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Somaliland: Our MPs are Out of Touch & Over Paid

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As a Somalilander, in the diaspora living in the UK we, are dismayed and extremely angry with the fact that Somaliland elected representatives are abusing their position by not carrying out public duties on behalf of their constituencies.  There are growing concerns that our members of Somaliland member are failing their obligations, as respected legislators.

To make matter worst they get paid huge wages without doing any work most of them failed, to attend important meetings in the Chamber, some whom were expelled, from the House.  Somali lander, abroad and worldwide are deeply uneasy about this issue our law makers, have no regard for their electorate that put them into power. Somaliland M.P’s have no idea the damage they’re, causing to democracy and the rule of law, the fact the very people supposed  to protect and safe guard their people are abusing the trust of their constituency.

Instead they chosen to rent an expensive hotels in the Capital, Hargeisa and have no desire to go back to  their districts, and regions, to help and serve their constituency needs, currently facing high unemployment,  and skyrocketted, food prices  by a unscrupulous and cruel food importers.

At times like this Somaliland citizens needs their elected reprensentatives on their side, working for them to air their concerns.

Somaliland M. P’s needs to understand what they doing is wrong morally, and politically wrong.  It is also undemocratic, unislamic   because they are not acting  in good   faith this is unprecedented national scandals,  We know the Chairman’s of the Houses of parliaments get paid enormous salary which is beyond comprehension, Sulaymen Gaal gets $8000 dollar a month, Abdirahman Cirro get paid $6000 for  traveling back and forth abroad.

Somaliland citizens deserves  and expect better  services from their elected legislators,  if this kind of behavior continues it will  have serious consequences for  our request for international Aid and recognition, because our legislators, are not implementing  the due process and as a result neglecting their impoverished tiny unrecognized  nation.  A typical African mindset,   treat yourself and put your self-interest before their people.

How disgraceful   except one or two M.P’s like Ali  MP Marehan  and  Wabeeye  who single handedly tried their up most  best to pay regularly keep in touch and  visit   their constituencies in Burao And Odweyne  to meet up local people  by engaging with them and discussing current issues.

As for president Ahmed Siilanyo a great advocate of  accountability and always campaigned  equality,  transparency  and standing   up for the poor  and not for the few rich,  we don’t believe that  president  Ahmed Siilanyo is at all happy with this waste of tax payers money.

The recent political turmoil and squabbling within Somaliland parliament is a true reflection of their incompetent, out of touch with the political, and social reality, the country is encountering.    May   i, remind once again our MPS,   that they should respect the trust and confidence of their voters.

In conclusion the fact is that public support and confidence is very low among our legislators,  simply because they don’t serve a purpose any more except to fill up their own pocket  by selling their vote in parliament  without any regard for democracy  and the rule of law.   And the sad thing is that political tribalism is coming back a live and very active.

By: Ali A, Ismail Dheeg    Burco Somaliland

 

Somalia:8 Al-Shabaab fighters die In car bomb blast

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MOGADISHU -At least eight Al-Shabaab fighters were killed and five others injured after a car bomb they were making accidentally went off in the central Somali town of Bulo-Burte, witnesses and officials said.

The explosion was heard around Bulo Burte close to the main town of Beledewyne, which is controlled by government forces and African Union (AU) troops.

“The explosion was very huge and I saw people fleeing from the area. Eight dead men were taken out of the house where the vehicle was constructed. Five more severely wounded fighters were also taken away,” Ali Muse, a resident, told Xinhua.

The military said the vehicle was intended to target the government forces and AU peacekeeping troops based in Beledweyne, 300 km north of the capital Mogadishu.

Speaking to Radio Mogadishu, Hiran Regional Deputy Military Commander Mohamed Amiin Adam said Al-Shabaab has increased attacks on civilians and that the officials were aware of “other plots” of the group.

“We have reports now that a tanker full of explosives is headed towards Beledweyne from Bulo Burte and was sent by the plotters,” Adam told the state radio.

This comes as two separate explosions hit Mogadishu killing one and wounding five others including a government official, who was injured after a bomb planted in his vehicle exploded as he was driving along the main Makka Al Mukarama street in the capital.

 Source:Xinhua

Investing in a country that doesn’t exist: Somaliland’s hard sell

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Photo: Somaliland troops march past during a parade to mark the 22nd anniversary of Somaliland’s self-declared independence from the larger Somalia, in Hargeisa May 18, 2013. REUTERS/Feisal Omar.

 

Somaliland, the self-declared republic, is desperate for someone to find vast mineral reserves under its soil. But without international recognition – and the probability of legal battles in the future – it’s a big risk for any company to take. Somaliland too should be careful. Having dodged the aid curse, will it fall victim to the resource curse instead? By SIMON ALLISON.

At the recently concluded Mining Indaba in Cape Town, Somaliland’s energy minister Hussein Abdi Dualeh had possibly the hardest sell of all. It was his job to convince the assembled mining bigwigs that his country was a viable, risk-free environment in which to invest millions and millions of dollars – all on the hope that there might be base and precious metals hidden somewhere under its drab scrubland.

He tried hard. “We have also a unique geographical location,” the minister said in his speech at the conference. “If you have a mineral deposit and if you exploit it, it will be very cheap to take to market…it’s definitely much less costly than a really getting fantastic deposit the middle of continent, which will cost you really huge amount of money to export it…even the small deposit is commercially viable considering the logistics involved in taking the minerals to market.”

It was a good effort, but will it be enough? There are, after all, a few other factors which mitigate against Somaliland becoming Africa’s next mining hotspot.

The biggest problem is that Dualeh’s country is not actually a country. Officially, legally, Somaliland is a territory of the Republic of Somalia. A rogue territory at that, one which refuses to answer to the writ of the central government in Mogadishu. It considers itself independent, and operates accordingly, with all the trappings of sovereignty: the flag, the currency, the national anthem. Dualeh himself is part of Somaliland’s government, which is chosen in free and fair elections every five years (some say Somaliland is the most functional democracy in the Horn of Africa, and there’s substance to this description).

