Mogadishu, Somalia – Ali Hassan spends his day sitting in a former mosque, now a ramshackle shelter for drug users, idly staring at his cell phone as he waits for it to ring. A gravedigger with more than 20 years of experience, Hassan is finding life in Mogadishu’s newfound stability hard. He became a gravedigger at the height of the civil war, when he used to dig at least 30 graves a day. “I became a gravedigger in 1991, when burying dead bodies was the best business in Somalia.” People who want to bury their deceased family members ring his cell phone to ask him to dig graves for them. He listens religiously to the cacophony coming from downtown Mogadishu for the sound of loud bangs or continuous rounds of fire. “When there is a loud bang, we know it is an explosion. When there is a sustained gunfire, we know something is wrong and people may die. Deaths mean there will be business for us.” However, with gun battles falling in Mogadishu these days, the number of people brought to the cemetery for burial has almost fallen markedly. “Two years ago I used to bury 30 bodies a day, now I bury one if I’m lucky and often I bury none.” The father of four is struggling to put food on the table for his young family. His children have been forced to drop out of school because he can’t afford to pay their school fees. He is struggling to provide one meal a day. After more than 20 years of continuous fighting, Somalis finally seem to be emerging from the dark days of their civil war. “Somalis are tired of fighting. They know now, first hand, that fighting each other brings only two things: death and destruction. Somalis are the biggest driving force behind the return of peace in Mogadishu,” says Abdullahi Mohamed Shirwa, chairman of the Mogadishu-based peace advocacy group Somali Peace Line. Al-Shabab retreat More than 17,000 African Union soldiers are now in the Horn of Africa country to support the weak government in their fight against the hardline rebel group al-Shabab. Under increased military pressure, al-Shabab has retreated from major cities in south-central Somalia. This has moved the frontlines of the war away from populous cities and town, reducing deaths. “Mogadishu is no longer a frontline, and Bakara Market [the biggest market in Somalia] is no longer been shelled and fought over by al-Shabab, Somali government soldiers and African Union (AU) troops, so the number [of] deaths has decline greatly,” said Shirwa. At the height of the civil war, 14 gravediggers used to work seven days a week at Abdirashid Ali Sharmake cemetery, but currently only two remain, one of whom is Ali Hassan. Fifty-one-year-old Mohamed Jama, a father of seven, is the other remaining gravedigger. Jama dug his first grave in 1994 for $30, and never looked back. He remembers the days, just over a year ago, when AU soldiers and al-Shabab were fighting in Bakara Market. “I sometimes use to make about $300 a day when they were fighting in the busy market. Many people were killed and were brought to this cemetery to be buried.” He recounts that business was even better before, when warlords constantly fought for turf, leaving countless people dead. Even though Jama made the most amount of money during those years, he remembers that time as the worst in his career. “Their militias would many times bring live people to the cemetery, then order us to dig graves before executing the people in the graves we just dug right in front of our eyes, telling us to bury them.” Those years continue to haunt Jama: “I don’t like to dig a grave for a person standing next to me begging for mercy.” Some of his colleagues were killed when they refused to dig graves for militias. “Five of my friends were killed when they refused to dig grave for militias when they brought a live person.” Despite those challenges, his seven kids went to private schools and he had a maid helping his wife with housework. The family lived in a four-bedroom rented house, but have now moved from their rented house into a camp for internally displaced persons. The pinch of peace It’s not only the gravediggers feeling the pinch of peace in Mogadishu. The dead bodies brought to Jama for burial are usually wrapped in a white piece of cloth. According to Muslim customs, when someone dies they should be wrapped in a white piece of cloth called kaffan before being buried. With the number of deaths in Mogadishu falling greatly, kaffan sellers in Hamar Weyne have also been left wondering how to make ends meet. “Two years ago we use to sell at least 49 metres of kaffan a day. Now, we barely sell two metres,” sayskaffan seller Mohamed Abdi Khadir. He’s been forced to diversify his target market from selling kaffan for burials to selling it as a tablecloth to new top-end restaurants opening in Mogadishu. “In Mogadishu, if you don’t adapt with the changing currents, you will die.” Jama feels he is too old to change his career. He speaks clearly about what will put food on the table for his family: “For us, we are happy when there are bombs going off and fighting taking place. I have seven children and a wife to feed. “If others don’t die, they will die.” Source: Al Jezeera
Somaliland:Hargeisa; A Divided Capital City
In Somaliland, we appear to have a government. It looks like a government, often talks like a government, and sometimes behaves like a government. But you can’t really understand the modus operandi of Silanyo’s government until you scratch beneath the surface and reveal that it is not actually a government but a small clique of utterly unscrupulous individuals pulling the strings everywhere in Somaliland.
This clique would go extra ordinary lengths not only to flout the laws of the land but also to wallow in the blood of innocents, if it threatened their best interests as in the case of the massacre that took place at Ahmed Dhagah and further afield.
Hardly anyone would disagree that the recent local council elections held in the country on 28 November 2012 split the country right down the middle. The nation is now more divided than ever before. And these divisions are more broader and have far deeper roots than one might think especially in the capital city, Hargeisa, where there is brinkmanship between supporters of Haksoor political association and the beleaguered government of Ahmed Silanyo.
In Zeila, there is bad blood between the Vice President’s clan and the indigenous ESSA people over the “manipulated results of the Somaliland local council election” which led to ESSA not being able to win enough councilors in order to propel one of their clan members into the mayor’s office in the ancient town of Zeila. The Vice President was accused to have directly interfered in the electoral process to tip the scales in favour of his clan. The Vice President did not deny this. As a result, the ESSA categorically rejected the outcome of the local elections. At least one person was killed and dozen others were injured over the results of the local election dispute. Attempts by the government to reconcile the two sides ended with dismal failure, prompting the minister of interior Mohamed Nur Arale to threaten the ESSA by saying, “We will not be at the mercy of any party as far as the peace and security is concerned”. The minister has been roundly criticized for stooping to a level of such immaturity and contempt.
