HARGEISA, 26 August 2009 (Somalilandpress) – Time just seems to go by, some times with painful regularity and others with the beauty of natural rhythm of the seasons. People around different corners of the world are born to be successful but conditioned to lose. What makes people highly respected while others are absurd is just a little knowledge.
Iam merry to share my last words with my cherished graduates whom I halves an excellent time of my life. It is not an easy chore to be four years in University, but our keenness, dedication and commitment made us to signpost one of our memorable years of our lives. Today we are commemorating the ending of a new chapter in our lives which is four years of sacrifice and handwork.
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I have always dreamed of the completion of my degree of economics during the four year in University of Hargeisa. It was sheer hard work which made it possible for me to become one of the first economic graduates that obtain a degree from the university. As an ambitious student it is necessary that you know your self and your ability very well. May be you are talented person. May be you are naturally full of zip and robust. Even if you are keep your mind to turn your vision into reality.
With regards to my first year at the university, most students enter university eager-eyed, excited about learning, and anxious to learn. Their parents are excited too. But lack of orientation towards how university works and even choosing their studying career disappointed many parents and their children and same lost the goodness at the university.
With out guiding the students, many friends urge you to go into very specific professional fields. These are mainly the business studies, such as accounting and administration and technological studies. Very few students go into the sciences, such as medicine and other sciences and make a career out of it.
There is a widespread myth among high school graduates that choosing sciences are very hard and takes long time according to the other fields. These professionals have financially more expensive than careers of business and information technology. It is important to note that it is petty which profession you choose; what is imperative is that you utilize your skills successfully, and get all there is to obtain within that field of study.
Dear graduates your university days are over. You are finally in the real world. You have graduated, walked across the stage and climbed down from the stairs of the academy, leading you right into the real world. Your first job awaits you now. But you’re not worried because you’re ready: After spending all those sleepless nights. Keeping in mind that there are so many challenges ahead of you. The whole world wants us because we are special persons.
My brothers and sisters in faith let me remind you that we are going to the next plateau in life. Learning doesn’t end with obtaining degree but it is long life adventure. Keep in mind that life outside there is harsh and it is only for the hardworking people. Continue learning and apply the skills and experiences that you acquired in University of Hargeisa to the real life of your society.
Finally, I would like to use this chance to sincerely appreciate to my beloved lecturers with out their persistence and endorsement I wouldn’t have reached this level. Thanks also to the faculty of Economics and Business Administration for their busy academic year, the faculty is working around the clock to ensure we attain our intended courses as well as finishing the course outline of each subjects. Let me leave behind my genuine appreciation to the university management team who has prepared every effort to run the university slickly and smoothly.
The library is one vital tool for writing our thesis paper. Our library has got enough resources to enable our students a culture of reading specially those who are ready to graduate in the university. I would like to thank the librarian for his tireless effort to help the students and lecturers.
To cut my words short, you graduate the question is “AFTER THE UNIVERSITY WHAT IS NEXT?
Our motto is “Keen to learn, motivated to help, and eager to be recognized as important contributor to your society”.
Written by: Farhan Abdi Suleiman (oday)
Farhan Abdi Suleiman is a social worker, fresh graduate at university of Hargeisa and youth activist. You can be contacted at oday1999@yahoo.com
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HARGEISA, 26 August 2009 (Somalilandpress) – A ruling that Somaliland will hold its oft-postponed presidential election without a voters’ list has prompted demonstrations, a boycott threat and warnings that the secessionist state’s relative stability is in jeopardy.
Somaliland, which unilaterally broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991, is due to go to the polls on 27 September. The poll was originally scheduled for April 2008.
In late July, President Dahir Riyale Kahin announced that he and the National Election Commission (NEC) had decided to discard a hi-tech biometric voters’ register that had recently been completed after two years of work, claiming that computer server problems had generated an unreliable list. A representative of Interpeace, a Geneva-based organisation that developed the new system and disputes the extent of the problem, was abruptly deported.
The two main opposition candidates, Faisal Ali Warabe of the Justice and Welfare Party and Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud of the Development and Solidarity Party, have threatened to boycott the election and refused to even meet Riyale unless he reconsiders his decision.
For his part, Riyale has ignored a parliamentary order to reinstate the voters’ list, whose suspension the assembly deemed illegal.
The suspension led to demonstrations by opposition supporters, the latest on 19 August in Hargeisa, the capital, with thousands of people.
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“We want to show the president that we are fully committed to holding the election using the voter registration lists,” Mustafe Abdi, one of the protesters, said.
According to reports from Lasanod, at least 37 individuals have been arrested since the demonstrations began, including regional officials of the two opposition parties.
Credibility questions
Yusuf Abdi Gabobe, leader of the Union of Somaliland Journalists, said: “Everybody in Somaliland is worried about the country’s current situation. If we continue without mediation the situation could worsen and conflict could arise.”
Meanwhile, concern is mounting outside the country. The African Union’s envoy, Nicholas Bwakira, arrived in Hargeisa on 25 August and was scheduled to meet leaders of all major political parties. His visit follows that of Ethiopian Deputy Foreign Minister, Tekede Alemu.
Earlier in August, the US government expressed “profound dismay” over the registration issue. “We believe the list forms a sound basis for use in the elections scheduled for 27 September. We have directly urged President Riyale to reconsider his decision,” according to a press statement released in Nairobi.
