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My Country in 2009: Memories, Difficulties and Achievements (Part two)

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HARGEISA, 25 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – In 2009 many people mainly married women have been robbed off their money in a swindle way- an irregular banking system which has been operating for the last two years in Somaliland. In this peculiar system, clients used to receive 15% of their capital per month. Later on, things grew ominously worse when the whole system collapsed and its agents vanished. This money scam has left many families split-up in Hargeisa. Hundreds of families were seprated each other relating to the money scam in Hargeisa; therefore a lot of men divorced their wifes while others beaten their wifes seriously, when they put some money without noticing their husbands to this irregular banking system. We recognize 2009 a year of domestic violence in Somaliland.

Hargeisa residents faced fear and puzzle after they heard that Cannibal person seek with leprosy had appeared and injured two persons at Sheikh Nour village in Hargeisa. This tragedy caused that Children living in the streets (Homeless) of Hargeisa are fleeing their sleeping places due to dread of people who have leprosy infection that were reported to hurt 8 years old girl at Masalaha Village in Hargeisa. For the last two days of November 2009 police captured two men who have leprosy and accused that they are the cannibals who ate the man and injured the people including the young girl in Hargeisa. Doctors were identified these two leprosy affected- Cases.

While young people are recognized as an important sector of society, in reality they often lack the moral and financial support of their government and their people. One of the main challenges faced Somaliland’s young people is lack of social centers that provide them reading opportunities and even to share their circumstances, and also providing those who suffer for psychosocial counseling and even to meet their role-models or get guest lectures. In 2009, after long suffering the students in different districts in Hargeisa established community libraries in their villages. Each village’s students came together with the help of their elders, educators and businessmen. They rent physical buildings and collect books for their own. This is really good initiative that will keep many young people who spent their costly time in sitting cafes and chatting meaningless words.

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What Diaspora can do is that to support community libraries which locate the different villages in Hargeisa. Diaspora must support financial and moral, predominantly supporting books and establishing programmes inspiring youth in Somaliland. Especially the starting Diaspora Youth Partnership Program (DYPP), which provides youth in the country for different services. Such as paying fee schools the most vulnerable youth in the displaced villages who always less quality of life.

Shaqo- Doon is a project funded by Education Development Center (EDC) and implemented by many youth organizations such as Somaliland National Youth Organization – which is network that meets more than 30 local youth organization in the six regions in Somaliland. The project’s beneficiaries are young people which they equip skills training, job preparation ( training for computer literacy, and also developing their language by providing intensive English courses to help them to simplify to sit interviews and communicate with both UN & international NGO’s which are the two main source of employment. Apart from these, there are many young boys and girls which they provide internship period and work them as volunteering for development. Those who are trained more they seek job opportunities from UN & international NGO’s and other institutions such as private and public sectors.

On 10th august 2009, SONYO umbrella organized a meeting between University students inside and outside the country. The ceremony took place at Ambassador Hotel in Hargeisa. After that the chairperson of SONYO umbrella started the speech and talked about the importance of such meetings. He indicated the necessity of exchanging experience with their local people to contribute for the development of the country. He also urged the foreign based students to have close friends to their host nations to establish a sustainable relationship which will ultimately be beneficial to our country. Somaliland Minster of internal affairs was invited to the stage, he told those who are studying abroad to respect the rules and the regulations of their host countries as they are ambassadors of their country. If you behave the people you live with good character, it is good for us. Other wise will spoil the name of your country. Later on, the session begun with presentation by different students from different universities in abroad.

To be continued ………………………………………………………………….

