Muqdisho Hal Sanad Jir Oo Nalalka Kala Haga Baabuurta Yeelatay iyo Hargeysa oo 23 Sano Jir ah Oo Wadooyinkeedu Argagax leeyihiin

Muqdisho Hal Sanad Jir Oo Nalalka Kala Haga Baabuurta Yeelatay iyo Hargeysa oo 23 Sano Jir ah Oo Wadooyinkeedu Argagax leeyihiin

 

Jidadka Muqdisho oo ay kala hagayaan Traffic Lights

Maamulka gobolka Benaadir iyo Taliska Ciidamada Nabadgelyada Waddooyinka Muqdisho oo iskaashanaya ayaa ku guuleystay mar kale inay nalalka samaafaraha ka hirgeliyaan isgoysyo hor leh oo ku yaalla Muqdisho, kuwaasoo kala ah isgoysyada Sayidka iyo Dabka. Dadaalkan la yaabka leh maaha kii ugu horeeyay balseDawlada Hoose ee Muqdisho iyadoo jirtay in ka yar hal sano ayay bishii November 2013 ku qotomisay Nalalka Gaadiidka kala Haga jidadka magaalada Muqisho, 

Arinta la yaabka leh ayaa ah marka la barbardhigo magaalada Muqdisho caasimada Jamahuuriyada Somaliland ee Hargeysa ayaa waxa kuu soo baxay fajac iyo af kala qaad.

Jidadka Caasimada Hargeysa oo ay madaxa iskula jiraan Gaadiidku

Magaalada Hargeysa Jidadka waxa buux dhaafiyay gaadiidka noocyadiisa kala duwan ha u bataan kuwa faajofaajoodkuye, waana muush cammiran oo dhengedda kor loo tuuraa qof madaxa kaga dhacayso. Marka baabuur ciiddaas ka badan lagu soo dhexdaayo dadka faraha badan ee suuqyada magaalada u soo adeegsi, jimicsi, dewersi iyo boob tegay ee wadooyinkuna aanay lahayn Nalalkii gaadiidka iyo dadkaba kala hagayay (Traffic Lights), waxa ka abuuranta maalinkasta mashaqo. Caasimada Hargeysa markay saacadu gaadho 9 subaxdii wado kasta baabuurtu madaxa ayay isla wadagashaa halkii Kiiloomitir baabuurku wuxuu u socdo saacad buuxda. Ogow hada Hargeysi waxay maamul Dawlada Hoose, ciidan nabadgalyo wadooyin iyo hay'adaha dawlada dhexe lahayd 23 sano ee ina soo dhaafay.

Trailer: The Africa-China Connection - A documentary film on Africans in China will screen on 9 February 2014

A documentary film on Africans in China will screen on 9 February 2014 together with a 30 minute Q and A session with the film director.  There is a one minute trailer of the documentary on Youtube.



[Documentary film] on Africans in China will have its online screenings at 7am and 3pm on FEBRUARY 9, 2014!!! There will be a 30 minute online Q&A session with the film Director Pieter van der Houwen immediately after the screening. Tickets are now available to purchase here http://bit.ly/1mmCgyy There are discounts for students. Please send in an email to contact@theafricadaily for discount code using your university email or send in a copy of your student ID via other email addresses.

 

Somaliland Fatima

WATCH: Somaliland semi-nomadic VIDEO PART 1

Ethiopian troops join African force in Somalia

Mogadishu — Some 4,000 Ethiopian troops in Somalia on Wednesday formally joined the UN-backed African Union force in the country as it seeks to boost operations against Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels, officials said.

Hardline Shebab insurgents control large parts of rural southern Somalia, and despite having been driven from a string of towns by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), guerrilla units stage regular deadly attacks in the capital Mogadishu.

Ethiopian troops crossed into Somalia in November 2011 to battle Shebab militants.

Their inclusion into AMISOM will free up other units to stage a long-awaited offensive on Shebab bases in the far southern regions of Lower and Middle Shabelle, with Kenyan units advancing from the south, and Uganda and Burundi pressing from the north.

After a series of sweeping victories, the force has remained largely still for around a year, hampered by limited troops and air power to advance again.

The Shebab-controlled port of Barawe, one of the last sea access routes for the extremists, is a key target for the force.

"Ethiopian troops will constitute AMISOM's sixth contingent," the force said Wednesday, with soldiers re-hatting to join troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

"The Ethiopian deployment will permit Burundian and Ugandan forces to move into parts of Lower and Middle Shabelle," the mission said in a statement, suggesting preparations for a fresh offensive are gathering pace.

