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AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY

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Hargeisa, 23 June 2009  – One day in high school while at lunch, I sat down with a group of friends who were having a conversation about a new guy that had just transferred to our school.

“Did you meet him?” Someone asked me.

I shook my head. I was hungry and didn’t want to be bothered.

“You may know him,” another friend said.

“Why?” I asked.

“He’s African.”

I lost my appetite.

One of the biggest misconceptions that Africans in America have to deal with is that Africa is a huge country where everyone speaks “African” and wears “African clothes” and dances “African” in tribal ceremonies that are held for the king of “Africa” (who Eddie Murphy played in that movie); and despite the fact that it can hold the land occupied by China, India, Europe, Argentina, New Zealand and the continental United States, with room to spare, everyone knows each other.

The Language of “African”:Of the 54 countries in Africa there are around 2500 languages spoken, and up to 8000 dialects. Aside from the indigenous languages, the English speaking countries all have distinct accents in English; not to mention people that repatriated to those countries from America, Australia, and Europe, and came back with sounds of their own. If there is any common language, it’s the eye language; the common and understood look that two Africans may give while in a room with non-Africans who are finding pleasure in dissing the continent.

The “African” Way:

If you’ve ever visited Africa as a non-African, you may remember things being referred to as “the African way”. That, just means in comparison to your way. If the said speaker were a Burundian speaking to an Ivorian, the said “African way” would quickly become the Burundian way.

Call Me Who I Am:

You may find that when you call a Nigerian something other than a Nigerian, they may look at you like you have something on your lip. If you call an African non-Nigerian a Nigerian, they may look at you like they want to kill you. Although in America groups like the ASA bring Africans together for peaceful fellowship, you may still find that they don’t want to be mistaken for one another.

Ethiopians and Eritreans are other groups that don’t like to be confused as the other, even though they were once the same country. Even further, try calling a Yoruba (Nigerian) person Igbo (Nigerian). They will correct you. Try calling a Vai (Liberian) person Bassa (Liberian). They will correct you.

If you don’t know which country someone is from or what language they speak, ask.

African Crash Course (as written by Melony Ochieng):

It comes as something of a surprise to many Africans to discover that all Africans look the same to non-Africans.

How do you tell a Nigerian from a Kenyan, for example; and I am not talking about passports or clothing? Well the easiest way, of course, is the name: for example Ogunkoye can only be a Nigerian and Njoroge from Kenya.

And so where do the Dunns come from? They are certainly from Liberia or Sierra Leone. Surely, everybody knows that the loud and cocky ones are the West Africans; the brooding and sly ones are the North and South Africans respectively; the East Africans always say yes, even when they disagree with you violently.

To be more specific, the Cameroonians will borrow money from you to buy Champagne; whilst the Ghanaians think they invented politics. The Congolese think they have the best music and the best dancers; the
Nigerians have a thing about clothes; and the Ethiopians believe they have the most beautiful women on God’s earth. Moroccans actually think they’re French, and so do the Burkinabes. Algerians just hate the French; Sierra Leonians simply smile profusely; and Liberians can’t get over America.

All East and South African countries have the same national anthem, but the South Africans sing it the best.

The South Africans have no hair; the Zambians and Kenyans have prominent foreheads; the West Africans have short memories and never learn from their mistakes; the concept of order and discipline must have been invented in East Africa; the words don’t exist in West Africa, especially in Nigeria.

When a cabinet minister is “caught with his hands in the till,” he commits suicide in Southern Africa; in West Africa he’s promoted after the next coup d’etat.

In athletics, the divisions are quite simple: from 800m to the marathon the East Africans hold sway; the West Africans are only good at the sprints; and South Africans can only sing. But when it comes to football(soccer), the North and West Africans dominate the lesser-skilled East and South Africans.

By: Stuffafricanpeoplehate

Is Said Samatar Mourning The Death Of Somali Literature Or The Death Of His Views On Somali Literature?