Written by: Farhan Abdi Suleiman (oday)

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Farhan Abdi Suleiman is a social worker, a graduate of the University of Hargeisa and youth activist. He is also a regular contributor to Somalilandpress. He can be reached at:

oday1999@yahoo.com
Tell: 252-2-4401132
Hargeisa, Somaliland

Things a Responsible Somali Government Would Do

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Mogadishu, 25 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – There is a dire need to take care of the Somali nation and its myriad issues, crises and interests. The Transitional Government can still do the job it has been established for and even accomplish for the nation. To do so, it will need to regain the initiative. The solution lies in how we utilize our human capital. The question is: What should a responsible Somali Government do? It would:

• Establish peace and security.
• Collect all weapons in the hands of the civilian population.
• Promote reconciliation and harmony among our people.
• Embark on political solution to end conflicts.
• Tackle destructive fanaticism in the country.
• Shutdown piracy.
• Build a new state and its institutions.
• Make the raison d’être of the Somali State to look after its people.
• Rebuild the infrastructure and embark on nation-building.
• Make a common destiny for all our people in different regions in Somalia including Somalis in Somaliland and Puntland. [1]
• Rebuild the education system.
• Imbibe our young people with love of our country.
• Appoint a small but effective cabinet of up to 24 ministers.
• Closedown obsolete and duplicate ministries.
• Promote equal opportunity.
• Promote Somalis from diverse communities and backgrounds to work together in harmony for the good of the nation.
• Reward hard work, honesty and selflessness.
• Promote self-governing in every region, city, town and village and after phase-one nation-building. [2]
• Promote nationhood and enact the right of every citizen to live, work, invest or settle in any region, city, town or village in the country.
• Reward regions which promote nationhood above clanhood.
• Build a transparent and accountable system of government.
• Administer all public spending funds from one office audited closely.
• Declare funds received from other nations and financial institutions.
• Publish where and how funds were spent.
• Pay decent wages to public servants, ministers and the leadership.
• Imbue our civil servants with the importance of good governance.
• Promote the growth of independent and responsible media. [3]
• Prevent corruption and malfeasance in government.
• Simplify life: Eliminate red-tape and over regulation.
• Restore the free “National Health Service” and allow private health care.
• Promote free market with little or no government interference.
• Promote enterprise and create a business friendly environment.
• Levy modest tax on most goods.
• Levy no tax on essentials and commodities such as food, medicine etc.
• Rebuild the Central Bank to mint and to regulate the financial sector.
• Print new currency when the whole country is under Government rule.
• Tackle inflation and restore the value of Somali Shilling.
• Accommodate and educate disadvantaged children in towns and cities.
• Resettle and care for Somalis in DP camps in the capital and country. [4]
• Resettle and care for Somalis in refugee camps in neighbouring nations. [5]
• Resettle and care for Somalis squatting in public buildings in the capital. [6]
• Provide fleeing Somalis who perish on high seas hope and light at the end of the tunnel so that they can remain and prosper in their homeland.
• Address the needs of Somali expatriates marooned in the Gulf & Libya. [7]
• Address the needs of Somalis persecuted in South Africa and other parts.
• Address the needs of Somalis stranded in Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Russia, Estonia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Italy, the Balkans and other nations.
• Address the needs and concerns of our Diaspora.
• Through the diplomatic missions of a revamped Foreign Ministry bring government to the Diaspora to assist, facilitate and add value to their lives.
• Build Mending & Mentoring Camps for Diaspora vulnerable children to provide them with a sense of purpose and direction in their lives.
• Enact a citizenship law relevant to the times. A national of Somalia is: (A) Anyone born Somali. (B) Anyone who was born in Somalia. (C) Anyone who lived in Somalia for ten years or more who wants citizenship. (D) Allow dual citizenship since many Somalis have become citizens of other nations. [8]
• Live in peace and harmony with our neighbours.
• Promote stability and progress in our troubled region.
• Welcome any foreign national who is not threat to our nation.
• Protect our coast and end illegal fishing.
• Investigate nations and companies which plundered our marine resources.
• Ban the export of coal and embark on reforestation.
• Re-stock, care for and protect Somalia’s decimated wildlife.
• Reforest the coral reef to reverse the damage of illegal over-fishing.
• Address the issue of toxic dumps and investigate those behind dumping.
• Strive for cancellation of all debt accrued by past governments.
• Rebuild and restore the image and credibility of our nation.

Since it is not possible to put everything on this writing; these are merely 1% or less of Somalia’s needs. However, it is understandable if cynics are asking themselves how it would be possible to accomplish all this and where the funds would come. Cynics are individuals who are incapable to see the good and what is possible. They should be reminded that a government which intends to deliver finds the way and the funds to do things and make a difference.

