Hargeysa January, 14 2013 - Ciidanka amniga ee magaalada
Hargeysa, ayaa xalay xabsiga u taxaabay dhawr ka mid ah macaliimiinta
wax ka dhiga madaarista diiniga ah ee magaalada.
Inkastoo aanu jirin war rasmi ahaan dawladdu ka soosaartay xadhigaas,
haddana siday ilo xogogaal ahi u sheegeen shabakadda
Somalidiasporanews.com/Qurbejoog.com, hay’addaha amaanku waxay
qabqabteen ilaa afar xubnood oo ka mid ah culimada magaalada, kuwaasoo
xalay cawayskii laga dhigay dugsi Quraan ay wax ka dhigaan oo ku yaala
degmada Maxamuud Haybe ee koonfurta caasimadda Hargeysa.
Warku wuxuu intaa ku daray, in macalimiintan lala xidhiidhiyay inay
ku xidhan yihiin kooxaha qaska ka wada Koonfurta dalka Soomaaliya,
inkastoo ay weli baadhisiti ku socoto. “Waxa la xidhay saddex macalin
iyo wiil ka mid ah ardayda ay wax u dhigayeen, waxaana lagu kala xidhay
laba saldhig oo kala duwan,” ayuu yidhi mid ka mid ah ehelada ragga la
xidhay midkood.
Waxa uu sheegay in aanay garanaynin sababta loo xidhay, isla markaana ay hay’addaha amaanku hadda baadhis ku wadaan.
Sidoo kale, waxa uu sheegay in culimada la xidhay ay ka mid yihiin;
Yuusuf Bacaluul, Muuse Haybe, Faysal-Garbo iyo wiil ardayda dugsigooda
ka tirsan.
Ilaa hadda ma cadda sababta loo xidhay raggaas iyo inay jiraan
shaqsiyaad kale oo tuhun la mid ah xadhigooda iyana loo qabqabtay.
Dhawr jeer oo hore, waxay ciidanka amnigu qabqabteen shaqsiyaad falal
amni-darro lagu tuhmay ama lala xidhiidhiyay inay gacan-saar la
leeyihiin kooxaha ka dagaalama Koonfurta Soomaaliya.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Veteran Russian rights advocate dies, another targetted
With the passing of a leading human rights advocate and
the persecution of another, Russia’s political regression appears to be
accelerating.
Yuri M. Schmidt, a veteran human rights lawyer who
represented dissidents and others charged with political crimes, including
jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, succumbed to cancer last weekend.
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| Yuri Markovich Schmidt |
He began representing prisoners charged with political
crimes in the late 1980s. His clients included jailed leaders of political
independence movements in the ethnic enclaves of Nagorno-Karabakh and South
Ossetia as well as a journalist charged with defaming President Islam Karimov
of Uzbekistan.
Mr. Schmidt often sought out clients: when a reformist
St. Petersburg lawmaker, Galina V. Starovoitova, was found shot to death in an
elevator in her apartment building in 1998, Mr. Schmidt found her sister at the
funeral, hugged her and told her he would represent the family. His efforts
helped lead to the conviction of a gunman and an accomplice in 2005.
Khodorkovsky said Mr. Schmidt had continued to visit him
at the prison, in a remote spot more than 700 miles from Moscow, “despite being
gravely ill.”
“This kind of work is never easy, it can be dangerous,
and it’s not very lucrative,” Mr. Khodorkovsky said. “But then, you never have
to make any compromises with your conscience.”
Members of the Moscow Helsinki Group have unanimously
voted to re-appoint Lyudmila Alexeyeva, the Soviet-era dissident and leading
rights activist, as the group’s head, despite her joint US-Russian citizenship.
In retaliation for the Magnitsky Law passed by the US Congress, the Kremlin
enacted a new legal provision authorizing the Ministry of Justice to suspend
the work of a non-governmental organization headed by a foreign citizen.
“There is no doubt that we will all unanimously vote for
Alexeyeva,” said Lev Ponomarev, the leader of For Human Rights. “And if they
start to implement the ‘Alexeyeva law’, I will go to the constitutional court.”
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| Russian rights activists Lev Ponomarev and Lyudmila Alexeyeva |
Alexeyeva has denounced the authorities’ refusal to let a
jailed member of the Pussy Riot punk band to defer a year of her prison
sentence to spend time with her 5-year-old son. “The authorities continue to
behave like beasts toward these women, because the people in power here are
inhuman,” she said:
Kremlin critics are also incensed by a law Putin signed
in December barring Americans from adopting Russian children, which critics say
has made vulnerable orphans pawns to politics, Reuters reports.
Some 40,000 people marched in Moscow on Sunday to protest
the ban, some denouncing Putin as a “child-killer”. He has promised that Russia
will take measures to improve the lives of orphans and other children in the
care of the state.
“When the authorities saw how angry people were about the
law, they said, ‘Oh, look, we will make the conditions here better for
children’,” said Alexeyeva. “But Alyokhina’s child is a child, too.”
The veteran rights defender is expected to be a contender
for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. She was also in the running for last year’s
prize, alongside several other Russian rights advocates, including Svetlana
Gannushkina and Memorial.
Alexeyeva criticized the decision to award the prize to
the European Union, rather than grass roots activists.
“To be honest, I don’t like this decision, because the
European Union is a huge, fairly bureaucratic organization, and it’s clear what
role the prize will play in its future policy — none, in my opinion,” she said.
“I would be very glad if this prize was given to
political prisoners in Iran or (Russian) human rights defenders, but not the
European Union, although I like the European Union,” she told the RIA Novosti
news agency.
