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World and USA must relief Somaliland from terror infested Somalia

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Somalia's soldiers patrol in Afgooye, some 30 kilometres south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on October 19, 2016. - At least four police officers were killed on October 18 when a suicide bomb attacker rammed an explosives-packed car into a police station before fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab group subsequently stormed the area killing at least 10 people, including soldiers and civilians. (Photo by MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB / AFP)

Hargeisa, 24 June 2009  – Recently, Media and Outreach Coordinator for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs Greg Garland held online question and answer discussion entitled ‘Is there hope for Somalia?’. The discussion was very much civilized and transparent. The heat and pressure mounted as minute passed, but Garland remained very transparent and clear in answering the questions as per his administration’s policy towards the region.

However, the manner in which US Administration is approaching to the two decades old Somali unrest is wrong, because it believes in a unified Somalia. The administration failed to recognize the democratic, independent and free Somaliland that created complete structure of democratic and modern government without outside help.

State Department praised democracy progress in Somaliland and asked US Aid to double its operations in Somaliland. However, Washington administration botched to utilize Somaliland experience and Forces to ease the violence in Mogadishu.

Somaliland Forces have advantages over African Peace Keeping Forces, Ethiopian Forces and any other outsiders because Somaliland Forces are Somali, Muslim and know the culture of people and government in Mogadishu including the Islamists – Al-Shabaab. Based on these facts, USA shall recognize Somaliland and its forces will roll into brutal streets of Mogadishu. Knowingly, neither Al-Shabaab nor the government will have excuse to fight Somaliland Forces.

After British Somaliland (Today’s Somaliland) and Italian Somalia (today’s Southern regions of Somalia) united, the unrest and violence erupted in Mogadishu streets and Late & First President of Somalia Adan Adde used Somaliland Scouts to normalize the situation in Mogadishu. Britain established Somaliland Scouts and trained them at the beginning of last century. This gives Somaliland experience to stabilize Mogadishu streets, as it did in 1960’s.

Garland said that Washington administration supports the shaky transitional government of Somalia led by Sheikh\ Sharif Ahmed, who is facing growing militancy inside the capital – Mogadishu. The Islamist militant are receiving military, financial and logistics support from Al-Qaeda terror organization and others like Eretria. Recently US based New York Times published report that Al-Qaeda leaders are making shift to Somalia/Yemen from Afghan-Pakistan border. These are signs of growing influence of the militant in Somalia, and ineffectiveness of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed government.

Garland said “The U.S. believes that the Transitional federal Government provides the best solution for a unified Somalia. Inasmuch as Somaliland provides a degree of good governance, it offers an example to what is possible to all Somalis.” Here, unfortunately, Washington looks helpless and stuck with 40 years old failed policy of establishing “Unified Somalia” and overlooks the growing democracies in the region like Somaliland.

US shall realize that unity comes with acceptance from all uniting parties but compulsory union will end up with failure like that of Somalia during 1960’s. The uniting parties shall all agree upon constitution that protects their rights and ensures equality and freedom to all citizens. This cannot happen in Somalia because of tribalism and very complicated population structure.

Garland admitted the international community failed to establish effective and working central government for Somalia in last 20 years, and even US led forces to restore order and hope operation during 1993 failed. He knows international community organized more than 14 peace conferences for Somalis to settle their differences but all failed. Mr. Garland understands that terrorist organizations linked to Al-Qaeda (Al-Shabaab), control 90% of southern parts of former Somalia and thousands of foreign fighters are entering in Somalia from Afghan-Pakistan Border. He sees that Somaliland is the only democratic and active part of former Somalia, but unfortunately his administration in Washington overlooks Somaliland’s competence to win international recognition.

US Forces entered Somalia with same wrong policy, in which Washington administration is approaching to Somaliland and Somalia until today. Former UN General Secretary Boutros-Ghali was part of decision-making in the operation and started the initiative to use force in Somalia. The operation cost the lives of 18 US soldier and more than 30 UN soldiers of different nationalities including Pakistanis.

Mr. Boutros-Ghali had secret agenda to support Ali Mehdi (Transitional President of Somalia during the operation), but US Administration failed to unveil such undercover agenda between Mr. Boutros-Ghali and Ali Mehdi. The secret agenda was to eliminate General Mohamed Farah Aydeed (the rival of Ali Mehdi in Mogadishu) using UN Forces.

The solution of Somali chaos was simple during the operation, but the wrong recommendations of Boutros-Ghali and his secret agenda led the failure of the operation.

