Hargeisa, 21 June 2009 – I heard the Somalia Ambassador Abdikrin Farah in Addis Ababa saying, this past week, Mogadishu has never been quiet in the last ten days compared with the last sixteen years of violence and anarchy.
The Ambassador went on and said that the counter offensive launched few days ago by the Somali government and its Ethiopian backers crushed the remnants of ICU and secured peace which will pave the way for the national reconciliation conference expected this month.
Of course there will be a “national” reconciliation which is going to exclude major actors including ICU and the Hawiye clan which is at present on a precarious ceasefire with Melse’s forces in Mogadishu.
Ambassador Farah victory speech today is premature andthe Somalia situation will not be tackled by stage-managed conferences which excludes those which have amajor role to play for national reconciliation.
The worst is that The TFG is influenced and backed bya regime in Ethiopia which is known for excluding its opponents and preparing self serving conferences which have not solved the Ethiopian political problems for the last sixteen years.
The statement made by Ambassador Farah remind me the day I met him in September 2006 while we protest infront of UN in New York City on the going killing and human right abuses by Melese Zenawi.
After he received a flyer I hand it to him and see the pictures of the jailed opposition leaders displayedhe told me that I will be shocked if I go to Addis andwitnessed a booming economy and infrastructure build up in the last ten years.
I argue with him that the infrastructure build up and the “booming economy” should not be equated with the rule of law and we have seen the booming economy in China with no human rights and the oil driven booming economy in Karthum did not stop the genocide in Darfur.
I heard the good Ambassador declaring a success in Mogadishu today and I was not surprised by his judgment.
Hargeisa, 21 June 2009 – New Somali book ‘War and Peace: an anthology of Somali literature’ edited by Rashiid Sheekh Cabdillaahi, with English translation by Martin Orwin.
It is a great pleasure for Ponte Invisibile and Progressio to announce the new publication “War and Peace: an anthology of Somali literature”. This unique and rare collection brings together for the first time classic Somali poems and stories which deal with matters that are of great concern to Somali people; conflict and conflict mediation – in other words WAR AND PEACE.
This valuable work has been collected by Ismaaciil Aw Aadan and Axmed Aw Geeddi, both poets of great calibre, who have enormous understanding of Somali classical poets, their poetry and the historical context of their literature which extents over a period of two hundred years. The book has been introduced and edited by Rashiid Sheekh Cabdillaahi “Gadhwayne”, one of the leading Somali scholars on this topic. Rashiid’s intensive knowledge of Somali pastoral nomadic
society and his expertise as a sociologist of social developments will give the reader a good understanding of a culture which otherwise could easily be considered too complex to interpret or to understand.
This work would not have been complete without the translation into English by Dr. Martin Orwin with the help of Mohamed Hassan “alto”. Dr. Orwin is a Senior Lecturer in Somali and Amharic at Faculty of Languages and Cultures, School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
This publication will not only explain the structure of pastoral nomadic communities and what brought them into conflicts but will also address the question at the centre of this book which is about the role that literature played, and perhaps can play, in matters of peace, mediation of conflict and peace-keeping. It is an important recording of culture where dignity was at the heart of peace and war, and literature was a tool for both. The book will also provide Somali and non-Somali readers with a fascinating insight into the history of a creative community which may have otherwise been lost.
The book will be launched at the Mooge Festival and Hargeysa International Book Fair, 22-27 July, Hargeysa, Somaliland, where there will be a discussion about this work under the heading “the poetry and creativity of yesterday” with some of the most prominent Somali poets and scholars and those who where involved with the publication.
The book can now be ordered on-line by following this link:
http://www.redsea-online.com/books.
Order now “War and Peace: an anthology of Somali literature”.
War and Peace: an anthology of Somali literature /Suugaanta Nabadda iyo Colaadda
Edited by Rashiid Sheekh Cabdillaahi (Gadhwayne),
ISBN: 978-1-85287-329-5 / 978-88-88934-09-9,
Progressio / Ponte Invisibile Ed., London, 2009.
