HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Somaliland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Abdillahi Mohamed Dualeh has stated that his administration was going to hand over the Berbera port to a French company in an effort to modernise the deep-water facility in the red sea to meet modern demands in the region.
Representatives from France’s ”Bolloré Africa Logistics” have been holding talks with senior Somaliland leaders, including the president in the last days.
Speaking to reporters in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa on Friday, Mr Duale said talks between Bolloré and Somaliland officials were in “advanced stages”.
“The organization has promised to invest in the port and manage it. We expect the talks between the organization and Somaliland officials to be successfully concluded,” Dualeh said.
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Sources in the government told Somalilandpress that the talks have successfully ended after more days of talks. “After days of discussions, the contract talks ended and the French firm will take over the Berbera port” the source, who wished not to be named. Bolloré held separate talks with Ethiopian officials as well including prime minister, Meles Zenawi.
The Berbera port was the second largest in the former Somali Republic after Mogadishu, but is now days it’s Somaliland’s prime source of currency owner, contributing 75 per cent of Somaliland’s $50 million annual revenue. Bolloré Africa Logistics is expected to take over the Berbera port with an investment worth $700 million.
This is the first major investment Somaliland has attracted since declaring independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991. Bolloré, which deals in maritime freight and African trade is controlled by Vincent Bolloré and is worth an estimated $1.7 billion.
The deal is expected to boost trades between Somaliland and Ethiopia’s 80 million population, whose expected to top 100 million people by 2020. The port currently handles food aid and other cargo bound for landlocked Ethiopia.
Berbera, at the mouth of the red sea, is strategically located on the oil route and is ideal location for connecting Africa’s growing markets to the Middle East, Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. Berbera port has 12-metre deep-water facility that was completed in 1969 by Russian engineers at a cost of $5.6 million.
In 1984, a US-based construction company, MWK International, was given 27 months contract worth $35 million that expanded and refurbish the port and airfield, which was already the longest runway in Africa. An American firm also refurbished the five 25000 barrel fuel tanks and pipelines. The fuel storage tanks are currently managed by a French company, Total.
[googleMap name=”Berbera, Somaliland” description=”Berbera has the longest runway in Africa built by Russia and USA for space shuttle emergencies.” width=”400″ height=”400″ mousewheel=”false” zoompancontrol=”false” typecontrol=”false” directions_to=”false”]Berbera[/googleMap]
By Abdinasir Mohamed Somalilandpress
Hargeisa-Somaliland
GALKAYO (Somalilandpress) — Hundreds of families in Somalia’s state of Puntland have fled inter-clan fighting in the town of Galkayo in Mudug region, witnesses said.
The fighting, the second as many months broke out early Wednesday morning when heavily armed militants from Puntland attacked opposing Galmudug positions in the south of the town after a police man from Puntland was shot dead.
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Residents told local reporters, that Puntland forces opened fire while on a man-hunt, however they shot dead a by-stander from the Galmudug side, the Galmudug locals avenged his death. Inter-clan battles and revenge killings is common in many parts of Somalia.
Witnesses said the fighting intensified on Thursday and involved machine guns, mortars and rocket propelled grenades. While a tank positioned at the national airport from the Puntland controled side fired shells at southern end, killing at least seven civilians.
Galmudug on it’s side used heavy mortars and artillery fire many landing on residential homes killing at least 21 people most of them civilians.
An eye witness said, at least 13 people were killed from Galmudug side while on the Puntland side as many as 31 lost their lives, including 10 soldiers. Galmudug forces have also taken control of Puntland bank and it’s central police station. According to sources, nearly 115 people were wounded in this renewed clashes.
The two sides backed by warring clans are said to be re-arming and preparing for fresh fights.
Efforts to reconcile the two were made but no official a ceasefire has been agreed on yet. It is expected elders from both sides to hold talks later today [Friday 25 December] to find a durable solution to the inter-clan unrests.
The fighting comes days after hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs) fled from the town, furthermore hundreds more have fled the town.
HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — Kenya’s Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Farah Maalim insisted his country was ready to firmly support Somaliland’s democraticisation process and stability in a historic gathering of Somaliland’s two champers on Friday morning.
Mr Maalim, who arrived in Hargeisa on Tuesday with a delegation of seven, praised the country for the progress and stability it has achieved without international support.
He spoke highly of Somaliland’s own competence to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue and urged them to stay on one track for clean and peaceful elections. He also discreetly warned them that some Western powers and policies that claim to be ‘experts’ could interfere with their democracy values and could sabotage the elections unless they remain vigilant about the risks of foreign hands and influence.