Ethiopia's contribution of three battalions takes the AU force to the 22,000-strong level mandated by the UN Security Council, who last year boosted the authorised force by a third.

Their troops are based mainly in southern border zones, including in the towns of Baidoa and Beledweyne.

"New battalions have been sent and they are on the ground now," said Getachew Reda, spokesman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

"Forces have been deployed into their respective sector within south-central Somalia."

AMISOM, first deployed in 2007, is a unique military operation as it is run by the African Union, but with a UN mandate. Most of its financing comes from the European Union and other international donors.

Ethiopia denied suggestions it was joining AMISOM to win external funding of the military, saying that joining the force would improve coordination in the fight against the Shebab.

"It's not a funding issue, we have been bearing the brunt both financially and materially -- in terms of loss of life -- for the last two years," Getachew told AFP.

"Without harmonising our efforts with AMISOM and other stakeholders... the kind of result we?d like couldn?t really be achieved."

Ethiopia had sent troops into its lawless neighbour in a US-backed invasion in 2006, but the move sparked a bloody uprising and the troops pulled out three years later after failing to restore order.

The Shebab once controlled most of southern and central Somalia but withdrew from fixed positions in Mogadishu two years ago.

But a string of devastating Shebab attacks against foreign and government targets have shattered hopes of a rebirth for the war-ravaged capital and demonstrated that the Islamist outfit's disruptive power is undiminished.

The group also claimed responsibility for last year's deadly attack in neighbouring Kenya, when commandos stormed the upmarket Westgate mall, shooting shoppers and hurling grenades.

AFP

Puntland’s Presidential Poll: election of Gaas likely to strengthen moves towards federalism

Puntland’s new President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas in his former role as Prime Minister of Somalia’s Transiotional Federal Government.

By Dominik Balthasar

The third presidential election in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland has brought about a change in leadership that might help enhance stability in the Horn of Africa. While it is too early to predict how the shift will ultimately play out in the region, the election of Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas may prove a crucial catalyst for Somalia’s stalled process toward federalism.

On Jan. 8, Puntland’s newly sworn-in parliament of 66 members rallied in the northeastern region’s capital of Garowe for presidential elections. The semi-autonomous polity had reverted to having its president elected by clan-appointed legislators after local elections were canceled last July due to risks of violence and the democratic process stalled. With eight of the 11 candidates eliminated in the first round of voting, Acting President Abdurahman Mohamed Farole won the second round comfortably. Yet, the third and final round saw Gaas emerge as the winner, defeating the incumbent narrowly with 33 to 32 votes.

Farole’s defeat may not have been anticipated, but the changing of the guard follows the unwritten principle of rotating leadership among an informal triumvirate of Puntland’s three major Majerteen sub-clans. The polity’s first president (Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, 1998-2004) was a representative of the Omar Mohamoud sub-clan; its second president (Mohamoud Muse Hersi, 2005-2009) belonged to the Osman Mohamoud; and the third president (Abdurahman Mohamed Farole, 2009-2014) originated from the Isse Mohamoud. Hence, it was again the turn of the Omar Mohamoud sub-clan of Majerteen to rise to the helm of the state.

Yet Gaas did not succeed merely on the basis of clan arithmetic. A trained economist, Gaas looks back on a formidable political career. Most recently, he served as Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) under Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. During his term (2011-2012), Gaas helped devise the formal “roadmap” that led to the official conclusion of Somalia’s ‘transition’, and culminated in the establishment of today’s Federal Government of Somalia. This experience is particularly valuable, as one of the key tasks for new leadership in Puntland is advancing the region’s transition towards multiparty democracy.

Against the backdrop of his narrow victory and given significant social tensions, one of Gaas’ first concerns, however, will be the unification of the Majerteen clan. Moreover, he will be expected to forge a more inclusive political settlement that incorporates other tribal factions, such as the Dhulbahante.

Sidelined under President Farole, the Dhulbahante currently hold 17 of the 66 seats in Parliament, and are likely to demand a satisfactory solution to the complex issues surrounding the Sool and Sanaag regions. Having been contested by Somaliland and Puntland for years, disgruntled Dhulbahante founded the Khatumo state in 2012, receiving some support from the central government. While Gaas vowed, in his first press conference, to prioritize the improvement of the region’s security situation, strengthening public institutions and initiating economic recovery are among the other urgent tasks the president-elect needs to tackle at home.

Simultaneously, the new leader will have to address federal politics. Indications are that Gaas will try to repair Puntland’s relations with the central government, after Farole had cut all ties with Mogadishu in August 2013. Already Gaas’s presidential campaign, in contrast to that of his predecessor, was based on a platform of enhanced cooperation with the nation’s capital.

