards in Ethiopia. This marginalization of millions of mixed “Ethnic Ethiopians” or the systematic restriction on our self identification continues to benefit the TPLF ruling party and its OPDO, OLF, AAPO, OFC, ODF, TPDM, SLF, ONLF, ANDM and other ideological partners. These one-ethnic organizations are still the most active in Ethiopia today and they define our current politics based on one-ethnic ideology.
So how deeply is their narrow one-ethnic ideology engrained in our minds? Sadly, it has influenced all aspects of our thought process. For example, when we look at multiculturalism and multinationalism in Ethiopia, we naively mention the list of ethnic groups individually but we rarely mention mixed Ethiopians who are the direct product of our multicultural society. Even when we look at the events of the Battle of Adwa, our politicians proudly declare how all heroic Ethiopians from Oromo, Amhara, Welayta to Gurage, Tigray etc came together united against the invading Italian army. But this statement in itself inherently ignores the fact that Ethiopians from multiple ancestry also fought and died for our country. The truth is Mixed Ethiopians born from Gurage fathers and Oromo mothers fought in Adwa. Mixed Ethiopians with Welayta fathers and Amhara mothers died in Adwa. And so many other mixed Ethiopians sacrificed their lives. Symbolic of that era, even the powerful Minister of Defense under Emperor Menelik II was Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis Dinagde, who was said to be mixed Ethiopian of both Gurage & Oromo ancestry. Unfortunately today, mixed ethnic Ethiopians are unrecognized in current Ethiopian politics and ignored by the government’s “ethnic federalism” because they are either passive themselves or they tend to choose only one of their lineage over the other.
But, it is time that mixed Ethiopians become proud of their ancestry and be heard. Interethnic mixings have occurred throughout our history in trade centers and thru migrations, including the mass Migration of semetic and Afan Oromo speakers over the last millennium. Then, the victory in Adwa exponentially increased the pace of inter-ethnic marriages in Ethiopia; especially in Shewa, Wollo regions and central Ethiopia. It is true that ethnic identities are, by nature, fluid throughout history. They might die, be reborn, expand and die again. For instance, the ethnic labels we see today (“Amhara”, “oromo”, “Gurage” etc) did not exist many decades ago and they might die or disappear as globalization penetrates more inside Ethiopia. Similarly, post-Adwa era saw the rebirth of mixed Ethiopians’ influence in politics of our country. But the extreme poverty and the pro-Amharic undemocratic policies of the Imperial regimes sparked rural grievances and it fed the grassroots support base for the rebirth of these one-ethnic organizations that exist today.
However, more than the Tigrayan, more than the Amhara and the Oromo, mixed Ethiopians have to rise up today and carry the country toward democracy because we identify and sympathize with all groups in Ethiopia. But to do this, First, we have to embrace our own complex identity. We have to declare our ethnicity as “Ethiopian.” Unlike some Amharas and other urban nationalists who claim to be defenders of the “Ethiopian” label, we mixed Ethiopians are born Ethiopian and we die Ethiopian: we have no other option. Unless we reject our true identity (unless we pick our father over or our mother or vice versa) we do not have the luxury of being from one-ethnic group because we can only be the broader Ethiopian. When we are asked “what is your ethnicity,” it is high time for those of us with multiple ethnic ancestry to be proud and loudly say, “i am ethnic Ethiopian. Period!”
Ethnic Ethiopians have been passive for too long and it is time that we unite and take action for the benefit of all people in the horn of Africa. Mixed Ethiopians living in Illubabor (where my maternal grandfather is from) share the same heritage, the same psychological attachment and the same destiny as mixed Ethiopians living in Arusi (where my paternal grandmother is from) or northern Gondar (where my maternal grandmother) and Welayta Sodo (my paternal grandfather are from). All mixed multiethnic Ethiopians have a common national experience and a shared ideology, one that does not favor one group over the other. Since mixed Ethnic Ethiopians should not attach their identity and political development with the Amhara, the Oromo or other groups; we must work to bridge these gaps. We should create our own unique political identity, preferably one that will promote more interethnic marriages and the empowerment of our mixed Ethiopian race. We should bring together the Oromo, the Tigrayan and the Amhara as well as promote peace between other smaller ethnic groups in Ethiopia. The triumphant Adwa legacy of multiethnic cooperation will be best illustrated in the 21st century reawakening of our rightful role in Ethiopian politics.
Exactly two years ago to the month, I wrote a commentary entitled, “The Dam and the Damned: Gilgel Gibe III Ethiopia” focusing on the impact of “development” in the Omo River Basin (ORB) in southern Ethiopia. In that commentary, I echoed the deep concerns voiced by various international human rights and environmental organizations over the ecological impact and cost of that dam on the lives of indigenous populations.
I also made it a special point to express gratitude and appreciation to “the great international human rights organization that have created so much international awareness on the precarious environmental situation in the Omo River Basin.” I am even more profoundly grateful to International Rivers, Human Rights Watch, the Oakland Institute, Survival International and the Africa Resources Working Group two years later for the extraordinary work they continue to do to save the environment and the indigenous people in the ORB. For years, these organizations have been in the forefront of the race to save Ethiopians damned by the Gilgel Gibe III hydroelectric dam.