This de facto autonomy is no bad thing: while Somalia proper has been mired in civil war and violence for the last two decades, Somaliland has been stable, secure and relatively prosperous; its self-declared independence a conscious attempt to isolate itself from Somalia’s chaos which, by and large, has worked.

But as Somaliland seeks to develop, this independence – not formally recognised by anyone else in the world – is also holding it back. As miners contemplate entering Somaliland, they have to first ask and answer some tough questions about whether the government in Hargeisa has the authority to grant exploration licenses in the first place; and, once granted, if those will be honoured if and when Mogadishu is in a better position to assert rights of its own.

Already, these problems have crippled Somaliland’s oil sector. For years, oil exploration was dormant as companies fought over ‘legacy contracts’ (those granted in the late 1980s by dictator Siad Barre’s Mogadishu-based regime) and new contracts issued by the Somaliland government. Exploration has now started, but getting to this point was a long and complicated process.

Minister Dualeh claims there are no legacy contracts that could influence the mining sector – but that doesn’t mean there won’t be problems in the future between the two competing centres of power.

Somaliland’s lack of formal independence has also cut it off from another lucrative source of income: aid money. Almost all international aid to Somalia is all channeled through Mogadishu. With the exception of a few minor United Nations programmes, Hargeisa gets nothing.

Not that Hargeisa minds. Dualeh argues that the lack of aid has actually worked in Somaliland’s favour. “That is a blessing in disguise. Aid never developed anything,” he told Reuters’ Ed Stoddard on the sidelines of the conference. “Aid is not a panacea, we’d rather not have it… How many African countries do you know that developed because of a lot of aid? It’s a curse. The ones that get the most aid are the ones with the problems.”

Intrigued by this counter-intuitive position, the Daily Maverick contacted Minister Dualeh and asked him to elaborate. “There wasn’t really any aid opened to us because we weren’t recognised,” Dualeh explained in a telephone interview. “We’re not like Kenya that gets 40% [of its budget from] aid money; tangible aid hasn’t been coming our way because of our political status. Aid comes with strings attached but we don’t have any of that. We don’t owe anything to anyone.”

In practice, Dualeh believes that this leaves Somaliland free to make its own decision, unbeholden to any external backer that might not have the territory’s best interests at heart. “We have our own organic solutions to our problems; we have no outside influence; I think a lot of the good things that have happened to us are because we have found our own solutions.”

As an example, Dualeh cites the original decision to break away from the then-Federation of Somalia in 1991. This, he argues, was Somaliland taking its destiny into its own hands. In Somalia proper, on the other hand, decades of foreign meddling has just made the situation worse. “The difference between us and Somalia is that we sat down under the proverbial big tree and we basically stated our independence and tried to find our own solutions through uniting; we found a solution that has resulted in power right now, with no war or conflict.”

Somaliland may have avoided the aid curse, but as Dualeh seeks to drum up investment in the mining sector he would do well to recall the lessons of other African countries, where the curse of vast mineral wealth has proved just as devastating. Dualeh dismisses these concerns. “The resource curse is just a cliché. We’re not taking it lightly, we are trying to avoid it by making sure that we have good governance and good legal regimes to make sure that everything gets sorted ahead.”

In the Horn of Africa – a part of the world not famed for good governance or tight legal regimes – this might just be the one thing that Somaliland has going for it.  DM

Read more:

  • Somaliland blessed by dodging aid ‘curse’ on Reuters

 

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-02-10-investing-in-a-country-that-doesnt-exist-somalilands-hard-sell/#.Uvkvb_l5M1I

 

World’s 1st Clitoral Repair Hospital for FGM Victims to Open in West Africa on March 7

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Chantal Compaore, First Lady of Burkina Faso, will preside at the ceremony

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina-Faso, February 10, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ The world’s first clitoral repair hospital for victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), located in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, will open on March 7, according to a statement released today by the U.S.-based, nonprofit organization Clitoraid (http://www.clitoraid.org). Chantal Compaore, First Lady of Burkina Faso, will preside at the ceremony.

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/clitoraid.png

Download the flyer: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/flyer.jpg

Photo 1: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/kamkaso.jpg
(The world’s first clitoral repair hospital for victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), located in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, will open on March 7)

Photo 2: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/nadine-gary.jpg
(Clitoraid Communications Director Nadine Gary)

Photo 3: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/marci-bowers-md.jpg
(Dr. Marci Bowers, M.D., and Dr. Harold Henning Jr., M.D., will perform surgeries at the new hospital and also train other surgeons to do it)

Photo 4: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/harold-henning-md.jpg
(Dr. Harold Henning Jr., M.D., and Dr. Marci Bowers, M.D., will perform surgeries at the new hospital and also train other surgeons to do it)

The hospital was built with donated funds and through the efforts of worldwide volunteers.

“Having Chantal Compaore’s support and presence on March 7 is such a wonderful way to celebrate this opening!” said Clitoraid Communications Director Nadine Gary. “She has been a steadfast voice against the horrors of FGM, and we’re honored that she will be there.”

Gary said hundreds of women are already on Clitoraid’s waiting list to have the surgery, which will be free for any woman who wants it.

“Their wait is almost over,” Gary said. She said the new facility, called “the Kamkaso,” which means “the house for women,” has been nicknamed “the Pleasure Hospital,” since the surgery “will restore their dignity as women as well as their ability to experience physical pleasure, which was taken from them against their will.”

Gary went on to explain how the idea of the hospital came about.

“After spiritual leader Maitreya Rael heard about a clitoral repair procedure developed by Dr. Pierre Foldes in France, he launched Clitoraid and the idea of building clinics that offer free surgery for FGM victims. After the United Nations adopted a resolution banning FGM, there’s been universal agreement that it’s a violation of human rights and the integrity of individuals. And eliminating FGM  is essential for women’s health, so governments must keep passing laws against it. But Rael realized that it’s also important to repair the damage already caused to living victims. This hospital is the result of his vision.”