Even though many Puntlanders are unhappy with the federal administration, Gaas’s course of reconciliation is likely to gain traction locally. This is not least because, by and large, the Majerteen would like to retrieve their historically rooted political influence in Somalia. Besides, in recent years Gaas has proven that he has greater political ambitions, not least evidenced by his candidacy during the 2012 presidential elections in Somalia. Hence, it seems probable that he will be committed to constructively advance Somalia’s federal agenda.

The international community will probably respond favorably to such a political course. Combined with the fact that Gaas is likely to benefit from international optimism over Puntland’s peaceful election, he will enter into future negotiations with Somalia from a position of considerable strength.

The combination of renewed political stamina and moves toward federalism comes as a double-edged sword for the semi-autonomous Puntland; a careful balance needs to be struck between the priorities of Garowe and Mogadishu. That said, Puntland is unlikely to suffer its resources being siphoned off to the extent that had been the case under the region’s first president, Ahmed.

Puntland’s revival at the federal level is likely to result in an alliance with a burgeoning and assertive administration in Jubaland to the south – at least in voice, if not in substance. The two regions not only share close kinship because their populations largely trace their descendants back to the Darood, but they are also united in their demand for federalism. The potential alliance could backfire if the federal government and other interest groups feel they’re being backed into a corner. The result could be a resumed stalemate.

Yet, strengthened federal units appear more likely to be a boon for Mogadishu, in that the central administration will have more responsive and cooperative counterparts in the regions than has been the case recently. Furthermore, while an increasing influence of the Darood in federal politics comes with its own set of challenges, it might lead to much-needed enhanced cooperation within the Hawiye clan family, which dominates central Somalia in demographic and political terms.

While a scenario of constructive cooperation between Garowe and Mogadishu seems more likely at this point, questions over resource management will pose a test. After all, Puntland is home to the Dharoor and Nugaal faults, which are believed to contain approximately 20 billion barrels of oil.

In the end, the trajectory of Puntland and its impact on other Somali entities will largely hinge on the team Gaas puts together in the coming weeks. The constitution grants him 21 days from his election to form a government.

Dr Dominik Balthasar is a Trans-Atlantic Post-Doctoral Fellow for International Relations and Security (TAPIR), currently based at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). First posted on www.usip.org

Al Shabaab oo ku hanjabtay in ay u aar-guddi doonto dhibaato ay sheegtay in lagu haayo dadka reer Muqdisho

Muqdisho - Madaxa Ururka Al Shabaab ee Gobolka Banaadir ugu magacaaban, ayaa waxa uu Dowladda Federalka ee Soomaaliya uu ku eedeeyay, dhibaato ay ku heyso sida uu yiri dadka ku dhaqan Magaalada Muqdisho.

Sheekh Cali Maxamed Xuseen (Cali Jabal) oo la hadlay Idaacada Andulus, ayaa waxa uu sheegay in ay la socdaan dhibaatada uu sheegay in Dowladdu ay ku heyso dadka reer Muqdisho.

Sheekh Cali Maxamed Xuseen, ayaa sheegay in dhibaatooyinka lagu haayo dadka reer Muqdisho, ay isugu jiraan jirdil, xarig, qafaal, jidgooyo uu sheegay in gaadiidka looga qaado lacago Sharci daro ah iyo burburin lagu haayo goobihii ay dadku ku ganacsanayeen, sida uu yiri.

Sarkaalkaan, ayaa ku goodiyay inaanay gacmaha ka laaban doonin dhibaatada uu sheegay, in ay Dowladda Soomaaliya la dul taagan yahay dadweynaha Somaliyeed ee ku dhaqan Magaalada Muqdisho.

Cali Jabal, ayaa wuxuu ku hanjabay in ay awood u lee yihiin, oo ay weeraro hor leh kaga geysan karayaan Magaalada Muqdisho, isla-markaana ay xilli kasta weeraro ku yihiin goobaha, uu sheegay in ay ku sugan yihiin, waxa uu ugu yeeray cadowga.

WASHINGTON’S ACTIONS HAVE BEEN CALCULATED TO ENSURE THAT A STRONG SOMALI STATE NEVER RISE AGAIN

With great fanfare from the international corporate media, the West African nation of Sierra Leone has committed 850 soldiers to the African Union’s forces in Somalia. In reality, Sierra Leone’s soldiers have become cogs in the imperial reconquest of Africa, with Somalia as ground zero.

