The people of Somaliland were shocked by the hasty congratulation message of Kulmiye led government in Hargiesa to the selection of Abdi Weli, as leader of Puntland, an autonomous region of Somalia.  During his campaign, Abdi Weli vowed to invade Somaliland’s eastern regions.

Abdi Weli, who is leading tribal enclave, claims parts of Somaliland based on clan. He believes that Harti clans in eastern Somaliland must join Puntland, which according to him is a kingdom of Harti kinsfolk.  Weli is bribing and brainwashing some of Somaliland’s Harti fugitives using the dirty money that he gained during his premiership in Transitional Government of Somalia, where he was accused for corruption.

Abdi Weli, according to the UN Monitoring Group report, was criticized for endemic corruption alongside other three high-ranking officials in Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia including former President Sheikh Sharif and the Parliament Speaker. Former Prime Minister Mohamed Farmaajo was, also, accused in the report. Both Abdi Weli and Farmaajo vehemently denied but the stain and accusation are still alive in the minds of the people of Somalia.

Somalia, including Puntland, is at the top of the world’s most failed states because of such corrupted leaders, who fill-up their pockets instead of serving some of the poorest people on earth.

Abdi Weli, who is disconnected from the reality, is planning to unite all the Harti tribesmen under Puntland administration, which means that Puntland will take over parts of Ethiopia and Somaliland. Currently Puntland invades Somaliland and will do the same to Ethiopia.

This policy of invading legitimate countries based on ethnicity was adopted in Somalia after independence. Somalia invaded Ethiopia in 1977, in order to take over Ethiopia’s eastern parts dominated by Somali speaking community. Such policy called “Somaliwayn”.

The government of Somalia is not accepting secession of Somaliland, as an independent nation, because Somaliland is part of Somali-speaking community in east Africa and loosing Somaliland means the end of “Somaliwayn” policy. 

Abdi Weli is ready to trigger war with Somaliland as he declared during his campaign. On undeclared visit, Abdi Weli visited Badhan town, which is located inside Somaliland, which led Somaliland authorities to seal-off its border with Somalia.

In his latest misleading acts, Abdi Weli accused Somaliland of having links with Al-Shabaab terrorists without providing material evidence to support the accusation.

Al-Shabab bombed Somaliland presidential palace, Ethiopian embassy and UNDP head office in Hargiesa – Capital of Somaliland.  Somaliland is part of war-on-terror and arrested many Al-Shabab members.

Somaliland Intelligence Agency provided critical security information, which helped the UK authorities to fool terrorist attempt in London during 2007.  Somaliland collaborates with other regional authorities on security and intelligence information.

Such baseless accusation against Somaliland undermines the international community efforts to solve the longstanding instability of ex-Somali Republic. It undermines the current talk between Somaliland and Somalia in Turkey, in which both countries are deciding on their future political relations.

Last week, Puntland policeman killed two UN aid workers at the day light, which led the UN to shift all its employees to Somaliland.

Somaliland submitted their concerns over Puntland’s untrue accusation to the government of Somalia in Mogadishu.

Somaliland will not allow Abdi Weli to illegally infiltrate into Somaliland border with Somalia again, and Puntland will be responsible for any security instability that could result from such unfriendly situation created by Puntland.

Brief History of Land of Punt

Puntland has twisted the history of Land of Punt to tribal enclave, where the area was turned into crime territory. The human trafficking, where small wooden boat intended to carry lighter cargo used to smuggle thousands of people into Yemen and Arabian Gulf. Thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians lost their life in this risky trip. There are famous Puntland leaders who are involved in such dirty business. Piracy is another lucrative business, although it is declining recently, but still there are cases of piracy reported. Recently Hollywood released movie named ‘Captain Philip’ about the Puntland Piracy. The director carefully selected the actors who were mainly from Puntland.

By naming their state “Puntland,” the leaders of that self-declared autonomous northern Somalia evoke a storied history. The Land of Punt was a key trading partner of ancient Egypt from roughly 2,500 BCE to 1000 BCE. Punt provided rare goods for the Egyptian elite, including aromatic gums (especially myrrh and frankincense), gold, ivory and wild animals, but around 1000 BCE connections were lost, after which the Land of Punt faded into legends, its exact location lost.

