Nightmares help prepare our brains to handle stressful situations, according to a small US government-funded study.  

Researchers from Switzerland and the US subjected 18 people to a bizarre experiment: they were fitted with electrodes to monitor their brain activity at night, and they were woken multiple times to answer interview questions, such as: ‘Did you dream? And, if so, did you feel scared?’ 

The researchers found a pattern: during nightmares, there was often heightened activity in regions of the brain that control emotions. 

In a second experiment, they gave 89 people a dream diary to fill out for a week. At the end, each person sat through an MRI scan while being shown negative and scary images. 

They found that, in people who had experienced nightmares, their emotional brain regions responded faster and more efficiently than in those who had not.  

Lampros Perogamvros, one of the lead authors, who works at the University of Geneva, said: ‘We were particularly interested in fear: what areas of our brain are activated when we’re having bad dreams?’ 

The first experiment in the study, partly funded by the National Institutes of Health and published last month in the journal Human Brain Mapping, helped them to identify how nightmares light up the brain in real time. 

‘By analyzing the brain activity based on participants’ responses, we identified two brain regions implicated in the induction of fear experienced during the dream: the insula and the cingulate cortex’, Perogamvros said.

‘For the first time, we’ve identified the neural correlates of fear when we dream and have observed that similar regions are activated when experiencing fear in both sleep and wakeful states.’ 

The insula unleashes our fear response in times of danger, while the cingulate cortex controls it.   

The second experiment helped to understand the psychological or physiological impact nightmares have on our brains. 

Their conclusion was that, to an extent, nightmares seem to be beneficial, helped steel us for stressful experiences. 

‘We showed each participant emotionally-negative images, such as assaults or distressful situations, as well as neutral images, to see which areas of the brain were more active for fear, and whether the activated area changed depending on the emotions experienced in the dreams over the previous week,’ Virginie Sterpenich, a neuroscience researcher at the University of Geneva, said.

Beyond the insula and cingulate cortex, they also looked at the amygdala and prefrontal cortex which also control emotion.  

‘We found that the longer a someone had felt fear in their dreams, the less the insula, cingulate and amygdala were activated when the same person looked at the negative pictures,’ Sterpenich said. 

‘In addition, the activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is known to inhibit the amygdala in the event of fear, increased in proportion to the number of frightening dreams!’

However, traumatic and harrowing nightmares that cause sleeplessness and stress are not beneficial, and may be counterproductive, the researchers said.   

‘We believe that if a certain threshold of fear is exceeded in a dream, it loses its beneficial role as an emotional regulator,’ Perogamvros said. 

Source: Mail Online

The post Nightmares prepare us for real-life dangers: People who have bad dreams handle stressful situations more efficiently, study finds appeared first on WardheerNews .

W.Q. Ibaraahim Aden Shire

Isbaddal xawaare dheereeya ku socdo ayaa ku habsaday nolosha dadka Soomaaliyeed. Dhinac walba oo nolosha ka mid ah waxaa hareeyay mowjado iyo hirar isgarbinaya oo dhalanrogay hab nololeedkii la yaqaannay. Qoyska ayaa ah meesha ugu badan ee laga daymoon karo isbeddelka socda. Dhallinti lab iyo dheddigba waxay ka daahayaan guurki. Xilli aan sii fogeyn ruuxii 24 sano ku gaara guur la’aan waxaa la saari jiray caddaadis uu ka seexan waayo. Haddii ay gabar tahay waxaa ku yeeri jiray gambaleel aan dhagaha u roonayn oo guumeys la yiraahdo. haseyeeshee maanta kuwii soddon sano tirsaday wali guur may gaarin walwalna kama qabaan.

Waxyaabo in laga wadahadlo iska daaye, gaalnimo iyo Alle diidnimo loo yaqaannay ayaa maanta caadi u ah lammaaha aqal galayo in ay iska waraystaan. Inta ilmood ee qoyskaan yeelanyo  ayaa laga niqaashaa waqtiyada haasaawaha; marar go’aan la isla ogalyahay ayaa laga gaaraa dadab-galka ka hor. Hasa ahaatee, kuwaan xanuunkooda wali lama dareemin. Ragga oo ah kan had iyo goor go’aamiya nolosha bulshada kuna sargooyo sida iyaga u roon, lur badan kuma hayso mushkiladdan yarayn doonta ubadka dhalanaya. Sababta ayaa ah inuu u bannaan yahay guurka xaasas dhowr ah oo awlaad badan laga dhali karo.

Halka xanuunka laga dareemay ayaa ah sicirbararka ku yimid qiimihi guurka, kaasoo damallo ololaya oo ay adagtahay in la tallaabo ku horgooyay raggii guur doonka ahaa. In la badsado iska daaye waxaa la tahli la’yahay mid qur ah. Xal iyo xeelad raadin aan mushkiladaha kale ee qoyska ka jira aan loo doonin ayaa la galay. Odayaal iyo wadaaddo awal guurka gabdhaha ay dhali karaan u sahlanaa ayaa billaabay soo saaridda shuruuc adag. Waamo ayaa ugu badan meelaha sharciyada lagu soo rogay. Baladxaawo, dhowr sano ka hor ayaa la gooyay qiimo aysan cidna dhaafi karin. Gaarisa dhawaan ayaa qiimo  cayiman loo jaray meherka iyo qarashka arooska. Xeryaha Ifo iyo Xagar-dheer iyagu xeerki adkaa waxay ku dareen habaar. Culimo iyo garcaddaa ayaa habaar haamaha uga buuxshay ruuxii dhaafiya arooskiisa qiimaha ay gooyeen. Su’aashu waxay tahay kan xal ma yahay? Ma yarayn doonaa dhibaatada ka jirta qiima ku kaca guurka? Ma suuragalin doontaa in dhallintu yaraan ku guursato? Waxaan rumaysnahay maya.

Waxaa muhiim ah in la fahmo mushkiladda waxa keenay ka hor inta aan xal la raadin. Isbaddallada dhaqan-dhaqaale waligeed waa socdeen. Horumarka aadanuhu higsanayo meel kale ma galo ee waa hagaajinta dhaqanka iyo kobcinta dhaqaalaha. Iyadoo sidaas caqligu tusayo ayay Soomaalidu had iyo goor isbaddalka cusub ku sheegtaa calaamd qiyaamo iyo suur-gaddoon. Maansayahannadii noolaa horraanti iyo bartamihii qarnigii 20aad waxay noo reebeen maansooyin na tusaya sida ay u arkayeen isbaddalladi waqtigooda kusoo kordhay nolasha qoyska iyo hab nololeedka guud. Alla ha u wada naxariistee Ismaaciim Mire, Guulleed Jucfe iyo Maxammuud Cali-Beenaleey intuba waxay ku tilmaameen isbaddaladi ay la noolaayeen mucjiso soo korortay iyo astaan muujinayso dhammaadka dunida. Sidaas darteed isbaddal cusub la yaab ma leh waxa se amankaagga leh ayaa ah in ilaa maanta aan u fikirno sidii raggii noolaa boqol sano ka hor. Waayuhu wax nama barin,  aqoontuna nooma kordhin fahan xallilo mashaakilka na wajaho. Wali yaamuddiinki ayaa la gaaray bay noo joogtaa.

Taas waxaa caddayn u ah dadka soosaaray xeerarka uma kuurgalin, baarid kuma aysan samayn xirfadna uma laha inay hubiyaan waxa keenay mashaakilkan. Xogta kaliya ee ay nala wadaagaan waa inuu dhib jiro iyo go’aanka ay ka gaareen xalkiisa. Waxay u sawiraan arrin ugub ah oo hadda cirka un ka timid haddii la cabburiyana aasmi doonta. Baariddu waxay sahashaa in la ogaado nooca dhibka na haysta; waxa dabada ka riixaya, inay jiraan dad nala qabo iyo inuu horay usii jiray. Haddii la helo dad uu horay u qabsaday maxay ku xalliyeen mase lagu dayan karaa.

 Arrintaan waa dhibaato dunida waa hore kusoo biirtay laakiin innaga hadda na soo gaartay. Isbaddallada nolosha ku dhaca dunida waxay kasoo galaan dhinaca Galbeeedka. Innaga waxay noo soo martaa Carabta. Taas oo ka dhigan inay nasoo gaarto boqol sano ka dib markii ay meelo kale kasoo if-baxdo. Hadda se tegnoolajiyada ayaa fududaysay in dhibkii waqti dheer soo socon jiray waqti yar dhunidu isku daarato. Isbaddalkaan wuxuu galbeedka ka bilowday 70 sano ka hor, Carabta soddon sano ka hor ayuu soo gaaray shan iyo tobanki sano ee lasoo dhaafay ayuu annagana na saameeyay.

 Qiimaha guurka ee dalka Hindiya wuxuu u dhaxeeyaa celcelis ahaan $2800 ilaa $710,000. Shan meelood meel ayuu qofka Hindiyaanka ahi gubaa habaynka arooska kaliya wuxuu hanti tabcaday. 2018 kii celceliska lammaane Maraykan ah aroos ku dhigtaan wuxuu ahaa $34000; Ingriisku wuxuu ahaa $39000, Shiinaha $12000. Marki dhinaca Carabta loo tallaabo waa af kala qaad. Lammaane reer Imaaraat ah celcelis ahaan arooskooda waxaa ku baxo $186000, Sacuudi waa $185000.

Waxaa keenay waa un kaliya isbaddalka dhaqaale ee dunidu ku tallaabsatay. Qolo walba marki dhaqaalaheedu meel gaaro ayay bilowdaa isbadal dhaqan-dhaqaale oo bulshada ku dhaca. Meesha ugu horraysa ee laga dareemo ayaa ah qoyska oo ah meel aad u nugul. Sida goor dhawayd uu guurku noogu ahaa arrin qoys u gaar ah ayuu dalba mar ahaa. Maanta guurku wuxuu noqday bar lagu soo bandhigo awoodda dhaqaale ee qoys leeyahay. Waxaa laga dhigay madal la isugu faano oo qofku dhoollo-tus ku sameeyo. Meherka gabadha ayaa noqday kobta laga ogaado maqaamkeeda iyo muunada ay bulshada ku dhex leedahay. Qiimaha arooska ayaa laga dhigay calaamad u taagan inta ninka guursanayo jecelyahay inanta. Mansab, maxabbo, maal iyo muunaba ruuxa meesha uu bulshada kaga jiro ama jeexiisa kale uu ka joogo  qiimaha ku baxa habeenka arooska ayaa lagu soo koobay.

Halkaas waxaa ka ogaannay in mushkiladdu caalami tahay, dunida oo dhanna ay wada saamaysay. Sidoo kale waxaan ogaannay inay tahay marxalad qasab ay tahay in la maro oo sunnada kawniga ah ee Eebbe ka mid ah. Markaa waxaa qasab ah inaan aqbalno inaan marayno marxaladdaan. Hasa ahaatee taasi kama dhigna inaan indhaha ka eegno oo aan gacmaha ka laabanno. Mar haddaan aqbalnay mushkiladda xalka aan raadinayno wuxuu noqonayaa sidee lagu yareeyaa halki waqti lagu lumin lahaa sidee lagu dabar-gooyaa ama looga hortagaa cudur la hubo inuusan dabar-go’ayn bulshadana horayba ugu dhex faafay. Anigu sidaan ayaan u arkaa in lagu yarayn karo saamaynta uu nolosheenna ku yeelanayo qiima-kaca guurku.

Wacyigalin: Waan hubaa inaad dhihi doontaa wacyigalin iyo wacdi wadaaddadu ku dale ‘e wax kale sheeg. Haa waa ku daaleen laakiin ciddii ay qusaysay lama wacdiyo. Culimadu waxay la hadashaa dhallinyarada waliba gabdhaha oo loo ammaano wanaagga guurka jaban iyo barakada ku jirta. Dhalinyara da’daas ah wacdi ma dhagaystaan, haddii ay maqlaanna saamayn badan kuma yeesho. Waxay ku jiraan marxalad kuwii masaajidda lagu koriyay ee aan waligood muusig maqal heesaha nafta ugu raaxeeyaan. Wacdi iyo waano midna ma galo. Markaa wacdiga culimadu wuxuu ku dhacaa dhago awdan.

Waxaan qabaa wacdiga in lagu jiheeyo waalidka. Waalidku hadduu go’aansado inuu gacan buuxa ka gaysto guurinta ubadkiisa wax badan ayaa fududaan lahaa. waxaan is leeyahay haddii sida wiilasha guurkooda waalidku uga fikiro gabdhahana xisaabta uu ugu darsan lahaa waxaa bixi lahaa jid. Waalidku wuxuu yeeli karaa inuu gabadha ku dhiirrigaliyo inay wiil la timaaddo; inuu u sheego inuu taageeri doono haddii ay u keento wiil ay rabto oo wanaagsan hadduu rabo ha jeeb yaraadee; inuu u sheego in noloshu tahay wada noolaansho ee aysan ahayn habeenka arooska. Waxaan u jeedaa inaan iraahdo haddii waalidku wacyigalinta qayb ka noqdo waxaa meesha ka bixi lahaa walwalka gabdhaha ee ah waalidkeey oo intaas oo sano i korinayay inaan culaab kale u keeno ma rabo. Middaas ayaa in badan gabdhaha ku qasabta inay guurka ka raagaan waayo waxay goobayaan nin wax haysta oo aroos lagu farxo iyo guri laga dhargo isugu daro sidaasna uu waalidkeed ku raalli noqdo.