Following the U.S.-backed invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia, in 2006, Washington and its European allies, including the old colonial rulers, Italy and Britain, propped up a puppet government in the capital city, Mogadishu, while simultaneously encouraging the breakaway regions of Puntland and Somaliland. The capital is occupied by AMISOM, the African Union’s military force in Somalia, which is paid for by United Nations and, for all practical purposes, an extension of U.S. foreign policy on the continent. AMISOM’s largest contingents are from the U.S. client states Uganda and Burundi, and the force is commanded by a Ugandan. Another contingent hails from Somalia’s neighbor to the north, Djibouti, a tiny country that is little more than a military base for the United States and France. Djibouti is the main center of operations for AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command.

Although the Americans pay constant lip service to the idea of a permanent national Somali government and to the territorial integrity of country, Washington’s actions have been calculated to ensure that a strong Somali state never rise again. Vast areas of the country have been occupied by Somalia’s historical enemies, Ethiopia and Kenya. The Ogaden region of Ethiopia is populated mainly by people of Somali origin, against whom Ethiopia’s military regime has waged a brutal counterinsurgency war. Parts of northern Kenya are largely inhabited by ethnic Somalis. Both Ethiopia and Kenya view an intact and unified Somalia as against their national interests. Yet these are the countries, along with Uganda, to which the U.S. has, in the words of one Somali analyst, “subcontracted” the war against the Islamist Shabaab – which the U.S. claims is part of its war on terror.

Oil companies also have an interest in a weak Somali government, and have already begun operations in the secessionist regions of Puntland and Somaliland.”

Kenya and Ethiopia can be expected to pursue what they consider to be their own national interests, bringing large parts of Somalia under their direct or indirect control, while fulfilling their obligations to the U.S. master. Ethiopia, especially, has exhibited the utmost contempt for Somali civilians under their control, arming and financing their own warlords and criminal gangs. Somalis widely believe that Kenya wants their oil.

But the truth is, the people that will ultimately get the oil are the multinational energy corporations favored by the United States and its European allies. These oil companies also have an interest in a weak Somali government, and have already begun operations in the secessionist Somaliland. In the national capital at Mogadishu, the international community – meaning, the United States and its allies – is overseeing the writing of a new Somali Constitution, one that effectively partitions the country into two territories: Somaliland, and Somalia (Puntland and South Central Somalia. These same international overseers have warned that any “spoilers” that oppose the new order will be dealt with, harshly. Thus, we see that the recolonization of Africa is well underway – with the enthusiastic collaboration of other Africans.

NGO condemns deployment of S. Leone troops in Somalia

Early in  last year 850 Sierra Leonean soldiers would have left the shores of Sierra Leone on a mission to Somalia. Just as the soldiers are leaving the shores of Sierra Leone, President Ernest Bai Koroma was rewarded with a meeting with President Barack Obama in the White House in recognition of his role in supporting imperialism’s proxy wars in Africa and their mad rush for African resources. 

The mission of the Sierra Leone soldiers, most of whom are poorly paid in normal circumstances, is to fight the Islamist group Al-shabaab. In reality, this is an imperialist sponsored project in which the Sierra Leonean army will be doing the biding of America’s proxy-war in Africa as mercenaries. The cost of the mission’s logistics and salaries for the soldiers will be paid for by the US. This is a case of Africans paid to kill other Africans. 

PACM issued a press release one year ago when the announcement of Sierra Leone’s participation in the Al-Shabaab war in Somalia first came out. Our position remains the same. We reaffirm our view that war cannot bring peace and that the deployment of Sierra Leonean soldiers in Somalia is wrong. 

We believe that the problem in Somalia cannot be resolved by military action. The deployment of Sierra Leonean forces there will only be seen by the people of Somalia as an attempt by the rulers of Sierra Leone to be part of the greater conspiracy, sponsored by western imperialist forces to dominate and further the long suffering of the people of Somalia and deepen the conflict. The deployment might also endanger Sierra Leonean citizens.

We do not oppose the involvement of Sierra Leonean soldiers in other African problems, but we believe that, in this case, the “solution” is driven by outside forces PACM wonders how Sierra Leonean soldiers can use military force to bring peace in Somalia where US forces have failed in 1993, Ethiopian troops, Kenyan forces, far more equipped and organise have failed. 

PACM wishes to state that we equally oppose all forms of violence including Al-Shabaab’s use of terrorist tactics of killing innocent people in their so-called war to institute sharia law in Somalia.