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Another useful item in the toolbox of governing is honest governing. People everywhere love to see where their money had been invested. When the revenue from tax collection and national resources are invested in the infrastructure, to build lives and improve living standards the public can do even more.

After suffering one of the longest wildernesses in modern times, the reason of being of the new Somali State should be to look after its own people. It is very important to make Somalis in different regions in Somalia and those in Somaliland and Puntland come under a new state which can look after the nation and its interests. Tangible steps could be taken to rebuild lives and the nation. The new state should be decentralized: allowing citizens in every region, town and city to administer themselves. It should also be a state which governs better and interferes less in the lives of its people. Since federalisms serves well a nation of different ethic groups (nationalities) — it seems the right system for Somalia is: Self-Administering Regions within a Functioning Union.

Notes

1. It will take leadership to make self-administering Somalis to once again believe in unity.
2. Phase one nation-building may take up to five years.
3. Free press is a vital artery for the establishment of a Good Government which has nothing to hide.
4. Hundreds of thousands without hope languish in DP camps in the capital and around the country.
5. Those who wish to come home should be facilitated and resettled and those who wish to join relatives in other countries should be assisted to do so.
6. In the capital, thousands of families who squat in public buildings should be housed in a new conurbation.
7. Somali expatriates stuck in the Gulf and Libya who wish to come home should be brought back and those who wish to join relatives in other parts of the world should be assisted to do so.
8. Over two million Somalis have become citizens of other nations in Europe, North America, Australia etc.

Written by:
Abdullahi Dool
Hornheritage@aol.com

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Views expressed in the opinion articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the editorial

IN PICTURES: Somaliland education on it's way

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Early January of this year, Director of Planning in Somaliland’s Ministry of Education, Mr Abdi Abdillahi Mohamed, announced that school enrollment was at it’s highest in Somaliland and that literacy rate has moved from 20 percent to 45 percent since departing from Somalia in 1991. Education was often neglected and limited in Somaliland under Somalia’s totalitarian regime led by General Mohamed Siad Bare.

In 1991, every thing was destroyed in the country including 90% of schools and Somaliland then had only two universities one of them bombed to the ground. By the time Siad Bare’s regime was defeated and peace was restored, there were only 1,019 students enrolled in schools and zero number of students were in universities.

In 2008, some 225,853 students were enrolled or went to primary schools in the country, while 21,331 others attended secondary school.

As of 2009, about 26,156 students were in adult education including universities while some 6,820 students also attended technical colleges and professional schools according to Mr Mohamed.

Mohamed added by 2015 they plan to increase literacy in Somaliland by 75 per cent and have introduce a mobile school initiative that follows “the pastoralists wherever they go.”

Since declaring independence from the rest of Somalia, Somaliland has built hundreds of schools, both private and public and there are constructions in major towns for more schools. This includes the almost finished Abaarso Tech which is expected to formally open it’s doors for the first class some time in February of this year.

Abaarso Tech, which is expected to cost more than $2-million by the time it’s fully completed plans to educate Somaliland’s “talents and elite” by “bringing international talents to Somaliland”. The dormitories at Abaarso Tech is expected house at least 300 students per year.

Please visit Abaarso Tech website, as they require more donations to complete the rest of the dormitories (student housing units).

Above image: Abaarso Tech under construction, September 2009, a symbol of new Somaliland.

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Somalilandpress, 25 January 2010

SOMALILAND: Stranded ship Skipper pleads for urgent help as crew health deteriorates

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BERBERA (Somalilandpress) — A crew of fifteen seafarers are stranded onboad a cargo ship, the MV Layla-S, in the Somaliland port of Berbera for the past five months and the sailors are said to be facing serious risk as their health deteriorates.

The captain of the ship, Mr. Sarath, who is from Sri Lanka, spoke to Mohamed Saed of Berberanews by phone on Saturday, and said that their ship has been stranded in the port for the past five months without charge.

Mr Sarath said he does not know exactly why they were kept in the port but local analysts believe a local firm, Omar International [Company], may have filed a maritime action asking Sahil regional authority and Berbera Port authority to obtain the ship for damages.