Waxbarid: Haddii Hindidu shan meelood meel xoolahooda habeenka arooska gubaan, innagu waxaan gubno waa xoolo qaaraan iyo aruuris lagu keenay. Dhallinteennu inta aysan guursan ma shaqaystaan. In loo guuriyo oo waliba kan ugu qaalisan loo dhigo ayay rabaan. Waxay isla simaan ragga hodanka ah. Waayo waxay ku doodaan hadduusan ka nasab fiicnayn kama aroos fiicnaan karo. Waxaan joogay aroosyo saddex ah oo isku bil dhacay. Saddexduba rag aan ilma adeer labaad nahay ayaa dhigtay, labada hore waxay ahaayeen rag ladan oo aroos qaali ku ah halki ay ku noolyihiin ayay dhigteen. Midki saddaxaad xataa guri uu dago ma heli karin. Wuxuu se ku adkaystay in loo dhigo aroos la mid ah kuwii labadii kale. Walaalkii oo guraya qaaraan lagu dhigo arooskaaska qaaliga ah ayaan kulannay. Wixii la igu soo qoray markuu iga qaaday baan iri “go’e aan ahayn wiilku wax ma hasytee xoolaha ha ka qasaarin ee aroos jaban u dhig inta kalana ha quutee sii”. Wuxuu iigu jawaabay “walaal wiilku ilma adeerradii ka liidan maayo” taas oo uu ula jeeday arooski labadi hore oo kale waa inuu dhigtaa maaddaama rag abtir siman ay yihiin.

Dulucda aan u socda ayaa ah, in wacyi galinta dugsiyada la geeyo. Maahajka waa in lagu daraa tarbiyada nolosha iyo inuu qofku isagu isku tashado tabartiisana ku arooso kuna noolaado. Caruurtu inta ay yaryihiin ee aafada quluubta wasaqaysa aysan qaadan, wixii la baro saamayn raagta ayay ku yeelataa. Sidaas awadeed, waxbariddu waa inay da’ aad u yar ku billaabataa. Middaas inaysan hadda tan taagan wax weyn ka baddalin ayaa laga yaabaa, laakiin jiilka hadda soo kacaya ee saamaynta ugu badan ee dhaqankaan uu ku dhici doono ayay badbaado u noqon doontaa.

Haddaan soo koobo dabuubta, taariikhda aadanaha ma soo marin, dhaqan qasab lagu baddalay. Nabiyadu ma isticmaalin ganaax iyo gacajuglayn si ay u baddalaan dhaqammadi xumaa ee loo soo saaray inay wax ka qabtaan. Qasabku dhibki ayuu dunka sii geeyaa ee xal ma noqdo. Haddii aysan jirin dowlad fulisana waaba hadal tiro. Habaarka laga dhigay booliski ilaalin lahaa fulintiisa in la aqbalo oo ummaddu rogmato ayaaba laga baqaa. Jidka ugu fudud waa waano iyo wacyi galin. Waanadaas waa in lagu abbaaraa cidda mudan ee xalku la jiro, waa waalidkee, iyo waqtiga ay saamaynta yeelan karto waa carruurnimada e.

In waxbariddu shaqayso waxaa kuugu filan in guurku wali raqiis u yahay dariiqooyinka suufiyada iyo xarakooyinka diimaha. Wali gabdho ayaa siyaaro loo bixiyaa oo iyadoo qanacsan waxarna lagu gawricin arooskeeda la aqal geeyaa. Shabaab wiilasha furimaha ugu jira iyagoo labaatan gaarin ayay afar xaas yeeshaan. Midna guri qasri ah iyo dahab looma gado. Bacaadka inay la seexdaan ayay ku faraxsan yihiin. Haddii aan dib u yara celinno saacadda, waxaan arki karnaa sidii saxwadii islaamiyiintu ugu guulaysteen ayaamihii hore inay dadki raacay ku qanciyaan guur jaban oo xataa meherku KITAAB yahay.

Haddii dadka ku biira kooxaha diimaha lagu qanciyay aroos bilaash ah iyo nolol jaban, maxaa diidayo in la helo nidaam ikhtiyaari ah oo ubadka ku tarbiyeeya waxa u roon?

W.Q. Ibrahim Aden Shire

Email: Ishire86@gmail.com

The post Xeerarka la soo saaray xal ma u yihiin sicirbararka Qiimaha Guurka? appeared first on WardheerNews .

Samuel Gebre

Ethiopia is shaking up its economy by opening many industries to foreign investors. Just don’t expect the government to loosen its grip on banks yet.

“Banking, insurance, micro-credit and micro-saving services” will be reserved only for domestic investors, according to draft regulations released by the Ethiopian Investment Authority. International aviation, where state-controlled Ethiopian Airlines dominates, power, postal services and weaponry will be done by, or in partnership, with the government, the document shows.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is seeking to privatize state-owned companies in a bid to reform the economy of Africa’s second-most populous nation. His administration still intends on keeping un-starred hotels, gaming and trading, except for high-capital items like petroleum imports, for locals.

Several foreign banks have representative offices in the Horn of Africa country, including Kenya’s Equity Group Holdings Plc. Lease companies, such as a unit of New York-based Africa Asset Finance Co., which pledged to bring in equipment worth $600 million after being licensed in August, can also operate there.

Telecommunication, where international carriers including Orange SA, MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd. have expressed interest to invest in the market of 108 million people, will be open to foreign ownership. The state has already announced plans to partly liberalize state-owned monopoly Ethiopia Telecommunications Corp. and license two other operators next year.

Abiy’s administration wants foreigners to invest in capital-intensive projects while leaving small and some strategic businesses to nationals, according to the state’s investments-promotion agency.

The drafts propose that external ownership of businesses like domestic air and certain transport and logistics services be capped at 75%, with the rest held by domestic partners. Enterprises like media and so-called grade-two construction services should take only as much as 49% foreign ownership.

Source: Bloomberg

The post Ethiopia to Keep Control of Its Banks as Other Sectors Open Up appeared first on WardheerNews .

An estimated 1.2 million Somali atheists are active on social media

Katie McQue

Hassan dreads each sunset. When the skies darken in Nairobi, Kenya, the threats begin.

He is too scared to leave his home but his taunters, mostly his neighbors, find him: They pummel the walls and metal door of his room in a concrete five-story building. Hassan, a 25-year old Somali refugee, has only lived in Nairobi a few months, but his neighbors — who are all Somali Muslims —  have found out he has renounced Islam. To some of the most devout Muslims, being an atheist is punishable by death.

“My life has been a living hell. They are spreading that I have left the faith,” Hassan, who is using a pseudonym for fear of reprisals, told Global Voices. “I’ve reported it to the police, but nobody got arrested.”

As religious fundamentalism intensifies in Somali communities, in the country and abroad, some Somali atheists face harassment and threats on and offline. The Somali atheist community spans the globe with many still “in the closet,” hiding their beliefs from their families, friends and neighbors for fear of repercussions. Many seek solace through online communities, such as Facebook groups, Reddit threads, and YouTube channels, using pseudonyms.

Hassan’s troubles began in Dadaab, the sprawling Kenyan refugee camp where he grew up. His childhood experiences of living in poverty and as a refugee made him question the existence of a god when he was a teenager, he says. When a cousin discovered he had left his faith, some of his family became hostile.

Word of his atheism soon spread throughout his community at Dadaab. Soon after, he was attacked while fetching water from a communal tap. His attackers hit him on the back of the head with a stone and knocked him out. His arm also broke.

To verify Hassan’s story, Global Voices has seen a copy of his refugee identity card, and the medical and police reports of his attack, as well as a photograph of his injuries.

“Religious fundamentalism is just getting worse in the camps. The situation is very bad,” says Hassan. “The community doesn’t seem to care about what is going on, as they are mostly Muslims. And they enjoy outing people.”

Hassan managed to escape Dadaab by gaining a scholarship to study for a bachelor’s degree at a university in Nairobi. Unfortunately, the harassment and death threats followed him to the city. In the closely-knit communities of Somali diaspora, locals soon found out about his atheism.

There are an estimated 1.2 million Somali atheists active on social media, says Halima Salat, the founder of Ex-Muslim Somali Voices, an online platform with a Youtube and Facebook presence.

“However, there are trolls that infiltrate the internet safe spaces to try to ‘out’ atheists [who] typically use an alias. Fundamentalist Somali Muslims are policing the community online,” Salat, who is based in Western Europe, says. “Somalis, wherever they are [in] the world, are always looking over their shoulders.”

Hassan has experienced this. His details, including his phone number, have been posted on Facebook pages, along with calls for his slaughter.

Younger Somali Muslims living outside of East Africa also fear their families will subject them to dhaqan cells— a term in Somali language meaning “return to culture”— if they are found out. Typically, they are sent to Somalia by their parents under the guise of visiting relatives for a vacation. Only once they’ve arrived they find they are unable to leave, some are sent to institutions meant to “rehabilitate” them into more traditional ways of life, Salat says.

“Some get yanked out of Western culture and forced into Somali life [in Somalia]. Dhaqan cells can mean gay conversion therapy, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, or strict Islamic teachings,” Salat says. “Often they are physically abused, have their phones and other means of communications taken away.”

Salat says the experiences of Somalis leaving Islam are especially brutal. Older generations object to seeing younger Somalis who are more liberal. Somalia has a large diaspora, with many suffering the trauma of fleeing conflict. Islam is intertwined with Somali national identity, and elders strive to protect this identity, she adds:

Their message is: ‘Don’t be Westernized.’ Many of the younger generations have decided they want to lead a less devout life, such as young women not wanting to cover up. Their communities look upon this as betrayal.

Before the civil war broke out in the early 90s, Somalia was largely secular under President Siad Barre, says Salat. Because of this, a popular belief among Somalis is that a lack of God caused the war. Older generations tried to be closer to god and it’s difficult to move away from what you’ve been taught, says Nuriya Benson, a Sydney-based Somali-Australian model and presenter of the “Waaq Nation” podcast, who lives publicly as an atheist.

Somalis who became refugees due to ongoing civil war are also vulnerable to the more extreme versions of Islam propagated by some charities associated with radical Wahhabi and Salafi teachings.

“Somalis were more liberal before the war. Afterward, they became influenced by more established Islamic communities,” Benson told Global Voices.

In Europe, North America and Australasia, females bear much of the brunt of the threats and intimidation for being nonbelievers.

“Women get slut-shamed. I get rape threats [online]. I am seen as a property of Islam. There are threats from Somalis all over the world. Through modesty culture, rape culture ensues, I was taught I am responsible for my own rape by not wearing a hijab,” she says.

In Benson’s experience, people from non-Muslim backgrounds, including White-centric feminists, have also contributed to shutting down the conversation about the issues ex-Muslim women face, leaving them to feel excluded from women’s rights movements.

“I don’t understand why Westerners have no sympathy for us,” she says. “Western women would not stand for being told what to wear, to cover up. What is allowed for one group wouldn’t be allowed for another,” she says.

A famous example of this is the case of Dorsa Derakhshani, an Iranian chess grandmaster, who was kicked off her team for refusing to wear a hijab at a tournament two years ago. Western feminists were largely silent over her treatment.

White people, both online and in-person, regularly tell Benson she’s betrayed her culture, she says. This compounds the subjugation faced by ex-Muslims and makes already difficult conversations nearly impossible.

“It is very difficult for victims of harassment to talk about this to outsiders. There is also a ‘never snitch’ culture among Somalis. Most of the kids don’t want to carry the burden,” says Salat.

“Whenever you take the initiative to publicly say it, there is a backlash.”

Source: GlobolVoices

The post ‘They call for my slaughter’: Somali atheists living in fear appeared first on WardheerNews .

By Harun Maruf

WASHINGTON – Ten years ago on December 3, a suicide bomber attacked a graduation ceremony at Shamo Hotel, one of Mogadishu’s main hotels.

Fourteen medical students, lecturers, and doctors from Banadir University were among 30 people who were killed, more than 50 others injured.

Dr. Osman Mohamud Dufle was on the podium when the suicide bomber detonated the bomb.

“The explosion occurred right in front of me,” says Dr. Dufle, a physician and a member of the parliament.

Before going to the podium, his friend, Higher Education Minister Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Addow, asked if he could speak before him as he was rushing to another event. But the event organizer, Dr. Mohamed Mohamud Biday, intervened and convinced Dr. Addow he will speak next. The bomber detonated the explosion in the space between them. Dufle survived, Addow died.

Also killed were Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali, Education Minister Ahmed Aden Wayel, and Youth & Sports Minister Suleiman Olad Roble, who succumbed to his injuries few days later. Two journalists and one of the country’s leading embryologists, Dr. Mohamed Adam Shahid, were among the dead.

“That has particular memory for me,” says Dufle. “To see the colleagues I was sitting alongside two minutes ago, lifeless in front of me, it’s a shocking memory.”

Dr. Biday, a cardiologist who was among the seriously injured, thought it was a mortar attack. He tried to get up and run, fearing that a second mortar round may be on the way, but he could not move.

“I was seriously injured, I could not stand,” he said. “I suffered multiple fractures; I was carried in a sheet.” He was among 20 badly wounded evacuated abroad for medical emergency.

Dr. Biday only learned the extent of the tragedy after 24 hours.

“It was a very painful day. A dark day.”

University bounces back

On the day of the attack, Banadir University, which started admitting its first students in 2002, was graduating its second class, 60 students, 30 of whom were doctors.

It was a big blow not only to Banadir University but to the education sector in Somalia, which was reviving despite the absence of a strong, functioning government.

“It was a sad day but today we recovered,” says Dr. Biday, who is now the rector of Banadir University.

“The intention was to shut down our eyes, the university, and to stop the effort and the work. But the leadership stood up. Today we are stronger.”

Biday says it would have been like a “second death” had the university collapsed after the attack.

To date, Banadir University has 11 different colleges. Last week, it graduated its 13th class, with 633 students achieving their dreams. Nearly 270 of the students graduated from the medical college, including 138 female doctors. Overall, 3210 students, including 938 females, have graduated since the University was opened.