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Hargeisa, 22 June 2009 – There are scholars one can disagree with and learn nothing from them, for example the two Samatar brothers (Abdi Ismail Samatar and Ahmad Ismail Samatar). There are also scholars one can disagree with and still learn something from them.

Professor Said Samatar of Rutegers University belongs to the latter category. His insights into Somali affairs, even when he is not on target, often provide food for thought. That is why despite our policy of not answering opinion pieces, we are making exception and replying to his article “Somalia: a nation’s literary death tops its political demise” which appeared in wardheernews.com.

As can be gleaned from its title, his article deals with two main issues: Somalia’s political death and Somalia’s literary death. His central thesis is that because of the war and anarchy that has been taking place in Somalia since the collapse of the central government, not only has Somalia as a political entity died but Somali literature too has died.

The political death of Somalia as a unified and centrally governed country has been a self-evident for almost two decades. So, no argument here. As to the death of Somalia’s literature, we do have a bone to pick with the professor. But first let us look at the evidence he provides to support his claim. Mr. Samatar compares the literary outpouring that accompanied the wars between the British and Muhammad Abdille Hasan with the lack of a similar literary output during the wars of the last two decades, and from this he concludes that Somali literature has died with the death of the Somalia as a state.

There are several problems with this analysis. But the most important one which goes to the heart of his thesis is that the literature that he claims belonged to Somalia actually did not belong to Somalia, but rather belonged to Somaliland. The poets that Said Samatar cites who were involved in those disputes of the early twentieth century, poets like Ali Jama Habil, Salan Arabey, Ali Dhuh, Muhammad Abdille Hassan (although his clan resides mainly outside Somaliland they have cultural affinity with Somalilanders and are among Somalis who say yidhi instead of yiri), were almost all Somalilanders. The places where this drama took place were mostly in Somaliland, particularly the northeast.

So when Said Samatar berates the people of Somalia for not having lived up to the literary example of the past century, he is playing fast and loose with the facts. By equating the terms “Somali” and “Somalia” and using them interchangeably as if they denote the same thing, Said Samatar hands Somaliland’s literature to Somalia, then he is miffed with Somalia for not producing the kind of literature that he bestowed upon it.

Said Samatar’s sleight of hand ends up doing a disservice to both Somaliland and Somalia. He dispossesses Somaliland of its literary heritage and imposes on Somalia a heritage that does not sit well with many of its denizens, particularly in the south, where that literature and its accompanying history are seen as instruments of northern hegemony.

Ali Jimale, a southern intellectual, for instance, rejects this literature and what he calls the “dervishization” of Somali history which he defines this way: “”By dervishization is meant a conscious effort on the part of successive Somali regimes and their intellectual acolytes to monumentalize, to the exclusion of other groups, the dervish experience in Somali history.”

There are other problems with Said Samatar’s article:

(1) His uncritical endorsement and championing of the bloody, warrior type of poetry based on clan feuds and vendettas and his insufficient attention to more introspective and Sufi-influenced poetry or the love poetry started by Elmi Bodhari that are better suited for expressing modern aesthetics.

(2) He skips over the whole period that spans the years 1920-1991 as if it had nothing to offer. This is tied to his Fanonian glorification of violence which he dubs as “purposive violence”. But even here, Said Samatar shows his bias against Somaliland when he claims that the Somali civil war started in 1991 when in fact it started a decade earlier. He also does not mention any of the literature that was produced during the SNM struggle in the 1980s, other than a passing reference to Hadrawi, Gaariye and Qasim. The fact that he has ignored the literature of this period, even though it fits his notion of purposive violence, shows that he is guided by an extra-literary agenda.

