Cuba has about 100 doctors in Kenya and is working with authorities there to secure the release of two who were kidnapped by jihadists, Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers Ines Maria Chapman said
Two Cuban doctors who were kidnapped in Kenya in April and taken to Somalia “are well,” a Cuban official said Tuesday, adding that both countries were working to get them released.
“The Kenyan authorities affirmed that both doctors, Assel Herrera and Landy Rodriguez, are well and they will continue their efforts, as well as those carried out by our country, for their safe return to Cuba,” Ines Maria Chapman, vice president of the Cuban Council of Ministers, told reporters on Monday after returning from a trip to Kenya.
The pair — a general practitioner and a surgeon — were abducted on April 12 by suspected Al-Shabaab jihadists in Mandera, near the border with Somalia.
A top government official said in May the gunmen had demanded $1.5 billion for their release.
Herrera and Rodriguez were part of a 100-member Cuban medical brigade that was working in Kenya under an agreement between the two countries.
“Our people can be sure that the Cuban government, like the government of Kenya, is making huge efforts, paying special attention to this issue,” Chapman said.
She did not elaborate on the location of the two doctors, nor steps that were being taken for the release.
The rest of the Cuban doctors in Kenya “are fine, they are safe. Some doctors who were on the border have been relocated closer to the capital.”
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants have been waging an insurgency against the foreign-backed government in Mogadishu for over a decade.
A man casts his ballot on November 16, 2016, in Baidoa. Somalia is preparing to hold its next election in 2020 amid concerns of security and time constraints. FILE PHOTO | SIMON MAINA | AFP
By AGGREY MUTAMBO
Somalia could this month know if the much-awaited universal suffrage elections could go ahead, even as sceptics cited time constraints and security nightmare.
Often known as the one-person-one-vote (1P1V), Somalia plans to hold the historic elections by end of next year. But whatever happens this December in the Somali Federal Parliament’s two houses (House of the People and the Senate) could determine whether that is possible.
An electoral bill meant to clarify the voting procedure and participation was tabled on the floor of the House and could, by Christmas, be the actual determinant on the polls.
SHABAAB SYMPATHISERS
On Thursday, the Somali Federal Government insisted the 1P1V will be the surest way to lock out Al-Shabaab sympathisers because of the planned tighter controls on candidates.
“Of course the 1PIV is the only option as the elders have become compromised by the Shabaabs,” a Somali minister told the Sunday Nation, speaking on the background as the government was still galvanising support for the Bill.
“Those who don’t [support] this option are spoilers who want to keep the status quo going.”
Somalia had never held elections on home soil since 1967, until 2009, when Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was voted in through a clan delegate system known as 4.5. Since then, there have been two successive, but similar, elections.
In 2020, the plan is to enable the public to participate and vote for their chosen candidates, based on what critics termed rent-seeking among clan elders as well as infiltration by Shabaabs.
HOUSE DIVISIONS
But the debate around the bill has indicated divisions. Members of a parliamentary ad hoc committee disagreed with the Cabinet on the appropriate type of voting.
Once Parliament passes the bill, however, there won’t be guarantee 1P1V will go ahead. Somalia will need to register voters, source for money to finance polls and create a legal framework on how to handle relations between Mogadishu and federal states.
Hawa Noor, a Marie Curie Phd Fellow at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) in Germany told the Sunday Nation the many technicalities surrounding the poll makes it difficult to hold.
TECHNICALITIES
“The one-person-one-vote seems unlikely because of the lack of concrete infrastructure to facilitate it and so the risk of extension remains, like it happened during the 2016 polls- postponed to 2017,” she said.
“The other serious question is: what is the real meaning of ‘one person one vote’? And is it driven by the reality in Somalia? Structural conditions are missing. Or is it just a statement that is used to make it sound as if democracy is at home in Somalia?” she posed.
The Somali electoral commission and the UN with partners, who may be the main donors for the polls, have given assurances on the polls, although key deadlines are running close.
The Electoral law must be passed this December. A voters’ roll must be prepared in March. “How should all these work? The review of the constitution is also still to come (by June). Overall, I see a hidden sign that does not rule out postponement,” she told the Sunday Nation.
STATE RELATIONS
Somalia needs to harmonise relations between federal states and the federal government, after several regional heads publicly bickered with President Mohamed Farmaajo. Some observers think any weaknesses in relations could strengthen Shabaabs, making polls difficult to prepare.
“Elections can never be reduced to a one-day voting event but it’s a long set of processes with interlinked technicalities,” argued Abdimalik Abdullahi, a commentator on Somali and Horn of Africa geopolitics.
Various stakeholders, he said, had proposed various models, but there has been no agreement, “raising anxiety.”
In all these though, Somalia’s opposition leaders have been wary of any suggestions to extend the term of President Mohamed Farmaajo.
The Forum for National Parties (FNP), the coalition of six parties led by former President Ahmed says any delays could be ploy not to hold elections at all.
“Any extension for the parliament may encourage extension for the President which will be unacceptable,” Abdulkadir Osoble, a Federal MP and leader of the Ilays Party that forms part of the FNP, told the Sunday Nation.
TERM EXTENSION
“The most legal, and acceptable alternative is to hold consultative meetings for all stakeholders including, federal government, federal states and opposition parties, where we will discuss options possible, and not to extend the government,” he said.
Ilays joined hands with President Ahmed’s Himilo Qaran to form the FNP. Other parties include the Union for Peace and Development (UPD) led by ex-President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the Progressive Party led by former ministers Sharif Hassan and Abdiweli Haas, Peace Party led by former Jubbaland President Mohamed Abdi Gandhi and Kulan Party under Mohamed Siriin.
Opposed to electoral extensions and negative clan politics, the group says it calls for regular elections. The FNP’s face has President Ahmed, once leader of the Union for Islamic Courts that controlled Mogadishu in 2006. Defeated in 2012 and 2017 elections, he has fronted an image of a man seeking another stub at the presidency, by marketing coalition politics.
But will elections happen? “Our worst enemy right now is time. Yet we have many things to do,” Hussein Arab Essa, a Somali Federal MP for Somaliland region, told the Sunday Nation.
With many pending tasks, he argued, it would be like “trying to push Somalia off the cliff.”
Kismayo – On the third stop of a series of consultations in Somalia’s Federal Member States, a senior delegation of some of the country’s international partners today visited Jubaland’s capital, Kismayo, where it held meetings on how the country can implement the national priorities it has set for the coming year.
“We are here to engage with a range of stakeholders, and to hear their views on how key national priorities can be achieved in 2020. These include preparations for ‘one-person, one-vote’ elections, finalisation of the Federal Constitution, continued progress towards debt relief, and the fight against Al-Shabaab,” the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan, said on behalf of the delegation.
“Ahead of this critical year,” Mr. Swan said, “representatives of some of Somalia’s multilateral partners are engaging with national authorities, Federal Member States, elders and civil society, across the country. We regret that on today’s visit, some invited civil society and community leaders were unable to meet with us.”
The delegation was comprised of the European Union’s (EU) Ambassador to Somalia, Nicolas Berlanga; the African Union (AU) Mission in Somalia’s Chief of Mission Support, Major-General Fidza Dludlu; and a Senior Advisor of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Jamal Ahmed Ibrahim.
The four officials held meetings with Jubaland’s President Ahmed Mohamed Islam ‘Madobe,’ local elders, civil society representatives and opposition leaders, acknowledging that the political situation in Jubaland remains unsettled.
“However, Jubaland and its people have a role to play in achieving Somalia’s goals in 2020. We did not wish their views to be overlooked,” Mr. Swan noted.
The UN envoy also highlighted that Somalia’s objectives are achievable with the strong collaboration of all stakeholders and that 2020 has the potential to be a historic year for Somalia.
“We encourage all Somali leaders, institutions and communities to engage in dialogue to agree a way forward, and to cooperate to realise the priorities agreed for the year ahead,” Mr. Swan said.
