SOMALILAND FORUM
www.somalilandforum.com
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EDITORIAL
The Way Forward
The nation has given a
hero’s funeral to late President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal. The transfer of power
has been smooth as Dahir Riyale Kahin assumed the Presidency of the Republic.
The new President has been
welcomed by all Somalilanders, and moreover, there is no sign of any power
struggle.
On the contrary, feelings
of national unity have never been stronger with an overwhelming majority of
Somalilanders showing increased faith and commitment to the country’s
constitutional democracy in the wake of the peaceful transition of power.
Despite the positive developments of last week, there are however some vitally
important issues that need to be addressed in a proper and timely manner so
that Somaliland can move forward to the future with confidence.
Filling the vacant
position of vice president is definitely a top priority issue anticipated to be
dealt with in the immediate future. Constitutionally, only the president has
the jurisdiction to nominate someone for this job, and there is no doubt that
Mr. Riyale is going to exercise this authority. But we do believe that the
president would be better advised if he held extensive prior consultations on
this matter with all sides, including those not in the government. Other than
being qualified for the job, the next vice president must be a man of integrity
who can work with the President. And we hope President Riyale will wisely
choose a capable teammate.
Devising a
constitutionally based and broadly acceptable framework for holding fair and
free elections in the country is the next issue that needs to be tackled. There
is no doubt that this is a tough and a challenging task. However we are
encouraged by the prevailing mood of national unity to expect that a consensus
could be reached amongst all stakeholders (the president, parliament leaders,
representatives of political parties and civil society groups) on the subject
of how and when the people of this country will be able to go to the polls to
elect their future government. This issue has to be resolved well ahead of the
deadline set for the incumbent government to remain in office.
Thirdly and finally, the
rampant corruption in both the public and private sectors should also be given
an urgent attention. Realistically though, nobody expects corruption and tax
evasion to be overcome any time soon. However the earlier that something is
done about this disease, the better.
In this respect, the new
leadership should show no mercy to any government employees or private
individuals who might be tempted by the present situation to illicitly acquire
public or private properties.
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Somalilanders Rally Around
President Riyale
Hargeisa (SL Times): The overwhelming majority of Somalilanders are
rallying around their new President, Dahir Riyale Kahin.
Mr. Riyale was sworn in as
president of Somaliland only on May 3, 2002 to succeed Mohamed Ibrahim Egal who
died hours earlier in a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.
Since his inauguration, the new President has become a symbol of national unity. Messages of support for him have been coming from all parts of Somaliland. Last night he was scheduled to receive a number of Suldans belonging to “Somaliland Council of Suldans,” a group that previously supported the idea of holding a national inter-clan conference to elect the future government of Somaliland. The government had described the call for the inter-clan conference (Shir Beled) as unconstitutional and unwarranted. According to a source close to the group, the Suldans were to express support and allegiance for the new Somaliland leader.
Mr. Riyale has announced earlier
that his government will hold municipal, parliamentary and presidential
elections all in the next 8 months. He added, “Any residual differences over
this issue are likely to be eventually resolved through dialogue.”
Mr. Riyale, a member of the
Gadabursi clan of western Somaliland had been Egal’s vice president since Feb
1997. His smooth assuming of power as President on May 3 was remarkable in that
he is not from the predominant Isaaq clan, observers have said.
The speaker of the Somaliland House
of Representatives, Mr. Ahmed Mohamoud Adan (Qaybe) is also a non-Isaaq.
Tens
Of Thousands Bid Farewell To Late President Egal
Berbera (SL Times): Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, late President of the
Republic of Somaliland, was buried at Berbera on last Monday. Tens of thousands
of Somalilanders attended the funeral, which started from Berbera international
airport to the cemetery, about 12 miles away at the southwestern edge of the
port city.
Egal died in a South African
hospital on Friday May 3, 2002 following complications from a medical
procedure. Egal who was born in 1929 died from laceration that happened while
he was getting a colonoscopy, which is a procedure for examining the colon and
rectum.
President Egal’s body was flown to
his hometown of Berbera, at the southern entrance of the Red Sea, early Monday.
The plane carrying his coffin arrived at Berbera airport on 7:15am and was met
there by Somaliland’s new President Dahir Riyale Kahin, leaders and members of
parliament and thousands of mourners who crowded the airstrip. Mr. Tekede
Alemu, Ethiopia’s minister of state for foreign affairs was also present at the
ceremony. A military band played the national anthem, the coffin was draped in
Somaliland’s green, white and red flag.
