LONDON, 3 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The West London Somaliland Community in partnership with SSUK (Somaliland Society UK) and SSE (Somaliland Societies in Europe) is pleased to present the “Attaining Somaliland’s Dream Through Education” event.
This event is to welcome the Vice-chancellors of Somaliland universities who are coming to visit the UK and to learn about the progress as well as the needs and challenges of Somaliland’s higher education. It is also an occasion to discuss and have a lively debate about the role of education in developing and building the Somaliland nation.
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This event is one of series of events and meetings the Somaliland Vice-chancellors will attend to engage British Universities and Higher Education Sector to develop and build working partners with them and Somaliland Diaspora. Somaliland Societies in Europe is co-ordinating the visit and for further details please contact Eid Ali Ahmed: eid_consultancy@yahoo.co.uk
Among the guests are: Professor Suleiman Ahmed Gulaid, Dr Abdisalan Yassin Mohamed, Dr Hussein Bulhan, Dr Saeed Ahmed Hassan, Professor Yusuf Kireh and many more.
Date: Sunday the 13th December 2009
Venue: Dominion Arts & Cultural Centre, 112 The Green, Southall,
UB2 4BQ
Time: Starts at 2pm and finishes at 6pm
For more information please contact West London Somaliland Community office on 0208 848 1180 or 07957758340 / 07984676106
We look forward to welcoming you all on this thought provocative event.
3 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Somali marauders operating in the increasingly dangerous waters off East Africa seized a crude oil tanker making a delivery from Saudi Arabia to the United States
The Maran Centaurus was hijacked several hundreds miles off the coast of Somalia on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. The ship originated in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, destined for an oil delivery in the United States.
The ship’s 28-member crew were taken captive by the Somali pirates, according to the US Defense Department.
The shipping company’s contracted intelligence firm — Lloyd’s List — noted in a statement that the Maran Centaurus is a “very large crude carrier, with a capacity of over 300,000 tons.”
Pirates have increased attacks on vessels off East Africa for the millions of dollars in ransom money. While pirates have successfully hijacked dozens of vessels over the last several years, this attack is believed to be only the second ever on an oil tanker.
Several security experts believe the pirates are helping to fund Al-Qaeda operations in that war-torn region. Meanwhile, on Friday, agents with Somalia’s customs bureau seized more than $1-million worth of fake US notes in Mogadishu’s Adan Adde International airport, authorities told local reporters on Saturday, Nov. 28.
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During a press conference held at the airport, Somalia’s Treasury Minister, Abdulrahman Omar Osman said the fake money was to be smuggled into Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, where it was to be used to carry out terrorism attacks.
Somalia’s police spokesman, Dhexe Abdullahi Hassan is quoted as saying that Al Qaeda was the prime suspect and decided to smuggle counterfeit notes after international financial institutions starved the terrorist group of all money supplies.
According to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police’s Terrorism Committee, Somali authorities plan to destroy the contraband money.
STOCKHOLM, 3 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) — A meeting between Somaliland Universities and Addis Cardiac Hospital has taken place at Grand Hotel, Stockholm Sweden.
Addis Cardiac Hospital was represented by Dr Fikru Maru, the initiator and head of the Hospital. From Somaliland Universities was represented by Dr Hussein A Bulhan, President of Hargeisa University, Dr Saeed Ahmed Hassan, President of Golis University.
At the meeting was also present Mr Eidarus Sh Adan , Somaliland Representative Sweden, who took the initiative for the meeting. Addis Cardiac Hospital is East Africa’s first hospital for cardiovascular diseases and was opened june 2007.
The hospital is a private Company and the result of a co-financed investment by Fikmar Medical, Swedfund, Sweden’s risk capital company specialised in investments in developing countries, Octupus Medical and Patrik Hjalmarsson AB.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) cardiovascular diseases have reached almost epidemic proportions in Africa in recent years and they are now almost as common a cause of death as HIV and AIDS. In Ethiopia and countries in Horn of Africa, many people have died owing to the lack of the necessary facilities for medical treatment.
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The inability to pay to go abroad for treatment is another contributory factor. Dr Hussein A Bulhan informed Dr Maru about the medical education in Somaliland. Mr Bulhan briefed about the Hargeisa University and the need for cooperation with regard to medical education and training.
Dr Maru explained the work of the Cardiac Hospital in Addis and offered to help Somaliland medical student to visit the Cardiac Hospital in Addis for training and practice. Dr Maru is planning to Visit Somaliland in the beginning of next year and he will see what he can do to help Somaliland healthcare with respect to heart diseases and heart operations.
