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Somalia's Next Phase Should Include Accountability for War Criminals

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Last week, the U.S. government recognized a government of Somalia for the first time since 1991. In his remarks to Secretary of State Clinton, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud spoke of Somalia emerging from a period of chaos to one of peace. This new Somalia, he said, will make a “valuable contribution to the region and the world at large.” If Somalia is to be a shining example, it should start by ending impunity for war criminals and giving victims justice.

Somalia’s transition must reckon with its past. The Somali state’s collapse in 1991 did not emerge from a vacuum: it was precipitated by years of brutal violence under the Mohamed Siad Barre dictatorship. Under Barre’s 21-year regime, government forces tortured, summarily executed, raped, and even launched aerial bombing raids on civilian populations. The armed groups that overthrew Barre in 1991, and the remnants of that regime, continued the cycle of violence.

To date, no individual has been held to account for these crimes–in Somalia. However, accountability efforts have been made against former Barre-regime officials living in the U.S. The Center for Justice and Accountability has brought three cases in U.S. courts on behalf of Somali victims. Last November, a U.S. federal court of appeals denied immunity to Mohamed Ali Samantar, former Somali Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, for crimes against humanity and torture. That same month, a district court in Ohio ruled that Colonel Abdi Aden Magan, the former Chief of Somalia’s National Security Service was liable for torture. Another torture suit is pending against Colonel Yusuf Abdi Ali (a.k.a “Tukeh”), a former Brigade Commander in the Somali National Army.”) Each of these cases was filed under U.S. universal jurisdiction laws that permit civil suits for human rights violations.

President Sheikh has made a commitment to restore faith in governance and the rule of law. His first step should be to hold to account former officials and warlords who brought Somalia over the brink. His second is to end impunity for human rights abuses committed in the wake of Somalia’s collapse. To date, cases of gender based violence, child soldier recruitment, and attacks against journalist have gone unpunished.
Lessons can be learned from the cases in the U.S., but President Sheikh can look closer to home as well. Local activists and government officials in the northern region of Somaliland have begun toexcavate mass graves and document evidence of war crimes. The Somali government should build on these efforts and end the impunity of suspected war criminals like General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan or Maslah Mohamed Siad Barre. Both have been accused of overseeing widespread and systematic abuses under Siad Barre. And both currently split their time between Somalia and Kenya.

It will be difficult to restore confidence in government with such perpetrators still at large. After victory in his case against Samantar, Aziz Deria, whose father and brother were abducted by Somali officials and never seen again, observed that holding former officials “formally accountable for atrocities in Somalia’s civil war is the best way for Somalia to move forward. Clan retribution can be set aside when people can be assured of justice through the legal system.”

The words of President Sheik speak of stability and hope. But to achieve these goals, Somalia must begin transparent human rights investigations and provide redress to victims.

Source:TheHuffingtonPost

Somalia’s Next Phase Should Include Accountability for War Criminals

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Last week, the U.S. government recognized a government of Somalia for the first time since 1991. In his remarks to Secretary of State Clinton, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud spoke of Somalia emerging from a period of chaos to one of peace. This new Somalia, he said, will make a “valuable contribution to the region and the world at large.” If Somalia is to be a shining example, it should start by ending impunity for war criminals and giving victims justice.

Somalia’s transition must reckon with its past. The Somali state’s collapse in 1991 did not emerge from a vacuum: it was precipitated by years of brutal violence under the Mohamed Siad Barre dictatorship. Under Barre’s 21-year regime, government forces tortured, summarily executed, raped, and even launched aerial bombing raids on civilian populations. The armed groups that overthrew Barre in 1991, and the remnants of that regime, continued the cycle of violence.

To date, no individual has been held to account for these crimes–in Somalia. However, accountability efforts have been made against former Barre-regime officials living in the U.S. The Center for Justice and Accountability has brought three cases in U.S. courts on behalf of Somali victims. Last November, a U.S. federal court of appeals denied immunity to Mohamed Ali Samantar, former Somali Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, for crimes against humanity and torture. That same month, a district court in Ohio ruled that Colonel Abdi Aden Magan, the former Chief of Somalia’s National Security Service was liable for torture. Another torture suit is pending against Colonel Yusuf Abdi Ali (a.k.a “Tukeh”), a former Brigade Commander in the Somali National Army.”) Each of these cases was filed under U.S. universal jurisdiction laws that permit civil suits for human rights violations.

President Sheikh has made a commitment to restore faith in governance and the rule of law. His first step should be to hold to account former officials and warlords who brought Somalia over the brink. His second is to end impunity for human rights abuses committed in the wake of Somalia’s collapse. To date, cases of gender based violence, child soldier recruitment, and attacks against journalist have gone unpunished.
Lessons can be learned from the cases in the U.S., but President Sheikh can look closer to home as well. Local activists and government officials in the northern region of Somaliland have begun toexcavate mass graves and document evidence of war crimes. The Somali government should build on these efforts and end the impunity of suspected war criminals like General Mohammed Said Hersi Morgan or Maslah Mohamed Siad Barre. Both have been accused of overseeing widespread and systematic abuses under Siad Barre. And both currently split their time between Somalia and Kenya.

It will be difficult to restore confidence in government with such perpetrators still at large. After victory in his case against Samantar, Aziz Deria, whose father and brother were abducted by Somali officials and never seen again, observed that holding former officials “formally accountable for atrocities in Somalia’s civil war is the best way for Somalia to move forward. Clan retribution can be set aside when people can be assured of justice through the legal system.”

The words of President Sheik speak of stability and hope. But to achieve these goals, Somalia must begin transparent human rights investigations and provide redress to victims.

Source:TheHuffingtonPost

Kenya: Traders cart away capital from Eastleigh

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

 

On the brink: The bubble that was Eastleigh is threatening to burst as shoppers and traders flee the area in the wake of mysterious terror attacks.

The picture of Eastleigh is one of total withdrawal and subjugation.

The poor roads that had caved in under the weight of human traffic are empty.

Human traffic within the Eastleigh peri-urban shopping centre has thinned to unimaginable levels like the morning dew that evaporates with the rising sun.

The flow of toxic sludge — evidence of human life and activity — onto the roads is gradually drying up.

The verandas of mega buildings that teemed with hawkers and wares on display have been zone off with mean nylon ropes — as if to keep the ‘bad guys’ away.

The hawkers, whose daily bread singularly hinged on shouting, have since gone mute — vending their wares in silence and only occasionally waving gently at a passing onlooker.

The stalls that housed not just the merchandise but secret safes hoarding millions of shillings are deserted in their dozens.

Public transport is a sorry portrait of a battered sub-sector. PSV conductors — known for the sub-culture of violence and ruthlessness — have been reduced to a tame lot. Seated in their vessels, they count on providence and blank stares to bring passengers their way.

The drivers, openly bored due to an alien culture — one of total order and silence — drift off in thoughts. With vehicle stereos in the mute piling onto their misery, the drivers often doze off as they await a signal from their conductors to step on the pedal.

Shoppers and traders alike talk in low tones — occasionally glancing over their shoulders as they barter their suspicions.

This is the new Eastleigh where fear of the unknown is the new commodity in stock.

The recent wave of terror attacks in the area has sent a chill down the spine of residents and shoppers alike. The security crackdown that followed has only made life harder and business near impossible.

Businesses worth billions of shillings are either closing down in Eastleigh or being relocated to other countries.

Business Beat has authoritatively learnt that proprietors are fleeing the region’s business hub to escape a sting of security operations targeting aliens — most of who run a chain of businesses in the area.

Massive withdrawals

Banks that rushed to the area are already feeling the pinch of the fleeing businesspeople.

