A press release made by Jar’s President Moha D. Farah Jire who currently is in Addis Ababa for an AU summit. Ms. Farah Jire in her press release thanks everyone who came to the summit, the Ethiopian government for hosting the summit and the AU body for allowing the media free access in the summit.
I am very confident that the media will play a major role in Africa 2010. I am also certain that the media will take more roles in peace building, security building by working closely with the governments and also take a lead role in the development of the continent. We are all aware that politicians are not capable of resolving all the issues that the continent is facing; however with free media, journalist can feed the mass fair and balance news.
JAR {Journalists for Renaissance} reminds all governments leaders in Africa that information is power and that all citizens have the rights to an unbiased information therefore the governments should respect the profession of journalism.
JAR once again gives special thanks the most welcoming country of all media in Africa {Ethiopia, and the most media working and skills implementations activist, fried Richard stiff tang {FES}non governmental organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia representative’s , Dr. Sabina, who tries beyond imaginations limit to give continues security, Ethics of Journalism and world wide experience trainings. JAR gives special thanks once again the most welcoming country of all media in Africa {Ethiopia, and the most media working and skills implementations activist, fried Richard stiff tang {FES}None governmental organization in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia representative’s , Dr. Sabina, who tries beyond imaginations limit to give continues security, Ethics of Journalism and world wide experience trainings.
Sincerely to all those who gave all their time in life to live in a very poor income with this profession who can get better income jobs but preferred to work in this hard times for their people, countries for a better future, JAR is here to inform Media in we deserve more but better years and times are ahead to come, who he waits finds best at the conclusion president of Jar, Moha D. Farah Jire clarifies in they are always looking forward to work with all professionals in the continent, she shown sorry the lost of too many beloved hero’s in this field the year 2009, specially in Madagascar, & Somalia, I am hope in all of us will live with peace, respect and hopeful better future in God’s will.
LAS ANOD (Somalilandpress) — Twelve traditional tribal chiefs from the Dhulbhante clan have been placed under house arrest by Somaliland forces in the town of Holhol.
In total, 14 tribal chiefs, known as Garaad or Isimo were expected to hold a political round-table discussions in the town of Holhol in the district of Huddun of Sool region, about 220km north of Las Anod on Sunday. The main focus of the Garaado Confederacy was to implement and establish a committee who would carry out attacks against Somaliland forces including political assassinations, remote bombing and creating unrest in the region. The conference was a follow up to a conference that was held in Nairobi early this year which was designed to create instability in the region.
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According to sources, the tribal leaders originally wanted to host the conference in the neighbouring semi-autonomous region of Puntland but leaders from that region blocked the meeting.
On Sunday morning, the tribal chiefs led by Garaad Jama Garaad Ali, traveled across the border to hold the conference inside Somaliland. Somaliland intelligence who received information before hand, notified the military, about midday, Somaliland forces surrounded and arrested all tribal leaders except two who escaped in a car including the chairman of the conference Garaad Jama Garaad Ali.
Somaliland forces have reportedly given them 24 hours to denounce violence against Somaliland forces and acts of terrorism.
It is believed that the Garaad leaders were behind recent blasts and attacks in the town of Las Anod which killed a number of Somaliland policemen and military officers. Most of these blasts are often being financed by Dhulbahante clan-men in the Diaspora.
The dhulbahante clan which mainly inhabits in the Sool region is divided between Somaliland and Puntland, many are still loyal to clan affiliation and consider themselves part of Puntland and the Harti-Darood brotherhood. While many see themselves as Somalilanders and believe the development of the region is better off under Somaliland.
During the Nairobi conference, the Garaad leaders urged their supporters to kill Somaliland forces and leaders in the region by any means necessary and they have vowed to disrupt democratic institutions in the region including elections.
No one knows what the forces will do with the tribal leaders but they remain under house arrest.
Somaliland also sent a heavily armed combat unit to the town of Tuka-Raq who secured roads leading to Garowe in Puntland. However, according to source close to the Puntland government, a number of ministers from Puntland have held a secret meeting with Somaliland military officials in Tuka-Raq, who requested Somaliland to spare the town of Tuka-Raq.