Somalia remained under harsh instability and violence for last 20 years, which weakened the country and led terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda to establish bases. Al-Qaeda planned the suicide bombing of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; there are many Al-Qaeda fugitives hiding inside lawless Somalia. These can be minimized if Somaliland is recognized, because the US Forces can establish based inside Somaliland and use its experience to crack down the terror.

Today, Transitional President of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Ahmed lost control of the southern parts to Al-Shabaab, and only controls his residence in Mogadishu (Villa Somalia). Please refer the articles at the bottom for the story.

The USA is watching the growing terror inside Somalia and innocent civilians dying under harsh conditions of strict and wrong Islamic Sharia practices by Al-Shabaab. The group blocked the entire basic social services: No education, electricity, water…etc.

In other hand, the US administration is pressuring and forcing the free people of Somaliland to remain within the human rights violations and killing. Mr. Garland’s administration is holding Somaliland hostage for failed theory of “unified Somalia”. Somaliland government and people cannot do business with outside world due to the diplomatic embargo imposed by USA. They cannot sign trade and partnership agreements with other international business partners. The Somaliland students cannot attend international universities because their certificates are from unrecognized Somaliland. No passports to use and even no embassies for Somaliland across the world. All these are happing to Somaliland, due to lack of diplomatic recognition.

Mr. Garland added. “…The U.S. believes that the Transitional federal Government of Somalia provides the best solution for a unified Somalia. Inasmuch as Somaliland provides a degree of good governance, it offers an example to what is possible to all Somalis…”

Garland braces democratic process in Somaliland, at the same time doesn’t accept it, and he is holding Somaliland until southern Somalia comes out of the current chaos and violence. The question is, If Southern Somalia fails to recover from the violence and chaos that killed hundreds of thousands in last 20 years then will US administration continue overlooking development, democracy progress and good governance in Somaliland?!

There is most devastating humanitarian crisis in southern Somalia including ethic killing, hunger and killer epidemic diseases that take the lives of thousands of civilians. Human rights abuses are daily event. Illegal piracy is common in many parts of former Somalia that disturbs the international sea water, under sponsorship of Puntland. My question is why the world shall punish Somaliland for crimes it did not commit?!

Al-Qaeda’s makeshift & Talibanization of Somalia

Recently Pakistani High Commissioner to London during a debate at Press TV underlined that Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders are working on plans to relocate from Afghan-Pakistan Border into Somalia and Yemen. He added that fighting in Pakistan will end if these leaders leave their country, because the Pashtu tribes are protecting them as guests.

There are feasible Al-Qaeda activities of relocating from Afghan-Pakistan Border to Somalia and Yemen, after Pakistani Forces crashed the Taliban inside Pakistan. This forced Al-Qaeda leaders to look for alternatives like violent and lawless Somalia, which has 100% Muslim population.

Somali eyewitness from Mogadishu told Somali news website that foreigners including Arabs are fighting alongside Al-Shabaab terror organization – Al-Qaeda’s African Wing. These foreigners train the local Somali youth as suicide bombers and on roadside bombs.

NATO Forces operated last four to five years in Afghanistan to defeat Taliban but until now, there are no fruitful results, because Taliban is active and strong. Taliban carry out daily attacks on NATO forces and Afghanistan forces that kill many soldier. It will not be easy for the international community to fight terrorists like Al-Qaeda inside Somalia because Al-Qaeda will get plenty new recruits due to the poverty and lack of education in the country. NATO Forces will not use magic wind to eliminate Al-Qaeda inside Somalia except using Somaliland against the Al-Qaeda. This method succeeded in Iraq, after US forces formed Sunni militia to fight Al-Qaeda and this disabled Al-Qaeda’s operations and death rate of US forces dropped very sharply in very short period.

Comparisons are already being made between the Islamists in Mogadishu and the Taliban in Afghanistan. At some point, the United States government will have to make an unsavoury decision about how to handle the jihadists in Mogadishu. It will almost certainly be necessary to have allies on the ground willing to offer the United States assistance, local information, access to territory, and so on.

AFP new agency published on 12th June 2009 report about Al-Qaeda’s plans to shift to Somalia entitled “Some Qaeda fighters head to Somalia, Yemen”. Dozens of Al-Qaeda fighters and some of the extremist group’s leaders are shifting from their haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas to Somalia and Yemen, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Violent militant groups in all three countries are now communicating more frequently in a apparent effort to coordinate their actions, US administration, military and counterterrorism officials told the Times.

A senior administration official attributed the shift to “the enormous heat we’ve been putting on the leadership and the mid-ranks” with Predator drone strikes launched from Pakistan and Afghanistan that President Barrack Obama has intensified since taking office in January.