The attack on the Shamo hotel graduation was one of the most gruesome suicide bombings in Somalia history. Ten years after the tragic event, and after multiple reviews of CCTVs and other recordings made of the event, it was concluded that the bomber was impersonating a journalist as he was holding a camera wandering around the ballroom of the graduation ceremony. At 11:15am, he detonated a laptop bomb that he was carrying.  

At that time, even the participants did not expect that anyone would target such an event where students and parents attended to express delight and celebrate achievement in a country where such happy gatherings, at the time, were rare.

Government security agencies blamed the attack on the al-Shabab militant group. The bomber was identified as an Al-Shabab member who travelled from Denmark to join the militant group.

Al-Shabab denied responsibility for the attack.

Source: VOA

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By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

The Federal Bureau of Investigations is offering $5 million for information that leads to the arrest of an American citizen on the agency’s Most Wanted Terrorist List.

An indictment unsealed in federal court on Monday accuses Jehad Serwan Mostafa, 37, of providing material support to al-Shabaab, which the US has designated a terrorist organization for its activities to undermine the Somali government.

“We believe this defendant is the highest-ranking U.S. citizen fighting overseas with a terrorist organization,” US Attorney for the Southern District of California Robert Brewer said in a news release Monday. “Al-Shabaab’s reign of terror threatens U.S. national security, our international allies and innocent civilians. Today we seek the public’s assistance in capturing Mostafa and disrupting Al-Shabaab.”

Mostafa — also known as “Ahmed Gurey,” “Ahmed,” “Anwar,” “Abu Anwar al Muhajir,” and “Abu Abdallah al Muhajir” — was formerly a resident of San Diego, but is currently believed to be in Somalia, according to San Diego special-agent-in-charge Scott Brunner.

He has been linked to the use of Improvised Explosive Devices in attacks in Somalia, according to the release.

Mostafa was raised in San Diego, California, attending high school and college there before traveling to Temen and Somalia in 2005, according to the release. While in Somalia, he fought against Ethiopian forces and later joined al-Shabaab, the release said.

The organization was deemed a terrorist group in 2008, and a year later he was indicted with charges of providing support to a terrorist organization, the release said. The charges unsealed Monday similar charges, but Monday’s indictment expands the scope of the allegations of support.

Source: CNN

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BY MARTIN MWITA

Lamu Port could fail to attract Ethiopia and South Sudan markets who might opt for the Djibouti and Eritrea ports, according to the Shippers Council of East Africa (SCEA).

The Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia- Transport Corridor project pegs its sustainability on the two countries.

According to the shippers council, the end of political and economic wars between Ethiopia and Eritrea following the July 2018 peace has created a conducive environment for trade.

Eritrea has a port which is closer to Ethiopia compared to the Lamu port.

Djibouti also provides Ethiopia with a relatively cheaper and convenient trade corridor through its port. Ethiopia seems to have shifted focus to Djibouti.

Road and rail infrastructure between the two countries including the Ethio-Djibouti railway passenger and freight system, which commenced on January 1, 2018, seem to have also shifted interest away from the Lapsset corridor. 

Future prospects of peace between South Sudan and her neighbour Sudan will add pressure on Lamu Port,  said SCEA chief executive Gilbert Langat.

Lack of a reliable road and rail network for cargo evacuation  could also makes the use of Lamu port  more expensive than Mombasa Port.

“Let’s not count on these countries. If today South Sudan and Sudan go back to the old days and allow passage of goods through Port Sudan, it will impact Lamu Port. Ethiopia the same with Eritrea and Djibouti,” said Langat.

“We have no control on what happens in Ethiopia and South Sudan,” he told the Star.

He said the government should instead focus on developing Lamu Port as a transshipment hub and a commodity port which allows developers to put up Special Economic Zones.

Langat said Lamu’s natural depth and proximity to the open sea, makes it a gives it potential transshipment to serve South Africa, Tanzania, Middle East, Europe and even Mombasa just like Oman’s Port of Salalah.

“Lamu may provide a bigger facility for transshipment where Kenya can become a major player for transshipment and maritime trade. The government should give space to shipping lines to put up berths. This way, they will guarantee business,” Langat said.

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is currently assembling equipment for Lamu Port (whose first berth was ready in August), while pushing promotional tariffs to shipping lines and agents.

“The process (to equip Lamu Port) is ongoing,” KPA head of corporate affairs Bernard Osero told the Star yesterday, “We took shipping agencies there and a lot of them have showed interest in using Lamu Port.”

KPA managing director Daniel Manduku says they have plans to transform Lamu into a transshipment hub, but focus still remains on regional import-export markets.

“We are going to promote Lamu as a transshipment port,” Manduku told the Star, with Zanzibar among the targeted destinations.

Lapsset CEO Silvester Kasuku said that infrastructure is in place to ensure smooth transportation for both domestic and transit cargo, with southern Ethiopia and South Sudan being major destinations.

 “I can confirm that we have immediate offtake road for Lamu Port,” Kasuku said.

The government is tarmacking the 135-kilometre Lamu-Garsen road, the main road connecting Lamu to the rest of the coastal region and other parts of Kenya.

In August, the government indicated it would seek the African Union’s support in bringing investors and regional support for the Lapsset project.

Launched in 2012, during former President Mwai Kibaki’s regime, the  project has been delayed by cash constraints and lack of political good-will which has slowed down its implementation.

Source: The Star

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In Ethiopia on the last Sunday of each month, major cities turn their streets into dance floors, football fields, workshops and skate parks. Menged Le Sew (literally, streets for the people) sees several kilometres of main roads closed as part of a recurring green urbanism initiative that began in December 2018. It aims to tackle some of the consequences of rapid urbanization in Ethiopia by focusing on the importance of healthy active living, sustainable mobility, social cohesion and safe streets. Although it began in Addis Ababa, the community and government support that the initiative has received has led to its rapid expansion. Several other Ethiopian cities, including Jimma, Mekelle and Bahir Dar, have also committed to experiencing city streets in a whole new way.

Menged Le Sew is inspired by Bogotá’s Ciclovía. From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday, the Colombian capital shuts down over 100 km of roads and highways so that people can walk and cycle in the streets. Open Streets have been created in 496 cities in 27 countries on all continents, but they are less common in Africa. The movement has gained traction because of the shared vision of multiple city offices, research institutes and civil society. Menged Le Sew aims to keep people walking while influencing collective behaviour and driving sustainable urban design and inclusive transport planning.

What sets the initiative apart is its intensive focus on community. Not only are people invited to walk and cycle in the city’s streets, but civil society and advocacy groups that share Menged Le Sew’s vision also set up workshops to raise awareness on important issues like mobilizing to ban plastic bags in Ethiopia and restoring the rivers in Addis. The diverse cultural backgrounds of the people are celebrated, which creates a higher level of community ownership and engagement in a space that is ordinarily divided by cars.

Mobility in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is among the least motorized countries in the world but getting people out of their cars is still a challenge. Research conducted by UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Share the Road Programme and the Institute for Transportation and Development has revealed that while 54 per cent of the population walk as a main mode of transport, there is a growing trend towards motorization. The provision of high-quality facilities for non-motorized travel is becoming increasingly urgent.

Like Zambia and Kenya, Ethiopia has recently committed to making non-motorized transport a priority. Addis Ababa already has its own non-motorized transport strategy and the government has shown a willingness to understand the needs of people that walk and cycle. Share the Road will be working with The World Resource Institute over the next few years to ensure that the relevant authorities take it from policy to the pavement in a way that prioritizes the needs of vulnerable groups. The World Resource Institute is a member of the Menged Le Sew taskforce and will ensure that stakeholders from all sectors are involved in determining the best possible investments to make to ensure that Ethiopian cities are safer, greener and more sustainable. The UNEP Air Quality team is also supporting the region with the development of an air quality strategy and the introduction of monitoring stations.

Air pollution and global emissions

Globally, 23 per cent of all deaths could be prevented through healthier environments. The World Health Organization has repeatedly highlighted the importance of addressing urban air pollution to ensure healthier communities. Beyond being a risk to human health, decarbonizing the transport industry is key for transformational change in addressing climate change too.

Significant headway can be achieved in reducing urban air pollution and combatting climate change by investing in clean transport modes like non-motorized transport. Investing in active mobility also plays a key role in creating socially inclusive and sustainable cities. Car-free days play an important role in shifting the mindsets of citizens and policy makers. If people in Ethiopia understand and value the benefits of a car-free city, then urban spaces are likely to have a lot more breathing room in future.

Source: UN Environment Programme

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Yonatan Fessha

November 20, 2019 might go down in history as one of the turning points for federalism in Ethiopia. It was the day on which a clause of the Ethiopian constitution that gives ethnic communities the right to establish their own state was put into practice.

Finally, after years of campaigning, the Sidama were allowed to have their day in a referendum. They’ve been demanding their own state on the grounds that at 4% of Ethiopia’s total population, they represent a bigger group than some other ethnic communities that have their own states.

According to the results announced by the National Electoral Board, 98.5% voted for the creation of the Sidama state.

This represents the introduction of one more ethnically defined state, further strengthening the ethnic basis of Ethiopia’s federal system. It could be seen to be reinforcing the federal design that attaches importance to ethnicity as a primary political identity. This explains why other movements, such as those representing the Oromo, the largest ethnic group in the country, strongly supported the Sidama’s campaign. They see this vote as strengthening sub-national citizenship.

On the other hand, the Sidama vote could be a blow to those who have always considered the communities that make up the State of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples, from which the Sidama have chosen to break away, as one of the strongholds of the idea of Ethiopian citizenship. The state is home to more than 56 ethnic groups.

What’s next?

The outcome of the Sidama vote paves the way for the inclusion of a 10th state in the Ethiopian federation.

But what happens next is unclear.

For example, will it lead to the Sidama state being added to Article 47 of the constitution, which lists the states that make up the Ethiopian federation? It’s not clear how the federal government intends to go about this.

Would this be accomplished by a simple act of parliament? Or will it require an amendment to the country’s constitution? As I’ve argued before, it would be difficult to consider the inclusion of a new state to Article 47 of the constitution as anything less than a constitutional amendment. The difficulty with a constitutional amendment is that it requires the blessing of the two houses of the federal parliament and the support of the state parliaments.

This might seem impossible, except for the fact that Ethiopia is dominated by one party which controls the federal government and all state governments. It’s therefore a safe bet that the ruling party will be able to get the state governments behind a constitutional amendment aimed at the recognition of the new state.

This is true even though the overreaching hand of the ruling party is not as strong as it used to be.

There’s another possibility: that the federal government bypasses a constitutional amendment and simply acts as if the business of creating a new state is completed. But that wouldn’t look good for a government and a prime minister who professes to be overseeing a new era of constitutionalism and rule of law.

The floodgates effect

The Sidama vote could open the floodgates for other communities wanting the same. Other ethnic communities that have already demanded their own states include the Welayta ethnic group, the second largest in the Southern state.

But there are concerns. In a country where there are more than 80 ethnic groups, the territorial solution isn’t feasible. Not every ethnic group can have its own state. Clearly creating micro-subnational units that aren’t economically viable isn’t sustainable.

Providing a territorial solution in the form of a new state might also create a perverted incentive, given that territorial entities are the sites of resource – and patronage. Political elites might demand the creation of new states simply to benefit from the dividends of controlling a new one.

But these concerns need to be balanced against the legitimate demands of other groups which should not simply be dismissed.

Ethiopia will not be the first federation to see the breakup of existing states and the creation of new ones. Nigeria started as a federation of three states. It’s now composed of 36.

In India 15 new states were carved out from 14 states between 1956 and 2014.

Both countries continue to entertain demands for the creation of new states. Yet neither of them is facing the imminent danger of disintegration.

It’s also important to remember that Ethiopia started the road to federalism with 14 states before the current constitution reduced it to nine states and two self governing cities. So, having more (and smaller) states isn’t necessarily a bad idea. It might even have the effect of strengthening the federal government, an important asset in the context of a divided society.

Importantly, what’s needed is a federal government that doesn’t believe that the fate of the country is at stake whenever it’s faced with a demand for new state. The government must be flexible enough to accommodate reasonable requests for the creation of new states while at the same time nudging the demands for the creation of new states to be an outcome of negotiations that increasingly look beyond ethnic homogeneity and also consider administrative convenience and economic viability.

As the case of Sidama has amply demonstrated – more than two dozen people died this year as people campaigned for a new state – simply ignoring the concerns of those who make similar calls might cost the country dearly.

The government’s decision to reject the unilateral declaration of the creation of new state – and forcing the actors to follow the constitutional path – was appropriate. But what happens next will have a profound and long-term effect on Ethiopia’s troubled federal system.

Source: The Conversation

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By Faisal A. Roble

Forward

Empires have a shelf life. Very often they show early signs of strain before they morph into a different government structure. Some even bulk under the weight of prevailing politics, and without good public policy they end up disintegrating into mini states. One, therefore, cannot rule out the current crisis befall the polity of Ethiopia as part of the early strains this ancient empire exhibits.

Most of the world’s empires have been of two kinds: the imperial/colonial empires such as Great Britain, France, and Italy, were traditional empires that had become of age during the highest development of capitalism. In search of slave labor and raw materials, they invaded overseas nations and at the same time pursued capital accumulation at a global scale (Wallenstein, 1974 and Samir Amin, 1976). This group of empires controlled big and large territories often far away from their home regions, thus the adage of “the Sun never sets in Great Britain.”

The second but more primitive kind of empires is the likes of Turkey, Russia, Ethiopia, etc. This group’s socioeconomic base is mainly a feudal system. Empires in this category annexed nations and nationalities next to their home base through expeditions and mainly did not have overseas territories but were confined to their neighborhoods. The later empires are still fighting localized imperial wars: Russia in Chechnya, Turkey in Kurdistan, and Ethiopia in Somali, Sidama, Oromo, Afar, et al.