The various international organizations have done invaluable work by raising public awareness and undertaking advocacy campaigns to bring international attention to the ecological disaster taking place in the ORB. Over the years, they have all issued meticulously prepared field reports, research and policy analyses and other scientific and statistical reports documenting the effect of the “development programs” of the regime in power in Ethiopia on the lives and livelihoods of the people of the ORB. They have all sought to advocate and mobilize international public opinion to bring sanity to the madness of Gibe III dam, the flagitious leasing of tribal lands in the Basin for sugar and rice plantations for the export sector and to stop the forced resettlement (“villagization”) of indigenous communities.
In my 2012 commentary, I also publicly lamented the fact that Ethiopians, particularly those of us in the Diaspora, have been standing on the sidelines with arms folded as the various international human rights and environmental organizations groups were running a steep uphill race to save Ethiopians in the ORB. We have been silently watching them doing all of the heavy lifting for us. At the time, I pleaded with all Ethiopians to “join and help international human and environmental rights organizations help us, and engage in vigorous environmental activism of our own.” I appealed for the “creation of our own environmental civil society organizations, particularly in the Diaspora, to ensure that Ethiopia’s rich and diverse ecosystem is preserved and protected today and for future generations.” I also warned, “If we fail to do that, we will all find ourselves in the same position as the people of the Omo River Basin who are damned by the dam.”
It is painful for me (frankly, I am ashamed) to admit that two years after I wrote that commentary, we are still on the sidelines watching while the international human rights and environmental organizations are still doing all of the heavy lifting for us and keeping up the race to save our people. I find myself asking the same questions over and over, without answers: Is it fair to have the international human rights and environmental organizations do all of the heavy lifting for us in the ORB? When these organizations show so much care and concern for our people and our country, why are we so manifestly unconcerned? Why is that we do not join and support the organizations speaking up for our people? Why is it that we do not come to the aid of these organizations and defend them against the slings and arrows of a vicious regime which slanders them and scandalizes their good works? Would we be as passive and silent if the same environmental crimes and crimes against humanity were being committed in the name of “development” in other parts of Ethiopia? Are we manifestly unconcerned about the people of the ORB because they are marginalized ethnic minorities? Could it be that we are ashamed of the people of the ORB because they do not look “modern” like the rest of us, or are a “backward civilization” as the late Meles Zenawi once called them? How can we justify to future generations that they owe their legacy of environmental conservation and protection of the indigenous peoples of the ORB to the tireless efforts of international organizations? I ask my readers to think about these questions.
I think it is only fair that we should at least financially help those organizations who are helping us. There is no reason why we cannot demonstrate our support to them as they fight for the rights of our people in the ORB. We should be standing with them and not standing on the sidelines watching them.
The clear and present danger posed by the Gilgel Gibe III dam to the people of the ORB
The Gibe III dam poses a clear and present danger to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in the ORB including the Bodi, Karo, Muguji, Mursi, Nyangatom and Dasanech, among others, who have survived for millennia practicing what is called “flood retreat agriculture”. At the end of the rainy season, the flooded land near the river banks provides rich silt for raising a variety of crops including sorghum, maize and beans. The very existence of these Ethiopians depends on the cyclical flooding season. The Gibe III dam will fundamentally disrupt the natural downstream flow by damming the river upstream for electricity production for export. Experts have convincingly argued that the water volume on the Omo River will be permanently reduced as a result of diversion of water for the dam reservoir and irrigation of sugar plantations. This will make flood retreat agriculture virtually impossible for the people living in the Basin. In August 2012, the world renowned conservationist and paleoanthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey challenged the self-serving Gibe III “scientific” studies minimizing the ecological effects of the dam and predicted, “the dam will produce a broad range of negative effects, some of which would be catastrophic to both the environment and the indigenous communities living downstream.”
“Developing” the Omo River Basin
In late January 2011, Meles Zenawi gave a speech in Jinka, South Omo. It was vintage Meles– bombastic, bitter and full of bluster. He promised the sun and moon to the people trapped in the “backward civilization” of the ORB. He pledged to take them out of the stone age and into the modern age by making the region “an example of rapid development.” He assured them that the “dam on the Omo River [will] eliminate flood, create a huge irrigation system and give pastoralists a sustainable income and a modern life.”
With a vengeance, Meles demonized and lashed out at the environmental and human rights organizations urging care and caution in the construction of the Gibe III dam and protection of the way of life of the indigenous people. He characterized them as naysayers and doomsayers “who want to block our freedom to use our rivers, and to save our people from poverty.” He called them malicious obstructionists. “They are creating huge propaganda… They are blocking us from getting financial loans from abroad to finish the project.” He ridiculed them as “best friends of backwardness and poverty… who don’t actually do anything tangible.” He virtually called them self-absorbed racists because “all they want is keep the pastoralists as a tourist attraction” and keep the people of the ORB “a case study of ancient living for scientists and researchers.”