Despite heaps of evidence and decades of debate, scholars are not certain where or even what ancient Punt was and where it was.

The exact location of Punt is still debated by historians. Most scholars today believe Punt was located to the southeast of Egypt, most likely in the coastal region of what is today Somaliland, Djibouti, Eritrea, and North East Ethiopia.

The Land of Punt, also called Pewenet, or Pewene by ancient Egyptians was an Egyptian trading partner. The region is known from ancient Egyptian records of trade missions to it.
During Queen Hatsheput the Land of Punt was ruled by King Parahu and Queen Ati, the only known leader of Land of Punt. However, today’s tribe enclave called Puntland twisted the history including Abdi Weli are nothing but leaders of tribe enclave and bogus self-styled leaders who don’t represent the people.

Hatshepsut “maintains the fiction that her envoy” Chancellor Nehsi, who is mentioned as the head of the expedition, had travelled to Punt “in order to extract tribute from the natives” who admit their allegiance to the Egyptian pharaoh. In reality, Nehsi’s expedition was a simple trading mission to a land, Punt, which was by this time a well-established trading post
as I mentioned Scholars have long sought to locate the Land of Punt. Ancient Egyptian sources show that it was reached by sailing down the Red Sea.  A location is thus suggested, probably in present day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somaliland and Djibouti.

However, what the current selected leaders of Puntland are claiming is twisting the history. Note that modern Puntland lies at the extreme margin of the general area hypothesized as the possible Land of Punt.

Today’s piracy enclave of Puntland is not part of Land of Punt as per the below map which shows that self-declared autonomous region of Puntland is not located in the same place as the ancient Land of Punt. Puntland is not alone in being misplaced from its namesake. Several African countries are named for illustrious kingdoms that were situated elsewhere.

Map of Land of Punt
http://www.igmi.org/ancient/immagine.php?cod=14390

Also, the map shows the location of SULT DEL MIGIURTIN (Majeerteeniya) after independence to be named Majeerteeniya / North East Province of Somali Republic and later after the collapse of central government of Somalia, the region was declared as semi-autonomous region of Puntland. This is the true color of Puntland and it has no relation with Land of Punt, and the last recognized and known King of Land of Punt was King Parahu.

Moreover, the map shows the clear territorial border of Somaliland, Djibouti and Somalia.

Conclusion

Somaliland is peaceful country and promotes peace and harmony in the region. Somaliland is cooperative towards achieving stable and prosperous Horn of Africa.  However, Puntland’s illegal attempts to create instability in far east of Somaliland will have painful consequences, knowing that the strong Somaliland Army are at the border between Somaliland and Somalia, which is not far from the main cities of Puntland.   Any attempt to violate the international Somaliland-Somalia border will receive strong response.

Source: http://ancientpeoples.tumblr.com/

By\ Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi

Somalilanders, though living in a diplomatically unrecognized country, are not written off the face of the earth. They are here and they intend to remain here as responsible members of the international community, respecting its peers and being fully respected, in return, for what they are.
Furthermore, Somaliland should be doubly rewarded for its herculean achievements in economic development, democratic practices, peace and stability and multi-sector development in almost all pivotal spheres without the blessing of bi-lateral trade agreements with anybody or the monetary support of international financial organizations such as the IMF. In the face of adversity, Somaliland leapt out of the shambles of near total destruction in the late eighties to become a much stronger, more determined phenomenon that never ceases to amaze the world up to this day. It managed to build and hold together a nation in a region whose stability is as treacherous as quicksand, whose safety precariously balanced on a hair-breadth string over an ominous bottomless pit of uncertainties.

In this light, the outside world, IFJ, CPJ and all the other ..Js included, should see Somaliland. I am sure this would have lent the right weight to their off-the-cuff, impulsive accusations which betray a stark absence of impartiality, accuracy and fair dealing not befitting organizations that purportedly represent professional journalism.

Elsewhere
Elsewhere in the world respectable media houses, Journalism associations and media councils see to it that reporters follow ethical guidelines. They make sure that reporters look out for themselves, for their colleagues, for their employers and for the public and observe correct, responsible, professional practices. They protect members from unintentional mistakes and equip them with requisite skills to differentiate right and wrong, fact and opinion.

