Rebuttal of Mohamed Hassan Matan’s Preposterous Article

Rebuttal of Mohamed Hassan Matan's Preposterous Article

A recent article, written of course in Somali and appeared in Harowo.com by the above-mentioned author, has pre-empted a planned conference intended to bring some members of the Awdal Diaspora communities together in Minneapolis to deliberate and eventually map out their future destiny. The author has done every effort to pre-judge and even downplay the outcome of the said conference without having the slightest clue of what the contents (agenda) of the conference will be. Without mentioning names, he tried to rubbish the organizers of the conference before they even put things together. He has further gone to suggest that the organizers of the said conference have evil intentions i.e. to undermine the current leadership of Somaliland who currently facing an election in the summer. The positive thing about our community in Awdal and Salal is that there is a diversity of opinion as far as local politics are concerned, and this is the point the author should keep in mind when campaigning for his party, UDUD. One should not expect the support of Awdal and Salal community to be handed on a plate to the current leadership who has nothing to show for the period they were in office, eight long years.

It is a common knowledge for Awdal diaspora communities all over the world as well as those who live back home that our folks in North America are at the forefront of every endeavor intended to improve the lives of their unfortunate communities back home. There is no better example than the latest state of the art hospital funded and built in Borama by Amoud Foundation, a selfless Awdal Diaspora group based in Texas, USA. Another typical example of projects implemented by Awdal's Diaspora community based in North America is what is locally known as Iqra projects, a number of primary and junior schools scattered all over Northern and Eastern Awdal as well as Salal which facilitated the provision of free education for thousands of youngsters who would have otherwise ended in the major cities of towns as street beggars. These projects were made possible by the selfless efforts of Iqra group, another Awdal affiliated group based mainly in North America. Amoud University, the beacon of Somaliland, which attracted its students from all over Somalia, let alone Somaliland, was financed largely by Awdal's Diaspora community, particularly those based in the Arabian Gulf, mainly UAE and Saudi Arabia. Another Diaspora community organization based in Toronto, ARDA, has many surprises for Awdal and Salal in the immediate future.

You have to struggle to remember a single meaningful project funded and implemented by the current leadership of Awdal i.e. Dahir Rayaale and his company. There are, of course, some home-based groups or individuals who tried all they could to help their people, but they are often undermined by the same leadership Mohamed Hassan Matan is trying to portray as the saviors of our community back in Awdal and Salal. The current leadership of Awdal who are also at the helm of Somaliland could not say a word, let alone express their condolence for those butchered and their body mutilated on the Gabiley – Borama road, while they are happy to send their condolence to every single death in Somaliland. Almost all the development projects in Awdal and Salal are both funded and implemented by the Diaspora community, particularly those in North America, or by the local and international NGOs.

We all know that our Awdal leadership is well off financially than they have ever been, despite their community being poorer than they ever have been. Everyone who has the interest of his/her community at heart should be positive about anything that can make meaningful and positive contributions to the development of his/her community. It has always been the case that the saviors of failed or impoverished countries throughout the world come from afar i.e. foreign countries. Countries like Somalia (Somaliland) should be no different. Any contribution that may come from the planned conference in Minneapolis should be viewed as positive.

A community as impoverished as ours should welcome any projects that could improve their lives wherever those live-saving projects may come from. And the fact of the matter is that they all come from Awdal Diaspora in Europe and North America, with the latter always taking the lion's share; none whatsoever from current leadership in Awdal.

The days of smooth talking (afmiishaarnimo) while emptying the pockets of our poor community have long gone with the last recognized government of Somalia, or so I thought. For those hailed from Awdal and Salal who have nothing to offer to their community, the best thing to do is to keep their loud mouths shut, and let the hardworking members of their community do the talking i.e. do the job. From experience point of view, I know many people who did little in terms of improving the lives of their poverty-stricken community and yet their names are well known for the all the wrong reasons. People like Mohamed Hassan Matan are all talks but no trousers.

Mohamed F Yabarag

myabarag@yahoo.co.uk