Gary said Clitoraid volunteer surgeons from the United States, Dr. Marci Bowers, M.D., and Dr. Harold Henning Jr., M.D., will perform surgeries at the new hospital and also train other surgeons to do it.

“The goal is to help as many victims as possible have this surgery, which will also help discourage the barbaric practice of FGM,” Gary said.  “When its effects can be surgically reversed for free, what would be the point?”

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Clitoraid.

Media contact:

Abibata Sanon

avfe@clitoraid.org

+226-78886092

About Clitoraid:

Clitoraid (http://www.clitoraid.org) is an international non-profit organization offering clitoral repair surgery to FGM victims.

Follow us at facebook.com/clitoraid and twitter.com/clitoraid

SOURCE

Clitoraid

 

Djibouti: Constant repression despite Progress in informal dialogue

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Djibouti, February 10, 2014

 Article 10-paragraph 1 “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. “(P international act on Civil and Political Rights 1966, ratified by Djibouti in 2002)

Ø   Omar Hassan Waberi and Farhan Meraneh Aden sentenced to 45 days in jail

Of the 12 young activists USN placed warrant to Gabode January 30, 2014, two (2) were sentenced to 45 days in jail while ten (10) others have seen impose penalties of imprisonment. This is Omar Hassan Waberi, a student at the University of Djibouti 3rd Year Science and Farhan Meraneh Aden. Moreover, according to the latest news we learned that the health of the young student, Omar Hassan, requires medical treatment following the violence he suffered during his detention.

We recall once again that the prison Gabode rest by its age and overcrowding a place where the rights of prisoners and human dignity does not exist. The conditions of detention are extremely inhumane violence as: proximity, lack of health, isolation, mixture of common rights and condemned criminals ….

Ø   Mahdi Ali Waberi arbitrarily arrested by the gendarmerie Ali Sabieh

We learned that 7 February 2014 Ali Sabieh city, capital of the Region of Ali Sabih, Mahdi Ali Waberi, parliamentary candidate on the list of the opposition has been arbitrarily arrested and detained about 9am . Moreover, at the same time the gendarmes forced entry (without warrant) at the home of Mrs. Fathia Djama Mihileh activist USN (opposition coalition) to confiscate his computer.

The ODDH calls for public authorities:

  1. At the unconditional release of all political prisoners, cessation of prosecutions and harassment associations and citizens suspected for their hypothetical close to the opposition,
  1. At the culmination of a sincere and frank political dialogue,
  1. In the implementation of democratic reforms to pave the way for a genuine rule of law.

`

Act for democracy, dignity and justice.

The President of the ODDH

Farah Abdillahi Miguil

Somaliland: Executive interference with the House of Representatives.

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By: Mohamed Ali –Lawyer-

 

Recent political instability Parliamentarian’s Dispute base

 

Somaliland constitution clearly outlines separation powers of the three arms of the state; therefore, it’s an obligation for the citizens to obey the constitution that approved by the people for absolute majority in 2000’s.

 

In last month, there has been a conflict between the members of the House of Representatives, which based on the speakers reshuffle of the committee members, the speaker and the second deputy speaker both agreed the above discussion, in order improve day-to-day activity as to become well functioning and smooth running.

 

 

Several days after, the decision were made by the speaker and the deputy speaker disagreed by the first deputy speaker Rt. Hon Bashe M Farah few days after he came-back from short trip to visit in Turkey, Mercurial Ali yousuf  “2ND Deputy speaker” also supported the disagreement by Bashe Mohamed Farax.

 

Speaker of the House Rt Hon. Abdirahman M. Abdillahi was in Europe while the two-deputy speaker were making the disagreement of the speaker’s re-organised to the committee members. The above issue was the base of the existing disagreement between the members of the House of Representatives, and lately caused those MPs to split into two groups. a side that supported with Abdirahman Ciro and one side that supported with Bashe and Ali yousuf “the two deputy speaker” .

 

Anyhow, the members of parliament can solve their own problems if the government is stay away or excluding the recent issues in the parliament. Unfortunately, the current government has been frequently interfering the parliament local and simply issues in order to provide support the members of parliamentarians that listed on the ruling party (KULMIYE).

 

President Ahmed Silanyo “inactive president” and several closed and powerful ministers has been involved and taking-part the parliament fresh disagreements to be rising up and finally reaches fight against each other.

 

What is the Solution?

 

In my view and my experience about the Somaliland politics and resolution of local problems between the politicians.

The following points are very important and its essential to get them as the house get rest and become stable in the future.

The executive should be excluding and stay away the parliament politics dispute.

The gov’t should stop frequent interfering with the parliament.

MPs should resolute their problems with their own hands and forget all political interest.

The speaker and the two deputies should come together and deal on how to get an immediate resolution of the recent problems.

Its very important for every MPs to care the national interest instead of personal and party interest.

The House of elders should honestly support with the House of Representatives while reconciliation process going.

 

Conclusion

 

 

I would to conclude my article about the recent political instability between the MPs.

 

I want to say one word to the People, Members of Parliament, Government “Executive”, Politicians and the judiciary.

 

To People:

             If we want to build a nation with peace, prosperity, good life and stable;

             first the people should be unite and together in order to prevent civil wars

             and conflicts that based by clan interest.

 

To Gov’t executive;

The executive should be honestly work with the other government branches in order to move forward.

To Politicians;

The politicians should be far away everything that against the nations existence and should obey and follow the laws and constitution of this country fluffily.

To Judiciary;

Its very essentials to get independent judiciary, justice and trustable system of courts in order to keep nation’s existence remain longer.

 

 

 

Thanks

………………………………………

Mohamed Ali is political analyser

………………………………………..