Timothy Othieno, a regional analyst with the Overseas Development Institute, a British think-tank, told IRIN that if the minority ruling United Peoples’ Democratic Party (UDUB) went ahead with the election without the opposition, “they will have no credibility domestically and internationally and this may lead to instability. The lack of credibility may lead to pressures within Somaliland for change, which may not be attractive for Riyale both domestically and internationally.”
But he warned even under current circumstances, the election date should be maintained. “Any further delays will have denied Somalilanders an opportunity to express themselves through the ballot box. There will never be a perfect election and a consistent tradition of elections will sort out these intricacies over time. The point being that Somaliland needs to get into the habit of having regular elections even if they are not perfect.”
Three UK-based organisations invited to coordinate international observers during the elections have also sounded the alarm. In a statement released on 20 August, Progressio, the Development Planning Unit at University College London, and Somaliland Focus (UK) expressed “deep concern” at recent developments and hinted they would pull out.
“We feel that under the current circumstances, the only possible outcome [of the election] would be seen by a significant proportion of Somalilanders as lacking legitimacy. We are therefore concerned about whether we are able to provide the coordination and observation role to which we have been committed to date, unless the situation changes markedly,” they said.
HARGEISA, 26 August 2009 (Somalilandpress) – One of two French security advisers kidnapped by insurgents in Somalia last month has escaped from his captors, Somali police said on Wednesday.
The hostage was believed to be held by militants of the al Shabaab Islamist group and senior police officer Abdiqadir Odweyne told Reuters he killed three of his captors before fleeing to the presidential palace.
“One of the two Frenchmen escaped from al Shabaab and now he is in the palace,” Odweyne said.
“We understand he killed three al Shabaab guys who were guarding him. I cannot understand how this good story happened but now he is in the hands of the government.”
The two Frenchmen were seized from a Mogadishu hotel.
The U.N.-backed government in Somalia has been facing a stubborn insurgency from al Shabaab and another group called Hizbul Islam.
An al Shabaab source confirmed three of its members were killed, but it was not known by whom.
“Three of my friends died but who killed them is the question. We were expecting a ransom this morning,” the source said.
The Widespread Panic Over Up Comingin Election Somaliland Has Obscured A Far Larger, And Far More Far-reaching Threat: That Of Hunger And Chronic Malnutrition . Hunger is a man-made disease. It is political will – or lack of it – which outlines the contours of what idiot has called the geography of hunger. It is the political decisions that we as a supposed democracy make that determine who goes hungry, when and why. These decisions – or non-decisions, which is the same thing – include the fixing of basic procurement prices for farm output, implementing (or non-implementing) irrigation programmes, ensuring (or not ensuring) adequate supplies of subsidised fertiliser and other inputs to farmers, monitoring the transport, trade, storage and distribution of foodgrains on an equitable basis. The skeletal face of persistent hunger -All Somalia,today has nutritional levels as low as those of starving Somaliland – shows only too painfully that we collectively have failed to make and implement the necessary decisions. Hunger remains the most damning indictment of our deeply flawed democracy.
And when the monsoon fails – or falters, as it has done this year – our signal failure to win the war against hunger becomes even more disastrously obvious. Chronic malnutrition, suffered over generations, results in progressive physical and mental debilitation. Hungry people, who breed hungry children, will over time become weaker and weaker in body and brain. What price our much-vaunted democracy when a quarter of the electorate is crippled physically and mentally by lack of basic sustenance? So why does our media play up Elections and power anger, or terrorist attacks, or Tribilesm (which actually is an inevitable offshoot of rural deprivation) instead of the far greater menace of mass hunger, with all its ramifications (which includes all )? The short answer to that question is that – apart from the catchy slogan for a political party chain, ‘Hungry?’ – hunger is not seen to be ‘fun’ enough in attracting public attention – and enhancing TV ratings and newspaper circulations. Hunger is a poor man’s disease. It doesn’t directly affect those who can afford to watch television and read newspapers. Hunger doesn’t affect you and me. Or doesn’t it? Let’s throw away our election masks. And let’s not eat for a day. Then perhaps we’ll know what hunger is. And why we have to get rid of it.
Before it gets rid of us.There is no denying of the fact that today it is extremely difficult to survive for a general person in India. Projections can be made any way but everything is becoming out of reach from common person. Whether we talk of food or water or electricity or housing or health or education.
Everything is becoming scarce and every care is being taken to protect and flourish those in power and it is true for every one whether in politics or in bureaucracy or media or business and so on.
I hope other will also be inspired from this issue. Unless hunger becomes a national issue no political formation will give any weightage for the eradication of hunger while framing the policy decision.
Those who could influence the govt. policy decisions on economy and business should shoulder their responsibility for the deaths due to hunger and chronic malnutrition. Lack of Political will has created hunger. Casual approach of our Ministers created this crisis for food and political crisis.
All the subsidies seems to be created for the middle men and political brokers. Media always looks for some instantaneous “breaking news” rather than throwing light on the long standing issues which can bring money and increase their ratings.
Had all the issues of hunger had been highlighted and brought to notice of the government.
The UK-based team coordinating election observers for the forthcoming presidential elections in Somaliland has expressed its “deep concern” at political developments in the run-up to the vote on September 27.
Two of the three political parties in Somaliland have announced their intention to boycott the vote in recent weeks.
Catholic aid agency Progressio, the Development Planning Unit at University College London and Somaliland Focus UK said in a joint statement: “While we remain committed to the need for an election as soon as possible, under the current circumstances the only possible outcome of a one-party race would be seen by a significant proportion of Somalilanders as lacking legitimacy.”