Both categories of empires exhaust their shelf life once their exploitative tentacles to the regions they exploit are cut off and internal contradictions became untenable. In the former case, democratic cultures in the home country helped end imperial colonization. In the second category, though, the absence of democratic culture and the less expensive war the empire can wage against forces that seek liberation from the feudal/imperial authority tends to extend the shelf life of colonization.

Most empires die violently. The Yugoslavian empire, an offshoot of the Austro-hungry Empire, violently exploded in our modern times. The Turkish Empire, on the other hand, died at the turn of the 19th century after Europeans ganged against it.  Ethiopia herself has come close to dying several times, most notably in 1977. After a significant mayhem and massive displacement of people in the periphery regions, it bounced back thanks to an intervention from the now defunct Eastern bloc countries.  

Whether the ongoing Ethiopian internecine conflict and political instability, plus the crack that has emerged within the Oromo elite constitute a sign of the state’s dwindling capacity to hold the empire together is too early to conclude.

However, this should be treated as a preliminary sign for a decaying empire.  According to Paul Kennedy’s “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers,” the coming of the end of the empire’s shelf life is mainly due to political, social, and economical incongruence. Moreover, as the elite continues failing to establish a democratic system of governance, the shelf life of the empire is hastened.  Add to that, in the case of Ethiopia, the inability of the ruling elite to properly address resilient fault line along ethnic issues, then there is little doubt that it is perhaps about time for scholars and policymakers to ask whether Ethiopia’s empire is in the last throes of its shelf life. If so, what is to be done to avert a total collapse of the empire?

One key question scholars and policymakers alike are confronted with considering the perpetual crisis of the Ethiopian polity is this: should Ethiopia exist as one country, or break it up into organic manageable mini-organic states?

In asking such a critical question, let us first attempt to list some of the exogenous factors that had helped and continue to help maintain this dysfunctional old empire. While I will pay a cursory review of three major exogenous factors that had lent support to Ethiopia for centuries, one cannot avoid the feeling that the effectiveness of such factors is dwindling. As the geopolitics of the world changes, exogenous factors lose significance in keeping Ethiopia intact. On the other hand, endogenous factors that are germane to pervasive conflicts need due attention. Policy makers must be serious in addressing both group and individual rights within the country to save the empire. 

The Prester John Myth

One of the most powerful factors that lent Ethiopia an unconditional Western hand for centuries is the West’s infatuation with the old “Christian Ethiopia in a Sea of Muslim World.” To this end, an everlasting myth has been utilized as a tool to boost Ethiopia’s overseas parody. This myth maintains that Prester John was a legendary wealthy patriarch and a king whose story was popular in the 12th through the 17th century.

It is believed that Prester John ruled the Nestorian or Eastern Church, and his rule reached as far as India.  After a period, Prester John was lost. After a long search, goes the myth, the Portuguese explorers found him in Ethiopia. This myth lent Ethiopia immense well-wishing by Europeans.

As a matter of fact, the coming of the Portuguese and Spain to help Ethiopia against Imam Ahmed Alkhazali, who led the Somali (Muslim) struggle against Abyssinians, was buttressed by the Prester John myth. Since then, Ethiopia remained the darling of Western civilization at the expense of Muslims in the region.

Forward this to our contemporary political culture, the West aggressively sought a policy of destroying Muslim states through internal organization (World Bank, IMF) in order to strengthen the muscle of Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa (see Samuel Huntington’s “The Clash of Civilizations”).

Service to Big Powers

Ethiopia has served for centuries as a premier geopolitical real estate and a proxy agent for colonial powers in the 19^th and 20th centuries. During the Scramble for Africa at the end of the 19th century, both England and France used Ethiopia as the linchpin to get to the heartland of East and northeast Africa.

By all accounts, Ethiopian feudal lords of the day played a historical reactionary role. As such, they betrayed the African brotherhood sentiment. By gaining access to the corridors of power where Africa was subdivided just like one does to a bounty of real estate, Ethiopia ended up colonizing Somalis and enslaving many nations and nationalities in the South, including Oromia. 

For its colonial service in return, Ethiopia was handsomely awarded and was given huge Somali territories thereby dismantling the organic Somali nation. The last transfer of Somali territory into the hand of Ethiopia was during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie which took place on November 29, 1954, a mere 65 years ago from this date.

Equally important is that Oromia would never have been a colonized state of Abyssinia had it not been the service feudal Ethiopia rendered to England. When in the 1930s and 1940s Italy tried to create an independent Oromia state to limit the power of Great Britain, the two powers that vehemently fought against that idea were England and France (Bulcha Demaksa). 

Prior to the end of World War II, Oromia came close to becoming an independent state. By mid-1940s, Italy started demarcating and fully mapping out Oromia state. Alas, today Africa’s most populous nation (Oromo is over 40 million in the Horn of Africa) is without its own nation-state. If not carefully handled, the search for an independent Oromia nation-state plus the deferred dreams of Somalis alone can one day undo the Ethiopian ancient empire. 

Arab Fear Factor

The balance of power with the Arab world is another exogenous factor that until recently kept Ethiopia together. As both the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean facing Africa were/are controlled by Muslim/Arab nations, such a condition was and is not favorable to the West, mainly because of the existential question of Israel and the heavy volume of commercial goods that pass through these sea routes.

Also, in the Post-World War II era, Ethiopia, along with Turkey and the Philippines, was the most after-sought strategic real estates by the West. Kanghew Station in Asmara housed the most valuable spying electronic [satellite] stations for the USA; the US lost that resource following the 1974 Derg revolution which switched sides and sought close diplomatic relations with the then Eastern bloc.

Even then, the West never ceased using Ethiopia as its base to secure the safety and the protection of Israel and wider Western interests. When the US wanted to pacify the United Islamic Courts (UIC) in Somalia, Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s discredited ruthless autocrat was given material and moral support to invade Somalia on America’s behalf. Today, Ethiopian soldiers are used as a proxy agent both in regional wars. Said Samatar once wrote: “where Ethiopia goes in the affairs of the Horn of Africa, so goes the West.”

All these exogenous factors helped maintain the Ethiopian empire and injected enough dose of diplomatic energy to Survive. But not for much longer!

Endogenous Factors

If left unchecked, endogenous factors could tear Ethiopia apart. Internally, the Ethiopian Empire was maintained by the alliance of Amhara-Tigray unity. Both are sematic and largely follow the Eastern Orthodox Church. Owing to their cultural affinity, they formed a fortified center aided and abated by the West to colonize the periphery regions inhabited by the Somalis, the Oromo, Afar, Sidama, and others.

In the last few decades, however, the center has shown major internal cracks and has lost its absolute power.  The initial blow to the power of the center was dealt by the fascist regime of the Derg which nationalized both urban and rural land previously controlled by the feudal lords. The second major blow took place with the usurpation of power by the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF). 

With Tigray rearranging power seat from Amhara-Tigray to a Tigray dominance, the pillars that hitherto united the guardians of the center, including but not limited to, the Orthodox Church, the aristocracy, tightly knit bureaucracy drew from Amhara-Tigray coalition, and foreign military and diplomatic alliances have either dried up or are significantly weakened (Ed Keller, 1988). 

For Example, the proliferation of the Pentecostal Church that is siphoning congregation members from the Orthodox Church, rapid urbanization in highland Ethiopia, a dwindling surplus from the south, and institutionalization of regional governments in the last thirty years have collectively contributed to the making of deep and possibly irreparable cracks in the center (Faisal Roble, 2018).

The Amhara-Tigray alliance is for the time being dead, and the past fustian commitment to impose hegemony on the non-Abyssinian communities has run out of steam thereby making the Ethiopian empire susceptible to a complete fracture both at the center and in many of its several peripheries. In Highland Ethiopia, signs of rebellion against the state – a phenomenon in the past only associated with the periphery, is tearing apart the traditional Amhara-Tigre Faustian pact. In short, the center has decayed, and the Ethiopian polity has lost a major guardianship in that fracture of the northern Abyssinian allied forces. The closest way to keep Ethiopia together seems to rest in the hands of Oromo notwithstanding its fractured nature.

Add to that the Ethiopian state is fragile and it is showing fatigue to continue as before.  With a burgeoning population of over 100 million, over 20 million unemployed young men and women in urban centers, a critical shortage in urban housing and other services, it is not by accident that Ethiopia is the global leader of internally displaced persons since World War II with 3.5 million people losing their homes and livelihood. Political upheavals that are concentrated in the center of the country this time around are shortening the shelf life of the empire.

If John Markakis and others cataloged the historiography of this dying ancient empire threatened by the periphery, the disintegration of Ethiopia is today is both the works of the former benefactors in the center and those who have been exploited in the peripheries.   

Saving not the Feudal but Federal Ethiopia

There are experiences in the rest of the world where empires or some parts of an old empire have been kept together short of total disintegration. The key tool to plausibly saving Ethiopia is not certainly an over-dependence on exogenous factors as have been the case in the past.  On the contrary, paying due attention to the endogenous factors, particularly the ethnic question, and instituting a progressive and democratic system of governance is the only way to transform the ancient empire and at the same time save it as a functional polity. 

As such, Prime Minister Abiy must advance a political platform that promotes self-determination based on authentic federalism.  Ethiopia has been battling the legacy of feudal/imperial domination of non-Abyssinians by northerners for over 100 years.  And that cannot continue. Neither should it be ignored as words leaking from the PM’s circle suggest digression from nationality-based federalism. If that proves to be case, this would constitute a fatal strategic mistake.

The recent merger of different regional groups into the Prosperity Party (PP) under the auspices of Prime Minister Abiy’s “medemer” philosophy should not offer as a panacea a repackaged centrist state, where yesteryears oligarchy still rules the rest and effectively owns critical assets in the form of political, historical, cultural and psychological wellbeing of the country. Destroying or even diluting the federal structure is tantamount to putting the country’s critical asset (i.e., cultural, linguistic, and political power) in the hands of former oppressors.

In case PM Abiy have been more sympathetic to the flagbearers of the wrong version of  Ethiopian unity (Andinet forces, meaning one group’s dominance in the country), he better take cues from his predecessors; the Derg and TPLF-dominated EPRDF have vainly tried versions of a repackaged centrist state. And they both miserably failed.

If it is ever possible, Ethiopia could perhaps be saved and its geographical expressions held intact only if, and that is a big if, a democratic federal system where self-rule for nations and nationalities is more than a nominal, but a non-negotiable rights guaranteed by the constitution and implemented by the regions, always remains the law of the land. If this is not done, Ethiopia is not too big to fail. Neither poetic language nor the barrel of the gun would save the ancient empire.

Faisal A. Roble
Email: faisalroble19@gmail.com
———–
Faisal Roble, a writer, political analyst and a former Editor-in-Chief of WardheerNews, is mainly interested in the Horn of Africa region. He is currently the Principal Planner for the City of Los Angeles in charge of Master Planning, Economic Development and Project Implementation Division

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By Liban Ahmad

The least-discussed aspect of Somali politics is the alliance of Somali clans known as Others. In 2000 when the Djibouti-sponsored reconciliation conference was going on in Arta city, participants agreed the infamous 4.5 power-sharing mechanism.

The digit 4 refers to  self-styled four  powerful clans. This division of political power neither took into account political realities prevailing in Somalia nor the impact  arbitrary allocation of parliamentary seats has on the executive and legislative branches.

In 2000 Somalia was divided into three parts. In the ex-British Somaliland, an administration that unilaterally seceded from Somalia was about to celebrate its ninth anniversary. In Bari, Nugaal and parts of Mudug an autonomous administration founded in 1998  was beginning to make its presence felt in the Somali political landscape. In South-central and Southern parts, warlords ruled with the exception of Bay and Bakool then under Rahanweyn Resistance Army.

The sponsors of the Arta conference promoted the reconciliation strategy as a sharp break with the past in the sense that they described participants as the civil society.

The exclusion of warlords and leaders of existing administrations necessitated the use of the phrase civil society. Influential participants at Arta shared an outlook with participants of earlier reconciliation conferences, who looked upon  commanding clan militias as a basis for substantive political power.

At the reconciliation conference elites from the four clans resolved to institutionalise and defend what participants   of earlier conferences were not able to agree and cement. Somali clans whom the four clans relegated to a minority status had not accepted the lowly citizenship status imposed upon them. Members of each of the four major clans do not outnumber the clans under lumped into Others category.

The phrase xaq maannu raadinayno, xal baannu raadinaynaa (we are not looking for restitution, we are looking for solution) was the new aphorism on which the reconciliation conference was rested. There was no a logic to relegating Somali social groups in inter-riverine areas and major urban centres of Mogadishu, Middle Shabelle,  Lower Shabelle and Hiiraan to a minority status. They have suffered disproportionately when clans with armed militias carved out Somalia into clan fiefdoms.  What remains puzzling is the consensus forged by self-appointed representatives of Somali clans to put themselves on pedestal to be able to deny their compatriots political rights and associated privileges.

In a stroke of pen they have institutionalized unfounded minority status for Somalis whose work ethic and commitment to equality are what Somalia has been striving to regain. With Somalia preparing for one person, one vote poll in 2021, the plight of Somalia’s political disenfranchised is likely to deepen the fifth time. The federal system Somali participants of Kenya-sponsored reconciliation conference adopted in 2004 is premised on the 4.5. The enlarged, transitional parliament of 2009, and post-transition parliament of 2012 were based on 4.5, so are the current federal parliament and the upper house.