PACM joins the progressive chorus of African peace campaigners, to call for a peaceful resolution to the Somalia conflict as well as the conflicts in Mali and Nigeria and to oppose the new vigour of imperialism in Africa. We also call on the Government of Sierra Leone, who are so willing to serve as puppet of Western imperialism and neo-colonialism to pursue a peaceful political resolution of the Somalia conflict.

ON THE ROLE OF THE AFRICAN UNION (AU)

PACM condemns the role that the AU is playing in the new scramble for Africa. We hold the view that the AU has become an instrument in the hands of imperialism and neo-colonialism in its most voracious current form in Somalia, Libya, Mali etc. 

PACM notes with utter dismay that whilst the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) was formed in May 1963 for the total liberation of Africa from foreign domination and for African unity, now the AU has become an instrument in the hands of foreigners for the recolonisation and reconquest of Africa – a shame to the current African leadership. 

WHO WE ARE

The Pan-Afrikan Community Movement (PACM) is a grassroots Pan-Africanist, community based movement of youths, students, women, employed and unemployed workers in urban and rural Sierra Leone. We stand for the self-emancipation and self determination of the oppressed and exploited Afrikan masses at home and abroad. We are opposed to privatisation, racism, sexism, neo-colonialism, and imperialist proxy wars in Africa.

For more information please call: + 232 (0) 88 878 273 or 
Email: pacm1898@gmail.com

Stop the War, Hands Off Somalia!
Stop the recolonisation of Africa, Now!!
End Imperialist Proxy Wars in Africa Now!!!

 

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Contact Glen Ford at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.

Has Martin Luther King's "Dream" Been Realized?

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where he delivered his famous, “I Have a Dream,” speech during the March on Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. (Photo: United States Marine Corps / Wikimedia Commons)

By Judy Molland, Care2 | Op-Ed

“I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”

Have you listened to these words recently? Driving home this afternoon, I turned on my radio to hear the sonorous voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. pounding out this speech, and it still moved me, even though I must have heard it at least a dozen times.

This of course is the speech King gave on April 3, 1968 at the Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters) in Memphis, Tenn. On the next day, King was assassinated.

Speaking five years earlier at the historic March on Washington, King had expressed his hope for a future of equality when he gave his powerful “I Have a Dream” speech. “Justice for all” was his cry as he expressed hundreds of years of struggle for those who faced fierce discrimination in the United States.

The celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day gives us an opportunity to consider:

Has King‘s “Dream“ Been Realized?

Not according to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center earlier this year. Nearly half of those who responded said a lot more needs to be done before people in the United States would “be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” They believed that the economic gulf between blacks and whites is roughly the same as it was 50 years ago, but that the gap has narrowed on measures such as high school completion and life expectancy. So let’s see:

What Have We Accomplished Since 1963?

In the 50 years since King articulated the dream of a generation, the United States has seen significant progress toward the ideal of racial equality.

*  Infant mortality rates for African-Americans dropped dramatically from 41.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1963 to 11.42 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2013. Similarly, life expectancy rates also increased.

*  The field of education has seen huge improvements. While just 25.7 percent of blacks aged 25 or over had completed four years of high school in 1964, in 2012 that figure was 85 percent; the number of African-American college undergraduates has increased tenfold since 1964.

*  Legally mandated racial segregation in the American South has been dismantled.

*  African-Americans have come to occupy positions of power and influence, from the boardroom to the statehouse to the White House. In 1963 there were just five African-Americans in Congress; by 2013 that number had jumped to 44.

What Haven‘t We Accomplished Since 1963?

Political and social progress toward equality may be clear, but the same cannot be said for economic equality.

*  With a few exceptions, U.S. income inequality has consistently worsened since reaching a low in 1968, according to the Congressional Budget Office and the U.S. Census Bureau. Over that same period, the average African-American household continued to earn about 60 percent of the average white household.

*  The percentage of Americans living in poverty — after dropping to 11 percent in the years immediately following Dr. King’s 1963 speech — was back to 15 percent in 2011.

*  The black unemployment rate has consistently been about double that of whites since the 1950s, according to Pew.

*  In 2010, the median white household had eight times the assets of the median black household, according to the Urban Institute.

The Pew Research Center poll also found that seven-in-ten blacks and about a third of whites said blacks are treated less fairly in their dealings with the police.

Thirty-five percent of blacks polled said they had been discriminated against or treated unfairly because of their race in the past year, compared with 20 percent of Hispanics and 10 percent of whites.

Dr. King understood that civil rights includes economic rights. Until income, wealth and opportunity are made more equal, his Dream will remain unrealized. We’ve come a long way, but we have definitely not reached the Promised Land.