Dhawaan waxaa magaalada Dhuusamareeb lagu gaaray is-faham dhex-maray Federaalka iyo Ahlu Sunna kaas oo meesha ka saaray mad-madowgii hareeyay doorashada Galmudug bilihii la soo dhaafay, sida ku cad qoraaladii ka soo baxay Wasaaradda Arrimaha Gudaha (11/12/19) iyo hoggaanka Ahlu Sunna (12/12/19).
Hoggaanka Ahllu Sunna iyo RW Kheyre
Is-fahmkan oo ay ka shaqeeyeen wax-garad reer Galmudug ah iyo xubno kamida beesha caalamka oo ka hawl-gala Muqdisho, waxaa lagu tilmaami karaa mid taariikhi ah oo yimid xilli baahi badan loo qabo in laga gudbo is-mariwaaga siyaasaddeed ee ka jira deegano kala duwan oo dalka kamida.
Sanad ka hor suuragal ma ahayn in laga hadlo ama la maleeyo inuu dhici karo heshiis noocan oo kale oo ku dhisan isu-tanaasul iyo xeerin danta guud iyo sidoo kale in xubnaha beesha caalamku soo hadal-qaadan arrimo caynkan oo kale ah, waase Alle mahaddii in maanta uu jiro biseyl siyaasaddeed oo ka dhashay khibradihii laga kororsaday dhacdooyinkii sanadihii tagay.
Madaxda Federaalka, hoggaanka Ahlu Sunna iyo dhammaan dhinacyadii ka shaqeeyay xal u helidda xaaladda Galmudug, waxa ay muddan yihiin boggaadin iyo dhiirigelin. Tillaabadan ay qaadeenna waxa ay abuuraysa rajo ku aadan furdaaminta khilaafaadka kale ee aanan weli la xallin, gaar haan khilaafka Fedraalka iyo Jubbaland oo in muddo ah soo jiitamayay.
Bilihii la soo dhaafay Fedraalka iyo Jubbaland mid walba waxa uu adeegsaday waraaqihiisii siyaasaddeed oo uu u arkayay inuu ku meel-marin karo qorshihiisa, suuragalse uma noqon in midkoodna kan kale u duso oo uu difaaciisa jebiyo, marka laga reebo xag-xagasho iyo gacan-togaalaysi sii kordhinaya murugsanaanta xaaladdaha siyaaddaseed iyo kuwa bulsho ee ka jira deeganadaas.
Kol haddii xilligii madaxda Federaalku gabaabsi yahay, muddo sanad ka yarna la qorshaynayo in loo dareero doorashooyinka baarlamaanka, hawlaha Federaalka looga fadhiyo inay dhamaystiraanna ay fara-badan yihiin, taas oo qeyb kamid ah ay tahay hagaajinta xiriirka wada-shaqayn ee kala dhexeeya maamul-goboleedyada si la isula jaan-gooyo qorshaha sugidda amniga, deyn cafinta, dhamaystirka dastuurka iyo doorashooyinka, is-fahamka Dhuusamareebna uu muujiyay dhabaha cusub ee Federaalku u qaaday xallinta khilaafaadka siyaasiga ah, waxaa qumman in wadaxaajoodka Federaalka iyo Jubbaland uu noqdo tillaabada xigta ee mudnaanta leh.
Jubbaland ayaan sinaba uga baaqsan karin wadaxaajood ay la gasho Federaalka, kaas oo u suuragelinaya inay dib u dardargeliso maamulkeeda oo ay habacsanaan badani soo waajahaday khilaafka kadib, iyadoo saamayntaasu aanay ku koobnayn maamulka oo keliya balse hoos ugu daadagtay bulshada.
M/weyne. Axmed Madoobe iyo M/weyne Farmaajo
Astaamaha ay wadaagaan hoggaanka Jubbaland iyo Ahlu Sunna ayaa ah inay labaduba siyaasadda ka soo galeen albaab qura oo ah inay deegaanadooda ka saaraan Alshabaab iyaga oo maleeshiyadii ay hoggaaminayeen Raas Kaambooni (Jubbaland) iyo Ahlu Sunna (Galmudug) oo gacan ka helayay beesha caalamka ay ku guuleysteen inay iska-caabbiyaan Alshabaab. Waxayse maanta ku kala duwan yihiin in Raas Kaambooni uu ku milmay Jubbaland oo aanu ahayn koox gooni u taagan, halka Ahlu Sunna ay weli gooni u taagan tahay, waxaase xusid mudan inay weli ka midaysan yihiin baahida loo qabo inay gaarka ka hayaan in Alshabaab dib ula wareego deegaanada ay ka taliyaan.
Haddaba haddii wadashaqaynta iyo iskaashigu ay lama-huraan u yihiin Federaalka iyo Jubbaland, beesha caalmkuna danaynayso in laga gudbo is-mariwaaga u dhexeeya labada dhinac, is-fahamka Dhuusamareebna aanu ka marnayn “Sidee xeego loo xagtaa ilkana ku nabad-galaan” ?
Waxaan laga fursanayn in Federaalku la yimaado go’aan geesinimo oo uu kula xaajoonayo Jubbaland.
FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks at a news conference following the “1+6” Roundtable meeting at the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing, China November 21, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s executive board has approved a financing plan that will help the IMF cover its share of debt relief for Somalia, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a statement on Wednesday.
The financing plan includes cash grants from member countries and IMF internal resources, she said, without providing any further details of the financing package. Those funds will be used to clear Somalia’s arrears to the IMF.
“This marks a critical step in helping Somalia advance the process of normalizing relations with the international community and making progress toward achieving debt relief under the Heavily-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative,” Georgieva said.
A decision unlocking debt relief could come as soon as members provided the necessary financial commitments, assuming Somalia’s government continued its strong reform efforts, she added, without giving a specific date.
The African nation has about $5 billion in external debt, accounting for about 100% of its GDP, which the Fund has declared to be unsustainable.
Somali’s finance minister, Abdirahman Duale Beileh, welcomed the news in a posting on Twitter, adding, “We are grateful to all partners for their continued support in our journey to debt cancellation. We will march on with economic reforms.”
Beileh in October cited positive discussions with the United States, Somalia’s biggest creditor, Britain and others during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings, and said he expected a decision in favour of debt relief in February.
Georgieva on Wednesday described debt relief for Somalia was as a priority for the Fund and said she was encouraged by the support of IMF members on the issue.
Debt relief would “help unlock significant new financial resources to address Somalia’s large development needs and poverty reduction,” she said.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame is considering not running for a fourth term once his current tenure ends in 2024 after being in power for more than two decades.
The former rebel leader that helped end Rwanda’s 1994 genocide in which about 800,000 people died has been president since 2000. He won the east African nation’s most election election in 2017 by a landslide after a referendum that extended presidential tenures to two seven-year terms.
“Most likely no,” Kagame said at the Doha Forum when asked whether he’d be seeking a fresh mandate. “I want to have some breathing space but given how things are and how they have been in the past, I have made up my mind where I am personally concerned, that it is not going to happen next time.”
Kagame, 62, has won international acclaim for stabilizing the coffee-producing nation and transforming its economy. Rwanda has one of the fastest-growing African economies, with expansion expected to be 8.5% this year.
Western values, such as democracy, should not be forced on Africa because they are not the silver bullet for the continent’s problems, and leaders there should only be answerable to their electorate, he said.
“Term limits don’t mean one thing everywhere or every time,” he said. “However, this doesn’t justify what some African leaders have done. Some people can spend longer time in office and it is justified and others it is not. Some leaders make it look like it’s the choice of the people and it is not and where it happens it should be respected.”
FILE PHOTO: A desert locust feeds on crops in Laghouat, Algeria, July 29, 2004. Picture taken July 29, 2004. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi/File Photo
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Desert locusts are destroying tens of thousands of hectares of crops and grazing land in Somalia in the worst invasion in 25 years, the United Nations food agency said on Wednesday, and the infestation is likely to spread further.
