An Invitation To The Mayor Of Hargeysa To A Dialogue On Freedom Of The Press

By Dr. Abdishakur Jowhar

Abdirahman Musse Omar is one of the more prominent of Somaliland journalists. He is the anchor of the fiercely independent Somaliland TV. He covered a story of home demolished by the authority of the City of Hargeysa On June 27, 2007 and the next day he visited city hall to follow up on the story. What he did not know was that the Mayor himself was laying in wait for him.

The Mayor of Hargeysa is the first elected Mayor of the city. He embodies the people’s hope. We know he is proud of his city and dedicated to do the right thing for his people. But this day of June 28, 2007 was not his best day. Dark emotions clouded his judgment and forced upon him a series of costly and unfortunate comedy of errors and failed judgments. As reported by Reporters Sans Frontier the Mayor turned on the TV anchor in an agitated state and he “slapped journalist Abdirahman Musse Omar several times in the face”.

The Mayor was obviously very angry about the broadcast of the demolished house the day before. He obviously did not believe the journalist has given him or his administration a fair shake; he might have genuinely thought that what was said of him was not only unjust but also personally painful and intolerable. But the Mayor did not choose to set the record straight, he did not bring forth a different version of the events to the public, he did not take the opportunity of correcting that which he obviously thought was an incorrect reporting. He did none of these. Instead the mayor jumped the journalist like a school yard bully. He chose to attack the messenger. The only message the Mayor sent to the people was “look I will beat you up if I disagree with your words or thoughts”.

  This would have been bad enough had the Mayor stopped right there. It would have been a personal mishap of sorts. But this was not his day. And the Mayor’s subsequent actions were nothing less than an abuse of power and a slap in the face of the people of Somaliland and their constitution that guarantees freedom of Express and Freedom of the Press. The Mayor illegally detained the journalist in the premises of City Hall for many hours. And he was not done as yet. Did we not say the Mayor was on a roll? “Nin qoyani biyo iskama dhowro”. The Mayor instigated the police to arrest the Journalist on trumped up charges and completely false allegations that it was the Journalist who attacked him and not the other way round.

Mayor Jiciir has succumbed to the dark forces of anger and vengeance and he was rewarded with unbelievably poor judgment. Let us hope it is a temporary mishap. In this instance however the beloved Mayor did not act like the civilized man he is. He did not act like the democratically elected Mayor of the biggest city of the nation. Instead the beloved mayor disregarded the law of the land and trampled on the freedom of the press. In this ugly day Mayor Jiciir choose to act like a brute armed with a club and the law of the Jungle.

Article 32 Fund urges the mayor to shake himself free from the grip of the dark forces and come back with honor to the aid and leadership of his people towards a future of a free society quarantined by a fiercely free press that cannot be cowed by powerful leaders of Mayors and Politicians and other high and mighty Public Servants.

Come Mr. Mayor and let us talk about this. Come clean with the public. We of Article 32 Fund invite the Mayor to a dialogue to set the record straight and to work together for the betterment of all of our citizens and for the strengthening of the freedoms we enjoy. We invite the Mayor to come clean with the public and to come and talk to us about this. We expect nothing less from the Mayor of the City of Freedom.

Dr. Abdishakur Jowhar

Chairman

Somaliland Freedom of Expression Fund (AKA Article 32 Fund)

The Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland (Article 32) Freedom of Public Demonstration, Expression of Opinion, Press and other Media

Article 32 Fund is a group of individuals and organizations who share the common interest of advancing freedom of expression in Somaliland by defend the people detained for exercising their freedom of expression and by supporting and strengthening Article 32 of the Somaliland Constitution.

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