The funeral procession arrived at
the gravesite at around 9:00am. Egal’s shroud-wrapped body was then lowered by
his three sons into a grave next to his father, Ibrahim Egal. The burial
rituals ended on 9:30.
Since Saturday thousands of people
from all walks of life have been pouring into Berbera to pay their last respect
to the late president who was later given a hero’s funeral.
“Egal
Was The Leading Statesman In Our Sub-Region,”
Said
Takede Alemu, Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Berbera (SL Times): The following are excerpts of a
statement by Mr. Tekede Alemu, Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
during the funeral of late President Egal:
“What we have
seen in the last three days since President Egal has passed away is the smooth
transition of power in Somaliland. What we have seen is that Somaliland has
very robust institutions of government. This is a lesson to the people of the sub-region and to
the people of Africa as a whole. We in Ethiopia take this very seriously.
Because the peace and stability that have been
achieved in Somaliland over last 12 years, has been extremely critical for us,
for Ethiopia and as far as I am concerned for the sub-region as a whole. This
is the legacy that Egal has left behind. And he and his colleagues have made a
historic achievement. It’s our hope that these achievements will be nurtured,
and that the people of Somaliland will continue to show the necessary resolve,
the necessary determination to protect their peace and stability which is so
important not only for themselves but for the sub-region as a whole. This is
how we look at President Egal and his achievements. He has been a towering
political figure in Africa for the last 5 decades. He has been active in Somali
and African politics for 50 years.
He was one of the greatest
statesmen in Africa without any doubt. He has been the leading statesman in our
sub-region without any doubt. And his achievements we see today here in
Somaliland.
Any person, who sees this
outpouring of emotions, can’t ignore how the people of Somaliland are committed
to their peace and stability. As I said earlier, the smooth transition has
demonstrated how much the people of Somaliland have done for the last 11 years,
to put in place the necessary institutions of governance. And that is not easy
for any country in Africa. We know what the consequences are when a state falls
apart. Therefore this historical achievement which we see confirmed today, we
feel should be given its due importance”.
Mohamed Ibrahim Egal President
Of Somaliland
Independent, UK 08
May 2002
By Richard Greenfield
On Monday the body of the first
President of an African country quietly left a hospital in Pretoria on a last
journey, back to his capital city, Hargeisa, in the Republic of Somaliland – a
country recognized not by the United Nations, not by the regional
organizations, nor any other nation, African or otherwise. But Mohamed Ibrahim
Egal did have status. In 1993, the elders and citizens of what was once the
British Somaliland Protectorate chose him as President of the "Republic of
Somaliland" precisely because of the supposed influence his name might
have, due to the high standing he had earned amongst that generation of African
leaders who first steered their countries from colonialism to political
independence some half a century ago. But today, especially in the West, few
comprehend the significant sense of history that pervades the Third World.
Egal was born in 1928
at Odweyne, midway between the historic northern Somali trading center and port
of Berbera and the old escarpment town of Sheikh. His father, Ibrahim Egal,
from the Habr Awal section of the Isaaq clan, was a wealthy merchant owning
much property in the days when Berbera had served as the British colonial
capital. To the west lay French territory – now Djibouti. To the east and
southeast was Italian Somalia – now "Puntland" and the chaotic Somali
Republic. To the south lay the Haud and the Ogaden, also in process of "pacification"
but by the armies of the then empire of Ethiopia: their first governor, based
in the walled city of Harar, was Ras Makonnen, the father of emperor Haile
Selassie.
Thus on every frontier the
population was also Somali. To the proud nomad such boundaries meant little and
indeed were largely ignored, but to Mohamed's generation of schoolboys they
were real enough. They all dreamed of a new Africa where a "greater"
Somalia, which might one day incorporate all Somalis, even as far as the NFD –
the forbidding desert scrublands of northern Kenya.
From his youth, Mohamed must have
been conscious that such an aspiration could not be easily achieved, for he was
one of the few lucky ones whose family could pay for further schooling in
Manchester, England. For instance, he spent some time studying with the
brilliant young Kenyan Tom Mboya, whose Pan-Africanism certainly did not extend
to the further dismemberment of Kenya any time in the future. Britain had
already handed over Jubaland with the southern Somali port of Kismayu to Italy
to ensure the latter's anti-German stance in the First World War. However, when
modern political expression in the form of clubs and embryonic parties began
throughout the Somali lands, no aspiring nationalist could fail to address the
seemingly alien and unjust colonial division of the Somali nation.