“As you are aware what happened in Kenya from end of 2007 until 2008, the international mediators consisting of Western officials would come to us and praise us, they would say we were right, then they go to the opposing camp and tell them the same – they were working on our downfall, our two leaders released and agreed to resolve differences,” Mr Maalim told Somaliland parliament. Refering to Kenya’s election dispute which rapidly deteriorated into a cycle of ethnic battles and revenge killings that left more than 1000 dead.
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On the recognition subject, Mr Maalim said he was not in a position to express an opinion on such issue but his government had the right channels to address it. He added Mogadishu was practically powerless to change the course of events and has no justification to refuse Somaliland independence.
Finally, he said that he would deliver a goodwill message and the facts on the ground in Somaliland to his government back in Nairobi.
Mr Maalim is the first high-ranking Kenyan official to address the Somaliland assembly.
MOGADISHU (Somalilandpress) –The Somali envoy to the United nations security council, Elmi Ahmad Du’ale, has said the sanctions imposed on Eritrea by the Security Council on 23 December were “proof” that the country aided terrorism.
The Security Council on Wednesday imposed sanctions Eritrea over providing military support to Islamist insurgents battling the Somali government.
“The sanctions were based, first and foremost, on proof that Eritrea supports terrorism and extremist groups opposed to the Somali government, which have been the stumbling block to stability in Somalia” Du’ale said in a strong drawl in an interview with Hornafrik local radio in Mogadishu on Thursday.
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He said the horn of Africa nation was on the shoulder of the militant groups fighting to topple Somalia’s weak transitional government.
‘’Eritrea supports these groups by providing arms, financial and moral support. Eritrea continues to host Somalia’s rebel hardliners who are opposed to peace in Somalia. These were the conditions which the sanctions was based on” he added.
The Ugandan-drafted text imposes an arms embargo on Eritrea, as well as travel restrictions and asset freezes on the country’s political and military leadership.
“There were resolutions before the current one, the international community led by the Security Council, African Union, United States and Somalia have all warned Eritrea over and over again against destabilizing Somalia however Eritrean leaders ignored international demands. Eritrea even refuses to recognize the Somali government. That was it,” the Somali envoy said.
Djibouti, like Somalia also welcomed the sanction since Eritrean forces occupy parts of Djibouti and refuse to withdraw it’s troops.
Eritrea has repeatedly denied the allegation. “The draft resolution is based on unfounded accusations against Eritrea on the issue of Somalia,” Ambassador Araya Desta said in a letter.
Thirteen of the council’s 15 members voted in favor of Resolution 1907. Veto-wielding China abstained, while Libya, the lone Arab council member and the current African Union chair, voted against that resolution.
Mr Duale, a medical graduate from Sapienza University of Rome became the Permanent Representative of Somalia to the United Nations in 2005.
Somalia has not had a functional government since 1991 and is been mired in chaos ever since.
MOGADISHU (Somalilandpress) — The United States government which continues to provide support to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] has said senior Al-Qaida members have arrived in Somalia after embarking on a long journey from the Afghan mountains of Tora Bora.
A report from the US State Department said the Al-Qaida fugitives are planning to re-establish itself in Somalia using insurgent groups fighting to topple the Somali government and opposed to the presence of foreign troops in the country as a proxy.
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The report said their forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have learnt that top Al-Qaida officials have made their way to Yemen and Somalia where they are planning to melt into the community and carry out their global agenda.
The report was published in US government website and has been confirmed by Bryan G Whitman, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Mr Brian said it is now inevitable that the United States would be involved and may form and deploy a special task force in Somalia.
He reassured that the US government will continue to support the transitional government of Somalia and other groups opposed to Al-Shabab and other extremists.
It is believed that Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a is one of the other group in Somalia that receives support from the United States of America and Ethiopia. Ahlu Sunna, a predominantly Sufi group is opposed to violence in the name of religion and recognises the transitional government.
Early this year, the United State has pledged 48 tonnes of arms to the weak TFG led by President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad, however recent reports suggested much of the arms fell into the hands of the insurgents opposed to its policies. The US government has expressed deep concerns about how they will continue to support Somalia’s transitional government.
Nonetheless, the US government is now arranging new additional funds and arms for the transitional government to combat Al-Shabab and their foreign operatives, whom control much of Somalia’s south.
Somalia has not had effective government since 1991 and is ideal for militant groups looking for hideouts and training camps.