She added that the Nobel committee’s “trend — giving it
to the president of a superpower one year, and to the European Union another
year — I think it’s a certain erosion of the idea that is the foundation of
this prize.”
The growing crackdown on Russian democracy and civil
society activists is highlighted in the latest Freedom in the World survey from
Freedom House, the US-based rights watchdog.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “heaped contempt on the
values of open societies” over the past year, says the report, citing curbs on
public demonstrations, attacks on foreign-funded NGOs, and restrictions on free
expression in print and online.
The Moscow Helsinki Group and For Human Rights are
supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington-based
democracy assistance group.
Washington’s foreign policy Mistake with Somalia appeared and may have serious consequences on its economic, security and political interest of Horn of African region and beyond!
US Government Move to Recognize the World Failed State
of Somalia including with the republic of Somaliland as one state would have
serious consequences economic, security and political interest of United State in
Horn of African region and beyond!
US Government Should Recognize the Republic Somaliland
We the Somaliland prodemocracy and human rights movements remind the US government when British Somaliland became an independent state on June 26, 1960, it was recognized by thirty-five states, including the United States and Israel.[1]
Somaliland deserves recognition if the Obama administration is truly sincere about promoting democracy in the wider Middle East. In sharp contrast to southern Somalia where instability and crisis have reigned and in fact intensified in the last twenty-one years, Somaliland has established a democratic polity that, if recognized, would make it the envy of democracy activists in the Muslim world. The essence of Somaliland’s successful democratization was captured by U.S.-based International Republican Institute and the National Endowment for Democracy in convening a September 2006 panel discussion on Somaliland. They wrote that “Somaliland’s embrace of democracy, its persistence in holding round after round of elections, both winners and losers abiding by the rules, the involvement of the grassroots, the positive role of traditional authorities, the culture of negotiation and conflict resolution, the temperance of ethnicity or clan affiliation and its deployment for constructive purposes, the adaptation of modern technology, the conservative use of limited resources, and the support of the diaspora and the professional and intellectual classes are some of the more outstanding features of Somaliland’s political culture that are often sorely lacking elsewhere.”
Somaliland also deserves recognition from a purely U.S.-centric national security perspective. The Somaliland government and population embody a moderate voice in the Muslim world that rejects radical interpretations of Islam. It would serve as a bulwark against the further expansion of radical ideologies in the Horn of Africa by offering a shining example (along with Mali and Senegal and other predominantly Muslim Sub-Saharan African democracies) of how Islam and democracy are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually reinforcing. Somaliland leaders are also eager to cooperate with the US administration in a variety of counter-terrorism measures, including working with AFRICOM and its arm called the Combined Joint Task Force—Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) based in Djibouti. They are currently prohibited from doing so due to U.S. legislation that prevents cooperation with unrecognized Somaliland authorities.
Recognizing Somaliland would contribute to international security and stability by preserving the Republic of Somaliland’s bulwark against piracy and terrorism without encouraging either ethnic separatism or legitimization of al-Qaeda affiliates. On the other hand, non-recognition threatens the modicum of international security that Somaliland provides in the Horn of Africa. It does the international community no good to allow rump Somalia’s lawlessness to spread.
Somaliland is a state that merely lacks recognition. Recognition, however, is a political act and its validity turns on whether the creation of the state to be recognized satisfied norms of international law. Somaliland’s creation conforms to those norms: it satisfies the four Montevideo Convention criteria of statehood; it gained its independence through dissolution, a species of secession; and its secession conforms to the limiting principle of uti possidetis, requiring territorial adherence to colonial boundaries.
[1] Int’l Crisis Group, Somaliland: Democratization and its Discontents, ICG Afr. Report, No. 66, at 4 n.9
(2003) [hereinafter Democratization and its Discontents] (citing former U.S. Ambassador David Shinn).
US Government Should Recognize the Republic Somaliland
We the Somaliland prodemocracy and human rights movements remind the US government when British Somaliland became an independent state on June 26, 1960, it was recognized by thirty-five states, including the United States and Israel.[1]
Somaliland
deserves recognition if the Obama administration is truly sincere about
promoting democracy in the wider Middle East. In sharp contrast to
southern Somalia where instability and crisis have reigned and in fact
intensified in the last twenty-one years, Somaliland has established a
democratic polity that, if recognized, would make it the envy of democracy
activists in the Muslim world. The essence of Somaliland’s successful
democratization was captured by U.S.-based International Republican Institute
and the National Endowment for Democracy in convening a September 2006 panel
discussion on Somaliland. They wrote that “Somaliland’s embrace of
democracy, its persistence in holding round after round of elections, both
winners and losers abiding by the rules, the involvement of the grassroots, the
positive role of traditional authorities, the culture of negotiation and
conflict resolution, the temperance of ethnicity or clan affiliation and its
deployment for constructive purposes, the adaptation of modern technology, the
conservative use of limited resources, and the support of the diaspora and the
professional and intellectual classes are some of the more outstanding features
of Somaliland’s political culture that are often sorely lacking
elsewhere.”
Somaliland
also deserves recognition from a purely U.S.-centric national security
perspective. The Somaliland government and population embody a moderate
voice in the Muslim world that rejects radical interpretations of Islam.
It would serve as a bulwark against the further expansion of radical ideologies
in the Horn of Africa by offering a shining example (along with Mali and
Senegal and other predominantly Muslim Sub-Saharan African democracies) of how
Islam and democracy are not mutually exclusive, but rather mutually
reinforcing. Somaliland leaders are also eager to cooperate with the US
administration in a variety of counter-terrorism measures, including working
with AFRICOM and its arm called the Combined Joint Task Force—Horn of Africa
(CJTF-HOA) based in Djibouti. They are currently prohibited from doing so
due to U.S. legislation that prevents cooperation with unrecognized Somaliland
authorities.