“Al-Qaeda has been hit by drones and it has generated a lot of insecurity among them,” said retired Pakistani general Talat Masood, a military analyst in Islamabad. “Many among them are uneasy and it is possible that they are leaving for Somali and other Jihadi battle fronts…The hard core, however, will like to stay on.”

Another explanation, the newspaper said, may owe to expanded violent extremist campaigns in Somalia and Yemen, with US officials pointing to Somalia as a failed state and to a weak central government in Yemen.

CIA Director Leon Panetta said Thursday that the intelligence agency is focusing on countries like Somalia and Yemen as possible safe havens for Al-Qaeda. The group’s leader, Osama bin Laden, is still hiding in Pakistan, Panetta told reporters… End of Report.


The Ideal Solution for Somalia

The solution for Somali unrest is to go back to old codes of 1960 union, and cure disagreements and uncertainties between the Somali communities. We understand that fact don’t satisfy all people, because there is always winner. However, in Somalia all shall be winners, even if it takes giving the leadership of the country to all tribes per term.

The unity of 1st July 1960 that created Somali Republic was not fundamentally agreed, because the Somalis were uneducated and did not understand the meaning of unity; there was no constitution and agreements. It was enthusiastic union that ended on 18th May 1991, after Somaliland was retained its sovereignty afterfive decades within Somalia.

The theory of “Greater Somalia” is based on unity between Somali dominated five regions in the Horn of Africa including Djibouti, Somaliland, Eastern Region of Ethiopia, North Frontier District of Kenya and Somalia (Former Italian Somalia). Somaliland and Italian Somalia united on 1st July 1960, but other three parts remained uninterested in the unity. The Somali dictator Mohamed Siyad Barre attacked Ethiopia to take the 5th Region of Ethiopia by force, as part of theory. Also, the diplomatic relation between Kenya and Somalia was very bad due to the theory, as Siyad Barre believed that Kenya occupies parts of “Greater Somalia”.

Recognizing Somaliland could be as good as the disintegration of USSR, because the people unite and disintegrate based on their own desire, and people of Somaliland voted for independence during 2001 Referendum with 97%. Yes to independence. Somaliland is 3.5 million with 168,000 miles square, and nobody in the world will be able to force them back into another marriage with failed state of Somalia. So, USA government shall recognize Somaliland and utilize its expertise in Somali conflict in the right path.

USA should change its policies in the horn of Africa, and support the growing democracies instead of dancing with dictators. The faith of Somalia will be similar to that of USSR, and dividing the country into Somaliland and Somalia will be an ultimate solution. USA shall not redo in Somalia its failed policy in Afghanistan that created terrorism after USSR lost the war. Dancing with dictators never pays off.

Frankly, the worst democracy is better than any dictatorship. Dictatorship leads to frustration, extremism and terrorism. Somaliland is unique form of democracy and it is growing without democracy mentors and Somaliland created peace without crisis management experts. Somaliland deserved appreciation from the outside world, as neighboring countries do every day.

Today, the landlocked Ethiopia uses Somaliland main port ‘Berbera’ for its imports and exports; Djibouti shares very peaceful border with Somaliland border securities of both countries cooperate on security. In other hand, millions of illegal and drug traffickers cross the border between Southern Somalia and Kenya; large quantities of weapons are smuggled daily into Kenya and Ethiopia. This is different between having Somaliland or Somalia on your border.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, in his recent article on Washington Post, said “once the Soviets were defeated, the Americans took the next bus out of Afghanistan, leaving behind a political vacuum that ultimately led to the Talibanisation and radicalisation of the country, the birth of Al Qaeda and the current jihadist insurrection in Pakistan.”

The world should put southern Somalia under UN Trusteeship for ten years in order to restore the basic social service and help the Somalis to establish their life again. The African Peace Keeping Forces should stay in Somalia during the trusteeship to protect the civilians from the terrorist organizations. Also, the world should recognize Somaliland as an independent state, which will reduce the magnitude of problem inside former Somalia.

Southern Somalia was under UN Trusteeship from 1950 to 1960, because the people in Southern Somalia failed to put effective administration in their part of the region. However, this shows that UN Trusteeship can be ideal solution to Southern Somalia, and recognition of Somaliland will support the growing democracy and good governance.

Members of US Congress believe that recognizing Somaliland will open Pandora Box in the region, and many other Somali regions will demand independence like Somaliland. However, the congressmen should understand that Somaliland was independent in more than two centuries before it united with Somalia on 1st July 1960.