HARGEISA (Somalialndpress) — Since the resolution at the end of September of the crisis related to the much delayed Presidential elections in Somaliland, there have appeared various analysts, by Somalis and non-Somalis alike, of the causes and effects of this crisis and the likely impact it will have on Somaliland’s future. These include descriptive summaries of events with personal opinions tacked on as conclusions, e.g. Markus Hoehne’s treatise entitled “The current election crisis in Somaliland: outcome of a failed ‘experiment’?” . By contrast, the report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), “Somaliland: A Way out of the Electoral Crisis” is a good example of a well researched, scholarly analysis that not only provides a detailed exposition of the events that lead up to the crisis, but also an objective analysis of these events which leads naturally to a coherent and cogent set of recommendations.
At the other end of the spectrum are the pseudo-intellectual rants of the Samatar brothers, published on various Somali sites, which portend the imminent collapse of Somaliland’s polity into the anarchy and chaos which has bedevilled Somalia for so many years. However, the one thing that they all agree upon is that Somaliland’s democracy is young and fragile, and thus needs to be carefully nurtured. It is this common premise that bears closer examination since it is patently untrue. Before we commence our discourse, it is useful to define some basic terms in the interests of clarity and also in order to set the parameters of the discussion within the context of political theory.
Definitions
The first term that needs to be defined is “democracy”, since this concept lies at the very heart of the issue under discussion. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines democracy as “a: government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections”. The important point to note here is the phrase “…usually involving periodically held free elections…”. Free elections are not, in and of themselves, a necessary pre-condition for a democratic system of government, although they usually comprise an important element of such a system. Indeed, the socio-political structure of traditional Somali, pastoral society is extremely democratic, yet there are no elections in this structure and no provision for any electoral process.
The Somali pastoral, clan system is based upon direct participation by each adult male in the major decisions of the clan, or sub-clan, (e.g. whether to go to war or to resolve disputes with other clans/sub-clans through dialogue and negotiation). One of the foremost academic experts on the history, culture and politics of Somaliland, Ioan M. Lewis, in his seminal work characterised pastoral, Somali society as “…democratic to the point of anarchy…” . He had observed the direct, participatory nature of the system of social and political governance in Somali, pastoral society whereby important issues are openly debated in mass, town-hall type meetings and the majority view prevails and becomes binding upon all clan/sub-clan members after all viewpoints are thoroughly aired and discussed. This indigenous, participatory democracy has neither formal institutions nor any formal office holders (Somaliland Sultanships are purely ceremonial with no formal powers), yet it not only works, but has thrived and commanded the allegiance of its people for centuries, if not millennia.
The central feature of a democratic system of government is that power is vested in the people and they exercise this power either directly, or through freely chosen representatives which act in their name and on their behalf. This central concept of democratic governance has been enunciated, perhaps most famously, by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address as “… government of the people, by the people, for the people…”. In fact, this precise and pithy exposition of a democratic system of government has become the popular definition of democracy. This leads to the critically important concept of “political consent”, i.e. the consent of the people to submit to the authority of government.
In a democratic system the people consent to governmental authority because that very authority derives from the people freely choosing their leaders through periodically held elections. In traditional, pastoral, Somali society, clan elders are not elected but chosen through an evolutionary, dynamic, almost osmotic, process whereby those clan members that are perceived by their kinsmen as wise, reflective, decent and honourable emerge as spokesmen and socio-political leaders whose opinions and judgments are widely respected and followed. This may be viewed as a social equivalent of the Darwinian evolutionary principle of ‘survival of the fittest’, except that it may be characterised as ‘emergence of the wise and honourable’.
The 2009 Election Crisis in the Context of Somaliland’s Democracy
Thus, the success of the people of Somaliland in establishing a functioning, democratic system of government in the wake of a prolonged, devastating civil war against a tribally based, military dictatorship that had ruled for over two decades, is not surprising. It is certainly true that there were some armed clan conflicts after the historic Borama Conference in 1993 that established both the institutional and philosophical framework for Somaliland’s system of democratic governance. However, it is also true that those conflicts comprised initial teething troubles as the nation re-established its representative, democratic socio-political heritage. In addition, those conflicts took place against a background of a society in transition from a savage and long civil war, with armed, clan militias roaming the countryside under the leadership of an officer cadre that felt that their status as heroes of the Liberation War entitled them to rule the country. In fact, those conflicts, while costly in human lives lost and property destroyed, provided an essential lesson in political maturity since they painfully demonstrated to ordinary Somalilanders the social and human cost of anarchy. This is evidenced in the fall from grace, in terms of public esteem and adoration, of the officer cadre heroes of the Liberation War that played such a prominent role in the clan wars.