A Glimpse of the Creeping Famine in Ethiopia

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Last week, NBC News aired an investigative report by Martin Geissler on the creeping famine in Ethiopia :

Behold the rider of the Black Horse (famine) eyeing Ethiopia once again

[Ethiopia] is the face of the world food crises. In a village in Southern Ethiopia, mothers cue with their malnourished children for emergency rations of food. They can’t afford to feed their babies and now it seems neither can the outside world. The distended stomachs, a symptom of the hunger so many here are suffering after two poor harvests in a row, and there are more new cases everyday… They were given food rations ten days ago… The government reserves ran out long ago, and now the U.N. supply is thinning too. They were given food rations 10 days ago… These people get a monthly handout; July’s [2013] was cut by a third. The rising price of grain worldwide means an extra one hundred million pounds need to be raised just to keep this up… 400 miles north near the Somali border, we found a changed landscape but the same crises and the rains are late here too and half the population needs food aid… They have been given a stark option [by regime representative Omar Abdi] ‘I have two options for them: to die or do the land.’ But across this country just now outside help is keeping millions alive. Malnutrition figures continue to rise and show no signs of slowing. This global food crises may be raising food bills in the West but the people here [in Ethiopia] are paying a far higher price.

Rang the alarm bell on the looming famine

In October 2012, I rang the alarm bell in my commentary “Ethiopia: An Early Warning of a Famine in 2013”. I claim no special knowledge or expertise in the economics of famine. However, by carefully piecing data, analyses and findings  from various sources including the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), Oxfam, the U.N. World Food Programme, the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization and reports of the New England Complex Systems Institute, [NECSI] (a group of academics from Harvard and MIT who specialize in predicting how changes in environment can lead to political instability and upheavals), it became clear to me that 2013 was likely to be the threshold year for the onset of famine or “catastrophic food crises”, as they euphemistically call it, in Ethiopia.

By late 2012, there was general consensus that reductions in the exports of grains from producing countries could trigger increased prices on the global commodities markets in 2013. I demanded to know how the “government of PM Hailemariam Desalegn expected to deal with the effects of the inevitable global food crises in light of its depleted foreign reserves and how his government will avert potentially catastrophic famine in the country.” I warned, “Planning to panhandle more emergency food aid simply won’t cut it. Relying on ‘Productive Safety Nets Programmes’ simply won’t do it. If the government of PM Hailemariam Desalegn cannot come up with a better answer or alternative to the looming famine over the horizon, it should be prepared to face not only a hungry population but also an angry one!”

For the past year, neither Hailemariam nor his puppet masters have done anything demonstrably constructive to deal with the “looming famine”. As usual, they are sitting around twiddling their thumbs and swatting flies waiting for American taxpayers to bail them out for the umpteenth time. There is a joke going around about the time Hailemariam was asked if he was worried about the poor rains and looming famine in Ethiopia. “We are not worried about the rains in Ethiopia; we are worried about the rains in America and Canada.” In February 2014, Hailemariam and Co. are polishing off their begging bowls to make a beeline to the U.S. and Canadian embassies to do their annual panhandling rounds.

In 2011, when Hailemariam was a “foreign and deputy prime minster” he was cocksure that his regime could lick famine and take a big bite out of poverty in no time. In an interview with  Africa Confidential, Hailemariam boasted, “For the last seven years, Ethiopia has witnessed double digit growth and this is a sign that our economic policy is working very well. If we continue this pace of development, we can double our economy in the next five years. This means that we will double our income for our community and so we will reduce poverty by 50%.” Hailemariam’s predecessor, the late imperious Meles Zenawi, “in his first press conference in Addis Ababa [over two decades ago], in reply to a question about his goals, declared that he would consider his government a success if Ethiopians were able to eat three meals a day.” (See video here.) In 2011, Meles pompously declared, “We have devised a plan which will enable us to produce surplus and be able to feed ourselves by 2015 without the need for food aid.”

“Three meals a day” in 2014 is pie in the sky for the vast majority of Ethiopians; and there is no chance that Ethiopia will feed itself “without the need for food aid” by 2015 as Meles “devised”. In fact, Ethiopia today is 123 out of 125 worst fed countries in the world. According to a new Oxfam food database “while the Netherlands ranks number one in the world for having the most plentiful, nutritious, healthy and affordable diet, Chad is last on 125th behind Ethiopia and Angola.”

The tragic irony is that as millions of Ethiopians starve, Saudi Arabian, Indian agribusinesses commercially farm Ethiopia’s most fertile lands to export food to their countries and China stealthily implements its plans for the penetration of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector. What a doggone crying shame! So much for “double digit growth”, “doubling the economy”, “surplus production” and “three meals a day”!

Uncovering the hidden famine in Ethiopia

Over the past few years, I have written over a dozen commentaries specifically on famine in Ethiopia or other related matters (see footnote in link). I have railed time and again against official secrecy in keeping famine stricken areas off limits to international and local journalists as tens of thousands die or suffer excruciating physical pain from food deprivation. The Meles/Hailemariam regimes have followed their predecessors lockstep in keeping famines secret. H.I.M. Haile Selassie in 1974 pretended there was no famine until the documentary the “Hidden Hunger” by Jonathan Dimbleby was aired provoking  shock and anger among Ethiopians. Former junta leader Mengistu Hailemariam was arrogantly dismissive during the 1984-85 famine. He casually asked, “What famine?” Meles, Hailemariam and those behind Hailemariam’s wooden throne today are far more cunning. Their solution is 1) to clampdown on the local press and shut the country down to all foreign journalists and media representatives who are interested in reporting on the impending humanitarian disaster, and 2) stand outside Western embassies with their shiny begging bowls.

It is interesting to note that the imperial government, the Derg junta and the current regime, like Nero who played his violin as Rome burned, continued their extravagant lifestyles as millions of Ethiopians starved. In 1974, before the overthrow of H.I.M. Haile Selassie, the Derg televised documentaries showing the excesses of the royal family as they fed their pets expensive morsels of meat and enjoying supposedly fancy imported cakes from Europe while tens of thousands died from famine in the northern part of the country. In 1984, on the tenth anniversary of the Derg’s seizure of power, the haughty soldiers let the champagne and whiskey flow like a river stream. Tens of thousands also died in the great famine of 1984.