The statement continues: “We are therefore concerned about whether we are able to provide the coordination and observation role to which we have been committed to date, unless the situation changes markedly.”
The coordination team also urges stakeholders in Somaliland to come together to solve the “critical dilemma” surrounding the elections and calls on the country’s National Electoral Commission to ensure all political actors and parties who have demonstrated a commitment to participation in the electoral process are actively engaged as participants.
The team was invited to lead the election observation mission by the Somaliland National Electoral Commission in January. The team has been tasked with coordinating international election observers from four continents and preparing a report on the conduct of the campaign and poll following the vote. Support for the mission is being provided by the UK government.
Somaliland has long stood out as a “remarkable example of indigenous democracy in a corner of Africa that possesses more than its share of problems”, the statement notes.
It concludes: “Somaliland has a number of unparalleled opportunities to improve its standing internationally and domestically, with a successful presidential election standing as an essential next step on that path.”
HARGEISA, 24 August 2009 (Somalilandpress) – It is difficult to imagine a situation where the same problem keeps reoccurring, and the same failed solution keeps being applied time and again. At some point lessons need to be learned and the lunacy of repeating the same experiment and expecting different results must come to an end. It is our contention that the moment is long overdue but has finally arrived!
We categorically reject the following demands for:-
1. Creating a new Voter List; election to be postponed again (third time) and a new election date be determined by a new Technical Team yet to be named; refusing Interpeace to be reinstated.
2. President’s term to be extended once again to match new election date.
3. Retaining the current Election Commissioners.
These demands if accepted will lead to the same predictable outcome, that will produce further inevitable delays that would necessitate once again for the president to ask for more time in office, and we find that condition simply intolerable. We believe it is time for the other side to accept his responsibilities and duties to the country and the International community and honor his previous commitments and existing laws.
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We strongly believe that the country will be better served if competing political parties are required to meet the same standard and are held accountable for their actions when there is clear evidence of wrong doing as the current situation illustrates.
We are committed to see that: –
1. Elections should take place on the 27th of September 2009 and no further delays or extensions to the president’s term should be considered. This clause was accepted and signed by the three parties when the term of the president was extended last time.
2. Interpeace should be reinstated and the introduction of a new technical team at this late stage of the game is deemed unnecessary and possibly harmful to the process.
3. The existing Voter List which was certified and approved as a valid list by Interpeace and an independent third party technical expert should be used to undertake the election.
It should be noted that the agreed code of conduct (signed by all three parties and NEC) stipulates that once the Voter List is presented to the parties, it should be accepted as it is.
4. The resolution by the NEC chair [with the support of the President] to hold elections without the Voter List violates Somaliland laws and established code of conduct. By consulting only with the president who is a candidate in this election, the NEC subverted existing law which mandates “that any modification of the registration process shall be approved through the agreement of NEC and the political parties”. (Voter Registration Act Art. 1, q).
This ill- fated decision violates the independence of NEC as an electoral authority and has no foundation since there is already a valid Voter List available. Therefore it is imperative that they be replaced with new members who can fulfill their duties without the burden of incompetence or blatant bias toward one entity (the president.)
5. If elections are not held in a timely fashion and according to the agreed date (27th of September, 2009) president Rayale’s term will end and a new neutral body (a care-taking government) must take the responsibility of running the government and overseeing a presidential election within sixty (60) days (27 Sept. to 29 November). The mandate of this body will end as soon as the elections are over and a winner is declared.
Given the track record of this president, past behavior is a good indicator of future actions. Therefore we resolve that it is time to acknowledge the reality on the ground and forgo the illusions and the empty promises that perhaps this time the president will come to his senses, that maybe he won’t renege on binding agreements yet again, or ignore the laws of the land when it suits him.
We call on the long standing friends of this beloved land of ours to stand with us and resist tyranny and the regressive conditions of one man’s rule in Somaliland.
Thank you,
Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo
Chairman Of KULMIYE Party ..
HARGEISA, 24 August 2009 (Somalilandpress) – On July 11, 2009 four prominent Somaliland citizens were kidnapped from a public highway and later on massacred in a tribal ritual. On August 6, 2009 Ali (Marshall) Gulaid died in a car accident on his way to Berbera. Ali Marshall was an economist, journalist, and leading opposition politician, in short a renaissance man who moved from USA back to his country of origin (Somaliland) to help bring about democracy, freedom, peace and stability to his people. This ugly massacre and this untimely death have brought the nation of Somaliland to its knees.
This article explores the reasons behind the massacre of 7/11. It articulates the hopes, dreams and also the nightmares of the people of Somaliland. Neither Ali Marshal nor Somaliland’s 7/11 victims will die in vain. Their blood will feed the tree of liberty and democracy. Freedom will win in spite of the forces of the extreme right of dictatorship, darkness and extremism.
I dedicate this article to the loving memory of the 4 victims of the Somaliland’s 7/11 whose murder will unite a nation to defeat lawlessness
His untimely sacrifice will teach the nation about sacrifice, decisiveness, discipline and commitment to the people’s cause of justice, transparency and honesty
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Midnight Forever Part I: Grief
July 12, of 2007: The words are blurry. I focus. The letters move on their own. I feel wetness on my face and on my shirt. Arrows of sorrow and pain pierce through my heart. My breathing misses a step then another. Things around me look different. Darkness closes in.