The election crisis of 2009 must be seen in the context of a highly partisan political environment as the government and the opposition parties jockeyed for advantage in the voter registration process, which was mismanaged by incompetent actors, i.e. the National Election Commission (NEC) and its foreign, “expert” Interpeace. Further, the terrorist attacks in Hargeisa on 29 October 2008 which resulted in the sudden departure of the software company that was integrating the biometric data into the voter registration system also did not help. The political impasse on how and when to hold the elections, as both the government and the opposition dug in their heels over irreconcilable positions, grew ever more intractable. The events leading to this crisis and the actions of the various parties which contributed to this outcome are very well detailed in the ICG’s report mentioned above, as well as some others. However, what nearly all the various accounts and analyses of the situation (including ICG’s report) ignore is the role the people of Somaliland played in the resolution of the crisis. Instead, they focus upon the role played by the foreign actors, namely the aid donors and the Ethiopian Government, and it is true that their intervention was very important, maybe even necessary.
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However, it is also true that without the forceful intervention of civil society leaders acting in response to lobbying by ordinary people, the intervention of the foreign actors may well have come to nought. The deteriorating political situation, particularly the deaths during the opposition-lead demonstration in Hargeisa at the end of September, galvanised the people into action as the prospect of sustained, and possibly armed, conflict loomed. In Hargeisa, there was palpable and widespread public unease and anger with the political elite (on both sides of the dispute) which had allowed the situation to deteriorate to this point. Falling back on traditional avenues of political and social intermediation, ordinary Somalilanders instigated the clan elders, religious leaders and the business community (i.e. civil society leaders) as well as the Guurti to prevail upon the political leaders to tone down the rhetoric and reach a compromise.
It is important to note here that there are political actors that either have a vested interest in derailing the country’s democratic system and plunging it into the same anarchy and chaos that has bedeviled Somalia to the south, or, that are willing to foment internal conflict, armed if necessary, in order to realise their political goals, i.e. the ascent to power. The principle such actor is, of course, Al-Shabaab with its nihilistic mission of plunging the region back into Middle Ages. The thorough rejection of these so-called jihadists by the people of Somaliland is evidenced by the success of the country’s authorities in thwarting repeated attempts by Al-Shabaab to mount attacks, which is due primarily to the vigilance of the public in recognising and reporting suspicious activities and persons to the authorities.
The most recent such incident occurred on 19th December 2009, when a nomadic goat herder noticed some men laying explosives under a bridge that was to be navigated by a high level delegation of Ministers and other political leaders en route to a ceremony inaugurating a new district in Qoyta near Burao. The goat herder reported the matter to a police convoy on an advance security reconnaissance of the route, and the explosives were discovered and safely defused. However, in addition to, and separate from Al-Shabaab, there are political actors in Somaliland which have shown that they are ready to foment civil unrest, and even clan warfare, in order to create sufficient havoc to overthrow the government and instigate a seizure of power under the pretext of re-establishing order. The conflagration of a routine dispute between nomads over water rights at Ceel Bardaleh by the brutal and savage murders of innocent civilians traveling from Hargeisa to Borama was the first shot fired by these local actors which are prepared to instigate clan conflict in furtherance of their ambitions.
The carefully orchestrated subversion of the demonstrations in Hargeisa into an armed confrontation with the police was a second attempt at sowing the seeds of armed conflict in the country. The intervention of the Guurti and the clan elders, not to mention the maturity of the overwhelming majority of the concerned clans, succeeded in preventing the Ceel Bardaleh dispute turning into an ugly, armed clan war. Correspondingly, the widespread public outcry against the political manoeuvrings and recalcitrance of both the Government and the opposition regarding the election issue, quickly forced both sides to abandon their sterile impasse and lower the political temperature. The concerted pressure exerted by the foreign aid donors and the Ethiopian Government supported the groundswell of domestic frustration with their antics and compelled both sides to demonstrate a modicum of statesmanship and reach a reasonable compromise. The fact that these initial attempts at internal subversion have failed does not mean that the local instigators behind these attempts, and their foreign co-conspirators, have given up on their aims.