In a meeting in Puntland Presidential villa, Puntland vice-finance minister, Abdi Halas, said in the presence of Puntland-vice president, Mr Abdisamad Ali Shire, that by meeting with Somaliland officials they have saved a lot of towns from Somaliland including Tuka-Raq. When he was questioned what Puntland forces would do, he said, Somaliland forces will withdraw from Tuka-Raq as part of the agreement.
Garaad Jama Garaad Ali
It is believed that Somaliland forces wanted to detain Garaad Jama Garaad Ali, who is accused of masterminding all the attacks against Somaliland forces. Somaliland is said to have made secret agreement with Puntland to hand over Garaad Jama in return Somaliland would withdraw from number of towns. Garaad Jama is currently believed to be hiding in the town of Sah’dheer in the Sool region, no one knows if he will return to Garowe.
Listen to Garaad Jama Garaad Ali speaking to Puntland based local radio: [audio:garaad_jama_interview.mp3]
LUANSHYA, Zambia/DAVOS, Switzerland (Somalilandpress) — With the stoicism demanded of all who hope to make money in Africa, Beauty Chama sits in her empty hair salon in a leafy town in northern Zambia’s Copper Belt and looks forward to better times.
“We are waiting patiently until the miners start making their money,” she said, fingering the heavy gold chain around her neck that testifies to past fat years. “Then we shall start making our money. It’s only a matter of time.”
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Africa for the investor is like that: a story of boom and bust, where famine and disease are punctuated by coups and civil wars. For many, its tales of war and diamonds, tribal rivalries, plundered treasuries and secret Swiss bank accounts make it too risky.
Somalia is fast approaching its third decade without a functional central government, and the prolonged ill-health of Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua has created a troubling power vacuum in Africa’s most alluring frontier market.
But after the implosion of such supposedly sophisticated or promising institutions as Lehman Brothers or Dubai World, the confidence of the Zambian hairdresser is finding echoes as far away as London, New York and Beijing.
The International Monetary Fund believes growth in sub-Saharan Africa will be 1 percentage point above the global average, and puts eight African countries in its top 20 fastest-expanding economies in 2010. Oil-rich Angola and Congo Republic will lead the charge with growth rates of more than 9 and 12 percent respectively, both beating China, according to the IMF’s most recent projections.
“Africa,” said Tara O’Connor of Africa Risk Consulting, “is the continent of the long game. It’s not perfect, but the overarching trend is one toward entrenching political stability, which then allows businesses to operate much more consistently.”
For some African countries, particularly those helped by Chinese investment and its thirst for energy and minerals, another boom may be approaching.
Investors with cheap cash needing to spice up returns in more obscure parts of the globe are asking whether Africa can shift from final investment frontier into the emerging market mainstream. Reflecting this interest, Africa gets top billing at the annual meeting of the rich and powerful in Davos this week.
“Not investing in Africa is like missing out on Japan and Germany in the 1950s, Southeast Asia in the 1980s and emerging markets in the 1990s,” said Francis Beddington, head of research at emerging market investment house Insparo Capital.
He believes that in the long term, Africa has the potential to be home to a sizeable chunk of the factories and warehouses of tomorrow’s world.
The Africa of old — aid-dependent, and with large tracts of the economy controlled by corrupt and capricious governments — has not disappeared.
But for all the previous false dawns, there is a growing belief that the continent — home to 53 countries, a rapidly urbanizing young population of a billion people and as much as a third of the world’s natural resources — is changing.
WIRED
That is not to say it will be a smooth ride. Eric Chirwa, a 40-year-old miner, can tell you what a tough year it’s been in Luanshya: its century-old copper mine was mothballed in the depths of the global slump, leaving 1,700 miners out of work and at the mercy of the banks with whom they had racked up huge debts in the boom years.
He’s been tracking world copper prices on a daily basis, and has seen them rebound: “In the past, we never used to know the copper price,” he said. “Now I’m checking the price every day in the internet cafe.”
Internet access is one aspect of the technology driving changes in Africa that go far beyond letting a miner anticipate fluctuations in copper prices. In central Africa, Rwanda — a republic more widely known for the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus — has invested heavily in broadband and is promoting itself as a business services hub.
Far more visible, of course, is the cell phone. One person in three has one: in 2007 Africa had 270 million of them, according to industry association GSMA, up from 50 million in 2003. The uptake shows little sign of slowing as five years of annual growth above 5 percent swell the middle classes.