Ali Aw Omar. I remember his last words to me at the Ambassador Hotel in Hargaysa, Somaliland. “This book, my present to you, delivered me from a state of utter ignorance. I pray it does the same for you. Look here for example, read this aloud if you have not forgotten your Arabic”. He challenged in the way only an old friend can. I noticed he was talking a bit louder. I made a mental note to check his hearing later. I accepted the book with the gravity it was offered. It is a book of Hadith (oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of the prophet Mohammed, upon him be peace and blessings ). playfully I declared: It is an old book, old man. And it was. Yellow with age, over used, lovingly kept. I read the passage in Arabic taking up his challenge.
Narrated Anas: Allah’s Apostle said, “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one. People asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?” The Prophet said, “By preventing him from oppressing others.”
July 12, 2009. Sheikh Abdullahi Sh. Ali Jowhar walked into the make shift morgue in Borama. The body parts of four men viciously murdered the day before were laid out for identification. This was no ordinary serial murder. The brutalized bodies spoke aloud of a dark tribal ritual murder ceremony only one step removed from frank cannibalism. The dead bore silent witness to the brutality of man to his brother.
There was something familiar about the head among reassembled body parts. The nose broken and twisted around before death looked both grotesque and familiar. The mouth was frozen in horror. The high forehead was serene as ever; shinning dark spot in the middle; the sign of prostration and submission to Allah (SWT) in Salaat (prayers). The marks on the torso left behind by a blunt knife stabbed and twisted around in the innards of the still living victim left no doubt about a tribal ritual signature intended for the living. The Sheikh moved on to the next body. But there was a foreboding sense, a subconscious alarm. The Sheikh looked back again. A face; a name, a pattern recognized! Ali Aw Omer. He is Ali Aw Omar; the Sheikh confirmed “Ina Lilahi wa inaa elayhi Rajucuun” (Verily, unto God do we belong and, unto Him we shall return Quran “The Lion 2:156)
2:155 (Asad) And most certainly shall We try you by means of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, of lives and of [labour’s] fruits. But give glad tidings unto those who are patient in adversity 2:156 who, when calamity befalls them, say, “Verily, unto God do we belong and, verily, unto Him we shall return.” Quran “the Lion”
7/11, 2009 was a day like any other. Ali woke up fresh and immediately made a decision that will cost him his life that very night. He decided to delay his trip to Borama and to go shopping for that particular dress his daughter wanted now that he has few dollars to spare. That is all it took. But then again no one who knew Ali will be surprised that this was his last decision in this world.
I still can see in my mind’s eye Ali Aw Omar, a single father at the time, riding by me on his motorcycle with his daughter holding onto his back in the streets of Djibouti. She was the jewel of his eyes. In a world where childcare is traditionally left to women Ali will be remembered as the prototype of the emerging role of the new caring father; definitely a welcome evolution in this ultra conservative patriarchal society. He remarried and became the doting father of 7 more children. He ensured that all of his children (sons and daughters) attended school and excelled in it in spite of the modesty of his means. His oldest daughter has just joined nursing school. He inherited this deep capacity to nurture from his mother Mumina (of the Bahgobo tribe of the Jibri-Abokor people of the Isaak tribe). And he inherited the hands on attitude to parenting from his father Aw Omer Barre (of Bahabar Abdalle of the Makaahil people of the Samoroon tribe.) This was Ali Aw Omar and it is important to remember his tribal lineage because the end of his life is so intractably tied up with this prehistoric curiosity.
The delay in travel timing from Hargaysa to Borama to the evening of July 11, 2009; meant Ali Aw Omar entered the vortex of a chain of events that will lead him to the devil’s den and that will end in his torture and death that shook his nation and that may lead to its death as well.
On the road that Ali traveled later that day and unbeknownst to him, Tribal Murder Warriors gathered under dying trees surrounding by dying animals, having come from homes where the monsters of hunger and starvation hunted the weak, the young and the old. It is a particularly dry season in this semi dessert but among the warriors gathered on this particular road on this particular day there was thirst only for one thing; human blood.
“Shaitiin” (Demons) set loose from their chains in fires of hell stirred the bitterness of collective tribal memory in the cold hearts of these men, as they schemed the murder of any one from the “other group” who travelled that route on that fateful day. Yes, yes there was some dispute over a parcel of land between few neighboring families. But that was nothing more than a pretext, and a flimsy one at that. It sure was not the cause of the horror that was to unfold. It could have been anything; a dispute between a student and a teacher over grades in school, an ordinary traffic violation, a mundane crime, anything at all. The real cause is that injustice and corruption has so weakened the newly born state of Somaliland and a budding dictator has chosen solidifying his hold on power on the basis of tribal allegiances, and at the expense of law and order and good governance. In these dire circumstances the tribal monster is rearing its ugly head and getting ready to consume the nation in a frenzy of primitive tribal blood orgies of mutual self annihilation.
Part Two: The Murder
“Face Mecca and profess Islam, before I kill you”
The murderers conspiring on this desolate road carried within them the virus of Africa’s most potent evil; the Tribal Murderer. They were indeed the physical embodiment of this ugliest, most base and most inhumane manifestation of a tribal society. It is essential to elucidate here the role of tribal murderer.