For their part, the Gadabursi accuse the government of pandering to the demands of ESSA and trying to reverse the outcome of an election it claims to be fair and free.
The same “cooked” election results led to the complete rupture of relations between the government and Arab supporters of HAKSOOR in Ahmed Dhagah district. The Dhulbahante and Warsangeli are equally up in arms that the majority of their electorate has been deliberately disenfranchised, making it virtually impossible for so many to exercise their fundamental rights to discharge their civic duties. The blame for this loss of fundamental rights has been placed squarely at the feet of the chairman of National Electoral Commission, Essa Mohamed Jama by non other than the president’s special advisor on the eastern front, Fuad Aden Adde.
Needless to say, the government lost parts of its capital city after it alienated Arab as a result of the fraudulent election. Hargeisa is no longer a contiguous city as it used to be before 28 November 2012. The South West bank territory of Hargeisa remains a no-go area for all government functionaries including security forces. It remains outside the jurisdiction of the central government following the massacre committed by Silanyo’s security forces at Ahmed Dhagah district on 6th December 2012 in which three people lost their lives and scores of others were injured- some of them seriously. The ages of slain children ranged from 13-16.
It is precisely this state terrorism perpetrated by Silanyo’s government against its own citizens that led Ahmed Dhagah to become a renegade territory within the capital city of Hargeisa- a stone’s throw away from Silanyo’s seat of power.
Today, Ahmed Dhagah virtually remains a separate enclave within Hargeisa. Tax collection is a thing of the past, people buy plot of lands in droves and build their homes without planning permissions and without the hassle of much of the red tape and/or bribery that are usually associated with such an endeavour. Police stations and government offices are either empty or are manned by familiar faces friendly with the roaming local boys.
It still remains off-limits for government officials. Authorities either sneak in under the cover of darkness or stay out of the area completely depending on how pressing their needs are. Yet, surprisingly as it may sound, there are no reported crimes or anarchy whatsoever which is why so many people erroneously think that it is business as usual for Hargeisa- almost two months after the local election on 26 November 2012 when, in fact, that is not the case.
So angry are Arab young men in Ahmed Dhagah that every vehicle with identifiable government plate number that passes through Ahmed Dhagah or its environs is either impounded or are pelted with hail of stones if it fails to stop.
A group of henna-dyed elders who went out of their way to mend fences with the government was uncharacteristically castigated by fiery young clerics who believe that the elders had gone beyond the limits of the clan-family’s tolerance.
Spewing out their hatred and anger in every direction, Ahmed Dhagah women came out in force to have their daggers drawn with the government on Tuesday, 1st January 2013. Wearing red bands symbolizing the blood of the murdered protesters in Ahmed Dhagah, the women expressed their disgust at Silanyo’s government and its handling of what everyone now agrees to be a “plainly fraudulent election” as put it by the leaders of the two of the three parties that qualified for national party status. The ruling party, KULMIYE, was the exception, of course.
As if the rest of the Somaliland people are not aware of the brutal murders that took place in Ahmed Dhagah, the women took no prisoners as they spoke uncontrollably in front of rolling cameras, condemning the two houses of parliament for their collusion and connivance with the government.
As if that was not enough, the women and young men vowed to commit themselves not to allow the ministry of sports to hold the yearly Regional Football Tournament in Hargeisa’s only Stadium which is situated in Ahmed Dhagah district. Now, the tournament has been postponed to June because the government could not guarantee the security of the teams and spectators.
Sadly, what was once a warm relationship between Silanyo and the people of Ahmed Dhagah has unnecessarily turned into a deadly confrontation- a confrontation that seems to be steadily escalating to the point where lasting harm might be done to the country.
Certainly, the government is the guilty party here which is why the government prefers to remain low profile while its already tarnished reputation takes a merciless beating in Ahmed Dhagah.
The government and National Election Commission (NEC) collectively failed to answer until now why out of the so many electoral districts in Marodi Jeh province the ballot boxes from electoral district of Ahmed Dhagah [the stronghold of HAKSOOR] went missing? No one would explain or answer this question.
HAKSOOR’s formal ballot papers that have been correctly marked by voters to show their preferred candidates have been dumped and burned in the dry river bed of Hargeisa. It was an obvious criminal offence and an investigation should have been immediately launched but the government reportedly advised the NEC officials to ignore HAKSOOR’s complaint.
When supporters of HAKSOOR in Ahmed Dhagah began to protest against these injustices the minister of interior has deployed an-anti terrorist police unit to quell the protest by using live ammunition against the peaceful demonstrators. At least three people have been killed including two teenagers aged 13 and 14. Scores of others have been injured-some of them seriously. No one has taken responsibility for these cold blooded murders and no investigation have been launched whatsoever until now.
HAKSOOR officials took formally their complaints to the relevant chief justices of the district and provincial courts of the country but the justices were clearly instructed by the presidential palace not to entertain any complaints from HAKSOOR.
Hersi Haji Ali, the minister of the presidency, who is widely rumoured to govern the country, went to visit Edna Aden’s Hospital on 16th December 2012. Soon he found himself surrounded by nearly 300 menacing young men wielding machetes, sticks and stones. For several hours, he found himself barricaded in the Hospital only to be bundled out of the back door stealthily by the founder of the hospital and former foreign minister, Edna Adan. The president’s motorcade was greeted with the sole of shoes which are considered the ultimate insult in Somali culture.
Until now, the clique that runs the government remains in a dangerous state of denial. They acts as if nothing has happened, refusing to acknowledge that these events even took place while Haksoor supporters lodged a complaint against president Silanyo in London for unlawful killing of peaceful demonstrators- mostly school children.