Omar International has lost a lot of assets including motor vehicles onboard a cargo ship, MV Mariam Star when it caught fire in it’s upper deck in early September of 2009 and the two cargo vessels both belong to Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding. The local authority and Omar International accuse the crew and skipper of MV Mariam of not cooperating with the port authority to put out the flame by switching the ship’s engine off. They argue a lot could have been done if the crew did not switch the engine of the ship off.

Despite issuing a press release of it’s own, suggesting the dispute was between the local authority and the ship, Omar International is believed to have authorized the local authority to obtain the ship for compensation it wants from Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding.

Omar International company is locally owned influential company while Al Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding is Dubai based firm. When the skipper of MV Layla-S contacted Al Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding, they told him: “you were carrying goods for Somalis, the people who detained you and your ship are Somalis, we have nothing to do with it”.

“We arrived in Berbera on the 17th of August 2009, after unloading the cargo, as we were preparing to depart we were told by the Sahil regional authority that we were being barred from leaving, but they did not tell us the reason nor charges against us, because we believe we have executed and handed in all the appropriate documents”, he said.
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He said the Sahil authority constantly tells them that the matter is under review despite the fact that the local maritime court has issued a statement indicating that they were free to go but he said, nothing has happened for the past five months.

Mr Sarath requested urgent help from aid agencies, the international community and the Somaliland government insisting the crew are in desperate need of health care and lacked access to the basic necessities. He said the crew of Somali, Indian, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans had not received adequate food, water or medications and a number of them are on the verge of committing suicide while many are gravely ill. He also added that, the crew have not received any wages from Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding for the past five months. He described the living conditions on the ship as “hell”.

So far no rights group have contacted them and the people are getting frustrated by the minute. Mr Sarath made personal plea to India, Sri Lanka and Somaliland authority to interfere in the situation.

The ship is not docked at the port but in the middle of the ocean and the crew have not been on land for five months and time is running out on them, unless helped urgently many of them could die.

The governments of India, Somaliland, UAE, Sri Lanka and Pakistan need to resolve the situation for the sake of the crew if Omar International and Al-Hufoof Shipping & Forwarding would not resolve their dispute for the last five months.

By Mohamed Saed Abdullahi

Berberanews, 23 January 2010 (Somali)
Somalilandpress, 24 January 2010 (English version)

Picture: MV Mariam Star burns near the Berbera Corridor, Berberanews

NIGERIA: 150 Muslim residents massacred

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A US-based rights group has urged Nigeria’s vice-president to order an immediate criminal investigation into “a massacre of at least 150 Muslim residents” of a town in central Nigeria.

In a statement, Corinne Dufka, Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) senior West Africa researcher, said the killings in Kuru Karama, 30km south of the city of Jos, required “the authorities to act now”.

“Something extremely serious has happened in the town … act now both to bring those behind these heinous crimes to justice and to protect both the survivors and those at risk of renewed violence,” Dufka said.
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“Vice-president [Goodluck] Jonathan’s statement that the perpetrators will be prosecuted is a start. But now he needs to make sure the police conduct an immediate and impartial investigation.”

Al Jazeera footage

Witnesses interviewed by Al Jazeera on Saturday said groups of armed men attacked the largely Muslim population of Kuru Karama in the morning of January 19 after surrounding the town, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive.

Several villagers told our correspondent, Andrew Simmons, that they believed members of the armed groups to be Christians and showed him charred corpses, including those of young children and babies, in addition to dozens of bodies stuffed down wells.

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The three main mosques of the town were burned and destroyed as well, according to HRW.

And one witness told HRW that at least one police officer participated in the attack, while another said the police abandoned their post shortly before the violence began, adding that the killings took place throughout the day, without police intervention to stop the violence, despite repeated calls to the police.

VP’s pledge

Greg Anyating, the Plateau State police commissioner, told HRW that the reported death toll in Plateau State was false, and the police would issue “correct figures” on the number of dead in a few days, following an inquiry.

In a televised address to the nation on January 21, Vice-President Jonathan, currently the acting president, pledged that the perpetrators of the violence in Plateau State and their sponsors would not evade justice.