Mohamed Ibrahim Egal married Asha
Said Abi in 1946 – who was to bear him three sons and two daughters – and was
soon in the thick of political struggle. In 1956 he was elected to head the
Berbera branch of the Somali National League. Although later he seldom
hesitated to change from party to party, he was ever careful to pay more than
lip service to the prospect of eventual Somali independence and unity. He was a
compelling orator possessed of considerable charisma. Yet from the beginning
astute observers detected an occasional lack of consistency and determination.
However, by 1958 he had risen to be the SNL general secretary.
After the Second World War, Italian
Somaliland was returned to Italy but as a United Nations Trust and the
unanticipated prospect of their eastern neighbor’s early independence startled
the Somali élite in Hargeisa almost as much as it did the hitherto complacent
British colonial administration. With hindsight, many see enthusiasm for unity
on the part of the northerners as naïve as the more numerous and politically
experienced southerners quickly acquired most of the plum appointments.
However, Egal and four colleagues journeyed to London and agreed that the
British Protectorate should become independent on 26 June 1960. For five short
days, Egal was Prime Minister.
On 1 July, former Italian Somalia
followed suit: the two legislative assemblies met and merged in Mogadishu.
Southerners held most of the keys to power and patronage but Egal became
minister of defense in the new Somali Republic, and it was agreed that a
referendum was to be held within a year to ratify a constitution in which all
Somali people had a place. At the time few bothered that that never happened,
rejoicing meantime that the first two of the symbolic five points of the white
star on the azure background of their flag were united.
Radio programmes and determined
young ministers and diplomats set out to persuade Arab and African leaders, the
United Nations and, after 1963, the OAU of the justice of the Somali cause.
But, in the real world, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and Haile Selassie of Ethiopia –
not to mention the governments of France and Britain – did not share the Somali
euphoria. Undeterred, the Somalis opened offices and training camps for
"freedom fighters" were set up. All this against the ominous
background of the Cold War. Development of the Somali military agreements,
discouraged by the West, was entered into with the Soviet Union.
Aden Abdulla Osman was President
with Abdurashid Ali Shermarke, then Abdurazaq Haji Hussein, as Prime Minister.
Egal left the government in 1962 to form the Somali National Congress. In 1963,
following a refusal to accept a Commission report which suggested the population
of the NFD might favor independence under the Somali rather than the Kenyan
flag, diplomatic relations with Britain were broken off. Ambassador Lancelot
Pyman described it all as "a very civilized rupture" – and well he
might since he had even been consulted in the abstract as to how it should be
effected – but angry Somalis set fire to the British Council library.
From 1962 until 1964, Egal led the
opposition but in that year he disappointed many friends by unexpectedly
joining the governing Somali Youth League, dominated by southerners. It proved
a good career move. Some 62 political parties contested, but the SYL retained a
majority and all the opposition with the exception of Abdurazaq Haji Hussein
crossed the floor. Then, in 1967 Abdurashid Ali Shermarke was elected President
and he appointed Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal Prime Minister. One foreign observer
noted that the government remained riddled with "demagoguery, nepotism and
sensational corruption" but at home it was condemned more for lack of progress
in promoting "greater Somalia".
Egal, however, proved a pragmatist.
Without renouncing the eventual irredentist aims of Somali foreign policy
(which were in any case enshrined in the constitution) he skilfully used the
OAU – and the good offices of Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia – to ease tensions with
Kenya. Alarmed at the growing influence of the Soviet Union, the Ethiopian
military had provoked serious frontier clashes in 1964, causing Egal to turn
his undoubted charm on the United States, Haile Selassie's staunch ally. In
return for some aid and a visit by Vice-President Hubert Humphrey, he quietly
reined in pro-Somali insurgencies in the Ogaden and particularly Bale. In 1968,
low-key diplomatic relations with Britain were restored.
Segments of the Somali military and
to a lesser extent the police and intelligentsia were becoming restive. Egal
had a minor confrontation over the incompetence of the government, with the
army commander, Major-General Mohamed Siad Barre. He discussed sending the
general on a course to the Soviet Union as a prelude to shunting him aside
politically. It would have been easy: Somalis were the only Africans allowed,
for example, to attend the Soviet Union's élite tank schools beyond the Ural
mountains. But the wily Siad avoided the posting.