Meles and his henchmen have gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the environmental devastation that has occurred and continues to occur in the construction of the Gibe III dam and the “development” of the Basin. In July 2008, two years after construction began on the dam and international human rights and environmental organizations began sounding the alarm, Meles directed his “Environmental Protection Authority” to issue the Gibe III Environmental Social Impact Assessment. That report was a shameless whitewash which rubber-stamped Meles’ pigheaded decision to forge ahead with the project. It was full of boldfaced lies. It unabashedly concluded that the reservoir area for Gibe III is unfit for human habitation because it is infested by deadly mosquitoes and tsetse flies (which cause “sleeping sickness”). It claimed, “There is no settlement in the future reservoir area and settlements are concentrated on the highland in areas outside the valley… There is very little farming activity around the Omo valley bottom lands. … The population living within the proposed dam and the reservoir areas are not in close proximity to the UNESCO designated heritage site. No visible archaeological remains, which have scientific, cultural, public, economic, ethnic and historic significances, have been observed in the area and dam sites.”
Meles’ way of “modernizing” the “backward” people of the ORB was to turn over the Basin to Saudi Arabian and other foreign investors and his buddies. Meles announced in his speech that his “government is planning, and working hard to establish, a 150,000 hectare sugarcane development in this area starting this year.” Sure enough, according to IC Magazine, “A Saudi Arabian tycoon Al-Moudi, with close links to the top-level Ethiopian leadership [was] allotted 10,000 hectares for a rice plantation. His massive project has done considerable damage to the local environment, which includes a national park and wildlife habitat, and local communities that have lived in their homelands for many generations.”
Meles announced that five sugar factories will be built in the ORB by the Omo Kuraz Sugar Development project. According to “Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency”, “Mesfin Industrial Engineering (MIE) signed ETB 3 billion ($162.2 million) worth contracts with state-owned enterprises to deliver machineries for the Tana Beles Integrated Sugar Development Project and the Kuraz Sugar development projects in the Amhara region and the Omo Valley…” MIE is “also producing railroad tracks for the Dire Dawa-Addis Ababa railway project and finalizing preparations to deliver the same for the Djibouti through Afar to Northern Ethiopia railway line.”
In June 2011, UNESCO concluded that “GIBE III dam is likely to significantly alter Lake Turkana’s fragile hydrological regime, and threaten its aquatic species and associated biological systems” and “urged the State Party of Ethiopia to immediately halt all construction on the GIBE III dam [and not] damage directly or indirectly the cultural and natural heritage located on the territory of another State Party.”
In Meles “development” plans, the impoverished and defenseless people of the ORB get the shaft while his filthy rich friends became super-filthy rich. According to one environmental study published in January 2014, “Construction of the Kuraz Sugar plantations (projected to cover 161,285 hectares) and accompanying infrastructure, including sugar processing factories and resettlement villages, has started in advance of completion of the Gibe III. The Kuraz Sugar plantations, plus additional area identified as suitable for cultivation (47,370 hectares), could eventually require over 50% of the Omo River inflow, depending on irrigation efficiency.”
Meles Zenawi’s “modernization” of the ORB was a windfall for his buddies, but it literally left the people of the Omo River Basin high and dry. Meles’ vision for the ORB and its people was, “what’s good for the ‘Saudi Arabian tycoon Al-Moudi’ and ‘Mesfin Industrial Engineering’ is good enough for the people of the Omo River Basin.” That is how Ethiopians in the Omo River Basin got sold down the river!
The continuing race to save the Omo River and indigenous people
Last week, International Rivers released a video on the environmental risks to the Omo River valley and severe and irreversible damage that could result to the people and ecosystem of the valley if the dam and thoughtless “development” projects concocted by the regime in power in Ethiopia continue unrestrained. It is a video worth watching as it clearly explains the clear and present danger facing the ORB.
There is little scientific doubt that Gibe III dam and the irrigation diverting water on the Omo River poses a clear and present danger to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. Studies have shown that by ending the river’s natural flood cycle, harvests, grazing lands, river banks and fisheries extending to Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake, would be destroyed. The dam will devastate the unique culture and ecosystems of the Lower Omo Valley and Lake Turkana, both recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Experts fear that “Gibe III could destroy the fragile ecosystem for an additional 300,000 people downstream in Lake Turkana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which gets up to 90% of its water from the Omo River.”
It is particularly important for Ethiopians to understand the scope of the environmental damage and the human cost of the dam in the ORB. I specially urge my Ethiopian readers to view the Amharic version of the International Rivers video by clicking HERE or on the picture below.
USAID and Donors Assistance Group in Ethiopia (a/k/a those who “see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil” in the race to save the people of the Omo River Basin)
The official position of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Development Assistance Group’s (DAG) (a consortium of 26 donors) in Ethiopia has been to stonewall any questions of human rights abuses in the ORB. Stated bluntly, their official response could best be characterized as: “We see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil about human rights violations in the Omo River Basin.”
In October 2010, a few days after Human Right Watch released its report on the abuses of aid in Ethiopia, USAID and DAG issued a statement denying the “widespread, systematic abuse of development aid in Ethiopia. Our study did not generate any evidence of systematic or widespread distortion.” In 2012, USAID reported that it “did not find evidence to support claims [of human right violations] during its visit to South Omo.” In a letter dated January 17, 2014, Dennis Weller USAID, current Mission Director in Ethiopia stated that his agency and “other donors have been monitoring the situation in South Omo” and that “the main finding from these trips is that there are no reports of widespread or systematic human rights abuses. Our observations do not support assertions… that the resettlement processes are accompanied by systematic and widespread human rights abuses.”