Mobile money transfer systems such as M-PESA from Kenya’s Safaricom (SCOM.NR) have allowed people with no bank accounts — still the vast majority — to ping money to each other for a fraction of the cost of transfers or a bus ride to deliver cash.
The system has evolved to incorporate an array of payments from taxi fares to food, drinks and movie tickets, making it possible to spend a whole day in Nairobi without carrying cash. Cities, towns and villages are cluttered with billboards advertising the latest cell phone service or gimmick.
The macroeconomic effect is huge.
A World Bank study released in November suggested half the 5 percent growth Africa enjoyed from 2003-08 was due to improvements in infrastructure, mainly telecommunications.
“Cell phones have already transformed many economies in Africa,” said Arthur Goldstuck, head of Johannesburg-based technology research firm World Wide Worx. “But the cell phone will become far more important than it is now.”
Researchers of M-PESA’s impact on Kenya say it is boosting rural incomes by as much as 30 percent, allowing small farmers to diversify out of subsistence agriculture.
As browser-enabled “smart” cell phones go mainstream in the next 5-10 years, Africans will gain access to the internet-based services and information that have driven huge productivity gains in the rich world.
The determination with which India’s Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO) unsuccessfully pursued an alliance with South Africa’s MTN (MTNJ.J), the continent’s dominant cell phone operator, shows the perceived value in the world’s last major mobile growth market.
HELP FROM THE EAST
Back in Zambia, where a rumbling procession of trucks laden with high explosives and earth-movers is bringing the Copper Belt back to life, the government has sold some of the closed mines to foreign buyers: Luanshya’s new owners are, predictably, Chinese, in step with another major shift in the continent.
China Non-Ferrous Metals Corporation took over in the middle of 2009 and officially started production in December with around 2,500 staff on its books — more than at the height of the recent boom.
Massive Chinese investment, in return for resources to fuel its own economic boom, has helped drag the awful roads in many parts of Africa into the 21st century. Trade with China now tops $100 billion a year, and China has overtaken the United States as Africa’s main partner.
In giving the countries where the resources lie an economic boost, China’s need for oil and raw materials has transformed them into an investment proxy for the Asian giant’s growth, and handed the continent as a whole unprecedented negotiating clout.
China last year promised $10 billion in infrastructure funding over three years, amid talk by Chinese officials that Africa can experience a boom like the one in their country. But the challenges — or opportunities — are still vast.
“In most African countries, particularly the lower-income countries, infrastructure emerges as a major constraint on doing business, depressing firm productivity by about 40 percent,” the World Bank says.
It estimates sub-Saharan countries need to spend $93 billion a year, or 15 percent of regional output, to upgrade their electricity grids, roads, railways and sewers. Only half of that is being spent at the moment. The lion’s share is coming from the African taxpayer, and even with efficiency gains outlined by the Bank, the continent faces a funding shortfall of $31 billion a year.
Besides making China’s contribution look small, the sums — which far exceed the continent’s domestic or international borrowing capacity — suggest economies rich in hydrocarbon or other mineral resources have the greatest chance of success.
Nigeria, with its vast oil reserves and population forecast to grow to 290 million by 2050, is always top of the list for potential, despite its chaotic politics.
“Nigeria to Africa is like China to the world in many respects. It’s too big to ignore,” said Russell Loubser, head of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
“Are there problems in Nigeria? Absolutely. Are there problems in China? Obviously. Are the problems too big to force you to not look at either Nigeria or China? No ways. The problems are there, but the opportunities outweigh the problems.”
Coming from the head of the continent’s biggest bourse, his comments in themselves reflect another change. Gone are the days when it was Nelson Mandela’s post-apartheid South Africa that hogged the African limelight.
Today, interest is broad.
Angola is pushing Nigeria hard for the crown of Africa’s biggest oil producer. Ghana is due to start pumping crude this year, while Uganda is aiming for production of 150,000 barrels a day by 2015, following the discovery of oil near Lake Albert.
As Africa’s top copper producer, Zambia also looks well placed: “The dollars come from the copper the miners produce,” reflects the miner, Chirwa. “We should enjoy some of it.”
AFRONOMICS
Besides new technology, Chinese involvement and resurgent commodity prices, another difference in the Africa of today is improved macroeconomic management.
Major debt relief after the turn of the millennium helped many African countries spend on schools, roads and hospitals, while at the same time maintaining a tight grip on monetary policy with aggressive targeting of inflation. Double-digit inflation is rare.
