Somaliland:We Should be a Society which Shuns Corruption

Somaliland:We Should be a Society which Shuns Corruption




What Really Causes Corruption in Africa?

What are the causes of corruption? Why do people choose to be corrupt rather than honest? in Somaliland, corruption has been a topic of discussion and in most cases in Mosques, the Imams, are preaching and praying that corruption has to be eradicated, in classrooms, university lectures and parliaments, but has there been a discussion on what really causes corruption in our beautiful land of the brave?

It’s only by finding out the root of the problem that the main problem can be solved.

A comprehensive dossier, or reports out this week have exposed that the entire Eu institutions are all corrupt, the very people that lectures and preaches,the rest of the world about anti corruption and promoting equality transparency and accountability.

So this is not an African problem or issue any more, it is worldwide syndrome. The most corrupted country on earth is the USA, all their congress and senators are millionaires, to be politician in the USA you need to be a shrewd, business minded person. They act like gangsters talk like Mia, and steal other country’s natural resources gas, oil gold and minerals. The very people that dominate American Foreign Policy are the biggest crooks of all the U,S stock brokers, bankers arm dealers the hawks and war mongers, The C,E,O oil companies,

All they do for a living, is to sanctioning illegal and in moral wars, in order to illegally occupied sovereign countries by toppling legitimate governments in the process and replacing, with useless weak, and undemocratic hand, picked,puppet authorities the so_ called green zone protection, government, which is friendly to their Geo business interests.

Since The economic melt down caused by the bankers,of the U,S and and Europe the bankers, bail out made the already rich, richer and the poor, the poorer, forcing many families homeless, welfare cut, and unemployment is all time high in mainline Europe. So now we all know who really benefited, from the Libya and Iraq war, and subsequently controls Libya and Iraq oil fields.

, Whilst the rest of the country in Iraq and Libya falls into the hand of warlords, jihadist, extremist, and in complete anarchy. Well this is the price innocent people have to pays for the wrong doing of others, driven, and motivated, by greed, money and power, by any means necessary.

So therefore it is vitally important that we should strive and inspire to create a fair,and just society based on Islamic values, whereby, we support and look after the needy and the most disadvantage in our communities.

In conclusion Somaliland political leaders of all parties, needs to understand the people that put them in power expect delivery and value for money not, a cheap political point scoring, and squabbling.

By: Ali A. Ismail Dheeg Burco___ Somaliland

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPOCRISY BASED ON TRIBALISM AND SINCERITY

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYPOCRISY BASED ON TRIBALISM AND SINCERITY

Prior writing the article, I have attempted on various occasions influencing one three men to acknowledge recognize as discreditable deeds

I have the culture of writing my diary as this determine our way of ideas ,thoughts, judgments and accepted wisdom . Less than month ago, I have gone with three of my relatives for coffee occasion in house belong to one of the three men. Although all of us were of same clan, however, the three men were of same sub-clan. Even though the event that I was witnessed appears to be very unpleasant and dishonored to every standard, I have decided to reveal to the public as could help the society in event of reporting the same.

Prior writing the article, I have attempted on various occasions influencing one three men to acknowledge recognize as discreditable deeds, which


I observe the other night, but unfortunately, the gentleman I had in contact over a month failed to understand the bad picture of the story. Then I decided to reveal the same to the society. Initially the three men were advocating how unit our clan, but eventually landed down to sub clan and that is why I titled the event as hypocrisy exercise. One hand, they are telling me unit, but practically they are engaged dividing us. Below is how the narrative begins.



To start what occurred while we are discussing the share issues related to current affairs of Somali land, the eldest among us start put in the picture that all the clans of Somali land are against our clan. As the story goes further, he bring to a close that their sub-clan is more superior in comparison with the rest of us. I did not act in response reason being, there was a guest who recently come from home that I feel not notice the bad picture of the situation although even the visitor also was from a same sub-clan. That means we were the ratio of one against four. Taken above event into consideration, I decided writing an article about tribalism based on hypocris

Hypocrisy is the noun form of the adjective hypocritical, both of which words deal with falsehood. The word does not exist. Much as it may offend our personal tastes, the appearance of any particular word is completely irrelevant. The inconvenient truth of the matter is that spelling and context are the only things that count when it comes to accurate expression. Hypocrisy is the state of falsely claiming to possess virtuous characteristics that one lacks. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie. Nothing is more unjust, however common, than to charge with hypocrisy him that expresses zeal for those virtues which he neglects to practice; since he may be sincerely convinced of the advantages of conquering his passions, without having yet obtained the victory, as a man may be confident of the advantages of a voyage, or a journey, without having courage or industry to undertake it, and may honestly recommend to others, those attempts which he neglects himself. The word hypocrisy from Greek word which means which means "jealous", "play-acting", "acting out", "coward" or "dissembling. A promise is a cloud and fulfillment is rain. Small deeds are better than great deeds planned. Contradictory vision of the hypocrisy is the following.

Sincerity cannot be faked. Sincerity of peaceful purpose attested by deeds. Sincerity of feeling, intent and presentation touches the hearts of everyone. But what exactly defines sincerity? And how do you achieve it? No other formula exists for sincerity than to be sincere by being genuine, having faith and trust in yourself, and just being rather than trying to project something that you are not. At the same way alone as you do when in the presence of others. This is the real you and this is the person that people will warm to and trust. If you try too hard to be what you think other people want to see in you, the result will not be sincere and you will spend a lot of time projecting a persona that is not a real part of yourself. That is not only hard work but is ultimately insincere

Your beliefs must become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions.” Belief means nothing without actions. Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny

One of the great tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and sayings. The sentiment behind the saying actions speak louder than words is expressed in many cultures. Another way of looking at this old saying, “actions speak louder than words,” is as a guide for how to live life. Actions should meet verbal obligations or sentiments, and they should not contradict them. If a person constantly talks about the plight of the poor but never thinks of donating to a charity or in any way mitigating that plight, their words have a hollowness or empty quality.

However there is certainly evidence that actions speak than louder than words in a variety of circumstances. The parent who tells a child not to smoke and then lights a cigarette is unlikely to convince that child of the evils of smoking. This has been proven by statistical information showing the greater likelihood of children becoming smokers if their parents smoke. Clearly, in some instances, actions will influence more than words, and though words remain powerful, how people act may mitigate the effects of language, or prove its power. In the end, let us compare hypocrisy and sincerity and chose the appropriate one that can develop society to further progress. The English quote what dictate that “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” is based on truthful evidence. a narrative of English song says the following : We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colors and all cultures are distinct & individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don't share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive. The readers of the article is free to respond how do they react or observe with the subject article.

Rabasoro55@hotmail.co.uk

Ismail lugweyne http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Al-Shabab don’t Bribe Youth, they inspire them---OPINION

Al-Shabab don’t Bribe Youth, they inspire them

by Daud Ed Osman
Thursday, January 9, 2014

The leaders of Somali Federal Government reiterated that Al-Shabab (Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist in Somalia) is defeated, disbanded and internally polarized and the remaining pockets that are hiding in the hinterland are to be apprehended by Somali Government security forces with the assistance of African Union contingency forces in Somalia.

This statement is misleading and it shows the Federal governments lack of comprehension of the nature of Al-shabab and the deficiency of its security strategy (if there is any) to deal with Al-Shabab. This statement perceives Al-Shabab as though it is a conventional military and mere effective use of concerted military campaign is tantamount to Al-Shabab’s defeat.

Al-Shabab is extremist group, but it is also local insurgency group that relish many advantages that maintain its existence, and allow them to recruit and train as many young Somalis as they can possibility accommodate including freelance foreign jihadist, for their delusional quest.

It is important to note that many of the significant dynamics that propelled Al-Shabab to prominence are still intact and they continues totap this comparative advantage - to use economics concept. Some of these dynamics are demography/youth bulge, presence of foreign/no Muslim troops, dysfunctional government, rampant corruption, existence of political framework that alienates youth population, presence of extremely high rate of youth unemployment, and lack of other economic and educational opportunities.

The biggest obstacle in terms of security is not the difficulty of finding viable security strategy, butabsence of government effort to devise smart security strategy that take into consideration the reality on the ground.

Any sustainable security strategy in Somalia must include two components; one is law enforcement andjudicial system component such as strengthening security sectoras well ascreating functioning judiciary system. The second component is removing, altering or modifying the factorsmention above that give Al-Shabab an advantage over the Federal government.

The first component offers temporary remedy to the security problem by reducing Al-Shabab’s capacity to carry out well-coordinated, large-scale suicide bombing followed by indiscriminate killing such as the one in theBanadir Regional Court in Mogadishu in April 14, 2013 that left 29 innocent civilians dead,deadly suicide bombing in United Nations Development Program (UNDP) head quarter in Mogadishu that killed 15 people in June 19, 2013,July 12, 2003 suicide car bomb in Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu which left five people dead, more resent attack in Aljazeera Hotel which is less than a kilometer from the International Airport, andthe devastating attack in the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya that created international fury and highlighted Al-Shabab’s complexity, resourcefulness, skill  and its overall resilience that defy the existing paradigm and conventional analytical tools.

Many analysts, commentators and Federal Government leaders were predicting the demise of Al-Shabab, by highlighting some of Al-Shabab’s internal schism that led to defection, infighting and execution of some of its high ranking leaders such as Ibrahim Haji Jama, better known (Ibrahim AL Afghani),Abdihamid Hashi olhaye nicknamed (Sheikh Burhan), Muqtar Robow  alias (Abu Mansur), and Hassan DahirAweys who is currently held by the Somali Federal Government.

Even the Somalia Federal Government’s handling of Hassan DahirAwey’s case, after he escaped with his life from Al-Shabab leader; demonstrate that Somali Federal Government’s inability to exploit this rare opportunity and its failure to create policy that exacerbate this internal schism, which is the result of irreconcilable doctrinal division that would allow the Federal Government the potential defectors and create the opportunity to access better intelligence from Al-Shabab network and its underwriters.