Egal was in Washington when
disaster struck. On 12 October 1969, President Abdurashid Ali Shermarke was
assassinated. Egal rushed home. A colonel – Mohamed Farah Aideed – reported the
imminence of a military coup but again Egal failed to take incisive action. On
21 October 1969, he and others were rounded up and detained at the presidential
palace at Afgoi, south of Mogadishu. A popular Supreme Revolutionary Council
repudiated all frontier agreements, abolished the existing constitution and judiciary
and decreed the formation of new organs to manage the state.
Egal and others were arraigned and
disappeared. Years later Mohamed Barood Ali, a long-term political prisoner,
described the dreaded secret maximum-security prison Labaatan Jirow, where
there were strict orders not to write on cell walls. One day he discovers the
word EGAL scratched in an obscure corner, and was elated by the thought that he
inhabited the same cell, as had his prime minister.
Egal was eventually released and
made ambassador to India. But after a year was recalled for consultation,
accused of conspiracy and reincarcerated. He developed diabetes and
rheumatism. In 1982, Siyad Barre again ordered his release and, it is said,
gave him a million US dollars. He became chairman of the Mogadishu Chamber of
Commerce and joined those few favorites who, on the President's signature,
benefited from access to Somalia's then fast-dwindling foreign-exchange
reserves.
Who is to judge what years of harsh
solitary confinement do to the mind? Suffice it to report that Egal toured the
Gulf countries, warning expatriate Somali communities to resist calls to fund
guerrilla movements – specifically including the Somali National Movement
(SNM), sponsored largely by his own Isaaq people – who were taking up arms
against the dreadful tyranny of Mohamed Siyad Barre's regime.
The Cold War ameliorated. Both
foreign aid and refugee assistance were curtailed. Rebellion was widespread.
The Somali government collapsed in 1991. The ever-impetuous north unilaterally
declared its resumption of the independence it had enjoyed for those vital five
days in June 1960. Thus the Republic of Somaliland was reborn.
In 1993, a council of elders
thanked the SNM for their role in the struggle and, in a desperate plea for
recognition, handed the presidency to their sole surviving statesman. Mohamed
Haji Ibrahim Egal restored security, introduced a new currency and brought back
a semblance of sound internal self-government but remained unrecognized.
Message Of Condolence And Unity
From Somaliland Community In Saudi Arabia - Jeddah
On hearing the sad and
shocking news of the death of President Mohammed Ibrahim Egal, we the
undersigned members of the Somaliland Community in Saudi Arabia-Jeddah, would
like to express our deep sorrow and grief on the country’s loss of not only its
leader, but a world-known statesman, and one of Africa’s independence heroes.
On behalf of the Somaliland community in Saudi Arabia, we would like to extend
our sincere condolences and heartfelt sympathies to the family, relatives and
friends of President Egal, and to His Excellency Dahir Riyale Kahin, Acting
President of Somaliland and to the people of Somaliland as a whole.
It is time to remember
Egal’s good legacies as the hero of the struggle for Independence from the
British colonial rule, and as the man who stood firm and resolutely against all
odds for the sovereignty and independence of our country as the President of
present-day Somaliland. Egal was a man of destiny and his name will forever
remain synonymous with that of Somaliland.
As the Somaliland
Community in Jeddah, we would like to reiterate our unequivocal support for the
sovereignty, peace and stability of Somaliland and our unwavering loyalty to
the constitution and leadership of our homeland.
We have a firm belief
that with the wisdom and great resilience of our people, Somaliland will
prevail over this calamity, and will continue to safeguard its unity,
sovereignty, peace and stability. We also call upon all Somalilanders in the
diaspora to renew their support and loyalty for our country’s unity and
sovereignty at this critical juncture of our country’s history.
We belong to Allah and
to him we shall all return.