“In the past, when African countries were reforming, it was usually at the behest of the IMF,” said Zambian central bank governor Caleb Fundanga. “These days, African countries are reforming because they know that reform is a good thing.”
As well as increasing domestic borrowing and widening their tax bases, African governments are looking to tap outside appetites for the high-yielding debt that rapid economic growth is able to offer.
Following in the footsteps of Gabon and Ghana, which launched frontier Africa’s first Eurobond in 2007, are planned bond issues from Angola, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia — all switching to external private sector finance rather than relying on aid.
Even in Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe is locked in an uneasy coalition with arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai, the central bank has stopped printing money, leading to an overnight drop in inflation of 500 million percent to virtually zero.
ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM
Zimbabwe, though, is a reminder of the elephants remaining in Africa’s room: political risk and corruption have not gone away, even though most African countries are now ruled by at least vaguely democratic administrations and the polarizing framework of the Cold War has gone, limiting the spread of conflict.
Africa continues to exert a stranglehold over the lowest rungs of world governance and corruption indexes. Two-thirds of African countries scored less than three out of 10 for probity in Transparency International’s 2009 corruption perception survey — a big negative which continues to hurt their economies, according to its managing director Cobus de Swardt.
“The biggest risk is governance,” said Paul Fletcher, a senior partner at private equity firm Actis and a Davos regular whose firm is doubling its investments in Africa. “But in many respects, Africa is more advanced in terms of governance than other emerging markets, including India and China.”
A controversial oil and gas reform bill on the books in Nigeria has raised wider concerns about resource nationalism. Kenya, the biggest economy in east Africa, is struggling under an unwieldy coalition government cobbled together after mayhem and bloodshed followed disputed elections at the end of 2007.
A guerrilla ambush on the Togolese soccer team this month, traveling through the Angolan exclave of Cabinda to a soccer tournament, shows how fragile stability still is in many countries that have seen less than a decade of peace.
And new challenges are constantly emerging: for example, now Nairobi is awash with talk of ill-gotten gains from Somali pirate gangs propping up the local property market.
Nonetheless, for investors prepared for the long haul — and most dedicated African portfolio managers talk in terms of three to five years — Africa’s growth remains a compelling attraction, especially given stagnant economies elsewhere. (Additional reporting by Serena Chaudhry in Johannesburg and Dominic Evans; Editing by Sara Ledwith and Jim Impoco)
LAS ANOD (Somalilandpress) — Somaliland Police chief, Colonel Mohamed Saqadi Dubad, told Somalilandpress by phone on Monday that a remote landmine explosion has killed three police men and wounded further two in the town of Las Anod, the administrative capital of Sool region.
The remote bomb which was hidden among milk cans was placed near Las Anod’s main Mosque, according to Col. Dubad, the explosion went off when the police went to investigate the cans.
The two wounded police-men, who sustained minor injuries were immediately taken to Burao General Hospital in the neighbouring state of Togdheer for treatment.
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No group has claimed responsibility but it is suspected that groups opposed to Somaliland presence in the region, who have close ties with neighbouring state of Puntland and Al-Qaeda backed Al-Shabab could have carried out the blast.
Some of the groups Somaliland suspects include traditional clan Chiefs from the Sool region known as the “Garads” or “Isimo”, it was just Sunday, when it stopped them from a meeting out side Las Anod. Somaliland security forces suspected the group to be gathering in the town of Holhol to mastermind similar attacks against the security forces.
In a separate incident, masked gun man has shot dead a senior Somaliland police man as he left the Mosque after evening prayer on last Sunday.
In recent weeks, there has been an increased attacks in the two of Las Anod as Al Shabab militants forge ties with groups in the region against Somaliland by supplying them with explosion materials and technical support.
So far, Somaliland has not responded to the ongoing security threats in the Las Anod town, it keeps military presence in the region but the military is kept out side the town. The residents have expressed great concern about the lack of security in the town in recent weeks and the Rayale government seems to be failing.
ABAARSO, 25 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Somaliland’s first post-graduate business diploma, which was launched on January 7, has been met with tremendous acclaim. The one-year program in Applied Management offers coursework ranging from accounting, finance and management to organizational behavior and business English.