Mr Eidarus Sh Adan told Dr Maru that we are very glad to hear the willingness to help Somaliland with advanced healthcare and it is a very good opportunity for Somaliland medical students to visit Addis and train on Addis Cardiac Hospital which is the only Hospital of its kind in East Africa.
This is an excellent opportunity for knowledge transfer to Africa and Dr. Maru is a good example and role model for Africans in Sweden in terms of knowledge transfer in order to combat poverty and disease in Africa, says Eidarus Sh Adan. The meeting ended in a good spirit.
Dr. Maru and Dr. Bulhan have already set plans for initiating the collaboration between their institutions and to meet in the near future either in Addis Ababa or Hargeisa.
MOGADISHU, 3 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – A powerfull hotel blast has killed atleast 20 people including three top officials from the transitional government of Somalia today in Mogadishu.
The Minister of Culture & Higher Education, Prof. Ibrahim Adow, Minister of Education, Mr. Ahmed Wayel and Minister of Health, Ms. Qamar Aden were among those killed in the deadly hotel bombing. The Minister of Sports, Mr. Suleiman Olad, is part of scores of others wounded in the attack.
The suicide occured in Hotel Shamo during Banadir University graduation ceremony. The suicider wearing explosive strap blew him self after security forces failed to apprehend him.
Most of the dead are believed to be students. Two journalists, a reporter for Radio Shabelle and a cameraman with al-Arabia TV, were also among the dead. The death toll is expected to rise as many of the wounded are in critical situation.
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No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and there is no official statement from the government.
[photo: Local journalist Abdulkadir Ali is assisted after the explosion in Mogadishu, Somalia, 03 Dec 2009/AP]
HARGEISA, 3 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Education generally refers to the knowledge which is provided in Schools, Colleges and Universities, with structured hierarchy of classes, syllabus and grades. Education is not only recognized as fundamental human need, but recognized as basic human right. We need to gain knowledge. We need education to invent and discover, we need education in order to master and surmount the world around us to remove the anonymities of life. We need education to understand not only what is happening around us, but also how it affects us now and in the future. Starving ones mind is worse than starving ones body.
For many years Somaliland people endeavored to realize the implementation of an effective educational system in their home land. That time Somaliland’s education system was in a state of despair and all social infrastructures were ceased during Somaliland’s war for independence. That conflict smashed many schools and learning facilities, and disturbed the education of thousands of children in every region in Somaliland. Avery little proportion of children went to school, sheltering under the shadow of trees and collapsed nude houses.
The young are squatting on plain areas and had no books and used to sit on old tin cans. Today, More than 50 percent of Somaliland’s primary school age children go to school every day, while the majority of Somaliland’s secondary and professional technical schools works in good manner. The citizens of this peaceful country either inside or outside the country contributed more funds that proved to be necessary for the establishment of higher learning institutions such as Hargeisa University, Burao University, Amoud University and Berbera Marine Collage which is now replaced Berbera University. These institutions produced people who led the way forward and greatly contributed the development of their country.
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Though the access to university education has been increasing, the quality of education in many Somaliland universities appears to be on the shrink. Lack of well-trained and motivated lecturers and poor & inappropriate curriculum is among the main reasons explaining this diminishes. It is also clear that it does not provide needed skills for young Somali Landers to compete in an increasingly competitive labor market. Consequently, the likelihood of poorer young people proceeding to secondary and tertiary education is hindered due to the massive challenges and uncertainty they live.
To reach our full potential and lay the foundations for future development of our country, University of Hargeisa was established in the year 2000 for the need of university due to growing number of students graduating from the high schools. The universities objective was to bring up intelligent, educated and far-sighted students who lead the country into global development.
Today, 3000 students at the University both in morning and afternoon shifts. The university has got six main faculties; Business Administration, Economics, Law, Science and Medicine and Islamic studies. The university is also implemented a distance learning program in the field of information Technology (ICT), journalism and other courses. The study goes on annual two semester basis with two vacations in the year. One month in the winter and two months in the summer.
The five batches of students were graduated at 18/8/09 of this year. By that time they have finished a four year period of pleasant studies and they were not fully equipped to hunt their higher education or their careers in the labor market due to the lack of eligible lecturers in the university. There are more than 50 lecturers currently registered at university who mostly lack the crisma and quality to teach knowledge to university students.
The university council which is the highest policy making body of the university nominated Dr: Bulhan and his allied senate to carry out day to day routine work of the university. Students are hoping that this management team will be better than the previous or waiting to hear once like this change as they are witness for many years of mismanagement and corruption. But, to my visit at the university in last week many students claimed that every year the university is getting worse day after day. One of the major problems faced university of Hargeisa is scarcity of professional lecturers.