---

Daud Ed Osman
daciid@gmail.com

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Somaliland:Face the Music: Somaliland Met “Talibanized” Police Rounding Up Djibouti Sports Team on Visit

Somaliland:Face the Music: Somaliland Met “Talibanized” Police Rounding Up Djibouti Sports Team on Visit



The Djibouti Basket Players whom arrested for wearing sportswear (source: Halbeegnews.net)

On August 25 of this year Djibouti basket players went to Hargaysa, Somaliland for friendly match. Less than an hour of their arrival, “ Talibanized” police officers were deployed to contain unusual threat as eye witnesses were assuming—many thought de-miners were defusing landmines in nearby or Somaliland terror returnee from Somalia is on the run and he needs to be captured because passersby were told to vacate the place . There was large number of police everywhere as far as the eye can see but people finally seen the police looking at the two dudes wearing headphones and going ape.

Some people is said to invoke the police to act and arrest those players dressed in western attire, nonetheless; if those people were rational why not call the police to 20 cases of brutal murder that occurred in Hargaysa in the last month alone instead of the trivialities. Sultan Mohamed Abdiqadir “ Dhabeye” spoke of police’s negligence when it comes to murder cases. “Dozens of murder cases occurred in the last months alone without single perpetrators brought to justice” he angrily said.

Of the arrest, new passersby crowded again to enquire what crime they committed. “The way they dressed is anathema and blasphemy” said beardy police man. Some rational witnesses asked if such insignificant can provide enough reason to deploy police and why reinventing the wheel. People saw the two sportsmen looked shocked once handcuffed and led to cockroaches-infested prison in Hargaysa which fleas are commonplace. What could you imagine could happen to foreigners unable to speak Somali if Somaliland is recognized while this backward mentality still is the dominant? Djibouti national team was on friendly match to play with their counterparts in Somaliland but their visit turned tragic when they were thrown behind bars for dressing beyond the Sharia Law: wearing shorts, t-shirts ,and necklaces .The boys were wearing shorts below knee, in other words, they were modestly dressed to an extent they can say their prayers with it but all of sudden, Islamist police who, according to local sources, penetrated into core of the law enforcement agencies intercepted them soon after they came out of the hotels they were residing and ensured putting them behind bars! This naked violation of their rights met no condemnation either by the government or human rights NGOs.

The national games recently held were played with widely known standard uniforms of FIFA: the shorts and sleeveless T-shirts according to televised footages, no Sharia compliant robes were televised if I am not wrong, but that was without any consequences upon players. By the way, what is difference between those and the arrested ones? Somaliland claims to be genuine democracy, but; closely examining the underlying forces, it does not add up because one “handsome as handsome does”.

It is a sad event that Somali-speaking sportsmen from Djibouti were arbitrarily detained in Hargaysa in broad daylight by so called Police officers to force them to a certain dress code in their fantasy. Imagine what would happen to European investors relocated from Saudi Kingdom? Eye witnesses said the police wearing uniform like any other constables of the free world but acting like Taliban ones in Kandahar. But where are the police men whom trained by British police trainers with European taxpayers’ money during Riyale’s administration? Did they all go into hiding when president attached mysteries if not outright criminals with badges on their shoulders? Where is the freedom of lifestyle which SNM had fought for? Basically, the young men were not enough Muslim in the police perspective. But, some counter-argue that the police were only obeying orders probably from radical officers in the police ranks but not necessarily fanatics themselves.

The police forces are recently recruited from Buroa town locally known as the “The Kabul of The Horn” stronghold for Al-qaeda Muslim types and epicenter of bigotry are rocking the boat, two Guantanamo Bay ex-inmates live there.

Somaliland so called sport ministry unfortunately did not apologize the horrific act even after the athletics were released, moreover; the clergy so far kept silent to confuse those whom indirectly affected by the brutalities of the police. The body of Ulimas or Islamic scholars always shut their mouth when events like occur to keep Somalia’s Islam ambiguous, they unable to oppose the new trends coming back from Yemen or Morocco.

To discredit the media frenzy and, the government begun to engage in massive media campaign to whitewash the terrible event but they can’t rewrite history.

The last Ramadan, the restaurants were entirely shut down, police were patrolling in the streets to monitor if people attend at the foodstuffs outlets to buy some canned food and eat indoors, the police couldn’t imagine patients and women in period are there and Islam has allowed such great sector of the society to eat in public without any sin and need some restaurants kept open. Islam in Somaliland is forced to worshippers’ throat unlike the will of the people in the past.

This bizarre behavior of the police wasn’t born out of vacuum, it must have relationship of their spiritual training to behave certain ways in place aspiring to be the newest capital of the world, but Arabian trained preachers have forget to tell them the nature of relationship between faiths and cultures at the time of sport let alone Muslims players. This prejudice towards fellow Djibouti basketball players, not foreigners, however; may undermine the whole of project of independence. Does anyone in the free world want to recognize “totalitarian democracy-cum-theocracy” run by intolerant, old-fashioned police that chained and handcuffed innocent Somali-speaking simply for the allegation of wearing sportswear? Capitals including Jeddah or the Vatican City have vibrant nightlife and social meetings for tourists, but in our world that is closed book to us. There so much policing than Islam had allowed? Did you comb your hair according to Sheikh Muqbal, etc? what a social hypocricy! Did your toilet islamically designed and so on and so forth? That is why Islamists in the central Somalia banned the bra and napkins because it is an infidel product while they enjoying downloading the liberal adult movies into the latest gadgets like smart phones and apple unblocked by any Somali telecoms owned by Islamist businessmen.

Traditional weddings are often hold in closed compounds and more or less are very selective parties to avoid the born-again-Muslims of Mercenery Wahabi reformer preachers.

Madarasa and Islamic Centers in Somaliland are third rate and very often below the required standard if not on par with Gondahar. Therefore; they are Garbage in garbage out.

Such heinous act reveals the true color of who the hell we are despite claims of democracy. Somaliland and Somalia is fundamentally the same thing, both controlled by militants of the same mentality and financed by Arabian alms and thus no much reason to detach one from the other.

Many analysts say Silanyo’s election campaign was heavily influenced and bankrolled by Islamists, so there is no wonder today to see Hargaysa looking like Gandahar where passersby are stopped to check their dress code to meet Sharia Law. Somaliland finally has turned into little Afghanistan, of what many have considered the prayers of Godanites were answered by God.

Does Somaliland could be ever an independent country which foreigners both Muslims and non-Muslims go for work and live without fear? Did Somaliland is gradually turning into dictatorial regime or we misunderstand it and inflate our expectations? I leave readers to judge.

After of 22 years of democratization, Hargaysa recently labeled as the “Rape Capital” of Somalia by the world press due to unprecedented scale of gang rapes took the path of Mogadishu where police officers are acting like Taliban Police of Vices and Virtues who are directly controlled by Mullah Omar and his ilk, while the world was expecting us to reach political maturity to engage in real world, not superficial issues.

The issue of Somaliland being democracy blended with outdated theocracy is not just grey area but as a reality; many foreign powers who were advocating the secession begun to have second thought of the secession. This is not mere assertion but backed by clear cut evidences, if the West wasn’t backed off the secession when president Silanyo turned to rogue states like Iran and the monarchies, the venue of Somalia and Somaliland Talks wasn’t be in Turkey but in the UK or EU.

However, the reunification euphoria in Somaliland is all time high because the last election simply incredibly empowered and fulfilled the agendas of the Islamists who abhor disunity and horrified by the concept of Muslim lands balkanization. In Hargaysa, once the ex-capital of Somaliland but now the second largest city in Somalia according to the recent deal joint airports coordination treaty in Turkey, the secession is a taboo in some ministries and most criminals in ex-Riyale led administration are in key ministries and in intelligence offices. How time brings its change! The “Akhwanisation” of political narrative has taken over Somaliland radically altering the rules of engagement forever.

for instance, the beheading of Ibrahim known as “ Afghani”, who co-masterminded Hargaysa suicide bombing which cost the lives of 30 people and injured more drew mountain of sorrows in Hargaysa and elsewhere like a kind of prophet has passed away; like Najashi, Abyssinian Muslim emperor, some radicals even held state funeral in absentia in Hargaysa for his name, a raw fact that Islamists have dominated Hargaysa and still have the appetite to impose their radical Paki-Suadi version of Islam on us despite the military defeat in Somalia, however, they might be deterred by US sophisticated weapons: Drones and satellite spy technology that can detect thousands of miles beneath the earth exposing cave hideouts to smart bombardiers .

Mohamed Ali Waran’adde, the new interior minister of Somaliland said he cracked a joke with mullah by saying “how I can trust you when a Sheikh, holier than thou, of bigger beard or faith and religiosity has murdered his fellow brethren of his skin” referring Godane’s recent beheading of his like-minded and closest comrade-in-terror which forced Sheikh Aways to escape from his 30 year old terror mentor though he could be his grandfather.

Similarly, Shiekh Dahir Aways’s house arrest, too, triggered massive protests in support of him by his victims in Mogadishu where he sanctioned mass murder of innocents and meted out multiple suicide bombing to chronically impoverished and famine-stricken society. He also dared to demand a mansion in Mogadishu or to be deported to Qatar, like his colleague, Sheikh Sharif who currently studies in Boston probably to be reinstalled as the future president of Somalia.

But Somalilanders don’t realize that they live in such hellish conditions of unnecessary policing over their lives on daily basis as they get used to because these arbitrary arrests are the norm. By the way, old fashioned police of Virtues of in Infidel uniforms in pre-Islamic periods have got us by the short and curlies. We’ve no choice but to passively agree.

Mr. Dirye is Somaliland Activist and Senior Editor at Democracy Chronicles At African Edition. Email: dirye@democracychronciles.com/mrdirye@gmail.com

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Mr.Somaliland: President: Accurate Public Information and regular contacts with your people is the way forward.

Mr.Somaliland: President: Accurate Public Information and regular contacts with your people is the way forward.

“What people hear directly from their President represents the main and the most credible source of information and has the highest news value.”

By: |Eng. Hussein Adan Igeh| (Hussein Deyr) |UK|

You’re Excellency Mr. President,

Communicating with your citizens, clearly and regularly, is the best way to build up and maintain a warm and healthy relationship with the people of this country. You can get the public easily on your side by keeping them informed and engaged with all the important developments, what’s going on in the country, state of affairs of the government, ups and downs and in which direction our country is going to. What the people hear directly from their President is what counts the most; it is the main and the most credible source of information. From the moment the President makes his speech and addresses the nation, practically all other information sources have little news value and everything they tell you afterwards is no longer interesting. Because the President has spoken to his people!!