Citing the benefits of native English speaking teachers and an overall good structure of the program, general manager of NationLink, Abdulkadir Omar, declared the program “very successful.”
The premier class of just over 30 students includes engineers, executives at prominent local businesses, NGO workers, and members of government.
Local software engineer, Abdullah M. Sheikh, called the English classes “perfect.”
“We get many things that we’ve never seen before,” he said.
After establishing a solid foundation with Abaarso Tech secondary school, the developers of the program are looking to expand and educate Somalis at a wide range of levels and skills.
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“Following the model of top graduate business schools in other countries, AT’s program offers advanced courses that caters to students who already have considerable business experience in Somaliland,” said Vice Chairman Dr. Ahmed Esa. “Abaarso Tech Business School is an exciting first step in improving Somali business practices while offering a high-end educational alternative that keeps our talent home.”
Because the program pulls upon the rich experience of its students, Yusuf Osman, Chairman of Abaarso Tech, spoke of the excellent pairing of the successful business executives with this first-rate educational center.
“Our goal at Abaarso Tech is to create a center of educational excellence to train future leaders of society,” he said. “This graduate business school supplements and furthers the scope of AT’s young but growing regular academic activities. With the overwhelmingly positive response, look for AT to expand on this program down the road.”
January 29th concludes the bonus month for students. All classes will officially begin on February 1st.
HARGEISA, 25 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – In 2009 many people mainly married women have been robbed off their money in a swindle way- an irregular banking system which has been operating for the last two years in Somaliland. In this peculiar system, clients used to receive 15% of their capital per month. Later on, things grew ominously worse when the whole system collapsed and its agents vanished. This money scam has left many families split-up in Hargeisa. Hundreds of families were seprated each other relating to the money scam in Hargeisa; therefore a lot of men divorced their wifes while others beaten their wifes seriously, when they put some money without noticing their husbands to this irregular banking system. We recognize 2009 a year of domestic violence in Somaliland.
Hargeisa residents faced fear and puzzle after they heard that Cannibal person seek with leprosy had appeared and injured two persons at Sheikh Nour village in Hargeisa. This tragedy caused that Children living in the streets (Homeless) of Hargeisa are fleeing their sleeping places due to dread of people who have leprosy infection that were reported to hurt 8 years old girl at Masalaha Village in Hargeisa. For the last two days of November 2009 police captured two men who have leprosy and accused that they are the cannibals who ate the man and injured the people including the young girl in Hargeisa. Doctors were identified these two leprosy affected- Cases.
While young people are recognized as an important sector of society, in reality they often lack the moral and financial support of their government and their people. One of the main challenges faced Somaliland’s young people is lack of social centers that provide them reading opportunities and even to share their circumstances, and also providing those who suffer for psychosocial counseling and even to meet their role-models or get guest lectures. In 2009, after long suffering the students in different districts in Hargeisa established community libraries in their villages. Each village’s students came together with the help of their elders, educators and businessmen. They rent physical buildings and collect books for their own. This is really good initiative that will keep many young people who spent their costly time in sitting cafes and chatting meaningless words.
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What Diaspora can do is that to support community libraries which locate the different villages in Hargeisa. Diaspora must support financial and moral, predominantly supporting books and establishing programmes inspiring youth in Somaliland. Especially the starting Diaspora Youth Partnership Program (DYPP), which provides youth in the country for different services. Such as paying fee schools the most vulnerable youth in the displaced villages who always less quality of life.
Shaqo- Doon is a project funded by Education Development Center (EDC) and implemented by many youth organizations such as Somaliland National Youth Organization – which is network that meets more than 30 local youth organization in the six regions in Somaliland. The project’s beneficiaries are young people which they equip skills training, job preparation ( training for computer literacy, and also developing their language by providing intensive English courses to help them to simplify to sit interviews and communicate with both UN & international NGO’s which are the two main source of employment. Apart from these, there are many young boys and girls which they provide internship period and work them as volunteering for development. Those who are trained more they seek job opportunities from UN & international NGO’s and other institutions such as private and public sectors.