Our investigations reveal that an estimated Sh10 billion was withdrawn from 12 banks that operate in the area in the past three months alone.

Efforts to get a comment from Barclays Bank Managing Director Adan Mohammed proved futile, as he did not respond to our phone calls.

Paul Sesi, Head of Operations at Chase Bank, which also operates in the area said Chase Bank hadn’t witnessed any panic withdrawals.

“We are yet to see anything untoward,” said Sesi. “We haven’t been affected and are operating normally.”

But even as operators in the areas denied knowledge of anything unseemly, Barclays Bank, which used to operate two branches on a 24-hour basis, has since stopped night operations due to lack of customers.

“Barclays now operates only day time because the night business is dead,” says Hussein Roba, Chairman Eastleigh Residents Community Association (ERCA).

“People no longer sell or buy at night because nobody wants to dare the police to a duel.”

A few months ago, the Government outlawed the alien card — apparently the only identity and security some of the traders held — making their stay in the country untenable.

“The government recently issued a directive that such people should either go back to their countries of origin or refugee camps,” says Eastleigh District Officer Charles Muiruri.

Some of the traders are reportedly fleeing to Somalia, Uganda and Dubai while others are said to be ‘melting’ into within the country — most notably at the Coast.

Analysts say the developments in Eastleigh — previously believed to be nexus of unexplained cash flows from piracy and sneaked goods from Somalia, vindicate a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) for the quarter ending June 2012. The report showed that unexplained forex flows dropped to the lowest level.

“There is widespread belief that some of the money used to fund the booming property market in Kenya and other businesses is from Somalia,” says Job Kihumba a director at Standard Investment Bank (SIB).

“It is likely that this money found its way to Eastleigh.”

According to the KNBS data, unexplained foreign money in Kenya’s banking system fell to Sh6.5 billion ($76.5 million) mid last year from a high of Sh170 billion ($2 billion) at the beginning of 2011 — the lowest in five years.

Cheap imports

Kenya had also been flooded by billions of shillings worth of goods imported through the Al-Shabaab controlled Somalia coastline — and sold cheaply into the market. However, this has severely been affected by the fall of Kismayu.

Provincial administrators say smugglers have been trying to sneak in goods from Ethiopia through Moyale into the area, but this has proved costly, especially with the influx of cheaper goods from China.

The security operation in Eastleigh started slightly over six months ago, but has intensified in the recent past following a series of blasts in the area.

It is believed the successful excursion of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF’s) in Somalia has helped stem piracy in Indian Ocean and blocked the routes used by smugglers to sneak in goods to the country.

“Eastleigh is at a critical crossroads and will likely emerge from the ongoing crisis looking quite different from the one we know today,” says Kihumba.

“Most businesses that operate there will be affected in some way, regardless of how the security operation unfolds.”

The exodus of moneyed immigrants, mostly of Somali origin, has also left property owners in Eastleigh chalking up huge losses in lost rent.

In fact, the provincial administration is now fighting to stem an explosive situation brewing between thousands of vacating tenants who are all demanding back their rent deposits and reluctant property owners, some of who are still repaying the loans they used to build the houses.

“It is true we are swamped by numerous cases between landlords and several tenants who are vacating,” says Muiruri.

Muiruri says the situation is so complex that in some instances, a property owner is swamped by more than 20 tenants all demanding their deposits back because they are relocating.

In a familiar tale of high-living in the boom years, followed by an uncomfortable return to reality, the landlords borrowed heftily from banks to construct houses for the incoming immigrants.

The exodus of the ‘refugees’ has triggered a plunge in the value of the assets the loans were based on — with some borrowers reportedly having trouble making repayments.

The fleeing traders have also left several business premises in prime areas like Garissa Lodge unoccupied.

A survey by Business Beat revealed a number of vacant business premises in Eastleigh’s business hub where 16 tenants vacated a mall referred to as Yaburiani last week.

According to Hussein, Sh500 million used to exchange hands in Eastleigh’s major business hub before the security operation, but things have since changed with estimates showing the figures could have plunged to Sh150 million.

A high-ranking provincial administrator who requested not to be named due to sensitivity of the matter confirmed the figures.

Besides local traders who come from various towns to buy stuff from Garissa Lodge, it has also been a key wholesale market for traders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

These people have started shying away from Eastleigh on growing perceptions of insecurity in Nairobi peri-urban shopping centre and most importantly, because the people they used to buy from are running away.

Incidentally, certain sectors of the Eastleigh economy have received a boost since the sporadic attacks and subsequent security operation with the most notable being security companies and taxi operators.

Providing alternative means of transport for staff unwilling to travel into branches in Eastleigh was the principal cost of the situation for two banks that have branches in the area.

“They have deployed more security personnel at their premises and we now have to pick and drop members of their staff who fear being caught in potentially explosive situations in the area,” says a taxi operator who requested not to be named.

It is booming business for taxi operators and security guards who now have extra duties, but the situation is not enjoyable because we also have to check what is happening behind our backs.”

There are now fears that the relocation of businesses from Eastleigh could have longer-term economic repercussions revenue collections.

The fall in property prices, reduction of business activities and its impact on the retail and hotel industries could also have far reaching ramifications in the country.

Financial institutions that provided loans towards the construction of some of these properties could be facing a potentially crippling situation as they could end up with assets in collaterals whose value is way below the amount given.

For example unofficial estimates show that Nairobi City Council would collect Sh50 million less in taxes than in the previous fiscal year, with loss of parking fees and other licences from traders responsible for a huge chunk of the loss.

The remainder is a result of the decreases in value of other property in the area and, interestingly, by a reduction in the value of hotels.

Source: Standard Digital

Khat: a legal high, but should it be banned?

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Khat, a stimulant drug, is chewed by around 90,000 people in the east African and Yemeni communities in the UK. But now the Home Office is considering banning the substance. Jamal Osman finds out why.

In an industrial estate in Southall, west London, thousands of boxes full of khat are delivered every week. The drug begins its journey from the hills of Kenya and arrives in the UK four times a week. It then makes its way to the depot, where dealers buy the herbal high to supply customers across the UK. The fresh leaves are chewed to achieve a state of mild euphoria. It has a stimulant effect similar to that of amphetamines.

Britain is the only country in the west where the product remains legal. The khat business generates over £400m in revenue for the British economy, and the chancellor of the exchequer also picks up a tidy sum in VAT revenue.

Around 90,000 people from the east African and Yemeni communities in the UK use it, especially the Somali community. But a Home Office report, which will be published on Wednesday, is to recommend regulating the product, and a ban is expected to follow later.

Not far from the depot in Southall lies Number 15, the best-known khat house in the country. Traditionally known as marfash, the khat house is open from midday till the early morning hours. Men sit around chewing the green leaf.

A little buzz

Mahdi Jama, a regular chewer in the marfash, cannot understand why anyone would bother people like him as the plant has been used for centuries by his community.

“It’s like vegetable but it gives a little bit buzz,” he said.

“It’s like saying we’ll ban alcohol because there are people who are alcoholic.”

However, anti-khat campaigners say it “is destroying the whole community”, causing health problems, unemployment and family breakdown. In particular, they are concerned about the spread of khat use among the younger generation, where the attitude is: “If it’s legal, it must be safe to consume it.”

Led by Abukar Awale, a former addict himself, the activists feel they are ever closer to achieving their objectives. It has been a long journey, however, and they have been trying to convince successive governments to listen.