Recognizing Somaliland would contribute to international security and stability by preserving the Republic of Somaliland’s bulwark against piracy and terrorism without encouraging either ethnic separatism or legitimization of al-Qaeda affiliates. On the other hand, non-recognition threatens the modicum of international security that Somaliland provides in the Horn of Africa. It does the international community no good to allow rump Somalia’s lawlessness to spread.
Somaliland
is a state that merely lacks recognition. Recognition, however, is a political
act and its validity turns on whether the creation of the state to be recognized
satisfied norms of international law. Somaliland’s creation conforms to those
norms: it satisfies the four Montevideo Convention criteria of statehood; it
gained its independence through dissolution, a species of secession; and its
secession conforms to the limiting principle of uti possidetis, requiring
territorial adherence to colonial boundaries.
[1] Int’l Crisis Group, Somaliland: Democratization
and its Discontents, ICG Afr. Report, No. 66, at 4 n.9
(2003)
[hereinafter Democratization and its Discontents] (citing former U.S.
Ambassador David Shinn).
Two Somali men accused of the attempted hijacking of a Japanese-operated tanker off the coast of Oman pleaded guilty in Japanese court
Two Somali men accused of the attempted hijacking of a
Japanese-operated tanker off the coast of Oman pleaded guilty in Japanese court
on Tuesday (January 15th), AFP reported.
The two were among four pirates who arrested in March
2011 by US Navy personnel when they allegedly attempted to seize the tanker
armed with submachine guns.
On trial are Mohamed Urgus Adeysey and Abdinur Hussein
Ali, who said they are from Somalia and are believed to be in their 20s or 30s,
but reportedly said they were not certain of their own dates of birth. They are
the first people to face trial under Japan's new anti-piracy law.
The men will hear the court's formal verdict on February
1st.
The two other suspects will go through a different trial
process because they are believed to be juveniles under Japanese law.
Six things U.S. can do to help Somalia
By Maria Burnett, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Maria Burnett is a senior researcher in the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch. The views expressed are her own.
When the new Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, took office in September, the United States encouraged him to “usher in a new era of governance that is responsive, representative, and accountable.†This week, President Hassan Sheikh is in Washington to discuss how to get this done.
Since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, the country has been wracked by civil conflict with serious human rights abuses by all sides. The human rights situation remains poor in areas under government control, while the Islamist armed group al-Shabaab continues to commit serious abuses throughout the country. Somalia needs U.S. support to address the cycles of violence that have plagued its people for more than two decades. This means that human rights and accountability should be high on this week’s agenda, including in discussions about Somalia’s security and stability.
The U.S. should set six pillars as the foundation for its ongoing engagement in Somalia:
First, the U.S. should work with the new government to help it reclaim a monopoly on protecting its citizens. Since al-Shabaab withdrew from much of Mogadishu last year, clan and freelance militias – many of them loyal to local politicians, including former warlords – have reassumed control of parts of the city. In some places, the police are mostly spectators. Peace will mean little to Mogadishu’s residents, including many who fled famine and fighting in southern parts of the country over the last two years, until the militias are brought to heel. Disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating hundreds of thousands of armed men in Somalia will not be easy, but it’s crucial. Somalia’s much abused population should not be forced to look to clan militias or even to the militants of al-Shabaab again to fill the protection gap.
Next, the United States must take the lead in bringing human rights reform and accountability to the security services. Militia members are not the only ones committing abuses. The U.N. and others are extremely concerned about the high levels of sexual and gender based violence in Mogadishu. The U.S. should set clear benchmarks for respecting international humanitarian and human rights law and place accountability for serious abuses such as rape and torture at the heart of further support for government forces. The police need help to investigate these crimes properly and ensure access to services for victims. And Somalia needs an effective vetting mechanism to keep those responsible for past abuses out of government forces.
The U.S. should also help the government protect journalists. It should support investigations into the numerous deaths of journalists in the last few years, including 15 killed in government-controlled areas in 2012 alone, the deadliest year on record. Access to information is crucial to progress in Somalia. Journalists, who have played a critical and fearless role in reporting on the country’s conflict, need to know they cannot be attacked with impunity. But so far, there have been no prosecutions for journalists’ killings. While the U.S. should commend President Hassan Sheikh’s commitment to set up a task force to look into these killings, it should push for speedy, concrete results. The ongoing detention of a freelance journalist, Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim, for interviewing a woman who alleges she was raped by security forces, shows that the police are currently part of the problem facing the media in Somalia, rather than part of the solution.
Another critical need is to get children out of the security forces and back to school. The U.S. should continue to work with the government to prevent the recruitment and use of children within its forces, including vetting the age of recruits. The U.S. should also be making sure that detention of alleged former child soldiers by the national security agency and other security forces is a measure of last resort. This will mean expanding access to child protection activities such as demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration programs that include psycho-social counseling, vocational training, and schooling.
The U.S. should also throw its weight behind a beefed-up U.N. human rights monitoring team in Somalia. The U.N. is reviewing its presence in Somalia this month, so the United States should call for a significant increase in the number of U.N. human rights monitors. A regular flow of credible information on human rights from the ground, especially in areas of southern Somalia where information on the various actors and armed groups is more limited, is key to deterring violations and ensuring accountability.
Finally, the U.S. should help Somalia tackle longstanding impunity by supporting establishment of an international commission of inquiry to map and document some of the worst abuses over the past years. This would be a groundbreaking effort to provide a basis for future accountability. Any attempts to seek truth or justice would draw on such a commission and its very existence could serve as a deterrent to would-be criminals.