“The federal government is determined to secure convictions of the perpetrators of this crime, no matter how highly placed,” he said.

Source: Al Jazeera, 23 January 2010

Somaliland aviation minister visits China

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BEIJING (Somalilandpress) — Breaking new ground in Somaliland’s foreign relations and starting a new phase in Somaliland-China ties, Somaliland aviation minister, Mr Ali Waran Adde, on Thursday led a delegation to Beijing, the Chinese capital for an official visit.

According to local reports, Mr Waran Adde, whose traveling with the mayor of Hargeisa is believed to be in China to sign contract with number of Chinese firms who would refurnish and expand Hargeisa’s main airport – Egal International airport.

The Chinese government, who has been engaged with African states in recent years, has rolled out the red carpet to welcome the Somaliland officials.

Once upgraded, Egal international airport will be one of the largest airports in the Horn of Africa and will meet international standards according to the minister.

The mayor of Hargeisa, Mr Hussein Ji’ir is also expected to sign a number of construction projects with the Chinese including the rehabilitation of Hargeisa’s neglected roads. The Chinese are also expected to deliver construction equipments to Somaliland.

Many analysts believe this is a new beginning for Somaliland-China ties and could lead to an era of solidarity and cooperation between Hargeisa and Beijing.

China’s investment in Africa has grown rapidly in the first three quarters of 2009 to 77% and the volume of projects in Africa by Chinese firms grew by 42% which is said to be worth $20 billion U.S. dollars.

Mr Waran Adde is also said to be welcoming Chinese businesses to make investments in Somaliland.
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Mr Waran Adde is seen by most Somalilanders as one of the few competent and active ministers in the Rayale government. Since taking up the aviation portfolio he has rehabilitated most Somaliland airports and is currently working on expanding not only Egal International airport [Hargeisa] but also Berbera to ‘ease the pressure on Egal airport’  according to him.

He brought also fire trucks and installed proper lights for night operations. He was also responsible for connecting Ethiopian Airlines, which is considered one of the best airlines in Africa to Egal Airport. However Ethiopia airlines suspended it’s flight in October 2008 after twin-suicides rocked Hargeisa.

Below you can see designs the Chinese companies have presented to Mr Waran Adde in August of last year.

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Somalilandpress, 23 January 2010

Video: University of Hargeisa Chancellor Interviewed

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On this week’s video, we have University of Hargeisa’s chancellor and author of ‘Politics of Cain: One Hundred Years of Crises in Somali Politics’, Professor Hussein A. Bulhan.

Prof. Bulhan is a  Harvard University graduate and later taught at Boston University and served as the Director of the Family Therapy Program at Boston University Medical Centre.  He eventually  started a health consulting firm whose annual revenue quickly grew to US$25-million.

[stream base=x:/somalilandpress.com/wp-content/uploads/video/bulhan/ flv=bulhani.wmv img=bulhan.jpg embed=false share=false width=481 height=351 dock=true controlbar=over skin=dangdang.swf bandwidth=high autostart=true /]

Video is brought to you by Jabril from Saafi Films Company.

Shabaab Looks To The Somali North

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HARGEISA, 23 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – Speaking to a crowd in Ufurow district in the Bakool region, Mahad Omar Abdikarin, Shabaab’s governor for the Bay and Bakool regions in southwestern Somalia, recently announced that the al-Qaeda-backed group will attack Puntland, the semi-autonomous state, and the breakaway republic of Somaliland. Abdikarin is a prominent leader who has publicly flaunted Shabaab’s link with al Qaeda and has urged foreign fighters to flock to Somalia.

Having consolidated its power in the Deep South along the Kenyan border, Shabaab has launched a terror offensive in the northern self-declared state of Puntland. It is a Mexican drug gang-style campaign, with an aggressive string of targeted assassinations and low profile bombings in a Somali region that had been relatively safe and prosperous.

In the last two months, Shabaab gunmen have killed two Puntland lawmakers as well as a prominent judge who was responsible for jailing some of Shabaab’ s supporters; executed senior police officers; targeted an infantry division general with a roadside bomb attack; and even shot a number of clerics on the doorsteps of their mosques, accusing them of preaching moderate sermons opposed to Shabaab’s hard-line extremism.