In 2014, the situation is far worse. Those in power, their relatives, cronies, partners and cadres are spending tens of thousands of dollars on exclusive designer clothes, shoes, handbags and perfumes, hundreds of thousands of dollars on fancy cars and sports utility vehicles and living in multi-million dollar mansions furnished with the most expensive European furniture and kitchen appliances. They are stashing billions of dollars in foreign banks and secret investment schemes as documented in a report of Global Financial Integrity. In 2014, millions of Ethiopians are doomed to famine. Such is the sad but true story of Ethiopia today. By intimidating the press, the regime in power in Ethiopia has managed to maintain a complete news blackout on Ethiopia’s hidden famine. Thanks to the courageous Martin Geissler, ITN and NBC, we now have a glimpse of the human catastrophe that is taking shape.

The international conspiracy to keep Ethiopia’s hidden famines hidden

For over two decades, there has been a well-orchestrated conspiracy of silence between the regime in Ethiopia and the international donors, aid experts, international bureaucrats and NGOs not to use the dreaded “F” word in Ethiopia. They have gone to great lengths to hide the human face of famine by masking the truth with bureaucratic doublespeak and media newspeak. They talk about stages of “food insecurity”. Hungry and starving people are said to experience “acute food insecurity”, face “stressed” food situations, go into “crises” mode, graduate to “emergency” status and in the last stage undergo “catastrophic” food shortages. Nowhere  will they mention the word “famine” or “starvation”.

There is a reason why the word “famine” is banned among the hordes of international poverty pimps and the regime in Ethiopia. Famine conjures  up images of hordes of skeletal Ethiopians walking across the parched landscape, curled up corpses of famine victims under acacia trees and fly-infested children with distended bellies clutching their mothers at feeding camps. Geissler’s report last week does not show curled up corpses, but his video shows children with distended bellies clutching their mothers who are woefully resigned to the fact that their children will be dead in a day or two.

Talking about famine in Ethiopia openly is dangerous to the donor/NGO communities and the ruling regime because it portends political upheavals. In their analysis of recurrent famines in Ethiopia, Professors Angela Raven-Roberts and Sue Lautze noted, “Declaring a famine was also a complicated question for the Ethiopian government. Famines have contributed to the downfall of Ethiopian regimes… Some humanitarian practitioners gauge their successes, in part, according to ‘famines averted’.”

The conspiracy of silence serves the interest of all involved in dealing with the problem of famine in Ethiopia. To acknowledge the existence of famine by the regime, donors, NGOs and aid bureaucrats is tantamount to pointing an accusatory finger at oneself. If there is famine, it is proof positive that the donors who dumped millions of dollars in food aid, the NGOs involved in the distribution line and the highly overpaid international aid bureaucrats have failed. They have failed to produce a workable plan for food self-sufficiency in Ethiopia despite billions in aid. They have also failed to use their leverage against the regime in Ethiopia to deal with the famine bull by the horn.

The ruling regime in Ethiopia would rather have its tongue cut out than utter the word “famine”. For instance, in January 2010, Mitiku Kassa, Meles Zenawi’s agriculture minister declared, “In the Ethiopian context, there is no hunger, no famine… It is baseless [to claim hunger or famine], it is contrary to the situation on the ground. It is not evidence-based. The government is taking action to mitigate the problems.” Meles was equally dismissive: “Famine has wreaked havoc in Ethiopia for so long, it would be stupid not to be sensitive to the risk of such things occurring. But there has not been a famine on our watch — emergencies, but no famines.” No famines. No political prisoners. No human rights violations. No dictatorship. No problems!

But the conspiracy to deny the existence of famine in Ethiopia implicates the U.S. itself. In 2004, President George W. Bush “challenged his administration to ensure that famines were avoided during his tenure, a policy known as ‘No Famine on My Watch’; declaring the existence of a famine could be seen as a political shortcoming and, therefore, a political vulnerability.” The one exception to the official embargo on the use of the word “famine” is Wolfgang Fengler, a lead economist for the World Bank, who on August 17, 2011, definitively declared, “This [famine] crisis [in Ethiopia] is manmade. Droughts have occurred over and again, but you need bad policymaking for that to lead to a famine.” In other words, the fundamental problem with famine in Ethiopia is poor governance, not drought; incompetent and indifferent governance, not environmental factors. The recurrent famines in Ethiopia are manmade; that is, they are “made” by corrupt, indifferent,  incompetent and clueless regimes that lack political will to deal with the recurrent problem. Those in positions of power in Ethiopia have a petrified “bush mentality” impervious to rational planning and policymaking.

The ruling regime in Ethiopia blames “drought” for the deaths and suffering of millions of Ethiopians year after year. Yet that ne’er-do-well regime has done next to nothing to deal with the underlying problems aggravating the conditions leading to endlessly recurrent famines (see my July 2010 commentary “Apocalypse Now or in 40 Years?”). They have done nothing meaningful to control the country’s high population growth and food prices, improve environmental degradation and low agricultural productivity caused by state ownership of land and subsistence farming on fragmented small plots and have yet to undertake comprehensive agricultural planning. The regime’s solution has been to give away the most arable land in the country to so-called international investors who “lease” the land for commercial agriculture and exports to their home countries or for sale on the international market while Ethiopians starve. Hailemariam believes Saudi and Indian land grabs will transform Ethiopian agriculture. He recently told the New African, “We have subsistence agriculture and that’s now changing into commercial agriculture.”