The Tribal Murderer kills on behalf of his tribe. His action is both sanctioned and despised by the tribe. The contradiction inherent in this role gives it a massive destructive potency. It is essential to differentiate the role of the tribal murderer from that of the tribal warrior for there is hope in this distinction. The tribal warrior travels in the day time; he fights his wars in the battle field. He gains stature by his gallantry, his strict observation of the rules of war, his temperance and even his kindness towards non combatants. He is revered in public and loved in private by the members of his tribe. On the other hand the tribal murderer is by definition a psychopath and a vulture. He is the embodiment of cowardice. He never confronts an armed enemy. He sneaks behind the unarmed, the traveler, and the one peacefully tilling his land. Death and dismemberment is a trade he perfects and prefers. He is revered in secret, feared in secret and denounced in public by the members of his tribe. He and his progeny often become outcasts of society for which they played this dirty role as the tribal murderer succeeds in disgusting his own tribe’s men and everyone else. This is because there is something intrinsically offensive about the murder of innocent men in all human societies and the tribe even though a most primitive social organization shares in this disgust. And there is even more revulsion about torturing a human being or any sentient being to death. Yet these are the trademarks and the essential tools of the tribal murderer.
For the warriors who sat under the shade-less trees the names, the nature, the history, the personality, the holiness or lack of it of those who were to be murdered did not matter in the least. There were only few essential criteria that the victims-to-be had to satisfy 1) they should be warm blooded male homo sapiens 2) they should belong to the neighboring tribe “the other”3) They should be unarmed, unaware and vulnerable. The tribal murder warrior does not discriminate. He would accept any unarmed victim.
The act of tribal murder has to be specific, in stark contrast to the randomness of how its victim is selected. The method and mechanism of death of these random victims were meticulously and carefully planned by the tribal murderer. The death of the victim must be slow and gruesome. The body must show publicly demonstrable evidence of pain and dehumanization to teach the living “other” a lesson that “you must not mess with us”- the lions in this jungle. This explains why the body of Ali Aw Omar’s body was found in such a state of gruesome mutilation. The killing process has to showcase the “manliness” of the warrior’s tribe. In the strange world of the tribal feuds this dictum dictates the harvesting of the testicles of the victim. It is reported to me that Ali’s testicles were “taken” as he watched.
The tribal murder is the most primitive version of psych-ops. It could aptly be described as a form of psychological terrorism in a backward tribal setting. The death of “the other” in this most gruesome manner unleashes the vilest of the hidden demons in the psyche of the collective and it triggers a catastrophic chain of events that leads to genocide of a group against the other. In the dirty tribal wars that ensue there are no winners. From the times of posterity tribal wars has always been a lose-lose proposition. That is why tribal society everywhere is in decline, or has become extinct or is about to become extinct.
One must understand clearly and with no ambiguity that this whole shocking process is not personal at all. The warriors, who hunted, captured and tortured Ali Aw Omar to death had nothing against him in person. Their roads never crossed. Strangely enough the warrior appeared willing to help Ali achieve Janna (heaven) in the next world; One of the murderers is reported to have asked Ali “Face Mecca and profess Islam, before I kill you”. In the irrational and schizophrenic mind of the tribal warrior, there is no contradiction between torturing Ali Aw Omar, murdering him and “taking away his testicles” and the warrior’s firm belief that he has nothing against Ali Aw Omar the person.
This is how genocide starts and works. The human, the person, is taken out of the equation and replaced with a mental image of the horribly caricatured “other”. Later on the virus of violence spreads with hyper-inflated waves of hatred with the power of many tsunamis. Killing and torturing the dehumanized “other” become as easy as walking and talking. This is how Auschwitz and Rwanda came about. This is the explanation of the mass graves (the legacy of Siyaad Barre) that keep cropping up in Hargaysa every now and then.
And so on that fateful shocking and ugly day Ali Aw Omar and 3 of his fellow citizens were caught up in the dragnet of the tribal vengeful murdering warriors. We remember. We will not forgot. They are:
Cali Maxamuud Nuur AKA Cali bagaashle (Businessman) Daauud Xaashi Jaamac (Engineer) Mawliid Xasan cumar (Businessman) Cali Aw Cuamar Barre(Educator) They died a painful, horrifying death. I will spare you the details of their horrible death but one small fact needs to be mentioned. One man escaped the mayhem and reported on the manner of their death. In an interview with the BBC Somali services he reported of one particular exchange that he overheard and that could summarize the horror of that day. The man who escaped reported that he heard one of the victims beg for mercy “Men of Islam, my religion; kill me but shoot me with a bullet; are we not Moslems all?” The heartless leader responded with “cut out that tongue that dares to speak” and the tongue was cut off.
And there he was; butchered by evil. The light of death shining from his black eyes, a stone’s throw from Kalabaydh the small town where he grew up working in his brother tea shop. I mourn for Ali Aw Omar and I mourn for my people.
“tribal war is not about politics….. tribal warfare is about revenge. Tribes don’t fight for principles. They fight to get even.” “Tribal wars are therefore particularly and intentionally full of atrocities. Victims of tribal wars may be skinned or burned alive. Their dead bodies maybe mutilated and displayed. The aim of tribal revenge is not to achieve balance, but to attain vindication and total submission or extermination of the other. A tribe that fails the bloody test of revenge takes the risk of finding its resources, land and homes plundered, women carried off and men bullied.” July 2005 Abdishakur Jowhar’s “Essentials of Tribal Psychology
I wrote these words four year ago. I did not know then that I will witness them so vividly, so personally.
Ali Aw Omar: Memories of my Generation
July 12, 2009. I hold on to the book of Hadith. I opened the same passage again that I read with Ali Aw Omar two years before. This time my head hung low in grief, I read the passage again with eyes unseeing flooded with the gravity of the loss.