At long last, there is room for optimism in Somalia. Previous transitional authorities have quickly lost ground because they and their international partners have not made human rights and accountability a priority. President Sheikh Mohamud and key supporters such as the U.S. will need to focus on these issues for this optimism to endure and become a reality.
US to Recognize Somalia's New Government
January 16, 2013
VOA News - A senior U.S. diplomat says the United States is officially recognizing the government in Somalia, opening formal diplomatic relations for the first time since militants shot down two U.S. military helicopters in Mogadishu in 1993.
Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson says visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will exchange diplomatic notes Thursday to confirm the new relationship.
Carson said the new Somali government has made significant progress in stabilizing the country and defeating al-Shabab Islamic militants.
African Union and Somali forces have pushed the militants out of a number of major towns. But al-Shabab still controls a large part of the country as it tries into turn Somalia into a strictly Islamic state.
Carson says U.S.-Somali relations are a long way from where they were when militants shot down two American helicopters in October 1993. Scenes of dead U.S. solders being dragged through the streets of the Somali capital were broadcast worldwide, arousing anger and revulsion in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Somalia has not had a strong central government since 1991. Various warlords and groups spent the next two decades trying to seize power.
A new parliament sworn in six months ago elected Mohamud president, ending eight years of ineffective and unstable transitional government.
 |
| US Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson (file photo) |
Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson says visiting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will exchange diplomatic notes Thursday to confirm the new relationship.
Carson said the new Somali government has made significant progress in stabilizing the country and defeating al-Shabab Islamic militants.
African Union and Somali forces have pushed the militants out of a number of major towns. But al-Shabab still controls a large part of the country as it tries into turn Somalia into a strictly Islamic state.
Carson says U.S.-Somali relations are a long way from where they were when militants shot down two American helicopters in October 1993. Scenes of dead U.S. solders being dragged through the streets of the Somali capital were broadcast worldwide, arousing anger and revulsion in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Somalia has not had a strong central government since 1991. Various warlords and groups spent the next two decades trying to seize power.
A new parliament sworn in six months ago elected Mohamud president, ending eight years of ineffective and unstable transitional government.
GAARRIYE HADDUU TEGAY, MA GOBLAMAY AFKEENII
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Bashir Goth
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I had the honour of meeting Gaarriye in July 1998 when we both participated in a poetry evening at a fund-raising event for Amoud University in Abu Dhabi. One cannot find words to mourn the loss of such a literary giant, but silence at such a great calamity is not an option either especially from a fellow poet.
Therefore, I wrote the following elegy to capture at least some glimpses of his memory as a poet. I will suffice myself to convey to the readers the impression I got from him during the almost four-hour awareness raising event and my social interaction with him the following day.
The poem will try to shed light on his versatile character and the unique style of his delivery, his strong presence and his passionate and electrifying engagement with the audience during poetry recitations.
Gaarriye used to appear in a fighting mood when reciting a poem. He used to muster all his physical, emotional and intellectual power to interact with the audience. His sonorous voice that rose and fell with the intonation of the verse defied his petite physical look. He roared, electrified and mesmerised the audience. As the American sports writer Tom Smith is attributed to have said: “it is really very easy to be a writer – all you have to do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.” So if Gaarriye opened a vein in writing his poems, he opened many veins in trying to pass his poetry’s ownership to his audience. His style reminded me of a line by the Arab Abbasid poet Abu Tayyeb Al Mutanabi who said:
أنا الذي نظر الأعمى إلى أدبي/ و أسمعت كلماتي من به صمم
(I am the one whose poetry even the blind can see and made even the deaf hear my words.)
My tribute poem, therefore, tries to capture this with the following lines:
Carraduu ka goohuu
Gucumaale aar iyo
Siduu yahay gudgude roob
Gurxanka iyo yeedhmada
Ka gariirin jiray iyo...
Although every poem in Gaarriye’s anthology can constitute a masterpiece by itself, I can arguably say that the most important poems of all his verse will remain Ergo and Hagarlaawe. Just like Timacadde has been immortalized by his “Kaana siib, Kanna Saar” and his “Dugsi ma leh qabyaaladi” and Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan is remembered by his poem “ Koofilow Adaa Jiitay oon Dunida Joogayne...”, remembering Gaarriye’s name will also invoke the following lines in the memory of the Somali speaking people:
“Dharaar baa iman doonta-irsiqa laysku cidhiidhiyoo- wax la uunto la waayo.
Dharaar baa iman doonta mujrim -oogo madowoo- islaam sheeganayaa agablaay hambadaada- isa sii kaba raasho…
“Hadeydaan i adeecinoo- ergedaan ahay maanta ka abaal ka dhacdaan- Ilaahay balankii ibtilaa dhici doonta
Dhulkay eyro ku fooftana Afrikaan madmadowiyo
Ajnabaa degi doona iyagaa talin doona…
“Sidaan aaminsanahayna, Abkuu doono ha sheegtee
Wuxuun baa ehel ii ah, Dadka kaan af aqaano
Ee si wax iila arkaaya, Ee ina midayso ujeedo..
--Cutubyadaas sare waa wada Ergo
“Anigana hadhow iyo faallo, Halista inaan ka hafeeftay
Oo weliba hiifi iga gaadhay, Hagarlaawe, ii geli buuga…”
--Hagarlaawe
It was reported that when the Abbassid poet and philosopher Abu Al Ala Al Marri heard one of Al Mutanabi’s lines he admired it so much to the extent that he said: if Al Mutanabi did not write any other poetry but that line it would have been enough. The line was:
لك يا منازل في القلوب منازل
(O, my homesteads, you have homes in my heart)
I can also arguably say that if Gaarriye did not write any other poetry but Ergo and Hagarlaawe they would have by themselves constituted an entire anthology due to their profundity and literary richness.