The moral hazard of U.S. food aid to Ethiopia

There is a mindboggling irony and disconnect in U.S. food aid to Ethiopia. Every year for decades, the U.S. has provided food aid to Ethiopia with certain knowledge that it will be providing food aid again to the very same people year after year.  Except for feel-good-we-are-doing-something show and tell projects like “productive safety nets programmes” (which the ruling regime uses to extort political support from rural farmers and residents), the U.S. has imposed few conditions on the regime to deal with the famine problem. Yet millions of Ethiopians are in dire straits year after year; and millions of American tax dollars targeted for famine relief are lost to fraud, abuse and waste.

The fact of the problem is that U.S. food aid policy itself must be scrutinized to determine the extent to which it has contributed to keeping starving Ethiopians teetering on the edge of catastrophe. As Paul Hebert, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia recently observed, “The problem we face [in Ethiopia] is that more and more people are living on the edge… It doesn’t take very much to push them over that edge. The fear is that if we do have another large drought in this country and we haven’t made significant progress in addressing the chronic food security that could set things back significantly. Because of the precariousness of many people, you can easily slip into a very serious famine situation.”

Is the U.S. a silent accomplice watching on the sidelines as millions of Ethiopians living on the edge slide off the edge? As the recent NBC report documented, several millions of Ethiopians in the southern Ethiopia’s Somali and Oromiya regions are today facing “catastrophic severe food shortages”, commonly known as famine. Other areas expected to experience famine-like conditions in 2014  include northeastern Amhara and eastern and southern Tigray regions and the lowlands of East Hararghe Zone in Oromia. Between 12-20 million Ethiopians are estimated to be “living on the edge”; it will not take much to push them over the edge into full-fledged famine. Is the U.S. a silent accomplice?

The regime’s old panhandling tricks to hustle hundreds of millions of dollars in annual American taxpayer handouts may have already come to an end. U.S. Food for Peace contributions have been on steep decline for the past several years: 451.7million (2010); $313.3million (2011); $306.6million (2012); $235.5million (2013) and $86.9million for 2014. If Hailemariam and Co., believe they can wing the current “food crises” or solve Ethiopia’s “chronic food shortages” by panhandling the U.S. as usual, they had better think again. It seems even Obama now wants to see a change in the fraud, waste and abuse of U.S. food aid in countries like Ethiopia. Donor fatigue is spreading and setting hard throughout America, particularly outside the Washington beltway. Hailemariam and his puppet master should take note of that.

Annual harvest of famine: The fierce urgency for official transparency and accountability

The problem of “food shortages”, “food insecurity”, or whatever euphemism one chooses to use, in Ethiopia cannot be solved by food handouts. After corruption, panhandling is the lifeline of the regime in Ethiopia today. For over two decades, the regime in power in Ethiopia has been harvesting famine and shame. The regime is so accustomed to food handouts, it is now hopelessly addicted to food aid. The poor Ethiopian famine victims have no confidence in the ability or capacity of those in power to care of them. They cast their gazes upon the U.S. and other Western donors. How long must American taxpayers dole out their hard earned dollars to a regime that could not care less for its population? How long will American taxpayers tolerate their tax dollars being wasted, abused and defrauded in the name of humanitarian aid by corrupt regimes?

As I have often said, talking about the rule of law, accountability and transparency to those in power in Ethiopia today is like preaching Scripture to a gathering of deaf-mute heathen or pouring water over a slab of granite.  It is an exercise in total futility. After twenty-three years in power, they still cling to the politics of secrecy they practiced in the bush. They suffer from arrested development unable to transition from bushcraft to statecraft. That said, we must never stop insisting on transparency and accountability.

The role of press freedom in attaining transparency and accountability cannot be overstated. Investigative journalists in the past have saved the lives of millions in Ethiopia. They are the unsung heroes who exposed callous official indifference and saved millions from starvation and famine in the 1970s and 80s. When junta leader Mengistu Hailemariam denied the devastating famines, investigative journalists stepped in and let the world know what was happening leading to a massive global grassroots response. The same held true for the imperial regime in the early 1970s. It is no different now. Hailemariam and his puppet masters must come clean and let the world know the extent of famine and starvation in Ethiopia. Donor countries should insist on strict accountability by making sure that the truth about the looming famine is laid bare to the world, and insist on effective remedial measures. The alternative is that the U.S and other Western donors must accept co-responsibility as silent accomplices of the regime for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in the looming famine. In the end, Ethiopians will remember not only the depraved indifference and criminal neglect of those claiming to be their leaders but also the inaction and silence of the bleeding heart do-gooders who give them lip service but are morally indifferent to their suffering. Perhaps they should all heed Bob Marley’s message in a song: “A hungry man is an angry man.”

Them belly full, but we hungry;
A hungry mob is a angry mob.

Cost of livin’ gets so high,
Rich and poor they start to cry:
Now the weak must get strong;

Now the weak must get strong.

Who will now save Ethiopians from the rider of the Black Horse holding a scale?

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:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/
www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic
http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

Somaliland: Planning for the Future

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Across the Somali territories we have witnessed a raft of construction projects of late. Whilst such activity testifies to a gradual return to normality, the speed and nature of the development raises some fundamental questions. In all post-conflict economies there is an initial. During this period, it is imperative that there is focus on winning the peace, just as there has been in winning the war. Those familiar with the region are well aware that the elements intent on using violence to achieve their ends have not been totally defeated, but have been dispersed and are very much on the back foot. Psychologically this has given a tremendous fillip to the business community and has helped create an environment where investors feel sufficiently confident to engage in commercial activity again. The international community has also sought to bolster this situation and as a result locals and returning members of the Diaspora see opportunities that previously seemed non-existent.