Narrated Anas: Allah’s Apostle said, “Help your brother…
I knew immediately why Ali selected the particular Hadith for my attention. Lifelong bonds of friendship ensured shared experiences and shared memories. Now that he has gone, in these memories, shared no more, I exist. I must remember to pass them on, to those who will come, for to bear witness is a responsibility.
Ali and I have been together in the social justice movement in Somalia since the early seventies when we both joined forces with other members of our generation to confront the military dictator of our time Mohamed Siyad Barre. We were on the side of the progressive left of the political spectrum. Che Chevera of Cuba, Franz Fanon of Algeria, Amílcar Lopes Cabral of Guinea Bissau and Joe Slovo of South Africa were our heroes. We were the post independence generation of Africa. We were fed up with tin pot military dictators and military coup d’états that devastated the continent of Africa like pestilence and plague.
That was the turbulent seventies for my generation. We came to maturity in that decade and were immediately confronted with a nation in a crisis. We met head on a military dictatorship that was systematically destroying a nation. Ours was a political revolt, student movement, popular campaigns. We were determined to stand up to be counted. But we were crushed by the regime. To be brutally honest we failed miserably in the task we set up for ourselves. Our defeat and the victory of the short sighted selfish right set the stage for Somalia to become the prototypal land of statelessness , starving masses, well fed pirates, warlords and of course their social counterpart marauding ferocious machete wielding tribes.
Many of us ended as refugees in the four corners of the world. Few of the more dedicated, hardy, heroic types remained in the country and refused to go. Ali Aw Omar was one of the latter. He stayed with the people. He shared their lot, their wars, their peace, their hunger, their pain and their prosperity. I envied him then for his bravery. I think he knew of my envy, it was never mentioned. He was just too refined.
I sought refuge in the west and quickly got lost in its decadent capitalistic ways. I conformed to the locally prevalent creed of democracy, equality and free fair elections as the gentlest means of human progress. Ali Aw Omar having stayed home was caught up in the wave of Islamism that has swept over the new generations in Somalia. He also conformed to the locally prevailing political mood of a resurgent Islamic exuberance. He found safety in the Quran and sustenance in Hadith and Sunnah.
Ali and I witnessed the death of the ideology that dominated our childhood days as well as the death of the nation in whose bosom we grew. Like orphans in a ruthless world we had to evolve, adapt and improvise with all haste to survive. Like a football on the playground of fate, we were kicked around, cast, molded and ripened by the force of circumstances and times. At the end of it all here we were Ali, a Sheikh, and a pious man in Somaliland preaching to save my soul for the next world, I a Psychiatrist from Canada trying to understand my old friend in this present world.
By sharing with me this particular Hadith, with its beautifully written message of justice and our role in bringing it about, Ali Aw Omar peeled away the residue of time and space to reveal that we both remained true to our commitment to the timeless cause of human equality, fraternity and peace despite the differences in languages and terminologies we acquired over our lifetimes.
It is important that we draw the right conclusions from this national tragedy. What we are witnessing is not merely the murder of Ali Aw Omar, it is much broader and much deeper; it is nothing less than the last gasp of the Somaliland state which will surely collapse and die unless its heroic masses comes to its aid.
The central pillar of any society is law and order. The state has the obligation of protecting its citizens. The current administration failed the people of Somaliland. What has killed Ali Aw Omar is lawlessness, injustice, corruption, weakened judiciary and the mother of them all the muzzling of the free press. These have, unfortunately, all become the official trademark of those in power in Somaliland today.
Even worse it is clear that those who committed this most heinous act remain free and at large because the current administration of Rayaale has reached a cynical calculation that allowing the murderers to remain free is in the regime’s best political and electoral interest. What the leadership has not yet grasped is this: every single day these criminals remain free, rubbing their dirty nose on the face of the national psyche, bears witness to the moral bankruptcy and practical impotence of the regime. Every single day the murderers so openly challenge the state and get away with it constitutes one more nail in the coffin of Rayaale’s administration. It is time to change course, time to dismantle the politics of divide and rule, time to come together and find justice for Ali Aw Omar and for Somaliland.
But there is urgency in the matter, in these most dreadful of times. And I must now address those in my tribe who has become possessed by the demons of vengeance, who dream of basking in its blooded glory, I say to you give me few moments of your precious time, for I too belong to the tribe and I too feel the pain.
Aug 23,2009(SomalilandPress)-Through a highly orchestrated “scoop” by the BBC Somali Service, we learned this week that the prime minister of Somalia has decided to reshuffle his cabinet. Ostensibly “demoted” are the former foreign minister, Mohamed Abdillahi Omaar and the former defense minister, Mohamed Abdi Gandi. They were replaced with probably more experienced colleagues who, unsurprisingly, hail from their respective clans.
Yet one man gleaned—rather doctored something no else has: that the “Hargeysa star” in the cabinet was demoted unceremoniously in lieu of a man from Puntland: Ahmed Jama Jangali. The spin doctor, as you guessed by now, is Yusuf Garaad Omar, the “star” head of the BBC Somali Service.
This former journalist-turned-maniac-politician, who mastered the art of deceptive journalism, has once again revved up his combustible energy to destroy whatever is left of our nationhood. On August 17, he wrote a profoundly dramatized piece in which he packaged as a rare capacity for gleaning information to let the unsuspecting audiences of Somalia know that a cabinet reshuffle is in the works.