In the following stanza of my tribute I tried to sum up the depth, breadth and intellectuality of Gaarriye’s works:
Wallee gabay mug weyn iyo
Murti gaaxinteediyo
Ma la hoyday geeraar
Iyo garasho waaayeel
For non-Somali speakers, in the fourth stanza it mentions how he was a man of tenacity, an ebbless river and a fearless hero under whose protection people felt safe. It describes his words as shooting out of his heart like arrows (Abwaan erayaduu gano) but turning into the sweet fruits of the Gob tree when they reach the ears of his audience. It marks how his words echo with the people and are quoted as maxims on every occasion. It shows how he was an ever lit fire from which people took embers to warm up; a man of bounty whose generosity reached all the community and a man of integrity (gob – sweet fruits) in supporting justice and thorns in the tyrant’s side (Ma ahaa gob iyo qodax).
In the 5th stanza the poem reassures Gaarriye that a man like him who travelled through the journey of life; both good days and bad days, who witnessed the days of independence (Gobaad) with its dreams and promises and later saw war and hostilities and stood on the ruins of once prosperous cities ( Guluf iyo colaad iyo, Guri ba’ay dul joogsaday...); a man who promoted peace and good neighbourliness; a man who rejected injustice and evil (his Ergo and Hagarlaawe poems in mind); A man who left behind such enormous history cannot be buried by death ( Taarikh gu’ weyn dhigay, geeridu ma duugtee).
The last stanza applauds Gaarriye’s command of the Somali language and his talent and skill in weaving verses with grace and beauty. It finds a befitting conclusion to bid him farewell in words of lyric (Tix baan kugu gunaanaday).
Abiidaba nin loo go’o
Oo lagu galaashiyo
Geesigu ma waaree
***
Gaarriye hadduu tegay
Tixdu gibil madaw iyo
Geybmaar ma xidhatoo
Ma goblamay afkeenii
Ma gaagaxday odhaahdii
Ma gallooftay heestii
Gegyigiyo dadkeenii
Carraduu ka goohuu
Gucumaale aariyo
Siduu yahay gudgude roob
Gurxanka iyo yeedhmada
Ka gariirin jiray iyo
Ma gammiintay ciiddii
*****
Wallee gabay mug weyn iyo
Murti gaaxinteediyo
Ma la hoyday geeraar
Iyo garasho waaayeel
*****
Wallee geed adayg iyo
Durdur aan gudhayn iyo
Halyey lagu gabbada oon
Gibidhsiga aqoon iyo
Abwaan erayaduu gano
Goonyaha dalkoo idil
Laga goosan jirayoo
Goobtii la joogaba
Guubaabadiisiyo
Xikmaddiisa gaarka ah
Gaarriye siduu yidhi
Gundhigga iyo sheekada
Lagu goyni jiray iyo
Gole laga dab qaatiyo
Godol reera deeqiyo
Ma ahaa gob iyo qodax
*****
Gaarriyow gobaad iyo
Nin sidaada geeddiga
Guluf iyo colaad iyo
Guri ba’ay dul joogsaday
Oo gacal wanaagiyo
Nabad soo gardaadshoo
Ka gilgishay xumaanoo
Taariikh gu’ weyn dhigay
Geeridu ma duugtee
*****
Af Soomaaligaad galab
Iyo goor arooryaad
Sidii geenyo shaaximan
Goobayn taqaaniyo
Galladdii Ilaahay
Gaar kuugu deeqaan
Kugu sii galbiyayoo
Tix baan kugu gunaanaday
*****
Guullana firdawsiyo
Inuu goobta aakhiro
Guryo samo ku geeyaan
Duco kuugu guusoon
Gurmad kuugu soo diray
-Bashir Goth, Oct.1, 2012.
Divided Somaliland and the way out
By:
Bashir Goth
The Local Council Elections that were held in Somaliland on 28th November 2012 left behind bitterness, bloodshed and deep divisions between the clans as well as moments of joy and celebration. Although the election started in a festive mood, its aftermath proved the fears of observers about the irreparable fissions that such unfettered democracy and flawed electoral system could bring to a tribal society like Somaliland. And on top of this comes the lack of independent judiciary that could handle disputes with fairness and the government’s rejection to abide by the rules it put in place.
In the following paragraphs therefore I will try to highlight the election’s twists and turns and its good, bad and ugly stories.
The Good:
One of the good things about the election was its beautiful festivals and the joyful mood that prevailed during the campaign. It was beautiful to watch an isolated and internationally unrecognized state holding its 2nd municipal election, the first one was in 2002, and the 4th nationwide election since 2003. Parliamentary elections were held in 2005 and presidential elections in 2003 and 2010. And despite its glaring flaws, the local council election was another undeniable landmark in Somaliland’s quest for democratic transformation.
It was a joy to watch the people exercising their democratic rights like any country in the world in party campaign forums. The youth and women have filled the campaign rallies to unmistakably show that they are the real force and game changers in the country. The youth have temporarily forgotten their unemployment status and used their positive energy in a constructive way despite the tribal undercurrents that denied them to achieve their full potential.
The long queues of the voting day, a symbol of democracy, peace and refinement, were admirable. It is always reassuring and heartening to see African people going to the polls and not to trenches to fight their case, to cast a vote and not carry a gun to settle disputes, to peacefully play by the rules of the game no matter how flawed they are and not resort to my-law-in-my-hand tribal fashion.
One whole month of festivities from 29th October to a long day of civilized voting on 28th November was enough to show the world that Somali people can be good, law-abiding citizens as any people in the world and that they are not always unruly, chaotic and warrior nomads as the world media loves to portray them.