This ostrich like behaviour is not a legitimate option though and represents a gross dereliction of duty. We can’t keep pretending everything is fine when it’s not. The Somaliland nation is bitterly divided at the worst possible time and a house divided against itself cannot stand. The fact that the British government urged its nationals, including the higher number of Britons with a Somali background who visit relatives in Somaliland, to leave the country immediately because of a “specific threat” to foreigners is a clear testament to the fact that everything is not fine in Somaliland.
Jamal Madar
London, United Kingdom
adammadar@yahoo.com
Somalia should free jailed reporter, solve press murders
PRESS FREEDOM LETTER
January 28, 2013
H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
President of the Federal Republic of Somalia
Office of the President of Somalia
Villa Somalia, Mogadishu
Via email
Dear President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud,
We are writing to express our concern about a Somali journalist who has been imprisoned since January 10 for interviewing a woman who claimed she was raped by government soldiers. We are also concerned by recent statements you made in Washington indicating your administration will not tolerate negative coverage by the local press. We urge you to ensure the journalist is released immediately and follow up on your commitment to create a task force to investigate Somalia’s unsolved journalist murders.
Freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur was detainedwithout charge on January 10 at a police station in Mogadishu, where he has remained with limited access to a lawyer. No warrant was issued for his arrest. Abdiaziz has contributed to several news outlets including Dalsan Radio, Badri Media Productions, Radio Ergo, and the U.K.-based Daily Telegraph.
Police had summoned Abdiaziz for questioning in connection with his January 8 interview with an internally displaced woman who claimed she was raped by Somali soldiers while living in a camp last year. Al-Jazeera English had published a story on January 6 about government soldiers raping internally displaced women in Mogadishu camps. It was unclear if the woman mentioned in the story was the same one Abdiaziz had interviewed.
In a news conference on January 16, Police Commissioner Sharif Shekuna Maye accused Abdiaziz of assisting Al-Jazeera with the story and of bribing the alleged rape victim. He said Abdiaziz had tried to “tarnish the dignity of the police force and the dignity of the Somali nation.” But CPJ research shows that Abdiaziz had no connection to the Al-Jazeera report and had, in fact, interviewed the woman two days after the story was published. In addition, Abdiaziz never published his own interview with the alleged rape victim.
In a January 17 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, you declared your government was committed to good governance, accountability, and transparency. Yet, when asked a question about the ongoing detention of Abdiaziz, you said: “We want [journalists] to be free and have the opportunity to tell the people what they are supposed to tell … but that does not mean that tainting negatively the image of the public, the image of the government is not something acceptable to any standard in the world…And this is propaganda. We do not detain unnecessarily, the police is handling, and it is a civil case.”
In your speech, Mr. President, you also stated that credible judicial reform was the second priority of your government’s agenda. But this cannot take place in a country where journalists are summarily thrown in jail for critical reporting. Moreover, there is no legal basis for holding a journalist simply for conducting an interview. This arrest sends a chilling message to the Somali media to self-censor any critical coverage of security forces or of sensitive but important issues such as the rights of internally displaced Somali citizens.
The day after your speech in Washington, the minister of interior accused Abdiaziz of fabricating the rape story, according to the state-run press. We believe that such a statement by a high-level official in your government violates the journalist’s presumption of innocence and puts political pressure on the judicial process.
Mr. President, in your January 17 speech, you also identified the need to overcome the “culture of impunity” in Somalia. CPJ research shows that not a single journalist murder has been prosecuted in Somalia over the past decade. CPJ ranked Somalia second worst on its 2012 Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are murdered regularly and the killers go free.
CPJ documented 12 journalist murders in Somalia in 2012, making the country the most dangerous in Africa for journalists. The day after your speech, on January 18, unidentified assailants in Mogadishu gunned down veteran journalist Abdihared Osman, the fifth journalist from the Shabelle Media Network killed in 13 months.
You can advance your goal of good governance, transparency, and accountability by creating the task force to investigate and resolve murders of journalists, as you pledged to do last year. If you want to “rebuild Somalia with strong institutions that can deliver services to people,” as you said, we urge you to begin here.
In the past two weeks, you have had several meetings with leaders and diplomats from across the globe, including U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During a press conference in Washington on January 17, Secretary Clinton said that the United States sees new opportunity and optimism in Somalia with the establishment of your government. But we at CPJ are concerned that recent actions taken by your government and the ever-growing number of unsolved murders in Somalia tarnish this sense of optimism.
We urge you to ensure Abdiaziz Abdinuur is released from custody immediately and that all journalists in Somalia are allowed to report freely and critically. We also call you on to follow up on your commitment to create a task force that would bring to justice the perpetrators of the journalist murders in the country.
Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Executive Director
CC List:
Abdikarim Hussein Guled, Minister of Interior, Federal Republic of Somalia
Abdullahi Elmoge Hersi, Minister of Information, Federal Republic of Somalia
Johnnie Carson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Georges-Marc Andre, European Union Representative of Somalia
Matt Baugh, UK Ambassador to the republic of Somalia
Jöran Bjällerstedt, Ambassador of Sweden to the republic of Somalia
Susan Rice, Ambassador of the U.S. to the United Nations
Augustine Mahiga, UN Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Somalia
Michael Croft, Head of Office, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
###
CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.