The campaign started seven years ago with weekly visits to local khat houses. Once a week, the activists distribute leaflets with information about the harmful effects of the drug. Most people support them, but occasionally they get into arguments with khat-chewers who do not welcome their message. To reach more people, Abukar Awale started his own television show: Check Before You Chew. It is a phone-in programme where the viewers share their experience of khat use on one of the Somali satellite stations.

They then started attending local government meetings to influence key decision makers. As a result, some local authorities with a sizeable Somali population, such as Hillingdon, called for the regulation of khat to “give local authorities, the police and government agencies greater powers to control its importation, sale and use”.

Ban on khat

During the last election, the activists met politicians, offering them community votes. In return, they wanted their support for the ban on khat. Some politicians accepted the offer and supported the mission. Sayeeda Warsi, minister for faith and communities, announced that “a future Conservative government would legislate to make khat a classified drug.”

But the activists kept the pressure on the authorities. Playing the discrimination card, they accused the government of not taking the issue seriously since “it was not affecting real Brits”.

In 2010, when “meow-meow” – or mephedrone – was banned following the deaths of a number of young people in the UK, the anti-khat campaigners jumped on the bandwagon. They wanted to exploit the links between khat and mephedrone. Mephedrone is a synthetic substance based on the cathinone compounds found in the khat plant. They argued that since khat is widely available in the UK, people will find ways of producing meow-meow.

Last year, counter-terrorism officers working with their American counterparts arrested seven individuals across the UK. The group – all of them khat traders – were suspected of channelling the proceeds of an alleged smuggling enterprise to al-Qaeda-linked Islamists in Somalia.

And last month, those pushing for a ban organised a demonstration outside Downing Street: pray for a ban. It was about praying to a superior power, God, who could simply tell David Cameron to ban khat. If the report calls for tougher control on khat, the activists will believe their prayers have been partially answered.

But Abukar Awale and his friends will not accept anything other than an all-out ban.

“We will challenge any other decision,” he said.

“For the government, it’s not about how harmful this product is, it’s who is using it – and that is discrimination. Our lawyers have been preparing for this, and we will take legal action within the next three months.”

Back in the khat house in Southall, the message from the chewers is defiant. They say they “are just going to carry on chewing what ever happens”.

Source:Channel 4 news

 

Somaliland:More than 210 youth garner sustainable training skills

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The Minister of Sports, Youth &Tourism Hon Ali Said Raygal presided over a graduation ceremony held for over 210 youth who have graduated with special skills from HAVAYOCO technical training Project.

Hon Ali Said Raygal speaking during the graduation lauded HAVAYOCO for initiating innovative projects with the purpose of preparing the youth for job market with the necessary skills that empower them with life planning skills and knowledge of positive planning.

The head of HAVAYOCO Vocational education and training Project  Mr. Jimacle Yusuf said that the project has mainly benefited youth from Maroodi Jeeh  and Awdal regions and that the organization has helped youth to set up small scale businesses so as to enhance employment.

Mr Jimacle said that an increased number of young people are currently participating in different vocational training activities and improving on their capacity building through mainstreaming sustainable training skills in various programs.

“It is anticipated that by the end of the project period, there will be realization of positive living and reduced levels of dependency among young people in project Regions”, said Mr Jimcale.

Among those attending the function were the minister of fisheries and marine resources Hon Abdillahi Jama Osman (Geeljire) and the assistant minister of education for Higher learning.

Goth M Goth

Somalilandpress.com

 

Ethiopia: The Irresponsibility of the Privileged?

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Alemayehu G Mariam

Recently, Naom Chomsky, MIT Professor of Linguistics and arguably America’s foremost public intellectual, gave an interview to Al Jazeera on the social (ir)responsibility of American academics and

Alemayehu G Mariam

Recently, Naom Chomsky, MIT Professor of Linguistics and arguably America’s foremost public intellectual, gave an interview to Al Jazeera on the social (ir)responsibility of American academics and intellectuals. Chomsky, 84, has been raising hell for over four decades, getting into the faces of the powerful and mighty and whipping them with the truth. He recently excoriated President Obama as lacking a “moral center” for using drone warfare to “run a global assassination campaign”. Chomsky has been called a “left winger”, a “radical activist” and even a “communist”, and has been on the receiving end of a few distasteful epithets. But the firebrand octogenarian is undeterred and as strong, as plain-spoken and outspoken as ever. He remains a relentless critic of capitalism, neoliberalism, globalization, warfare, corruption, repression, abuse and misuse of power and human rights violations in America and abroad. Along the way, he has continued his scholarly pursuits in linguistics.

In his Al Jazeera interview, “Noam Chomsky: The Responsibility of Privilege”, Chomsky chafed at the social irresponsibility of American intellectuals and denounced the greedy and rapacious elites for using their power to disempower ordinary people, confuse and render them intellectually inert, servile and defenseless.

Al Jazeera: Is it the responsibility of academics and other  intellectuals to be engaged politically?

Chomsky: Or every other human being. Responsibility is basically measured  by opportunity. If you are a poor person living in the slums and have to work 60 hours a week to put bread on the table, your degree of responsibility is less than if you have a degree of privilege.

Al Jazeera: If you have privilege, are you more obligated        to give back?

Chomsky: Yes. The more privilege you have, the more opportunity you have. The more opportunity you have, the more responsibility you have. It is elementary.

Al Jazeera: So why don’t we see that in the U.S.? There has been so much talk about people getting richer, many, many more people are getting poorer, and yet the rich are seemingly resistant to giving more of their time, more of their wealth and talent?

Chomsky: For the most part, that’s why they are rich. If you dedicate your life to enriching yourself and those are your values and you don’t care what happens to anyone else, then you won’t care what happens to anyone else. It is self-selecting. It is also institutional. In its extreme pathological form, it’s Ayn Rand’s ideology: “I don’t care about anybody else. I am just interested in benefitting myself and that is just and noble.”

George Ayittey, the noted Ghanaian economist and one of Africa’s foremost public intellectuals, has long been chagrined by the social irresponsibility of Africa’s best and brightest. He argued that Africa’s intellectual class is in bed with those who have built “vampire states” to suck billions of dollars out of the pockets of their impoverished people to line their own pockets. In 1996, he told African intellectuals exactly what he thought of them: “Hordes of politicians, lecturers, professionals, lawyers, and doctors sell themselves off into prostitution and voluntary bondage to serve the dictates of military vagabonds with half their intelligence. And time and time again, after being raped, abused, and defiled, they are tossed out like rubbish — or worse. Yet more intellectual prostitutes stampede to take their places…” Ouch! Ouch!

So why don’t we see more Ethiopian intellectuals engaged in politics? Are they merely following in the footsteps of their American counterparts? Could they be followers of Ayn Rand’s ideology: “I don’t care about anybody else. I am just interested in benefitting myself and that is just and noble.” Could Ayittey’s mordant criticism apply to Ethiopian intellectuals?

In a June 2010 commentary, I asked: “Where have the Ethiopian intellectuals gone?” I had no answer at the time, nor do I have one now; but I was, and still am, bewildered and puzzled by their conspicuous absence from the public square and the cyber square. Their absence reminded me of “the Greek philosopher Diogenes who used to walk the streets of ancient Athens carrying a lamp in broad daylight. When amused bystanders asked him about his apparently strange behavior, he would tell them that he was looking for an honest man. Like Diogenes, one may be tempted to walk the hallowed grounds of Western academia, search the cloistered spaces of the arts and scientific professions worldwide and even traverse the untamed frontiers of cyberspace with torchlight in hand looking for Ethiopian intellectuals.” They are nowhere to be found. They seem to be shrouded in a cloak of  invisibility.