Signatories:
1. Shikh Hassan Abdi Farax
2. Abdi Khader
3. Adirahman M. Yay
4. Eng. Bashe Abdi Gaboobe
5. Mohamed Hassan Abdi
6. Ismail Abdi Bacad
7. Haroon Esse Mira Deen
8. Goud Horre
9. Essa Drir
10. Rasheed Abdullahi
11. Mousa Ahmed Ali
Orderly Transition Of Power
By: Ali M. Gulaid
(CPA)
The people of Somaliland have experienced severe tribulations and setbacks: the persecution and the ethnic cleansing of Siyad government, the civil war, the crippling non-recognition and the unexpected loss of the late president, Mohamed Haaji Ibrahim Egal, at a critical moment. To fledgling Somaliland, these are tragedies of epic proportion, with the potential to dismantle the weak institutions and the infant democracy. Despite these
adversities, Somaliland has defied the skeptics.
The skeptics and the pundits have
predicted that Somaliland wouldn’t amount to a viable state; that Somaliland
is politically and economically
unsustainable; that Somaliland wouldn’t survive without Egal’s leadership; that
Somaliland would crumple and repent after the banning of the livestock export,
the primary source of income; and that Somaliland is an enclave of one clan.
But the skeptics have under-estimated the depth of the underlying
aspiration of the people of Somaliland to preserve the stability and to survive
against the odds. The survival of
Somaliland isn’t accidental: it is buttressed with unremitting resolve to
reclaim relinquished sovereignty; it is guided by selfless and astute elders;
it is underpinned with a constitution; and above all Somaliland was blessed
with a leader who united, stabilized and administered by the rule of law.
Once again, the skeptics have overlooked the resourcefulness and the skill in managing conflicts that the people of Somaliland have developed and utilized again and again. The nucleus of Somaliland stability, peace and negotiations are and were always contingent upon the leadership of Somaliland elders “madarta”. For centuries before Egal the traditional constitution of “ Xeer” with the elders at the helm had guided the people of Somaliland through thick and thin, and the traditional leaders are more vigilant and determined today than they were ever before. In fact, the Somaliland “xeer” is a textbook of conflict resolutions.
The Somaliland elders have
discharged their obligations: they have played a major role in mobilizing the
public to dislodge the evil dictator (Barre); they have provided the wisdom and
managed the conflict during the civil war; they have negotiated a traditional
system of power sharing; they have sustained peace amid troubling times, and
most importantly, today, they have arranged and administered an orderly
transition of power. This is a record no one can dispute. Frankly, the
missing role is the one of the so-called intelligentsia. The elders
have displayed a sense of duty, integrity, righteousness and devotion to
constitutional urgency and compliance. No one could predict or delay God’s
will, but the Somaliland elders have averted chaos. In spite of the diligence of Somaliland elders, many have
derisively labeled the elders as clannish-minded, unschooled and corrupt. How
unfortunate.
The orderly transition of power is
a manifestation of the system that has been put in place and the maturity of
the people of Somaliland. For the most part, from birth, Somaliland has
never known another leader except Egal. Egal was a fallible, benign leader, who
has become a “father figure” unlike the cult-like Dr. Banda and the invincible
Haile Salessa. Indeed, it is an end of an era: Egal was in the same league with
Jomo Kenyatta, Nyrere and other distinguished leaders who steered their
respective Nations to independence.
The tribulations and hardships the
people of Somaliland have experienced might be eclipsed by what lies ahead: the
introduction of the challenging multi-party elections, the new effort
spearheaded by Egypt to destabilize Somaliland, and the on-going effort of
marginalizing Somaliland by the Arta faction and the Djibouti government.
Somalilanders have witnessed some of the new efforts and attacks in the last
week. For example, the refugees from the South in Pretoria (South Africa) have
demonstrated in front of the hospital where Egal was hospitalized, demanding
that the South African government shouldn’t provide medical services to Egal.
What they have uttered is inhumane, un-Islamic and against international laws.
We are brothers, right?
The self-styled faction leader
Abdiqasbaye didn’t send condolences to the people of Somaliland, let alone send
a delegation. It is worth mentioning that it has been widely reported that
Abdiqasbaye stopped by in Hargeisa on his way to Djibouti where he was a guest
for the late president. According to some reliable sources, Abdiqasbaye was
broke but when he left, he was financially better off.
President Kahin has rightfully
instructed the Somaliland authorities to advise the delegation from Djibouti
not to land in Somaliland. Djibouti can’t have it both ways. Djibouti considers
Somaliland one of the regions of Somalia (northwest). In fairness, Djibouti
isn’t alone in referring Somaliland as northwest, but it is alone in actively
destabilizing Somaliland.