Soft cover, 218 pp. 25,00USD, Now available online.
A young man looks through a book on July 21, 2018 at a stand during the Hargeisa International Book Fair in the Somaliland capital of Hargeisa, Somalia,. - At the first annual event in 2008, organisers only exhibited a handful of books borrowed from friends and attracted just 200 visitors. Ten years on and literature has taken a prominent place in Somaliland's culture. New writers have emerged, volumes are being edited, book clubs formed and public libraries opened. (Photo by MUSTAFA SAEED / AFP)
Hargeisa, 21 June 2009 – Kayd and its partners Redsea-online, Ilays, Sonyo and Havoyoco are pleased to invite you to the inaugural Somali Arts & Culture Festival, to be held in Hargeysa, Somaliland, from 22 – 26 July 2009. The festival has been named “Mooge Festival” after the celebrated and influential Somali musician Mohamed Mooge. The festival will incorporate the Hargeysa International Book Fair (HIBF).
Kayd promotes freedom of expression through art and culture in the Somali territories and aims to help create a democratic culture of tolerance and widespread appreciation of the diversity of Somali culture through the promotion of learning, literacy, performance events, and debates. It focuses largely – but not exclusively – on issues relating to gender equality and active citizenship, with particular attention paid to how they affect young people.
Through its projects, Kayd is addressing the importance of education in socio-political and economic development. Kayd evolved from the Somali Week Festival, which, for several years, brought artists and opinion-makers to London to present their work and engage with other artists and the general public.
Mooge Festival and Hargeysa International Book Fair 2009
We believe that any kind of change, whether it is about people’s beliefs, attitudes to social development, economic improvements and/or political awareness, can only happen through educational and cultural interventions.
The festival has invited a variety of different artists to share their expertise in using their tools to examine and challenge what they perceive as inequities. Both the festival and book fair will not just work with local artists and those from the territories but also with schools and civic groups.
We hope to highlight the need to strengthen and nurture the arts and cultural institutions that already exist, as well as encouraging the creation of new ones.
The festival will focus on poetry, prose literature, music and plays which will be presented and discussed by artists and audiences. Whilst the festival programming aims to celebrate creativity and discuss the important role that art can play within society in general, it will also explore how the artists have experienced acts of censorship.
Some of the topics that will be looked at are: whether different artists saw past acts of censorship differently; what the artists’ reaction was to such acts; and whether the artists, with the help of hindsight, now think that they should have made other choices at the time.
We are proud to have invited a range of guests including renowned artists, academics and commentators Mahamed Hashi Dhama “Gaariye” Maxamed Ibrahim Warsame “Hadraawi” Mahamed Yaasiin olaad (UAE) Macallin Dhoodaan, Prof: Salebaan Ahmed Guleid, Hassan Ganey, Musa Ali Faruur, Amina Cabdillahi, Sahra Ahmed, Kinsi Haaji Aden, Yusuf Sha’ir, Jamal Ali Hussien (Ivory cost), Mahamed Ismail “hudeydi” (UK), prof. Hussein Hassan Guuleed (Norway), Maxamed Baarood Cali, Prof. Daahir Maxamuud Xaddi, Ali Ahmed Rabi “Seenyo” Dr. Adan Yusuf Abokor, Jama Musse Jama (Italy), Siciid Jaamac Xuseen (UK) Mahamed Ahmed Kulu ( UK) Boobe Yusuf Ducaale, Abdi-nuur Allaale (Djibouti), Dr Maxamed Rashiid, Ibrahim Ismaacil Sugaal (Sooraan), Ahmed Sayid (sweden) Mahamed Hirsi (Sweden), Ciise Cabdi Ismaaciil (Samaale), Hassan Cabdi Madar, Dayib Askar, Abdirahman Yusuf Arten, Mahamed Hassan “Kayd” Sayid Ahmed( Sweden), Cabdillahi Awed Iggeh (UK), Mahamed Bashe (UK), Dr Xussien Abdillahi Bulhan, Abdalle Isman (Denmark), Mustafe A Nuur, Rashiid Sh Cabdillahi (UK), Ahmed Aw Geedi, Nimo Gabaydo, Dr Fadal, Dr Saad Ali shire (UK), Anab Wanweyn, Foosiya Hormuud,Mahamoud Ibrahim ( Norway) Faysal Aw Abdi “Anbalash” Mahamed Aw Ali Arten ” Haldeeq”, members from the local universities and readers clubsand many more.
