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By: Jamal Gabobe
Those who listen to HornAfrik radio would have probably noticed that
it is following a new approach to Somaliland these days. Whereas in
the past it used to only feature southerners and a few individuals of
Somaliland origin who espouse anti-Somaliland views and who live in
Mogadishu or abroad, these days HornAfrik seems to have expanded its
coverage to include Somalilanders who live in Somaliland. Normally,
this should make me happy. But instead of being happy, I am asking
myself what is HornAfrik up to? The reason I am asking questions
instead of being pleased is because HornAfrik has a history which I
have been following for a while. My awareness of HornAfrik begins
with the early days of the Arta group when HornAfrik was one of
Abdiqasim Salad Hasan's propaganda organs. Then at some point
HornAfrik and Abdiqasim Salad fell out. I did not know why they fell
out at the time. All I knew was that HornAfrik accused Abdiqasim
Salad Hasan of sending armed men to occupy their radio station, and
that they recognized some of these armed men and they were Abdiqasim
Salad Hasan's own bodyguards. When Abdiqasim Salad Hasan was asked
why he sent his men to take over HornAfrik, he denied it and said
what happened was that Horn Afrik accused some people who used to
finance them of being terrorists and that those financiers got angry
and took over the radio station.
At first HornAfrik was defiant and accused Abdiqasim of trying to
muzzle the press. Then they started to backtrack, explaining in the
most submissive manner to "Mudane, Madaxweynaha Sharafta leh
Abdiqasim Salad" that they had not accused him or anyone else of
being al-Qaida, and that all they did was that they aired a report by
their correspondent in Eldoret, Mohammed Haji Ingriis in which he
mentioned that an Ethiopian scholar by the name of Tadesse had
published a book that mentioned several prominent people in Mogadishu
as members of al-Qaida. HornAfrik defended itself by pointing out
that the emphasis in the report it aired was on the rebuttal by
respectable individuals in Mogadishu who said the claims about the
individuals mentioned in the report were baseless. HornAfrik also
asserted that it was justified in releasing Mr. Ingris's report
because the book itself was available in both Eldoret and Mogadishu.
This episode raised many questions, but the question that interested
me the most was this: what was the connection between Abdiqasim Salad
and HornAfrik and why did it change?
I found the answer to this last question in an interview that
HornAfrik did with the Arta Faction's Prime Minister, Hasan Abshir
Farah. While discussing with him his accusations against Abdiqasim
Salad Hasan's corruption and mismanagement of the funds received from
Arab countries, HornAfrik asked Hasan Abshir Farah since he has been
in Kenya for so long, how did he know that Abdiqasim Salad Hasan had
kept the money to himself and did not pay the salaries of government
employees and the bills owed. Hasan Abshir's answer was simple and
straightforward: “you in HornAfrik should know because you were not
paid the $10,000 the TNG owes you.”
Mr Hasan Abshir Farah provided part of the answer to my question. But
it raised other questions: What did HornAfrik do for Abdiqasim Salad
Hasan for the $10, 000? Was this all that it received from him? Given
HornAfrik’s connection to Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, how should
Somaliland look at HornAfrik’s activities regarding Somaliland?
My little investigation into HornAfrik was led by two principles. The
first one was deep throat's advise to Bob Woodward during the
Watergate investigations: "follow the money". The second principle is
that many scholars have pointed out the close connection between
warlordism, illicit business and political interests in Mogadishu.
Mr. Abshir's assertions shows that HornAfrik fit this pattern of
links between business and political interests. When one traces the
sequence of events in the relationship between HornAfrik and
Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, one can say it has all the markings of a
business deal that has gone sour. All of which raises the question:
is HornAfrik an independent radio station or is it an entity that is
enmeshed in deals with shady characters. That is why I am concerned
about its activities among Somalilanders instead of being pleased.
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