However, when the government omits to inform, update and engage its citizens(with a well measured information sources); the untruths, provocative and propaganda reporting take their place. In that case, we will have to do with such unrealistic situation wherethe real information and facts on the groundwill beoverpowered by lies, untruths and unfounded story telling. The consequences thereof are enormous: the government’s economic and social advancementobjectives will be held hostage and overshadowedby mendacious media; the government’s efforts to improve living conditions of its citizens will be less appreciated and will have the opposite effect of the one intended; Somaliland citizens will be increasingly sceptical towards their government with all unpleasant consequences afterwards!



Pessimistic Media Reporting and their intent:

Mr. President, as you may aware, some Somaliland’s indigenous media groups (at home and abroad) have always a tendency to spread tittle-tattle stories, rumours and an unfounded news-items with only one goal in mind: to sell more copies or to attract more audience. They leave no stone unturned to destabilize our country; they are knowingly and willingly creating a climate of collective confusion among the brotherly people of the Republic of Somaliland. They create mistrust and unsubstantiated stories that consumes much of life and energy of Somalilanders.

The scope and effect of such negativemediareporting is to mislead the public, to influence and reinforce a negative public perception towards the current government, portraying your government as ineffective, a government that cannot fulfil its promises and therefore not suitable to run the country. If a proper counter-measurement action from the government fails to happen,then Somaliland citizens will be more receptive to believe in such downbeat media coverage.



Good Information & Public Awareness Building:

It is particularly crucial that your government combat and challenge the emerging media influence on the ordinary Somaliland citizen. Good information, public awareness building and an active involvement of country’s citizens is the best way in which can be dealt with the negative impact of some biased-media outlets. I believe it is the duty of the government to provide its citizen an accurate and reliable information sources. In that case you are one step further than all misinformation or propaganda coverage and you let them all to remain silent.



In order to trim down media influence on your governments social, economic, security relevant issues as well as foreign affairs policies; with a sincere and unequivocal intention I would like to extend the following minor advises:



The less the President speaks to the people, the more there will be questionable and unsubstantiated hearsay stories, whereby people will have a tendency to believe in such distorted information. A regular (monthly) TV/ Radio Nationwide Speech in which you address the nation and explain them your government policies and actions would be very desirable. Your speech represents the highest news value and will be regarded as the major news and information sources. This approach will not only restore your contact and relations with your citizens, but it will also enhance people’s confidence in your government. Therefore, a Regular Presidential Speech to the nation would be the best remedy against the unprofessional and paparazzi media greed.



Embark sometimes “a listening tour” across the countryto explore and see through your own eyes how the daily lives of your citizen’s looks like and what is happening among your people on street level. Standing close to the ordinary people and hearing their voices will definitely boost the public morale.This approach will also reduce the negative media influence on the public attitude towards your government.



I believe it might be more prudent if your government could reduce theunnecessary Media-Interaction by some high rank government officials, which sometimes leads to a preventable confusion among the public! The ministers and other officials in every department should have to engage with the relevant matters of their ministry and should avoid inter-acting with the media unnecessarily.



I would strongly recommend appointing a Professional Spokesperson or (Public Information Associate/ Officer) for each major government department.This person will be fully engaged in the media matters and/or interference so as to reduce their influence.



Finally, Mr. PresidentMay I have the honour to congratulate you and your government members for the incredible achievements as well as the commendable and well balanced decisions during your short government period! There is no doubt about that you have dedicated your life to the work of building hope and opportunity for Somaliland people where-before you came to power- too little of either existed.



God Bless the Somaliland Republic and its Noble people



By: |Architectural-Eng. Hussein Adan Igeh |Hussein Deyr |UK|
http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Gabadh Hooyadeed ka dalbatay in ay u Fasaxdo Zinada Iyo Hooyadeed oo Shuruudo ku Xidhay !!

Gabadh Hooyadeed ka dalbatay in ay u Fasaxdo Zinada Iyo Hooyadeed oo Shuruudo ku Xidhay !!

Subxaanallaah waa dhacdo Xaqiiq ah oo layaab leh runtii gabadh da’yar ayaa hooyadeed ka dalbatay ogolaansho si ay ugu banbaxdo Samaynta Galmada aan sharciga ahayn (Zinada).
Taas oo sharci ahaan aynu ognahay halka uu Islaamku ka taaganyahay oo qofka dhalinyarta ah ama aan guur xalaala soomarin lagu xukumayo 100 jeedal oo lagu karbaashayo meel fagaare ah .halka ka xaaska leh ama soomaray guurna xukunkiisu yahay dil,kaas oo ku fulaya in dhagax lagu dilo.
Kolay hooyadii caqli iyo garasho ilaahay u dhiibay inay gabadheeda wax u sheegto mooyee Tallaabo kale malaha ku dhaqaaqi mayso ayaan isleeyahay.
Hadaba markay gabadhii hooyadeed u soo bandhigtay sida u rabto arintan in loo fasaxo ayay hooyadeed ka ogolaatay balse shuruud ayay ku xidhan oo waxay tidhi hadad shuruudayda kazoo baxdo Adna waan kuu ogolaanayaa waxaad rabto ?
Gabadhii ayaa iyada oo aad u xamaasadaysan soo booday….Hooyadii aya tidhi Shuruudu Waa arrin tijaabo ah marka hadaad arrintaa bilow ilaa dhammaad siday tahay u samayso isla markaana aad ku guulaysato Adna waxad xaq u leedahay inad samayso wax alla waxaad jeceshahay ‘ gabadhii way ogolaatay arrintii.


Hooyadeed waxay u sheegtay in ay aroornimada kacdo oo ay hor istaagto Aqalka uu galo ninka Magaalada xukuma kadibna marka uu soo baxo ay dhulka isku tuurto sidii qof Miir beelay oo kale….
Kadibna ay eegto waxa dhaca.
Arintii ayay gabadhii ku dhaqaaqday isla aroornimadiiba waxay sii hor istaagtay Aqalkii uu Hogaamiyuhu daganaa, markii uu soo baxay ayay dhulka isku tuurtay sidii qof miir belay oo kale, Ninkii hogaamiyaha ahaa ayaa si degdega ugu soo orday gabadhii oo kor u qaaday dad badan baa ku soo ururay iyaga oo aad u danaynaya wax laqabashadeeda.
Way istaagtay sidii qof soo nafisay oo kale waxayna u mahad celisay hogaamiyihii, gurigoodii ayay dibu ugu noqotay gabadhii kadibna hooyadeed ayay arrintii u sheegtay siday wax u dhaceen, Hooyadeed waxay u sheegtay inay Barina Dhacdadii hore oo kale samayso isla goobtii iyo goortii marka uu soo marayo Hogaamiyuhu.
Gabadhii dhalinyarada ahayd maalintii labaad ayay samaysay bilkeedintii ay hooyadeed ku xidhay balse natiijadu sidii hore may noqon.
Waayo markan ninkii hogaamiyaha ahaa kumuu soo dhaqaaqinba oo Wasiirkii ayaa ayaa garba galeeyay qaar ka tirsan ilaalidii hogaamiyaha ayaa hareeraha ka soo istaagay halka aanu hogaamiyihii dhankeedaba soo dayin oo uu iska watay socodkiisii …!!
Caadigii ayay ku soo noqotay iyada oo muujinaysa farxad ayay u mahad celisay Wasiirkii iyo ilaaladii la socotayba, Gabadhii dhankii hooyadeed ayay u baqooshay waxaanay uga warantay sida ay wax ula kulantay bilkeedintan labaad waxaanay su’aashay hooyadeed waxa u hadhay ?
Hooyadii waxay u sheegtay in ay mar sadexaad ku noqoto isla goobtii oo ay samayso
Intii hore looga bartay .
Gabadhii maalinkii xigay ayay bilkeedintii samaysay dhulka ayay isku tuurtay sidii qorshuhu ahaa
Marka ay aragtay Hogaamiyaha oo gurigiisa ka soo baxaya markan ninka hormoodka u ah ilaalada hogaamiyaha ayaa ku soo dhaqaaqay kadibna wadada dhinac uga saaray isaga oo dhulka jiidaya
Agteedana may soo istaagin inyar oo ilaalida kamid ah mooyee waanay iskaga tageen …….


Gabadhii dhalinyarada ahayd hooyadeed ayay dib ugu noqotay iyada oo silicsan darranyo badana ka muuqato, hooyadeed ayay waydiisay inay dhammaatay bilkeedintii ?
Hooyadii waxay u sheegtay inanteedii in aanu wali dhammaan tijaabadii oo waliba ku celiso isla filmkii saddex ayaamood oo danbe maalinta saddexaadna ay tahay maalinta Imtaxaanka .!!
Way kasoo baxday waanay samaysay Sadexdii casho ee danbe waxay hooyadeed ka dalbatay waxaana la gaadhay maalitnii ugu danbaysay ee imtaxaanka kadibna hooyadeed ayay u timid iyada oo oohin la ilmaynaysa, Waayo tijaabadu dhibkeeda ayay sii badisay ilayn waa qof la bartaye cid wax tarta iska daaye waala xaqiray oo waala hiifay.
Iyada oo kii soo gaadhaba xumaan kala kulmaysay halka qaarna ay ficil ugu dareen oo ay laag la dhaceen.
Hooyadii xikmada badnayd ayaa hadalkeedii bilawday waxayna tidhi : inantaydiiyeey Zinadu waa sidaas oo kale inta hore ee aad cusubtahay dadka sarsare ayaa ku soo dhawaynaya sida dadka lacagta leh iyo dadka caanka ah, Markad in muddo ah sinaysatana dadku way ku baranayaa oo way kaa yaacayaan iyga oo ku xaqiraya xataa dadka kuwooga ugu liita ayaa iyaguna dhulka ku jiidjiidi doona Sharaftaadiina kuu soo noqonmayso markaa ma sidaasad ku rabtaa inaad sinaysato hooyo.