Interestingly, Weller’s comments brushing off human rights abuses in the ORB are in stark contrast to his predecessor Thomas Staal’s. In an interview Stall gave before his reassignment to Bagdad in October 2010, he made the stunning admission that “with respect to political participation, we have not done a good job. Specifically, with respect to the election that took place two years ago, we have not done much to promote democracy… This is a hard situation that causes us to despair.” No reason for Weller to “despair” over human rights abuses in the ORB!
The official position of USAID and DAG with respect to human rights abuses in the ORB could be reduced to two basic propositions: 1) The reports by international human rights and environmental organizations concerning forced evictions, villagization, resettlement, denial of access to subsistence land, beatings, killings, rapes, imprisonment, intimidation, political coercion, and the denial of government assistance are all fabrications and lies. 2) Even if the reports are accurate, they document anecdotal and isolated incidents which do amount to “systematic and widespread human rights abuses”.
USAID’s denial of “systematic and widespread human rights abuses” in Ethiopia should not surprise anyone. For years, USAID has taken shelter behind the empty phrase “systematic and widespread human rights abuses”. When Meles Zenawi declared in 2010 that his party had won the parliamentary elections by 99.6 percent, USAID found no “systematic and widespread human rights abuses”. When the Meles regime was committing crimes against humanity in Gambella and Ogaden regions, USAID transformed itself into USA In Denial. When hundreds of top opposition political figures, activists, civil society leaders, journalists, dissidents, bloggers, human rights advocates were jailed, USAID’s response was, “No systematic and widespread human rights abuses”. Nope! Nyet! Nien! Pray tell, what exactly is “massive and systematic human rights violations”? Does USAID mean, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic”? Perhaps for USAID a single human rights violation in the ORB is a tragedy but the wholesale violation of the human rights of the people in the Omo River Basin is a statistic?!
The fact of the matter is that USAID and others who visited the Omo region in January 2012 were provided compelling “audio recordings of the interviews conducted in several Lower Omo communities.” These recording “leave no room for doubt that the donor agencies were given highly credible first-hand accounts of serious human rights violations during the field investigation [undertaken by USAID and the Development Assessment Group] and that they have chosen to steadfastly ignore these accounts.”
U.S. Congress joins the race to save the people of the Omo River Basin
In July 2013, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) included language in Senate Bill 1372 imposing certain certification requirements in the administration of U.S. aid in Ethiopia. The Leahy language was adopted in the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014” which passed both houses on January 3, 2014. Section 7042(d) of the Act requires the U.S. Secretary of State to “certify to the Committees on Appropriations that the Government of Ethiopia is implementing policies to — (i) protect judicial independence; freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion; the right of political opposition parties, civil society organizations, and journalists to operate without harassment or interference; and due process of law; and (ii) permit access to human rights and humanitarian organizations to the Somali region of Ethiopia.” It further requires that U.S. ‘‘Development Assistance’ and ‘Economic Support Fund’ that are available for assistance in the lower Omo and Gambella regions of Ethiopia shall— (A) not be used to support activities that directly or indirectly involve forced evictions; (B) support initiatives of local communities to improve their livelihoods; and (C) be subject to prior consultation with affected populations.” The law requires the “Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States executive director of each international financial institution to oppose financing for any activities that directly or indirectly involve forced evictions in Ethiopia.” It seems the international human rights and environmental organizations that have been campaigning to protect the ORB and Gambella ecosystems and indigenous peoples have been right all along!!
Where are Ethiopians in the race to save the ORB and the indigenous people?
The titular prime minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, is said to be knowledgeable about water development and sanitation. He reportedly held a “graduate assistantship” at Arba Minch Water Technology Institute. He is also said to come from “an Omotic community which forms the principal population group in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region.” It is reasonable to suppose that Hailemariam would take both personal and professional interest in the environmental destruction and human cost of “development” in the ORB. Unfortunately, Hailemariam has repeatedly declared the he “will strive to carry on Meles’ vision to transform the country”, and by the same token oversee the destruction of the ORB ecosystem and the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the Basin.
I admit it is a complete exercise in futility, but I urge Hailemariam and his regime to learn from the tragedy of Lake Oroumieh in Iran. That lake has shrunk by 80 percent in 10 years as a result of damning rivers and irrigation projects. The response of the Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, to the environmental disaster was “to form a team and to invite scholars to help find solutions.”
I have no reason to believe that Hailemariam and his crew care much about Lake Turkana in which the Omo River empties or the environmental damage in the ORB. I know that a regime afflicted by the arrogance of ignorance will not invite scholars and experts in the field to seek long-term solutions. I expect the regime leaders will repeat like a broken record their Pollyannish rhetoric about the ORB and demonizing condemnation of all who urge caution and care. Regardless, I find it a historical imperative to register the fact that Hailemariam and Co., have a legal duty to mitigate the environmental disaster and human catastrophe in the ORB. After all, they must understand that “Truth will not remain forever on the scaffold, nor wrong forever remain on the throne.”