To be fair, the very act of gleaning “scoops” and airing them is perfectly legitimate, and is journalistically admirable. But that was only part of Yusuf Garaad’s objectives. He inserted this interesting bit of information on paragraph seven:
“Maxamed Cabdullaahi Oomaar oo ahaa xiddigga cusub oo dowladda uga soo biiray Hargeysa ayaa isaga la sheegay in loo magacaabay Wasiirka Macdanta iyo Biyaha.” [emphasis/italics mine].
One only wonders why would Hon. Omaar be “xiddigga….Hargeysa” (the Hargeysa star) when he is a proud Somali citizen? Is there an implication that Mr. Omaar is, for some reason, a super citizen?
It’s as if I said: “President Sharif is the new star from Mogadishu and/or Jowhar,” when I really mean to say his clan.
Having been monitoring Yusuf Garaad for a very long time, I only arrived at one conclusion: that he intended to stoke a conflict between the TFG and Puntland on one side, and Somaliland on another. Because he failed to win any tangible votes for his own bid for the presidency, Yusuf Garaad has been on a mission to destroy the symbols of governance through his powerful mouthpiece: the almighty BBC.
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Alas, this whole episode further plunges the once reputable BBC Somali Service into a new low. Thankfully, we have a formidable alternative with the VOA Somalia Service.
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Said Shiiq, PhD is senior consultant with international aid organizations on governance, peace and security. He can be reached at sshiiq@yahoo.com
The Messenger of Allah Muhammad[peace be upon him] has said,“Almighty Allah says, ‘I treat my slave (man) according to his expectations from Me, and I am with him when he remembers me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him in My heart…. if he walks towards Me, I run unto him.” [Hadith-Qudsi]
Make this Ramadan the month of “Change”..Are You Ready for it???
“Change” is the vogue today. “Change” is being chanted by the Presidents to rally up public support; “Change” is being demanded by the masses suffering due to skyrocketing fuel and commodity prices; “Change”, a drastic one indeed, is what we are witnessing with awe in the global weather patterns. For Muslims, Ramadan is the prime time for change. This month dramatically alters our routines and schedules. From tight sleep schedules, to hunger for extended hours, to reduction in consumption of junk foods, to a technology diet; to withdrawal from caffeine addiction, to lengthy standing in Taraweeh prayers at night, to extensive listening to the Quran. What a change indeed!
Beyond Routines and Rituals
The real change, however, Ramadan demands of us is the internal change – a change that positively transforms our lifestyle, character, attitudes, conversations, and habits. Allah has described this change in the month of Ramadan as follows: “O you who believe, fasting has been ordained on you as it was decreed upon those before you so that you may adopt Taqwa[Taqwa is Allah consciousness ]” (2:183 [Quran 2:183].
Slavery to Ramadan?
If our change is limited to outer physical practices only, we become slaves to Ramadan, instead of being servants to Ar-Rahman (Allah, the Merciful). Prophet Muhammad[peace be upon him] has warned us about those who don’t fast from bad behaviour: “Allah has no interest in any person’s abstention from eating and drinking, if that person does not give up lying and dishonest actions” [Sahih al-Bukhari].
Ramadan Resolutions
Every Ramadan we make resolutions and tell ourselves: “This Ramadan will be different. I’m going to change my ______ habit.” “I will give up ………”, “I will take my practice of Islam to the next level”.
But how many of us are really able to follow through? Plenty of good intentions, many amazing wishes, but sadly enough, life goes on as usual the morning of Eid. Ask yourself, how is my fasting benefitting my spiritual connection with Allah? How is my extensive worship in Ramadan helping me discipline my tongue (taste and speech), eyes, ears, and habits? Are you ready to take that first step to transform your bad habits into good ones?
Ways to Kick Bad Habits F
ew things are more demanding than eliminating bad habits, since they are part of our daily routines and personality. It takes days of patience and practice to break old habits. However, the good news is, Ramadan offers a perfect and natural environment for moral training. Interestingly, researches from “positive psychology” (scientific study of successful people) have repeatedly shown it takes between 30 to 40 days to kick a bad habit and develop a new one. In addition to the physical discipline during the month of Ramadan, the increased spiritual exercise and connection with Allah, can transform your habits for life. Try these proven techniques for a successful positive change in your habits during Ramadan and beyond!
1. Acknowledge and Identify your bad habits: First step is to admit you need to change. If you are in a state of denial, you won’t recognize that you have a bad habit to change.
2. Pick a habit for this month: Prioritize your bad habits and focus on one for this month.
If you are committed to changing at least one habit, you will see remarkable results, Allah-willing.
3. Realize that it’s in us to change: Don’t believe the old saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” You can break a bad habit if you really want to. No one else can change your habits, if you don’t want to.
4. Remember, Allah loves those who commit mistakes and repent: Prophet Muhammad[peace be upon him] said: “By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if you were not to commit sin, Allah would sweep you out of existence and He would replace (you by) those people who would commit sin and seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would have pardoned them.” [Sahih Muslim] 5. Intention & Plan to change: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” A healthy process of change in character requires a gradual pace, which entails planning. Develop concrete milestones to measure your progress.