Although the  International Community has hailed the  progress made in institution-building, the dominant Somali political class has been, through indifference, disensitisising non-4.5 constituencies to the political inequality that affect lives of roughly 50% of the Somalis. The estimated percentage might lead someone to conclude that 50% of Somalis enjoy political rights denied to a half of the population.   The establishment of Federal Member States made the discriminatorily subordinate status of the Somali citizen starker. The pre-federal dispensation institutionalised 4.5 whereas federalism deepened it.  Federal Member States reflect political power of the four clans on the one hand and the marginalisation of Others (0.50) on the other  

The perpetuation of minority status seems to be confined to some Somali social groups. Their lack of political rights codified in the 4.5 system translates into lesser life opportunities in fiefdoms carved out by self-appointed, politically powerful clans.

Minority status in Somalia cancels out equality of opportunity. Somali social groups known for creating  value by using their skills and business acumen now lack a level playing-filed in their homeland.

Belonging to a clan with political privileges means having an unfettered access to public resources and an unfair business advantages over minority clans.

There is a consensus among political classes of the four politically powerful clans to avoid discussing the plight of their compatriots as a result of the 4.5 system.

A tweet posted by the Somali Investment Office woos potential investors who could benefit from the “high rate of return in the farming sector.” Arable lands in southern parts of Somalia particularly Middle Shabelle, Lower Shabelle and Bay region have seen heaviest battles during 1990s, when clan militias were vying for the control of  districts near Shabelle river. The 1992 man-made famine hit those areas hard.

Agricultural productivity in inter-riverine areas has dwindled after the bulk of the traditionally agricultural communities were forced to flee marauding militias and became Internally Displaced Peoples in other parts of Somalia. Skills of one-time small-holder agricultural communities remain untapped due to security constraints facing them.

On a closer look, the policy to marginalise “Others”  does not spare members of politically powerful clans either. Identification   of Federal Member States assigns some clans privileges to enjoy concrete political representation and nepotistic economic advantages over the politically and residentially excluded.

If Person X belongs to Federal Member State Y, he/she cannot exercise citizenship rights to compete for jobs in another Federal Member State. In a regions where an administration adopts a pro-citizenship policies the fear of being evicted hangs over the heads of citizens, who are presumed not to belong to the Federal Member State.

Acknowledging that the political dispensation based on 4.5 values political might over citizenship rights could contribute to undoing the political marginalisation affecting Somalis in one way or another. What was intended to violate citizenship rights of a select Somali clans has now become a collective imposition on all Somali clans, proving the validity of Martin Luther King’s dictum: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Somalis we call Others are not poor or minorities. Our social contract aims to make them poor and politically powerless. How can we remedy injustices meted out to them? How does the plight of politically and economically marginalised Somalis square with the following sub articles of Article 2 in the Draft Constitution: “ 1) All citizens, regardless of sex, religion, social or economic status, political opinion, clan, disability, occupation, birth or dialect shall have equal rights and duties before the law.

(2) Discrimination is deemed to occur if the effect of an action impairs or restricts a person’ s rights, even if the actor did not intend this effect.”  

The Draft Constitution guarantees rights of the Somali citizen. In this context the 4.5 mechanism violates the letter and spirit of the Draft Constitution. Without speaking out against the discriminatory and marginalising powers built into the 4.5 system, the judiciary of a country whose political system disenfranchises citizens cannot become one of the foundations for reconciliation and nation-building   after catastrophic state failure. 

Liban Ahmad
Email: libahm@gmail.com

The post WE ARE OTHERS appeared first on WardheerNews .

NASA’s Aqua satellite found some powerful storms in Tropical Storm 06A as it moved through the Arabian Sea toward Somalia.

NASA’s Aqua satellite used infrared light to analyze the strength of storms in 06A and found it was maintaining strength. Infrared data provides temperature information, and the strongest thunderstorms that reach high into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.

On Dec. 4 at 4:55 a.m. EST (0955 UTC), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite gathered temperature information about Tropical Storm 06A’s cloud tops. MODIS found several small areas of powerful thunderstorms where temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 62.2 degrees Celsius), embedded in a much larger area of slightly warmer cloud tops of minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 Celsius). Cloud top temperatures that cold indicate strong storms with the potential to generate heavy rainfall.

On Dec. 4 at 10 a.m., EST (1500 UTC), Tropical Storm 06A was located near latitude 8.4 degrees north and longitude 57.0 degrees east in the Arabian Sea, Northern Indian Ocean. That is about 864 nautical miles east-southeast of Djibouti. Djibouti is a sovereign state in the Horn of Africa with a coastline on the Gulf of Aden. It is bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the west, and Etriea to the north. 06A was moving to the northwest and had maximum sustained winds near 35 knots (40 mph/65 kph).

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted, “The storm’s good outflow (air that flows outwards from a storm system) and warm sea surface temperatures are being offset by strong (20-25 knots/23-29 mph/37-46 kph) vertical wind shear to make the environment marginally supportive. Tropical Storm 06A appeared to accelerate west-northwestward over the past six hours, suggesting a subtropical ridge (an elongated area of high pressure) to the north has become the primary steering mechanism.” Over the next 24 hours, the subtropical ridge will cause 06A to turn onto a west southwestward track and remain there until making landfall and dissipating.

Tropical Storm 06A is expected to make landfall in east central Somalia late on Dec. 6.

Tropical cyclones and hurricanes are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting.

Source: eurekalert

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Exiled Somali Kamil Ahmed says her job at Gargaar FM is more important than ever as the threat of closure hangs over the camp

Moulid Hujale

Sitting in a small shipping container, Kamil Ahmed, 20, readies herself for her live radio show.

“I feel like the whole community is waiting for me,” the only female reporter at the station says, flicking through her notebook.

This makeshift studio is home to the only radio station in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp. Broadcasting a Somali-language programme, Gargaar FM (the name means assistance in Somali) provides vital information to more than 200,000 people who call Dadaab home, and serves as a source of entertainment and psychosocial support for refugees trapped in the isolated camp, first established in 1991.

Today Ahmed is going to be talking about the importance of breastfeeding. “So many people call in when we discuss such topics, most are women because subjects like breastfeeding exclusively affects them.”

The thirst for information has never been greater here. Kenya announced the closure of the complex about three years ago, so residents live with the uncertainty of the camp’s future and the threat of returning to the conflict in Somalia.

Feeling cut off from the rest of Kenya and east Africa, refugees in Dadaab cling to their radios to keep up with local and regional news.

“Gargaar FM station has been one of the most effective mediums in communicating with refugees in Dadaab,” says Assadullah Nasrullah at UNHCR’s Dadaab office. “It helps disseminate important messages to the refugee population on healthcare, education, voluntary repatriation, registration and other humanitarian programmes.”

Gargaar FM also connects people to the outside world via the BBC World Service and Voice of America service.

“We cannot just rely on what the UN and aid organisations tell us, we have to get an independent source of information,” says Fadumo Ahmed, a mother of five who runs a small grocery stall in the camp. “The imminent closure of the camp has affected everything including our businesses and livelihoods so the radio is important in keeping us up to date on Kenya’s changing political moves.”

The station is supported by the UNHCR but run by a group of young journalists who studied and grew up in the sprawling camp.

Ahmed was nine when her father was killed in Mogadishu in 2008. She witnessed her pregnant mother’s grief coupled with her desperation at the loss of the family’s breadwinner. They had to flee the country and came to Dadaab to rebuild their lives. “I lost my father, my home town and my school,” recalls Ahmed. “But I found peace and hope in Dadaab and I immediately enrolled in school.”

But opportunities in the camp are limited.

“I didn’t get the chance to go to high school after completing my primary education so I enrolled in a one-year after-school youth programme run by the Norwegian Refugee Council where I received basic journalism training,” she says.

Almost all of the girls who started the course with her have dropped out or returned to Somalia, making her the only female journalist working in the camp.

Her voice on the airwaves has encouraged other girls to apply for internships at the station. “I am now training young girls who just joined us,” she smiles. “It is also good for me because I would have people that I can rely on and who would support me and fill my position when I am not working.”

But not everyone in this conservative community is happy with Ahmed’s work. Some discourage her from doing a “man’s job” and tell her she should get married instead.

“I am actually proud of what I do and many people respect me a lot but there are many others who don’t like my career choice. They put on me too much pressure but I just laugh it off when they try to push me into marriage,” she says. “I have a loving mother who supports me and stands by me all the time. She is the only person whose advice I would heed.”

She believes her ambition is bigger than the challenges. She wants to go to university and eventually return to Somalia despite being fully aware that it is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist.

“ I know how dangerous it is for people like me but I would really like to go back,” she says. “My mother would never allow me to risk my life so I just have to wait in this prison-like camp.”

Many here refer to Dadaab as an open prison because of the Kenyan government’s strict encampment policy. For many the lack of identity and freedom of movement is crippling their potential.

“If I apply for training or media workshops in other countries, I would not be able to attend because I don’t have an identity card or passport with which I can travel. This discourages me from actively searching for opportunities outside of Dadaab,” she says.

It is a frustration echoed by the young people who make up the bulk of the camp’s population. The radio, therefore, serves as an important connection to the outside world.

When Gargaar FM first went on air in 2013, there were about half a million people in Dadaab, more than five times its original capacity. It is now closer to 217,000.

But it is the importance of her work that drives Ahmed on, and she produces, edits and presents her own stories and programmes.

“It is a lot of work and there are only a handful of staff here so we have to utilise the limited resources we have in the station,” she says. “But when you have a whole community depending on you for their information you have to do everything it takes to meet their expectations.”

Source: The Guardian

The post Making waves: Dadaab refugee camp’s only female radio journalist appeared first on WardheerNews .

W.Q. Rashiid Sheekh Cabdillaahi(Gadhweyne)

Siyaasi magac leh baa maalin goob la isu gu yimid ka hadlay.  Arrimo danaha guud ah buu waxii uga muuqday iyo wax uu ku darsaday ba ka yidhi.  Hadal run iyo been ba lagu xambaari karo ayuu yidhi.  Dooddeedu wax badan oo fikrado iyo aragtiyo ah, bay soo ifbixin lahayd, la la ma se aadin dhinacaas.  Laba keli ah baa loogu kala guuray.  Kuwo been keli ah oo aan hal xalaal ah lahayn bay ku sheegeen; kuwo kale na waa runtii oo badhax la’ bay yidhaadeen.  Laba aag oo aan barkulan lahayn baa loogu kala jabay.  Inta badan socotada siyaasadda Soomaaalidu ma aha dood ee waa “mudacyo afkood” iyo waxa waayadan loo baxshay magaca ‘Fadhikudirir’.  Waa weerar iyo weerarcelin afka ah. “Waa laga dambeeyaa iyo meel kale ayaa wax loo wadaa; waa khiyaamo qaran” iwm…. “Wax aad u badan baa la qabtay iyo horumar baa la keenay”. “Maya; wax ba la ma qaban;bal wax waliba way sii xumaadeen oo ka sii dareen iwm”.  Ma run baa mise waa been waxa la sheegay?  Oday magac qabiil sita oo asagu na shirkiisa ka hadlaya, ayaa odhan: “Innaga ayaa nabadda dalka hayna oo wanaagga u taagan; qolada ama qolyaha kale, ayaa belaayo wada”.  Run iyo been midkee loo qaadaa hadalkan?  Waxaa jira siyaasi kale oo asagu kugu dirqiyaya in aad hadalkiisa beensato.  Asagu na xafalad ilyartu isqabatay buu galab ka hadlay: “Qarannimadu ku ma dhismayso qabiil; muwaadinnimo, sinnaan iyo caddaalad bay ku dhismi kartaa”.  Waa hadal wanaagsan.  Hayeeshee marar baa laga arkay hadallo iswada burinaya iyo asaga oo dhinacyo kala jeeda wax u wada.  Xataa haddii uu markan run sheegayo(shaki baa aniga runtiisa iga ga jiro e), hore ayey Soomaali u maahmaahday oo tidhi: “ beentaada hore, runtaada dambe ayey dishaa”.     

Meesha aanay jirin soohdin la isku raacsanyahay oo run iyo beeni ku kala baxaan, wax ba la ma kala garan karo.  Runi been bay ku dhex ambatay.  Weliba Tani waa ay ka sii xagjirtaa; waayo wacyiga reerhebelnimo waxaa hoggaamiya xintanka ka dhexeeya ‘annagada iyo ayagada’; xintamaa na weligii ba ma arko xaqiiqada duunkiisa debedda ka ah.  Tiisa oo qudh ah ayaa u jirta; tii kale ba na waa u been.  Run iyo beeni wax asaga ka baxsan ba ma aha.

Marka aynu u nimaadno wada-xidhiidhka bulsheed na isla suuradan baynu la kulmaynaa.  Waagan la joogo, koox kasta oo isku qolo sheegataa waxa ay, si joogta ah, ugu kulantaa guri xaafadaha magaalada ah.  Warar iyo faallooyin, ayaga qurxinaya, cidda kale na ceebo marmarinaya, bay isa siiyaan.  War iyo faallo ba waa curintooda oo looga ma horraynin, hadda na run bay ka dhigtaan oo ay u qaataan.  Waa wacyigii reerhebelnimo.  Koox waliba ta ay ayadu isu sheegtay baa u run ah; ta qoloda kale sheegtay se, warkeed ba ma maqlaan; waayo isu ma tagaan oo isma waraystaan.  Balaf waxii ku soo gaadhaa na agtooda waa been.  Sidee dadkani u wada noolaan karayaan, haddii aanay run iyo isrumaysi ba lahayn?  Bulsho qaran, haddii la rabo, rayi wadareedyo dadku wadaago laga ma maaramo.  Qaayosoorrada bulsho ku dhisanto, runtu waa rukun ka mid ah oo weliba mudan ah.  Runtu na way galgalataa, beentu na way ku marantaa.  Garashadeeda, qaayosiinteeda iyo kuwada-dhaqankeeda ayaa xidhiidhiya bulshada.  Waxa ay u baahan tahay in wax la isweydiiyo; ayadu na waxa ay rabtaa kaadsi iyo dulqaad. 