The note Mr. Geleh published in the
media three days after the death of Egal, expressing condolences, was
un-brotherly, un-Somali, and undignified. In his note, Geleh didn’t
congratulate the new president, nor did he condole the people of Somaliland. If
he is truly the friend he is claiming to be, he would have picked-up the phone
but he chose not. In spite of all this, the delegation from Djibouti had the
guts to attempt to participate in the burial of the late president without the
necessary protocol and clearance. The Djibouti delegation departed without
contacting Somaliland authorities, just like they were going to Arta. How
patronizing.
The unfitting treatment the
President of Djibouti directed towards the people of Somaliland on the occasion
of the death of President Egal has deeply touched the people of Somaliland. It
would linger for a long time. It isn’t the first time Somalia and Djibouti
maltreated the people of Somaliland. Djbouti collaborated with the evil
dictator, Siyad Barre, in the effort of ethnic cleansing exacted on the people
of Somaliland. But one might think Somalis wherever they are would share the
loss and the grief with the people of Somaliland. Indeed, they have a strange
way of showing brotherhood. Somaliland
wishes no harm to anyone but Somaliland is vigilant. The skeptics have been
proven wrong: Somaliland has transferred power in a constitutional, orderly and
peaceful manner; the President isn’t a member of the predominant Issaq clan;
Somaliland is growing economically and politically by the day, and Somaliland
would conduct the coming multiparty elections fairly and peacefully.
The people of Somaliland have lost
a leader and a “father figure” but they have gained confidence in the
system, the democratic principles and the institutions in place. The people of
Somaliland are indebted to the elders, parliamentarians and other leaders,
notably, the leaders of Ethiopia and South Africa. Congratulations for the
orderly transition of power. This is the best gift the late President
would have hoped for.
Loss Of A Great African
Statesman
Very few people remember the achievements of Mr. Egal. When Somaliland got its independence on June 26, 1960 he became the youngest African leader. He is the only African leader who gave up his country and position without preconditions, and for the benefit of a union with Somalia. When the union was formed, he resigned from the ministerial post he had because of south Somalia's corrupt Italian system.
In 1963 he formed an opposition
party. He was against the severing of diplomatic ties with the UK on the
question of NFD, but the south Somalia government did not listen to him - thus
was the sort who brought Somaliland into Somalia. They lost 150 scholarships to
the United Kingdom, BBC workers in Berbera were laid off, £3.5 million were
lost - but the south did not care, because they spoke no English!
Egal sold his houses (a very great
number) in Somaliland and used this money to make a political comeback... He hit
the south and by 1967/68 he became prime minister of the whole Somalia. He was
the first black leader to give a speech in the joint congressional session in
Washington. He solved the problem with Jomo Kenyata in the Arusha meeting in
1967. He told General De Gaulle that Djibouti would be much better off on its
own, and shouldn't join Somalia. As a matter of fact, he was the one who broke
the great Somalia dream.
For those Somalis living as
refugees in your country: Ask them of their origin... I hope their Italian
corruption and Mafia practices don't infest your beautiful country, which I
visited in 1995.
Dr
Hussein Abdillahi, Utrecht, The Netherlands
The
Republic Of Somaliland Buried Its Late President
Somaliland Forum Press Release – May 8,
2002
The Somaliland Forum, an
organization that unites Somaliland intellectuals in the Diaspora, informs the
world community today that our Horn of African republic of Somaliland buried
its late president, Mohamed I Egal, on Monday in our principal port city of Berbera.
Tens of thousands of the Somaliland
nationals, including our new president, took part in the burial procession for
our late president. A high level Ethiopian delegation led by their deputy
foreign minister and a good number of other foreign dignitaries were also
present.
For that, we are grateful to the
people and the government of Ethiopia for their kind consideration, as they
have shared our sorrows with us. We are not only equally grateful but also
hugely indebted to the people and the government of South Africa for the
generous hospitality that they bestowed upon our late president before his
passing.
Our sincere thanks and appreciation
also goes to the people and the government of the United States of America as
well as all the other nations who sent us their messages of condolences and
hence shared the sorrow from this tragedy with us.
Somaliland is still in a state of
mourning. We are still grieving from the sudden passing of our late president.
But Somaliland is a constitutional democracy at the same time. For example, our
constitution held sway in the face of this sudden tragedy as our vice-president
was immediately sworn into power, according to our constitution. This smooth
Constitutional transfer of power is something that rarely occurs in our part of
the world in which power largely flows through the barrel of a gun.