With regards to my university days, I have to remember that there were lots of panel discussions resting on different area such as, Somaliland Natural Resource Allocation”. This forum was took part by ministries, politicians, educators and also the students of different faculties leaded by the economic section student in the university. It is a sign of improvements that enables us economic students to participate fully to make the university of Hargeisa a place where every one of us can display his/her hidden knowledge and give advise to turn one from the other. What I have down pat during my four years of education is unhappy stories. Going university of Hargeisa is some how learning of your tribe. Every student joins the university because of knowing his enemy.
The people behind this are members of senate, faculty deans and lecturers whom they share with same ethnicity. I write this article with tears in my eyes especially the question of – Where are university student. This question touches me genuinely. Somaliland students were assorted the issue of clannish and no one has the dream of working the unity of his society. . It takes me more time to mention this mournful matter, but the question is how can we save the Somaliland generation so as to have a better future? In my familiarity towards re-framing argument is so little, but those who has experience must look back the impact of our squabbles.
Finally, all stakeholders of these negative activities, particularly management team, dean of faculties and university council must seek ways of making brotherhood to all students in the university instead of putting hostilities between them.
Written by : Farhan Abdi Sulieman (oday)
Hargeisa, Somaliland
oday1999@yahoo.com
Hargeisa, 2 December 2009 (Somalilandpress)- A delegation from the World Bank arrived in Somaliland yesterday on a visit to hold discussions with the Somaliland government on a range of subjects related to the current development projects taking place in the country.
The World Bank delegation was welcomed at Egal International Airport by the Somaliland minister of Agriculture, Mr. Aden Ahmed Elmi, officials from the department of protocol and local World Bank staff.
Speaking to the media at Egal International Airport, the Somaliland Agriculture minister, Mr. Ahmed Elmi, stated that the main focus of the World Bank delegation will be on the funding of several projects designed to develop the agriculture and livestock sector of the Somaliland economy.
The World Bank delegation are expected to hold a series of meetings with various Somaliland departments and agencies, as well as, visiting the cities of Borama, Buroa, Gabiley, Berbera and other parts of the country in the next few days.
In a related event, the Somaliland minister for Livestock, Dr. Idris Ibrahim Abdi was presented with a certificate of recognition by the World Bank delegation for the leadership role played by the department in resolving the Saudi Arabian ban on Somaliland livestock which had been lifted recently.
Dr. Ibrahim Abdi played a key role in the construction of a new animal processing centre in Berbera which has contributed greatly the lifting of the Saudi Arabian ban.
According to sources from the Arabian Peninsula, the recent arrival of Somaliland livestock in the Saudi Arabian markets has been met with a positive response and a steady demand.
NAIROBI, 1 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Somali media and journalist associations decided on a cooperative action plan to counter the growing oppression of the media in Somalia. In 2009 six Somali journalists have been killed, others were detained, several stations were closed or taken over by armed groups.
More than 30 independent media houses representing all parts of the Somali speaking territories, signed a joined declaration calling for the establishment of a training and solidarity centre for reporters to handle security issues, arrests, corruption and biased reporting. Such a Solidarity Centre will document harassments, random arrest, imprisonment and torture of reporters, closure of radio stations and killing of journalists. It will collect detailed reports and evidence to end the impunity of perpetrators.
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The Somali journalists also decided to form a media cooperation that will help the independent media to disseminate their news. Several radio stations based in all Somali speaking territories will seek close cooperation. The stations are committed to share their news through a central desk at a safe location. The collected materials will be packaged and redistributed to all the partnering stations. A structural training program to enhance the professional skills of the media sector will be attached to the project. Some stations based in the most restricted areas are considering building a re-broadcasting station that cannot be controlled by any of the warring parties.
In their declaration, the Somali speaking media houses and journalists organizations requested the Dutch based media development organization Press Now to develop a detailed work plan for the implementation of the centre. The journalists and media representatives gathered for three days of intense but fruitful debate and discussed practical solutions for the crisis of the Somali media. The Somali Media Development Conference was co-hosted by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and Press Now in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27th to 29th November 2009.
HARGEISA, 1 December 2009 (Somalilandpress) – “…Xiddigihii Dilaadee, Daadanaayay waayadan, Maantana qod baa dumay, Dabayshaygu soo furay…”
These words were part of a poem I wrote on hearing the death of Haji Hersi Awale on January 16, 1982 but they stand true for the death of any important person anywhere. And they stand truer today for the death of my friend Qasim Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim.
It was on December 26, 1979 the day I graduated from Lafole College of Education when I ran into Qasim somewhere in Hodan. He was on a short trip from Galkayo where he was working as a high school teacher. “How is the school,” he asked me. “Oh, good, I graduated today,” I told him.