Shabaab has also demonstrated in the past that it has the capacity to conduct a coordinated suicide bombing campaign in the North. On Oct. 29, 2008, five suicide bombers struck four compounds in the semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland, killing 28 Somalis and wounding scores more. In that assault, three suicide car bombers struck the presidential palace, the UN Development Program compound, and the Ethiopian Consulate in the city of Hargeisa in Somaliland; and two more bombers targeted an intelligence facility in the city of Bosasso in Puntland.

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Shabaab’s short-term objective is not conquering and controlling Puntland. Although the group is besieging the Transitional Federal Government in the capital Mogadishu, it is not yet capable of deploying the large number of fighters required to take over Puntland.

At this stage, Shabaab has more modest goals: asserting its presence in the North, demonstrating it can strike at its enemies even in the safest regions of the country at will, and showing it is poised to take power. It is unclear if Shabaab is conducting the current Puntland campaign using local cells or operating from more remote bases in central and southern Somalia.

In its quest to overrun Puntland, Shabaab will have to confront two strong groups. The first is Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a, a pro-government Somali Islamist militia that follows the religious tradition of Sufism. Shabaab has targeted Sufis for practicing a different strain of Islam, and has destroyed Sufi shrines, cemeteries, and other symbols. Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a is strong in the central regions of the country and has fought back against Shabaab’s incursion on its turf.

The second group standing in Shabaab’s way is the Puntland security forces. Puntland’s security services are much better organized than the poorly trained and corrupt army that backs the weak Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu, which only controls a few small pockets in the capital.

A Shabaab victory in Puntland has dire strategic implications for the region. If Puntland becomes a failed state like the South, there will be a greatly magnified threat to the shipping passing through the Red Sea, the Bab al Mandeb waterway (the narrow strait between Somalia and Yemen), and the Gulf of Aden. In an April 2008 statement made in an al Qaeda-linked journal, al Qaeda described the Bab al Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden as “of supreme strategic importance” in their plans to control the region. With the strengthening of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, gains by Shabaab in Puntland and Somaliland will plunge the region into crisis.

By Daniele Raineri

Source: The Long War Journal

SOMALILAND: Kulmiye's Top Diplomat Speaks of his American Trip

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LONDON, (Somalilandpress) — After holding successful meeting with American officials and Somaliland Diaspora in the US, KULMIYE’s top diplomat, Dr. Mohamed A Omar, has arrived in London on Friday and said his party is best placed in advancing Somaliland’s interest on the international stage.

Speaking to the media on his arrival, Dr Omar stated that the delegation led by KULMIYE’s Chairman, Mr. Ahmed Silanyo, of which he was a part of, was warmly received by the Obama administration, Congressman Donald Payne, US aid agencies and institutions in Washington.

He added that the discussions they had with the US officials mainly focused on Somaliland’s need for economic and political support and finding a viable solution to the security issue in the region – Horn of Africa.
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KULMIYE’s Foreign Affairs Spokesman said that their delegation had presented their foreign and security policy initiatives to the US officials ahead of Somaliland’s upcoming presidential election and had asked for increased US aid to Somaliland.

“In a well attended conference held in Washington in honour of the delegation, Mr. Silanyo has talked about Somaliland’s achievements as well as challenges ahead, and requested the international community to double the support it gives to his country,” Dr Omar told reporters.

While in Washington, the delegation has met with the former US Assistant Secretary of State, Hon. Princeton Lyman, Congressman Donald Payne, Mr. David Shinn, former US ambassador to Ethiopia, senior officials from US-AID and State Department as well as members from the Foreign Relations Council and the National Endowment for Democracy.

In a concluding statement, Mr. Omar said that he was astonished by President Rayale’s accusation of the American administration and Congressman Payne of being anti-Somaliland. He completely rejected the accusation and said both the US administration and Donald Payne are friends of Somaliland.

He added that Kulmiye party has ties of friendship and cooperation with the United States and the international community and thus Kulmiye foreign policy is best placed in advancing the interest of the Somaliland people regionally and internationally.