The fact that several women were among the elected councils was also another promising development that showed the society’s changing attitude, albeit timidly, towards the role of women.
The Bad:
In a tribal nomadic society where people are divided on clan loyalties, the opening of the door for multiparty system has shown its devastating effect. In mature democracies, political parties run and campaign on ideological and political platforms. They have strategies to follow and political objectives to achieve. They try to win the support of the voters on their political, economical and cultural merits. Yes, political divisions could be rife and deep but they are based on economic and political interest rather than narrow and primitive ancestral bonds and blood ties. But in Somaliland like elsewhere in Africa, the political parties have no agenda, no strategies and no real and tangible objectives. It was boring to listen to party speakers repeating old platitudes and burnt out ideas. Their vital selling points were their clan identities and it was unfortunate to see all that exercise, mobilization and festival moods swallowed up by the tribal vortex. It was not difficult to see who voted for whom when the results came out. They showed how Somaliland politics rests purely on tribal crutches.
The Ugly
The ugly episode of the election was the government’s high handedness in dealing with the people’s complaints after the results were announced. It is natural for the losing parties or candidates in any election to feel cheated and demand for justice. In advanced countries such complaints go to the election commission which plays a neutral role. If the complainants don’t find the election commission’s decisions convincing, they go to the courts. In Somaliland, there is a general feeling that neither the election commission nor the justice system is free from government control. People therefore revert to the only tested institution they know and that works for them – the clan. Some parties and candidates therefore showed their grievances and complaints through clan protests and rallies.
However, instead of handling the issue with tolerance and understanding, the government resorted to the use of force. Untrained and uncontrolled police force acting like clan militia used live ammunition on peaceful protestors, killing about ten young people and wounding many others in Hargeisa, Borama, Lughya and Zeila.
Even worse than the cold blooded shooting, was the government’s lack of sympathy for the families of the victims and their indifference to the loss of human life. It took Silanyo almost one week to make a statement on the killing of five young protestors in Hargeisa and when he finally did he made it weak and remorseless which only added insult to injury. It was equally ugly and despicable to see the powerful cabinet minister Hirsi Ali Haji Hassan boasting in an interview to one of the websites that the government has paid the blood money to the families of the victims. Just like that, with no emotion, no regret, no remorse, and no promise of investigation and punitive action against the rogue police force. But at least here a statement was made, but the president has failed abysmally by not uttering a word about those killed by his policemen in Borama, Lughaya and Zeila.
In an episode reminiscent of dictatorial regimes, I watched the video of policemen shooting live ammunition indiscriminately at peaceful youth demonstrators in Borama. At one time, a policeman was strolling in the street with the gun in his hand after finishing his shooting business. He was threatening and swearing loudly, calling his victims as Waar laaya, Eeyda, eaydu dhashay which literally means “Kill them…the dogs sired by dogs.” By watching this, one couldn’t help but remember the ugly tribal militia brutalities that we saw elsewhere in Africa.
In the historical city of Zeila, the police have disbanded a group of peaceful squatters in the town’s local council building by force; killing at least one person and wounding others.
With all these crimes taking place, President Silanyo did not send a single message of condolence to the families of victims let alone apprehend the police individuals whose faces and criminal acts were watched by thousands on Youtube. But in an apparent act of defiance and a show of support and approval for his police force, Silanyo was quick to express sadness and send deep hearted condolences when several policemen were killed in a car accident. While on the contrary, the President did not think the life of a young girl who was run over by the police when they were departing Borama was worth his sympathy.
The government’s unnecessary interference in the election of municipality mayors in major towns was to reignite bitter clan rivalries. The government tried to arm-twist council members in Erigavo, Buroa, Berbera and Zeila through monetary bribes and otherwise to get their favorite candidates elected as mayors. This was a provocative tactic aimed at inciting people to take arms and fight in an illusionary war.
The government used Berbera and Zeila as testing grounds for its divide and rule policy. But it was fortunate to see the communities of these two areas act more wisely than the government and abort the government’s plans of pushing them into an internecine civil war. The communities in these two coastal towns who live in the most inhospitable areas in the region do not need to kill each other for the greed of opportunistic politicians but instead they need help to secure the basic subsistence of living such as water for human consumption and for their dwindling herds.
As a foreign friend who frequently visits Somaliand wrote to me recently “the people seem resigned to be stuck with bad politicians, though they deserve better, and get on with their own lives as best as they can.” Unfortunately the Silnayo government did not stop only at being a bad government but has also become a brutal one true to the Somali saying” Indha la’aantii, dad cunimo ayey ku darsatay”. And the tragedy is that there is no formidable political opposition as Silanyo seems to have succeeded in breaking the will of all potential political opponents by opening government coffers and silencing them with cash. It is only the lonely but courageous voice of Faisal Ali Waraabe and UCID party that still stands between Silnayo and his ambition to create a dynasty in Somaliland.
The way out:
Disappointed with the poor performance of Silanyo, the much touted UK educated leader, former SNM veteran and one of the longest serving ministers of Siyad Barre; the people of Somaliland are desperate for a bail out from their current economic and political wilderness.
Many of them view the much anticipated Somalia-Somaliland talks as a Godsend exit strategy. The way Somalilanders swarm around Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam, Somalia’s Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, wherever she goes indicates how much hope they attach on her as their potential life line. We saw this during Fawzia’s recent visit to the UK and we saw it again when she made a stopover in Berbera airport en route to Mogadishu. Anyone who was anybody in Hargeisa came to visit her. No one even remembered the accusation of national treason that the government leveled against her when she accepted to serve in the cabinet of the new Somali government. Some of them including Somaliland’s Foreign Minister and Speaker of the House of Elders even went further, threatening her that she would be imprisoned if she ever returned to Somaliland. But on the contrary it was Silanyo’s government itself that was beleaguered by Fawzia’s presence at its airport.