The locusts have damaged about 70,000 hectares of land in Somalia and neighboring Ethiopia, threatening food supplies in both countries and the livelihoods of farming communities, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
An average swarm will destroy crops that could feed 2,500 people for a year, the FAO said.
Conflict and chaos in much of Somalia make spraying pesticide by airplane – which the FAO called the “ideal control measure” – impossible, the agency said in a statement. “The impact of our actions in the short term is going to be very limited.”
Ashagre Molla, 66, a father of seven from Woldia in the Amhara region 700 km (435 miles) north-east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, said he had so far received no help from the government.
“I was supposed to get up to 3,000 kg of teff (a cereal grass) and maize this year, but because of desert locusts and untimely rains I only got 400 kg of maize and expect only 200 kg of teff.
“This is not even enough to feed my family,” he said.
The locust plague is far more serious than the FAO earlier projected and has been made worse by unseasonably heavy rainfall and floods across East Africa that have killed hundreds of people in the past several months.
Experts say climate shocks are largely responsible for rapidly changing weather patterns in the region.
HOUSTON, — More than one hundred people gathered inside of the international
arrivals terminal at George Bush
Intercontinental Airport Monday to celebrate
the arrival of Ethiopian Airlines’ inaugural flight from Lomé, Togo to Houston. Starting Monday, Ethiopian Airlines began offering direct,
nonstop service between Houston and West Africa three times
per week, officially re-connecting Houston to the six inhabited continents.
Houston Aviation Director Mario Diaz listens attentively as Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam shares his remarks.
“This new connection
speaks to the heart of why Houston Airports exists: to connect
people, businesses, cultures and economies of the world to Houston,”
said Houston Airports Director Mario Diaz. “Houston is
celebrated as having the nation’s largest African community and a thriving oil
and gas industry that has operations in West Africa. This new flight path
further strengthens the international presence and value of the Houston Airport
System.”
A group of
Ethiopian dancers kicked off the celebration as Diaz, Ethiopian Airlines
CEO Tewolde GebreMariam, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia
Michael Raynor and Ethiopian Ambassador to the
U.S. Fitsum Arega sat in the front row. Local leaders of
the Ethiopian community were also on hand for the celebratory event.
“Ethiopian
Airlines’ direct connection to Africa is more than just a
flight path,” said Diaz. “It’s a bridge that will allow our worlds to
intersect, and it’s at that beautiful intersection where our cultural
curiosities will be fulfilled by a deeper understanding, newfound perspective
and appreciation for one another.”
George
Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airports served more than 58 million passengers
last year. Nearly 12 million of those passengers traveled to 68 international
destinations offered from Houston’s Airports.
Houston is among Africa’s largest U.S. trade
partners and is home to numerous multinational corporations, including some of
the world’s largest energy companies that support extensive global operations
in West Africa.
“The
practical and business implications of this endeavor are enormously
positive,” said Diaz. “We are elated that Ethiopian CEO Tewolde
GebreMariam saw the value in this partnership. This is a win for all and stands
to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to our respective economies
annually.”
Ethiopian
Airlines is the 20th foreign flag carrier offering passenger flights out
of Bush Airport. Earlier this year, Ethiopian Airlines was voted the best
airlines in Africa for
the third consecutive year by Skytrax – the premier international air transport
ratings organization.
“The
U.S. is among our most important markets owing to the presence of a large
African community and growing investment, trade and tourism relations with Africa,”
said GebreMariam. “Our new route structure, with additional
frequencies to multiple gateways and the opening of new route to Houston,
is aimed at responding to the market demand and availing the best possible
connectivity between the USA and
over 60 African destinations. The new flights will provide the only direct and
most efficient connections between Houston and West Africa.”
Rabat – Morocco inked a framework agreement with Djibouti to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, mining, and geology on Monday, December 16, in Rabat.
The Moroccan Minister of Energy, Mining and Environment Aziz Rabbah signed the agreement with the Minister of Energy in charge of Natural Resources of the Republic of Djibouti, Yonis Ali Guedi.
The agreement involves exchanging and discussing means to develop bilateral cooperation, in particular between stakeholders and investors of the two countries in the energy and mining sectors.
The framework agreement is part of Morocco’s development of south-south cooperation for the benefit of Africa, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI.
The south-south cooperation is aimed at supporting the sustainable development of African countries, mainly through the sharing of expertise and the strengthening of win-win partnerships, according to the Ministry of Energy, Mining and the Environment.
Ali Guedi, who is on a four-day visit to Morocco from December 15 to 18, stressed that his country seeks to strengthen cooperation with Morocco while benefiting from its expertise in energy and mining to develop renewable energy in Djibouti.
Meanwhile, Rabbah announced that the two countries share broad prospects for cooperation in the fields of renewable energy, electricity, geology, mining, technical cooperation, and human resources training.
In this Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019 photo Fartun Abdi, a 25-year-old Somalian sits at work in Nashville, Tenn. Abdi arrived in the U.S. as refugee with her mother and two step-siblings. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Fartun Abdi last saw her father face-to-face when she was about 1 year old living in Somalia, just before her family separated to flee fighting in the country.
For most of her life, she wasn’t sure her father was alive.
Now a mother of five, Abdi lives in Nashville and works with the Catholic Charities of Tennessee, helping refugees like herself make new homes in America. The future of those efforts was uncertain until Wednesday, when Republican Gov. Bill Lee pointed to his own faith when he rejected an offer by President Donald Trump’s administration to let states halt resettlement.
Abdi found out her father was alive five years ago, and he and several of her siblings remain in Africa amid Trump’s tightened immigration restrictions. Those include substantially lower caps on refugees and a travel ban that blocks citizens of five Muslim-majority countries, including Somalia, and their immediate families from traveling or immigrating to the United States.
Lee’s decision doesn’t dissolve those hurdles to make it to the U.S. as refugees. But Abdi, who said she prayed over Lee’s refugee decision, said she now knows he was listening to her community.
“I’m speechless and very happy with the outcome,” said Abdi, who said she voted for Lee in 2018. “We are happy that Gov. Lee listened and heard the concerns and wishes of refugees. We are glad to have Lee as our governor.”
Lee’s decision put him at odds with top Republicans in the Legislature, who had sued the federal government over its refugee resettlement program and hoped Lee would accept Trump’s offer. Acknowledging pressure from fellow Republicans, Lee put a time limit on his initial approval, saying it was only valid for a year. He even said he supports the lawsuit effort.
“I certainly know there´s disagreement on this subject, but there´s disagreement around most subjects,” Lee told reporters Wednesday. “You agree to disagree and move forward. But I think it´s the right decision and we´re moving forward on it.”
So far, no states have said they plan to reject refugees. About half the states have given written consent to continue resettling refugees.
In September, Trump slashed the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. and authorized state and local governments to refuse to accept them. An executive order says that if a state or a locality has not consented to receive refugees under the State Department’s Reception and Placement Program, then refugees should not be resettled within the state or locality unless the secretary of state decides otherwise.
Some resettlement groups have sued to block Trump’s order.
If a state opts out under Trump’s order, refugees could still move there, but they’d miss out on key aid. For example, they wouldn’t get funding for medical assistance and screenings, employment, social adjustment services and English language training.
More than 2,000 refugees resettled in Tennessee during the 2016 budget year. That number dropped to 478 in 2018 under Trump and and has hit 692 in 2019.
In the wake of the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, lawmakers forged ahead with their lawsuit over the refugee program with the help of a third-party legal outfit, since Attorney General Herbert Slatery declined to take the case. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the lawsuit, which claims the program improperly forces the state to spend money on additional services for refugees, including health care and education. Lawmakers haven’t said whether they’ll ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally said Wednesday they would’ve preferred to “hit the pause button on accepting additional refugees in our state.”
Lee took office in January after a rough GOP primary in which he and his opponents echoed Trump’s tough talk on immigration.
He also went to great lengths to bring up his Christian faith while campaigning. He invoked his beliefs again in his refugee decision.