Truth be told, I was once a member of that invisible empire of Ethiopian intelligentsia– disengaged, silent and deaf-mute. I was forced to uncloak myself when Meles Zenawi’s troops slaughtered 196 unarmed demonstrators, and shot and wounded nearly 800 more in the streets after the 2005 election in Ethiopia. I suppose there comes a time in a man’s or a woman’s life when s/he has to step out of the shadows of sheltered anonymity and silence, remove the veil of smug indifference and proclaim outrage at tyranny and crimes against humanity.

But there are tens of thousands of Ethiopian intellectuals who have chosen, made a conscious decision, to take a vow of silence and inhabit the subterranean recesses of anonymity. When they see elections stolen in broad daylight, they become afflicted by temporary blindness. When they hear innocent people being arrested and convicted in kangaroo courts, they become stone deaf. When they witness religious liberties trashed and the people crying out for freedom, they don’t try to stand with them or by them; they assuage their own consciences through a ritual of private grumbling, moaning and groaning. Above all, they have made a virtue of silence. They live a life of silent anonymity.

It is rather difficult to understand. Could it be that they are silent because they believe silence is golden? That is to say, if you want to be given the gold, stay silent? Do they not know “oppression can only survive through silence”? Could they be thinking that their silence is a manifestation of their contempt against those they consider ignorant and barbaric? Is it not true that “the cruelest lies are often told in silence” and the cruelest acts overlooked in silence?  Is their silence a practical expression of Ayn Rand’s ideology: “I don’t care about anybody else. I am just interested in benefitting myself and that is just and noble.”

But silence is not golden; silence is a silent killer. Pastor Martin Niemöller expressed his silent outrage over the silence of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power:

First they came for the communists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,

and there was no one left to speak for me.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. admonished, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

The Social Responsibility of Ethiopian Intellectuals?

It is said that the voice of the people is the voice of God (vox populi, vox dei). But silence is no way to  communicate with oppressed people. The intellectual is to privileged to think, to speak, to imagine, to create, to understand and to envision. But silence is never the privilege of the intellectual. Silence is one of the few  privileges of the oppressed, the persecuted and the victimized. Silence is the ultimate survival technique of the weak, the powerless and defenseless.

The intellectual has the moral responsibility to speak up for the silenced. S/he does not have the privilege to stand by idly and shake her head in dismay or mumble complaints under one’s breath. Those who have been  privileged to study, to think, to write, to innovate and to create have the duty to give back to the people, particularly those people who have been dispossessed not only of material things but also their human dignity.

The silent Ethiopian intellectuals are missing the point. It is a privilege, not a burden, to be a voice for the downtrodden. It is a distinct honor to be the voice of the voiceless. It is a priceless gift to speak truth to power on behalf of the powerless.

The silent intellectual — without a sense of moral commitment or obligation to something other than the pursuit of happiness through greed or without some sacrifice of personal interest — is merely a well programmed robot of higher education.  Nietzsche once remarked that all higher education is “to turn men into machines”; they did not have robots in his day.

I believe the intellectual has the responsibility not only to make a moral commitment but also to act on them. In other words, when one commits oneself to a cause, one must accept the fact that the pursuit and fulfillment of that cause will involve a measure of sacrifice of one’s self-interest. Many Ethiopian intellectuals have professed moral commitment to human rights but they are not willing to speak, write or do anything meaningful about exposing human rights abuses or defending against abuses of power. Some are timid, others are downright fearful. So they speak and sing in the language of silence.

In 1967, Chomsky wrote, “It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions… It is the responsibility of  the intellectual to insist upon the truth” and not to “tolerate the deceptions that will be used to justify the next defense of freedom.” It seems to me that Ethiopian intellectuals must shoulder the same burden. It is their responsibility to challenge not only those in power but also each other. It is their responsibility to critically think about issues and problems facing Ethiopian society and to offer and imagine better alternatives and braver futures. It is their highest moral duty to fight tyranny with the power of ideas. History shows that an idea whose time has come cannot be defeated; it cannot be stopped.

The Internet has been the great equalizer in the struggle between the practitioners of tyranny and champions of liberty. The Internet helped end the winter of discontent for millions of disenfranchised peoples in the Middle East and ushered in a glorious summer which continues to simmer. Mubarak, Ben Ali, Gadhaffi, Gbagbo and many others were simply no match for the ideas of freedom that had penetrated deep into the psyches of their citizens. Despite the complete monopoly over the press, telecommunication services and electronic radio and satellite jamming technology obtained at great cost, the tyrants in Ethiopia have not been able to censor the truth or filter out ideas they do not like from wafting into the ears, heart and mind of any Ethiopian interested in alternative perspectives.  But Ethiopian intellectuals have not been able to take full advantage of this ubiquitous medium. As a result, the Internet is used by the younger generation mostly to seek cheap thrills and entertainment and conduct mindless chatter on social media.

Ethiopian intellectuals have the responsibility to be the vanguard of social, political and scientific change. They must use this burgeoning medium to provide real education to the young people and as a forum for serious discussion of the major issues facing the country. The real struggle against tyranny is for the hearts and minds of the young people (70 percent of Ethiopia’s population), and the irresistible weapons in this struggle are not guns and tanks but new and creative ideas. Until Ethiopian society, its economy and politics become knowledge- and ideas-based and its intellectuals play a guiding role in the process, that country will have great difficulty escaping from the clutches of a benighted dictatorship.

Ethiopia’s intellectuals should focus their energies and invest their efforts on Ethiopia’s young people (the Cheetah Generation). They should pitch new ideas to the younger generation; plant and cultivate the seeds of critical thinking in thier minds; promote free thinking and inquiry; encourage them to always be skeptical of not just authority but also themselves; preach against hatred, herd mentality and groupthink; give young people the intellectual tools they need to examine themselves and their beliefs; encourage them to change their minds when confronted by contradictory evidence; help them look at old problems in a new way; teach them (after learning it themselves) to admit mistakes when they are wrong, apologize and ask forgiveness; urge them to speak the truth, defend what is right and stand for human rights. They should inspire them to be all they can be.

The examples the intellectuals are setting today are disappointing and discouraging, to put it charitably. The message they telegraph to the younger generation is unmistakable: When confronted by abusers of power, be a conformist and remain silent. When faced with the arrogance of power, be submissive and obedient. When you can ask questions, seal your lips. When faced with the truth, turn a blind eye and deaf ears. When the opportunity for free thinking is available, be dogmatic, doctrinaire and obdurate. When you can speak truth to power, forever hold your peace.

In my June 2010 commentary, I urged Ethiopian intellectuals to act in solidarity with the oppressed. Since I wrote that piece, the silence of Ethiopian intellectuals has been deafening. I wish I could close this commentary with a more heartening message; but restating the last paragraph of that commentary still captures my disappointments and hopes:

As intellectuals, we are often disconnected from the reality of ordinary life just like the dictators who live in a bubble. But we will remain on the right track if we follow Gandhi’s teaching: ‘Recall the face of the poorest and the most helpless man you have seen and ask yourself whether the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he be able to gain anything by it? Will it restore to him a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj (independence) or self-rule for the hungry and spiritually starved millions of your countrymen? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away.’ Let us always ask ourselves whether our actions (and words) will help restore to the poorest and most helpless Ethiopians a control over their own life and destiny.

As I point an index finger at others, I am painfully aware that three fingers are pointing at me. So be it. I believe I know ‘where all the Ethiopian intellectuals have gone’. Most of them are standing silently with eyes wide shut in every corner of the globe. But wherever they may be, I hasten to warn them that they will eventually have to face the ‘Ayittey Dilemma’ alone: Choose to stand up for Ethiopia, or lie down with the dictators who rape, abuse and defile her.

To whom much is given, much is expected.