Contact:
Mohamed Keita
Africa Advocacy Coordinator
Tel. +1.212.465.1004 ext. 117
Email: mkeita@cpj.org
Tom Rhodes
East Africa Consultant
Email: trhodes@cpj.org
Somalia/Somaliland :The Misapprehension about US Recognition
Yousuf Haji Noor Hirsee, Jeddah 2013
The Impact of the Somali President’s Visit to America The visit of the President of Somalia on January 17th, 2013 to the USA and his subsequent meeting with the top leadership in Washington, D.C, has resulted in a premature jubilation in Somalia, and a rather complex reaction by the opinion formers of the Republic of Somaliland. USA Recognition of Somalia!! Before, we dwell on the alleged significance of US recognition, mistakenly believed by some as a political game changer, let us look at the political reality of Somalia. The Obama administration is recognizing the status quo ante, just like Great Britain, France, and Italy etc. They recognize a Somalia that existed as a normal state in the past, in other words. The US stand is this: the consequences involving the death of US soldiers in the 1992-193 South Somalia conflict is now over. However, in reality they are recognizing Somalia in their present form: a disjointed ramshackle state dependent on AMISOM. A rump state, divided into warring regions with Al-Shabab, warlords, tribal chieftains and pirate supporting regions. To this strange concoction, add three highly important regions controlled indirectly by Ethiopia or, directly by Kenya (Jubaland). The world polity, for its worth is recognizing a disarmed, politically enfeebled, economically and financially chained regime. The coastline of Somalia remains in dispute, even land-locked Uganda feels it deserves a share in it. Sensing, but not directing the political maneuverings at a local or sub-strategic level, the recognition confirms that Southern Somalia is up for partition. See the recent article on the Ethiopia-Kenya partnership on the “Management” of Somalia. Finally, the Duel Policy approach to Somalia and Somaliland adopted by the US, UK, Scandinavia, and even Italy remains in force. A number of neighboring countries, and the countries mentioned above maintain separate representative offices in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. To all intent and purposes, the country of Somalia is in fact, consist of portions of the former Italian Somalia. Somaliland’s International Status Somaliland’s perception in the diplomatic arena is unambiguous. It is perceived as a cohesive, stable state that is in charge of its territory. It’s beyond De Facto recognition and bordering on De Jure. Major states like US, UK, and Scandinavia states, and to a lesser extent regional organizations treat Somaliland as a separate entity from Somalia, reserving a seat in IGAD, AU and some UN institutions, for example. That is a fact. The President of Somaliland, Ahmed M. Silaanyo’s government is relentlessly pursuing a policy of projecting and maintaining Somaliland’s statehood, and its separateness from Somalia. The recent separate visits of both President’s to Djibouti on the anniversary of the adoption of a Somali script is a case in point. Both were welcomed at the airport by President of Djibouti. Furthermore, Somaliland, enjoys good relations with its neighbors, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Puntland, the pirate-infested sometimes part of Somalia. Recognition in Perspective Well, I hope that people understand that, while recognition is important diplomatic vehicle, it is not, the be all and end all; there is nothing permanent in international affairs. Self-interest reigns supreme. Consider this: European Yugoslavia, supported by Russia, China and some democratic Western countries had full recognition and sovereignty over its territory. A civil war (1991-1999)ensued, which led to the departure of Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Kosovo until, finally Yugoslavia was reduced to just Serbia. Somalia in its weak condition may lose more than Somaliland. Read the article, ‘ The new scramble for Somalia”. Somaliland’s Response The official reaction to the “recognition of Somalia” can be discerned from the pronouncement of president Ahmed M. Silaanyo, and his tireless foreign minister, Mohammed Abdilahi. Simply put: continued commitment to logical, mature and steadfast pursuit of regaining Somaliland’s statehood. Likewise, the stand of the ruling party Kulmiye, and opposition parties Ucid , and Wadani plus the chairpersons of both houses of Parliament re-affirmed their un-wavering support for remaining steadfast in single-mindedly pursuing the just cause of “re-gaining Somaliland’s position as a recognized state that pre-dates Somalia. Somaliland gained its independence from Britain on June 26th, 1960; Somalia July 1st, 1960. To shed some light on the above, I will strive to analyse the situation from the different perspectives taken by Somalilanders. Firstly, the worrisome propositions taken by a minority of former officials of past governments and a few opposition figures who maintain a stranglehold on the Somaliland media, subsequently, their statements give rise to embarrassing themselves and the country’s cause in the electronic media and over the airways. The former speaks variously of the impending danger from a miraculously resuscitated and rearmed Somalia invading Somaliland!! Somalia is incapable of feeding, clothing, training and paying a small army, let alone invading a cohesive country with a disciplined professional army, trained by elite former Northern officers of the old Somali army. It is a stupid joke. Is it conceivable, that a ramshackle state, kept afloat by UNISOM African armies, can entertain the notion of taking on Somaliland? The other faulty position expressed by the defeatist is that, the Somaliland-Somalia meetings started under the auspices of the Somalia conference in London (July 2011) could lead, God forbid to the reunification of Somaliland with the failed state of Somalia. Amazingly, they claim that, the AMISOM-protected government, whose rule is disputed in many regions, save for Mogadishu on good days, and possess the were-with-all to win over the hearts and minds of the politically stable Somaliland. Those defeatists’ elements are but a tiny minority with hardly any influence. Unfortunately, they fail to recognize that, “Somaliland’s War of Reclaiming Independence (1981-1991)” has been successfully concluded, and there is no turning back. The Impact of Somalia’s “Recognition” on Talks with Somaliland The Historic London Conference and subsequent conferences were held between two equal states, Somaliland and Somalia. Under the strong diplomatic pressure of Somaliland, the “Presidents” of the disparate States of Somalia and ministers of Somaliland origin in the Mogadishu team were excluded from these meetings. This established process will continue. Moreover, it is absolutely important to understand that, this is an on-going process, with UK foreign office observers present. The process may take months to a year, but the next stage might be arbitration based on the minutes taken by the observers. Logically, the International Court of Justice, the