What about Diaspora Ethiopians? Will they join the race to save their fellow Ethiopians damned by the Gibe III dam? Will they stand up and speak up for the voiceless, defenseless, powerless and helpless people of the ORB? Will they stand up and be counted with the people of the ORB or abandon them because they are a “backward civilization” as Meles Zenawi called them? Will they join International River, Human Rights Watch, Survival International and the Africa Resources Working Group in the heavy lifting and uphill fighting to save the Omo River Basin and its indigenous people? I do not know the answer to these questions, but I will be doing what I always do: Carry water (though not from the Omo River) for those doing the heavy lifting and uphill fighting!
“Indigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights/3 and international human rights law.” United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 61/295.
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.
Previous commentaries by the author are available at:
The strategy, commissioned by the United Kingdom’sDepartment for International Development(DFID), identifies opportunities for international support to Somaliland, and highlights areas where priorities of the international community and Somaliland stakeholders converge. Some opportunities from the strategy include:
Somaliland needs more support to address structural issues, including voter registration and legal framework, related to the conduct of elections;
There is a need for programs that provide technical assistance to political parties in creating clear and distinct national party identities and issue-based platforms;
Support for programs that will increase the presence of political parties between elections, including promoting collaboration between political and development institutions;
Support for local administrations in mobilizing resources, including opportunities to partner with the private sector, to finance government service delivery; and
Programs that will strengthen the capacity of the Somaliland parliament to fulfill its oversight function.
IRI’s former Vice Chairman and former US Special Envoy to Sudan, the late Ambassador Rich Williamson said, “Somaliland is a shining light of the evolution of democracy in Eastern Africa, and something its neighbors can benefit from watching and learning from and…deserves international support.”
To develop the strategy, IRI employed a mixed-methods approach that included desk research, in-depth interviews and participatory workshops. Representatives of the international donor community, international implementers, subject matter experts and Somaliland stakeholders – including representatives of civil society, political parties, the media and elected officials – contributed to the development of the strategy.
The Somaliland International Democratization Support Strategy was a joint initiative of IRI’s Africa division and office of monitoring and evaluation. IRI has worked in Somaliland since 2002, with funding from theUnited States Agency for International Development, National Endowment for Democracy and DFID, to support the development of a robust civil society, well-organized and representative political parties and a modernized legislature that engages in issue-based policy making. In 2010, IRI fielded an international delegation to observe Somaliland’s presidential election.
Police in Hargeisa have unearthed the remains of a young woman from a shallow grave inside the house owned by her assailants eight days after she went missing.
The deceased woman whose name was Ruqiya Said Ayanle was married and was a mother of several children went missing eight days ago and was killed after she went to demand debt she had earlier lent to her assailants who murdered her after the quarrel went bitter.
Police Boss Brigadier General Abdillahi Iman Fadal speaking to the media said, “We have in our custody six suspects connected to the murder of late Ruqiya Said Ayanle including one of them who we think is the prime suspect Ms. Muna Abdullah Mohamed and whose house we found the buried remains of the deceased woman.
General Fadal went on to say, “I do hereby take this opportunity to express a message of condolences to the family of the late Ruqiya Said Ayanle that’s all for now as investigation are still ongoing.
The remains of the deceased woman are currently being kept at the Hargeisa Group Hospital awaiting Autopsy.
Hargeisa-Members of Somaliland Judiciary have accused the current government of interference of the independent judiciary and rulings of the courts in the country and these allegations can be proved by a written statement from a cabinet Minister ordering a judge to drop charges against the accused in a case.
The Chairman of the Appeal court Judge Abdirashid Duraan and the chairman of Hargeisa district court Judge Feisal Abdillahi Ali and Prosecutor Hussein Belel during a press conference accused some cabinet ministers of pressuring them to release some suspects in custody and to drop all charges leveled against them.
The member of the judiciary in the press conference read letter writing and signed by the assistant Minister of Interior and in Charge of national security Mr. Abdullah Abokor Osman ordering them to immediately release the suspects in question.
The Hargeisa district chief magistrate Feisal speaking at the press conference said, “We are fed up and we also feel insulted as members of the independent judiciary and we can’t execute our work freely if the constant interference of our work by some cabinet ministers continues, persons who are try using their position and influence to release those accused persons who we have sentenced and convicted after finding them guilty of crimes.
“How do you expect us to fulfill our work and duties if whenever were sentence a guilty person that person becomes the crony of a certain big shot in the government or he is related to someone or he is from certain clan or he is the brother in law to some cabinet minister and it’s so sad to see our justice is based who knows who and not the law”, He stated.