On 10th august 2009, SONYO umbrella organized a meeting between University students inside and outside the country. The ceremony took place at Ambassador Hotel in Hargeisa. After that the chairperson of SONYO umbrella started the speech and talked about the importance of such meetings. He indicated the necessity of exchanging experience with their local people to contribute for the development of the country. He also urged the foreign based students to have close friends to their host nations to establish a sustainable relationship which will ultimately be beneficial to our country. Somaliland Minster of internal affairs was invited to the stage, he told those who are studying abroad to respect the rules and the regulations of their host countries as they are ambassadors of their country. If you behave the people you live with good character, it is good for us. Other wise will spoil the name of your country. Later on, the session begun with presentation by different students from different universities in abroad.
Farhan Abdi Suleiman is a social worker, a graduate of the University of Hargeisa and youth activist. He is also a regular contributor to Somalilandpress. He can be reached at:
Mogadishu, 25 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – There is a dire need to take care of the Somali nation and its myriad issues, crises and interests. The Transitional Government can still do the job it has been established for and even accomplish for the nation. To do so, it will need to regain the initiative. The solution lies in how we utilize our human capital. The question is: What should a responsible Somali Government do? It would:
• Establish peace and security.
• Collect all weapons in the hands of the civilian population.
• Promote reconciliation and harmony among our people.
• Embark on political solution to end conflicts.
• Tackle destructive fanaticism in the country.
• Shutdown piracy.
• Build a new state and its institutions.
• Make the raison d’être of the Somali State to look after its people.
• Rebuild the infrastructure and embark on nation-building.
• Make a common destiny for all our people in different regions in Somalia including Somalis in Somaliland and Puntland. [1]
• Rebuild the education system.
• Imbibe our young people with love of our country.
• Appoint a small but effective cabinet of up to 24 ministers.
• Closedown obsolete and duplicate ministries.
• Promote equal opportunity.
• Promote Somalis from diverse communities and backgrounds to work together in harmony for the good of the nation.
• Reward hard work, honesty and selflessness.
• Promote self-governing in every region, city, town and village and after phase-one nation-building. [2]
• Promote nationhood and enact the right of every citizen to live, work, invest or settle in any region, city, town or village in the country.
• Reward regions which promote nationhood above clanhood.
• Build a transparent and accountable system of government.
• Administer all public spending funds from one office audited closely.
• Declare funds received from other nations and financial institutions.
• Publish where and how funds were spent.
• Pay decent wages to public servants, ministers and the leadership.
• Imbue our civil servants with the importance of good governance.
• Promote the growth of independent and responsible media. [3]
• Prevent corruption and malfeasance in government.
• Simplify life: Eliminate red-tape and over regulation.
• Restore the free “National Health Service” and allow private health care.
• Promote free market with little or no government interference.
• Promote enterprise and create a business friendly environment.
• Levy modest tax on most goods.
• Levy no tax on essentials and commodities such as food, medicine etc.
• Rebuild the Central Bank to mint and to regulate the financial sector.
• Print new currency when the whole country is under Government rule.
• Tackle inflation and restore the value of Somali Shilling.
• Accommodate and educate disadvantaged children in towns and cities.
• Resettle and care for Somalis in DP camps in the capital and country. [4]
• Resettle and care for Somalis in refugee camps in neighbouring nations. [5]
• Resettle and care for Somalis squatting in public buildings in the capital. [6]
• Provide fleeing Somalis who perish on high seas hope and light at the end of the tunnel so that they can remain and prosper in their homeland.
• Address the needs of Somali expatriates marooned in the Gulf & Libya. [7]
• Address the needs of Somalis persecuted in South Africa and other parts.
• Address the needs of Somalis stranded in Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Russia, Estonia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Italy, the Balkans and other nations.
• Address the needs and concerns of our Diaspora.
• Through the diplomatic missions of a revamped Foreign Ministry bring government to the Diaspora to assist, facilitate and add value to their lives.
• Build Mending & Mentoring Camps for Diaspora vulnerable children to provide them with a sense of purpose and direction in their lives.
• Enact a citizenship law relevant to the times. A national of Somalia is: (A) Anyone born Somali. (B) Anyone who was born in Somalia. (C) Anyone who lived in Somalia for ten years or more who wants citizenship. (D) Allow dual citizenship since many Somalis have become citizens of other nations. [8]
• Live in peace and harmony with our neighbours.
• Promote stability and progress in our troubled region.
• Welcome any foreign national who is not threat to our nation.
• Protect our coast and end illegal fishing.
• Investigate nations and companies which plundered our marine resources.
• Ban the export of coal and embark on reforestation.