African Union, and the UNO might be brought in at some stage, but not necessarily in that order. Somalia’s position on union/independence is based on immature emotions, greed and fear of what they perceive as further dismemberment, but that is their project, not Somaliland’s. Finally to the few pessimists at home and the dreamers in the Somalia, I would like you to ponder on these illuminating verses from a poem by, Ali Seenyo, who understood the nature of the talks and the process as explained above: Kala guurkii maa ahoo we have not reached the intended separation Waa kala gurashadii ye garo It (the talks) concerns disengagement, so understand this For the vast majority of Somalilanders, having gone through a ten year struggle, and a referendum which supported separation from Somalia, regularly holding democratic multi-party elections, the option of union is dead and buried. The country had elected four different administrations with a smooth, mature and safe transfer of power with the presence of credible international observers. These former administrations are those of Abdul-Rahman Ahmed Ali (Tuur) 1991-3), Mohame
d Ibrahim Mohammed Egal (1993-2002), Dahir Riyaale Kaahin (2002-2010), who handed over office to the present leader Ahmed Mohammed Mohamud (Silaanyo). Why, then you may ask, do countries, major ones at that continue to recognize Somalia, a perennially weak state. Professor Michael Weinstein of Perdue University, Indiana provides a deep insight to this issue. He still describes the present government as “provisional”. He is inclined to accept, that a kind of Trusteeship Administration for the next 20 years could established, given its lack of resources. To conclude, Somaliland has rightly offered its good offices and support to Somalia once it regains its sovereignty. Otherwise, holding to a the dream of a united Somalia, will in the long run cause Somalia endless grief, loss of territory to neighboring countries; on the other hand Somaliland could survive and bid its time, unquestionably recognition will ultimately be achieved. Somaliland can afford to wait, Somalia cannot. Further Reading: 01- IGAD Joint Committee of Ethiopia and Kenya under the auspices of former Kenyan Minister, Mr. Kipruto Arap Kirwa, IGAD Facilitator for Somalia Peace and Reconciliation (IFSPR), 6, 2012. 02-Memorandum of Understanding on Somalia, signed by AMISOM, UNPOS, and IGAD Facilitator. April 28th, 201028 (Somalia Excluded from Meeting). 03- Professor Michael Weinstein of Perdue University, Indiana, USA Somalia trapped in servile or abusive international relations December 29, 2012. 04- Declaration of the Initial Members of the Joint Financial Management Board at the London Conference, Feb. 23rd, 2012 05- Mohammed Kenyan: Understanding Stakeholder Groups, Facing Relations and Still Retaining Faith. June 26th, 2012 06- The Guardian Newspaper: African Democracy: A Glass Half Full. March 31st,2012 07- Daily Nation: The New Scramble for Somalia; Charles Onyango-Obbo; February
Ethiopia: The Silent World of Hippos on Planet Cheetah
In my first weekly commentary of the new year, I “proclaimed” 2013 “Year of Ethiopia’s Cheetah Generation” (young people). I also promised to reach, teach and preach to Ethiopia’s youth this year and exhorted members of the Ethiopian intellectual class (particularly the privileged “professorati”) to do the same. I have also been pleading with (some say badgering) the wider Ethiopian Hippo Generation (the lost generation) to find itself, get in gear and help the youth.
The SOS I put out in June 2012 (Where have Ethiopia’s Intellectuals Gone?) and now (The Irresponsibility of the Privileged) has been unwelcomed by tone deaf and deaf mute “Hippogenarians”. My plea for standing up and with the victims of tyranny and human rights abuses has been received with stony and deafening silence. I have gathered anecdotally that some Hippos are offended by what they perceive to be my self-righteous and holier-than-thou finger wagging and audacious, “J’accuse!”. Some have claimed that I am sitting atop my high horse crusading, pontificating, showboating, grandstanding and self-promoting.
There seems to be palpable consternation and anxiety among some (perhaps many) Hippos over the fact that I dared to betray them in a public campaign of name and shame and called unwelcome attention to their self-inflicted paralysis and faintheartedness. Some have even suggested that by using the seductively oversimplified metaphor of cheetahs and hippos, I have invented a new and dangerous division in society between the young and old in a land already fractured and fragmented by ethnic, religious and regional divisions. “Methinks they doth protest too much”, to invoke Shakespeare.
My concern and mission is to lift the veil that shrouds a pernicious culture and conspiracy of silence in the face of evil. My sole objective is to speak truth not only to power but also to those who have calculatedly chosen to disempower themselves by self-imposed silence. I unapologetically insist that silently tolerating wrong over right is dead wrong. Silently conceding the triumph of evil over good is itself evil. Silently watching atrocity is unmitigated moral depravity. Complicity with the champions of hate is partnership with haters.
The maxim of the law is “Silence gives consent” (qui tacet consentiret). Silence is complicity. Silence for the sake of insincere and hollow social harmony (yilugnta) is tantamount to dousing water on the quiet riot that rages in the hearts and minds of the oppressed. Leonardo da Vinci said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” I say nothing strengthens tyranny as much as silence — the silence of the privileged, the silence of those who could speak up but choose to take a vow of silence. One cannot speak to tyrants in the language of silence; one must speak to tyrants in the language of defiant truth. Silence must never be allowed to become the last refuge of the hypocritical scoundrel.
There have been encouraging developments over the past week in the crescendo of voices speaking truth to power. Several enlightening contributions that shed light on the life and times of tyranny in Ethiopia have been made in “Ethiopian cyber hager”, to borrow Prof. Donald Levine’s metaphor. A couple of insightful analysis readily come to mind. Muktar Omer offered a devastating critique of the bogus theory of “revolutionary democracy.” He argued convincingly “that recent economic development in Ethiopia has more to do with the injection of foreign aid into the economy and less with revolutionary democracy sloganeering.” He demonstrated the core ideological nexus between fascism, communism and revolutionary democracy. Muktar concluded, “Intellectuals who are enamored with the ‘good intellect and intentions’ of Meles Zenawi and rationalize his appalling human rights records are guilty of either willful ignorance or disagree with Professor John Gray’s dauntingly erudite reminder: ‘radical evil can come from the pursuit of progress’”. My view is that revolutionary democracy is to democracy as ethic federalism is to federalism. Both are figments of a warped and twisted imagination.