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

 

84, has been raising hell for over four decades, getting into the faces of the powerful and mighty and whipping them with the truth. He recently excoriated President Obama as lacking a “moral center” for using drone warfare to “run a global assassination campaign”. Chomsky has been called a “left winger”, a “radical activist” and even a “communist”, and has been on the receiving end of a few distasteful epithets. But the firebrand octogenarian is undeterred and as strong, as plain-spoken and outspoken as ever. He remains a relentless critic of capitalism, neoliberalism, globalization, warfare, corruption, repression, abuse and misuse of power and human rights violations in America and abroad. Along the way, he has continued his scholarly pursuits in linguistics.

In his Al Jazeera interview, “Noam Chomsky: The Responsibility of Privilege”, Chomsky chafed at the social irresponsibility of American intellectuals and denounced the greedy and rapacious elites for using their power to disempower ordinary people, confuse and render them intellectually inert, servile and defenseless.

Al Jazeera: Is it the responsibility of academics and other  intellectuals to be engaged politically?

Chomsky: Or every other human being. Responsibility is basically measured  by opportunity. If you are a poor person living in the slums and have to work 60 hours a week to put bread on the table, your degree of responsibility is less than if you have a degree of privilege.

Al Jazeera: If you have privilege, are you more obligated        to give back?

Chomsky: Yes. The more privilege you have, the more opportunity you have. The more opportunity you have, the more responsibility you have. It is elementary.

Al Jazeera: So why don’t we see that in the U.S.? There has been so much talk about people getting richer, many, many more people are getting poorer, and yet the rich are seemingly resistant to giving more of their time, more of their wealth and talent?

Chomsky: For the most part, that’s why they are rich. If you dedicate your life to enriching yourself and those are your values and you don’t care what happens to anyone else, then you won’t care what happens to anyone else. It is self-selecting. It is also institutional. In its extreme pathological form, it’s Ayn Rand’s ideology: “I don’t care about anybody else. I am just interested in benefitting myself and that is just and noble.”

George Ayittey, the noted Ghanaian economist and one of Africa’s foremost public intellectuals, has long been chagrined by the social irresponsibility of Africa’s best and brightest. He argued that Africa’s intellectual class is in bed with those who have built “vampire states” to suck billions of dollars out of the pockets of their impoverished people to line their own pockets. In 1996, he told African intellectuals exactly what he thought of them: “Hordes of politicians, lecturers, professionals, lawyers, and doctors sell themselves off into prostitution and voluntary bondage to serve the dictates of military vagabonds with half their intelligence. And time and time again, after being raped, abused, and defiled, they are tossed out like rubbish — or worse. Yet more intellectual prostitutes stampede to take their places…” Ouch! Ouch!

So why don’t we see more Ethiopian intellectuals engaged in politics? Are they merely following in the footsteps of their American counterparts? Could they be followers of Ayn Rand’s ideology: “I don’t care about anybody else. I am just interested in benefitting myself and that is just and noble.” Could Ayittey’s mordant criticism apply to Ethiopian intellectuals?

In a June 2010 commentary, I asked: “Where have the Ethiopian intellectuals gone?” I had no answer at the time, nor do I have one now; but I was, and still am, bewildered and puzzled by their conspicuous absence from the public square and the cyber square. Their absence reminded me of “the Greek philosopher Diogenes who used to walk the streets of ancient Athens carrying a lamp in broad daylight. When amused bystanders asked him about his apparently strange behavior, he would tell them that he was looking for an honest man. Like Diogenes, one may be tempted to walk the hallowed grounds of Western academia, search the cloistered spaces of the arts and scientific professions worldwide and even traverse the untamed frontiers of cyberspace with torchlight in hand looking for Ethiopian intellectuals.” They are nowhere to be found. They seem to be shrouded in a cloak of  invisibility.

Truth be told, I was once a member of that invisible empire of Ethiopian intelligentsia– disengaged, silent and deaf-mute. I was forced to uncloak myself when Meles Zenawi’s troops slaughtered 196 unarmed demonstrators, and shot and wounded nearly 800 more in the streets after the 2005 election in Ethiopia. I suppose there comes a time in a man’s or a woman’s life when s/he has to step out of the shadows of sheltered anonymity and silence, remove the veil of smug indifference and proclaim outrage at tyranny and crimes against humanity.

But there are tens of thousands of Ethiopian intellectuals who have chosen, made a conscious decision, to take a vow of silence and inhabit the subterranean recesses of anonymity. When they see elections stolen in broad daylight, they become afflicted by temporary blindness. When they hear innocent people being arrested and convicted in kangaroo courts, they become stone deaf. When they witness religious liberties trashed and the people crying out for freedom, they don’t try to stand with them or by them; they assuage their own consciences through a ritual of private grumbling, moaning and groaning. Above all, they have made a virtue of silence. They live a life of silent anonymity.

It is rather difficult to understand. Could it be that they are silent because they believe silence is golden? That is to say, if you want to be given the gold, stay silent? Do they not know “oppression can only survive through silence”? Could they be thinking that their silence is a manifestation of their contempt against those they consider ignorant and barbaric? Is it not true that “the cruelest lies are often told in silence” and the cruelest acts overlooked in silence?  Is their silence a practical expression of Ayn Rand’s ideology: “I don’t care about anybody else. I am just interested in benefitting myself and that is just and noble.”

But silence is not golden; silence is a silent killer. Pastor Martin Niemöller expressed his silent outrage over the silence of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power:

First they came for the communists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,

and there was no one left to speak for me.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. admonished, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

The Social Responsibility of Ethiopian Intellectuals?

It is said that the voice of the people is the voice of God (vox populi, vox dei). But silence is no way to  communicate with oppressed people. The intellectual is to privileged to think, to speak, to imagine, to create, to understand and to envision. But silence is never the privilege of the intellectual. Silence is one of the few  privileges of the oppressed, the persecuted and the victimized. Silence is the ultimate survival technique of the weak, the powerless and defenseless.

The intellectual has the moral responsibility to speak up for the silenced. S/he does not have the privilege to stand by idly and shake her head in dismay or mumble complaints under one’s breath. Those who have been  privileged to study, to think, to write, to innovate and to create have the duty to give back to the people, particularly those people who have been dispossessed not only of material things but also their human dignity.

The silent Ethiopian intellectuals are missing the point. It is a privilege, not a burden, to be a voice for the downtrodden. It is a distinct honor to be the voice of the voiceless. It is a priceless gift to speak truth to power on behalf of the powerless.

The silent intellectual — without a sense of moral commitment or obligation to something other than the pursuit of happiness through greed or without some sacrifice of personal interest — is merely a well programmed robot of higher education.  Nietzsche once remarked that all higher education is “to turn men into machines”; they did not have robots in his day.

I believe the intellectual has the responsibility not only to make a moral commitment but also to act on them. In other words, when one commits oneself to a cause, one must accept the fact that the pursuit and fulfillment of that cause will involve a measure of sacrifice of one’s self-interest. Many Ethiopian intellectuals have professed moral commitment to human rights but they are not willing to speak, write or do anything meaningful about exposing human rights abuses or defending against abuses of power. Some are timid, others are downright fearful. So they speak and sing in the language of silence.

In 1967, Chomsky wrote, “It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions… It is the responsibility of  the intellectual to insist upon the truth” and not to “tolerate the deceptions that will be used to justify the next defense of freedom.” It seems to me that Ethiopian intellectuals must shoulder the same burden. It is their responsibility to challenge not only those in power but also each other. It is their responsibility to critically think about issues and problems facing Ethiopian society and to offer and imagine better alternatives and braver futures. It is their highest moral duty to fight tyranny with the power of ideas. History shows that an idea whose time has come cannot be defeated; it cannot be stopped.