“The United States and Tennessee have always been, since the very founding of our nation, a shining beacon of freedom and opportunity for the persecuted and oppressed, and particularly those suffering religious persecution,” Lee wrote to the legislative leaders. “My commitment to these ideals is based on my faith, personally visiting refugee camps on multiple continents, and my years of experience ministering to refugees here in Tennessee.”
Advocates have said the program includes rigorous vetting and introduces refugees as reliable members of the workforce.
Abdi spent three years in a refugee camp in Kenya as a child, then came to the U.S. with her mother and two step-siblings. She had been living here for years when she found out that her father was alive in 2014. She said she made the discovery when she saw a man who resembled her in a video, then made calls until she confirmed it. She’s since talked with him on video chats.
Abdi said she might be a stronger person for making her own way in the United States. But at some point, everyone needs family, she said.
“There are certain times when my father would say, `I wish I could just hold one of my grand-kids,´” Abdi said. “Certain things like that get to me.”
Ethiopia’s first-ever satellite, ET-RSS1, is going to space tomorrow Friday.
Ambassador Meles Alem on Thursday said the satellite will be launched at at 03:21 GMT.
According to him, the 70kg multi-spectral remote sensing satellite will blast off into space from China, with its ground station located in Ethiopia at the Entoto space observatory facility.
“Once launched into space, the satellite is expected to monitor the environment and weather patterns for better agricultural planning, drought early warning, mining activities and forestry management,” he said in a statement.
The satellite was built in collaboration with Ethiopian engineers, who were trained from the scratch, and has made way for the exchange and transfer of knowledge and technology between Ethiopia and China.
Last year Kenya launched its first space satellite which is being used to observe farming trends.
It was launched from an International Space Station in Florida, the United States on April 2.
The satellite was developed by the University of Nairobi in collaboration with the University of Rome.
“This is a milestone in Kenya’s exploration into space,” Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma said.
The selected team was first announced during the TICAD VI, as a beneficially of the first round of the KiboCUBE Programme.
KiboCUBE is an initiative that offers educational and research institutions from developing countries, the opportunity to deploy cube satellites (CubeSats) from the Japanese Kibo module of the International Space Station (ISS).
The Kenyan Cube Satellite was developed under the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is Japan’s national aero-space agency.
It was delivered to JAXA on January 16, 2018, in preparation for its deployment into space.
The University of Nairobi christened it as “First Kenya University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight (1KUNS-PF).”
Mogadishu – Somalia’s international partners* reaffirm the importance of timely and effective preparations of the 2020/21 federal elections.
At the Somalia Partnership Forum on 2 October, the Federal Government committed to enact the Electoral law and the amended Political Parties Law by December 2019. The Government further pledged to include at least 30 per cent minimum quota for the representation of women in parliament in line with commitments made before the previous electoral cycle; to establish security arrangements to allow as wide a participation of the Somali voting population as possible; and to conclude the electoral processes on the basis of credible, peaceful, “one person, one vote” free and fair elections by the end of 2020/early 2021. These undertakings are based on long-standing pledges by a wide range of Somali leaders to hold a direct, ‘one person, one vote’ elections in 2020/21. The partners urge the fulfilment of these commitments.
In recent days, international partners have held consultations with the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC), the Speaker of the House of the People and the Speaker of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, the Somali Federal Police Commissioner in his capacity as Chairman of the Electoral Security Task Force and Prime Minister Hassan Khaire. The partners took stock of progress and commended these Somali authorities for the election-related tasks accomplished to date.
In line with the commitments made by the Federal Government and other Somali stakeholders, the partners urge that the future election model should:
Respect the Constitution;
Ensure that the federal elections are held on time in late 2020/early 2021, without extension of the terms of the Executive or Parliament;
Ensure fair representation of all Somali communities;
Afford the Somali people the opportunity to directly elect their representatives through “one person, one vote”;
Include a role for political parties in the elections;
Guarantee a minimum of 30 per cent representation for women in the Federal Parliament;
Enable the broadest possible participation including of internally displaced persons;
Enjoy wide support among all Somali stakeholders;
Be capable of being implemented effectively and securely and of attracting sufficient funding through application of these principles;
Result in peaceful election of leaders who have broad legitimacy, and
Respect the mandate of the National Independent Electoral Commission.
The partners call on the House of the People and the Upper House of the Federal Parliament to complete the adoption of the Electoral Bill and the revised Political Parties Law by the end of 2019. They also call on all stakeholders and institutions in Somalia to set aside their differences and engage in constructive dialogue.
Somalia’s international partners remain dedicated to support the advancement of Somalia’s commitment to good governance. The partners will continue to provide support to the electoral process and stand ready to offer technical expertise to the relevant Somali authorities as they devise a credible and implementable electoral model.
* African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Italy, Kenya, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United Nations and United States.
Mogadishu – Residents of a central Somali town besieged by locusts have taken an unusual approach to fighting the destructive pests: eating them.
Desert Locusts threaten agricultural production in the Horn of Africa
Locals in Adado have started consuming the insects that have invaded their town and rural areas. Islamic scholars have declared them halaal and so permissible to eat.
Pictures of people cooking and eating the locusts were circulating widely Thursday on social media and on television broadcasts.
Some residents said that the insects are “delicious.”
Somalia faces the worst outbreak of desert locust in more than 25 years, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in an emergency update issued on Wednesday.
The situation has been “exacerbated by exceptionally high rainfall and cyclone Pawan,” the FAO said. The invasive grasshoppers have damaged crops and pasture in Ethiopia and Somalia, and will likely spread to neighbouring countries if not stopped, it added.
“Limited resources and capacity compared to the immense scale of the outbreak, coupled with continued insecurity in central and southern Somalia, pose a serious challenge to combat this unprecedented massive outbreak,” the organization warned.
Somalia offers production sharing agreements for upstream petroleum operations. Following years of instability the government has launched its First Offshore Licensing Round, which will continue into 2020. New legislation to accompany the round is awaiting enactment by parliament. If enacted, the new legislation would implement a royalty of between 5-35% and a profitability-based profit sharing mechanism. Additional legislative uncertainty remains whilst updates to the constitution are pending. Contracts signed before 1991 would be required to be renegotiated under the new terms. Any successful renegotiations are likely set the tone for future investment in the area.
Somalia Upstream Fiscal and Regulatory Guide, presents the essential information relating to the terms which govern investment into Somalia’s upstream oil and gas sector.
The report sets out in detail the contractual framework under which firms must operate in the industry, clearly defining factors affecting profitability and quantifying the state’s take from hydrocarbon production. Considering political, economic and industry specific variables, the report also analyses future trends for Somalia’s upstream oil and gas investment climate.
CAIRO — On Dec. 2, Capital Ethiopia reported that Ethiopia is preparing to establish a naval base at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, which is considered the first to be based on the coast of Djibouti. Observers believe this Ethiopian move is a new pressure card on the Egyptian regime regarding the negotiation track of the Renaissance Dam. Meanwhile, on Dec. 4, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi telephoned his Djiboutian counterpart, Ismail Omar Guelleh, to stress his readiness to coordinate with him on security and stability issues in Africa.
President of Egypt and Chairperson of the African Union Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during the G20 conference Compact with Africa, Berlin, Germany, Nov. 19, 2019.
On Dec. 8, Commander in
Chief of the Egyptian armed forces Lt. Gen. Mohamed Zaki ordered
a military transport plane with urgent humanitarian aid aboard to head for
Djibouti to help it cope with the repercussions of the recent floods in
the country.
According to Capital Ethiopia, the Ethiopian navy will be
stationed on the coasts of Djibouti, while the naval command and the navy’s
headquarters will be based in Bahir Dar, capital of the Amhara region in
northwest Ethiopia, under the leadership of Brig. Gen. Kindu Gezu.
This development followed an Oct. 20 visit by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali to
Djibouti, during which he met with Guelleh and discussed inaugurating the naval
base.
On March 13, Ethiopia and France signed their
first agreement on military cooperation. “The unprecedented defense cooperation
agreement provides a framework … and significantly paves the way for
France to help establish an Ethiopian naval entity,” French President Emmanuel Macron said
at a press conference on the same day.