Given to all foregoing factors and finding itself to be more divided than any time before, Somaliland needs a new direction to regain its vitality and the trust of its people. And the way of change is clear. It is to negotiate with the Somali government from a position of strength with clear strategy and tangible objectives. But in order to do that Somaliland first has to hold an inter-clan reconciliation dialogue similar to the one held in Borama in 1993. It is only through a united voice from Zeila to Taleh that Somaliland can legitimately sit as an equal with their partners in Mogadishu.
The Local Council Elections that were held in Somaliland on 28th November 2012 left behind bitterness, bloodshed and deep divisions between the clans as well as moments of joy and celebration. Although the election started in a festive mood, its aftermath proved the fears of observers about the irreparable fissions that such unfettered democracy and flawed electoral system could bring to a tribal society like Somaliland. And on top of this comes the lack of independent judiciary that could handle disputes with fairness and the government’s rejection to abide by the rules it put in place.
In the following paragraphs therefore I will try to highlight the election’s twists and turns and its good, bad and ugly stories.
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| Bashir Goth |
One of the good things about the election was its beautiful festivals and the joyful mood that prevailed during the campaign. It was beautiful to watch an isolated and internationally unrecognized state holding its 2nd municipal election, the first one was in 2002, and the 4th nationwide election since 2003. Parliamentary elections were held in 2005 and presidential elections in 2003 and 2010. And despite its glaring flaws, the local council election was another undeniable landmark in Somaliland’s quest for democratic transformation.
It was a joy to watch the people exercising their democratic rights like any country in the world in party campaign forums. The youth and women have filled the campaign rallies to unmistakably show that they are the real force and game changers in the country. The youth have temporarily forgotten their unemployment status and used their positive energy in a constructive way despite the tribal undercurrents that denied them to achieve their full potential.
The long queues of the voting day, a symbol of democracy, peace and refinement, were admirable. It is always reassuring and heartening to see African people going to the polls and not to trenches to fight their case, to cast a vote and not carry a gun to settle disputes, to peacefully play by the rules of the game no matter how flawed they are and not resort to my-law-in-my-hand tribal fashion.
One whole month of festivities from 29th October to a long day of civilized voting on 28th November was enough to show the world that Somali people can be good, law-abiding citizens as any people in the world and that they are not always unruly, chaotic and warrior nomads as the world media loves to portray them.
The fact that several women were among the elected councils was also another promising development that showed the society’s changing attitude, albeit timidly, towards the role of women.
The Bad:
In a tribal nomadic society where people are divided on clan loyalties, the opening of the door for multiparty system has shown its devastating effect. In mature democracies, political parties run and campaign on ideological and political platforms. They have strategies to follow and political objectives to achieve. They try to win the support of the voters on their political, economical and cultural merits. Yes, political divisions could be rife and deep but they are based on economic and political interest rather than narrow and primitive ancestral bonds and blood ties. But in Somaliland like elsewhere in Africa, the political parties have no agenda, no strategies and no real and tangible objectives. It was boring to listen to party speakers repeating old platitudes and burnt out ideas. Their vital selling points were their clan identities and it was unfortunate to see all that exercise, mobilization and festival moods swallowed up by the tribal vortex. It was not difficult to see who voted for whom when the results came out. They showed how Somaliland politics rests purely on tribal crutches.
The Ugly
The ugly episode of the election was the government’s high handedness in dealing with the people’s complaints after the results were announced. It is natural for the losing parties or candidates in any election to feel cheated and demand for justice. In advanced countries such complaints go to the election commission which plays a neutral role. If the complainants don’t find the election commission’s decisions convincing, they go to the courts. In Somaliland, there is a general feeling that neither the election commission nor the justice system is free from government control. People therefore revert to the only tested institution they know and that works for them – the clan. Some parties and candidates therefore showed their grievances and complaints through clan protests and rallies.
However, instead of handling the issue with tolerance and understanding, the government resorted to the use of force. Untrained and uncontrolled police force acting like clan militia used live ammunition on peaceful protestors, killing about ten young people and wounding many others in Hargeisa, Borama, Lughya and Zeila.
Even worse than the cold blooded shooting, was the government’s lack of sympathy for the families of the victims and their indifference to the loss of human life. It took Silanyo almost one week to make a statement on the killing of five young protestors in Hargeisa and when he finally did he made it weak and remorseless which only added insult to injury. It was equally ugly and despicable to see the powerful cabinet minister Hirsi Ali Haji Hassan boasting in an interview to one of the websites that the government has paid the blood money to the families of the victims. Just like that, with no emotion, no regret, no remorse, and no promise of investigation and punitive action against the rogue police force. But at least here a statement was made, but the president has failed abysmally by not uttering a word about those killed by his policemen in Borama, Lughaya and Zeila.
In an episode reminiscent of dictatorial regimes, I watched the video of policemen shooting live ammunition indiscriminately at peaceful youth demonstrators in Borama. At one time, a policeman was strolling in the street with the gun in his hand after finishing his shooting business. He was threatening and swearing loudly, calling his victims as Waar laaya, Eeyda, eaydu dhashay which literally means “Kill them…the dogs sired by dogs.” By watching this, one couldn’t help but remember the ugly tribal militia brutalities that we saw elsewhere in Africa.
In the historical city of Zeila, the police have disbanded a group of peaceful squatters in the town’s local council building by force; killing at least one person and wounding others.