• Re-stock, care for and protect Somalia’s decimated wildlife.
• Reforest the coral reef to reverse the damage of illegal over-fishing.
• Address the issue of toxic dumps and investigate those behind dumping.
• Strive for cancellation of all debt accrued by past governments.
• Rebuild and restore the image and credibility of our nation.
Since it is not possible to put everything on this writing; these are merely 1% or less of Somalia’s needs. However, it is understandable if cynics are asking themselves how it would be possible to accomplish all this and where the funds would come. Cynics are individuals who are incapable to see the good and what is possible. They should be reminded that a government which intends to deliver finds the way and the funds to do things and make a difference.
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Another useful item in the toolbox of governing is honest governing. People everywhere love to see where their money had been invested. When the revenue from tax collection and national resources are invested in the infrastructure, to build lives and improve living standards the public can do even more.
After suffering one of the longest wildernesses in modern times, the reason of being of the new Somali State should be to look after its own people. It is very important to make Somalis in different regions in Somalia and those in Somaliland and Puntland come under a new state which can look after the nation and its interests. Tangible steps could be taken to rebuild lives and the nation. The new state should be decentralized: allowing citizens in every region, town and city to administer themselves. It should also be a state which governs better and interferes less in the lives of its people. Since federalisms serves well a nation of different ethic groups (nationalities) — it seems the right system for Somalia is: Self-Administering Regions within a Functioning Union.
Notes
1. It will take leadership to make self-administering Somalis to once again believe in unity.
2. Phase one nation-building may take up to five years.
3. Free press is a vital artery for the establishment of a Good Government which has nothing to hide.
4. Hundreds of thousands without hope languish in DP camps in the capital and around the country.
5. Those who wish to come home should be facilitated and resettled and those who wish to join relatives in other countries should be assisted to do so.
6. In the capital, thousands of families who squat in public buildings should be housed in a new conurbation.
7. Somali expatriates stuck in the Gulf and Libya who wish to come home should be brought back and those who wish to join relatives in other parts of the world should be assisted to do so.
8. Over two million Somalis have become citizens of other nations in Europe, North America, Australia etc.
Written by:
Abdullahi Dool
Hornheritage@aol.com
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial
Early January of this year, Director of Planning in Somaliland’s Ministry of Education, Mr Abdi Abdillahi Mohamed, announced that school enrollment was at it’s highest in Somaliland and that literacy rate has moved from 20 percent to 45 percent since departing from Somalia in 1991. Education was often neglected and limited in Somaliland under Somalia’s totalitarian regime led by General Mohamed Siad Bare.
In 1991, every thing was destroyed in the country including 90% of schools and Somaliland then had only two universities one of them bombed to the ground. By the time Siad Bare’s regime was defeated and peace was restored, there were only 1,019 students enrolled in schools and zero number of students were in universities.
In 2008, some 225,853 students were enrolled or went to primary schools in the country, while 21,331 others attended secondary school.
As of 2009, about 26,156 students were in adult education including universities while some 6,820 students also attended technical colleges and professional schools according to Mr Mohamed.
Mohamed added by 2015 they plan to increase literacy in Somaliland by 75 per cent and have introduce a mobile school initiative that follows “the pastoralists wherever they go.”
Since declaring independence from the rest of Somalia, Somaliland has built hundreds of schools, both private and public and there are constructions in major towns for more schools. This includes the almost finished Abaarso Tech which is expected to formally open it’s doors for the first class some time in February of this year.
Abaarso Tech, which is expected to cost more than $2-million by the time it’s fully completed plans to educate Somaliland’s “talents and elite” by “bringing international talents to Somaliland”. The dormitories at Abaarso Tech is expected house at least 300 students per year.
Please visit Abaarso Tech website, as they require more donations to complete the rest of the dormitories (student housing units).
Above image: Abaarso Tech under construction, September 2009, a symbol of new Somaliland.
BERBERA (Somalilandpress) — A crew of fifteen seafarers are stranded onboad a cargo ship, the MV Layla-S, in the Somaliland port of Berbera for the past five months and the sailors are said to be facing serious risk as their health deteriorates.
The captain of the ship, Mr. Sarath, who is from Sri Lanka, spoke to Mohamed Saed of Berberanews by phone on Saturday, and said that their ship has been stranded in the port for the past five months without charge.