The Hargeisa district chief magistrate went on to say, “Some Ministers have in the past tried to act as lawyers for convicted thugs and after we in the judiciary take our stand by declining to relent to their self-serving orders they in turn accuse us (Judiciary) of taking bribes,
The chairman of the court of Appeal speaking at the press briefing said, “Out of the 5800 cases that reached the courts last year 4800 were settled and before anyone decides to criticize the judiciary on how they serve justice they should first of all ask themselves, do those in the judiciary accorded the rights they deserve ,do they earn good salaries ,what facilities do they use in dispensing justice ,How does their work environment look like and do those junior staff who work with them get any means of assistance in form of trainingbut again we try our best under all this circumstances to dispense justice and I believe we deserve more than the bad mouthing.
Also present during the press conference was one of Court Prosecutors Mr. Hussien Belel who said, “I want to declare here today the notion which say the judiciary is free from any outside inference is false and the judiciary in this country is not free from interference, to prove my words we have in front of me a letter from the assistant Minister of Interior Mr. Abdillahi Abokor and signed by him ordering the prosecutor office of the immediate release and the dropping of all charges against a suspect in a theft case and which states as follows:-
REF: For the Sake of Peace and Safeguarding the General, We Do Hereby Order You to Drop all Charges in the Land case and Refer this Matter to Local Government Committee on Solving LandDisputes Peace
In Accordance with Article #17 which addresses the issue of land cases but the Minister is forgetting the issue at hand is not a land dispute matter but a theft case what he didn’t know is that he just wrote the letter without even wanting to know the details of the issue of contention but we are required to do and execute our duties and we are committed to execute them without fear or remorse or any hindrance or interference and we won’t allow a Minister or even someone higher to interfere with our work and we urges anyone who has evidence which may implicated us in bribery or case fixing to come forward and may I remind you our work speaks for its self and we are determined to be independent from any outside influence whatsoever and that goes tothose ministers who are used to accusing the judiciary of being rotten.
Mr. Mohamed Said a Lawyer who spoke at the press briefing said, “The Minister who know for bad mouthing the judiciary should be fired by the President and we don’t understand why he still working for the government when he is always saying bad things about it.
The Chairman of the House of Elders (Guurti) Mr. Saleban Mohamed Aden has for the first time addressed concerns raised by opposition parties on the issue of the extension of the Presidential term in office
Mr. Saleban Gaal Chairman of the Guurti addressing the issue, He downplayed the need for an extension of the current President term by saying the current situation in the country and the absence of any special circumstances which endanger the security of the country, jeopardise law and order, and create upsets in the general stability.
On the other hand the Chairman of the Guurti speaking exclusively to our sister Somali language daily Geeska Afrika and HCTV on findings of the recently appointed committee task with solving the recent murders in Laan Mulaho and Adhi-cadays he said, “ With the absence of any special circumstances , I don’t see in the horizon any possibility of an extension of the current President tenure in office and I hope if Allah wishes the next Presidential election will held in time.
With the help of the geostrategic location at the economic gate way to Africa, President Ismail with his patriotic attitude has achieved wide range of economic successes along with other admirable milestone cases in diverse sectors. Taking the advantage of 372 kilometer of Djibouti coastline with annual catch of around 50,000 tons of fish, president Geele has accomplished to move from the single traditional port which Djibouti has used for a long time and managed to build new two ports. According to many economic analysts, these new ports would make Djibouti the hub of the logistical operations in the region and the economic power house of East Africa for the years to come. Mr. Geele has as well secured a strong stable monetary system along with brilliant banking system resulted an investment led economy right across the country. He has succeeded to make Djibouti a model of peace, security and development in the region and in the world at large. This has created a peaceful coexistence among the different ethnic groups within the Republic which has become a dynamic catalyst for this prevailing economic progress. He accomplished to build a number of ports and terminals including oil terminal and container port in Doraleh in 2006 and 2009 respectively. He helped to revive the dying Somali literature which all Somali origins were concerning for many years and has instituted to care the Somali language. During his time in power his government has delivered a number of plausible economic sector reforms delivered annual growth of 5% for many years which is impressive by any standard (African development Bank, 2012). These success stories and others in a long list have crafted to re-elect him with a wide margin of victory in 2011 election despite the rejections from the oppositions.
Although Djibouti has little natural resources which are mostly untapped, Geele with a great deal of bravado disproved and has broken the cycle of poverty and despair during his period in office. He achieved a considerable economic growth in 2013 with the help of extensive port services and revival of foreign direct investment (FDI) which could be good chapters to learn. The Total cost of Doraleh project was US$339 and will work in a capacity of 1.2 to 1.8 million TEUs per year by 2015 (Islamic Development Bank, 2013).Mr. Said Omar Gueleh, General Manager of Djibouti Port once said: “Within the past 10 years, the strategic planning for us has been the development of specialized terminals by encouraging private sector investments. This has resulted to the construction of new specialized platforms, a grain and fertilizer terminal, an oil terminal and a Container Terminal, free zone development.”This wide-ranging progress has grasped the attention of both regional and international investors and activated the influx of the international community to invest this geographically small country which has a strategically thinking leadership. As a result many people predominately from Middle East and the Gulf have been busying with building ports, roads, hotels and etc which immensely contributed the economic well-being of the country. His government also planned the redevelopment of the railway line between Djibouti and Ethiopia which will boost the trade between the two countries. Mr. Geele took the country economically from 1 % growth in 1999 to 5 % in 2013 real GDP growth, with country comparison to the globe at 60 in 2012 estimation (African development Bank, 2013).