The Capital Ethiopia article also underlined
that the base comes with French support and that a number of Ethiopian
navy personnel are currently receiving training in France.
Although the Egyptian government has made no official statements commenting on the Ethiopian move, an anonymous security source told Az-Zaman on Dec. 10 that Egypt was anxiously following up on the establishment of the Ethiopian base, given the impact of this move on Egyptian national security and Arab security.
Maj. Gen. Hatem Bashat, a member of the Egyptian parliament’s African Affairs Committee, told Al-Monitor that Egypt rejects any violation of its national security on the Red Sea or any Ethiopian pressure to change the course of the Renaissance Dam negotiations. He said the committee is in the process of studying the matter and holding internal meetings to discuss the impact this naval base could have on Egyptian and Arab security, after which it will coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and concerned authorities for immediate action.
Bashat confirmed that Egypt has a strong and
effective presence on the Red Sea and can protect national and Arab
security, without threatening Egyptian interests at the entrance to the
Suez Canal or at Bab el-Mandeb.
Egypt has several naval bases on the Red Sea and on Mediterranean coasts, the most
important of which are the bases of Alexandria (Ra’s el-Tin and Abu Qir), Port
Said, Suez, Port Safaga, Matrouh, the military berth in Damietta Port, the
military berth in Hurghada Port and the military berth in Sharm El Sheikh
Port.
The Red Sea is one of the most important corridors of global navigation and trade, with
approximately 3.3 million barrels of oil transiting daily. Several countries
share its waters, namely Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Djibouti
and Eritrea.
Maj. Gen. Jamal Mazloum, military expert and
advisor to Nasser High Military
Academy, told Al-Monitor he
believes this step is nothing but an Ethiopian political maneuver and does not
come within the framework of its willingness to go into war with Egypt in the
event Cairo resorts to the use of power to strike the Renaissance Dam
— as some claim — especially since the naval base will not be built overnight.
In addition, the Egyptian army’s capabilities
are way more superior to its Ethiopian counterpart, Mazloum noted.
According to Global Firepower,
the Ethiopian army ranks No. 47 among the 137 most powerful armies in the
world, while the Egyptian army ranked 12th for 2019.
Cairo has been seeking for years to resolve the
crisis of the Renaissance Dam — which Addis Ababa is building on the
Nile at a value of $5 billion — through negotiations with Khartoum
and Addis Ababa, but no agreement has been reached yet on the rules for filling
and operating the dam reservoir.
This prompted Sisi to appeal to the international community to intervene in order to maintain regional
security, and he called on the United States and the World Bank to
intervene as a mediator in the hope of reaching an agreement that satisfies all
parties.
While Egypt perceives the dam as a matter of life or death and believes it will lead to the
desertification of agricultural lands and reduce the generation of electric
energy from the High Dam, Ethiopia insists on its approach, considering the
dam vital in its
development and saving its
population of about 107 million from poverty.
Mazloum said, “Ethiopia is trying to get a
message across and tell Egypt that it is strong and capable of confrontation
and will not be afraid to use its forces. The recent hostile statements to
Egypt are proof, especially at a time when the latter is silent and did not
mention any military confrontations.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Ali said Oct.
22 during a parliament question and answer session that his country
was ready to mobilize a million people if it had to fight a war
over the Renaissance Dam.
“Some speak about the use of force on Egypt’s
part. We must emphasize that there is no force that can prevent Ethiopia from
building the dam. If there is a need to go into war, we can mobilize millions.
If some people can launch a missile, others can use bombs. However, this does
not serve the interests of either of us,” Ali added.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Askar, a researcher
specializing in East African affairs at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and
Strategic Studies, wrote in Qiraat
African Dec. 11 that
Ethiopia is seeking to secure a foothold in the Red Sea — via Djibouti — with the
aim of playing a military role in the region, by entering as a party to the
regional equation for the security of the Red Sea, and participating with its
forces in securing the southern entrance to the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab
el-Mandeb.
Askar noted there is a strong Ethiopian desire to strengthen its military capabilities due to regional changes and the possibility of any future crises with the countries of the region.
Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji has welcomed the ruling upholding a High Court verdict compelling all governors charged with corruption to step aside.
“It is the duty of all of those who are placed in such positions of trust to understand that the public requires to be served and not be consumed by those they place into such offices,” Haji said.
High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi barred from accessing office governors and other state officers charged with economic crimes.
The landmark ruling has been the subject of an appeal by both governors Moses Lenolkulal (Samburu) and Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu) who were barred from accessing office over ongoing multi-million corruption cases against them.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko who is equally barred from accessing office on same grounds has indicated he will appeal the order.
On Friday, appellate court justices Jamila Mohammed, David Musinga, Steven Gatembu and Agnes Murgor ruled that the order is a constructive measure and does not amount to removal from office.
Haji said the ruling upheld the centrality of public interest as an essential consideration where public officials abuse the public trust.
“The DPP welcomes the ruling of the Court of Appeal in upholding the decision of the High Court barring from accessing the office governors who have been charged with criminal offences,” Haji said in a statement to newsrooms.
The DPP said the ruling was a landmark decision in a country where public officials have increasingly treated their public offices as personal property.
The prosecutor assured that his office will be at the forefront in discharging its mandate without fear or favour in the interest of justice.
In her much-celebrated July 24 ruling, Ngugi declared a section of the law protecting governors charged with criminal offences unconstitutional.
She termed Section 62(6) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act which state officers have been using to cling to office as “entrenching corruption and impunity in the land”.
“It seems to me that Section 62(6) apart from obfuscating […] are contrary to the constitutional requirements of integrity in governance, are against the national values and principals of governance and principles of leadership and integrity in Chapter Six,” Ngugi ruled.
Twitter Inc. removed almost 90,000 accounts linked to the Saudi Arabian government that researchers identified as part of a sweeping, state-backed propaganda campaign to spread their geopolitical interests.
The accounts were “amplifying messages favorable to Saudi authorities” by using their large volume to aggressively like, retweet and reply to tweets related to local and western politics, Twitter said Friday in a blog post. The messaging specifically targeted discussions around Iranian sanctions and the murder of Saudi national and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said Renee DiResta, research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, which analyzed the tweets.
Researchers traced the source of the coordinated activity to Smaat, a Saudi-based social media and marketing company linked to the government which is controlled by the royal family. Smaat’s own accounts have been suspended, along with those of the company’s senior executives, according to the blog post.
Twitter’s decision to suspend the Saudi accounts came a month after two former Twitter employees and a Saudi national were charged by the U.S. with helping Riyadh spy on dissidents who used the social network. Among those charged was Ahmed Saad Almutairi, an executive with Smaat, who was working on behalf of the royal family, according to court filings.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal owned about 4.9% of Twitter, according to company filings on Dec. 31, 2016, which are the most recent records of his stake available.
The campaign removed by Twitter is the type that tech companies say they are hunting down in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in which Russian operatives used platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube to try to sway voter opinion.
Facebook Inc., for example, had removed more than a dozen “coordinated inauthentic behavior” campaigns this year from countries like Russia, Iran, China and Israel. On Friday, the company announced it had taken down two unconnected networks of more than 1,300 accounts, pages and groups that originated in Georgia, Vietnam and the U.S. for engaging in foreign and government interference. In these efforts, actors spread disinformation and even created fake profile photos using artificial intelligence in an attempt to influence public opinion using false identities, a violation of Facebook’s policies.
The expression or rather the phrase, “Former Somalia”, has come to emerge as a political discourse for dissatisfied Somalis. Where does it come from and what this phrase means to the world in general and the Somalis, in particular, is unknown. It was first coined by Edna Aden, the spouse of late Prime Minister of Somalia Ibrahim Egal, the co-founder of modern secessionist Somaliland. She is an educator, activist and politically skewed to the moderate wing of Somaliland independent movements. She is a fearless women’s rights advocate and contributed much toward the primary health care of Somaliland. Her legion now includes, among other people, Abdul Ahmed III, who wrote articles in WardheerNews, a variation on a theme of Former Somalia. Both offer the colonial context of an argument that advances nationhood. More specifically, they allude to the historical union of 1960 and the birth to the Somali nation as a mistake. And finally both proclaim that Somaliland and Puntland are detached from former Somalia, a country that they believe is engulfed with the scourge of melancholy, former Somalia that they say is stuck with Stone Age misery. In shorty, they demand recognition of Somaliland and Puntland from the world. But is there a “former Somalia “?