Some of festival activities Wide range of books on display; authors will be available to sign books and talk to visitors. Visitors can browse and read at their leisure.
Visiting regional and Diaspora artists, plus local scholars and writers to discuss with general public topics including experience on cultural censorship, with poets and composers also presenting their work;
Young people on citizenship, human rights and personal freedom;
Women’s voices and presentation of 3 documentaries: Democracy,Peace-building and refugee lives in Europe;
‘Poetry in War and Peace’- New book on Somali artistic creativity in literature over last 200 years.
Biography which focuses on Mohamed Barud’s experience as former prisoner of conscience who was tried for high treason.
Local school classes of 30-40 students to attend Book Fair for an hour or more;Reader’s Clubs and how they will engage with freedom of expression;three plays; one on gender.
Hargeysa International Book Fair was launched for the first time in August 21-22, 2008 by REDSEA-ONLINE Foundation
The international aspect of the festival is an important part of our continued development and partnership work with artists and organisations in Somali speaking territories. The two festivals should help to facilitate collaboration and exchange between Somali territory based artists and those from the Diaspora Kayd Somali Arts and Culture is very grateful to NOVIB Netherland, Daallo Airleness, Sorrag, Dahabshiil Money Transfer Company, Progressio for supporting this initiative.
How Can I Contribute?
You can support Kayd by becoming a member, donating money and/or volunteering to help with Kayd activities. To become member or to volunteer for Kayd (either for the Mooge Festival in Hargiesa or for Somali Week Festival in London), please email ayan_mahamoud@kayd.org and tell us your interest – whether your reasons for wishing to join Kayd as a member, or the festival you are interested in helping with. If you are able to donate to Kayd or directly to one of the festivals;
You can deposit your contribution into our Dahabshiil Account D4256, Hargaisa.
You can also donate online using your Credit Card through paypal. In this case, kindly
follow the following URL http://www.hargeysabookfair.com/donate
-or you can deposit your contrabution to our UK accound; Natwest, Payable to Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, Account Number; 21131457, Sort code; 501005
or send a cheque to Oxford house, Kayd Somali Artist and Culture, Derbyshire Street, E2 6HG, payable to Kayd Somali Artist and Culture.
Join us at the exceptional festival in order to celebrate and explore the uniqueness of Somali art and culture.
For more information about the Festival’s Programme visit; www. kayd.org and http://www.hargeysabookfair.com or http://www.redsea-online.com More information about the program or/and stall please email to festival manager ayan_mahamoud@kayd.org
Best Wishes, Ayan Mahamoud
Managing Director
UK Tel: 0044(0)7903712949/ Somaliland 002522 4022737/ Email: ayan_mahamoud@kayd.org
Kayd promotes Somali Art & Culture through a broad combination of poetry, literature, music, film and discussions. We wish to contribute to the creation of a culture of tolerance in the context of an appreciation of the richness of Somali culture.
Website: www.kayd.org company registration 06851116
Hargeisa, 20 May 2009 – The Somaliland President, Mr.Dahir Rayale Kahin and his delegation currently visiting Kuwait met with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al Jabir Al Sabah this past Tuesday, June 16th, 2009.