Shaki iyo Ismoodsiis

“Reer-Hebel wax ba inooma oggola iyo Reer Hebel wax aan waxyeelladeena ahayn laga ma filan karo”!  Iyo “Xumaan keli ah bay wax ku leeyihiin” iyo “Inta ay nabadda kugu yeelaan colaadda kugu ma yeelaan”!  Waa dhaqan nacaro qabiil ka soo jeeda oo sida uu u dhan yahay waa hawraaro ka tibaaxcelinaya shaki iyo ismoodsiis.  Asaga oo wejiyo badan leh baa lagu soo tallaalay nolosha maanta ee qarannmidoonka ah.

Siyaalo kale oo badan buu Ismoodsiisku isku muujiyaa; waxaa na ka mid ah: “Waa laga dambeeya, ciddaa iyo ciddaas, dawlado iyo gaalo iyo duulal shisheeye, ayaa wata”!  Ma run baa mise waa been?  Ismoodsiisku -xataa haddii u run yahay – mar kasta, waa kugu been; Alle (SWT) hortiisa na demibgiisa ayaa kuu yaalla, waayo waa danni.  Xaaladdan qalalaasaha bulsheed iyo anshaxeed, waxaa jira ismoodsiis been ah oo lagu dan-qunsado.  Waxaa ka mid ah: “Nin na inta uu kuu jiro kuu ma soo dhaafo iyo iigu shub, anigaa ku abtirsiin xigee “.  Dhangaagaalaha tirada badan baa run loo tusaa; waxa uu badi ba gaar u soo mudhbaxaa xilliyada ololaleyaasha doorasho iyo tabaha hunguriga lagu raadsado.  Runta ay beenta moodsiiskani daboolka saaraysaa waa in aan qaranka shisheeye iyo sokeeye lagu kala noqon karin ee qarannimada uun lagu waayayo.  Kuwa beenta ismoodsiiska iyo moodsiiska ah dan mooda, ugu dambaynta, runtaa ku kedisa oo ka kala daadisa.

 Runta iyo Beenta Munaafiqa 

Run baa been u dhacda.  Munaafaqiintii Maddiina  ayaa Nebi Maxamed(SCW) u maragkacay in uu Rasuulkii Alle yahay.  Alle na(SWT) waxa uu leeyahay: Alle waa ogyahay (Nabi Maxammedow) in aad dhab ahaan, rasuulkii Alle tahay, waxaa na uu Alle ka marag yahay in munaafiqiintu been sheegayaan. “إذجاءك المنافقون قالوانشهد إنك لرسول الله والله يعلم إنك  لرسوله والله يشهد إنُ المنافقين لكاذبون”(سورة المنافقون)

Run bay sheegeen Munaafaqiintu, ayaga oo been sheegaya.  Sidaas ayaa qowlka Alle sugayaa.  Waxii aan qofka ka dhab ahayni, waa ku been, xataa haddii ay run tahay.

Run iyo beeni marar badan waa kadhigashada iskeen.  Cid waliba iskeed bay si wax isu tustaa oo run bay ka dhigataa.  Qof, koox iyo bulsho dhan ba, taasi way ka timaaddaa.  Iskeed bay rumaystaa oo isma weydiiso xaqiiqo ayada ka baxsan oo aan damaceeda iyo deexashadeeda ku xidhnayn.  Tusaalaha qof ahaaneed waa xaaladda uu asagu isla qumman yahay ee uu qaato been ay naftiisu u sheegtay; waa  na cudur taasi.  Mar kale na waa beeta asaga ku saabsan ee cido kale uga timaadda oo uu isku daawado. Tusaaleheedu waa ammaanta beenta ah ee laga badiyo kelitaliyaha, uu na rumaysto; ayadu na waa cudur la mid ah.  Ta bulsheed na isla-falgalka dadka ayey ka unkantaa.  Runteeda soke waa inta lagu wada dhaqmayo ee lagu negi yahay.  Haseyeeshee ayada lafteedu na been bay noqon kartaa.  Waxaa jiri karta oo la soo arkay bulsho ku wada nool afka oo la isu macaaneeyo, ayada oo aan naxariis la isu haynin; waa meel ma-jirto lagu wada hadlo oo ay sidaasi tahay caado iyo curfi la isku ogyahay.  Waa dhaqan ka dhasha cadaaladdarrada talomaroorsiga arxanka daran.  Jinni-boqorka laga cabsanayo oo ammaan afka ah loo miisaa dhaqanka bulshada ayuu sadheeyaa.  Waxa uu sababaa in runta laga dhawrsado oo been lagu dhuunto.  Cabsida laga qabo jowrka xoogagga kelitaliyahu, been bay dhashaa; aakhirka na runta ayaa la isku nacaa; bal marar waa la isku dilaa.  Marka cabsidaasi dadka dhexdiisa sii badato ba, been-isu-dhiibka munaafaqada ayaa ku sii badata.  Waa la caadaystaa oo dhaqan munaafaqnimo ayaa bulshada ku xididdaysta.  Waxaa la mid ah danaysiga qofeed ee xadkiisa dhaafa, haddii uu bulshada ku fido oo lagu tago, munaafaqayn bulsheed baa ka abuuranta.  Mar kasta iyo si walba na, war munaafaq waa been, xataa marka uu run sheegayo.      

Run iyo beeni halkee ku kala baxaan?

Daawadu waxa ay bilaabantaa  marka la kala garto, halka ay ku kala baxaan run iyo beeni ee la sugo; mid walba na la dhigo meesha ay qiyamta dadnimada ku leedahay.  Majare lagu liibaanay baa jira, waase haddii la wada garowsado oo la yeelo.  

Hor iyo horraanteed:  jiritaanka Alle (swt), keli ahaantiisa Alle ahaaneed iyo dhammi ba sifooyinkiisa asaga ku sami, waa run buuxda; inta ogaalka rabbi ku maqan(qeybka) ee uu kitaabkiisa kariimka ah kaga warramay na waa run buuxda.  Qofkii se taas dhab ahaan, rumeeyey baa rumaystay; kii kale se warku waa u sida kale iyo sidii uu doono.  

Kolka  xiga: Abuurta Alle, inta isheennu qabato, intii ogaalkeenna ah iyo intii aqoonteenna cilmiyeed gaadhay na waa inoo run; ha yeeshee iyadu na waa socoto si joogto ah u kororta oo isu beddesha; taas owgeed, wax si loo yaqaannay baa ogaalkiisa lagu sii durkaa; run hor leh baa loo tagaa oo tii hore ayaa ku beenowda.  Qarniyo aad u badan buu adduunku ahaa inta iyo sida isha keli ahi u aragto; dhulku na ahaa sagax ballac u yaal oo qorraxdu cidhifkiisa bari ka soo baxdo, kiisa galbeed na ka galbato.  Aqoontii ku durugtay xaqiiqada oosha dunidu waa ta beenisay lammoodkaas asaga ahaa.  Run iyo beeni waa laba isa-sudhan ah oo midi ba midda kale ayey tustaa.  Runta ayaad beenta ku ogaataa oo aad kaga tagtaa; geesta kale waa la mid.  Aqoonta soo daba gaabani waxa ay ku tustaa run aan dhammays tirnayn, been buuxda na  way u dhuran kartaa.  Runtu been bay ku dhex qarsoontaa; aqoon iyo daacadnimo(ashax) wada jira, ayaa kala saari kara.  Bulshada dhexdeeda taas laga waayaa, qalalaase ba’an bay ku jirtaa. Waxaa ay u dhibmudataa oo haddii ay weydo, u jabtaa wada hadal iyo wadatashi iyo xeeldheeraha aqoonyahankeeda oo waxba la weydiiyo, dhawaqiisa na la dhegeysto.  Odhaah-murtiyeedda Soomaalida ee “Muslinow run sheeg Muslinow na uga qaado” waxa ay inoo tilmaamaysaa kaalinta runta iyo rumaysigu ku leeyahay dhismaha bulshada caafimaadka qabta.  

Runi waa isu geyn

Bal u fiirso sheekada laga dhaxlay soonjireenka dhaqanka Hindidii waayo qiyaastii, ku siman 1500 sannadood.  Waa sheeko siyaal badan loo weriyo, murtideedu se meel ku wada biyoshubayso.  Lix nin oo indho la’aan ku dhashay baa uu ku badtay warka noolaha maroodigu la dhahaa.  Waxa ay ku talogoosteen in ay soo ogaadaan waxaa uu yahay iyo sida uu u yaallo ba.  Malaa waa la hagaye, waxaa ay u tageen maroodigii.  Midkood ba waxa uu kaashaday xasuusta walaxaha uu tijaabada nolosha ka hayo ee uu taabashada ku kasbaday.  Taas buu ku suntaday baadida runta uu dabasocdo.  Midkood dheegga ayuu maroodiga ka taabtay oo gacanta mariyey; waxa uu yidhi maroodigu waa wax ballaadhan oo sallax ah; waa gidaar oo kale.  Mid kale na waxa uu taabtay gacanka maroodiga oo waxa uu yidhi maroodigu waa sida mas weyn oo kale.  Ku kale na foolmaroodiga ayuu gacanta ku qabtay; asagu na waxa uu yidhi maroodigu waa waran dhumuc weyn.  Midkii kale lugta ayuu labada gacmood isugu geeyey oo maroodigii waxa uu la noqday jirrid geed oo kale.  Kan kale na waxa uu taabtay dabada oo kuye: ‘maroodigu waa sidii xadhig oo kale’.  Kii lixaadna waxa uu qabtay dhegta maroodiga oo waxa uu istusay in uu yahay wax babbiso(marawaxad) u eg.  Markii ay gooni isu la baxeen ee iswaraysteen, nin walba warkiisu aad buu uga duwanaaday kuwa kale oo sidaas darteed, muran ismariwaa ah baa dhexdooda yimid.  Nin ba tiisa oo qudh ah ayaa u run ah; tu kasta oo kale na waa u been.  Ogow oo nin waliba waxa uu hayaa garooc runta ka mid ah; runtii oo dhammaystiran baa ka wada maqan.  Weliba ku darso oo runtii maroodigu ku ma dhamma isugeynta qurbyada ay kala haystaan.  Ma ahayn nimankani Soomaalida maanta oo kale.  Dad bay u tageen oo qurubyadooda runta ugu soo ururiyey.  Ka dib na suuro isku mid ah bay maroodigii ka yeesheen. 

Bulsho aan xogogaal iyo aqoonyahan wax la weydiinnin oo qof waliba halkiisa ‘islaqummane’ ku yahay, aaye san ma yeelan karto.  

Moodista iyo ismoodsiisku waa kala laba. Moodista loo ma kaso ee waa xaalada qofka ku iman karta oo sidaas darteed, dulmi ma wadato.  Hayeeshee ayadu na khasaaraheeda ayey yeelataa.  Tusaaleha dhow ee ismoodsiisku waa sheeko-murtiyeed ka mid kuwii “Cigaal Shidaad”.  Waxa la yidhi in uu magaalada u safro oo uu arrad-bax iyo saad ba, baahida qoyska ka keeno, ayey dani yuurursatay.  Malaha, meel durugsan bay ahayd oo aan maalisawaal laga ga soo geyoon karin; sidaas darteed, guuro habeennimo ayaa lamahuraan noqoday.  Waxaa la yidhi si weyn buu uga walaacay, waxa se ka badatay gawraxii marantidiisa.  Wuu  guurogalay oo waddada ayuu, ugu dambayntii, cagta saaray.  Kolkii uu cabbaar baaledaymood soconaya ahaa, ayuu arkay mututuul madow oo waddada qarkeeda ah. ‘Wuxu ma bahal baa mise talow waa wax kale’?!  Waa bahal buu nafta u sheegay.  Ma sii hakanin ee run buu ka dhigtay.  Ta uu asagu isu sheegay buu rumaystay.  Hore tallaabo kale u ma qaadin.  Waxu geed buu ahaa oo markii waagu walalacay, ayey runi hortiisa timid; waa uu ku maalinsawaalay oo canaani na ku raacday.  Cigaal Shidaad waa male-awaal uu garaadka wadareed ee dadka Soomaalidu hal-abuuray; ilaa maanta na murtideeda, ayaa la la baxaa.  Ta sheekadani waxa weeye: xataa marka aanay xin iyo xumayni ka dambaynin, garaadka sami khasaaraha beenta ayuu ku talogalaa oo uu ismoodsiiska kaga ga tagaa.  Yaqiintaa la doortaa, la na raadshaa oo lagu shaki-baxaa.  Soomaalida maanta aad bay u yartahay inta ay runta ku kala shaki-baxdaa.  Beenta ay male-awaashay, ayey isku dilaysaa oo khasaaraheeda ayey rarataa. 

Caqilga san iyo dhaxalka aqoonta aadamigu waxa ay inoo sheegayaan in runta adduunkani ka badan tahay oo ka weyn tahay inta qof, laba iyo kooxi haleesho.  Runtu waa dhinacyo-badan; waa socoto goob iyo goor leh oo jiritaankeedu waa jiraallo isku wada xidhan.  Caqliga qumman iyo cilmiga dhabta ah ee aadanahu runta wuu ku durkaa oo in uu ku sii dhawaado mooyiye, mar na gunteeda ma soo taabto.  Inta hal qof arkayaa na waa wax aad u yar.  Biirsiga iyo isku darsiga wadarta ayey ku jirtaa.  Murtidu waxa weeye: runtu inta kelidaa kuu muuqata ma aha ee dadka kale na wax weydii. “Galladu na waxay saaran tahay wax isu geygeyn”; waxa sidaas yidhi Maxamed Ibraahim Warsame Hadraaawi(Gudgude).Midda kale, runtu way galgalataa oo socotada taariikhda ayey isla rogrogtaa.  Ahaanshaheedii waayo hore, baa beryo dambe noqda sida kale.  Immisaa kaymo duud jiq ahaan jiray, baa dalalowsi iyo witir ban ah noqday; meeqaa ceel buqdho ahaa, baa hunguufti madhan ku dambeeyey.