"I am saddened by the death of
our late president Egal, but I can also safely say that I am a very proud
Somalilanders today in the face of adversity. Our constitution has worked in a
very remarkable way.
Our experimental democratic
institutions, which we have been building over the last ten years, are now a
sure bet. And our peace is still very much in tact," said Farah Hersi, the
chairman of the Somaliland Forum.
"This swift transfer of power
on Friday reminded me of how quick Americans had acted when president Kennedy
was shot in Dallas, Texas in 1963. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was
immediately sworn in, inside Air Force 1, which was also carrying the dead body
of president Kennedy. The idea was not to allow any sort of a power vacuum to
emerge in times of great age dies.
A remarkably similar story took
place in Somaliland on Friday; our vice-president was in power only one hour
after the passing of our late president," Farah Hersi continued to say.
Lastly, we urge both the
sub-regional states in the Horn and the international community to respect our
sovereignty at all times, and especially while we are still in a state of
mourning. We also urge all peace-loving nations and the international society
of states to take notice of Somaliland's thriving democratic ideals, its rule
of law, and its durable peace in the midst of a largely chaotic region in the
world. Hence, it is in the best interest of the international peace and
security to bestow on the state of Somaliland the recognition that it so richly
deserves, as a result of its already deepened democracy.
The Somaliland Forum
Condolences On
Death Of President Egal
The inevitable has come for our departed President. May Allah swt
give him peace and forgiveness and grant his family sabr. We should keep
legacy of peace and continue going forward. Death is part of life but
live for the living goes on. Insha Allah it will go on for the better into
prosperity.
Rhoda Rageh
I would like to extend my heartfelt and
deepest condolences to all Somalilanders on the sudden demise of Somali land
President Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim Egal. We ask almighty God to bestow his mercy
upon the deceased and give his family and the Somaliland people the patience.
(INA
LILAAHI WA INA ILAYHI RAJICOON)
Khalid
Ahmed Hussein/Ina Timadheere
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
We would like to extend our heartfelt and deepest
condolences to all Somalilanders on the sudden demise of Somali land President Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim
Egal. We ask
almighty God to bestow his mercy upon the deceased and give his family and the
Somaliland people the patience.
انالله وانا اليه راجعون
Mother: Weris Aw Jama Hassan, Ifrah Mohamoud Aidied
and her husband and her children, Abdifatah Mohamoud Aidied, Abdirahman
Mohamoud Aidied, Nasra Mohamoud Aidied and her husband, Rahma Mohamoud Aidied
and her husband, Abdiadil Mohamoud Aidied Mohamed Aidied Abdi Nora Aw Jama,
Shamis Aidied and all the family of Aidied Abdi and Aw Jama Hassan.
Hargeisa, Cardiff, UAE
The members of the Somaliland Societies in Europe (SSE)
were saddened to hear yesterday of the death of Somaliland's president Mohamed
Hajj Ibrahim Egal. We hereby extend our condolences to the president’s Family
and the Somaliland people who lost one of their great leaders of our time. To
Allah belongs what He has taken, and to Him belongs what He has given
“Ina Lilaah, Wa ina Ileyhu Raajucuun). Therefore Somaliland in particular and
Africa in general have lost a great and legendry leader. A leader whose wise
way of dealing with African conflicts will echo over and over again. His
achievements were numerous.
Abdirahman Abdullahi
Jibril (Coordinator of SSE)
Abdi Abdullaahi Hassan (member)
Ayan Mohamoud (member)
Maxamed Haji Obsiye (member)
Abdiraxman Jama Aden (member)
Fu’aad Osmaan (Chairman of
Somaliland Community Nederland)
Adilkadir Kayse
Macalesh (Chairman of Somaliland Community Finland)
Osman Nur Dualle (Vice
Chairman)
Suleiman Mohamed
Farah (member)
Mohamud Jama Mohamed (member)
Abdulkadir Abokar
Bille (member)
Naasir Ali Shire (Chairman of
Somaliland Community Falkenberg (Sweden)
Hussein Abiib Osman (Chairman of
Somaliland Community Germany)
Omar Yusuf Hussein (member)
Abdifatah Said
Ahmed (Somaliland community UK)
Dr. Ahmed Mohamed
Aden (Somaliland community UK)