To put a caveat, the map of Somalia in the 1930s reveals demarcated
Somali inhabited territories under the rule of three powerful European colonial
masters, the English, the French and the Italians. Hence in the context of
former Somalia, Djibouti, NFD, and Ogaden region are excluded from this
conversation solely based on history and the fact that they are now either
independent country or are under the Ethiopian or Kenyan rule. But to explain this
peculiarity of former Somalia, objective historians would cite the evolution of
the Somali race as indigenous tribes defeated by the European imperial powers.
Additionally, when European powers took control of a vast territory of Somalia,
they not only exploited the land but created false entities under their sphere
and subjugated Somali tribes through violent coercion. Independence was fought
for the continent of Africa followed by the birth of African nations
including the Somali nation. Somalia had a brief civilian government and then
followed by authoritarian rule. The dream of Pan-Somalia lived short and died; a
subsequent disaster triggered by Ethio-Somalia war and the Somali state
collapsed
I presume this cataclysm is being referred to as “former Somalia.”
If not, then what does it means “former Somalia “? I
do not think there is a history of former Somalia. Thus, there is no former
Somalia and this lexis is manipulative and illusive. Of course, there is the
former Soviet Union. There is also a former Chezelovakia. Hong Kong is
currently struggling to retain its original colonial adulation against all odds.
So why this “former Somalia” definition is deceptive is precisely because the
people that coined this phrase have one objective in mind:
to break-up Somalia using a protectorate view at least in so far as Edna’s argument
is concerned.
Whether the protectorate view or not, Adna’s arguments
have many defects: 1) her debate misses the crucial history of the
decolonization of Africa. The fact that there was an immense struggle of people of Africa, a
struggle that marked liberation movements towards
the
yoke of European colonizers is missing in Edna’s separatist playbook. Of
course, it is hardly surprising that her debates make no mention that those who
fought against British imperialist had no desire for statehood.
2)
Unlike other African countries, Edna doesn’t admit that the British Empire used
Somaliland as a garrison for her selfish interest and the British never had in
mind to define Somaliland as a British colonial state. 3) She undermines the
significance of British colonialists to enter multiple
treaties with multiple Somali clans on the warpath. Yet as the
decolonization of Africa reached its climax, the British white settlers
were forced to leave from African continent. Therefore, Northern Somalia was no
exception and the demands of the conscious and Northern Somali clans were answered,
a freedom from oppressive rule. Unfortunately, these significant historical
events are being downplayed for the sole purpose of mutilating Somalia state.
Adna Adan
Another momentous history that she doesn’t
take into account is the ferocity of African decolonization and the sensitivity
of further dividing people who suffered under European rule. Fact is terms of
that faithful union with the Italian Somaliland (South) were left with UN
undertaken, and the ensuing negotiating emphasized a tentative deadline set for
unified Somali independence including Somaliland. By this time, fearing things
may change, Somali Youth League that was dominant in the South covertly infiltrated
in the North and formed coalitions with their brethren in the Northern region.
Existing parties in the North such as SLN, NUF and USP gleefully joined with
the SYL coalition and pushed the unification of Somalia that even surprised the
British Legislative Council that existed at the time. Meanwhile, the Trust
Territory under UN auspices and SYL set another deadline for July 1, 1960, as
the final date for Somali unification and hence the birth of a Somali nation. Back then in April 1960, the British
Legislative Council in the North had no choice but hastily drafted resolutions
to meet this deadline and grant Somali people the independence that they so
desired and marked June 1960 as independence date for the North. But Edna
choreographs this history to her separatist advantage and conflates the non-political
unification of Somalia with her theory of two separate and equal entities that
merged to form Somali state, disregarding the processes and decolonization of
Somalia.
For Abdul, his latest article, “Puntland Bewitched: Questions about Restoration of Puntland’s Sovereignty and The Formal Partitioning of the Former Somalia”, WardhreerNews, September 7, 2019, is another new frontier in a relentless assault on Somali state. What is more startling is his secessionist case for Puntlnad. He expounds Sultanate history that is antic, fictitious, a pseudo-history that borders on delusion. His dominion history of Puntland is nothing but imaginary. Even if it was, and since Abdul is fond of such history, the world of dominion is also replete with the curse of nation-building, full of a bitter lament since ancient Egypt down to the disintegration of the Hapsburg Empire. Abdul who cites European history should know that some nations missed opportunities to form statehood while others snatched victory from collapse without putting a fight. Nation-building` created wars and changed landscapes. Even during and after Habsburg collapse, the very Europeans who ventured for conquest and crossed from their territories to oppress far away natives in other continents suffered in their backyard and lived with two horrific world wars. Thus former Yugoslavia. Former West Germany. Former East Germany! Fake entities were violently created and resolved violently into relics of history. But is Somalia fake? Therefore the assertion that there is a legal argument to justify the break –up of Somalia because there is such a former Somalia is categorically false. Ironically, Somalis accused Ethiopia as an imperial nation and tried to resolve territorial disputes by invading Ethiopia. The rest was history, a history that brought us to debate on these pages but a history that we deny and twist to a secessionism project.
There is a long and bumbled history of Somalia being
denied for statehood. To understand that history, one has to look past injuries
meted against Somali people by the European colonialism. To defy that history,
or condone for that matter, their implicit claim
of nationhood for Somaliland and Puntland is to question
the very legal basis for the existence of Somali state. Or to put in their context, the
breakup of Somalia is legally and morally justified based on colonial history. The
perception that imperialists demarcated Somali tribes and gave legal
definitions as sovereign realms, and hence the unification of Somalia was based
on that legal colonial instrument is the sole argument that impels Edna’s thesis.
She aspires to win nationhood by affirming the Bantustan colonial approach
thereby deconstructing the old British treaties with Northern
Somali clans. Her notion is the antithesis of the decolonization of Africa. A
good example is the old Belgium treaties with Tutsi and Hutus that are
in the dustbin of history. Her
argument is therefore very misleading, incorrect
and contrary to the historical African archives, in short, a hoax.
I argue this because I fail to find relevant and academic research that states
such colonial history exists that flouted the decolonization
of Africa. Not even the Tutsi and Hutus who slaughtered each
other on the brink of annihilation judged old
Belgium treaties to advance the break-up of Rwanda.
The fact that the British backed and left Somaliland
without conditional withdrawal is too difficult for Edna
to swallow. A conditional withdrawal would have been for the colonial British
to sit with the drafters of the constitution of 1960 and ask the drafters to
add a special secessionist clause if things do not work better. But that didn’t
happen because the English never cared about the
constitutional making of Somalia at the time. Why would they? Only Edna thinks
that the British cared, her prolonged joke
on the scramble for Africa.
Ironically, while Somaliland claims to be outside of the
union tent, Abdul’s argument puts Puntland in a pickle, the genie of the
current provisional federal constitution out of the bottle. The reason is not
far to seek: First, Puntland was part of the Italian Trusteeship and even
the so-called Sultanate rulers were the subject of the
Italian administrations and no sovereign Sultanate entity recognized by the
world existed. Secondly, in pre-colonial Somalia, Somali tribes were fiercely
independent and nomadic autonomy aptly characterized the makeup of the Somali population.
Thirdly, during the Italian imperial colony, the populations that mostly migrated
from the hinterlands of Western Somali region settled in the North East, and
the boundaries that encompass from the Nugall region to the margins of Hobyo
were under the Italian rule. Moreover, unlike Abyssinian Kings, the Sultanate
of Nugaal and Hobyo had no recognition from the rest of the world because they
never sought to create a Kingdom based on the feudal system as the culture of
Somali nomads was an abomination to an
oppressive feudal system. Hence, as far as Puntland is concerned, no
history exists on a sovereign domain
that had contact with the rest of the world before or after European colonialism.