The Internet has been the great equalizer in the struggle between the practitioners of tyranny and champions of liberty. The Internet helped end the winter of discontent for millions of disenfranchised peoples in the Middle East and ushered in a glorious summer which continues to simmer. Mubarak, Ben Ali, Gadhaffi, Gbagbo and many others were simply no match for the ideas of freedom that had penetrated deep into the psyches of their citizens. Despite the complete monopoly over the press, telecommunication services and electronic radio and satellite jamming technology obtained at great cost, the tyrants in Ethiopia have not been able to censor the truth or filter out ideas they do not like from wafting into the ears, heart and mind of any Ethiopian interested in alternative perspectives.  But Ethiopian intellectuals have not been able to take full advantage of this ubiquitous medium. As a result, the Internet is used by the younger generation mostly to seek cheap thrills and entertainment and conduct mindless chatter on social media.

Ethiopian intellectuals have the responsibility to be the vanguard of social, political and scientific change. They must use this burgeoning medium to provide real education to the young people and as a forum for serious discussion of the major issues facing the country. The real struggle against tyranny is for the hearts and minds of the young people (70 percent of Ethiopia’s population), and the irresistible weapons in this struggle are not guns and tanks but new and creative ideas. Until Ethiopian society, its economy and politics become knowledge- and ideas-based and its intellectuals play a guiding role in the process, that country will have great difficulty escaping from the clutches of a benighted dictatorship.

Ethiopia’s intellectuals should focus their energies and invest their efforts on Ethiopia’s young people (the Cheetah Generation). They should pitch new ideas to the younger generation; plant and cultivate the seeds of critical thinking in thier minds; promote free thinking and inquiry; encourage them to always be skeptical of not just authority but also themselves; preach against hatred, herd mentality and groupthink; give young people the intellectual tools they need to examine themselves and their beliefs; encourage them to change their minds when confronted by contradictory evidence; help them look at old problems in a new way; teach them (after learning it themselves) to admit mistakes when they are wrong, apologize and ask forgiveness; urge them to speak the truth, defend what is right and stand for human rights. They should inspire them to be all they can be.

The examples the intellectuals are setting today are disappointing and discouraging, to put it charitably. The message they telegraph to the younger generation is unmistakable: When confronted by abusers of power, be a conformist and remain silent. When faced with the arrogance of power, be submissive and obedient. When you can ask questions, seal your lips. When faced with the truth, turn a blind eye and deaf ears. When the opportunity for free thinking is available, be dogmatic, doctrinaire and obdurate. When you can speak truth to power, forever hold your peace.

In my June 2010 commentary, I urged Ethiopian intellectuals to act in solidarity with the oppressed. Since I wrote that piece, the silence of Ethiopian intellectuals has been deafening. I wish I could close this commentary with a more heartening message; but restating the last paragraph of that commentary still captures my disappointments and hopes:

As intellectuals, we are often disconnected from the reality of ordinary life just like the dictators who live in a bubble. But we will remain on the right track if we follow Gandhi’s teaching: ‘Recall the face of the poorest and the most helpless man you have seen and ask yourself whether the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he be able to gain anything by it? Will it restore to him a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to Swaraj (independence) or self-rule for the hungry and spiritually starved millions of your countrymen? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away.’ Let us always ask ourselves whether our actions (and words) will help restore to the poorest and most helpless Ethiopians a control over their own life and destiny.

As I point an index finger at others, I am painfully aware that three fingers are pointing at me. So be it. I believe I know ‘where all the Ethiopian intellectuals have gone’. Most of them are standing silently with eyes wide shut in every corner of the globe. But wherever they may be, I hasten to warn them that they will eventually have to face the ‘Ayittey Dilemma’ alone: Choose to stand up for Ethiopia, or lie down with the dictators who rape, abuse and defile her.

To whom much is given, much is expected.

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.

Previous commentaries by the author are available at:

http://open.salon.com/blog/almariam/

www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/

Amharic translations of recent commentaries by the author may be found at:

http://www.ecadforum.com/Amharic/archives/category/al-mariam-amharic

http://ethioforum.org/?cat=24

 

 

The Road to Economic Development; the case for Somaliland

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By: Mustafa M. Awjama, 

This work tries to pave the way for the achievement of a sustainable economic growth by taking into account the current position of the Somaliland economy and then compiles a set of recommendations for those agents including policy makers who are interested in improving the economy.

Currently, Somaliland is in the stage of what Rostow called “the preconditions for take-off”. According to Rostow, the “preconditions for take-off”, the second stage of a five stage process, is characterised by the presence of entrepreneurs in the society and investors who are ready to invest ideas.

In his paper Is there a proper sequence in Democratic transitions? Francis Fukuyama highlights that “Development is a complex process that takes place across multiple dimensions of Human life”, and that economic growth, the State, Rule of law and mechanisms of democratic accountability are just few of those several dimensions. In this paper I will focus on the economic side of that development process.

Economic development is often understood as the transformation and improvement of a society’s standard of living and wellbeing. There is no universal strategy which succeeds the economic advancement for all nations and it is often up to that particular country to decide which way it takes to achieve its desired destination[1]. However, there is generally a correlation between state building and economic growth, between rule of law and growth, and between stable democracy and economic growth.

Economists often emphasize technological progress and capital accumulation as the two main sources of economic growth. The logic behind this is very simple. An individual with an advanced technology is likely to produce more than an individual with a primitive technology. Similarly, an individual with more capital can produce more than an individual with less capital; the higher the capital per worker the higher the productivity.  The good news is that it’s not hard these days to improve the state of technology for any given country due to technology diffusion which allows countries to adopt and replicate new technologies and know-how from other countries.

We need to acknowledge that the underlying purpose for economic development is to increase the wellbeing of the individual and that per capita income is just one of several indicators. In addition to promoting the wellbeing of the individual policies should also be structured to narrow the inequality gap as a wider inequality gap might have political repercussions. By aiming to achieve steadily growing productivity, Governments closely watch some key factors which stimulate the economy including; Investment, consumer expenditure, what the Government spends, and the country’s Net exports to the rest of the world.

Hence, in order for Somaliland to build its economy, a number of institutions and policies are needed to be in place. In here, I will present those policies and institutions which will assist Somaliland economy to develop and which will also take it to the next stage.

      I.            Property Rights and Contract Enforcement

The two aspects of the Rule of law, which restricts arbitrary decisions made by governments, that economists relate to economic growth are the Property rights and contract enforcement[2]. Reason being that no agent will make a long term investment unless their property rights are secured. It is conceivable that individuals are bound to face extra costs to defend their property where a property right does not exist. It is also arguable that economic efficiency requires the allocation of resources for those individuals who can utilize it.[3] With this respect investors in Somaliland might face several problems including tribalism which can hinder economic efficiency and can cause investors to seek protection from other agents. Though a resource has been allocated, it is highly unlikely that an individual from the east dares to make an investment in the west due to the disturbances caused by tribalism and vice versa.  This is one example of why sustained contract enforcement comes in to the calculus of economic productivity.

On one hand, the ability of the Somaliland state to enforce contracts needs to be established while on the other hand the ability of the state to make arbitrary decisions needs to be limited. When discussing property rights and contract enforcement the case of Zimbabwe can be a good example to refer where Ceil Rhodes’ company offered the land in order to attract settlers and where later Robert Mugabe redistributed the land just to hold on to power[4]. Whatever the reason has been for Zimbabwe, lack of property rights and contract enforcement can have disastrous effect on the economy. Somaliland will need to draft regulations of property rights in clear-cut terminologies and will also need to have a strong third party for arbitrations.