Gabadhii way garwaaqsatay hadalkii hooyadeed oo waxay si waynu ugu mahadcelisay hooyadeedii xikmada badnayd waxa kale oo ay u sheegtay in aanay waligeed sinaysan doonin xataa hadii samada iyo dhulka la isku soo qabto.
Zinadu waa danbi aad u wayn sida Quruurada hadii la jabiyo way adagtahay marnaba in lagu soo celiyo sideedii oo kale qofka wax garadka ahina waa qofka qaata qawlkii ilaahay iyo rasuuslkiisna SALLA-LAAH CALAYHI WASALAM kuna camal fala talooyinka sheekooyinka dhacayna wax ku qaata.
Zinada waxa ka dhasha raadad aad u xun xun oo ay ku reebto qofka Sameeya Taasoo keenta Xanuuno kala duwan oo Ku gudba Galmada aan Sharciga ahayn Sida Waraabawga, jabtida iyo Qaar kale oo badan oo uu ugu khatar sanyahay Cudurka sida dahsoon umadadeena ugu dhex-faafaya ee HIV AIDS.Waxa kale oo ka dhasha Xumaanta Zinada warwar,warbahaal aduun iyo shaadh madoobe-nimo taasoo keensata inuu qofku Sharafta iyo qadarinta uu bulshada dhexdeeda ku haysto in uu waayo, kuwanina Waxay kamid yihiin waxyaabaha faraha badan ee ka dhasha inta aduunka la joogo balse la soco Cadaabka ilaahay oo Darran ayaa ka sii danbeeya.

Qalinkii: Maxamedshakir Siciid Cabdi (shaakir)

Baro Maggacyadda Maafiyadda Hargeysa: By Khaliif Raage

Baro Maggacyadda Maafiyadda Hargeysa: By Khaliif Raage

Seddex sanno ee uggu dambeeyey xaafaddaha iyo degmooyinka waxa ka sii darayay ammaanka Magaallada Hargeysa. Heerka nabadgalyadda Caasimaddu waxa dayacay ciidamadda ammaanka guud loo xilsaaray kaddib markay ka adkaan waayeen wiilal shufto ah oo maggacyo jaan la baxay. Shanta Degmo ee Hargeysa ka kooban tahay sidda Axmed Dhaggax, Gacan Libaax, 26 June, Maxamuud Haybe, iyo Koodbuur waxa ka hawlgalla wiillal ku mammay Hantidda Ummadda kuwaas oo iyaga oo isku faanaya isugu yeedha magacyaddo sanku-neefluhu markuu maqlo amma arko wixii aggab iyo lacag ah ee uu sito horay ka dhiibaya si uu naftiisa u badbaadiyo. Maggacyadaas waxa ka mid ah Duufaan, Muqumadda, Dembiilayaasha, Mannaxayaasha, Aldubaab, Jayniiska, Jin iyo Jaan, iyo qaar kalloo badan.

Somaliland waxa laggu wadda jooga waa nabbad iyo maxaad sheegtay. Bes, nabadsiibdarose nabadii waxa shaasheeyay wiilashan magacyada jinka iyo jaanka la baxay, kaddib markii Ciiddamada Booliiska Somaliland kaalintii kagga aaddanaa dayaceen. Da’da wiilashan maafiyada ah kama weyna 14-21 jir, waxayna habeennadii hawlgallo shacabka ku baadhanayaan ka waddaan luuq-luuqyada iyo meelaha mugdiga ah ee xaafadaha iyo degmooyinka Hargeysa ka tirsan. Dhalinyaraddan maggacyada argagaxa leh la baxday awal habbeenkii ayay shacabka u geystaan dhac-boob-kufsi balse xaalku siddii hore hadda maaha oo dharaar cad bay hawlgaladdoodaasi u xuubsiibteen. Ciiddamada amniga Somaliland wax-ka-qabadka shuftan hantida dadka dhacaya way ka gaabiyeen innay sharci addag kagga qabtaan. iska dhaaf innay gacan bir ah waxa kagga qabtaanne, shuftadda laggu soo xidho saldhigyada booliiska Hargeysa damaanad iyo waxaan la garanayn ayaa laggu sii daayaa.

Shuftadda camirtay xaafadaha iyo degmooyinka Hargeysa waxay ku hubaysan yihiin aalladdo sanku-neefluhu marka uu dhaayaha indhaha saaro tin illaa cidhib cabsi ku abbuuraya, maxaa yeellay hubka ay ku jeeriqaaran yihiin inta muuqata waxa ka mid ah Mindiyo, Faashash, Baangaddo, IWM. Aalladdahan sumaysan waxay isugu jiraan qaar afaysan iyo kuwo aan aafaysanayn oo iskacaraab ahaan dhaxalku ka daadannayo.

Maafiyaddan hantida ummadda ku mamtay shacabka ay baadhaan waxay isugu jirraan dadka socotada iyo martidda ah kuwaas oo xaafaddaha iyo degmooyinka Hargeysa isaga goosha. Wakhtiyada ay shacabka Somaliland dhaca u geystaana waa xiliyadda shacabku shaqooyinkoodii maalmeed ka soo caraabayaan, guryahoodiina ku soo laabanayaan. Amnidarada Hargeysa waxa ka dhashay innay dadku hub dawladda Somaliland ka sharci-garaysan qaataan, naf iyo maalba isku difaacaan kaddib markii doorkii ciidamada Booliisku mugdi galay.

Shuftadda maggacyada jaan la baxday, waxay dadka socota iyo martida dhici jirreen xiliyada habeenkii gaar ahaan meellaha mugdiga balse sannadkan 2013 hawlgaladoodii habeenimo waxay u beddelleen dharaar cad, iyaddoo hantida shuftadani shacabka Somaliland ay xoog ugga dhacaan ay kala yihiin: Moobillada oo ay uggu jecel yihiin, labtoobyada (Kombuyuutarada Gacanta), dahabka iyo lacagta; halka qaarkoodna koox ahaan u samaysan yihiin duullaan ay ku qaaddaan guryaha qoysasku deggen yihiin iyaggoo cagta mariyaa dad iyo duunyo wixii ku nool. Xattaa aggabka gurigga yaalla way burburiyaan.

Wiishan maafiyadda ahi aggabkaas ay soo dhacaan waxay qiimo jaban kagga iibiyaan nimman shuraako hoose ku yihiin baadhashada dadka kuwaas oo iyanna qiimo aan kii hore dhaamin dad gaar ah dib ugga sii gadda. mallaha goobo cayiman oo gannacsiga tuugnimada ah ku iibiyaan balse waxay leeyihiin suuq maddow oo hadba meel u guur-guura.

Maafiyaddani wakhtiyada ay dadka dhacaan haddii ay gacanta uggu dhiggaan, wixii ay rabeena kaa waayaan, way addag tahay sidaad ugga badbaado maxaa yeelay way ku garaacayaan illaa ay ku dilaan, iyaggoo ku odhannaya “maxaad moobil u qaadan wayday”.

Khaliif Raage

Amiirkhaliif@hotmail.com
http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Sacabkii La Tumay IYo Maqaskii La Tabay !!! Qallinkii Cumar Seerbiya

Sacabkii La Tumay IYo Maqaskii La Tabay  !!! Qallinkii Cumar Seerbiya

Somalidu waxay ku maahmaadaa "hubsiimo halbaa lasiistaa " oo ay uga jeedaan in layska hubiyo waxkasta intaan lagu dhaqaaqin fulintiisa , waxa kale oo kale oo ay maahmaahdaa ,"Intaanad falin ka fiirso".

Waxaanu u baxnay aniga iyo koox warfidiyeeno ah meel ka baxsan magaalada Hargeysa halkaasi oo aanu doonaynay in aanu kaga qayb-galno munaasabad uu madaxweynaha Somaliland Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Silaanyo) uu ku furaayey mashruuc markaasi la dhamaystiray .

Masuuliyiinta ama qofkasta oo madax ahi waxa uu iska leeyahay weheliyayaal ama dad ka agdhaw oo inta badan isku daya in ay u fududeeyaan shaqooyinkiisa iyo waxii hawl ah ee uu qabanayo qofkaasi.

Markii aan u goobtii gaadhnay munaasabaddu ka dhacaysay ee aanu waqti sugaynay ,weftigii uu madaxweynuhu hogaaminayey, ayaa waxaa mar dambe yimi weftigii oo ay la socdaan tiro masuuliyiinta xukuumadda ka tirsan iyo dad aanan hadda mansab aanu ku tilmaamo garanahaynin (Title) kuwaas oo inta ay baabuurtii si deg-deg daaqadaha u soo boobeen ay hareeraha iska taageen madaxweynaha oo aan is idhi tolow maanta malaa madaxweynuhu waaba nasanayaa oo nimankan tirada badan ee saaxiibadii ah ayaaba hawsha ka qabanaya?.

Dadkeenu inta badan ma jecla in ay arkaan qof isagu is maamuusa ama is boqra, waxayna shaqadu ku fiicantahay in ay noqoto mid dadka u kala soocan oo la kala leeyahay .

Markii uu madaxweynuhu istaagay goobtii uu xadhiga ka jari lahaa oo ay uga sii horeeyeen qaar ka tirsan ilaaladiisa oo ay ku lamaanyihiin tiro ka mid ah dadkii la socday ayaa waxa isla markiiba tartan loo galay sidii loogu kala dhawaan lahaa madaxweynaha taas oo ay la kala saari kari waayey ilaaladii madaxweynaha iyo weheliayaasha .
Madaxweynaha oo xadhiga ka jarayey laba goobood ayaa marka uu tii koobaad dhameeyey waxa loo dhaqaaday dhanka ta kale oo aan sidaasi uga fogayn meeshan hore , kooxdii madaxweynaha la socotay waxay u tartamayaan sidii ay meelo wanaagsan uga helilaaayeen meeshan loo socdo .

