Part 1

By M. Amin

13 October 2007

Recently, Haatuf newspaper ran a series of articles written by one of its reporters, Mohammed Amin, on the plight of SNM veterans. The articles were originally written in Somali. The Somaliland Times is happy to publish excerpts from those articles after they were translated into English and slightly edited.

A/Rahman Isse Aw Ali, a disabled SNM veteran said:

“It was on the last days of 1990 in the western coast of Somaliland, when the enemy surrounded us, after a militia loyal to Djibouti that was on our side changed its mind and decided to join the enemy. We moved back and the anti aircraft as well as the machine guns were falling like rain. Suddenly, I was hit by a bullet on the back. I fell on the ground. When I realized that I can’t stand up, I thought it was better to die than be paralyzed. My friends tried to take me. But I fought against them. Someone called Nassir, whom I was told is now in Hargeysa shouted and insisted , ‘We will not leave him, even if he is shooting us, we have to take him, because he is one of our heroes, and I don’t want the enemy take him wounded.’

Nasir took me away by force. I was dropped on a war truck. After two days we reached Diridawa of Ethiopia. I was hospitalized for two days. There were Cuban doctors in the hospital, but the day the doctor was supposed to see me, I was told that they got in an accident. The next day I was told that the doctors left the country and the Mengistu regime was overthrown.

There were Ethiopian doctors, but before they saw me, I received information that the SNM had captured the country as whole and health facilities were re-established.

Since Ethiopia was a foreign country I and my family thought it is better to go to Somaliland, instead of being here Diridawa. I and a group of wounded Mujahidins were taken on a truck from Diridawa to Harta Sheikh, where we were dropped in the Ethiopian Military camp in there (Harta Sheikh is a village near the border between Somaliland and Ethiopia, which, after 1988, became a large refugee camp).

This was the end of the illusion about health care being available in Somaliland. There was no health care in Somaliland. That was the reality. Consequently, each of us was taken from the Ethiopian army camp by his own family. Everyone was taken to his place of origin

I lived in that situation for the last two decades. However, last May I got so sick, because I was infected in the paralyzed area of my body. I was in Hargeysa Group Hospital. They took different medical tests, but they said all the tests were negative, so I came home. But dear Amin (the journalist) even though I am feeling pain, let me tell you I shall get back my health.”

That was what disabled veteran A/Rahman Isse Aw Ali told Haatuf reporter, M. Amin, on Tuesday. But despite his optimism, the disabled veteran did not get better. Actually, a few days later, he got worse. He was hospitalized again in Hargeysa Group Hospital last Saturday.

“I was transferred from the previous ward to here. The doctor told me to leave because he can’t help me. And I am here now, but none of the doctors ever see me, all of them say they can’t help me, except taking some blood tests. They tell me you have diabetes. I can’t eat, because whenever I try to eat I vomit. But don’t worry, I shall get my health back, and you will see me better Insha Allah. Please go to your office and to your work,” said A/Rahman Isse Aw Ali on Tuesday evening. He went into a coma on Wednesday and died on Thursday.

Veteran’s death

Part 2

SNM veteran A/Rahman Isse Aw Ali suffered a lot. He died of negligence. But he is not the only disabled veteran who silently suffered in the country for whose sake he lost his health, the country fro whose sake he gave so much. Thousands of disabled SNM fighters are living in horrible conditions.

This is a series of articles which shed light on the miserable living conditions of SNM guerrillas who became disabled in Somaliland’s war of liberation against Siyad Barre’s dictatorial regime.

According to a medical report issued by the Hargeisa Group Hospital Manager, Dr. Yasin Arab, eighty per cent of handicapped former SNM guerrillas who were examined by him are at risk of dying from serious infections caused by staying immobile or in bed for too long. These veterans or Mujahidins live with their family and do not get any support from the state they fought for or the Somaliland public.

Neglect by SNM Leaders and the Public

Part 3.

According to Mohamoud Ahmed, an arm-handicapped veteran who records the terrrible circumstances that his fellow veterans are going through, there are some who live in animal quarters in a goat home in Hargeysa city. “Even though they were heroes when they were in the frontlines, today they are suffering in our society. For example I know Mujahid (X) who was a hero during the war and who now lives in the goat camp,” said Mohamoud Ahmed with tears in his eyes.

Days, months and years passed since Somaliland was liberated from Siyad Barre’s regime. Somaliland government was set up by the SNM as well as the traditional leaders in the Buroa conference in 1991. In this conference, it was agreed that SNM war veterans should get priority in government employment. The conference also decided to give assistance to the orphans of SNM as well as the handicapped veterans.

Historical rights of the veterans

Part 4.

Abdirahman Ahmed Ali, the SNM chairman was elected the first president of the new Republic of Somaliland for a two-year term. The charter of the new state stipulated that the government should hold elections in the country within these two years. But this did not happen. When the governments’ two years term ended, it passed the power to the Guurti in a conference held in Borama in 1993. In the Borama conference, a new government was elected that was led by Mohamed Ibrahim Egal who was not an SNM member. The Borama conference again confimed that SNM war veterans should be given the same priorities and opportunities mentioned in the Buroa conference. But in this conference it was added that the other militias who supported Siyad Barre’s army should be given the same right, since they believed that they were defending their rights. However, Egal’s government extended no opportunities to the SNM or the other militias. Egal died in South Africa in 2002, and his vice president became the president of Somaliland. The new president, Dahir Rayale Kahin, used to be a colonel in Siyad Barre’s army.

During President Egal’s term, Somaliland acquired a new constitution. In this constitution, SNM veterans were not given any rights. The only functioning institution for SNM orphans and its disabled was SOOYAAL, which was founded by Yusuf Abdi Gabobe, an intellectual as well as an SNM leader. This organization was set up in 1991, and provided valuable services to a wide variety of SNM veterans, especially the disabled and the orphans. SOOYAAL used to teach skills to veterans so they could get jobs. The only skilled workforce that was produced in the country during most of the nineties were trained in SOOYAAL.

The Proxies Move Against Gabobe

Unfortunately, in mid 1997, President Egal who hated to see any independent and successful program in the country that was not controlled by him, decided to oust Yusuf Gabobe from SOOYAAL’s leadership. But since Egal was not an SNM member and could not openly interfere in SNM affairs, he decided to intervene by proxy through using former SNM members who were in his government. By utilizing dirty tricks, bribes, and SNM politicians, Egal was able to oust Yusuf Gabobe from his position as chairman of SOOYAAL. Among the SNM politicians who acted as Egal’s proxies against Gabobe is the current foreign Minister of Somaliland Abdillahi Mohamed Du’alle.

The replacement of Gabobe handicapped the institution, and after him, it collapsed. Gone were all the training and services it used to provide the war veterans. SOOYAAL now exists only in name.

Veterans hang between life and death!

Part 5

“We were the ones who led these veterans into war, and it is our responsibility to help them today. We should call the public to support both the handicapped veterans and the children of martyrs. The inhuman conditions they live in should not be tolerated. We need to come together to discuss this sad situation and find a solution,” says Abdillahi Hussein (Dhega-weyne), an SNM leader.

The fact of the matter is that the SNM passed power to those who fought against them and were in Siyad Barre’s army. Saying this does not mean singling out Rayale or his clan but rather to point out the irony that about eighty percent of Somaliland’s current ministers were supporters of the late dictator, Siyad Barre, and they belong to all clans across Somaliland.

Source: Somaliland Times