Somalilanders joined Somalia to examine possibility of creating Greater Somalia, which includes Djibouti, 5th Region of Ethiopia and Northern Frontiers Province (NFD) of Kenya. However, this theory failed and created unrest in the region including war Somali-Ethiopian war in 1964 and 1977. Also, Djibouti, who was part of the Greater Somalia, turned down the theory and declared independent Republic of Djibouti. This was the end of Greater Somalia.

On the other hand, Somaliland could not retrieve its sovereignty from Southern Somalia because of dictator leaders, who bombed and killed thousands of civilians in Somaliland (former northern regions of Somalia) after the people of these regions called for independence until 1991. Somalilanders took up the arms against Somalia government and liberated their country on 1991, and suddenly announced the long waited independence. On 18th May 1991, it was rebirth of Somaliland. So my question is why US Congress holds back the independence of Somaliland from Somalia?!

US Government should encourage the democracy, good governance against the dictatorship and terrorism that dominated the Horn of African region. This can only happen if Washington administration recognizes Somaliland as strong, democratic and modern ally. Today, there are dictators everywhere in the Horn of Africa including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya except Somaliland, which had three leaders from its rebirth on 18th May 1991 and fresh presidential election expected on Sep 2009.

The below articles are fact-finding by scholars, university professors, former US ambassador, and other intellectual and politicians about Somaliland and the region in general:

1. Somaliland: The Little Country that Could
Africa Program £ Center for Strategic and International Studies
1800 K Street, NW £ Washington, DC 20006 £ Tel: (202) 775-3135 £
Fax: (202) 775-3199 £ www.csis.org
AFRICA NOTES
Number 9 November 2002
David H. Shinn
http://www.mbali.info/doc45.htm

2. Why the United States Should Recognize Somaliland’s Independence
By Peter J. Schraeder
Peter J. Schraeder is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. He writes on African politics and U.S. Africa policy.
http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=19

3. The Ghost of Somalia: Somaliland Should be Allowed to Depart a Chaotic Country in Transition
Pittsburgh Post – Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Jul 12, 2006. pg. B.7
Dan Simpson, a retired U.S. ambassador, is a Post-Gazette associate editor (dsimpson@post-gazette.com).
http://www.mbali.info/doc151.htm


4. U.N.’s Boutros-Ghali Proposes Armed Intervention in Somalia
By John M. Goshko
The Washington Post
UNITED NATIONS
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:JmLEligNtlMJ:tech.mit.edu/V112/N61/somalia.61w.html+Boutros+Boutros-Ghali+created+somali+problem&cd=2&hl=ar&ct=clnk&gl=kw

5. Somalia –Afghanistan of Africa, HASSAN DAHIR AWEYS the Trojan Horse of Issayas Afeworki
By Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi
The American Chronicle

Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi, MA in Journalism and Mass Communication, Columnist, Freelance Journalist and Weekly article writer about Middle East and African politics and human rights. He is member of International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/102255

Somaliland enforced all possible procedures, codes and technologies to host free and fair elections. Somaliland Election Commission (SEC) installed biometric based system, where all fingerprints of the citizens are saves in centralized database. SEC conducts One-Man-One-Vote.


By\ Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi
Email: az.almutairi@yahoo.com

Gang rape in London

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Hargeisa, 24 June 2009  – A couple of days ago I published a brief post from South Africa which reported that one in 4 males admitted to being rapists. But rape in the city is not just happening on a large scale in South Africa. Here in London a recent Channel 4 Dispatches documentary highlighted the prevalence of gang rape by young boys. Rape in the City was produced by award winning Sierra Leonean journalist., Sorious Samura who despite being “shot at, spat at and abused” in the making of past documentary’s was still shocked by what he found. During the war in Sierra Leone, Samura had witnessed a gang rape, something he associated with war and not what he expected to find on the streets of London.

I felt so angry and hurt watching these young boys casually denigrate girls with their attitude and words – I find it hard to express my own feelings. Listening to a group of young boys who spoke of a “line up” where a line of boys stand in wait whilst a girl performs oral sex, was appalling. The boys did not even think there was anything wrong in setting up and coercing girls to have sex with them. For them the girls were just trash to be abused. Girls spoke of the horrific experience of being gang raped, one as a punishment for her comments about a friends boyfriend who was a gang leader. She was repeatedly raped by 4 or 5 boys who later called more boys to join in. The attitude of the boys was that it was the girls fault and nothing to do with them and that if a girl was amongst them then she was asking for it. On being questioned about STD’s one boy said he would ‘batter’ any girl that passed on a STD.