Markii la istaagay goobtii kale si kastaba ha loogu kala dheereeyee ee uu madaxweynihiina soo istaagay badhtamaha xadhigii markaasi la doonayey in meesha laga jaro waxa isla markiiba loolan kale ka bilaabmay labada daraf ee xadhiga oo ay qolo isku qabsatay sidii ay u kala hayn lahaayeen xadhiga .
geesta kale waxa iyaguna gacmaha isa sii saaray qaar kale oo doonaya in ay wac uun ka siiyaan sacabka , markii lagu heshiiyey haynta xadhiga ee talo ahaan loo soo jeediyey cidda haynaysa . hase ahaatee wali uu tartanku ka ka taagan yahay qayb-ta sacab tumidd ayaa waxa bilaabay sacabkii mid ka mid ah dadkii goobta ku sugnaa kaasi oo ay raaciyeen intii kalena balse madaxweynaha iyo dadkii dhinac taagnaa aanay wali wax shaqo ah qabanin ka dib markii maqaskii lagu jari lahaa xadhiga xidhan lagaga yimi goobtii hore taas oo uu ka soo deg-degay qof loo dhiibay oo isaga hore nasiib ugu helay in uu ka mid noqda dadka aadka ugu dhawaa madaxweynaha markii xadhigii hore la jarayey , kaasi oo doonayay in uu kanna kaalin la mid ah tii hore uu ka galo .

Mar qudha ayaa waxay ku noqotay layaab , iyo u qaadan waa markii la maqlay iyada oo la leeyahay " Oo mee maqaskii ".
Aniga oo goobta taagnaa ayaa idhi wallee tani waa " Sacabkii la tumay iyo maqaskii la tabay ", oo aan uga jeeday in sacabka la tumay iyada oo aan maqaskii loo tumi lahaaba aanu meesha oolin.

Cumar Cali Xasan (Cumar Seerbiya)
Omarserbia1@hotmail.com

Somalia: Sworn In To Tyrannize Somalilanders

Somalia: Sworn In To Tyrannize Somalilanders

More than 50,000 Somaliland civilians were murdered in cold blood by the brutal Somalia dominated army in less than a week. That was in 1988, when Siad Barre army opened the floodgates of hell in Somaliland and used all kinds of military arsenal that was ever made to destroy humanity with the exception of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, which he did not possess. I am sure he would not have had a second thought to use unconventional weapons of mass destruction against Somaliland civilians, but fortunately the Soviets and after that the USA, who were the main weapons suppliers to Siad Barre did only generously furnish him with conventional weapons. And not to forget, there were also some Arab countries that paid Siad Barre to buy bombers and hire South African pilots to bombard Somaliland cities, towns and villages to ashes.

Apart from those 50,000 civilians that were indiscriminately killed in less than a week, there were also more civilians, who were randomly arrested and then executed in broad day lights from 1984-1988, Simply because the regime decided that they did not deserve to live – they were Somalilanders and for that reason they had to pay the ultimate price.

Siad Barre’s regime borrowed a chapter from the holocaust concept of Adolf Hitler’s regime and tailored his own version based on his military capabilities in Somaliland. Therefore, Somalilanders were slaughtered in the most inhumane methods. Some where heartlessly burned alive, some were thrown in great numbers into deep dry water wells and then buried alive and others including children, women and elderly were pusillanimously taken from their homes in the middle of the night and were summarily executed with no questions asked. There are 226 mass graves that were discovered in seven Somaliland cities. Additionally, there is at least one known mass grave in Jazziera beach in Mogadishu, where several dozens of innocent Somaliland civilians are known to have been buried after they were summarily executed by solders under the command of Masslah Mohamed Siad Barre, who comfortably lives in Nairobi, Kenya and is frequently received with open arms in Mogadishu.

Those gruesome statics do not include the hundreds of thousands of Somaliland civilians, mainly elderly, children and women, who died of starvation and communicable diseases secondary to poor sanitation after they sought refuge in makeshift camps in Ethiopia and as consequence of Somalia’s genocide war.

Following that brutal experience, Somalilanders decided to unilaterally dissolve the Somaliland and Somalia union on May 18th, 2001. All they wanted was to live their lives in their own country peacefully and without further Somalia oppression and genocide. On the contrary, Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somalia’s appointed president, who came to power through undemocratic and clannish selection system, proudly and publicly states that he will bring Somaliland back to the union with Somalia, no matter what that cost will be. He frequently justifies his absurd decisions on his childish ‘three Ds’ motto, representing “Dhulka” (country), “Dadka” (people) and “Diinta” (his religious believes). He totally forgets that Islam, which he claims to follow states: “no completion in religion” let alone other man-made dictatorial rules. This is the kind of Somalia regime that the independent, democratic and peace-loving Somaliland is up against.

Mr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud cowardly described Somaliland’s 22nd independence anniversary as emotionally-driven and inconsiderately threatened Somalilanders with even more destruction far worst than that of the 1980s, unless they submit to the wishes of his Somalia’s clan based regime. He selectively forgets that the strongest black African army and under the command of his predecessor was humiliated and destroyed in Somaliland, when Somaliland did not even have a regular army.

The Mogadishu regime did not respect and in many occasions bridged the internationally sponsored agreements with Somaliland in London and Ankara. Mr. Hassan Sheikh’s regime has over and over again taken offensive actions to provoke Somaliland to pull out of the 2nd Somaliland and Somalia conference that is scheduled to be held in Ankara, Turkey. This shows that Somalia regime only recognizes intimidation, brutal force and oppression as the only tools of settling international disputes and is incapable to envision solving discords through peaceful and amicable agreements.

To Somalilanders this is very alarming and brings the déjà vu situations of the 1980s back to their memories. This is a stunning indication that the regime of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is sworn in to Tyrannize Somalilanders and not to fight piracy, terrorism and to rebuild its civil war ravaged country.

Contrary to all his glowing smiles, this man – Hassan Sheikh Mohamud exhibits all the revealing signs of a new Saddam Hussein in the Horn of Africa. Therefore, the people of Somaliland and the International community must prepare themselves and expect nothing but the most evil measures from this Mogadishu regime.

Yusuf Dirir Ali
http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

The Somali President has spoken; can anyone hear his agony? Bashir Goth

The Somali President has spoken; can anyone hear his agony? Bashir Goth

in a speech that I consider to be one of the most powerful and most compassionate speeches that any Somali leader has delivered

In a speech that I consider to be one of the most powerful and most compassionate speeches that any Somali leader has delivered for a long time, Somalia’s new President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud has spoken candidly and explicitly about some of the most serious challenges that his government faces and called for the nation’s collective and urgent attention to tackle these issues in order to restore the dignity of the Somali people and the country’s statehood. 
He lamented that Somalia has become a brand name for terrorism, piracy, refugees and failure as a state. 

“We know that terrorist actions committed by some of our people may only be a small fraction of international terrorism but we unfortunately carry the name. We are much better than to be called terrorists, better than be branded as pirates, better than having the largest refugee camps in the world and better than being known as the most failed state in the world.” 
The president talked about how the Somali people have lost their pride in their identity as one can see wealthy businesspeople running away from their homeland to settle in foreign countries just to obtain foreign passports. He described this as the lowest one can reach when someone views his nationality as a shame. 

He spoke about the ubiquitous and notorious checkpoints locally known as Isbaaro which have siphoned off the people’s meager incomes and sapped their strength for survival and hope. 
One of the most critical issues, however, that the President raised and caught my attention was the topic of violence against women and particularly rape. And I am sure he inadvertently forgot to mention that Somalia has also become known as “the worst place to be a woman in the world” among the notorious names he listed. 
The most disheartening and saddening example that he told was the tragic story of an elderly woman who was gang-raped by young men in full view of her husband. The couple had just finished their dinner and performed their evening prayers together when criminal gangs stormed their little home and committed their heinous crime. The president said he couldn’t sleep several nights after he heard that tragedy and he understandably sounded helpless and wanted to convey the enormity of the crime and the indignity and humiliation that the Somali people in general and Somali women in particular are subjected to on daily basis. 
He admitted that rape was the ugliest manifestation of the state of insecurity that the country has descended to over the past 20 years, reminding the regional governors that he was addressing prior to his departure on 26th November 2012 on a tour of neighboring countries that it was their responsibility and that of the Somali people with them to extricate the country from this ugliness. 

President Mahmoud sent a strong message against rape by announcing that his government was working on enacting new laws that would call for death penalty for rapists. As commendable as this step maybe for challenging a crime whose perpetrators have until now gone away with impunity, another more effective way to punish and shame such immoral men may be to snip their male organs in public places, thus denying them the ability to commit such crimes in future and making them live with this constant reminder for the rest of their lives. 
Anyone who thinks this may be a harsh has just to remember how many mothers, sisters, wives or daughters that such measure could safeguard from being subjected to one of the most despicable crimes and live-long scars that one can endure. 

In a similar development, Somaliland’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs launched an awareness week against the rape of women and young boys in Hargeisa. Talking to the press on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25th November 2012, Mahmoud Ahmed Garaad said that the general hospital of Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, receives almost one case of rape every day. Among the shocking statistics he disclosed was that recorded figures of rape cases have increased in 2012 from what they were in 2011. He pointed out that over the last six months of 2012 alone, Hargeisa Hospital has treated 147 victims of rape of whom 127 were women and 20 were boys as young as 12 years of age. This doesn’t include other violence against women whether physical or mental as well as the tradition-driven abuse of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) that forces women to sexual bondage. 

What makes this crime even worse in the Somali society as I mentioned in a previous article and also reiterated by President Mahmoud of Somalia is the staunch defense that the rapists get from the community who shield them against any legal persecution due to tribal loyalties. This does not only encourage the continuity of rape but it also makes Somali women feel worthless and deprives them of living in dignity and denies them their rights as citizens. But the irony is that despite being victims to such inhuman treatment, Somali women, both inside the country and overseas, have proven to be the pillars without which the Somali people could not have survived through natural and man-made catastrophes over more than 20 years as I highlighted in previous articles such as The better half and Somaliland Women as oppressed breadwinners and peacemakers and Dumarka Soomaaliyeed Waa Dheemanta Lagu Babaaday. 

The president has spoken about the security and social obstacles that hamper the country’s return to normalcy and the restoration of the people’s dignity. And at the top of these is the inhuman treatment of women. Therefore, with the nightmare of Al Shabab who kept women in both physical and mental darkness on the wane, one wonders if anyone can empathize with the President’s agony of helplessness and truly hear his appeal for action and change. 