Mr Sarath said he does not know exactly why they were kept in the port but local analysts believe a local firm, Omar International [Company], may have filed a maritime action asking Sahil regional authority and Berbera Port authority to obtain the ship for damages.
Omar International has lost a lot of assets including motor vehicles onboard a cargo ship, MV Mariam Star when it caught fire in it’s upper deck in early September of 2009 and the two cargo vessels both belong to Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding. The local authority and Omar International accuse the crew and skipper of MV Mariam of not cooperating with the port authority to put out the flame by switching the ship’s engine off. They argue a lot could have been done if the crew did not switch the engine of the ship off.
Despite issuing a press release of it’s own, suggesting the dispute was between the local authority and the ship, Omar International is believed to have authorized the local authority to obtain the ship for compensation it wants from Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding.
Omar International company is locally owned influential company while Al Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding is Dubai based firm. When the skipper of MV Layla-S contacted Al Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding, they told him: “you were carrying goods for Somalis, the people who detained you and your ship are Somalis, we have nothing to do with it”.
“We arrived in Berbera on the 17th of August 2009, after unloading the cargo, as we were preparing to depart we were told by the Sahil regional authority that we were being barred from leaving, but they did not tell us the reason nor charges against us, because we believe we have executed and handed in all the appropriate documents”, he said.
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He said the Sahil authority constantly tells them that the matter is under review despite the fact that the local maritime court has issued a statement indicating that they were free to go but he said, nothing has happened for the past five months.
Mr Sarath requested urgent help from aid agencies, the international community and the Somaliland government insisting the crew are in desperate need of health care and lacked access to the basic necessities. He said the crew of Somali, Indian, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans had not received adequate food, water or medications and a number of them are on the verge of committing suicide while many are gravely ill. He also added that, the crew have not received any wages from Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding for the past five months. He described the living conditions on the ship as “hell”.
So far no rights group have contacted them and the people are getting frustrated by the minute. Mr Sarath made personal plea to India, Sri Lanka and Somaliland authority to interfere in the situation.
The ship is not docked at the port but in the middle of the ocean and the crew have not been on land for five months and time is running out on them, unless helped urgently many of them could die.
The governments of India, Somaliland, UAE, Sri Lanka and Pakistan need to resolve the situation for the sake of the crew if Omar International and Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding would not resolve their dispute for the last five months.
By Mohamed Saed Abdullahi
Berberanews, 23 January 2010 (Somali)
Somalilandpress, 24 January 2010 (English version)
Picture: MV Mariam Star burns near the Berbera Corridor, Berberanews
A US-based rights group has urged Nigeria’s vice-president to order an immediate criminal investigation into “a massacre of at least 150 Muslim residents” of a town in central Nigeria.
In a statement, Corinne Dufka, Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) senior West Africa researcher, said the killings in Kuru Karama, 30km south of the city of Jos, required “the authorities to act now”.
“Something extremely serious has happened in the town … act now both to bring those behind these heinous crimes to justice and to protect both the survivors and those at risk of renewed violence,” Dufka said.
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“Vice-president [Goodluck] Jonathan’s statement that the perpetrators will be prosecuted is a start. But now he needs to make sure the police conduct an immediate and impartial investigation.”
Al Jazeera footage
Witnesses interviewed by Al Jazeera on Saturday said groups of armed men attacked the largely Muslim population of Kuru Karama in the morning of January 19 after surrounding the town, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive.
Several villagers told our correspondent, Andrew Simmons, that they believed members of the armed groups to be Christians and showed him charred corpses, including those of young children and babies, in addition to dozens of bodies stuffed down wells.
The three main mosques of the town were burned and destroyed as well, according to HRW.
And one witness told HRW that at least one police officer participated in the attack, while another said the police abandoned their post shortly before the violence began, adding that the killings took place throughout the day, without police intervention to stop the violence, despite repeated calls to the police.
VP’s pledge
Greg Anyating, the Plateau State police commissioner, told HRW that the reported death toll in Plateau State was false, and the police would issue “correct figures” on the number of dead in a few days, following an inquiry.
In a televised address to the nation on January 21, Vice-President Jonathan, currently the acting president, pledged that the perpetrators of the violence in Plateau State and their sponsors would not evade justice.
“The federal government is determined to secure convictions of the perpetrators of this crime, no matter how highly placed,” he said.