“Well, great,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling 500 shillings note from his wallet. “Take this and go party,” he told me. I was flabbergasted. “500 shillings…this is too much,” I said and refused to take it. But he insisted that I took it. “This is a big day for you and you have friends to party with, so go ahead,” he said shuffling the money into my shirt pocket. This was the first time that anyone other than my father gave me this amount of money. I didn’t know how to thank him but then he did not even wait for any thanks, he moved away quickly and left me in a state of bewilderment and of course of great excitement.
With his generosity still lingering in my memory, I had the first serious conversation with Qasim in 1985. Before this day our encounters were just a passing hello as I was an impressionable young student and he was one of the proverbial first class of Dilla Elementary School of 1958 that we looked to as role models. They were the class that carried the dream of making the great change that people aspired to; the class that symbolized the people’s hope of “Ninkii ilmihiisa iskuul ku daraa, inuu aflaxaayo miyaanu ogeyn,”; the class that was taught by the three legendary teachers: Abdi Jama Elmi (Carandis), Abdi Omar Lugweyne and Muse Yusuf who have become household names among the Dilla people and the generations of students who graduated from Dilla Elementary School for many years.
As the younger generation we were always reminded to follow the footsteps of the first class that were upheld by the elders as exemplary for their educational achievement and their good character. Educational achievement was measured by how much you score in the exam results and good character was defined as absconding from all kinds of bad habits such as sigaarya cab (smoking), gabdho roorsi ama qooq (womanizing), indulging in dirty language such as diin cay (insulting religion or some may call it blasphemy) and suuq meer (loitering around in the village like a vagabond) . At the end of every scholastic year, we were assembled in front of the school and all the parents and village notables were invited to hear the final exam results. The elders of Dilla used to preach to us in their speeches about the educational and cultural virtues of the first class. Names like Noah Amin, Muse Ismail, Muse Cawleed, Ahmed Daud, Abdi Omar, Ahmed Bogorreh and Ahmed Omane among others were mentioned as torch bearers. That first class was held hanging over our heads like the sword of Damocles. Either we lived up to their example or each one of us was doomed to “ in uu hooyadii fuudka la cabno…” “… eat the broth with his mother.” as Dilla Chief Aqil Abdi Bade loved to repeat in every speech. And true to Pascal’s words: “Things are always at their best in their beginning.” We, the later generations, envisioned these guys as proverbial figures whose shoes we would never be able to fill.
Looking at him through this prism, it was a great moment for me on that fateful day to meet Qasim as an equal, discuss issues with him as an equal and gauge the thinking and philosophy of the man who was among the class that represented for me as the epitome of educational and cultural refinement.
At the time, Qasim was the Deputy Governor of the then newly created region of Awdal and I was on my second trip back home from Abu Dhabi to visit my ailing father. Qasim had just arrived from Borama when we met at the main road that cuts through the village in the middle. Following the usual Somali greeting of“Iska Warran, goormaad timid, ma nabad timid.” He asked me about my father’s health and on his request we both headed back to my father’s home where we sat with him for a while and Qasim enquired about his health and exchanged views with him on current issues. It was the way he approached my father and the way he listened to him that impressed me the most and shed light for me on the character of Qasim and the class he represented. It was through him that I learned that no matter how high you go in education and rank, you should always know your position in regards to your elders and behave with them as the Somalis say: “Qoori madax ma dhaafto.” (the neck never goes higher than the head).
After he said goodbye to my father and wished him good health, I noticed Qasim stealthily wiping tears from his eyes. Explaining that later to me he said: “Sheikh Cumar Good la’aantii waxba maynaan ahaaneen…without Sheikh Omer Goth we would have been nothing…” He then related to me the story of how Sheikh Omer was instrumental in building the Dilla Elementary School in 1958 and how he was ahead of the people in fighting to enroll girls in the school in the second year to make Dilla the first co-educational school in the then Somaliland Protectorate in 1959. He did not fail to mention Hamud Sheikh Muhumad who stood shoulder to shoulder with Sheikh Omer in establishing the school and donated his house to accommodate the first class while the school structure was under construction.
Qasim was telling me this story as we headed to the big Garbi trees in Dilla valley and we could see the school standing alone and proudly from the other side of the valley with the sun slowly setting behind it and throwing its crimson glow along the horizon. Momentarily, we both glanced at the school as the sun dipped behind it and the school building stood tall as an eternal witness to the legacy and gift of our elders to the new generation.
Standing under the Garbi tree, Qasim started talking to me about the goals he wanted to fulfill for the people and how he was faced with a wall of resistance on the basis of selfishness, clanism and other societal ills.