President Geele realized to shape a stable monetary system with dynamically functioning central bank along with loads of professional commercial banks which the majority of the African leaders failed to figure. He hasformulated a sound and sustainable stable monetary system with Djiboutian franc 177.72 per US dollar in 2013 estimation and that stability has not merely existed few years but has gone for a long number of straightyears. In economic point of view, that stable monetary system is a corner stone for both domestic and international investments as investors` main concern in their businesses is the fluctuations of the monetary system.
Prior to president Geele, the economy has been dominated only by port trading and logistical operations but very fortunately during this era of Geele, the country accomplished to receive huge revenues from many other sectors. These sectors include telecommunications, commerce, banks, transport, hotels, tourism and etc which become economic turning point that encouraged private investment and reduced unemployment. Taking the advantage of the land locked countries of Ethiopia and South Sudan, the government of Geele reached and signed to build an oil pipeline agreement among South Sudan—Ethiopia—Djiboutiin February2012 which will generate massive revenues to the economy. As for the electricity and power sector which is the engine and catalyst of progress, president Geele has reached to build electricity line between Ethiopia and Djibouti which reduced the cost of the electricity and boosted up the economic growth as no country realizes economic development without low-priced and abundance of energy.
In addition Geele thrived to fabricate sound financial sector. President Geele once said this: “The fact that internationally renowned companies are coming to our free zone means that our aspiration to become a hub for exchange of goods is becoming a concrete reality. The boom witnessed in the banking sector is a further indicator evidencing the new economic shape of the country. Such investments, and many other ones, whether in the small industry sector or in the primary sector, are the precursor of jobs and sustained development so much needed by our citizens.” African Development Bank elaborated in 2012 annual report that the financial sector developed swiftly between 2006 and 2010 with the coming of new banks. There were two banks in 2005 but very fortunately there are 12 banks for the time being in 2014 which generates 14% of the Djibouti gross domestic product (GDP). The only tragic mistake is the interest rate in most of those banks; 10% interest rate for housing loans, 12% for normal loans and 15% for overdrafts (African Economic Outlook, 2012). And interest is not allowed to charge in Islam.
In conclusion, the success stories of Djibouti under the leadership of president Geele, With reference to what he has achieved apart from the politics, could be a shining example for East African leaders and Africa at large. Unlike some countries in East Africa, under the leadership of Geele, Djibouti has avoided all internal unrests, cross border disputes, civil disorders, piracies and terrorism. And as aforementioned, he has achieved in many areas including building new ports and electricity line from Ethiopia which have created to pull many deprived people out of poverty. In accordance with UNDP 2009 Report, Djibouti has been one of the countries that made the greatest progress for lowering hunger and undernourishment while many countries like Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen have been recorded increases in hunger and undernourishment. Though some people think that president Geele has not performed well during his term in office, he has by any standard succeeded to boost the economic wellbeing of the population. As a final point, despite many social and economic challenges are ahead on president Geele, he teaches his people how to seek and search for the 21st century opportunities in peace.
The Minister of Commerce and international Investment Dr. Abdullah Mohamed Omer speaking at the function said, “Today we gather here as the stakeholders to witness the first time to unveil a formulation for a national policy the production and trade in the aromatic gums of frankincense and myrrh which is an important economic activity for Somaliland.
The well attended function which was held on Friday evening at Hotel Mansoor brought together the various stakeholders from the Business community, Judiciary, farmers and representatives from the several ministries and governmental agencies to brainstorm and come up with ways to develop the Frankincense and Myrrh industry and the economic potential the cash crop can fetch on the international export market.
“We hope at the end of this forum we shall be able to come up with ways to develop the Frankincense and Myrrh industry for sustainable economic and for the international export market apart from the other commodities we export such livestock and hides.
Lastly the International Investment Minister Dr. Abdullah Mohamed Omer said, “The Somaliland government shall continue to promote the production of the cash crop and any investments towards the sector; he also thanked the World Bank for their contribution and their support towards the developing the industry and on behalf of the people of Somaliland I extend our profound gratitude to SOFRECO for availing to us their expertise in form of consultancy and technical assistance in technical knowhow on how to develop the sector not forgetting the Ministry of Rural development , all rhe Businessmen , those elders whose knowledge on the matter has proven to be so valuable,i say thank you.
Myrrh is extracted from the Commiphora myrrha tree that grows on the lower slopes. Frankincense comes from the Boswellia carteri tree that grows at higher altitudes. Both are used in herbal medicines, essential oils and perfume, not to mention its importance use in religious ceremonies.All religions often incorporate frankincense and myrrh into traditions
Derived from sap of trees, both frankincense and myrrh were prized for their fragrance. – See more at: http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/news/119624/investment-ideas-gold-frankincense-and-myrrh.aspx#sthash.MCVQTTEn.dpufand we hope at the end of this forum we shall be able to come up with ways to develop the Frankincense and Myrrh industry for sustainable economic and for the international export market apart from the other commodities we export such livestock and hides.Lastly the International Investment Minister Dr. Abdullah Mohamed Omer said, “The Somaliland government shall continue to promote the production of the cash crop and any investments towards the sector; he also thanked the World Bank for their contribution and their support towards the industry and on behalf of the people of Somaliland I extend our profound gratitude to SOFRECO for availing to us their expertise in of consultancy and technical assistance for sustainable economic and development of the sector not forgetting the Ministry of Rural development , Businessmen , those elders whose knowledge on the matter has proven to be so valuable.