Conclusions
In answer to the question of this piece, several key points outlined above have to be carefully considered. Firstly, the political culture of participatory democracy is not new to Somaliland, but is in fact a central feature of the country’s socio-political ethos, culture and tradition. This fact is perhaps not fully appreciated by many commentators which consider that democratic governance is a new construct in Somali political history. This would also explain the over-arching focus upon elections in the analyses of many of these commentators, while ignoring other important features of the country’s democratic system. In this context, it is important to remember that during the decade commencing from the Borama Conference in 1993 until 2003, when Somaliland held its first elections, the country had a government that was democratic in that it was representative and enjoyed the freely given consent of its people, not to mention their confidence. This representative democracy, sans elections, was achieved by adapting the indigenous, Somali, clan-based, pastoral democracy to the modern institutions of an executive Presidency, an independent judiciary and a bicameral legislature of a lower House of Representatives and the present Guurti.
Secondly, the drafting of a constitution and its ratification, along with the establishment of political parties and instituting elections for the seats in the House of Representatives, marked Somaliland’s transition from a clan-based pastoral democracy to a modern, representative nation-state. However, this does not mean that the country is qualitatively more democratic now than it was during the 1993-3003 decade. The fact is that Somaliland upgraded its traditional, pastoral political system to benefit from institutional and methodological structures of the modern, democratic state, much as one might upgrade from an older computer to a newer, more advanced model. The content of the work performed on the machines does not change although, hopefully, the efficiency and productivity of the user does. Thus, the shift from the clan-based, pastoral democracy of the pre-2003 era to the present one whereby local and national office-holders are elected doesn’t change the democratic values, if you will, of the government in terms of representation and the consent of the people to its authority, but hopefully the transparency and accessibility of the system is enhanced.
Thirdly, the determination of the ordinary citizens of Somaliland not to surrender the independence, stability and peace they have enjoyed under their home-grown system of representative government and a free society remains the powerful foundation that ensures its durability. During the election crisis, this determination trumped the machinations of both the political elite and the malevolent plots of would-be usurpers of their state institutions. The timely support of the foreign aid donors and Ethiopia in reading the riot act to the political leaders was an invaluable stick with which to compel the political elite to look beyond their narrow self-interests and see the ‘big picture’.
This desire for self determination through representative government and a free society is deeply ingrained in the people of Somaliland and formed the basis of the revolt against the Siyad Barre dictatorship and the subsequent, long War of Liberation. It is also a fundamental and enduring feature of the history and culture of Somaliland’s pastoral society, which has survived some 75 years of, an admittedly benign, British colonial rule; the perfidy of a union subverted by the calculations of regional domination; an oppressive, tribal dictatorship that declared war on its own citizens; armed, clan conflict motivated by an overweening lust for power; sustained efforts by internal and external forces to subvert the very existence of Somaliland as an independent nation including acts of terror and violence and trade embargoes; and, most recently, the inability of the political elite to look beyond their own naked ambitions.
Finally, one has to conclude that far from being fragile, Somaliland’s democracy is indeed strong and robust. It is founded in the cultural fabric of Somaliland’s pastoral society and is nourished by the determination of ordinary Somalilanders to enjoy their freedom and pursue their lives in peace. This is not to say that the institutions, constitution and political parties of Somaliland’s system of government do not require continual review and improvement, in fact they do. Nor does it mean that the political culture of Somaliland is mature and developed; in fact it needs to progress from the clan-centric nature of the pastoral system to the platform-centric focus of the party system. It is a fact that the three national parties are presently broadly organised around particular clans, and are vehicles for their respective leaders, rather than being organised around philosophies of the state and its relationship to the people it governs. Having said that, however, it is undeniable that Somaliland’s democratic system is not only robust and muscular, but its future looks bright since its fate is in very safe hands – those of the people. To the many foreign supporters and analysts of Somaliland’s re-emergence as a nation state, I can confidently say: “Don’t cry for Somaliland’s democracy”!
Dec. 23 (SomalilandPress)- Bolloré Africa Logistics, a unit of Bollore SA, may sign an agreement to manage the port of Berbera and oversee $700 million of upgrades to the facility in Somalia’s breakaway northern Somaliland region, Abdillahi Duale, the foreign minister, said.
“Our discussions are already in an advanced stage,” Duale said today in an interview in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. “We have already made a basic agreement.”
Representatives of Bolloré, an investment company controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, have met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Somaliland President Dahir Riyale to discuss the agreement which will probably be signed next year, he said. Berbera port handles food aid and other cargo bound for landlocked Ethiopia.