“Your father has built this school to produce a generation that dismantles the walls of tribalism and ignorance and bring change to our people,” he said while again fighting back tears. “We are the generation of change. Today we have enough educated people but what we need is honest people who can put the wellbeing of the society above their personal interest.”
Qasim worked as a high school teacher of mathematics after his graduation from Lafole College of Education. But he was soon disillusioned with the system and left the public service for business. After working several years as a businessman in Hargeisa, he realized that he was betraying the aspirations of the Dilla elders who sent him and others to school to make a change in the society and not to get rich. He thought the only way he could make an impact on the people’s life was to run for a political office. He did and had become the first deputy governor of Awdal region.
Subsequently, what he was trying to tell me on that very day was his first bitter experience in running the people’s affairs. The impression I got was that here was as a man, who with all the ambitions and aspirations of a political novice and the dreams of an educated idealist who took on his shoulders the task of being the first of his class to affect a change in the area, hitting the walls of reality. One of the incidents he told me was how he tried to stop some people from taking the land that belonged to the school including the playground for their personal use.
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I tried to calm him by telling that it was a text book example of African village people fighting for dwindling resources and gave him several examples that happened before him in our village.
“This is not the point,” he said, “the point is the people who advocate this land grabbing from the school property are the educated ones who went to this same school with me.” It was with this in mind that Qasim responded to me rather angrily when he called me from Cairo in 1992 while accompanying Abdirahman Tuur as Somaliland’s Minister of Education.
I asked him whether he was representing his people in the Tuur government or whether he was on his own. “What do you think?” he asked me. “I think you represent yourself,” I said. He immediately disconnected the line and I had to call him back to apologize and listen to his view of Somaliland and the reconciliation process that was being convened in Borama at the time. Honestly, I was not only a skeptic but against the Somaliland issue at the time and I give credit to Qasim for enlightening me about a lot of issues that contributed to my later conviction and support for Somaliland’s reclaim of its independence.
Being an active participant in all the political reconciliation meetings particularly the first clan meeting held in Burao in April 1991, Qasim was among the first members of the Awdal elite who supported Somaliland’s secession. Whether this was a tactical measure by Qasim and other Awdalites to spare the people of Awdal from isolation and an inevitably long-drawn and devastating civil war, or whether they wholeheartedly believed in the Somaliland secession will be an open debate for historians to decide in the years to come, but in the case of Qasim it is his record as the second longest serving cabinet minister in Somaliland after Abdillahi Duale that vouches for his loyalty to the country. As a low profile technocrat and a man who believed in action rather than media sound bites, Qasim was short on statements and was rarely involved in media controversy. Other than his loyalty, his longevity in the various governments could be attributed to his secretive nature. People who met him during his many tours abroad always complained about Qasim’s stinginess in giving out information. Unlike many politicians he was more comfortable to listen to the people he visited than lecture to them about his achievements or push government propaganda. He was a man cut for leadership. From his student days until now, he was always in a leadership position and he knew more than anyone else that leadership demands certain qualities and being trustworthy was probably one of his highest virtues. A quality that I am sure Qasim has inherited from his father Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim, a man who commanded respect because of his integrity, religious status and community leadership.
In a meeting with him during his last visit to Dubai in 2007, when we couldn’t get clear answers to our questions from Qasim, we tried to prod him by telling him as the Awdalites abroad we would encourage our people back home to support the opposition Kulmiye party. He was definitely astounded by the revelation but never stopped hiding behind his opaque language.
A down-to-earth friend of everyone, Qasim had the habit of giving equal attention to all people. Although he had a great respect for the elders in line with the Somali culture, he had good friendships with the younger generation as well. Hamza Goth, my younger brother, who is many years younger than me was one of Qasim’s best friends. I remember when my son, who was about 12 years old at the time, met him in Abu Dhabi, and protested to Qasim about the article in Somaliland’s constitution that states that anyone who wants to run for the country’s presidency should be born of Somalilander father and mother. Qasim sat with him and discussed the article with him face to face. Later on, we three have agreed that the article needed revising given to the changing identity of Somalilanders around the globe.
A staunch lover of poetry and wisdom, Qasim’s mantra in life were few lines of a poem by his grandfather Tani Gaboobe in which he expressed his feelings towards the different roles played by his relatives and friends while he was serving a sentence in Zeila during the British administration:
“Nin i luray , Nin igu laagsadiyo, nin i lammaaneeyey
Iyo nin aan lurkayga jeclayn, libina ii diidan
Iyo nin uu lihiin dhigay halkii, rag isku laacaayey
Intaas buu isugu laaqan yahay, loolkii ii xigaye
Nin walbaan laftaad igu lahayd, waa hadhaw lulo e.”