HARGEISA — The 30 Somali teenagers — both boys and girls — all agreed: Female genital mutilation is harmful and the practice should be abandoned. But what they really meant, they revealed moments later, is that girls should have their genitalia cut — just not sewn shut.
“It’s our tradition and if the girls are not subjected to suna(cutting) she will not be accepted for marriage,” said Asthma Ibrahim Jabril, 17.
The students, who are part of an afterschool club in Somaliland which the U.N. children’s agency helps fund, discuss issues like child labor, early marriage, and female genital mutilation in a classroom with several large hearts scrawled along the walls.
UNICEF is weaving a delicate campaign to educate communities in Somaliland about the harms of female genital mutilation and to get leaders, who are meeting there this month to debate the practice, to denounce it. Child rights advocates in nearly 30 countries are fighting to reduce the number of girls subjected to the cutting of their genitalia, a practice that goes back thousands of years and that Somali practitioners often link to Islamic requirements.
All 15 girls sitting opposite the boys at Sheik Nuur Primary school have undergone suna_the removal of the clitoris and the labia minora. They all said it was the right thing to do.
Female genital mutilation comes in many different forms. The other form known by the Somali teens is sewing the vagina shut until marriage. Everyone agreed that this should be ended.
“I want it to be eradicated. It’s an old tradition,” said Ikram Ismail, a confident 18-year-old in a pink headscarf and a black hijab. “When my mother was young no one could speak about it publicly, but now people understand that it causes a lot of harm so that’s why we talk about it.”
Female genital mutilation can cause severe bleeding and problems with urination, cysts, infections, infertility and complications with childbirth, including an increased risk of newborn death. More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 29 African and Middle Eastern countries, the World Health Organization says.
In Somalia, the cultural expectation for girls to undergo genital mutilation comes down to sex and marriage. Men expect to marry a virgin. If a girl has not undergone female genital mutilation, she is considered unclean.
“It’s that she is not pure,” said Charity Kinya Koronya, a child protection officer for UNICEF who was raised in a community in Kenya where young girls undergo genital mutilation. Her father would not allow the procedure to be done on her.
“You are stitched and not opened up until the day of your marriage,” Koronya continued. “They say someone who is open, anyone can go in.”
Last month about 60 religious and civic leaders in the capital of Somaliland — a semi-autonomous region in northern Somalia that has remained largely peaceful during Somalia’s decades of conflict — attended a daylong seminar and debate on female genital mutilation.
Sheik Khalil Abdulai Ahmed, the government minister of religious affairs, told the room that female genital mutilation can lead to death, pain and mental issues. Amina Mohamed Jirde, the wife of Somaliland’s president, pleaded with the group to stop genital mutilation. “This practice is not good for the girl,” Jirde said. “It is good for you to marry all the girls without discrimination.”
Officials with UNICEF tried to underscore that they do not believe female genital mutilation is required by Islam, though it is not strictly practiced by Muslims. Haydar Nasser, a UNICEF official who is Iraqi by birth but now a Canadian citizen, told the leaders that they were following a custom first practiced by the Egyptians some 6,000 years ago, long before Islam was founded.
“So the question to you to discuss today is why as a Muslim practice do you employ a pharaoh practice, pharaohs who went to hell because they are kaffirs,” he said, using the Arabic word for someone who doesn’t believe in Islam.
Islam’s holy book, he continued, says that human beings are created perfectly. “So if a human is in a perfect way, why do we practice something that” alters the body, he said.
At a small community center made of metal sheeting in one of Hargeisa’s lower income communities, two dozen women and girls, who have been in an education program run by aid group Tostan, and supported by UNICEF, spoke about their views on the practice.
Amran Mohamud, 40, spent 15 years cutting girls. She remembers the girls who wouldn’t stop bleeding. She remembers the infections that set in. After she began attending Tostan classes four years ago, she abandoned the trade, a profession she learned from her mother that paid between $30 and $50 per procedure.
Mohamud carried out the cutting procedure on her oldest daughter. But her granddaughters will not have it done. Mohamud said even her mother is against the practice now.
“I reminded her of the problems we’ve seen,” Mohamud said.
An imam from the small community in Hargeisa, Mohamed Said Mahmood, 54, said the world is changing. “There are men willing to get married to uncut girls,” he said, while acknowledging not all men his age back his viewpoint.
At the end of the daylong meeting that UNICEF had hoped would end in a decision to abandon female genital mutilation, the religious leaders — including the minister of religious affairs — say they cannot agree to abandon suna. The practice of female genital cutting will continue.
Somaliland’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Tourism (Pictured in the center) with the National Council members of SONYO Umbrella following the conclusion of their 27th extraordinary meeting in Scandinavian Hotel in Hargeisa. Photo by SONYO Media.