According to sources from the Horn of Africa Newspaper, the meeting took place at the offices of the Emir of Kuwait and was attended by the Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs minister, Mr. Mohamed Sabah Al Salem.
President Rayale and his delegation, which includes the Somaliland minister of Education and the presidential staff departed for Kuwait last Sunday at the invitation of the Kuwaiti government from the port city of Berbera.
The Somaliland delegation were also the guest of the Emir of Kuwait at a luncheon held in their honour attended by several prominent members of the Kuwaiti business community, according the Horn of Africa Newspaper sources in Kuwait City.
Hargeisa, 20 June 2009 – The United States Agency for International Development and Western Union have launched the African Diaspora Marketplace, a business-development program that will support the U.S.-based African diaspora in creating plans for sustainable start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. The program will also provide grant funding to between ten and twenty small and medium businesses with the strongest proposals for boosting economic opportunity and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa through diaspora-driven development.
The initiative, which includes a research component, is designed to demonstrate the impact that entrepreneurs from the world’s diaspora or migrant communities can have on development in their home countries.
Proposals must be implemented in one of the following Sub-Saharan African countries where USAID has both on-the-ground presence and potential technical assistance programs for entrepreneurs: Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. To participate, candidates must be a member (or members) of the Sub-Saharan African diaspora living in the United States as a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and must have a local partner in the country of implementation.
A selection committee will review initial proposals and identify qualifying applicants who will be requested to submit a comprehensive business plan for evaluation. Program finalists will be provided with guidance and technical assistance in developing their business plans. The grant selection panel will evaluate final business plans and select grant recipients based on criteria that include the business idea and management framework, prospects for sustainability, capacity to leverage diaspora resources, and results orientation.
Grants will range from $50,000 to $100,000 each.
For complete program information, including the full list of eligibility criteria, visit the African Diaspora Marketplace Web site http://www.diasporamarketplace.org
Hargeisa, 20 June 2009 – The speaker of the Somali parliament called the neighboring countries for an immediate military intervention within 24 hours to save the government from the Islamist. In a press conference in Mogadishu, Mr. Aden said the government is in a very dangerous situation of not saved from the armed militias.
The speaker called the international community and the neighboring countries to interfere the situation in Somalia and help government fight against the Alqaedah and their allies in the country. He said the Alshabab represent the terrorist in the country and want to make Somalia a base where they can attack other countries in the world.
This is the first call of its kind since the Sharif government was elected in Djibouti last year. The Alshabab militia wages an aggressive attack on the government in the country saying the current government is a puppet for the western countries and Ethiopia. Although the government voted for the Sharia Law to be ruled in Somalia but that did not stop the armed Islamist groups to continue their fighting against the government.
Sources close to IGAD told Somalilandpress the possibility of Kenya and Ethiopia intervention with the logistic and intelligence assistance of America in order to stop Alshabab militia from expanding to the country.
The Stockholm based Warya TV gave unprecedented coverage to KULMIYE opposition party leader, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo’s recent visit to Sweden.
The less than two-year-old Warya TV gave its audience a constant video and audio streaming broadcast from the various events making Silanyo’s two-day visit to Sweden as the most viewed Somali event in the history of cyberspace.
Warya TV website experienced an unprecedented user traffic levels in the first day of the event when Silanyo was being presented a gold medallion, the first of its kind, for his unflinching devotion and undaunted courage as the leader of the Somali National Movement (SNM) guerrillas that waged armed struggle against the military junta of the late Mohammed Siyad Barre, ending Barre’s 21 years of iron-fist rule in Somalia.
Warya TV recorded a phenomenal 180,000 hits in the first day of Silanyo’s visit to Sweden alone, which stands testament to the popularity of the former guerrilla leader among the Somalilanders in the Diasporas.