As a man who believed that he was working for the common good, Qasim was very sensitive when anyone accused him of working for his own interest. This is why he chastised me for misinterpreting his political role in a poem I wrote in 1995 under the name Damaqsi:
“…Qaasim Faraskii deercadka ahaa
Wuu ka soo degey dheh
Markii la wada dooyeystayee
Hunguri soo duubtay
Ee malagsuhu dadkii soo horkacay
Garay dantiisii dheh…”
He vehemently rejected what he thought was an accusation of branding him as self-serving. Being a literary connoisseur and an early fan and admirer of my poetry, I had to relent to his argument.
Qasim was always philosophical in his conversation. Even in personal emails, he never deviated from his secretive nature and he liked to pepper his conversation with philosophical statements and deep spiritual insights. He had the inclination of looking at every action as having an enduring effect on the future and had measured his actions and statements accordingly. I take the following excerpts from emails we exchanged in November 2005 as an example to shed light on Qasim’s aptitude for ambiguity and deep philosophical thought:
“Bashir
Wacan oo wannaagsan. Adeer waxan kugu amaanaa mar kasta
Dareen foojigan iyo sida ad wax kasta oo kuu muuqda ama u aragto
In u wax ka qabad u baahan yahay,mid shakhsi ama guud ma kala saarin,
Ugu dadaasho in ad ka gun gaadho,hagar la aanta , geesinimadda iyo kalsoonidda
Ah in ad ku guulaysanayso. Waxay ugu horaysaa nimcooyinka illaahay ugu
Manna sheeganayo mahkluuqa aadamaha maalinta xisaabtanka.
Eebbe ee ballaadhan oo ay ka mid tahay alaabtan iyo sidan an u wada sheekaysanayno hadda iyo inta innoo dhexaysa.
Si kastaba ha ahaatee Nolashu waa dugsi maalinba cashar cusub oo horle ku bilaabanta.wixii soo marayna waxay kayd ku yihiin xusuusta dhaqaajisa waxa cusub.
Waxan kaga baxayaa ,hadaad igu raacdo,MAALIN iyo LABA TOONA, nolosha laguma dhamayn karo, qofkana sidaas baan looga goan qaadan wax u sameeyay
Hal maalin. Ama fikir u qabay maalin hore an lagu qiimayn.
IGU SALAAN ASXAABTA IYO ODAYADABA
QASIM SH YUSUF..”
Qasim expressed in this email about his admiration for the power of communication and the Internet through which we were communicating. He described it as God’s bounty for man; a bounty that man will have to account for its use on the day of judgement. He also described life as a school which opens a new page every day, while history is the motivator and inspirer of the future. He concluded it by saying that life cannot be judged by one or two days and accordingly man cannot be judged by one action or ideas he embraced at a particular time of his life.
Most of the time, Qasim was reconciliatory and not confrontational, firm on his stands but not afraid to explore other possibilities as can be seen from the following exchange:
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Qasim,
… Furitaankii baarlamaanka iyo doorashadii shirguddoonku sowkuwa togdheer idinla xulay. Allow idinka sabato bixi. Waxa fiican in aad mucaaridka u oggolaataan shirguddoonka idinkuna aad dawladda fulinta ku hadhaan. Haddii baarlamaanku arrimaha la seexdo waxa idinku filan inaad dadka u sheegtaan in mucaaridku la arrimihii la seexday. Eedda ha la idinla wadaago inta idinka uun la idin soo eegayo.
Sidaa iyo Tu san,
Bashir Goth.
Qasim’s reply:
Bashir
Wacan oo wanaangsan,
Marbuu dagaalku gondahaaga ka abuurmaa adoon ka warqabin,lagana yaabo in u togdheer kula xullo. Doorashada shir gudoonku way ka fogtahay mucaarid iyo masuuliyada hogaaminta golaha.waxa laga yaabaa in ay kuugu muuqato keliya eed cid la saarayo iyo hawl la kala riixanayo.waa qorshe ku talagal ah oo mudaba soo socday oo halkanna in badani kala socotay,.Haday fursad u muuqatay lama huraan ah oo ay ku guulaystaan la arki doone,hadii kale wax la isku ogolyahay ma jirtee, addigu xogogaal noqo si ad uga garsoorto dareen ahaan boqol sanno ka dib.
Idinku,hadaad u jeedo xukuumadda an ka tirsanahay ee u Dahir Madaxweynaha ka yahay wax culays ah naguma hayso sidaad soo jeedisay haday arrintu u dhacdo,.Hadaad u jeedo reer awdalna,cirka soo dhaca halka Faysal ka galo uun baanu ka geli.