In the course of my research I have been shocked to hear victims and witnesses to gang rape talk about the incidence of this crime as if it were just a fact of urban life. Girls are passed around groups of boys. Sometimes these girls initially consent because they want to be popular, but the incident then turns nasty. Sometimes a girl unwittingly walks into a trap, innocently visiting someone’s house to listen to music or watch a film and then discovering that a group of boys are laying in wait. Occasionally the gang rape is used to punish a girl for talking out of turn……….

And yet in the course of my Dispatches investigation I have discovered that gang rape is becoming part of the fabric of life for some young people living in our cities. But it’s not gang rape as you might imagine – it’s not, in most cases, the seizing of girls off the streets by total strangers. It’s happening in homes and at parties between young people who are known to each other, who run in the same crowds. And what’s most disturbing to me is that it’s often just the result of a group of boys deciding to force sex on an unwitting girl, who doesn’t realise that the invitation to someone’s house to watch DVDs or to hang out in the local park is a set up for gang rape. It can happen because a group of boys is attracted to a particular girl or just because she has annoyed one of them.

It is again shocking to learn that gang rape is not even recognised as a separate criminal offence and each rapist is tried as having committed an individual crime. It’s also clear from his report that the police are less than enthusiastic about dealing with rape particularly when it happens in the Black community. Only a few police forces even bothered to respond to his requests for statistics on rapes and rape convictions. The London Metropolitan Police did provide records that showed 108 gang rapes[3 or more rapists] were reported in London in 2008 – from that alone its not exaggerating to state that the actual gang rapes are probably at least double that. Three quarters of the convicted rapists were young black men…

On the face of it, these figures may appear small, but they are nevertheless statistically significant when you consider that nearly three quarters of those convicted were black. Why the incidence should be higher amongst young black men I do not know, but the stats speak for themselves, and on the ground youth workers and community leaders confirmed our conclusions. Sheldon Thomas, a Brixton youth worker, acknowledges that there are a disproportionate number of young black boys involved in gang rape, and it’s something that’s of real concern to him, ‘because we’ve got a situation in our community that needs to be addressed. And I don’t believe that we are addressing it’.

But whilst I would agree that we need to address the disproportionate incidence within the black community, I think it would be wrong to label this as a black issue. What we need is for people from across all communities and public sectors to engage with this issue, and colour must not get in the way of that.

The silence around these crimes allows them to continue with impunity. The silence of the police who do not offer protection to those few young girls and women who report rape. One young girl in the programme reported the rape but had to withdraw the charges after she was threatened, had bottles and objects thrown at her by the rapists. Why was she and her family not protected. How is she supposed to live in the same community where she has to pass these young men daily? Women have always been at the forefront in the movement against violence against women. Is it not about time for men to take a stand against rape? Not just Black men but all men. The responsibility to protect young girls and take an uncompromising stand against misogyny and rape on estates, the streets and in the playground has to come from the local authorities, the police, the schools and the community. .

The boys who commit these crimes are known to the community and to schools and the unless the silence ends they will continue to carry out their despicable acts with impunity and young girls will continue to be forever traumatized and live in fear. We in the Black community need to forget this idea of not “snitching” and reporting to the police. Not only should we be reporting the crimes but insisting and monitoring what the police are doing and making sure they take each rape seriously. All these silences collude with the rapists and abusers and it has to stop. I feel I could say so much more but for the moment I will leave it as is!

Sokari Ekine
The Blacklooks

Arr Goes to Somaliland Part III

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A woman waves a flag as soldiers and other military personnel of Somaliland march past during a celebration parade in the capital, Hargeisa on May 18, 2016. PHOTO | AFP
A woman waves a flag as soldiers and other military personnel of Somaliland march past during a celebration parade in the capital, Hargeisa on May 18, 2016. PHOTO | AFP

Hargeisa, 23 June 2009 – ARR will be writing about his journey to Somaliland and will be offering advice to anyone who may want to travel to this Horn African nation. ARR was born abroad and this is his first trip to Somaliland.

The women of Somaliland are among the most beautiful of God’s creation. Apart from those that are destroying their skin and inviting skin cancer to their final years by insisting on altering their complexion, I have witnessed some of the prettiest faces I have ever seen. While I don’t think I would ever be able to reconcile how I was raised in my life abroad with how the local population was raised; something keeps telling me that the local women would make better wives and mothers. Writing that may get me in trouble with some friends from abroad but the truth is; I think I may have finally found home.

I was still wondering why our women insist on wearing every colour in the spectrum of light in two garments which is a question that has haunted me in my previous 26 years of observation. One day and totally out of the blue I finally found the answer. On one of the many walks I take with my mother she was asked if she was a widow due to the fact that her clothing was colour coordinated. Aha! The answer had finally revealed itself. In taking a trip to the top of one of the hills on northern Hargeisa to get some exercise I found the answer to one of the most pressing questions of our times (at least for those of us in the Diaspora).