Isku-maranta run iyo beeni waxa ay dhextaal walaxaha jiraalka debedda inaga ah ama inaga noqon kara iyo iskii-araggeenna gaar ahaaneed, kow iyo kooxba. Waayo-aragga kooxda bulsheed iyo ta qofeed ba waxaa ka dhasha si-aragyo, uqaadasho, iyo jidraacyo la caadaysto.  Sida ay ugu hirgeshay baa loo rumaystaa oo maguuraan loo qaataa.  Maalin daran bay runtu hirdidaa.  Soojireenkii boqollaal sannadood lagu dhaqmayey, garashada dadka wuu midiidinsadaa.  Waa la isaga hoggaansamaa oo la isma weydiiyo run iyo been, waxtar iyo waxyaallo uu leeyahay midna.  Goor khasaarihiisu badtay baa hawl iyo haydaaaro laga ga guuraa.  

Sidaas darteed, soojireenka dhaqanka iyo hiddaha bulsheed na run iyo been baa isku maran.  Aadamigu waa noole busheed;  jiritaan kale weligii ba ma laha, lagu ma na arag.  Haseyeeshee, heer kasta ba kob iyo kobo baahiyeed bay bulshaynimadu ka unkantaa. Waxa ay yeelataa qaab-dhismeedyo iyo garaad ay bulshannimadu ku negi noqoto.  Isbed-beddelkeeda maaddiga ah ayaa ka sahlan oo ka soo horreeya garashadeedda.  Waxtar iyo waxtaransiba teedii hore ayaa beenowda; haseyeeshee “sidaas baa wax ahaan jireen” baa la dhahaa oo loogu dhegganaadaa.

Hadda marar badan baynu maqalnaa, kuwo badan oo yidhaa: dhibaatadeennu waa: dhaqan wacan baynu lahayn oo aynu ka tagnay” iyo “daawadeennu waa dhaqankeennii suubbanaa oo aynu ku noqono“.  waa garaad ama wacyi ku  maqan riyo iyo beri si wax ahaan jireen.  Waxa lagu dheggan yahay waa dhaqan aan runta maanta jirta xidhiidh weyn la lahayn; baahida bulshada maanta iyo waayaha adduunkeeda na mugdi baa kaga jira.  Waa qof arki la’ runtii shalay ee maanta beenowday.  Nin baa xaaladda Soomaalida, waxa ay tahay iyo waxa laga yeeli karo, ka soo jeediyey dood adag iyo su’aal deedafo ah. Waxa uu yidhi: “qabiilka miyaa laga maarmaai karaa“?  Su’aal ka ma aha ee waa duurxul u dhacaya “laga ma maarmi karo”.  Run aan biyo ka dibcin buu taas u arkaa.  Waa garaad weligii ba ku maqan sidii waayo hore wax ahaayeen, ka na maqan sida maanta wax yahiin.  Kelida qofeed iyo kooxda bulsheed ba, ma aha kuwii waayo hore jirey; ma na jiro maanta qabiilkii baahida nolosha la la hoos geli jiray. 

Tusaale kale na, (waa iga male-awaale): laba Soomaali oo runta aad ugu kala durugsan baa kulmay.  Koodii hore ayaa weydiiyey oo yidhi: Qoloma ayaad tahay?  Kii labaad baa su’aal ku warceliyey oo waxa uu yidhi: ma aniga ayaad aqoonsigayga rabtaa?  Haa buu yidhi.  “Hebel oo Ina Hebel ah baan ahay” buu yidhi.  Ma uu siisan oo waxa uu ku yidhi: “Waar isu kay sheeg; anigu magacaaga ku ma aan weydiine; qoloma ayaa tahay“!  Bal aynu isweydiino ee aqoonsiga runta ah ee qofka ayamaa ah?  Ma magac qabiil, mise magaca qofka iyo tilmaamaha kale, sida xirfaddiisa, shaqadiisa, meesha uu deggan yahay, cinwaanka gurigiisa(haddii uu jiro) iwm?  Ka ba soo qaad oo qabiilna ku dar;  maxaa ay ugu fadhidaa sugidda jiritaanka qofkaas?  Waxaa jiray beri ay wadar qabiilo talo iyo tallaabo mid ah lahayd, qofku na, xeer iyo xaagaan ba, uu qolodiisa ahaa.  Sidaas darteed su’aasha ‘Qolo ma ayaad tahay?‘ run jirta ayey daba socotay.  Maanta runtaasi halkee taallaa?  Qabiil, magaca mooyiye, talo mideysa iyo jidraac isu hayaa ma jiro. “Reer Hebel baa sidaas yeelay ama tan iyo teer falay” awel been wax ka jiraan bay ahayd; maanta se waa been soocan’.

Cudurku meeshii u darrayd buu bulshada ka hayaa.  Waa Qiyamtii anshaxa dadnimo.  Halka ay runi ku baxday ee been laga doorbiday, waxaa ku baxay isrumaysi. Taas owgeed, waxa ay nolosha siyaasadda Soomaalidu ku falgashaa shaki iyo ismoodsiis. Waa ta keentay in arrin kasta oo timaadda ba uu ka dhasho is-afgaranwaa kolkii ba u guura isqabasho halis ahi.  

Meel run iyo isrumaysi laga waayey, wax badan oo kale ayaa la waayaa. Dulqaadashada, istaxgelinta, ammaanada iyo is-aaminaka iyo caddaaladda, sarriigashada, ceebta oo laga dhawrsado iyo wax kasta gobonnimo ahayd,  dhismaha bulsheed na ku taagnaa ba waa la daayaa; lidkeeda ayaa la doorbidaa oo wax walba sida kale ayaa loo rogaa.  Dhibaatada Soomaalidu waagan, waa tu arooraysa ilaa dareenka is-ahaanshaha Soomaalinnimo.  Haddii tani si socoto ma jiri doonaa dad magaca Soomaali ku dhaataa mise maya?  Badbaadadeedu waxa ay sugaysaa garasho ku dhisan caqli iyo majare raac cilmyeed, iyo damiir anshax dadnimo leh oo falaadka siyaasadeed iyo bulsheed mayalka u qabta. Haddii ay weydo, oo ay runtu agteeda dayro ka ahaato, beenta na la weheshado, aakhirka magaceeda ba aduunka waa laga waayi; Alle kama dhigo. 

W.Q. Rashiid Sheekh Cabdidillaahi “Gadhweyne”

Email: rshid.dalla@gmail.com

The post Iskumaranta Run iyo Been: Dhibaatada Isafgaranwaaga Soomaalida appeared first on WardheerNews .

By Salem Solomon

WASHINGTON – A decision by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to dissolve the ruling party months ahead of the 2020 national election has prompted criticism from the upper echelons of his own government.

In an interview with VOA’s Afaan Oromo Service, Minister of Defense Lemma Megerssa said unrest in the country means it is the wrong time to create a new political party.

“Merging this party is not timely as there are many dangers. We are in a transition,” he said, speaking in Afaan Oromo. “This is borrowed time; it is not ours. We are facing several problems from different places during this borrowed time.”

Lemma is currently visiting the U.S. with a delegation aiming to strengthen the two countries’ defense partnerships.

In November, Abiy announced that the country’s ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF, would dissolve and become one unified party called the Prosperity Party.

The decision came after a vote by coalition members in support of the change. On December 1, the prime minister held a ceremony in the capital celebrating the new party and saying it “has also prepared a clear program and bylaws as well as a 10-year plan that leads Ethiopia to prosperity,” state-media reported. Previously the EPRDF had been a coalition of four ethnically based parties.

But the decision has prompted a backlash. The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) refused to take part in the vote to form the new party. Debretsion Gebremichael, the TPLF chairman and acting regional president, told reporters in a press briefing that the move “weakens the federal system and takes away the rights of people to self-administration. The drive to form a united party does not consider the existing situations in the country.”

And though the Oromo Democratic Party, formerly the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization, voted in favor of the change, prominent Oromo leaders have voiced displeasure. Lemma, who is from the Oromo ethnic group, said the party has not yet delivered on its promises to its people and therefore should continue to exist. “The [Oromo Party] leaders have promised to answer some of the big questions the Oromo people have entrusted us with,” he said. “Doing this without answering questions is not right, and it’s failing to deliver on the promises we made.”

Over the last three to four years, Oromo people have protested what they view as unfair treatment over a host of issues, including land rights in and around the capital city, Addis Ababa. Protests in late October over an alleged threat to the safety of Oromo activist Jawar Mohammed led to the deaths of 86 people.

Lemma and others argue that a change now will do little to quell the ethnic violence spreading in Ethiopia. “It’s not the time to come up with something new, but a time to solve problems that we should be focused on,” he said. “We should focus on maintaining peace and stability and focus on macroeconomics, especially people’s struggle with the rising cost of living.”

But Fekadu Tessema, a spokesman for Abiy’s governing coalition, said the change was not a hasty decision. “We don’t think that the process has been sped up. It has been in the works for a year and a half, and the change has to be led with a clear flow chart and vision,” he said.

He also said the unified party is in line with Abiy’s guiding philosophy known as “medemer,” or “addition.” The philosophy seeks to erase the division between people and create a nation that is greater than the sum of its parts.

“What ‘medemer’ means is to highlight our knowledge, our thinking, and putting all the good attributes in one place,” Fekadu said. “And things like hate, violation of human rights, the question of injustice, and the issues of lack of democracy and lack of freedom and other issues that people have been pointing out, and issues that were seen during the time of EPRDF, have to be corrected.”

Source: VOA

The post Efforts to End Ethiopia’s Ruling Party Draw Criticism from Within appeared first on WardheerNews .

by Abdullahi Alas

Over the last 10 years, Somalia has made tremendous improvement in building government institutions and restructuring security forces. Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo’s government has secured the capital Mogadishu. Banks have opened and investment is growing. The main economic activities are agriculture and the services sector.

Somalia is preparing for a presidential election next year. What are the prospects and practicality of conducting a free and fair election in the horn of Africa nation?

Conducting an election in a country like Somalia is a huge task—for government institutions and the people. Popular elections have been held in Somalia only twice in 50 years—in 1964 and 1969.

Since their first meeting in Arta, Djibouti, in 2000, Somalis have exercised a clan power-sharing model. This was a temporary measure to help the transitional government prepare the country for a one-person one-vote election. Farmajo’s election was conducted in the airport complex in Mogadishu, as it was too dangerous in the rest of the country.

Since the Arta conference adopted the 4.5 power-sharing system, Somalia’s two highest political offices—president and prime minister—have been held by only two clans. Addressing the UN Security Council on November 21, 2019, in New York, the chairperson of the National Independent Electoral Commission, Halima Ismail Ibrahim, emphasised the need to support the rights of Somali people to political participation.

“I want to remind the distinguished members of the Council that 2020 is a pivotal year for Somalia’s citizens whose rights to political participation have been denied for 50 years and also it will be a milestone for the international community who have been investing heavily in Somalia for several decades to introduce and promote democracy and good governance,” she said.

Somalia has an estimated population of 12 million, many of whom live outside the country; Somaliland is autonomous, and 2-3 million others are refugees in other countries. The Farmajo led-government has been struggling to be in the good books of the federal states of Somalia. It has yet to recognise the election of President Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Ahmed Madobe) in Jubaland.

Al Shabaab is estimated to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters in Somalia, according to the BBC. Al Shabaab continues to carry out attacks in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, killing civilians. The militants also continue to target the Somali state and African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) forces.

According to the Council of Foreign Relations, the United States has pursued a two-pronged approach in Somalia­—by providing financial and logistical support to Amisom and conducting counterterrorism operations, including drone strikes and special operations forces raids, against al Shabaab militants.

It was reported that 150 militants were killed by a US strike at a training camp north of Mogadishu in 2016. The US continues to carry out airstrikes against the militants.

Given these circumstances, therefore, it would be difficult for Mogadishu to conduct a free and fair election.

Al Shabaab controls part of Bay and Bakool as well as parts of Gedo. With weak institutions and lack of properly trained electoral officials (those available have little skill in election infrastructure, let alone the capacity to do mapping), Somalia’s ability to exercise universal suffrage is still a distant mirage.

Without proper electoral laws and funds, it remains to be seen how the Farmajo led-government will conduct a popular election in Somalia. It is estimated that the National Independent Electoral Commission needs $53 million (Sh5.4 billion) for the election by December 2019.

Source: The Star

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Saeed Al-Batati

SAWIA VALLEY, Yemen, The torrential floods and brutal droughts of recent years have left their mark on this valley in southeast Yemen.

A road that links Mukalla, the capital of Hadramout province, with its remote rural villages has been almost wiped out by repeated landslides. Giant boulders lie strewn along the road, alongside the trunks of downed trees.

“The weather now is between two extremes: heavy drought or destructive brief floods and rains,” said Omer Abu Baker a farmer and shepherd from Hara’a, a village overlooking the Sawia Valley floor.

Civil-war-torn Yemen faces vast challenges, from a struggling economy and collapsing health system to some of the world’s worst shortages of food, water and jobs.

But more severe weather linked to climate change – and a shortage of funding to deal with it – is making life even harder.

The families who live in this part of southern Yemen say weather patterns have become particularly severe since 2015, when Cyclone Chapala – the strongest recorded storm to hit the region – triggered heavy rains and severe flooding.

In 2018, Yemen was again hit by Cyclone Luban, which killed 14 people.

Abu Baker said the worsening weather has driven herders to relocate both their homes and their animals, to try to avoid more losses.

“First Chapala devastated our village and farms, then Luban ruined that which was left behind,” Abu Baker said in his quick Bedouin accent.