Overall, if Said Samatar’s approach to Somali history and literature could be summed up, it is one based on downplaying of Somaliland’s place in the Somali literary map, exaggerating the role of some marginal figures such as Muhammad Daahir Afrah, Lidwien Kapteijns, Muhammad A. Riiraash, and the handing over of Somaliland’s literature to Somalia. One of these, Lidwien Kapteijns, even wrote a whole book on Somaliland’s literature (Women’s voices in a man’s world) without bothering to mention that as she was collecting material for her book in neighboring Djibouti, the people whose literature she was studying were at the time homeless refugees across the border in Ethiopia, having been driven from their homes through aerial bombardment.

Fortunately, the people of Somaliland have won their struggle for freedom and are now living in their homes, back from their exile in Ethiopia and other lands. Among the returnees are Somaliland’s poets and artists who are currently the only Somali artists and poets (other than those in Djibouti) who have the peace and stability (and yes the freedom that their counterparts in Djibouti do not have) in which art and culture could flourish. In a sense there is nothing new here, for Somaliland has always been the cultural and artistic center of the Somali world. To confirm this all one has to do is check the long list of poets and artists that Somaliland has produced.

Said Samatar has every right to mourn the death of Somalia, but to equate the political death of Somalia with the death of Somali literature is a lie that can easily be disproved by the fact that the luminaries of Somali literature, people like Abdi Qays, Hassan Gini, Banfas, Hadrawi, Garriye and many others are alive and kicking in Somaliland.

Somalilandtimes

Mustafa Ahmed, 12: spoken word artist

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Toronto, 22 June 2009 — Mustafa is in Grade 7 at Nelson Mandela Park Public School in Regent Park. This poem, “A Single Rose,” earned him a standing ovation at the Hot Docs film festival.

Mustafa is a Somali kid from Toronto.

Video Randy Risling, Tara Walton. (June 5, 2009)

Somaliland: A Trip To The Unknown Part 3

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A man pushes his decorated wheelbarrow during celebrations of the 27th anniversary of self-declared independence of Somaliland in Hargeisa on May 15, 2018. PHOTO | AFP
A man pushes his decorated wheelbarrow during celebrations of the 27th anniversary of self-declared independence of Somaliland in Hargeisa on May 15, 2018. PHOTO | AFP

Hargeisa, 22 June 2009 – Emily will be writing about her experience in Somaliland and will be offering tips to anyone who may want to visit the unrecognized republic along the way – discover Somaliland from a Non-Somali perspective. This is the Third article – It is a great privilege to be here in Hargeisa.

To Read her second part, Click Here

To Read her First Part, Click Here

Dear readers,

Here are some pictures as promised. I’ve decided to set up this article as a photo narration to give you an idea of what you are looking at.

First, I thought you might enjoy seeing for yourselves what the plane looked like which brought me safely from Addis to Hargeisa, as I described in the last article.

Hargeisa 022

Next, I couldn’t resist including an image of the famous traffic lights which the Somaliland government and others proudly advertise. I had been eagerly looking for them since I arrived, and finally counted a total of 3 traffic lights in Hargeisa, none of which function or ever seemed to have for that matter.

Hargeisa 108

Yesterday I drank fresh camel milk from the market, and despite numerous warnings I am proud to say it did not make me sick and was rather tasty. It had a sort of smoky flavor and when you buy it at the market it is poured into a plastic bag so you can take it to go, or you can drink it on site in a ceramic cup.

Camels such as those in the picture below can be spotted throughout the city’s periphery, whereas in the city itself you find more goats than camels. I have had many conversations about goats and camels since I’ve been here, and learned about the great respect Somalis have for their camels. The never ride the camels because the animals are very well respected , and instead keep them as their companions and investments which can be used to pay dowry, to buy and sell for cash, and also for milk. Goats have a similar purpose, and you can find them wandering the streets by day, and in the evening they return faithfully to their owners.

camels visit in Hargeisa
camels in Hargeisa
irreplaceable goats
irreplaceable goats

One gentleman I met here told me that he accidentally hit a goat once while driving, and has been paying the owner of the goat for three years. When I asked why he couldn’t simply replace the goat with another, he said “if your brother is killed and you are given a new man in his place, can this man replace your brother?” It is the same with goats, for that goat was his goat, and it was different than any other goat.

