Free The Haatuf Journalists Now: This Is The Time All Of Us Need To Speak In One Voice!

By Soleiman Egeh

"Liberty, then is the sovereignty of the individual, and never shall man know liberty until each and every individual is acknowledged to be the only legitimate sovereign of his or her person, time, and property, each living and acting at his own cost; and not until we live in a society where each can exercise his right of sovereignty at all times without clashing with or violating that of others." unknown  

"True nonviolence should mean a complete   freedom from ill-will and anger and hate and an overflowing love for all." Mahatma Gandhi

Introduction

To democratic societies, freedom of expression and free press is what the unlimited supply of oxygen is to the brain and the heart. Freedom of expression is the life line of healthy, democratic societies who can freely elect their representatives. Closed and despotic societies are sick societies. Trust, honesty, reality, good will, free thinking, innovation, entrepreneurship and free expression are luxuries where nobody can afford to have access to. In those societies one man and may be few men are the judge, jury, and the executioner. The human body is made of about eleven systems working together.

If one of these systems is not working well, the body will become ill. For the body to be in good and healthy shape, these eleven systems have to be well-coordinated and working together with each other at all times. Societies are the same, all the components of the society and all the different organs of the government, must be well-coordinated and working for only one thing, the well-being and welfare of the community. The media is an important component of a healthy society, and the existence of a fair and balanced media, is detrimental to the existence and the development of that society.

These days, all the people   of Somaliland need to speak in one voice.   This is not the   right time for the government   to put   journalists in jail. Holding journalists for so many days without charge is illegal and extra-judicial. Journalists are not your enemies even if they are a little bit aggressive as is the case of Haatuf. In democratic societies, journalist are a vital ingredient of the community. Objective   journalists are the watch dogs of open societies. They are in the front lines of the just struggle for human dignity, equal rights, civil rights and the rule of law. Journalists are the foot soldiers   for the struggle for   social justice, which is still on going in our country in particular and the Horn of Africa in general.   They are the real checks and balances, vanguards of good governance, transparency, equity   and justice.

The infamous Watergate scandal in the United States that brought down the late president Richard Nixon in "1974"was unveiled by the Washington Post. The media is an   integral part of the good community or what Dr. Martin Luther King's called the beloved society if you will. In a   society where everybody is taking care of their responsibility, where the rule of law is respected, citizen's civil and human rights are safeguarded, must have good and fair media.   The ultimate objective of good journalism is   a society where the dignity of   all its   citizens are protected.   Tyrannies hate the media and journalism. These are one   rule   entities that strip all attributes of dignity out of their people. They deal with their people as robots who will never challenge, analyze or oppose the actions of their leaders. Dictators like that can no longer   survive in this information age-the 21st century. That is why Zenawi, the new Menelik 1 in the block and his lackey Abdillahi Yusuf, has no chance   in prevailing   their   kamikaze invasion of Somalia.

Tyrannies treat their   citizens   as occupied people with no voice, who are only supposed to obey the misrules, blunders, dictatorship   and the injustices of the maximum leader. Despotic regimes ban media simply, because they hate to see somebody chronicling their injustice, inhumanity, atrocity, incompetence and messy rule. Dictators would like to do their evil actions and crimes in dark alleys, and back roads which are far away from the watchful eyes of the media. That is why you will never see a viable media in dictatorships.

In British Somaliland protectorate, there were about two major independent news papers, the "Horn of Africa"   and "Al-Li-Waa." When the former collapsed country-Somalia was   took over   by a vicious dictatorship in "1969", all News Papers have disappeared in Somaliland. The dictator banned all independent   papers and media.  

Most of our regional neighbors are in the afore-said category, despite being bestowed with recognition and help from the increasingly discredited international system. These days   I am hearing   very disturbing news, whereby the government is embarked   in a campaign to intimidate the media. This is   a very unwise undertaking on the part of the government. The government can not and will not win this contest and certainly will loose public support.   No matter what, many people   will sympathize with the media side of the argument. These days we all need to be in a united front to confront the rapid changes going around us. Hurricanes, violent storms and tectonic plate shifts are happening.

Therefore, we need all our three political parties, the government, young people, the religious community, women's group's groups, the political class and the diaspora to be more vigilant and speaking in one voice. I have to commend UCID chairman Mr. Faisal Al; Warabe and Mr. Ahmed Sillanyo for their bipartisan overtures towards the government. All I am saying is, keep the good work. I would also like to commend the selfless work our junior congress woman Mrs. Ikram H. Warsame is doing for Somaliland.

Moreover, let me briefly shed some light on two politicians who still have hard time learning how to speak, articulate and make their message across. These gentlemen are Mr. Musa Bihi and Mohamed Kahin. I would also like to tell these two gentlemen, for God's sake , your political statement are radical, bellicose, amateurish and crude. You need to refine your politics, statements, press releases and speeches. It is not what you say, it is how you say it. You need to mature and polish your politics, if you want to keep being relevant and successful politicians. A politician is like a salesman, he/she needs to sell his merchandise to the people. Therefore, one needs to have what you call good peoples' skills. Successful salesmen are those who sell their products successfully. The same thing is true of politicians. Clearly these two politicians did not fully transition from being rebels into becoming politicians.

What the government   is doing is unwarranted, undemocratic, ill-timed and unacceptable. We are in a time whereby all our people are to be unified   and must be speaking in one voice. The government should have to point out   the false information and propaganda disseminated by Haatuf, in government statements, press releases and present its side of the argument to the public. I am sure the public will, have a back lash against Haatuf or   any other News Paper or media outlet that goes out of the realms of objectivity and below the parameters of civility and responsible journalism.

After the end of this dark episode, Haatuf journalists need to take personal infantry of themselves. They need to go through a period of personal reflection, checking and putting their facts and figures together.   They need also to change their aggressive style of journalism and lean towards the route of fairness and   balance. They should refrain from reducing their journalism into a vehicle to attack others. They must avoid using the   pulpit as a forum to wage a personal vendetta against certain individuals or the government in general. They need to improve their way of reporting and dissemination of information. Haatuf   needs also   to be very objective, fair and balanced. Moreover, the clear citation and the disclosure of the sources of their information is of paramount importance.

It is   the duty of journalists   be it print, audio or   electronic to improve the fabric of their journalism. There are several Somaliland websites which are also involved in what you may   call yellow journalism. The sources and the methods of the information collection of these websites were never revealed. The criticism and allegations in those websites are mostly negative, bitter and sometimes, amounting to mudslinging and personal attacks.   Though a lot of people disagree with their   version of journalism, Haatuf   is enjoying an outpouring of public support in this case. Our people are fair when they smell injustice, they respond and that is what is happening here.

Following the imprisonment of the journalists, nobody cares about what they   have written about the government. The imprisonment of journalists for their views is wrong, illegal and is a violation of their civil and human rights. Everybody knows the smell of a dictatorships or tyranny is   a no a no in our country. We have witnessed the vicious genocidal dictatorships of the former Somalia.   That is why our mantra from that day on is   never again. Therefore, the government actions are to be chastised and condemned.

The burning passion to keep our independence, sovereignty and liberty goes back both to our ancient history and   our bad experience with the   fascist dictators of the former Somalia. That is we must always to be a nation and people on the side of social justice, democracy (local version), civil rights and human rights. Our struggle for a better society and greener pasture will continue. I would like to sign out by invoking Reverend Jesse Jackson's civil rights catchy phrase and I quote " Lets us keep the hope alive).

Soleiman Egeh

MS. Molecular Biology

MS. Science Education

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