Elsewhere in the world, IFJ, CPJ and others actively encourage the draft and ratification of media laws and the formation of media councils that they regulate. The organizations recognize the need for law and order. They know that in the absence of a law to keep journalists and their subjects from each other’s throats, neither can decently and confidently live in the presence of the other. Mutual respect and the rule of law is developed this way – and respected.
Elsewhere, there are laws that regulate who qualifies for the profession and who does not. Once accreditation is ascertained the responsible journalist enjoys all the rights and benefits of his profession in the eyes of the law and the public. He/She reports on facts and figures fully knowing his/her critical, very important use for society as a reporter, informer, educator, builder, developer, arbitrator and researcher. The more so in fragile, developing countries than in societies that have developed overlapping protective shields against the hell-bent elements in the profession.

Reporters report and do not invent stories. They neither edit matter to tailor it to their likes and dislikes nor do they embellish it or alter it in any way detrimental to the core essence of the subject matter, event or research. Reporters keep out of their stories. They remain outside but subtly draw you into understanding what is being reported. Reporters leave you to judge for yourself. They do not tell you what to do or how to do it.

In other words, a report a good, ethical journalist produce aims to be objective, impartial, fair, factual, timely, and relevant – and far from a subjective, greed-driven, partisan, caustic versions of what it should have been.
No responsible journalist takes up a pen, a camera or cassette recorder to coerce victims to cough up hard cash. Neither does he actively twist and fabricate facts to intentionally hurt or blackmail a subject to extend him favors, extend him concessions, garner contracts, provide him secrets or elevate relatives to higher positions and heftier pay packages. Or else …
In Somaliland
Professional journalism is dying in the hands of ruthless executioners that pose as journalists. In Somaliland, organizations actively encourage erring journalists to go on the rampage. The good and ethical practitioner is demoralized; the blackmailer is egged on to more and more brazen fabricated ‘reports’ to cow victims to submission.
In Somaliland, there is no active, workable media law or Code of Ethics governing the practice. Neither is there an arbitration council. And yet, the country has one of the most thriving, most vibrant media houses in the region.
Among the Somaliland media, however, there are, expectedly, the few that are in the profession for personal gains. How they realize that is anybody’s guess. Any of you can name the ‘few’.

It should have been the responsibility of SOLJA – through which eyes the IFJ and CPJ and others of like genre view Somaliland – to temper the vagaries of those lending the profession such a bad name. They should have spoken out in public against those that were not practicing ethically correct journalism.

Organizations such as SOLJA, IFJ and CPJ should have been on the side of the wronged to prevent or limit the occurrence of arbitrary arrests, cumbersome lawsuits, unfair castigation of public officers, business people, fellow journalists, instigation if unrest and instability, encouragement of clan rivalries, misrepresentation of facts, and violence borne of such and similar activities. The organizations must be aware that their good names can be tainted by so-called reporters that are quick to blame everybody but themselves.

There is no sign of these august organizations when everybody’s rights are so callously, so heinously being trampled upon and the rule of law flaunted in the hands of extortionist hackers posing as journalists. No sign of them at all.
It is better to help the sick alive. One does not treat the dead. No amount of eulogies can bring it back to live.

SOLJA, IFJ, CPJ and others only spout forth their standard, hollow ‘condemnations’ after somebody, somewhere reacts in self-defense. By doing so, they expose their disregard for all decency and the rule of law. By doing so, they scoff at all the loftier principles of journalism: accuracy of facts, impartiality, thorough research into alleged misbehavior and the like. In conclusion, we ask said organizations, with all due respect, to salvage what is left of their reputations and stop misleading the more impressionable among media practitioners in Somaliland and elsewhere in the developing world. Instead, they must actively work with both authorities and the media world to develop mutual respect for law and order, and for one another based on adherence to basic human rights precepts. Defamation, libel, seditious coverage, graft, extortion, blackmail and adulteration of facts must, in no time, in no circumstances, be encouraged. The highest standards must always be cultivated and sought among journalists specially so among the more fragile societies in the world.

Abdishakur A Essa
United States