This was one of the most fun hikes I took with my mother because this time she wanted to go as much as I did and didn’t complain as much about the rocky roads as she normally does. Most people spend their entire trip to Hargeisa inside of a car but for health reasons I have insisted on treating my mother like Hager and both ends of Hargeisa like Safa and Marwa. From this one particular hill located just north of Man Soor I was able to see Naaso Hablood as well as the very famous mountains with the same name.

From this vantage point you can see almost all of Hargeisa but what I had to admit is that the view to the other side was much more spectacular and inviting. Just north of Hargeisa lies a flat area of land that seems to never end with shrubs and greenery extending for as far as the eye can see only to be cut off by majestic mountain ranges that appear as a silhouette in what would make a very picturesque painting.

After a few of these nature hikes I’ve taken with my mother I am yearning and looking forward to my trips to Daallo and Sheikh Mountains. I also hope that this will provide an answer to those who jokingly accuse me catering to only one particular corner of Hargeisa. I am not one of those boring people who are the same tribe on both sides but have in my blood a nice variety that I love equally if not more than my father’s side.

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As a youngster I used to love to go camping and one of the most fascinating things about a trip outside of the city limits is the cloud of stars that are clearly visible to the naked eye. While the Northern Lights are not visible in Hargeisa there are literally thousands of stars that light up the sky. So far I have only been able to locate the North Star, Venus and the Big and Small Dipper and would probably notice more celestial objects if I knew them.

While my nephews and nieces have been complaining with a passion similar to the Iranian protesters that there is nothing to do while our Satellite receiver is down I have had the pleasure of enjoying the cloud formations above during the day and the immaculate stars at night. This along with the Adhan that cuts into whatever activity you have at hand are some of the most enjoyable aspects of my trip to Hargeisa thus far.

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The city is literally littered with Masjids and almost everywhere you go you can find a new Masjid being built. While this has sparked an inner feeling of joy in me as a Muslim I think that there is something else that should be considered. I recently visited a sick relative in Hargeisa hospital only to see how small it was and how inadequate the facilities were. A very nice lady who I spent time discussing the hospital with showed me the extension to the old hospital that her family had built as a donation and encouraged me to find more donors for the hospital (This is the public Hargeisa hospital and not the private for-profit hospital Edna Aden had built with charity she collected on a premise of free health care for all).

In the rush to build Masjids to try to help those who lived a life of sin there are literally hundreds of Masjids being built at the expense of other crucial facilities that should be helped with families’ charitable funds. I made a promise to myself that I would do what I can now and probably bequeath something to hospitals and schools in my will when the time came.

I had also continued to investigate why in The City of NGOs (twelve hundred of them as I had heard) there are still so many people living in poverty. While I accept poverty as an inevitable reality what I couldn’t accept is the rumour that nearly half of the funds allocated to Somaliland are embezzled in Kenya (Not cool! We have a restaurant named after one of your very famous children). While that is obviously an issue that needs to be tackled; it still doesn’t excuse the mismanagement that is taking place here in the sphere where we have control.

I have been to a few NGOs and from what I can see so far the people that work there get as much work done as a Gulf Cooperation Council employee. While there are no doubt those who work as hard as they can to make a difference I can’t help but feel that they could do more if they were focused on the objectives of their organisations rather than their salaries. As I had mentioned I have started to mobilise and get an NGO together and will be working on this as a long term and well thought out project during the free time that I have. I guess this is the best place to say thank you to my friend M. Al-Maktoum who has offered to support this charity from the very beginning.

The past few weeks have been quite interesting in many other ways. I was forced to part ways with my long hair and beard after weeks of being taunted in the streets by almost everyone. Out of frustration I had been tempted on numerous occasions to speak with my hands (which are much better at speaking Somali then my mouth mind you) but eventually gave in to logic and decided to get a haircut instead.

I had uploaded pictures on my mobile of how I look with short hair as an example and have to admit that the barber pretty much got it right which was ‘cool’. I’m sure he would’ve noticed that he made both sides uneven if he wasn’t busy chewing away at Qat while cutting my hair. What wasn’t ‘cool’ is that he had initially tripled the price I paid for the haircut claiming that they charge by hair length. After much bargaining and agreeing to give him a tip we settled on a price that I knew was too much but didn’t mind parting with.