6. Replace a bad habit with a good one: Completely eliminating a habit is more challenging than replacing it with a more productive habit. Moreover, it’s crucial to replace the lost natural needs, such as the need to socialize and to be entertained with something healthy. For instance, it’s easier to replace or balance your addiction to TV with a physical workout or reading, than to suddenly remove the TV from your life. Interestingly, Prophet Muhammad[peace be upon him], the greatest ‘psychologist’ of humanity, illustrated this principle in these words: “Fear Allah wherever you may be; follow up an evil deed with a good one which will wipe (the former) out, and behave good-naturedly towards people.” [At-Tirmidhi]
7. Change your Environment: Resist the negative peer pressure by finding a better company of friends. Collective action to change is very powerful. Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] explained this peer pressure effect with this analogy: “A good friend and a bad friend are like a perfume-seller and a blacksmith: The perfume-seller might give you some perfume as a gift, or you might buy some from him, or at least you might smell its fragrance. As for the blacksmith, he might singe your clothes, and at the very least you will breathe in the fumes of the furnace.” [Sahih al-Bukhari & Muslim]
8. Exercise: Spiritual exercise is important for lasting change. You may not realize that by exerting your yourself in spiritual exercises like the reading of Quran and Hadith, fasting, giving charity, Zikr[remembering Allah] etc helps in eliminating a number of bad habits. Through the spiritual light of doing noble deeds evil ones will gradually be eradicated from your life. Allah says : “Indeed, Salah restrains from Shameful and unjust deeds” [Quran:29:45].
A person complained to the Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] about someone who read salaah and also committed theft .The Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him] said “His salaat will very soon wean him off that sin.’ This shows that the evil habits can be got rid of by adhering to good practises. The doing of good deeds such as remembering Allah cleanses the heart. A clean heart encourages a person to do good deeds and refrains one from evil habits! Moreover, exercising your will power (struggle to fight temptations) for this month helps you kick all kinds of bad habits and form new good ones. Willpower is like a muscle; the more you exercise it, the more you strengthen it.
9. Think of yourself as a changed, different, new person. This simple psychological shift in your thinking about your own image can do wonders. Tell yourself, “I can’t continue this ill-behaviour. I am better than that. I am stronger. I am wiser.”
10. Reward success: The most fundamental law in all of psychology is the “law of effect.” It simply states that actions followed by rewards are strengthened and likely to recur. Unfortunately, studies show that people rarely use this technique when trying to change personal habits. Setting up formal or informal rewards for success greatly increases your chances of transforming bad habits into good ones, and is far more effective than punishing yourself for bad habits or setbacks. As Muslims we should also remember that the ultimate reward is Allah’s Pleasure and Paradise in the Hereafter.
11. Get help: Tell someone about your effort to change if it helps. He or she may keep you on track and may offer some good advice. Read books that will encourage you to do virtues actions. Join programs in your local Mosque. Ladies should endeavour to join their local Taalimi Halqas. There are good and sincere people who are ready to assist. We are not an island- We are an Ummah!
12. Boost your spiritual immune system: By fasting,doiung good actions, spending time in the Mosque or going in the path of Allah will boost your Imaan[faith] which will provide you with internal strength to overcome temptations to reverting to old bad habits.
13. Remind yourself of Death and Hereafter often: “Remember often the terminator (or destroyer) of all the pleasures [i.e. death],” the Prophet [peace be upon him]once stated. [At-Tirmidhi.]
14. Resolve to continue on and follow up: Giving up bad habits or learning good habits requires regular maintenance and determination. It is a long, ongoing process, also known as “Tazkiyyah” in Islamic terminology. It’s more difficult than the first few steps of change. (“How many times have I dieted, for example, only to gain the weight back?”). So ensure that you follow up. Link yourself to a good Allah-fearing Islamic Scholar and make a habit of spending time in Allah path.
15. Develop a relapse strategy: How do you ensure not to return to your bad habit you are trying to change? Some people donate money to a good cause every time they return to sinning or a bad habit. This reminds them of the ‘cost’ of going back to old bad habits. Others try physically demanding acts to deter them from reverting to old ways. For example that if you do___ act than you will keep three fast or pay so much sadaqah[charity] etc
16. Ask Allah for Help: MOST IMPORTANT!-Make Asking for Allah’s Help an integral part of the overall change process. Ask for Allah’s Help before, during and after every attempt at kicking a bad habit. Do so sincerely, even begging and crying, like a child does when he or she really wants something. Allah is Ever-Willing to Help and to Respond to our needs, but it is us who must take the first step towards Him. Allah will NEVER disappoint us! “And whosoever is conscious of Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He (Allah) will make a way for him to get out (from) every (difficulty), and He will provide him from (sources) he could never imagine.” [Quran 65:2-3]
Make this Ramadan the month of “Change”..Are You Ready for it???
“Change” is the vogue today. “Change” is being chanted by the Presidents to rally up public support; “Change” is being demanded by the masses suffering due to skyrocketing fuel and commodity prices; “Change”, a drastic one indeed, is what we are witnessing with awe in the global weather patterns.
For Muslims, Ramadan is the prime time for change. This month dramatically alters our routines and schedules. From tight sleep schedules, to hunger for extended hours, to reduction in consumption of junk foods, to a technology diet; to withdrawal from caffeine addiction, to lengthy standing in Taraweeh prayers at night, to extensive listening to the Quran.
What a change indeed!
Beyond Routines and Rituals
The real change, however, Ramadan demands of us is the internal change – a change that positively transforms our lifestyle, character, attitudes, conversations, and habits. Allah has described this change in the month of Ramadan as follows: “O you who believe, fasting has been ordained on you as it was decreed upon those before you so that you may adopt Taqwa[Taqwa is Allah consciousness ]” (2:183 [Quran 2:183].
Ramadan Karim to you all