A few nights ago I went out with some friends to a new, local restaurant called “Obama Restaurant and Café.” I ate with the owner, a funny and interesting man who was very hospitable. He told me that there was a big party when the restaurant opened on inauguration day, and it was reported in many local newspapers. I couldn’t resist including this picture of Hargeisa’s tribute to Obama.

Hargeisa 075

To give you an idea of the landscape and architecture here, I’ve included this picture of a part of the city which in English means “camel camp”. Each part of the city has its own police station and mosque. As you can see, Hargeisa is surrounded by shallow mountains and many houses are made of different colored stones and bricks. To protect the houses from intruders, whereas in the U.S. you can find barbed wires and fencing, in Hargeisa many homes place shards of colored glass atop of their walls, fences or gates. I’ve included a picture of one of these. It is a lot more attractive to look at than barbed wire, and serves the same purpose.

View of Hargeisa's landscape
View of Hargeisa’s landscape
Hargeisa style - stone bricks and barbed wires
Hargeisa style – stone bricks and barbed wires

Finally, a photo entry would not be complete without at least one picture of the active marketplace. Here you can find a young man pushing a wheelbarrow which contains a special tree whose branches are used as a toothbrush. The leafy part is discarded and you can find lots of people chewing on the branches to clean their teeth or to pass the time.

Colgate delivery Hargeisa style
Hargeisa own ‘colgates’

I will soon be visiting other parts of Somaliland and I hope to have more pictures and stories to share upon my return.

Warm wishes and thanks for reading,

Emily

 

Source: Somalilandpress

Somalia: Alshabaab Threatens to Attack Kenya

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Al-Shabaab’s first attack on Kenyan soil was in 2008. Since then the Kenyan government has responded with force. United Nations Photo/Flickr
Al-Shabaab’s first attack on Kenyan soil was in 2008. Since then the Kenyan government has responded with force. United Nations Photo/Flickr

Hargeisa, 22 June 2009 – The spokesman of Al shabaab, Sh. Hassan Yaqoub threatened threatened to carry out suicide attacks on Nairobi should they send military intervention in Somalia. Speaking to the media in the coastal town of Kismayo, Mr. Yaqoub said Kenya will pay the price if they respond to the government’s quest for military intervention.

The spokesman accused the aid agencies for spying for the Americans and their allies in the region. He said the agencies have been fueling the civil war for the past 18 years.

Kenya witnessed one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in 1998 when the American embassies in Nairobi and neighbouring Dar es Salaam were bombed by a suicide attack, 224 people were killed, mostly Africans. In 2002 an Israeli-owned hotel and a plane belonging to an Israeli airline was attacked in Mombasa – many were killed.


United States House of Representatives Committee on Forgeign Affairs invites Somaliland

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The Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health chair by Congressman Donald M. Payne has invited Somaliland’s Foreign Minister his excellency Abdillahi Mohamed Dualeh, along with Puntland President Dr. Abdirahman Farole, Dr. Crispus Kiyonga Minster of Defense from Uganda and Somali’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Omar.

These leaders were invited to attend an open briefing and hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health with regards to Somalia’s prospects for lasting peace and a unified response to extremism and terrorism.

This is the first time that such an inventation has been extended to the east African countries. For more information you can check out the website of the Committee. http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing_notice.asp?id=1093

Source: SomalilandPress

Somaliland is here to stay!

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I have read Mr zakaria Farah’s article on hiiraanonline.com and I can’t help responding to it.

Before I proceed any further, I would like to say that Zakaria is entitled to express his opinion on how Somalia should be and whether it, according to his words, should be further geographically divided or not. One thing he needs to bear in mind, though, is that the people of Somaliland are also equally entitled to have their say as to how their future is shaped.