Also, after the collapse of the Somali state, and in Post- Arte government,
Puntland was instrumental in the Embaghati process. Not only that Puntland was
a key player during that faithful gathering, but the
region was anti-Unitarian, and by doing so, propelled the idea of
constitutional federalism for Somalia. Accordingly, and as I stated above,
Abdul’s supposition is patently bizarre.
So clearly here we have grievances that are outside of
the collapse of the Somali state. By attempting to revisit history, Abdul fails
to convince us that dividing the country
is historically vindicated. Rather he imagines
dominion narrative in North East Somalia and dismisses the
aberrant history of Italian colony, and willfully ignores the struggle and
partition of Somali people and thereby repudiates the aftermath of that great collapse.
Yet he wants to predict, rather fancying his knowledge of analytical event
prediction modalities, as to why the re-emergence of Somali state is wrong,
cannot be achieved, and according to his assumptions, would waste Puntland’s
time and resources. I do admire numerical analysis to predict events, but Abdul
knows that Somalia is full of events and short of reconciliations.
For Somaliland, the most noteworthy feature
for secession argument is to define the region as a pre-union
protectorate that hastily joined with Southern Somalia. Granted that that
argument was falling on deaf ears, but another spat for self-determination,
however peculiar it may sound, had resurfaced. That is Somaliland and Puntland
are peaceful and prosperous regions, enclaves that pulled themselves from the bootstraps,
and in the process, had incubated democracy and freedom. This theory is also
untrue and both regions are far from democracy, but I concede and commend the
relative peacefulness of the regions. But Edna and Abdul assert that it is about
time that unruly South-central Somalia is kept at bay and hence demand that
their regions be granted full status in the UN as sovereign nations. Note here
the simplistic comparison is based on
puffery and condescending banalities, not about realistic and
historical self-determination such as differences in linguistics, ethnicity
and/or in faith. Their inferences that the evolution of the Somali civil war
left Mogadishu in the cold and the city fell from grace are the driving force
for their separatist penchant. It is true that
Mogadishu is an embarrassment, but not enough to break-up a country. If
Mogadishu lost the moral compass to govern, it is better to fix so that this
long and arduous project of Somali state-building comes to end. This is another
marketing tool for Somaliland and Puntland to sell for nationhood. For sure,
United Nations agencies are falling into this
ploy and these agencies that affirmed the protection against
“former
Somalia ” is, in fact, part of this international Somali gerrymandering.
The idea of self-determination advanced by Edna and Abdul
is an idea whose time and relevance is no longer valid. In the post-world order,
it was even difficult to reshape Iraq, a country with many ethnics and
religious sects. Besides, if the world was sensible enough, and if Briton had cared aesthetics of Hong
Kong with its prosperity to boot, they would not have handed Hong Kong to
communist China. But the treaty to hand over Hong Kong to China, apart from its
legal context, was embedded by the concept of shared history and common
affinity with people of common ancestry. On July 1, 1997, British colonial
contract with China ceased to exist once and for all, as it did in Somalia in
June 1960 when numerous treaties forged by the British with Northern Somali
clans came to halt. So why Edna is revisiting dead colonial contracts? And if I
may add what is the benefit of Abdul to invoke the
Weimer Republic? Strangely, he considers Puntland as an ancient nation that was
morphed into a tiny and humiliated race. He further warns its people to be
conscious about the pitfalls of Somali unity because the recreation of Somali
state is, in his own words, similar to the Weimer Republic. These analogies are
not only a farce but a dishonest proposal designed to oppose the revival of the
Somali state. In other words, why Abdul is equating Somali people with German experience?
It seems to me that never again former Somalia debate lacks utilitarian
dialogue for what went wrong with the collapse of the
Somali state, continues to undermine our honest conversation to resolve the
Somali question, and serves only for minority elites in their hegemonic effort in the status quo. Their
argument is full of pretensions, the Orwellian warning in his classical essay, Politics and the English Language.
Let’s look at the fixing attitudes to the experts. Buzen
and Weaver (1990), two experts on peace and security issues, argue with the opposite:
regional conflicts are best addressed by the regions themselves to contain the
influx of refugees, manage illegal arms trafficking and counter-terrorism. Although
Buzen and Weaver had in mind the entire Horn Africa region, they nevertheless
argue that instability of one region may inadvertently impact on the
neighboring region. As to these duos, hitherto we have a rhetorical failed
state argument, a feeble and flawed assumption that some regions are better
than others and therefore the world community must accept secession as the
solution for Somalia. No collective effort to reach out to the South and fix
the nation as a whole and avoid conflict spillover and the engulfing scenarios.
This mortal and existential threat to marginalize the center to attain
self-determination for the periphery is, among other factors, as to why Somalia
will not have a legitimate state.
Sadly, this
isolationist fervor was caught by other regions. For example, the proclamation
of Kismayo conference held in Kismayo in October 2017 was not about a
conference on regional alienation, not about stakeholder consultations with reform, and not
about a legitimate grievances to fix federalism and counter centralist
tendencies towards Villa Somalia, but a wedge to distant from
the center and encourage the peripheries to stand alone. The ramifications of
that Kismayo conference were too much to bear
for the current administration, a terrible decision that punishes Somali people.
On the other hand, President Farmajo, rather than appeal to his common sense
and show statesmanship, expended so much energy for removing leaders that participated in
that Kismayo conference. Hence Villa Somalia succumbed to this trap and paid a
dear price. Yet the crisis of state-building continues unabated, and dismally,
whatever gains made under the Embaghati process are now on the brink of
collapse.
Consequently, if Edna and Abdul care much about their regions,
the footprints of former Somalia wouldn’t have been on display. They should
know that Somaliland and Puntland also suffer from terrible public
infrastructure development. That is since the collapse of the regime, and when
it comes to dollars and sense, Somalia is a case study for public economic disaster.
Because of this stand of, and using on the back of my envelope calculations,
Somalia lost billions of dollars due to her lack of legitimate state. Legitimacy
is essential to do business with the world. Conversely, and if one compares to
neighboring countries using statistical tallies, the disparity between
GDP
is shocking, a perverse arc of progress. No one understood that regional devolution,
with its framework of fiscal policies (transfer payments), would require
collective effort in the collective benefits.
The world is also acutely aware of the genesis of Somali conflict and countries
that sympathize with Somali tragedy blatantly opposes dismemberment of Somalia.
Yet in the race against time, the Somali dilemma continues, affectively putting
the destiny and aspiration of the people of Somalia in a straight jacket.
In my opinion, what this reminds us most is that all
regions of Somalia that dared to secede including Somaliland had lost crucial
resources for development. To rebuild the current debilitated infrastructure
the
footprints of “former Somalia”, regions would require massive funds. But that
depends on how regions look into the political unification of the country and
undo their attempt to have a bilateral relationship between
the
worlds. Needless to say, the present-day UNDP development scheme is futile and
has unintended consequences. We all know that the little UNDP funds earmarked
for things like the capacity building doesn’t
build a strong nation. For sure it lacked aggregate development undertaken as
these funds were intend for Band-Aid solutions to the civil war problems.
So this paradoxical and mutually conflicting desire had limited the scope and
thinking of many regional leaders, not knowing that under their thumps are vast
territories that inhabit the majority of Somali populations. So why only blame
Villa Somalia for the political map of Somalia?