Intaas iyo caawa
qasim sh yusuf
But again in response to following plain email, Qasim resorts to his deep thinking and philosophical rhetoric:
Friday, November 18, 2005 9:25 AM
Qaasim,
…..
Dhinca kale niman badan oo siyaasad u soo guntan baa jira oo dibedda jooga, aniguse kuma jiro umana soo jeedo. Adigana kollayba taageerayaashaada ayuun baan isku tiriyaa. Wixii intaa dhaafsan bal adiga ayaan kaa sugi iyo sida aad iigu soo furfurato.
Bashir.
Qasim’s reply:
Bashir
.
…ragii hore way tegeen ragga halkoodii ku jiraa in ay dareemaan dantaa keentay,waase la kala hor korayaa.
siyaasaduna waa dareenka maaraynta nolosha .qofba inta u ka dareensan yahay nolosha iyo goorta uu ku baraarugo ayuu wax ka qabadkeeda la yimaadaa. waa la sugayaa rag badan oo u heelan hawl siyaasadeed haday jiraan.runtiina way gaadhay xilligii ragu wada qooqayay, ee arooska aqaladda laba deryaalaha duleedka loogu dhisayay
Taageerada iyo mucaaradadu hadayna u dhalasho ahayn waa in ay dan iyo garasho daacad laga yahay ku fadhidaa,hadaad isku tiriso taageerayaasha qasim ha ka shakiyin in u qasim yahay mucaaradkaaga ,hadayse noqoto run sheeg waa ceeb sheeg,innaga inooma taalo,
Bashiir,adeer caawa halkaa ha inoo jooto,hadaad furfurasho kale iiga baahan tahay soo sheeg ina soo waydii.
qasim sh yusuf
Hargeisa Somaliland
As one can see in the last line of the above email, Qasim’s answer comes in guarded language “Taageerada iyo mucaaradadu hadayna u dhalasho ahayn waa in ay dan iyo garasho daacad laga yahay ku fadhidaa…” Always aware of his principles even during personal conversations, one can see how he conditions his support for any cause as based on common interest and honesty. Even on the personal level when I told him that I count myself as one of his supporters, he reciprocates my gesture with a similar one but has to caution me that our support for each other should stand or fall on adhering to the truth (…haddayse noqoto run sheeg was ceeb sheeg innaga inooma taalo…).
This was the man I knew; a man who was uncompromising in his principles, truthful, honest, compassionate, spiritual, deep thinker, a dedicated hard worker and above all a down-to-earth friend of everyone. With his death in Mecca, I personally lost a mentor and great friend who always put our friendship and our family ties above politics and who saw our disagreements as a way of learning from each other.
Rest in peace my friend; you live among us through your deeds.
HARGEISA, 28 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Six Somaliland journalists are held at Addis Ababa Airport in Ethiopia for the third day. The journalists were on their way to Nairobi to attend a workshop for journalists held by a Dutch organization.
The group was told that their visas were rejected by the Kenyan authorities. “We were told by the workshop organizers to go to Uganda and come to Kenya by road” Said Mr. Abdiqani, one of the journalists. At Kampala’s Entebe airport the Ugandan administration held the journalists and rejected to give permission to enter the country. They deported the group back to Addis Ababa and handed over their passports to the Ethiopian Immigration office who are currently dealing with the issue.
One of the six Journalists is the Somalilandpress reporter, Mr. Abdiqani Bainah. Others are from hadhwanaag news, Ogaal newspaper, Hargeisa Cable Tv, Space Channel TV and Oodweyne news website.
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The journalists say they were treated badly in Uganda and were not allowed to go for food while at the custody. “We were treated badly, we were held for eight hours with no food and water. They did not allow us to call or contact anybody” Said one of the journalists. “They were very harsh on the Somalis” he concluded.
There are ongoing efforts to end the problem. There is no official statement from the Somaliland government about the issue.
HARGEISA, 28 November 2009 (Somalilandpress) – As part of my travel reading on last month’s Horn of Africa expedition, I purchased Mark Bradbury’s Becoming Somaliland. At least in Uganda’s book stores, this appears to be the best comprehensive overview of the new breakaway republic. It is a part of the excellent “African Issues” series, which includes some of my other favorite books on the continent (Paul Richards’s Fighting for the Rainforest: War, Youth & Resources in Sierra Leone and Alex De Waal’s Famine Crimes: Politics & the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa are both must-reads). The book was published in 2008, but Bradbury’s fieldwork seems to have ended in about 2006, already making the book a bit dated in this volatile region of the country.