He puts a lot of emphasis on how the union between the British and Italian Somali territories was achieved and who was behind it. It may well be true that people in the British Somaliland Protectorate as well as those in the South wanted to unite and bring the rest of the Somali speaking people under one Somali state. That may have been a noble idea but the truth of the matter is that that dream never came true and the union achieved between the North and the South has failed miserably and resulted in the suffering of the entire Somali people. The people in Somaliland, in particular, have experienced atrocities and genocide committed by the government that was supposed to protect them. This is how the United Nations described the situation in Somaliland then.

In real life, whether it is personal level or state level, we do not normally repeat mistakes that we have made in the past. My question to Zakaria is why should someone in his own mind repeat an act that he knows will result in tragedy? Why should the people of Somaliland go back to a union that they know will fail and why should they allow history to repeat itself? If anything, we should learn from our mistakes and history and move on.

As for the point of whether the union is revocable or not, I would like to remind Zakaria that Somaliland was once an independent country, albeit for a few days, and that there is no legal impediment to its withdrawal from the union with Italian Somalia.

In his article he argues that the fact that we all speak Somali language and we are all Muslims should be ingredient to unite us. As far as I am concerned that argument is a non-starter. If language and religion were a uniting factor then the entire Arab world should be one country. I am currently based in the Gulf and here you will find that countries that form Gulf Co-operation Council are so close to each other that literally there is no cultural, religious and language difference between, say, Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar. And yet they are two different countries.

Little does Mr. Farah know that the entire South America continent, apart from Brazil, the Guyanas and Belize, speaks Spanish language and that they are all Christians and yet there are so many countries in that continent each pursuing their own way of developing their country.

This tells you that countries are formed not by languages and religion but destiny and the desire of their people.

In the middle of his article Mr farah trespasses into an unchartered territory and shoots himself in the foot when he suggests that political mistrust and maladies in Somalia predates and postdates Siad Bare. Here the author is making a serious mistake. Throughout our history there have been clashes between clans and sub-clans but never had there been wars of the scale and magnitude of that Siad Bare waged against his own people.

Furthermore, the civilian governments who were in power for the nine years prior to the coup that brought Siad Barre to power never singled out a Somali clan and massacred them as Siad Barre did. So, to say that problems that are facing Somali people today predate Siad Barre, is either a blatant falsification of history or absolute lack of knowledge of Somali history and culture. One also needs to understand that what is happening today in Somalia is the legacy that he [Siad barre] and his regime left behind.

Lastly, Zakaria also talks down the democracy in Somaliland. It is true that the democracy in Somaliland is not yet fully fledged as in the western world but the truth is there peace and there have elections that have described as relatively free and fair by international observers. He mentions that there is no freedom of speech for individuals as well as groups of all different political aspirations. Strictly speaking that is not true either as we all know that there is free press and independent television stations in the country. We also know that there are groups as well as individuals who pose a serious threat on the security of Somaliland and the safety of it citizens.

A very important role of any state is to safeguard the security and safety of its citizens and If certain groups are regularly trying to destabilize the country, like the suicide bombings last year, then the government has every right to stop them doing so. For those of us who live in the west we know that the same principle applies in the western world too. So why should Somaliland be any different.

To conclude, unless he is one of the Somaliweyn supporters who like hiding their heads in the sand, here are some facts that he may consider next time before you embarks on another unsuccessful advocacy of that failed union:

The average age of between 65 – 75% of the population of Somaliland is under 30 years. This huge group of the population lived for the past 18 years in an independent Somaliland. Prior to the independence they were probably either in refugee camps in Ethiopia or they were internally displaced within their own country. It is also important to note that the only remembrance that they have of Somali Republic is the destruction and the harrowing experience of their towns being bombed and their relatives being mass murdered.

Now, assuming that the war in Somalia stops this year, which I doubt, it will take another 20 years for Somalia to get to where Somaliland is today. By that time Somaliland will have enjoyed 38 years of independence and a lot will be accomplished in terms of democracy and development of the country. Also after 38 years of independence almost the entire population of Somaliland will have no recollection of Somalia. All they will know will be the Mig fighter monument in central Hargeisa and the history that is associated with it.