Cities such as the likes of Hargeisa, Mogadishu and Berbera currently exude entrepreneurial activity and as a consequence land prices are spiralling ever upwards. The rate of new construction is rather alarming as it allows precious little time for a coherent planning strategy, let alone adequate regulations and safeguards that protect such cities from the worse aspects of urban development. Already it is clear that little or no thought is being given to preserving spaces for recreation, regrettably a construction free-for-all has broken out that is seeing land going to the highest bidder. Locals and friends of the region are rightly concerned that there is a real danger that existing problems in regard to flooding, refuse, sewage and land rights are being exacerbated and thus it is beholden on both national and municipal authorities to be far more proactive, rather than taking a detached or laissez-faire approach. Thankfully there are some splendid African examples of good practice in this regard, the finest being that of Rwanda, especially in regard to Kigali. The approach in Kigali is both bold and enlightened. From the outset the planners and the authorities have set great store in ensuring that there is a co-ordinated approach to urban development, one based on genuine consultation, a transparent bidding process and promotion on merit as opposed to age or connections. Kigali has not been allowed to fall under the tyrannical rule of the motor car, thankfully equal thought has been given to pedestrians and their safety and convenience. In any town or city green spaces are not merely about recreation, but about creating micro-climates that help cherish local plants and trees that support various wildlife as well as acting as natural filters for pollution and dust. Rwanda has a zero-tolerance approach to litter and has been extraordinarily successful in tackling the blight of discarded plastic bags and bottles. In this age of recycling rather than viewing waste as a problem, it has viewed the processing as an asset, with certain products being recycled or converted into energy. Equal attention has been paid to the nature of the cityscape, with a conscious decision being made to use a blend of high rise structures and those on a more human scale.

Somalis as the great entrepreneurs of Africa are often desirous to demonstrate their modernity and their success. Whilst matt black, glass and chrome structures may work for some, in reality it would make far more sense if greater cognizance was taken of vernacular architectural traditions. In view of the climate it is logical to focus on soft hues, lattice work, natural ventilation and vegetation. Somalo-Islamic architecture affords a wealth of styles that are distinctive, eminently sensible and aesthetically in keeping with the landscape. In domestic architecture the Arabesque influence encourages the use of open courtyards featuring fountains, fruit trees and local shrubs and flowers. It is heartening to hear that in Mogadishu people are beginning to appreciate real plants and flowers as opposed to tawdry plastic imitations. Sadly, some architects seem to have totally turned their backs on local styles and traditions and are intent on creating structures that are infinitely forgettable. The sensitive use of muted colours can help enhance the built environment, especially when it comes to development in costal locations, anyone familiar with Manarola in La Spezia, Italy will appreciate how it colour can be used to marvellous effect.

Mention of the distinctive nature of coastal settings underscores the importance of providing appropriate safeguards to prevent unfettered construction. Lessons need to be learnt from what has happened elsewhere. Land must be set aside and protected for sport, recreation as well as for conservation purposes. Enlightened and forward looking leadership will ensure that there are statutory requirements for Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) and that there is proper transparency and effective communication with stakeholders. All societies need to pay more attention to better energy efficiency and water management, as well as disability access and better health and safety practises across the construction sector. Things may be changing rapidly, but Somalis will remain the intensely sociable and entrepreneurial people they have always been. Towns and cities are collections of communities and thus should be designed with this in mind. Interaction and engagement helps foster greater understanding and trust and therefore it is important that the trend towards gated communities be kept to a absolute minimum.

With a spirit of optimism abroad across much of the Horn of Africa it is vital that policy makers and planners look to the future and approach things in a holistic manner. After years of trial and tribulation the region requires not only peace, but the vision to move forward in such a manner as to help create a healthy and harmonious built environment, one that is conducive to investment and that stimulates employment and opportunity. Whilst plenty of challenges remain I believe that Somali determination, innovation and ingenuity can win through if given half a chance.

Mark T Jones – Leadership Specialist

www.marktjones.com

 

Somaliland:Hersi’s Heavy Hand at the Helm of Local Politics!

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By Mohamed Ahmed
If some of the public perception is to be believed, the minister of President of Somaliland Hersi Ali Haji Hassan is the gatekeeper of current Silanyo administration. A referee for Kulmiye party disputes and an arbiter of all Somaliland government business! Ask people who to pick as a comic super villain of Somaliland politics. You got your darth Vader candidate! He is portrayed as the stereotypical grand vizier of Somaliland. According to some he is a man who keeps his clan cards close to his chest, and a Machiavellian who succumbs to the trappings of power! Someone out there is always ready to glare at him with hot furry and cold dislike!

Well except on days I’m reading a clan conspiracy websites I hardly believe all these descriptions of the minister. Perhaps it’s worth repeating the obvious here. Clan and politics are woven in all Somali society! Today clan websites made it too easy to read not only your own kind of opinions, but also your own clan ego-stroking version of Somali politics reality! It is seductively easy in Somali media to imagine your clan on the right side of every story!

Hersi makes no effort in hiding his powers and his hard-talking master of revenge tactics. I’m sure you all heard of the political axiom -one campaigns in Poetry, but governs in Prose. The poetry of campaign is lofty, but the prose of governing is maddening and disappointing (as Hersi learned in his bid to unseat Honorable Speaker of the house). Whenever Somaliland gatherings are held overseas, Hersi likes to recite poetries and anecdotal stories. This is where Somaliland success are recounted and new hyped promises made. Take for example his recent speech in Liverpool, England.
The minister revealed how he thinks he can be of a formidable power behind in overthrowing the Speaker of Somaliland assembly Honorable Abdirahman Mohamed ( Cirrow). He related anecdotal story about a man who once drank too much goat milk and decided to challenge his two wives and two weak sons for a match of wrestling! When at last he was convinced about his strength, the man went against his better judgment and decided to take his sort of newfound “energy” to the street; only to have him handed a defeat. You didn’t need to rove through your mind in search of keys to the riddle. From the outside, and with hindsight, it was easy to guess who the story was directed at; the speaker of the house and the two deputies of the speakers.