The pictures and video footages coming from Warya TV from the moment Silanyo set his foot on Stockholm-Arlanda Airport to the moment of his departure awed many who have witnessed the event. After his warm reception in London last month, Silanyo has been just as enthusiastically greeted – by politicians and Somaliland population alike – on his arrival in Sweden.
“Silanyo may have enjoyed a celebrity-like status that no Somali leader had enjoyed since the downfall of the last Somali government but, in fact, it was the Somalilander-Swedes who basked in the glory of a two-day visit by a man who is seen by many as a symbol of the struggle for Somaliland’s freedom,” said Kasim Abdulkadir, Director of Warya TV.
Warya TV also covered the highly publicised 18 May Somaliland Independence Day celebrations in Stockholm, which the Swedish Foreign Minister’s wife, Anna Maria Corazza Bild, and other dignitaries attended. The pictures and videos appeared in the popular Swedish.
Hargeisa, 19 May 2009 – Some people try to dismiss the accusations of the IGAD, AU, UN, USA, and other organizations or countries against Eritrea’ s distractive role in Somalia, for supplying armaments, training, and other support to Al-Shebab and Tahir Aweys group to dismantle the internationally recognized TFG and AMISOM.
The main argument of these individuals is that Eritrea’s economy is going down the drain, where let alone to finance such forces in Somalia, it cannot even feed its oversized army of perpetual National Service recruits. Eritrea’s currency (the Nakfa) is valued at 40 to $1 and there is hardly anything to export from Eritrea because the government has gone to the extent of confiscating cereals from its peasant population to ration it to its civil servants and the security operatives. These people can be called as naïve or the simpletons who only read what is given to them by some quarters.
To really understand how the Eritrean government operates to get money, one needs to look into its systems that Shaebia has followed and perfected since its inception in 1977. The first principle it follows is to work as a commission agent to earn an income, with no qualms to any principles. This system can be demonstrated by stating only one example which the Eritrean government openly used on DR Congo’s government during the late President Kabila’s time. Eritrea had appointed Ambassador Andebirhan to both Brussels and Kinshasa then for good reason.
Here, one may think there is no logic to such an appointment because Brussels and Kinshasa are worlds apart to be covered by a single ambassador. But, the logic of the Eritrean government at the time was that its army and other cadres, which were in DRC in the name of assisting the Kinshasa government, were assigned to collect diamonds and other precious metals from the black market agents as much as it can and send it direct to Ambassador Andebirhan via diplomatic valise to Brussels to be sold in the Antwerp and Amsterdam markets. This scheme earned the Eritrean government a hefty income which enabled the government finances its invasion of Ethiopia and the Ambassador to pay in cash for the embassy premises in Brussels.
This kind of scheme can only be conceived by the Eritrean government which has no scruples about diplomatic ethic ate. Similarly, as the IGAD Communiqué of 20 May 2009 indicated, the Eritrean government is working as a commission agent for Al-Sheba, Hizbu-al Islam, etc. to provide the necessary training, armaments of all types and their transportation to various airfields in Somalia, fast boats to the pirates, etc.
In addition to this, countries like Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt (each for a different reason), and other movements like Hezbollah transfer their financial and armament support under the cover of Eritrea. The history of the Eritrean government to engage in such dealings can be traced to its relationship with the Darfur and Beja rebels of the Sudan, the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, and other opposition groups in the region which is well documented within the UN reports and specific country/government documents. Last year, the Sri Lankan government was forced to appeal to the UN Security Council to stop Eritrea’s meddling in its internal affairs.
In conclusion, there is nothing that the Eritrean government will not do to earn foreign currency, especially these days. Some of its investments mainly in the Middle East, though not in the name of the State of Eritrea, have been greatly affected by the current financial crisis. Similarly, the 2% forced tax collected from its diasporas as a requirement to visit or even to support their families in Eritrea is drying up due to the strengthening movement and communication by the opposition. Another ill advised source of support is of course the recent financial aid from the European Commission, more than 120 million Euros with no conditionality of the Cotonou Agreement, three times the per capita allocation to Ethiopia (population 80 million) from the same source.