“I am now in my 80s (and) I can tell you that I have never seen such destructive floods and rains. Rains are now associated with destruction,” he said.

For years, ahead of the rainy season, farmers have cleaned water channels, covered their farmland with fertilizer and then waited for the sky to open.

That old pattern, however, is being abandoned, Abu Baker said.

“Now, we do nothing as we think floods would wash away all our defenses,” he said.

When Cyclone Luban struck the valley last year, the ensuing floods buried his farms in muddy silt. It also left many villages isolated for 10 days – and disrupted field work for six months, he said.

Abu Baker and his family were plunged into debt in order to pay for the removal of mud blocking the farm’s irrigation well and to repair damaged flood-control banks, he said.

“We could not irrigate the farm for six months and then we managed to restore crops gradually,” Abu Baker said, adding that the family took the risk of borrowing money for repairs as the farm grows high-earning crops including tobacco, lemon and pumpkin.

Like many of the nomadic people in the region, he and other residents say they do not understand why floods and downpours are gaining in strength.

The problem, they say, must be an angry God.

“The strong rains and floods are due to our sins.  People do not pray,” Abu Baker said, adding he has never heard about climate changes.

Now, when he hears news of a storm on the way, the farmer and his family stay indoors, praying.

Not all those hit by the worsening storms have been able to recover.

Like many people who lost the use of their farms to storm damage, farmer Omer Hassan, 55, decided to move permanently to Mukalla.

Hassan, a father of six, said his fields and cattle used to earn his family sufficient income, until the second cyclone “wiped out the remaining land”.

Today he works as a security guard and land broker, and keeps an eye on his remaining sheep and goats to earn a living.

“I cannot go back to my village as I cannot afford to repair my land. I wish someone could help,” he said at his brother’s home on a hilltop in the eastern outskirts of Mukalla.

BARRIERS TO ADAPTING

Mohammed Barashed, a professor of geomorphology at Hadramout University, said adapting to the harsher weather conditions will require radical changes in the way houses and cities are built, to reduce the risks.

“People have to change roofs of their houses. There should be a law criminalizing building homes on water courses,” said Barashed, who published a paper in 2017 about the impacts of Cyclone Chapala on Hadramout.

If cyclones continue to grow in strength and changes aren’t made, the country risks losing roads, bridges and many of its mud-constructed houses, he warned.

But Yemeni authorities say finding the money to respond to the growing threats is difficult.

The surge in cyclones coincided with an upswing in violence in the country, which led to the country’s oil and gas revenue drying up, said Faraj Salmeen Al Bahsani, the governor of Hadramout.

He told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that his province has a huge shortfall in funding needed to repair damage from previous cyclones and get ready for coming threats.

“When we hear a cyclone will hit the province, we clean water courses and deploy the army. (But) floods have destroyed agricultural lands (and) electricity towers and washed away land bridges,” he said.

“Our resources and capabilities are meager. We are in need of an advanced meteorological center that can detect cyclones.”

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation

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By VANESSA CHALMERS 

Eating chili peppers four times a week could cut your risk of dying from a heart attack, scientists claim.

Researchers tracked almost 23,000 volunteers for eight years, regularly quizzing them about their diet.

Results showed adults who ate chili peppers frequently, deemed four times each week, were less likely to die prematurely.

And they were 40 per cent less likely to die from a heart attack, according to the Italian academics behind the study.

Experts found chilis even benefited the hearts of volunteers whose diets were not considered healthy. 

Capsaicin – an anti-inflammatory compound and the substances that creates the burning sensation – is thought to be behind the benefit.

However, the researchers at Instituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed (IRCCS) in Pozzilli did not prove chilis helped the heart. 

All of the participants lived in the Molise region of Italy, home of the Mediterranean diet – considered the healthiest in the world.

Volunteers self-reported how often they ate foods containing chili pepper – never, occasionally, often and very often.

Each person’s diet was scored on a scale of zero to nine, based on how well they adhered to the traditional Mediterranean diet. 

The diet is abundant in vegetables, fruits and nuts, legumes, fish and fats such as olive oil. Red meat is rarely eaten and dairy and eggs are limited.

Chili eaters typically adhered to the Mediterranean diet, with fruit and veg commonly roasted and added to fish dishes or added in to pasta.

Over an average follow up of eight years, 1,236 people died. A third of deaths were from cancer, while heart disease claimed a similar amount.

Regular consumption of chili was reported by 24 per cent of people. A third said they never ate chili. 

People who ate chili four times a week were 23 per cent less likely to die over the course of the study.

Risk of death from a heart attack or coronary heart disease was 40 and 34 per cent lower for regular chili eaters, respectively.

Death rates from cancer were only 10 per cent lower in the non-chili eater group, meaning the result was not significant. 

The findings, which are merely observational, were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Marialaura Bonaccio, first author, said: ‘An interesting fact is that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed.

‘In other words, someone can follow the healthy Mediterranean diet, someone else can eat less healthily, but for all of them chili pepper has a protective effect.’

Dr Licia Iacoviello, co-author, said: ‘Chili pepper is a fundamental component of our food culture. We see it hanging on Italian balconies, and even depicted in jewels. 

‘Over the centuries, beneficial properties of all kinds have been associated with its consumption, mostly on the basis of anecdotes or traditions, if not magic. 

‘It is important now that research deals with it in a serious way, providing rigor and scientific evidence.’

He added: ‘We know that the various plants of the capsicum species… can exert a protective action towards our health.’ 

The team said further studies are needed to understand how consumption of chili can affect health.

They originally hypothesised chili eaters would be slimmer, owing to the fact spicy food can aid weight loss. 

But this was ruled out because chili eaters in the study were more likely to be obese, have diabetes and high cholesterol.  

What is known is that capsicum, an active ingredient in chili, contains a large variety of phytochemicals with well-known antioxidant properties.

Those who ate chili were also more likely to eat garlic, parsley and black pepper, the results showed. 

Source: Mail Online

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Muqdisho, Taliya Xabsiga Dhexe ee magaalada Muqdisho S/Guuto Maxamed Shiikh Xirsiile ayaa lagu soo warramayaa in uu bukaan xaaladdiisa caafimaad aad u liidatay kala baxay isbitaal ku yaal magaalada Muqdisho oo lagu dawaynayay.

Bukaanka ayaa la sheegay in uu ahaa maxbuus xaaladdiisa waxaba lagaga qaban kari waayay Isbitaalka ku yaal xabsiga dhexdiisa, sidaana loogu soo gudbiyay Isbitaalka uu kala baxay taliyuhu.

Sida ka muuqatay Video lagu baahiyay baraha bulshada taliyaha oo wata ciidamo ayaa soo galay isbitaalka ka dibna la baxay bukaankaas oo lagu magacaabo Xasan Kurtun Calasow.

Warka ayaa waxa uu intaas ku darayaa in 24 saacadood ka dib uu bukaankii ku geeriyooday xabsiga gudihiisa.

Qaar ka mid ah qaraabada marxuumkaas oo saxaafadda la hadlay ayaa dawladda ka codsaday in ay tallaabo ka qaaddo taliyaha ku kacay falkaas waxashnimada ah iyagoo codsigooda si toos ah ugu diray madaxweyne Farmaajo iyo Ra’iisal wasaare Khayre.

Qaraabada marxuumka ayaa sidoo kale sheegay in aanay aasi doonin maydka marxuumka illaa inta tallaabo sharciga waafaqsan laga qaadayo taliyaha.

Illaa hadda lama oga sababta taliyaha ku kaliftay falkaas bani’aadanimada ka baxsan iyadoo isla markaana wax war ah oo arrintan ku saabsan aanay ka soo bixin xagga dawladda.

Hoos ka daawo muuqaalka dhacdadan naxdinta leh

WardheerNews, Muqdisho.

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Maggie Fick

DEBARK, Ethiopia – Rahmat Hussein once inspired fear and respect for the watchful eye she cast over her Ethiopian neighbourhood, keeping files on residents and recommending who should get a loan or be arrested.

Now she is mocked and ignored.

Her fall – from being the eyes and ears of one of Africa’s most repressive governments to a neighbourhood punchline – illustrates how Ethiopia’s once ubiquitous surveillance network has crumbled.

“My work is harder now,” she said, wistfully. “People don’t listen anymore.”

Rahmat worked for a system set up by the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition in the early 2000s, officially to help implement central policies across the country of 105 million people.

But the system, which detractors say was twisted into a tool to silence government critics, began to unravel with the outbreak of deadly protests in 2015 which undermined the EPRDF’s authority.

The election of reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has vowed to make society more open and took office in April 2018, has accelerated its decline.

That has been welcomed by many.

“People were afraid and could not speak up,” said Agenagnew Abuhay, Rahmat’s colleague at a local women’s affairs office.

Others, like Rahmat, mourn its loss, saying the network drove advances in health, education and agriculture.

It is widely acknowledged among Ethiopians as having played a significant role in society, although many are still too nervous to speak openly about it.

Some officials and academics question whether Abiy can control a restive population, amid outbreaks of deadly ethnic violence, and deliver promised economic and political reforms without the system he has allowed to fray.

“The local administration is collapsing in some places,” said one civil servant in the capital Addis Ababa, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak with journalists.

“The government doesn’t seem to have much control.”

Abiy holds regular public meetings and is active on Twitter, said an official in the prime minister’s office, when asked how he would communicate with people now the old network has weakened. Most Ethiopian households do not have the internet.

The prime minister’s spokeswoman referred Reuters to the civil service commission for comment.

Its head, Bezabih Gebreyes, said the system was formed for the “noble rationale” of development but acknowledged that ultimately it had been a failure.

“The structure was very active for at least five years,” he told Reuters. It failed, he said, because workers did not like taking orders from political appointees.

“ONE TO FIVE”

Stacked on top of Rahmat’s kitchen cabinet in the town of Debark, 470 km (290 miles) north of Addis Ababa, are a dozen bulging folders detailing the lives of 150 neighbours: who has money troubles, who has HIV, who is caring for an orphan and who is hosting a stranger.

The 27-year-old kept a copy of her handwritten notes and delivered duplicates to a local government office, which crunched the numbers and reported them upwards.

“It made me very happy to do this work,” she told Reuters one cold morning, as she cooked bean stew in her one-room home. “I did it to serve the people.”

Rahmat, wearing a lemon-yellow headscarf, said she helped women seeking a divorce understand their rights, arranged for a fellow single mother to get a loan to start a café and ensured families had cards for subsidized staples like oil and sugar.

If there were strangers in the neighbourhood, she reported them to police.

Rahmat was more than a neighbourhood fixer. She was a loyal party member, encouraging residents to join the EPRDF and promoting its policies at monthly meetings.

She was also part of a network of millions of people in cities and villages, universities and workplaces.

The system was popularly called “one-to-five”, because volunteers would typically be assigned five other people to monitor. Some, like Rahmat, supervised more.

The work was unpaid, but there were rewards. Rahmat got a government job. Others received preferential access to farming supplies or loans, she and other participants in the system say.

The government used the system to drive rapid agricultural and industrial reforms, aimed at transforming a mostly rural society dogged by famine into a middle-income country by 2025.

Volunteers taught farmers how to space their seedlings and use fertiliser, promoted safe birthing practices and kept track of rabble-rousers.

The system was also used “for surveying the population and to intimidate any kind of opposition,” Lovise Aalen, an Ethiopia expert at Norway-based research institute CMI, wrote in a 2018 paper.

Some former and current officials and aid groups credit “one-to-five” for helping Ethiopia achieve development goals.

The system helped reduce maternal mortality, said former health minister Kesete Admasu, in a report on the Gates Foundation website.

Volunteers acted as “model families”, gathering women over coffee, or at church or in mosques, to promote family planning and hygiene.

Maternal deaths fell by 11% from 1990 to 2003, the year the system was put in place. The rate plunged by more than half over the next eight years, Kesete said.

Over a third of the network’s maternal health groups, called The Women’s Development Army, have stopped functioning, said a ministry official working on women’s affairs, laying out a spreadsheet. Reuters could not independently verify the figure.

“It is very difficult to maintain such structures in a democratic system,” said Elshaday Kifle, a lecturer at Addis Ababa University who is studying the impact of such networks on women. “That’s a challenge for Abiy’s government.”

TESTING LOYALTY

The system permeated Ethiopians’ lives, dictating behaviour in homes, offices, clinics and schools, Aalen said.

Volunteers tested people’s loyalty at meetings, reporting those with anti-government views. Consequences could be serious.

In 2014, Gizachew Mitiku Belete, then a 29-year-old judge in the northern city of Gonder, attended a course in the central city of Adama.

He sat in a hotel conference room as several dozen judges took turns to praise the constitution or government policies, in what he described as a test of loyalty under the “one-to-five” structure.

Gizachew went rogue, suggesting judges could disagree with parts of the constitution. The group leader shouted at him.

For the next year, he publicly criticised the government for suppressing free expression, but he was fired in 2015 and sought asylum in the United States. He eventually found work as a security guard in Seattle, where he still lives.

Judges, journalists, even farmers could be detained if they crossed the system.

Former policeman Fenta Marelgn said he was ordered to arrest farmers who did not attend a meeting on planting seeds in 2015 because they were busy harvesting crops.

Fenta, now 31, said he was docked a month’s pay for refusing the order. He quit shortly afterwards.

“You start to hate what you do,” he said, crushing a metal bottle top between his hands.

For years, government officials had trumpeted relentless progress. Barley and wheat production always beat forecasts. Vaccination campaigns reached every village.

“We lied left and right,” former information minister Getachew Reda told Reuters. “That’s why people got angry.”

The system began to disintegrate in the tumultuous years of protests that propelled Abiy to power in April 2018.

Since that time, Rahmat’s dossiers have been gathering dust.

Source: Reuters

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