I also had the chance to go one night to Imperial Hotel for the launch of a children’s book called Riyaaq. I didn’t understand much of the clever wordplay and chanting contained in the book until I got a hold of the book myself and started reading along. It was amazing that such a beautiful book would be made available to our children teaching them morals and parables in the melodic tone one can hear being sung in many of the classrooms in the city. Since there are many children who don’t have access to an education and even more whose education has been left to schools operated by self interested and inexperienced profiteering businessmen I found this book to be something special and welcome to our youth.

I also had the pleasure of taking part in the funeral of one of Sheikh Madar’s offspring and have made it a new habit to go to as many funerals as I can which I started to do in England. I find it fascinating that there is not a single tear shed at funerals here and that the deceased children are the ones that go in the grave themselves and place the deceased person in their final resting position.

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I have also had an experience with Hargeisa’s notorious traffic jams that are usually caused by nothing other than a simple and absolutely inconsiderate idiot (not by the traffic warden that disappear for half an hour at a time). It took us twenty minutes to cover twenty yards because one man and his will to have his car cleaned in the middle of the street was more important than the mass of cars that also needed to use the same street. We all yelled at the cleaner who said “I don’t care, I’m getting paid” and I will have to admit I was very tempted to pay him a hundred times as much to smash the windows and slash the tires. If there weren’t hundreds of witnesses I probably would’ve seriously considered doing this myself.

Apart from visiting the Somaliland Medical Association and then the wonderful Nurses Association (where they teasingly reminded me of my mother’s days as a nurse in a short skirt!), of all the things I had done I would have to say the most interesting thing was the near hour of uninterrupted chat I had alone with Rageah Omar at his family home which was only disturbed by a brief visit by Faisal Ali Warrabe (the leader of the Ucid party) to give condolences to Rageah.

Faisal seems like a nice man and asked me a couple of questions about his nephew from Toronto who is a good friend of mine that I couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. Although I and Rageah are both related and descendants of good friends I had never spent time getting to know this particular relative and have to admit he was a very interesting person regardless of his credentials. I think he deserves the success he has achieved because he is quite a brilliant man and a sincere and genuine individual.

I guess the next best experience I’ve had in the last few weeks was when I went to visit a few ministries yesterday and found that there were both utterly incompetent and very competent individuals working in our government. Some of the very old people I encountered were extremely difficult to converse with and narrow minded while there was a younger generation present who were looking forward to the advancement and progression of Somaliland. While it’s fun to criticise the current government I also have to give credit where it is rightfully due.

The thing that has annoyed me the most, even more than the corrupt NGOs so far is the Somaliland Suldaan system. I can openly tell you that whoever the Suldaan for my particular clan is does not represent me as I have neither voted for him and he just happens to be the child of a very smart man who I’m sure deserved the title. I surprisingly enough don’t personally think that reason and intellect are transferred genetically in totality to offspring therefore nullifying the entire inherited Suldaan concept.

I still can’t seem to come to terms with this inherited title and wanted to share my opinion with the world. Being supportive of my inherited Suldaan would make me feel as foolish as those who vote based on clan allegiances so they can brag about someone who doesn’t care the least about them holding such and such a position, or, as dim-witted as some of the so called Somalilanders I have encountered who still dream of a Somali Weyne.

While I have been critical in many ways during my trip to Somaliland so far I also see all the good that is here but haven’t found many who are brave enough to openly question the areas where we need change. I have always been the type of person to let someone know when there is a bugger in their nose or they have a hole in their shirt. I find this my way of showing people I care as it would be twice as easy to simply ignore. I look forward to adding much more insight from my personal experiences and giving a broader perspective when I have the opportunity to travel to more places in Somaliland.

I had originally intended to delay writing this third instalment until I had more experiences but was encouraged by the many wonderful emails and phone calls from all over the world I have received. I was quite shocked that this blog I am writing for SomalilandPress has been syndicated on various other Somaliland website and will try my best to fit all of the requests I have received into my increasingly busy schedule and will continue to share my inner most thoughts in the process.

To Be Continued…. ARR



Source: SomalilandPress

Ethiopian Prime Minister says ready to step down: FT

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London, 23 June 2009 (Somalilandcurrent) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has had “enough” after 18 years in power and would be willing to leave office to make way for a new generation, he said in an interview.

“My personal position is that I have had enough,” he told the Financial Times.

The newspaper reported that he had not given a deadline for his departure, but said discussions on when and how he would leave had started within the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

“I am arguing my case and the others are also arguing their case,” he said.

“I hope we will come up with some common understanding on the way forward that would not require me to resign from my party that I have fought for all my life.”

Meles, a former Marxist rebel leader, has been in power since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. He was returned to power in 2005 in a controversial parliamentary election victory by his coalition.

He told the FT that his party now needed leadership that had not been part of the armed struggle for power.