Source: 
www.hanua.blogspot.com

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Tribalism: Somalia and Somalilands political disease

Tribalism: Somalia and Somalilands political disease

Looking back at Somalia in the 1960's tribes was influential but no way near as influential as it is today. The big tribes, Hawiye and Darod, were always going for Presidency in Somalia simply because of their size and sheer dominance, not because what they can bring to Somalia and their political experience. It was once rumoured that when the British left Somaliland in 1960, they had advised Somali leaders to give important and decisive roles to the Muse Carre sub clan, who originate from the Isaaq Tribe. This was completely ignored by the 'big tribes' and they began to isolate the Isaaq tribe. Amongst other isolated tribes was the Gadabursi (Samaroon) tribe who were barely recognised by the rest of Somalia. With all this tribalism happening in the 1960s and onwards, separation and violence in tribalism was inevitable.

The Isaaq Tribe who originate from North Western Somalia, now known as Somaliland, are the third biggest tribe in Somalia. They settle in large urban areas like Hargeisa, Burco and Berbera. They worked very closely with the British Colonists in the 1920-60's to make a better and more peaceful Somaliland, which was eventually successful before joining alliance with the Somali Republic. The areas which they settled in was never recognised and developed by the Somali Government. Instead it was seen as an area that should be completely ignored because the Isaaq people live there. It only took the Isaaq people a few years to regret joining alliance with the Somali Republic because they never knew they were going to be isolated like this.

The Hawiye tribe, who have most of its people in Southern Somalia, are the second biggest tribe in Somalia.  They settle in large urban areas like Kismayo, Mogadishu and Barawa. They have been the most dominant tribe in Somalia in the last 60-70 years and hold the most prestigious roles in the government today. Five of the last eleven presidents of Somalia have been from the Hawiye tribe, which demonstrates their authority within Somalia.

The Darod tribe, who reside from so many different parts of Somalia and even parts of Ethiopia, are the largest tribe in Somalia. They hold all of Ogedania (Eastern Ethiopia) which belong to the Darod clan, Ogaden. They also hold Puntland, an autonomous state in Somalia which is occupied by the Majerteen, Warsangeli and Dhulbahante clans. They occupy the biggest regions in Somalia, Sanaag, Sool, Mudug, Bari and parts of Cayn. The most recognised and probably the most hated man in Somalia, Siad Barre, comes from the Darod sub-clan, Marexaan.

If you look closely each and every single self independent state in Somalia is based on the most popular tribe and/or clan. Puntland for example, majority of its inhabitants are Darod who live North-East Somalia and do not have a good relationship with its neighbours, Somaliland, who is mainly Isaaq inhabited. Then you look at Somalia, which is mainly occupied by the Hawiye tribe.

The reason why Somaliland broke away from the rest of Somalia is completely understandable and unquestionable, but Puntland's reason for claiming self-independence is utterly shambolic and this is why tribalism is becoming a cancer in Somalia. Not very long ago, people from the region of Awdal were looking to claim self-independence from Somaliland calling itself 'Awdalland'. They consist of the Gadabursi tribe and believe they are being treated unfairly by Somaliland so they believe it's clever and right to try and break away from a country that's developing extremely fast. These moves by tribes needs to be identified and sorted out as soon as possible because this can have dramatic effects on Somaliland and Somalia very soon.

Somaliland broke away from the rest of war ravaged Somalia as early as the 1990s and started to get itself together and form a new country which is what its people wanted at the time and still want. Somaliland broke away from the rest of war-torn Somalia for many different reasons but the main one is how the people from that region were treated by past governments of Somalia. Siad Barre worked hard on ruining the lives of Isaaq people and killing them off, this has had a huge impact on Somalia today. One thing people cannot do is compare Somaliland's self-independence to Puntland's one. Somaliland's reason to break-away is very deep and has emotionally detached reasons. Somaliland now uses Puntland as a buffer zone from Somalia.

From as early as the 19th century, tribalism existed in Somalia with the Dervish State, led by Muhammed Abdullah Hassan. He was known to many around the world as an iconic leader for Somali people and led them to fight off the British colonists. But the people of Somalia know that he was an extremely tribalist leader who only recruited people from his tribe and isolated the rest. This shambolic behaviour has been ignited again by the people of Somalia in the 21st century which really starts to raise attentiveness on how Somali's are towards each other.

Tribalism has been an illness and disease that has lived in the Somali culture for more than a century, but what people from Somalia and Somaliland do not understand is that this nauseating culture in which we embrace is only killing our people and making us hate one another. All you have to do is look at Puntland and what Awdalland tried to do to see what decades of tribalism has done to Somali people, it's quite literally separated all of Somalia. Now people within Somalia want to be self-independent because of their tribes and the numbers within which they have and this will lead to people claiming their tribal names over what they really are: SOMALI'S.

One way of killing off tribalism is Somaliland encouraging other tribes such as Hawiye to become politically involved in Somaliland's government and help make decisions. If this happens then there will be a balance in Somaliland and maybe there might be a spread in different tribes occupying Somaliland. But at the moment, each tribe sit in their own 'Country' which will lead to future wars over boarder line controversies. Hopefully this catastrophic and cancerous culture will soon die and Somali people can live peacefully amongst each another. But in the mean time, all we see is tribalism going to a new level in the next decade or so.



Allin Nuh

The Victory of Politics over Principle The Success of the Silanyo Government & the Compromise of SL.

The Victory of Politics over Principle The Success of the Silanyo Government & the Compromise of SL. 

 Ahmed M.I.Egal 

Recently the Somaliland Government held a three-day ‘Cabinet Seminar' to discuss and assess its achievements and failures during the two and a half years it has been in power. At the end of the meeting, various Ministerial spokesmen advised the public and the press that the government had concluded that they had fulfilled 70% of their program and election promises to the public that had chosen them by a wide margin. While it is good management policy for any organization, be it public or private sector, to continually assess and evaluate its achievements and progress, it is equally a poor manager or organization that grades his or its own performance and seeks to have said grade publicly endorsed. Grading the performance of people and organisations is usually undertaken by third parties and is measured against peers and peer groups, established standards or market norms. In this way one can derive some assurance that the grading process is impartial, objective and is benchmarked against credible and established standards and norms.

The widespread response of the Somaliland public and media to the government's self-ascribed grade has been incredulity and amazement. Various well known political commentators have responded with comments ranging from ‘istaaq furullah' to grading the government's achievements at 10% of their promises. What is clear is that many people, indeed some say the majority of the Somaliland public, have a much less positive view of the government's performance at the halfway point of its first term. It is clear that the government's ill-conceived and self-serving attempt at inflating its achievements and scoring a propaganda coup with the public has badly misfired, as anyone with a scintilla of sense could have predicted. However, it is important to undertake an evaluation of the government's record and the overall thrust of its leadership at this half way point of its term of office, if for no other reason than to determine the direction in which it is steering the country's destiny. That is the aim of this paper.

Domestic Policy
The single most important domestic policy initiative undertaken by the Silanyo government is to enable the establishment of new political parties to contest the upcoming local government elections and subsequent legislative and Presidential elections. Concurrent with this decision, the government mounted a carefully orchestrated campaign to dismantle the existing two opposition political parties of UDUB and UCID. This strategy was a master stroke of political chicanery that completely eliminated organised political opposition to the government, since the established parties became enmeshed in internecine, internal splits and conflicts, while other opposition forces became entirely focused upon the establishment of new political parties.

Thus, during the last two years we have witnessed the acrimonious split of UCID into two factions with the faction opposed to the leader and founder, Faisal Ali ‘Warabe', splitting to form the new WADANI Party, while UDUB also splintered into two factions aligned with ex-President Riyalle and ex-VP Ahmed Yassin Yusuf respectively and, in the process, succeeding in being disqualified by the Election Commission from taking part in the upcoming municipal elections. There is clear and compelling evidence that the split of UCID was orchestrated by the Silanyo government, and that the government sponsored and contributed to financing the establishment of WADANI. The government's role in the implosion of UDUB is much less clear, and it is entirely possible that the self-destruction of the erstwhile ruling party is solely the result of its own making - certainly, the self-serving egotism and childishness of its leadership in dealing with conflicts that arose between them evidences the fact that they were perfectly capable of destroying the party without any external help.

We have also witnessed the proliferation of new political parties as each and every aspirant for the Presidency established a political party to fulfill his or her dream. These parties have no definitive ideologies or political programs, but instead are merely the necessary institutional vehicles for the political ambitions of their respective progenitors/Presidential candidates. Over the last two years the country has been engaged in one long orgy of political campaigning for Presidential elections that are still two and a half years off, even as the government consolidated its grip on power through savage repression of the press and individual voices of dissent such as Boqor Buur Madow. It is noteworthy that the Chairman of the Somaliland Journalists Association (SOLJA) publicly stated some months ago that this government has arrested and imprisoned more journalists in its first two years in power than the Riyalle government during its entire eight years. This is the track record of a party that promised to protect the freedom and independence of the press as a central plank of its election manifesto.

In the meantime, those elements of the Silanyo government that were perceived as independent political voices or as competent technocrats, e.g. Mohamed Hashi Elmi (ex-Minister of Finance), Mahdi Gaboose (ex-Minister of Interior), Boobe Yusuf Ducale (ex-Minister of Information), have been summarily ditched, often ignominiously. The government has been masterful in manipulating the often naked and unseemly ambition of the political class in Somaliland for executive and political office to distract attention from its accumulation of power through silencing of dissent and emasculation of the independent press. In this context it is relevant to point out the numerous Cabinet reshuffles that President Silanyo has undertaken. It is a simple fact of life that the desperate hope for a Cabinet appointment will motivate aspirants to not only mute any dissent they may feel, but indeed to defend the government loudly and vociferously against any opposition in order to demonstrate their loyalty and fitness for consideration.

It is widely acknowledged by most independent observers and political commentators that tribalism and corruption have reached unprecedented levels during the last two and half years. It is now commonplace for clans and sub-clans to organize and hold meetings which then announce the socio-political manifesto of the said clan or sub-clan. This practice has not been seen since before 1997 when the Somaliland Constitution was ratified inaugurating the era of party politics. With respect to corruption, there have been several celebrated cases of misappropriation of funds implicating senior members of the government, not to mention cases of government contracts awarded to relations and/or associates of senior government officials under less than transparent circumstances. The contract to refurbish and expand Hargeisa Airport, which is funded by the Government of Kuwait, is one such example. The contract was awarded to a Hong Kong company which has no experience of such work and which is reportedly associated with members of the President's family.