   II.            Financial Institutions

The fact that there are both entrepreneurs and people who want to invest in the country necessitates the establishments of financial institutions.  “A healthy and vibrant economy requires a financial system that moves funds from people who save to people who have productive investment opportunities” (Mishkin, 2007).

Before any step, Somaliland will need to establish a well functioning central bank. Apart from implementing the monetary and the exchange rate policies, the central bank is also required to supervise the banking sector and to act as the lender of last resort. In short, the central bank is the bank of the central government and the bank of all banks.[5]

All financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, saving institutions and investment companies needs to be regulated by the government. One might take the so called “gain profit while sitting” project in 2009 as a good example which can clearly show the negative effects of lack of financial regulations in Somaliland. During the years this project had been operating in Somaliland, thousands of people saved their money without official agreements. All those who deposited their money were at the end screaming in the streets of Hargiesa claiming that the saving institution had disappeared and that their money had been lost.

Therefore, since the failure of one bank can jeopardize the whole economy, financial institutions especially banks should be heavily regulated. According to Pilbeam (2005), the main objective of regulating financial markets is to promote stability, to keep the investors safe and to encourage fair competition in the market. All in all, as Brunnermeier (2009) said “one of the key purposes of bank regulation is to internalize the social costs of potential bank failures”.

  1. III.            The Role of Diplomatic Missions in Promoting trade

Diplomatic recognition cannot be said to be a precondition for economic development and lack of recognition does not exclude countries to pursue their economic growth goals. According to Shaw (2008), Recognition is merely “a method of accepting certain factual situations and endowing them with legal significance”. However, Somaliland arguably exists as a legal personality in international law. It has been emphasized that:

…Recognition may be viewed as constitutive or declaratory…, the former theory maintains that it is only through recognition that a state comes into being under international law, whereas the latter approach maintains that once the factual criteria of statehood have been satisfied, a new state exists as an international person, recognition becoming merely a political and not a legal act”.[6]

Somaliland will need to see the diplomatic recognition as a quid pro quo game; scratch my back and I will scratch yours. It is highly unlikely that a country will recognise Somaliland unless that country is sure what it is getting in return is at least proportionately equal to the benefits of the recognition it is giving. Therefore, parallel to its mission in getting recognition, Somaliland should come up with strategies to promote its international trade and seek investment through its diplomatic representatives. This is also one of the core functions of diplomatic missions as defined by article 3 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations in 1961.[7]

By concentrating economic diplomacy, Somaliland will not only promote trade and investment but will also increase its networking, promote country profile and at last will have a say in those global political organisations including the United Nations.

 

 

 

 



[1] Case et al (2009)

[2] The origins of political order, Francis Fukuyama

[3] Rodrik & Rosenzweig (2010), Economic Development

[4] The Council of Foreign Relations

[5]  Pilbeam, K. (2005), Global financial markets

[6] Shaw (2008), International Law

[7]  United Nations (2005), Treaty series, Vol. 500, p, 95

UNITED STATES NEVER EVER LEARN THEIR MISTAKES IN SOMALIA

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With all my respect of the international Organization, and United States, who are trying hard bring about peace and tranquillity to the Somali people, I forward my humble contributions to the fatal issue as a member of the concerned.

May be I am wrong, but I see blood being shed again within the remains of Somali community after a drastic twenty and more years of continuous mass destruction of human, wealth and natural resources. The motives were the same however the tactics very. Unfortunately, the wars and the fighting’s in these almost thirty years were either international, interboundarial or otherwise interclass or clan. In the cases the poor Somali people were the players of the battle games on their own grounds masterminded by the same budget investors and weapon industry owners.

The war dance and the music never change until not only a dull person like me but a typical camel boys , cow boy or sheepherder can today foresee and feel the smell of the blood planned to be shed for maybe known or unknown reasons. Strange enough, unfortunately, it is the peacemakers that being the war. It is a Somali wording says “Soo Sakaaro Ima Barato “, which is mean “whenever an antelope sees me it runs, it never learns”, said by one man who never hunts. What I mean is that the international Organization and United States never ever learn from their own recent prior disastrous mistakes.

The speeches of the so-call Somalian president and proposal of the International Organizations are the typical music of future coming blood sheds. This foreknowledge was the prediction of many experts of the Somali methodology who repeated warning about the consequence of such quick haphazard decisions of Somali unity or peace. The International creates new Somali warlords and reinvent past errors.

Let me say if you think that one plus one is two, that is the mistake you are making every time. In Somalia one plus one is five. Like it or not.
My dear International Organizations and United States. I think the Somali people doesn’t need scholar of peace, but they need creators of peace. The Somali people do not need peace makers but they need peaceful people. If you are preparing war whenever you need peace, you are not making peace.

My dear International Organizations and United States. If you want to bring the Somali government of yesterday to existence, then I am sure you are in a daydream just like the Arta group and the host government Djibouti. Why not? Because yesterday includes the past and the past never come back. Yesterday is not either today or tomorrow. If you can bring back or retain the old Somali unity or government then you can bring back the lunar eclipse over the World of the day of your power. That will never happen. But if you want to try to bring about a new sort of Somali government which could be far different from the previous ones of the past that can also be much better or even worse, then you are right on the path.

The assembly of the new administration group was not looking for the new sort of Somali government, but was looking for the lost previous government and its advantages which they used to enjoy. The choir and the applause had brought a government but can never bring about a new or up to date Somali government. Most of the new group participators were whose who believed that one plus one is five and not two. They are the ones who believe that they have made the government of all the five Somali regions of the great Somalia, while they really do not have in hand even one-tenth of one region of Somalia.

UNITY OF SOMALI REPUBLIC:

My dear International and United States, the development of human always negated the compulsion of the unity of any two or more state and that is why we have the word “ Freedom”, “ Independence”, “Dictatorship”, “ Nation”, and so money other words of that sort in our languages and dictionaries. I don’t think that the people that belong to the some race, language or religion must be united. If it is so then the score of Arabian countries are more suitable to be united and become one Arabian country as they used to be before. Instead they are so many and some of them are radical enemies. Taiwan and china are also more suitable to be one state then the so-called Somali folk.

My dear International and United States , I think you have best knowledge of the problem brought about to be united because of the illegal amalgamations and unites of the nations. The unites of North Ireland to UK, the Eta to Spain, the Spanish’s Sahara to Morocco, Chechnya to Russia and East Timor to Indonesia, Southern Sudan to Sudan, have only contributed nothing or even worse to the meaning of unity in the sense of your responsibilities of the union of the nations. The example of such cases can exceed fifty.

We say in our language “Hal xaaraani nirig xalaal ah ma dhasho”, which is mean “Unlawful unity can never bring about a democratic state”. The unity of the Somaliland and Somalia was just like a rape and that is why it will never because to what you and your peacekeepers keep in mind. The Ill feeling and distrust of the Somali Landers since the first day of the union, the 1st of July 1960 is full in the literature of the Somaliland people. The solution of the Somali problems is only and only in the recognition of Somaliland to full sovereignty and independence, then the rest of the Somali issue or crises is a piece of cake, because to two main reasons:

1- Somaliland was the nucleus of the unity of the Ex-Somali Republic without which we are only looking hair over a bare scalp of a skeleton.
2- One plus one is not and never five. If you are uniting the five Somali parts, then Somaliland can negotiate for its rights. Otherwise “Let Muse takes ‘his’ and Essa take ‘his’.