With all these crimes taking place, President Silanyo did not send a single message of condolence to the families of victims let alone apprehend the police individuals whose faces and criminal acts were watched by thousands on Youtube. But in an apparent act of defiance and a show of support and approval for his police force, Silanyo was quick to express sadness and send deep hearted condolences when several policemen were killed in a car accident. While on the contrary, the President did not think the life of a young girl who was run over by the police when they were departing Borama was worth his sympathy.
The government’s unnecessary interference in the election of municipality mayors in major towns was to reignite bitter clan rivalries. The government tried to arm-twist council members in Erigavo, Buroa, Berbera and Zeila through monetary bribes and otherwise to get their favorite candidates elected as mayors. This was a provocative tactic aimed at inciting people to take arms and fight in an illusionary war.
The government used Berbera and Zeila as testing grounds for its divide and rule policy. But it was fortunate to see the communities of these two areas act more wisely than the government and abort the government’s plans of pushing them into an internecine civil war. The communities in these two coastal towns who live in the most inhospitable areas in the region do not need to kill each other for the greed of opportunistic politicians but instead they need help to secure the basic subsistence of living such as water for human consumption and for their dwindling herds.
As a foreign friend who frequently visits Somaliand wrote to me recently “the people seem resigned to be stuck with bad politicians, though they deserve better, and get on with their own lives as best as they can.” Unfortunately the Silnayo government did not stop only at being a bad government but has also become a brutal one true to the Somali saying” Indha la’aantii, dad cunimo ayey ku darsatay”. And the tragedy is that there is no formidable political opposition as Silanyo seems to have succeeded in breaking the will of all potential political opponents by opening government coffers and silencing them with cash. It is only the lonely but courageous voice of Faisal Ali Waraabe and UCID party that still stands between Silnayo and his ambition to create a dynasty in Somaliland.
The way out:
Disappointed with the poor performance of Silanyo, the much touted UK educated leader, former SNM veteran and one of the longest serving ministers of Siyad Barre; the people of Somaliland are desperate for a bail out from their current economic and political wilderness.
Many of them view the much anticipated Somalia-Somaliland talks as a Godsend exit strategy. The way Somalilanders swarm around Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam, Somalia’s Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, wherever she goes indicates how much hope they attach on her as their potential life line. We saw this during Fawzia’s recent visit to the UK and we saw it again when she made a stopover in Berbera airport en route to Mogadishu. Anyone who was anybody in Hargeisa came to visit her. No one even remembered the accusation of national treason that the government leveled against her when she accepted to serve in the cabinet of the new Somali government. Some of them including Somaliland’s Foreign Minister and Speaker of the House of Elders even went further, threatening her that she would be imprisoned if she ever returned to Somaliland. But on the contrary it was Silanyo’s government itself that was beleaguered by Fawzia’s presence at its airport.
Given to all foregoing factors and finding itself to be more divided than any time before, Somaliland needs a new direction to regain its vitality and the trust of its people. And the way of change is clear. It is to negotiate with the Somali government from a position of strength with clear strategy and tangible objectives. But in order to do that Somaliland first has to hold an inter-clan reconciliation dialogue similar to the one held in Borama in 1993. It is only through a united voice from Zeila to Taleh that Somaliland can legitimately sit as an equal with their partners in Mogadishu.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Export Ban On Miraa Hurts Meru Economy
With the closure of the overseas market, more than fifty per cent of khat produce in Meru will be going to waste.
By MARTIN MURITHI
Tuesday, 15 January, 2013
Tuesday, 15 January, 2013
Farmers and leaders from the region have bemoaned the ban and expressed need for alternative sources of income from other crops. Every year, khat has been bringing more than Sh500 million to the region from the European states, amidst radical calls from many sectors of the county government seeking to have the produce taxed for improvement of key facilities and infrastructure. There are also calls to have enhanced research conducted on the plant and to seek ways of processing and repackaging so that it can access new markets in durable form.
According to Dan Aritho who has been an exporter to the Netherlands, export khat is picked in the morning, passed through a series of packaging in smaller cartons and then taken to the Jomo Kenyatta airport ready for transit. “The vehicles ferrying such produce leave early and move at terrific speeds owing to the perishability of khat. Within less than twelve hours it’s normally in the market and our traders sell it while fresh,” said Aritho.
Once it gets to the market, the traders pay via electronic money transfer and the money is used to purchase khat for the next export day, which is normally done four days in a week. Khat meant for export is normally top grade and plantations are harvested every twenty-one days provided the rains are adequate and after 35 days when the rains are depressed.
Netherlands has been a distribution centre for other European nations that have been consuming the commodity which include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Greece Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The Dutch government issued letters signed by the state secretary for health, welfare and sports M J Van Rijn to all traders selling khat to cease stocking it since it had been classified under the opium act - the same category as bhang which is smoked in coffee shops.
Consumption of khat in Kenya has also been generating income where more than Sh30 million is traded daily around the major towns. Local consumption in Meru county remains a negligible five per cent of total production and with the closure of the overseas market, more than fifty per cent of the produce will be going to waste and this will take a great toll on the farmers who have been nurturing the herb for over 100 years.
The immediate effects of the ban have been witnessed in Maua town where more than fifty of more than 100 vehicles which were used to ferry the produce are parked at collection points, awaiting possible new markets. Economy grounded Similarly, thousands of young people, most of who dropped out of school at tender ages and relied upon the business for survival, will be left to look for other less lucrative sources of income, unlike when they earned more than Sh3,000 a day after picking khat.
While speaking on phone from Schiphol in the Netherlands, a renowned trader, Gideon Mugambi, said most of the kiosks have stopped operating across the country and some of the traders contemplate flying back to Kenya. According to the Nyambene Miraa Traders Association chairman Edward Mutura, the economy of the region will be grounded.
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