Overall, the book provides a nice concise history of colonial Somaliland, the brief period of a united Somaliland, the oppressive rule of autocrat Siyad Barre, the succeeding bloody civil war that led to Somaliland’s 1991 declaration of independence, and the territory’s subsequent years of struggle to rebuild and become an internationally recognized democracy (to date, no other country in the world recognizes Somaliland as its own country).
Somalia’s history is heavily rooted in clan identities and politics–both in creating conflicts, and as Bradbury argues, solving conflicts in Somaliland. The book spends a lot of time attempting to delineate relationships and grievances between clans, sub-clans and clan families; I found many of these genealogies distracting. However, the way the clan structure has been melded with democratic governance is one of the most impressive aspects of Somaliland’s development. There is a bicameral legislature with an upper house of clan elders (which actually now has a fascinating website: www.guurti.org; the “About Us section is all in English) and a lower house of publicly elected representatives. A president from a minority clan leads the country and three peaceful elections, including one peaceful transfer of presidential power, demonstrate a remarkable commitment to peace and security.
Peace and security are nothing to sneeze at, but Bradbury notes that it is not enough. Generating revenue, creating a regulated economy and providing social services, including health care and education are essential for a sovereign country to provide. However, in many of the post-conflict settings where I have worked or traveled (Sierra Leone, northern Uganda, Rwanda), international aid has been an essential part of the recovery. Because of the international community’s resistance to accept Somaliland as independent (with visions of someday reuniting a greater Somalia), this aid has not been forthcoming–very few international organizations are providing anything beyond relief work in the country.
Bradbury argues that the lack of aid may initially have helped Somalia to form its own government, generate strong nationalist feelings and create a local commitment to the new nation’s success. This is in stark contrast to Southern Somalia, where more than 15 international piece conferences have been held outside of Somalia, funded by international donors. But while Somaliland has achieved relative stability (the oft-postponed presidential election now due in early 2010 can give plenty of reasons for pause), substantial foreign assistance will be necessary for the territory to improve its human development indicators.
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The greater concern is whether this relatively small and barren new nation has the potential to become economically self-sufficient at some point in the future (especially if remittances, which currently provide a major source of national income, diminish over time). Bradbury argues that it is possible, but predicates that argument on the country receiving international recognition so that foreign investors can confidently explore natural resource and industrial opportunities and the country’s deep water port can become a Free Trade Zone. This is an important question–it would be terrible to create an independent country that could never have the capacity for self subsistence–but I was struck by the entrepreneurial spirit I observed in Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa. It doesn’t seem far-fetched to think that with sustained investment, industry, animal husbandry and even tourism could become viable economic sectors.
Bradbury is a strong advocate of Somaliland independence and this agenda shows. For example, he takes pains to minimize the influence of radical Islam within Somaliland, claiming that despite noting that an Islamic revival is present, “the influence of political and reformist Islamist groups has, to date, been very limited.” Perhaps the Islamic revival is just very powerful, but the society I saw was a very conservative society. Though people in the streets vehemently eschewed jihad, the influence of Islam is almost overwhelming. Women are required to be covered at all times, Western music and dancing are illegal, alcohol is strictly banned in the country, shari’a law is taught at the government universities. Though I heard about a number of Somalilanders who were opposed to the increasingly strict religious practices, no one would publicly admit such a thing. Despite the peace and security, Somaliland is the only place in Africa where I have been readily told on the street several times that I would go to hell unless I converted to Islam.
One observation Bradbury makes repeatedly is how strongly Somalilanders feel about their nationalist identity. I readily agree with this statement–I’ve never seen such vehement nationalist sentiment. This bodes well for national unity, but the universally expressed mixture of disgust and hatred with the rest of Somalia also strikes me as problematic. Such feelings are perhaps understandable from the generation that lived through the civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of northern Somalis. However, raising today’s youth to hold the same beliefs can hardly be constructive. Some day the chaos of Mogadishu and Southern Somalia will end, and if Somaliland hopes to enjoy long-term success, they will have to learn to cooperate with their much larger neighbors.
Somaliland, in creating a peaceful and stable territory surrounded by instability, developing a functioning democratic government with enforced rule of law and beginning to resurrect an economy and basic social services, has doubtlessly come a long way. Especially given that the chances of reuniting with Somalia are almost zero in the near future and that forcing the issue could prevent any functional cooperation between the nations, Somaliland has probably earned the right to be internationally recognized as an independent state. But it would behoove the nascent country to remember that while nationalism is a strong tool to propel development, raising youth with beliefs of unquestioned superiority of the state, unquestioned devotion to Islam, and no strong education system to teach about the world outside of Somaliland is likely to create a radicalized, isolated and permanently impoverished country–far from the visions that both youth and elders elucidate for their country.
