Somalia: Welcome Back

By Bashir Goth*

With the arrest of the notorious Hassan Dahir Aweys, the inevitable defeat and apprehending of Ahmed Abdi Godane, the Joseph Kony of Somalia and his Al Shabaab gang of criminals, and the ongoing Turkish-led momentum to get things right this time, one can confidently say: “Somalia, welcome back.” 

Welcome back to the international community; to play your role as a country located in strategic and vital waterways, to restore peace and stability and start the healing process of the people traumatized by more than 20 years of physical and mental torture by criminal and religious warlords and devastated by Al Shabaab-made droughts. 

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The Silanyo Regime On The Dock: Alarm Bells Of A Likely Danger To Democracy?

“Our lives end the day we become silent about things that matter”

Martin Luther king Jr.

The expectations that people had of this government was perhaps great but short lived. Since it was elected nearly two years ago people witnessed many strange things. The first sign that people noticed was apparent erosion in the nationhood ethos that previous successive Presidents and their administrations often used to instill in the people.

The current President, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, ‘Silanyo’ has no qualms about what kind of perceptions people make of his administration.

 Immediately, after coming to power he delegated undue powers to his own clans man who was neither experienced in politics nor attained education. Though initially given the post of Chief of Cabinet, other Ministers nevertheless queued to his office because it was obvious that his office wielded extra powers. After all, power is about using it or delegating it. In this case, almost all powers were passed to the Chief Cabinet

When it became rather embarrassing for the Ministers to queue to the Chief Cabinet the latter was elevated to become Minister of Presidency so there will be an excuse for the Ministers to seek his audience. He is after all closer to the President than anyone else.

Until now the three Heads of State that preceded President Silanyo refrained from anything that could be interpreted by the public as clan favourtism and most certainly were not prepared their clans man Minister wield more power than his colleagues in the cabinet. With Silanyo, new backward culture has begun. Yet, ironically, the President has more academic achievements than his three predecessor. People noticed this discrepancy just after he won the election and his standing as a statesman received serious dent. The Presidents willful disregard of the sensitivities to clanism in the context of Somalis is rather baffling.

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Somaliland Can Achieve Recognition Through Multi-Clan Equality

Written by Medeshi
Somaliland achieved independence from Somalia through the struggle against the rein of the late dictator, Siyad Barre that has ruled the county for more than 20 years after SNM forces from Somaliland deposed his socialist government.
Although some of the people that are in the current Somaliland geographical state have not contributed much to the struggle towards the independence of Somaliland, the succession conference in May 18, 1991, adopted that all people in Somaliland are equal.
This was a landslide victory for the people of the former British protectorate of Somaliland, gaining independence after the plunder into the 1st July 1960 doomed union with Somalia.
Having exercised and enjoyed two presidential and one parliamentary elections, the country has since then been split into regions and into clan enclaves by its own successive governments.
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So-Call International Organization, And British Government Never Ever Learn Their Mistakes In Somalia

With all my respect of the international Organization, And British Government. Who are trying hard bring about peace and tranquility to the Somali people, I forward my humble contributions to the fatal issue as a member of the concerned.
May be I am wrong, but I see blood being shed again within the remains of the so-call Somali community after a drastic twenty and more years of continuous mass destruction of human, wealth and natural resources. The motives were the same however the tactics very. Unfortunately, the wars and the fighting’s in these almost thirty years were either international, interboundarial or otherwise interclass or clan. In the cases the poor Somali people were the players of the battle games on their own grounds masterminded by the same budget investors and weapon industry owners.
The war dance and the music never change until not only a dull person like me but a typical camel boys or cow boy or sheepherder can today foresee and feel the smell of the blood planned to be shed for maybe known or unknown reasons. Strange enough, unfortunately, it is the peacemakers that being the war. It is a Somali wording says “Soo Sakaaro Ima Barato “, which is mean “whenever an antelope sees me it runs, it never learns”, said by one man who never hunts. What I mean is that the co-called international Organization And British Government never ever learn from their own recent prior disastrous mistakes.

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Somaliland: Respecting Somaliland’s Democratic Choices

By Yusuf Dirir Ali,MD

The people and the democratically elected government of Somaliland Republic are grateful to the International community and especially to the United Kingdom for hosting and spearheading the Somaliland-Somalia dialogue on their future relations. Somaliland values the great contributions being made by the Norwegian government to this dialogue.  We hope this London discussion will pave the way for a permanent peace and cooperation between the two neighborly nations and to the greater Horn of Africa region.

Somalia’s insistence in claiming that Somaliland is a part and a parcel of its territory is solely based on covet and on nothing else. There were no legal bases of a union between Somaliland and Somalia to start with, because there was no act of union signed between the two entities.

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