Port revenue provides approximately 75 percent of the Somaliland government’s $50 million in annual revenue. Somaliland, a former British protectorate that merged with Italy’s Somali colony in 1960 to form Somalia, has remained largely free of violence during the 18-year civil war in central and southern Somalia.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg on pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
GALKAYO (Somalilandpress) — Fresh fighting has erupted in the central Somali town of Galkayo between militias loyal to Puntland and Galmudug on Wednesday morning. The two administrations, who share the city clashed after at least one police man from Puntland was shot dead in the outskirts of the town by unknown gunmen.
Sources on the ground, told Somalilandpress that Puntland speculated that Galmudug carried out the attacks and has ordered its forces to retaliate with force. Shortly after Puntland forces attacked key positions in the south of the town controlled by Galmudug, the fighting escalated into a heavy-gun fight, spreading to number of areas.
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Meanwhile, an eye witness said Puntland has ordered more reinforcement from its capital, Garowe.
There is no official statement from either side. The number of casualties is not yet known.
This is not the first time the two traditional rival administrations had fought over the town. In October, at least twelve people were killed when the two opposing sides clashed in the city centre.
The town of Galkayo is divided between Puntland and Galmudug administrations, where each side is backed by warring clans.
The two administrations function with relative peace outside Somalia’s weak transitional government and do not claim outright independence from the rest of Somalia.
HARGEISA (Somalilandpress) — A Kenyan delegation comprising of seven members visited Somaliland’s capital on Tuesday morning for talks on wide range of issues of common concern.
The delegation headed by Kenya’s Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Farah Maalim, visited Hargeisa after receiving an official invitation from Somaliland’s parliament speaker, Mr Abdirahman Irro.
Upon arrival, the Kenyan delegation were received at Egal International airport by Somaliland’s parliament speaker, Mr Abdirahman Irro, Finance minister, Mr Awil Ali Duale, Interior minister, Mr Abdullahi Ismael Ali, mayor of Hargeisa, Mr Hussein Mohamoud, and members of parliament.
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At the airport’s VIP room, Mr Maalim told local reporters that their main objective was to gain first-hand experience of Somaliland and also find more about the living conditions of the displaced people from neighbouring Somalia.
Later in the evening, Mr Maalim met with the Somaliland president where the two discussed ways to further cement and develop bilateral relations between the two democratic states.
Rayale receives Kenyan delegation
President Rayale briefly discussed the situation in Somaliland and it’s past history before thanking the Kenyan officials for their visit. Rayale also said it was unfortunate that African states, in particular East African nations were not acknowledging Somaliland’s democratic success and its ability to establish functioning institutions without outside help.
Mr Maalim, on behalf of the Kenyan delegation, thanked the president, government and the people of Somaliland for their warm welcome and host.
The delegation will spend few days in Somaliland and are scheduled to meet with various political leaders, civil society and other officials before they return to Nairobi.
This is the first such visit by high level delegation from Kenya since Somaliland reclaimed it’s statehood from Somalia, after a brief never-ratified union between the two states failed.
The visit, though brief, is seen rich in content and a step forward in Somaliland’s regional policy.
Bia Lounge, 45 -47 Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B10 OJU
Refugee Advice Group [Birmingham] in partnership with Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, and other Somali community organizations will facilitate the first Birmingham Somali Art and Culture Festival on 28th December 2009 from 2pm to Midnight at Bia Lounge, 45 -47 Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B10 OJU.
The festival will focus on Somali heritage and culture, storytelling, poetry, Somali contemporary literature and music. The idea behind the festival is to provide an opportunity for Somali people living in the Birmingham area to come together to celebrate their culture. We plan to invite popular Somali artists from a variety of arts disciplines and diverse backgrounds to give performances in Birmingham. Each artist has something distinct to bring – our vision is to raise the profile of the Somali community and establish the festival as an annual event in Birmingham. We want to cultivate cross-cultural artistic collaborations. The festival aims to deliver work that challenges perceptions and speaks to the Somali community as well as the general public.
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We are proudly presenting a mix of renowned commentators and entertainers: Mahamoud Abdi Ali Dualle, Abdilahi Hirsi “Beeldaaje”, Amine Muse Weheliye (BBC Somali Service), Abdi Shire Jooqle, Nimco Yaasiin Caraale, Raas Ismail, Mohamed Mukhtar Oday, Ali Seenyo, Mowlid Abdi, Abdirahman Abees and many more.
Join us at this first Birmingham Somali Art and Cultural Festival, get a taste of a great cultural tradition and explore the uniqueness of Somali heritage and culture. For more information about the program call 07984632044 or email refugeadgrp@hotmail.com