An Amharic piece by Kinfu Asefa (managing editor of ethioforum.org) entitled “Development Thieves” made a compelling case demonstrating the futility and duplicity of the so-called “Renaissance Bond” calculated to raise billions of dollars to dam the Blue Nile. Kinfu argued persuasively that there could be no development dam when the people themselves are damned by the damned dam developers.
I am told by those much wiser than myself that I am pursuing a futile course trying to coax Hippos to renounce their vows of silence and speak up. I am told it would be easier for me to squeeze blood out of turnip than to expect broad-gauged political activism and engaged advocacy from the members of Ethiopia’s inert Hippo Generation. The wise ones tell me I should write off (and not write about) the Hippos living on Planet Cheetah. I should stop pestering them and leave them alone in their blissful world where they see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil!
Should I?
Restoring Faith With the Cheetahs
We have a problem! A big one. “We” are both Cheetahs and Hippos. Truth must be told: Hippos have broken faith with Cheetahs. Cheetahs feel betrayed by Hippos. Cheetahs feel marginalized and sidelined. Cheetahs say their loyalty and dedication has been countered by the treachery and underhandedness of Hippos. The respect and obedience Cheetahs have shown Hippos have been greeted with disdain and effrontery. Cheetahs say Hippos have misconstrued their humility as servility; their flexibility and adaptability have been countered by rigidity and their humanity abused by cruel indignity. Cheetahs feel double-crossed, jilted, tricked, lied to, bamboozled, used and abused by Hippos. Cheetahs say they have been demonized for questioning Hippos and for demanding accountability. For expressing themselves freely, Cheetahs have been sentenced to hard labor in silence. Cheetahs have been silenced by silent Hippos! Cheetahs have lost faith in Hippos. Such is the compendium of complaints I hear from many Ethiopian Cheetahs. Are the Cheetahs right in their perceptions and feelings? Are they justified in their accusations? Are Hippos behaving so badly?
A word or two about the youths’ loss of faith in their elders before talking about restoring faith with them. Ethiopia’s youth live in a world where they are forced to hear every day the litany that their innate value is determined not by the content of their character, individuality or humanity but the random chance of their ethnicity. They have no personality, nationality or humanity, only ethnicity. They are no more than the expression of their ethnic identity.
To enforce this wicked ideology, Apartheid-style homelands have been created in the name of “ethnic federalism”. The youth have come to realize that their station in life is determined not by the power of their intellect but by the power of those who lack intellect. They are shown by example that how high they rise in society depends upon how low they can bring themselves on the yardstick of self-dignity and how deeply they can wallow in the sewage of the politics of identity and ethnicity. They live in a world where they are taught the things that make them different from their compatriots are more than the things they have in common with them. Against this inexorable message of dehumanization, they hear only the sound of silence from those quietly professing allegiance to freedom, democracy and human rights. To restore faith with Ethiopia’s youth, we must trade silence with the joyful noise of protest; we must unmute ourselves and stand resolute against tyranny. We must cast off the silence of quiet desperation.
But before we restore faith with the young people, we must restore faith with ourselves. In other words, we must save ourselves before we save our young people. To restore faith with ourselves, we must
learn to forgive ourselves for our sins of commission and omission. We must believe in ourselves and the righteousness of our cause. Before we urge the youth to be courageous, we must first shed our own timidity and fearfulness. Before we teach young people to love each other as children of Mother Ethiopia, we must unlearn to hate each other because we belong to different ethnic groups or worship the same God with different names. To restore faith with ourselves, we must be willing to step out of our comfort zones, comfort groups, comfort communities and comfort ethnicities and muster the courage to say and do things we know are right. We should say and do things because they are right and true, and not because we seek approval or fear disapproval from anyone or group. George Orwell said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” We live in times of national deceit and must become revolutionaries by speaking truth to abusers of power, to the powerless, to the self-disempowered and to each other.
To be fair to my fellow Hippos, they defend their silence on the grounds that speaking up will not make a difference to tyrants. They say speaking truth to tyranny is a waste of time, an exercise in futility. Some even say that it is impossible to communicate with the tyrants in power with reasoned words because these tyrants only understand the language of crashing guns, rattling musketry and booming artillery.
I take exception to this view. I believe at the heart of the struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights in Ethiopia is an unending battle for the hearts and minds of the people. In the battlefield of hearts and minds, guns, tanks and warplanes are useless. History bears witness. The US lost the war in Vietnam not because it lacked firepower, airpower, nuclear power, financial power, scientific or technical power. The U.S. lost the war because it lacked the power to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese and American peoples.
Words are the most potent weapon in the battle for hearts and minds. Words can enlighten the benighted, open closed eyes, sealed mouths and plugged ears. Words can awaken consciences. Words can inspire, inform, stimulate and animate. Napoleon Bonaparte, one of the greatest military leaders in history, feared words more than arms. That is why he said, “Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.” That why I insist my fellow privileged intellectuals and all who claim or aspire to be supporters of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law to speak up and speak out and not hide behind a shield of silence. I say speak truth to tyranny. Preach faith in the divinity of humanity and against the bigotry of the politics of identity and ethnicity; champion loudly the causes of unity in diversity and practice the virtues of civility, accountability, amity and cordiality. Never stand silent in the face of atrocity, criminality, contrived ethnic animosity and the immorality of those who abuse of power.