“We are not talking about Meles only. We are talking about the old generation. The party needs to have new leadership that does not have the experience of the armed struggle,” he said.

Source: Reuters

Somalia’s Terrorist Plague Pandemic Poses Imminent Danger to the Region

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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)

Hargeisa, 23 June 2009  – It is a certain phenomenon once something evil generates; over a time, it goes through black-white evolutions__ that radically could change the cultural, social and psychological compositions of a population over successive generations. Somalia is a by-word country for inhuman, barbarous and heinous civil war__ and during the last two decades, it had been making its place in the world-news banner headlines. Somali culture and religion (Islam) go hand in hand and never crosses each other.

However, the world’s illegitimate and hypocritical political interventions in Somalia brokered by the front line countries have yielded a new, but an unprecedented fashion of war mongered by the most notorious international terrorists in the name of Islam. This has absolutely derailed the Somali conventional warring-systems and invited a hollow calamity. Today, Somalia is said to be the new African Iraq or Afghanistan with regard to its ongoing reckless type of war, every shot is fired at human cost__ and the lives of the innocent people are taken in both fleet and individual manner. Somalia is a country disappeared into shapeless, untraceable political dust storm orchestrated by western collective powers.

The Al-Qaida claimed Trojan horse in Somalia “Al-Shabaab”__ has snagged a bare sword in a vacuum power to log, amputate and decapitate the helpless, hopeless and needy people scattered across the bed of the tinny war tone country. The plague of which would no longer be confined within the boundaries of the country, but pose a clear threat to the entire region. It is a widely acknowledged fact that terrorism is a psychological problem with a serious radical mission; a mission without clear vision; a mission that heals one’s heaven hunger with life loses of the innocent people; a mission that is accomplished by hypnotized youngsters; a mission named religious obligation but satanic in nature.

The Somali fragile government presided by Sheikh Ahmed__ was about to lose its last standing leg and pleaded a 24 hour swift military interventions from the front line countries to help them revive their globally supported government. To the contrary, Al-Shabaab vowed that any foreign interventions would cause the invaders to have their bodies sent back in coffins to their respective homelands. On the other hand, Al-Shabaab’s claim for being responsible the suicide attack in Baladwayne during the last week__ which has taken the lives of more than 80 people…. was neither the first nor the last of its type undertaken by them.

Unlike Somalia and its semi-autonomous region of Puntland__ Somaliland is still healing the physical and psychological scars reached by the last year Oct, 29th untimely serial terrorist explosions that claimed the precious lives of dozens of beloved ones, mothers, fathers, kids, teenagers, etc. It shattered the future of many families; transformed many abled to disabled; traumatized the people in the city__ and dropped a moment of unforgettable fear and insecurity into the hearts of the nation at large. In one way or the other, this was a wake-up call for the region and helped the people understood what terrorism is meant by, their goals and disguised images. It helped the nation feel how this wave (terror) has embittered the millions of innocent people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Palestine.

Here is the bottom line; the survival of the Somali people is not only a regional responsibility but a global obligation as well. However, the world must now put the right shoe on the right feet, come up with a new global policy towards Somalia__ and of course lift the unfair cover off the recognition of the Republic of Somaliland__ that is one of the crucial missing pillars from the peace process and stability many times sought for Somalia. Somalia is a government in search for a country__ whereas; Somaliland is a government in a stable country in search for an international recognition. Surely, if the world keeps defiant from the fact that Al-Qaida pooches are overtaking the Somali people and power, the plague would first hit hard Puntland, then Somaliland and the region at large.

By: Khadar Hanan
E-mail: Khadarhanan@gmail.com
Doha, Qatar

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

ONLF Rebels Kill Two In An Ambush – Ethiopia

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Gashamo, 23 June 2009 – A group of ONLF rebels killed two and seriously wounded several others when they ambushed a civilian convey carrying khaat [a narcotic leaf] from the town of Danod to Gashamo in Ethiopia’s Somali region.

Both victims are said to be well known traders in the region and are of Somaliland origins. It is not known why the guerrilla militants attacked their convey but this is not the first time they killed civilians in the region who hail from Somaliland – many believe ONLF has been angered by Somaliland’s relationship with Ethiopia.

ONLF is a rebel group based in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, they are said to get support from Eritrea just like the Al Shabab rebels in Somalia. ONLF claims that Ethiopia is an occupaying government and they have been carrying out insurgency attacks ever since 1984.

No official comments from the Ethiopian government.

Both men were buried in the town of Gashamo this morning, while one of the wounded was taken to Burao’s general hospital in Somaliland and is now in stable condition.

Source: Somalilandress

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

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