The irony of the EU assistance to Eritrea, in the name of engagement to use Commissioner Luis Michel?s terms, is that it has also pledged to give 60 million Euros to the TFG of Somalia which is being required to secure the whole country first before it is able to access the funds. It looks like the EU is determined to finance both warring sides in Somalia despite its public pronouncements to support the internationally recognized TFG.
Beledweyne, 18 June 2009 – Somalia’s Security Minister Omar Hashi Aden has been killed in a suicide car bomb attack north of the capital Mogadishu, witnesses and officials say.
Somali diplomats were also reportedly among at least 10 people killed in the blast at a hotel in Beledweyne.
Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed blamed al-Shabab, which later claimed the attack. The guerrilla group has been accused of links to al-Qaeda.
On Wednesday, at least 10 people died when a mortar hit a Mogadishu mosque.
In Thursday’s attack, witnesses said a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the Medina Hotel in Beledweyne, some 400km (249 miles) north of Mogadishu.
Most of the victims were burnt beyond recognition after the explosion, a local medic was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
Abdulkarim Ibrahim Lakanyo, a former Somali ambassador to Ethiopia, was reportedly among those killed in the blast.
Mr Aden had recently moved to Beledweyne, a town close to the Ethiopian border, in an effort to stop Islamist insurgents gaining more ground in Somalia, the BBC’s Will Ross in Nairobi says.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991 and some four million people – one-third of the population – need food aid, aid agencies say.
Al-Shabab belongs to a force of radical Islamic militants, which has been trying to topple the fragile UN-backed government for three years.
President Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, took office in Somalia in January but even his introduction of Sharia law to the strongly Muslim country has not appeased the guerrillas.
On Wednesday, Mogadishu’s police commander was killed during an attack on insurgent bases.
And the UN refugee agency’s representative to Somalia said the recent bloodletting in the failed Horn of African state was the “worst ever” in nearly two decades of chaos.
Hargeisa, 18 June 2009 Unlike every other breakaway state in the world Somaliland is more functional than the territory it wants to decouple from. The fact that Somalia is the country it wants shot of makes its case even more compelling because today it is impossible to find a better example of a failed state.
Somaliland’s argument for recognition rests on two pillars: peace and democracy, but both are more fragile than they seem.
Sporadic fighting with its federalist eastern neighbor Puntland, which wants to stay part of Somalia but have a greater degree of freedom, kills soldiers and uproots civilians from time to time.
And in October last year the peace was violently shattered when coordinated suicide bombings here in Hargeisa ripped through the President’s office, Ethiopia’s trade mission and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) headquarters. Human rights group have criticized the ensuing security clampdown.
But the most pressing worry is for Somaliland’s nascent democracy. Delayed Presidential elections are now due in September, more than a year late, but the pre-election process has been shambolic.
The seven-strong National Election Commission is widely viewed as incompetent, largely for its disastrous handling of the country’s first-ever voter registration exercise. “The voter register was supposed to prevent fraud,” said one exasperated civil society activist, “but the registration itself was fraudulent!”
Double and triple registration resulted in a register so bloated as to be un-useable: in the last Parliamentary election 675,000 people voted, four years on and the NEC has registered a frankly unbelievable 1.3-million throwing the prospect of free and fair elections into doubt.
There are, however, a couple of positive signs. The first is Somalilanders commitment to peace which has become a national characteristic that even a faulty election may not disrupt.
The second is the willingness of politicians to accept results in good grace: last time around the main opposition consented to a defeat by only 80 votes; recently the incumbent President, Dahir Rayale Kahin, told me: “I will run and whether I succeed or not I will accept the result.”
But if there are either dubious elections or further delays Somaliland’s hopes of – and argument for – international recognition will have suffered a major setback as will its reputation as an oasis of stability in a badly run region.