Somali Elites: Tobias Hogman, academic, and analyst on Somalia,
in his commentary on the politics of Somali state-building, shifted and rightly
so, from the conventional wisdom (Stabilization, Extraversion, and Political
Settlements in Somalia. Rift Valley Institute, 2016). His methodical
investigation into Somali phenomena is
its first kind, and more specifically, he blames Somali political stasis on
Somali elites. He articulates that Somali elites are the culprits behind the status
quo. Without mincing words, he puts this stagnation squarely on the shoulders
of Somali elites and their corporatist counterpart, the war profiteers. Borrowing
the idea of extroversion from Jacques Bayert, the French Africanist,
as well as from the pioneering work of Professor Salim Nadir, a development theorist
of the 1970s, Tobias debunked the common sociological factors in post-conflict
state-building and unmasked Somali elites. He revealed them as benefactors of
misery and was short of accusing them of criminals that perpetuate the
suffering of their people.
Hogman’s assertion is self-evident: Somali crisis of
state-building, he says, is the product of two camps, the elite natives who manufacture,
recycle, and ultimately benefit from crisis of state-building; and the
malfeasance of the international partners who became bureaucratically
frustrated
and endorsed the model of ” contain and manage “, the incorporated
development mission that account to no one except to their big donors. The
latter is complex and run by a complex industry and I do not want to go into details.
But who owns this nation? I think this fundamental question must be answered by
Abdul and Edna. Refusing to own and pissing outside of the union tent have
failed miserably. It seems to me that Edna and Abdul, wittingly or unwittingly,
are defending these failed elites at the expense of the poor and marginalized. These
failed elites include “selected “leaders of Somali regional states that have gripped on Somalia
notwithstanding the missing social contract with Somali people (i. e,
final constitutional federalism including jurisdictional issues and Bill of
Rights).
At issue here that is more relevant is how Edna and Abdul
overlook the plutocratic class that amassed so much wealth
at expense of the poor– the Somali tycoons who thrive in the war economy and
make money in a pariah state. Frankly, that is where Edna and Abdul should
direct their wrath. While these tycoons run entire Somalia including Somaliland
and Puntland, it is no secret that the dominant ones and biggest offenders call
home in Mogadishu. Shabaab on the other hand openly collects taxations, or what
they refer to “saka “. Those who refuse to pay will face deadly consequence
including suicide bombings and assassinations. Of course, this has undermined
the legitimacy of the government but the educated
elites
cave and disregarded their moral duty to challenge.
We need a parading shift to critically comprehend that the world is so cruel to
micromanage Somali sovereignty, and Somali people may also find themselves in a
tough neighborhood, but Somali masses in empty bellies could hardly understand
the unequal powers. They complain of foreign forces meddling in their internal
affairs as well as business classes that manipulate the Somali economy. Worse,
the central government, whether you recognize it or not, or whether you wish to
undermine its legitimacy or not, is wretchedly helpless. It is no secret that
corruption and ineptitude are also widespread in the transitional institutions.
Given these fundamental problems, let us not expect
Somalia to be resuscitated from its inert transitions. Its citizens had already
suffered from harrowing escape, and we continue to witness the painful
tragedies of young people venturing into alien and treacherous lands, not to
mention the horrific images of their capsized boats in the high seas. To
reverse this, we must fight economic injustices and hold accountable for the
rising plutocracy as well as regional demagogues. But that would require bold leadership,
visionary people who could rise above the fray of the petty
projects engineered by big donors in the Halane green zone while questioning
the deeply rooted culture of winner takes all. One should know that those who
are hiding behind Halane compound are not there to distribute Somali resources,
but to handout the little aid collected from friends of Somalia, and to borrow from
Graham Wilcox’s characterizations, are now
bogged down to “lording over poverty”. This post Somalia collapse order
has already pitted Villa Somalia against regional leaders and the nation is now
in limbo. As such Somalia needs to
reconcile itself, own its security problems, and finalize its constitutional federalism.
To do that, we must urge Somali elites to address a myriad of social,
constitutional and economic issues including the reunification of the political
map of Somalia, adhering to the principles of good governance, establishing
regulatory public agencies, addressing social and economic inequities, as well
as revitalizing the public finance and legitimizing the Somali Shilling.
A Continuation of the status quo is anathema to a viable
state-building, violates the principles of social justice including the basic
civil rights of the Somali people wherever they may be, whether they are in
Somaliland or Puntland. These masses were left to fend themselves; others are
fleeing from poverty and injustices, while a huge number of poor people remain
IDPs in their own country. The defeatists who seek solutions to the break-up of the
country must not mitigate the challenges to the failed state narrative. To be fair,
they are not alone, and since the great collapse, the
struggle to face these problems has shaken the collective
confidence of Somali people. As one friend of mine has shared with me about this
quandary, he told me submissively, that when Shabaab obliterates
Somali blood and Somali properties, Somalis only mourn until they clean up the
debris and bury the victims. What is missing, he says, is never again answer! That
answer is not and was not the responsibility of Nickolas Kay or current
UN
rep for Somalia, James Swan. That answer cannot and will not be found from the
cursives of the colonial masters. It is the responsibility of Somali people
including Edna and Abdul.
WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board on Friday approved a three-year $2.9 billion financing package to support Ethiopia’s economic reform program, the IMF said.
The agreement, supported by the Fund’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF), “aims to support the authorities’ implementation of their ambitious reform agenda and catalyze concessional donor financing,” the IMF said in a statement.
The Ethiopian economic reform program would focus on addressing the foreign exchange shortage and transitioning to a more flexible exchange rate regime, while working to strengthen oversight and management of state-owned enterprises.
It would also work to free up domestic revenue for poverty-reducing and essential infrastructure spending; financial sector reforms to support private investment and modernize the monetary policy framework; and strengthening of the supervisory framework and financial safety nets, the IMF said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged to undertake economic reforms when he took office last year, with a focus on leveraging private sector investment to help provide jobs for unemployed youth among the nation’s 100 million people.
Foreign exchange shortages have worsened in the past five years as the government spent heavily on infrastructure before export earnings from new sectors such as manufacturing took off.
School head Adan Abdirahman Adan teaching some of the street children he has taken under his care/Mohamed Salah/Ergo
Sharmarke Ali Ahmed, 11, is among 10 street children who have started a new life in Garowe, in northern Somalia’s state of Puntland, thanks to the support of the principal of a local primary school.
“I used to sniff glue and sometimes we would sleep on an empty stomach,” Sharmarke told Radio Ergo. “Now I have started studying, I observe my prayers, I get food and a place to sleep!”
Sharmarke was working as a shoe shiner when he decided to join the street boys and make the roadside his bed. When he went back home after a few days sleeping rough, he was beaten by his uncle and ran away from home for good.
He was fortunate to meet Adan Abdirahman Adan, the headteacher at Aden Mashru’ School.
Adan was disturbed to see so many young children living on Garowe’s streets and shared the findings of a survey he conducted with Sahan FM, a local radio station in town. The radio organized a call-in show to raise funds for the children.
Adan said he spent the $300 raised by listeners to buy clothes for the children. But he found he could not stop there, as he told Radio Ergo:
“I made friends with 18 of these children. Every morning I used to visit them where they slept, I even helped them get a haircut. After they trusted me, I asked them, what if I take you home, help you get education and support you – and they all agreed.”
The children come from families that have broken up through parental death, divorce and general grinding poverty.
Adan says he was unable to ignore the children’s plight and has spent $600 on food and support for them in the past two months.
Yussuf Hussein was abandoned by his parents who went to Mogadishu for medical treatment.
“A year ago my parents left me to live with a neighbouring family, but life was too hard so I joined the street children. I have not heard any information from my parents,” he said.
Life in the street was certainly not comfortable.
“When you sleep by the roadside, you get woken up by donkeys and watchmen all the time. But now I sleep peacefully, nobody wakes me up! I am getting an education and going to work,” Yussuf said.
Adan allows the children to work as shoe-shiners in the mornings to earn some pocket money for themselves. But after that, they have to focus on their lessons, including Somali, mathematics and Koranic studies.
Puntland has no formal support system for the care and rehabilitation of street children, so the burden has fallen on well-wishers like Adan.
“My goal is to see no child living in the streets,” he told Radio Ergo.
Adan focuses on children under the age of 15. However, he says he can only care for them for a year, after which time he will enroll then in public schools and the government should then take over responsibility.