It is necessary to restore faith with the Cheetahs. The gap between Cheetahs and Hippos is not generational. There is a trust gap, not generational gap. There is a credibility gap. There is an expectation gap, an understanding gap and a compassion gap. Many bridges need to be built to close the gaps that divide the Cheetah and Hippo Generations.
Rise of the Chee-Hippo Generation
There is a need to “invent” a new generation, the Chee-Hippo Generation. A Chee-Hippo is a hippo who thinks, behaves and acts like a Cheetah. A Chee-Hippo is also a cheetah who understands the limitations of Hippos yet is willing to work with them in common cause for a common purpose.
Chee-Hippos are bridge builders. They build strong intergenerational bridges that connect the young with the old. They build bridges to connect people seeking democracy, freedom and human rights. They build bridges across ethnic canyons and connect people stranded on islands of homelands. They bridge the gulf of language, religion and region. They build bridges to link up the rich with the poor. They build bridges of national unity to harmonize diversity. They build bridges to connect the youth at home with the youth in the Diaspora. Chee-Hippos build social and political networks to empower youth.
Are You a Chee-Hippo or a Hippo?
You are a Chee-Hippo if you believe
young people are the future of the country and the older people are the country’s past.
the future is infinitely more important than the past.
a person’s value is determined not by the collection of degrees listed after his/her name but by the person’s commitment and stand on the protection of the basic human rights of a fellow human being.
and practice the virtues of tolerance, civility, civic duty, cooperation, empathy, forgiveness, honesty, honor, idealism, inclusivity and openness.
You are a Chee-Hippo if you are
open-minded, flexible, and humble.
open to new ideas and ways of communicating with people across age groups, ethnic, religious, gender and linguistic lines.
unafraid to step out of your comfort zone into the zone of hard moral choices.
courageous enough to mean what you say and say what you mean instead of wasting your time babbling in ambiguity and double-talk.
prepared to act now instead of tomorrow (eshi nege or yes, tomorrow).
prepared to blame yourself first for your own deficits before blaming the youth or others for theirs.
eager to learn new things today and unlearn the bad lessons of the past.
committed to finding opportunity than complaining about the lack of one.
able to develop attitudes and beliefs that reflect what is possible and not wallow in self-pity about what is impossible.
fully aware that the world is in constant and rapid change and by not changing you have no one to blame for the consequences except yourself.
Any Hippo can be reinvented into a Chee-Hippo. Ultimately, being a Chee-Hippo is a state of mind. One need only think, behave and act like Cheetahs. The credo of a true Chee-Hippo living on Planet Cheetah is, “We must not give only what we have; we must give what we are.”
Damn proud to be a Chee-Hippo!
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
HABA applauds the progress made by Somaliland over the last two decades
The Horn of Africa Business Association (HABA) applauds the progress made by Somaliland over the last two decades and feels privileged to have strong and purposeful connections with the region. Presently the greatest single threat to the region is unemployment, closely followed by water and food security. It has been heartening to see locals and the Diaspora playing a constructive role in helping stimulate growth as this is essential to continuing economic and social development.
Whilst the Horn and much of East Africa remains a challenging region in a number of ways, it has been heartening to see a growing confidence and this in turn has begun to yield dividends in regard to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Somaliland has won many admirers around the globe for its single-minded and courageous spirit. HABA, as a non-political business association and specialist consultancy is deeply troubled by the fact that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London has decided to advise against all travel to Somaliland by British nationals. Risk is something that people assess on a daily basis and yet it is regrettable that the FCO have sought fit to issue a blanket warning, something which will cause enormous anxiety to business leaders, NGOs and large numbers of the Somali Diaspora, as well as considerable disquiet throughout Somaliland and beyond.
Rather than helping change misconceptions about the Horn of Africa this will undo much of the good work that has been achieved in recent years. The fact that there is no official British representation in Somaliland does not help matters. Whilst HABA recognises the importance of vigilance, in this instance it believes that the FCO has been overly hasty.
The Horn of Africa Business Association (HABA) remains passionately committed to the people and countries of the region. Rest assured that we will work assiduously to play a positive role that sees constructive and personal engagement not from gilded offices in London or gated legations in Nairobi, but on the ground in the Horn of Africa, face to face with our Somali friends and associates.
Kind regards,
Mark T Jones
Executive Director
Horn of Africa Business Association (HABA)
International House
124 Cromwell Road
South Kensington
LONDON SW7 4ET
t: +44 (0) 7727 615774
e: marktjones@ha-ba.com
w: www.ha-ba.com
Somaliland: exploration in 'Africa's 55th state'
Jan 28, 2013
Until 2010, Hussein Abdi Dualeh worked as a simple project manager in Los Angeles overseeing the use of natural gas as fuel for cars. It was a natural progression given his downstream engineering experience and his career start in the UAE as a salesman out of high school, marketing lubricants for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
Those days are past. On a trip back to Abu Dhabi this month, Mr Dualeh was feted at a table of honour, knee to knee with Mohammed Al Hamli, the UAE Minister of Energy, and Tony Hayward, the former BP chief executive, in the heart of the luxurious Yas Viceroy hotel. Later, after delivering one of the keynote speeches of the morning to executives from the world’s supermajors, he enjoyed a cruise around the island before retiring to his suite.
Such is the life of the new oil minister of Somaliland.
His rapid rise to power is a product of politics and the reemergence of companies questing for oil and gas in a place that has yet to secure its statehood. Like Greenland and Iraqi Kurdistan, where wildcatters are drilling deep for oil, Somaliland administers itself by and large on its own, yet has not been recognised as a country by the United Nations. Like them, it also hopes hydrocarbons can ease its path to statehood.
“You know what really carries the day is not politics, it’s geology,” said Mr Dualeh. “If the geology is good, all bets are off.”