On the economic front, the government has proudly proclaimed greatly enhanced tax revenues through improved collection practices and procedures as well as expansion of the tax base. In addition, the volume of livestock exports to the Arabian Gulf, principally Saudi Arabia, has increased substantially with some 2 million head of sheep and goats exported during the recent Haj season alone. Aid inflows from the EU, UK and the Arab Gulf States have also increased in the last two years; thus the Silanyo government has benefited from a hugely improved fiscal position over that of its predecessor. However, this improved revenue position has not translated into significant increases in expenditure on development projects or on infrastructure development. Poverty remains endemic and is increasing as is unemployment, particularly, and most disturbingly, among the young.

Foreign Policy
Since Somaliland recovered its sovereignty in 1991, it has been a cornerstone of the country's foreign policy that Somaliland not participate in any conferences or meetings convened to reconcile the competing factions and forces in Somalia or to establish so-called ‘governments' for that troubled country. This policy of remaining separate from efforts to stabilize Somalia was not arrived at lightly, nor was it motivated by some juvenile pique or animosity to our brothers in the south, nor by a callous indifference to the suffering of the people of Somalia. Rather, it was a carefully considered and prudent strategy to protect the peace and stability of Somaliland and ensure that the reconciliation achieved among its people was not sacrificed to the exigencies of the foreign powers that sought to realize their territorial and security prerogatives by sponsoring successive so-called ‘governments' for Somalia.

Since 1993 successive Somaliland governments have offered to assist in facilitating the establishment of a genuine and representative government in Somalia through a Somali-owned and grass root process focused upon national reconciliation and a post-irredentist social contract agreed between its peoples. The foreign powers that comprised the primary axis of power in the search of a solution to the ‘Somali Problem' eschewed these overtures since they did not guarantee their perceived territorial and security interests. These foreign powers preferred to continue with the sterile process of co-opting various factions within Somalia's competing politico-military groupings in furtherance of their particular interests. Thus, far from positioning Somaliland as a petulant refusenik to the efforts of the foreign powers to establish a legitimate government in Somalia, the policy of detachment from these efforts was both a recognition of the failure of this top-down strategy of nation-building, as well as a conscious and prudent decision to insulate the country from the anarchy that this approach bred rather than negated.

The Silanyo government came into office touting a new vision for achieving the international recognition that had resolutely eluded previous Somaliland governments. The centerpiece of this new strategy was to participate in conferences and meetings convened to discuss how to re-establish the state in Somalia, to be ‘part of the solution instead of part of the problem' as the new Foreign Minister so tellingly and erroneously put it. Somaliland attended the Wilton Park Conference organized by the British Government in February 2011 and the subsequent Istanbul Conference organized by the Turkish Government on the same basis and standing as other regional administrations of Galmudug, Ras Kamboni and Puntland. The twin pillars of Somaliland's legitimate, legal claim to its sovereignty, namely that on 26 June 1960 the Republic of Somaliland achieved independence from Britain and was recognized by some 35 countries, and that the 1961 Union Constitution between Somalia and Somaliland was rejected and never ratified by the people of Somaliland in a nationwide referendum thus rendering the Act of Union between the two legislatures of Somalia and Somaliland null and void, were compromised and demeaned by the hubris and ignorance (some say deliberate sabotage, but this is too fanciful to believe) of President Silanyo and his neophyte Foreign Minister.

What is undeniable is that the foreign policy of the Silanyo government has enmeshed Somaliland in the internecine politics of Somalia once again to no discernible benefit or progress. Further, having opened the Pandora's Box of active engagement in the ongoing game of political musical chairs that comprises the establishment of ‘governments' in Somalia, through its overt and ill-conceived support for Sheikh Sharif's failed bid for the Presidency of the new ‘permanent' Government of Somalia, the Silanyo government has left itself and the country vulnerable to the inevitable blowback from the failure of their overreach. The new administration in Mogadishu is determined to make the Silanyo government pay for supporting their opponent during the Presidential campaign, and it is not bound by any understandings and accommodations that the Somaliland Government may have reached with the defunct Sheikh Sharif administration. Accordingly, we now witness the assiduous courting of disgruntled and/or failed Somaliland politicians by the ‘government' in Mogadishu through the offering of plum executive and legislative positions, even as it publicly maintains its commitment to the Somalia-Somaliland talks initiated under the previous TFG.

It is clear that we have now entered a new phase in Somalia-Somaliland relations in which Mogadishu actively seeks the de-legitimisation of Somaliland's independence, while remaining ostensibly committed to talks that could lead to this very outcome. In this Cold War the advantages are all on Mogadishu's side and the Silanyo government finds itself very much on the back foot. In 1960 when Somaliland and Somalia joined to form the Somali Republic, the politicians of the Italian administered ex-UN Trust Territory were much more experienced and seasoned in the art of political discourse than their counterparts from the ex-British Protectorate to the north, given the formers' experience of a decade of internal self-government. Notwithstanding this mismatch, the Somaliland politicians attempted to negotiate an equitable union, but were forestalled by the rampant nationalism of their populace which insisted on immediate and unconditional union. It is a sweet irony that some fifty years later, it is the people of Somaliland that are unwilling to surrender their sovereignty again, while the politicians of the Silanyo government have been out maneuvered and out-politicked by their southern counterparts.

Conclusion
It is clear that the record of the Silanyo government, such as it is, is characterized by the supremacy of politics over principle. In this context, principle refers to a guiding vision or set of aims designed at achieving defined political and economic goals, while politics refers to specific actions designed to result in particular, short term political outcomes. Therefore, the decision to permit the establishment of political parties coupled with the decision to foment dissent and division within the existing opposition parties was designed to eliminate organised political opposition and it was stunningly successful. The deliberate encouragement of tribalism and clan identity as the principal channel of political discourse and organization was also aimed at fracturing the opposition and compromising its effectiveness, and it was also very successful.

The principle of deepening and advancing Somaliland's unique experiment in developing an indigenous democracy which supposedly underlay the opening of the political space to new parties has been subverted to the short term, political aims of negating any form of organized opposition. The inevitable result has been to coarsen, demean and cheapen political debate; to elevate the status of the demagogue, the tribalist pretender and the arriviste while simultaneously limiting the terms of political debate to narrow group interests. All of this serves the interests of the current government by framing national politics within the narrow parameters of tribal group-think and so distracting attention from their abject failure in pursuing the national interest; however it sounds the death knell for the success and development of Somaliland's unique experiment in forging an indigenous, democratic system of government.

With respect to foreign affairs and Somaliland's quest for international recognition, the determination to re-insert Somaliland into the efforts by foreign powers to establish a friendly government in Somalia receptive to their territorial, material and security interests, betrays the outlook of a government that never believed that international recognition was achievable, nor was committed to this goal. Thus, it has sought to achieve the much smaller goals of securing some modest aid monies offered by foreign powers as a bribe to compromise the country's sovereignty, and what they perceived as ‘a seat at the table' to determine Somalia's future, but is in reality nothing more than an opportunity to bargain the price at which Somaliland's political class will surrender its sovereignty again. What is truly pathetic however, is that even in this endeavor of surrender; they are being easily and willfully out maneuvered.

The record of the Silanyo government to date has been characterized by the supremacy of the government's interests over the national interest, of the primacy of base politics over grand principle. Vision and national interest have been sacrificed for the base retention of office at all costs in order to plunder not only the meager resources of an unrecognized and impoverished nation, but indeed the very hopes and dreams for which hundreds of thousands perished and even more were forced into exile. There is a palpable sense in Somaliland today of the nation having lost its way, of a loss of the dream, the unifying vision of nationhood, of the loss of mission. This is extremely dangerous and could foreshadow the gradual crumbling of the stability and representative governance we have so painstakingly crafted for ourselves. The simple, incontrovertible fact is that people instinctively sense when their political leaders surrender vision and principle for political gamesmanship and personal gain, and they react with anger and dissent.

In democratic societies they punish these leaders at the ballot box, and in authoritarian societies they overthrow regimes. This is what the so-called Arab Spring has largely been about. In Somaliland, the Silanyo government has clearly lost the trust and support of the electorate that voted it in with a landslide a mere two and a half years ago; the only unanswered question is who can rediscover, articulate and embody the vision and belief in the future of the country that this government has so emphatically abandoned. The lesson here is that the victory of politics over principle is only ever fleeting and that while governments may succeed temporarily on political gamesmanship, nations endure because they embrace, and remain loyalty to, their creed. People give their political consent to those leaders and parties that not only espouse these principles but that also actively seek to realise them. Just as it is an axiom of life that ‘truth will out' in the end, so it is an axiom of political history that ‘vision and principle will always triumph over mere politics'.


Ahmed M.I. Egal


egality@gmail.com

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Sheeko Kale Keen: Gideer iyo Jiriqaa Prof. Cabdisalaam Yaasiin

Sheeko Kale Keen: Gideer iyo Jiriqaa Prof. Cabdisalaam Yaasiin

Gideerto guga iyo xagaaga, markay hawadu diirantahay, si joogto ah ayay u shaqaysaa.