In my conclusion I advise the International community, African Unity, and Arab Organization, and United States of America , to avoid to add wood to the extinguishing fire or gas to the burning camp and that’s the money you pay to kill in order to keep peace. And the old Somali says “Nabad iyo Caano” means “Peace and Milk”

ANIIS A. ESSA. HEAD
SOMALILAND ADVOCACY GROUP
WASHINGTON DC. USA
ANIIS@YAHOO.COM

 

Somaliland: OUTRIGHT ABUSE TO SOMALILAND ASPIRATIONS, ESSENCE

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Who Really Butters Goth, Cullen Breads?

Despite the fact that it has never been in the tradition of this column to do rebuttals on opinion items by individuals (especially those based abroad) we are however indebted to point out, expose and set issues right when the aspirations of the peoples of the country is really targeted.
When the writings of a Bashir Goth and a Jasper Carlsen Cullen claim that Somalilander majority would like a re-united Somalia, we feel that it is not only a joke too far, but indeed, they are only but words and acts of dogs-of-war in action.
For both pen mercenaries, we believe that the needs for monetary and tribal whims (for Goth in particular) are the impetus that propelled them to assume that:-
1. Majority of Somalilanders would like/want re-union with Mogadishu.
2. Fowzia (Somalia FM) is the inter-sector cum catalyst of the reversion to greater Somalia.
If Goth would only be the somewhat the consistent writer he had been at Awdalnews.com/net, he would have qualified his statements by backing them with verifiable facts to justify his about-turn sympathetic attitude towards Somalia union.
Secondly, if he was really the pragmatic character he so painfully portrayed to have cultivated over the years, he would have at least mentioned the pre-election incident at Burao, the Sanaag outcry or the post-election violence at El-Afwein.
By focusing on and manipulating the Borama, Zeila and Lowyaddo locations again and again in his article, we are not taken aback but, assuming his culture as a “Somalilander-tribally-crutched” mindset (his own words), we take it to understandably denote that he only thought of or defended his own backyard where he hails from.
It is a pity that all those years abroad, with all the education, all his responsibilities etc have not had nor nurtured him rise above the water.
He showed that he does not give (or never gave) a damn about the residents of the eastern parts of the country nor their plights at all.
In his article “Divided Somaliland and the way out” posted to websites Goth is not confident enough as to advice well on “the way out” apart from insinuating that the populace either perish in resignation or bank on Fowzia!
Goth should get out of the clannish/regional cloak and tackle issues squarely.
On the same note, a Jasper Carlsen Cullen who claims to be a free-lancer based in Kenya, posts in the websites an article akin to that of Goth. See both at Somalilandpress.com or any other site focusing on the Horn of Africa.
In “A third way out for Somaliland and Somalia”, the writer “justifies” Somalilanders’ wish to re-unite with the south by way of courtesy of the sentiments of ‘a Somalia politics researcher based in Hargeisa’ a Abdifatah Taher (someone completely unknown to local media).
Cited therein is the possibility of Fowzia to cement the re-union!
How impish the claims are!
He too argues that the people are sympathetic to the re-union course.
Cullen ridiculously reduces the plight and aspirations of Somalilanders today as those of settling on a loose union that only entails war-on-terror collaborations! He, too, does not give the “Third Way” option vividly other than alleging the softening of the hearts of the people to re-union.
By the way, perhaps Goth or other scribbling-mercenaries should have battled it out with the National Assemblies Parliament and the political party heads for agreeing to go along the elections minus the electoral process of the pre-registering of voters for elections.
How can the courts take to arbitrating in litigations where there are no prior records to facilitate the ordering of by-elections or taking to decisions that fully bind beyond the slightest of doubts?
It should be noted by everyone that in FM Dr. Omar meeting with UK cabinet member three weeks ago, SL accepted to rectify the electoral shortcomings (prior to final IOE report) in line with the expected international observers’ recommendations, if any.
The Guurti also have since ordered for the setting up of put safety nets to deter future anomalies.
Please note that:-
Given that the so called mother of democracy have officially admitted shortcomings in their electoral laws hence are reviewing their constitutions after 700 years of exercising elections;
Given that the so called champions of democracy for over 200 years did not allow the women to vote until less than five decades ago hence some of their states (in the US) still use today barbaric laws) which are tailored to deter potential natives and coloured (blacks) from voting (e.g. a traffic offence once convicted are ineligible to register as a voters).
Given that the greatest democratic nation (by population) brought India untold number of litigations;
Given that the most technologically advanced and arguably richest nation today denies Chinese people to go to polls;
Given that the richest and most powerful nations in the Islamic world today considers voting as something abominable;
Given that the Rwandese and Kenyan peasants were murdered by the tens of hundreds of thousands in tribal power brokerages scenarios;
Given that our regions in this corner of the world have never tasted the fruits of one- person-one vote as we have done;
We see, feel and believe that such writings are outrightly abusive to our essence and to the memories of our past struggles, to our present endeavours and to our aspirations as a whole, not withstanding whatever our future portends.

By M A EGGE

Somaliland:Hargeisa to Host 2013 Infrastructure Protection, Security and Diplomatic Show for Regional Academic Institutions

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KBI Empower Group, in collaboration with Canadian Eye on Africa, the Horn of Africa Institute of Infrastructure Protection and Regional Security and Admas University College (Hargeisa Campus) affiliates are pleased to announce the opening of the call for abstracts for its Annual Horn of Africa Infrastructure Protection & Security Trade Show which will take place at Mansour Hotel in Hargeisa, Somaliland on 22nd & 23rd of February, 2013.

Ottawa, Canada, January 17, 2013 –(PR.com)– Moto: Somaliland, an Indigenous approach to State Building, Asset Protection, Diplomatic and Security issues of 2013. Hargeisa is the Backbone of Asset Protection & Trust Gateway.

KBI Empower Group, in collaboration with Canadian Eye on Africa, the Horn of Africa Institute of Infrastructure Protection and Regional Security and Admas University College (Hargeisa Campus) affiliates are pleased to announce the opening of the call for abstracts for its Annual Horn of Africa Infrastructure Protection & Security Trade Show which will take place at Mansour Hotel in Hargeisa, Somaliland on 22nd & 23rd of February, 2013.

The purpose of the Annual Horn of Africa Infrastructure Protection & Security Trade Show is to contribute to the enhancement of the field of regional security cooperation in the Horn of Africa’s educational institutions by facilitating a common platform for fruitful exchange of academic views, best practices and discussions on existing challenges, as well as required priorities and possible opportunities to strengthen safeguards; using Somaliland’s stability as playing a key role in the region’s stability process.

Delegates: Regional security professionals, regional corporate business leaders, security consultants and government related officials are expected to attend the Region’s High Level Security and Safety Trade Show.

Extension: Potential Delegate speakers should submit their presentations before 10th of February 2013

Join colleagues from around the world! Immerse yourself in two days of regional investment awareness & educational sessions and panel discussions (Networking events with President’s Reception, lunches and Tea breaks).

Update yourself on the latest regional security services, investment opportunities and regional joint venture prospects in our enlarged Two Day Diplomatic Trade Show.

Register Now: Events – Please Download Registration Form here:

Click to access CEA_Hargeisa_2013_Registration_Form_Delegate_v5.3.pdf

For further information, including sponsorship, exhibition or media enquiries, please contact our Regional Offices: KBI Empower Group & Admas University College Affiliates Bureau

Tel: +011-2522 – 424 -8200
Fax: +011-2522 – 424 -8200
Email: han@geeskaafrika.com
www.canadianeyeonafrica.ca

The KBI, HIPS & Admas Affiliates Group is dedicated to the advancement of the Asset security awareness and the regional critical asset protection.

Source: Horn Watch