Somaliland has ample history to overcome. In the late 1980s, Chevron was drilling and Conoco laying airstrips thanks to oil concessions granted by the central Somalian government, which included the former Italian colony that today is known as Somalia and, to the north, the former British protectorate that calls itself Somaliland.
In 1991, militias overtook the capital of Mogadishu and deposed the government, sending Somalia into lawlessness and famine and leading foreign companies to declare force majeure. That year Somaliland declared independence.
“We actually think of ourselves as the 55th state in Africa,” said Mr Dualeh, pointing out that companies operating there are publicly traded in London and enjoy ample legal counsel. “If you have a company that has a lot of interests in Somaliland, for the safety of their interests they would rather see a full state that they’re dealing with – so it will only hasten the day that we’re being recognised.”
This time around, three independents have signed up to explore Somaliland, the best known of which is led by Mr Hayward – Genel Energy, the Turkish operator in Kurdistan. Genel is to start surveying next month and expects to drill its maiden well at the start of next year, part of a regional exploration programme that includes Morocco and the Ivory Coast.
“The challenge is given the very high quality assets in Kurdistan, how do you replicate it as you go outside?” said Mr Hayward. “Really the only way to do that is through exploration, so what we were looking for is frontier exploration opportunities where we thought there was a possibility of finding large fields.”
No one knows how much oil could be underground, in part because the exploration campaigns under the previous government were so brief. Mr Dualeh estimates that reserves could be in the billions of barrels, although he stops short of imagining a future with million-barrel-a-day output and ascendancy to Opec.
Beyond exploration, he hopes to transform the port of Berbera – a three-berth harbour that today exports sheep and frankincense – into an international fuel shipping hub, taking advantage of its deepwater geology and proximity to the Asian maritime transit route. A road and railway are also planned between Somaliland and Ethiopia, with a pipeline for Ethiopian hydrocarbons under discussion. Hopes are high for international companies such as DP World that could invest millions of dollars to transform Berbera into a world-class commercial port.
The drive to industrialise Somaliland came about three years ago with the arrival of a new president, who Mr Dualeh had served as US campaign manager. (A substantial diaspora in America furnishes votes and campaign funds.) The president then tapped him to lead the energy ministry, where he remains the only petroleum engineer.
Mr Dualeh recalled working in the United States 20 years ago and, from afar, following Chevron and Conoco’s short-lived exploration campaign.
“They were drilling and I would read this in the papers and say, ‘Oh God, I wish I could be a part of this operation,'” he said. “And guess what? I now have the whole thing in my hands.”
ayee@thenational.ae
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/industry-insights/energy/somaliland-exploration-in-africas-55th-state#ixzz2JDmY74nw
Somaliland Has to Project a Strong Image in the Internationals Forums
Somaliland has to project strong image to protect, preserve and uphold its legitimacy as an independent country and send a strong signal to the world that no eventuality, group or nation will undermine, derail or stop, its quest for sovereignty. Sovereignty of Somaliland is collective pronouncement by its people and enshrined in its constitution. We will never faulter, surrender, or relinquish our sovereignty.
Since the new Somali government of Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was concocted last year leaders of a number of western countries are echoing to legitimize their agenda and designs in Somalia/ since then it seems they are singing with a different tone to entice the new Somali government. They declared diplomatic war on Somaliland to undermine the accomplishment of its people and their elected successive governments, gave number of interviews to the media that undermines the legitimacy of Somaliland as an independent entity that has no legal association with former Somalia.
Recently, on January 25, 2013 British Minister for Africa Mark Simmons at AU foreign ministerial conference in Addis Ababa in a joint press instatement with Somalia’s Foreign Minister Fowzi Yusuf H. Aden in an uncategorical statement said “As a result of significant progress UK Prime Minster David Cameron and Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud will co-chair the upcoming February Somalia conference in London’.
That statement in itself alone puts Somaliland in precarious position and undermines its legitimacy as an independent state that is equal in status with Somali’s fragile government protected by AMISOM. As a backdrop of the statement of UK minister and possibly USA’s last week’s recognition of new Somali’s government both countries altered their position on the issue of Somaliland’s quest for recognition and put on hold.
January 25, 2013 UK foreign ministry released a travel advisory directive warning their citizens travelling to Somaliland and asked those currently in Somaliland to leave immediately for security concerns. This is another indication the stand that the UK government took in regard to Somaliland, without merit the advisory directive portrays Somaliland as an unstable, chaotic and dangerous place akin to Somalia’s lawlessness and chaos. In my opinion, this is the first step in destroying the image of Somaliland as an oasis of peace, stability, and democracy and paint a different picture to the world that it is no different than Somalia in order to frustrate our pursuit for recognition.
Although, Somaliland’s independence is the solemn duty of every Somalilander whether rich or poor, old or young, in the final analysis, the onus is on the current president of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamed (Siilaanyo) and his government to counter such diplomatic maneuvering and safeguard, protect and preserve what the people had entrusted with him as eloquently stated by the outgoing president of Somaliland Dahir Riyale Kahin in his historic inaugural speech of current government” Today from west to east I transferred to you a stable and peaceful country and a people united with a common goal ‘.
Fowzi
FCO warns of threat to Westerners in Somaliland
Foreign Office Travel Advice already advises against all travel to Somalia, including Somaliland, and advises all British nationals to leave. We are now aware of a specific threat to Westerners in Somaliland, and urge any British nationals who remain there against our advice to leave immediately. As our travel advice continues to make clear, kidnapping for financial or political gain, motivated by criminality or terrorism, remains a threat throughout Somalia. Our new travel advice for Somalia, including Somaliland, can be found here
We will keep our Travel Advice under constant review. We cannot comment further on the nature of the threats at this time.