It is rumored that when the honorable minister came back to the country , he tried to empower the rest of the cabinet to fight above their rank in persuading (bribing) members of parliament (MP) from their clan to vote in line with his new found goal of unseating the speaker. This is a grim news. According to reports there was two motions in the cooking for deposing the speaker! One to reduce the vote needed to depose a sitting speaker and another motion to unseat Speaker Ciiro .The vote currently needed to unseat a seating speaker is 55 votes and Silanyo administration wants to reduce it to 42 votes. Hersi is a man who advances himself not by achievements, but by political corruption muscle. I understand Politics is a rough business and I can see why he wants to win some people to his side, but you don’t do this through clan or by buying votes. This only creates immense speculations and unnecessary controversy! It is worth knowing that such rumors leaves an observer in the oddly position of paying attention to the more compelling rumors. Somali History is replete with precedent of how clannish and corrupt governments end up! For what we see before our eyes, pursuing the vocation of corruption is like pointing a dagger at the heart of Somaliland! We may need to awaken ourselves from the nightmare before it becomes reality.

Fevered partisan bickering is nothing new in politics. It is part of politics everywhere. The danger is in their zeal to score points of one another, they forget what the goal of Somaliland is all about in the first place; a stronger united Somaliland that isn’t mirror image of South Somalia corrupt clan politics! If the minister cares not to think what people want, this will only thwart Somaliland citizens’ plans for united Somaliland. Both the President and the Speaker navigated a river of skeptical questions about Hersi’s heavy hand in interfering with the parliament business. Both gave a dignified response. The president promised not to interfere with the parliament business, but there is steadily accumulating evidence of the government still interfering with the parliament business. The news out of the city today indicates that indeed the two rumored motions were presented and the speaker decided to consult with his legal team. The parliament was closed for business today and police units were deployed. This is just a recipe for more confrontation. The jury is still out, but this country is in the world of hurt if members of the house vote can be bought with money!
There is a need for demonstration of strength of the parliament to maintain credibility in the eyes of the citizens of Somaliland. It is of utmost significance that the executive also not to interfere with the parliament. These current administration of president Silanyo spearheaded by minister Hersi have engaged in a campaign of corrupting the parliamentarian. If Hersi and cohorts had an establishment with backbone and moral fiber they wouldn’t have needed to buy votes. Having listened to news clips from some members of the parliament it seems like Hersi’s hand has raised corruption to a new art form in Somaliland. Hersi and Kulmiye wants to make the Somaliland parliament a dysfunctional institution, infected by corruption that long ago claimed a neighboring country called Somalia.
The Kulmiye campaign of reducing votes to unseat the speaker doesn’t hold up to cursory scrutiny! Instead of finding ways to unseat the speaker within the existing laws, why do they want to change the law now using dirty tricks like bribing and clandestine late-night meetings at the vice-president house? These sort of clandestine moves has long been a useful tool to suppress voters. The members of the parliament shouldn’t allow in their watch the country highest institution to be taken over by a corruption -wing faction that champions clan politics! Somaliland certainly don’t need an administration who publically disdained a clean parliament. Glad the Speaker of the parliament is no patsy!

Somaliland:Silatech, Kaaba Microfinance Partner to Support Somali Youth Enterprise

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Agreement will strengthen microfinance support for both low income and university graduate entrepreneurs.

Silatech has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kaaba Microfinance Institution (K-MFI), based in Somaliland, to promote youth enterprise and employment solutions. The agreement paves the way for the two organizations to jointly develop a Youth Enterprise Fund, which will provide dedicated funds and technical assistance to microfinance institutions throughout Somaliland. The objective of the Fund is to incentivize Somali MFIs to increase lending to young people.
The Youth Enterprise Fund will create two youth-focused products specially designed for different socioeconomic groups. One will be tailored for the needs of low income existing youth microenterprises, while the second will be designed for university graduates looking to start their own businesses. Both are shari’a compliant microfinance products. Also contributing to the Youth Enterprise Fund is AFIF, a non-profit Qatari development program launched by Al Asmakh Charity Foundation and a consortium of other social investors and donors.
The initiative is set to support over 3,000 Somaliland based youth enterprises access appropriate financial service combined with business training and support over the next 3 years. It is expected that these enterprises will sustain or create over 5,000 new jobs as they grow.
Youth microenterprise is of particular significance in the Somali territories, given that approximately 70 percent of the population is below the age of 30. With unemployment rates greater than 65 percent, and with few formal sector entry points into the workforce, many Somalis end up as microentrepreneurs in the informal sector by necessity. Access to formal financial services remains in the single digits meaning that many of these enterprise struggle to obtain capital to grow and create jobs.
Speaking at the signing, Silatech CEO Dr. Tarik M. Yousef said “Both Silatech and Kaaba Microfinance are committed to empowering Somali youth by making financial services available and helping them to start and sustain their own businesses. We believe that, together, we can help to spur income generating activities, alleviate poverty, and encourage entrepreneurship and positive change.”
Agreeing with Dr. Yousef, Chairperson of Kaaba Mrs. Fadumo Alin said, “The change both our organizations are seeking to make in the lives of the Somali youth will not come if we wait for a miracle, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. It is true that the deepest happiness one can have comes from helping to relieve the suffering of others–and this is exactly what we want to do together.”
Based in Doha, Silatech is a regional social initiative that works to improve employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people throughout the 22 countries of the Arab world. With projects in 11 Arab countries, since 2009 Silatech microenterprise partnerships have supported more than 52,000 youth businesses start or grow and provided assistance to more than 200,000 young people. Silatech is the largest provider of youth-focused microenterprise services in the Arab World.
Kaaba Microfinance Institution is the longest serving microfinance institution in Somaliland. With a loan recovery rate of 98 percent, it is financially sustainable with a strong track record of managing donor funds. Kaaba MFI was founded with the mission of providing demand-based financial services to low-income and vulnerable Somali groups (particularly women & youth) to become agents of change through improved access to finance. The parent organization of Kaaba MFI is Doses of Hope, an NGO founded in the Netherlands in 1997 and operating in Somaliland since 1999. Doses of Hope is focused on empowering the financial independence and integration of the less fortunate and vulnerable groups in Somalia into active members of their community.