Without being disrespectful, my advice to people like Zakaria is get your priorities right and put your efforts where it matters most – stopping the suffering of the people of Somalia – and stop being obsessed with Somaliland.

Guul iyo gobannimo!
Ahmed Yussuf
E-mail: yussufa918@yahoo.com

Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial

Somalia: Who Carried Out The Suicide Attack in Beletwein? – Alshabab Tells the Story

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(170125) -- MOGADISHU, Jan. 25, 2017 (Xinhua) -- Local people walk past the site of a suicide attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, Jan. 25, 2017. The death toll in Wednesday's attack by Al-Shabaab militants on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 15 while 15 other were injured, a senior official said. (Xinhua/Faisal Isse) (zy) (Photo by Xinhua/Sipa USA)

Mogadishu, 21 June 2009 (Somalilandcurrent) – One of the website owned by Somali’s Islamists extremist revealed the name and the photos of the suicide bomber who killed Somalia’s National Security Minister last week in Beletwein. Al-shabab an extremist Islamic group known to have links with Al-Qaida said they will continue carrying out more suicide attacks until Somalia becomes an Islamic state ruled under Shariah. National Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden was staying in afortified hotel in Beletwein when a suicider attacked the hotel killing the minister and a few dozen people.

In a press release Al-shabab group said the Security Minister was the main target of the attack after they decided to eradicate the most important government figures in the country. Al-shabab said their usage of a suicide bombing was the most effective way to execute government officials.Derow2

Durning the press release Al-Shabaab spokesman said Mohamed Derow Sh. Adam (Zubeir) carried out the suicide attack that took place last week. Derow was a member of Al-shabab and have been fighting along their lines since the beginning of the movement. They praised Derow as a young, energetic and loyal member of the group, who was strong enough to carry out the attack.

Al-Shabaab spoken praised that around six Ethiopian military commanders were also killed during the attack along with a numbers of government officers that have been trained in Ethiopia recently.

Derow3
Derow4



Somalilandpress.com

Somaliland President Returns Home

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Berbera, 21 June 2009 (Somalilandpress) – The president of Somaliland, Dahir Rayaale Kahin arrived Berbera airport today after he has been on an official trip to Kuwait. Traveling with the president was the Minister of Education, the personal secretary and the first lady.

There is no official statement from the government about the trip and the arrival of the government yet.

The president left for Kuwait last week after he received an official invitation from the Kuwait Royal family. During his stay in Kuwait, he met with Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al Jabir Al Sabah to discuss various issues concerning the two countries.

The president is expected to reach Hargeisa, the capital city in the coming 48 hours.

Reported from Berbera:
Mr. Mohamed Musa Inji

Washington Hearing: Committee on Foreign Affairs

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Map of Somalia and Ethiopia with embedded flags on 3D political map. Accurate official colors of flags. 3D illustration (Map of Somalia and Ethiopia with embedded flags on 3D political map. Accurate official colors of flags. 3D illustration, ASCII, 12

Hargeisa, 21 June 2009 – Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
Donald M. Payne (D-NJ), Chairman

Somalia:
Prospects for Lasting Peace and a Unified Response to Extremism and Terrorism

You are respectfully requested to attend the following open briefing and hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health to be held in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Date Thursday, June 25, 2009
Time 2:00 PM
Location Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building
briefers & witnesses WITNESS:

Mr. Ted Dagne
Specialist
African Affairs
Congressional Research Service

BRIEFERS:

His Excellency Abdillahi Mohamed Dualeh
Foreign Minister
Republic of Somaliland

His Excellency Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole)
President
Puntland State of Somalia

His Excellency Dr. Crispus Kiyonga
Minister of Defense
Republic of Uganda
Kampala, Uganda

His Excellency Mohamed Omaar
Foreign Minister
Republic of Somalia
Note Witnesses may be added.

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