Source: Somalilandpress, Saturday 23 January 2010

New Radio Station for the Djiboutian Opposition: could they be able to use it responsibly?

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Djibouti, 22 January 2010 (Somalilandpress) – The other day a friend of mine sent me an email about a new internet-based Radio station about two weeks ago: www.lavoixdedjibouti.com. (The voice of Djibouti). The message of this Website announce: ‘a group of young Djiboutian Diaspora opens up a free and independent Radio station. It doesn’t say where exactly this Station based at and who’s financing it. To make the matter worse; it’s difficult to reach them. But when I tuned in, though with their last two programs the actual broadcast says otherwise –despite of what the young Announcer claimed that la voix de Djibouti to be. It was indeed far from impartial nor is the voice of all Djiboutians.

It speaks on the language of the so-called Djiboutian oppositions –I say so-called because it becomes a custom that a Djiboutian nowadays turns a political opponent against the President Ismail O. Guelleh’s government; only when he/she loses their jobs, government contracts or thrown out the train: elite. Also usually what motivates half of these self-proclaim political opponents unfortunately is tribal animosity-or- personal vendetta against the President of the Republic itself; not with his policies? Needless to say Djiboutians certainly needs an alternative voice than the Government-run Radio and Television in Djibouti.

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For example, it’s funny when one hears a person like Mr. Abdulraman Borreh, the home-grown millionaire, who despises the Djiboutian- when he publicly called the Djiboutians ‘lazy and don’t want to work’; and brought foreign workers for the construction of the new Port, Doraleh and the Kempeski Palace, the new five stars Hotel. And yet, today he joined the opposite camps as well just because he has a personal problem with his old friend: President IOG. Not long ago he was die-hard Guellehism and even his new found allies used to label him of being business partner of the President – today his arch enemy.

And also, Mr. Ali Abdillahi Iftin, self appointed leader and mouth-piece of pretentious opposition party in Belgium-was once the privilege class-when he was demoted from his previous position as a Presidential Guard for the former President, Mr. Hassan Gouled Aptidon; he then switches as political opponent and fled to Europe. Mr. Iftin was recently interviewed on “Hormuud.com, Radio Station”; he advocated violence and claimed there’s a civil war already into Djibouti. Upon verifying with this fabrication –there’s no such think. That’s typical Djiboutian political opponent of the day: (If I won’t get the lion share, let the entire country be doom). And sadly no one condemns this sadist, especially by his peers. He definitely reminds me the reactionary and monologue, Mr. Ali Couba; and the demagogue, Mr. Daher Ahmed Farah.

Since when these guys and their likes realized things are bad –only when they lost their privileges? What’s so disturbing about these phony individuals is their naked arrogance. They think that the Djiboutian people are stupid. Or blind! They actually believe they could use the Djiboutian as a latter in order to gain the power and the wealth of the nation. It’s seems they are grossly underestimating the Djiboutian Citizens. Interesting enough these individuals the only thing they have in common is- their hatred towards the President of the Republic.

It’s true that Djibouti needs an independent voice; and at the same time responsible and constructive opposition parties that challenges the current Administration inside the country; and sacrifices their lives for their people. And present to the Djiboutian Citizens alternative policies and inspire the people to a better life: bring to the end of this constant blackout of the electricity and the current lack of water, especially the largest and Capital city, Djibouti-city. And more so putting to the end of the foreign working visas of the Indians and Yemenis taking the jobs for the young Djiboutian into the private own-businesses; and speak against Mr. Guelleh’s policies to sponsor Philippines, Indians and Chinese workers while the Djiboutians themselves are qualify to do the jobs into the Ports and large constructions projects. And expose the Ministers, MP’s and higher Military and Police Officers-who are snatching the transportations, constructions and other Government contracts away from the local contractors.

“La voix de Djibouti.com has an especial responsibility and opportunity to inform, educate and defend the national interest and integrity of the Republic of Djibouti and his Citizens. I hope they will be fair and balance; if they want to be part of the family of the professional Press.

Written by: Mohamed Awaleh, freelance writer
awaleh@consultant.com

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