Qudhaanjadu waa umado badan oo kala jaad ah. Umadahaasi waxa ka mid ah Macaanjecesha, Aboorka, iyo Gideerta. Gideertu waa qundhaanjada yaryar ee madow ee faraha badan. Waa umad hab iyo maamul la yaab leh; waxaanay ka midtahay tusmooyinka Eebbe ee ay tahay inuu aadamuhu u fiirsado oo wax ku qaato. 
Wax badan baad aragteen Gideertu iyada oo sida ciidan milateri is daba socto oo hawlgalo ku jirta. Waa abuur hawlkar ah oo dadaal iyo iskaashi dhaqan u yahay. Shaqaalaheedu isaga oo habaysan ayuu hawlgalaa oo qayb waliba hawsheed si fiican u qabsataa. 
Qaybta u xilsaaran dhiska, waxay sameeyaan qasriga boqortooyada, guryaha askarta, guryaha shaqaalaha, bakhaarada kaydka cuntada, iyo wadooyinka xidhiidhiya gudaha iyo dibidda boqortooyada. Qaybta amaanka cuntada, waxay soo guraan cunada oo ku kaydiyaan bakhaarada. Ciidankuna wuxu ilaaliyaa aminga iyo xasiloonida boqortooyada. 
Gideerto guga iyo xagaaga, markay hawadu diirantahay, si joogto ah ayay u shaqaysaa. Qadhaab badanna way soo ururisaa oo waxay kayd ahaan ugu xeraysaa bakhaarda kaydka. Marka moosinka qabaw ee jilaalku galo, cuntaduna yaraato, Gideerto guryaheed diiran intay gasho ayay cuntaa kaydkii ay dhigatay. 
Jiriqaagu se waa hoobal jecel inuu heeso oo ciyaaro. Noloshiisa inta badana hees iyo ciyaar ayuu ku dhamaystaa; mana kaydsado cuno sida Gideerta. Sidii uu u heesayay ee uu u ciyaarayay gugii iyo xagaagii ayaa jilaalka soo galay. Cunadina gabaabsi ayay noqotay. Isaga oo qadhaab waayay oo gaajo la tiicaya, ayuu boqortooyadii Gideerta ku soo baxay, markaasuu martiyay. 
Gideerti waxay Jiriqaagii weydiisay, “Gugii iyo xagaagii miyaanad cuno kaydsan?” “Maya,” ayuu yidhi “waxba maan kaydsan.” “Maxaad qabanaysay?” ayay ku celisay Gideerti. “Hoobal baan ahoo, waan heesayay oo ciyaarayay,” ayuu yidhi. 
Intay Gideertii irridihii ka xidhatay ayay ku tidhi, “Hoobal, haddii aad gugigii iyo xagaagii heesaysay oo ciyaaraysay, iminka halkii ka sii jiibi!!!” 

Prof. Cabdisalaam Yaasiin 

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/

Somalia’s Taboo Breaker First Woman Foreign Minister

Somalia’s Taboo Breaker First Woman Foreign Minister

 By Bashir Goth 

No matter what one thinks, or in what color one tries to see the appointment of Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam as the first woman Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Somalia and indeed in the Horn of Africa and the Arab World, it is the historical significance of a woman reaching this far in tribal-based Muslim society, where women are seen only as an appendage if not indeed a property to their menfolk, that should not escape any conscientious person's attention.


Given to the plight, suffering and humiliation that Somali women went through over the last 20 years despite being the pillars that sustain the existence of the Somali people both inside the country and the Diaspora, what better image is there to see than an educated and refined woman being the face of Somalia to the outside world, what a better answer to Al- Shabab who couldn't see women anything more than a bra and an obscene body to be shrouded and hidden away in dark houses. What better answer to the Arab world where women despite spearheading the Arab Spring are being pushed to live in the 7th century by religious fanatic who themselves aren't shy to indulge in the 21st century luxuries including smart phones and who spread their reactionary ideologies through modern social media. What better PR to the Islah-led government of President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud; what a better bridge to use to bring Somaliland to the fold than a woman who does not only hail from Somaliland but also contributed more than anyone else to making a better future for the youth there and whose own children hail from Mogadishu, a symbol of unity through her own life like numerous other Somali women.


I congratulate Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam for winning such a historic achievement for Somali women. I say winning, because Fawzia has indeed waged a long and persistent struggle to prove that Somali women can take a leadership position by their own merit and not through charity quotas.
I don't know Fawzia, never met her and never even spoken to hear, but I was following her mammoth efforts and initiatives for community development and her political ambition over a number of years. Fawzia first attracted my attention when she initiated the founding of the University of Hargeisa in the late 1990s. I remember how she strove relentlessly to make the university a reality which she did. She again came to my radar in 2008 with the launching of RAADTV, another great project through which she tried to give a different perspective to the Somali issue other than the hackneyed failed state, war-ridden, bowl-holding, refugee camp squatters stereotype image pushed by the international media.
In her vigorous and persistent endeavor not to leave only men to the leadership landscape, Fawzia again made a comeback in late 2011 when she created the Nabad, Dimoqraadiyad iyo Barwaaqo (NDB) (Peace, Democracy and Prosperity Party) in Somaliland with the long term objective of competing for Somaliland's presidency. It was the first time in the history of the Somali people that a woman had shown the audacity to create and lead a political party in a society that frowns on women in terms of leadership.


Although Fawzia's NDB party did well in the primaries and the communities had come out in full support to the rallies she held in the various regions of the country and she fulfilled all the required conditions, the Silanyo government of Somaliland has declared Fawzia's party unqualified to be registered as an official party. Knowing that she was targeted for being a woman, Fawzia refused to go down without a fight. She organized a peaceful protest in Hargeisa where hundreds of people came out to back her cause. However, the Silanyo government did not hesitate to arrest her and keep her in detention until her supporters were disbanded. Earlier, the government also aborted Fawzia's attempt to become the chairperson of the Board of Hargeisa University, an institution that she was instrumental in establishing it.
It is against this taboo breaking tradition that Fawzia again surprised the Somali people when she was recently appointed as Somalia's first woman foreign minister. Here I recall Neil Armstrong's words when he first set foot on the moon, in 1969, and he said: "That is a small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind." And the appointment of Fawzia as Somalia's deputy prime minister and foreign minister is indeed a small step for Fawzia, a giant leap for Somali women, Horn of African and Arab women. It was in the middle of the 1980s when the eminent Kenyan-American scholar Dr. Ali Mazrui predicted on a BBC documentary on Africa that if ever a woman becomes a president in an African country it would be in Somalia. Mazrui made that statement in reflection of his visit to Somalia in the early eighties and how he saw Somali women actively contributing to the country's development in all sectors. The Somali women have missed that opportunity due to the disasters caused by their menfolk but they played a crucial role in holding the Somali community together and keeping their children's dream alive for a better tomorrow.


No matter how much I try I cannot emphasize enough the historical importance of this achievement for Somali women. But at the same time, I have no illusions about the enormity of suffering that Somali women endure and I am fully aware that getting a leadership position will not be a magic bullet to wipe out all their hardships.


Today and for many years to come, I know Somali women will still be victims to the cruel practise of Female Genital Mutilation, that millions of Somali mothers will still be sacrificing their careers and their lives to raise kids and to put food on the table while their men are beholden to their narcotic addition of Kat, that many mothers will die while giving birth due to the lack of medical facilities, that the majority of Somali women will be struggling against odds to give warmth and shelter to their kids let alone education due to a grinding poverty, that millions of them will be mending and repairing the ruptures caused in their homes and their neighbourhoods by men fighting on hollowed pride and primitive tribal egos, that Somali women in the countryside will still be cultivating the land, looking after livestock in harsh terrain and moving children and family belongings like a mule on their backs while their men are enjoying their shameless AWOL, that millions of them who are in refugee camps or in internally displaced camps are preoccupied in eking out a living and do not care if a woman leads the country or not.


All that is true and Fawia's achievement will have no immediate impact on them, but I also know that like all human beings Somali mothers want to see their daughters have a dream. And at the top of this is a dream for freedom. Somali girls want to be free to have a choice in life and purse their dreams; they want to be educated to improve their living standards, they want be part of the country's decision making, they want to have their voice heard, to take their destiny in their hands and to have the right to lead and be followed if they so wish. And Fawzia's appointment just gives them that dream. Today, girls from the squalid Dhadhaab Refugee Camp can look up to Fawzia and dream of a better future for themselves as well.


On the political side, I know many people may accuse Fawzia of being a Machiavellian and question her political honesty and credibility given to her recent political ambitions in Somaliland. But on the contrary, I believe that Fawzia is the best person that can take us to a new direction due to her well deserved name in Somaliland and the huge personal sacrifices she made to fashion a better future for the youth of Somaliland through education. There is no better investment to raise people's awareness and enlighten them about their life conditions other than education. Today, as thousands of graduates from Hargeisa University are loitering in the dusty streets of Hargeisa without any jobs and without any hope for the future and while many of them take the risk of crossing or dying in the high seas to escape from the hopeless situation at home, it was time for a visionary person like Fawzia to give them another alternative. She did not give them education to see them all die on the high seas. One can argue that the few months that Fawzia campaigned for her NDB party in Somaliland have given her a great insight into the real conditions of the people. She found out that Somaliland was committing suicide if it continued in its current course. In fact, not only Fawzia but we must all have learned a lesson or two over the last twenty years that no part of the country could survive alone without giving allegiance and becoming under the suzerainty of a neighbouring power. Neither Somaliland nor Puntland or any other of the mushrooming foreign created tribal enclaves will be able to stand independently alone without bending their destiny to the wishes and dictates of foreign countries whose desire is to kill the old dream of greater Somalia by carving Somalia itself into insignificant and feuding mini-states.


It is with this conviction and geopolitical realization as well as the abhorring and debilitated state of Somaliland's economic and social underdevelopment, lack of institutional systems, political bankruptcy, and growing dependency on nepotism, tribalism and corruption due to diminishing resources and visible absence of vision and creative leadership that prompted Fawzia to change course. It is only wise leaders who can take their people to a different direction when they see the road leading to a dead end.


Fawzia is definitely not the first nor she would be the last Somaliland politician to go to Mogadishu, in fact one may argue with a degree of certainty that there is not a single Somaliland politician who is not willing to go to Mogadishu if and when the right opportunity arises. So why is the Hargeisa government making such a hypocritical uproar about Fawzia's appointment? The truth is Silanyo government doesn't object a Somalilander to have a leading position in the Mogadishu government, but what they do not want is to see a person with independent thinking and a vision like Fawzia to be their counterpart in Mogadishu. Fawzia has proven to be a wise Somaliland politician who wants to save her beloved Somaliland from its current political Guantanamo status and the Somaliland government has to welcome her and embrace her as their woman in Mogadishu who can superbly steer the Somalia-Somaliland dialogue with a politician's shrewdness, the passion of a mother and a care of a daughter.


The new government of Mogadishu should also be reminded that they should not try to use Fawzia as window dressing and should give her full authority to be the country's foreign policy steward. Any tampering with her authority will only backfire on them and erase the best action that they have done so far besides forming a lean cabinet, another praiseworthy first step.


Bashir Gothbsogoth@yahoo.com

http://samotalis.blogspot.com/