This past Saturday, July 16, Jamal Jimaale, an attorney, the son of the first SNM leader, the late Ahmed Jimale, died of a gunshot wound on the left skull of his head, in his Hargeisa house. Jamal was right-handed.
The reports are sketchy, but according to his relatives, he had a protracted land dispute with a perpetrator, who is well-connected to the ruling Kulmiye party. The court litigation has been going on since 2012 over the ownership of parcels of land on the west side of Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital.
We lost one of our brightest people in the country because of a dispute over a parcel of land that he inherited from his father, Ahmed Jimale, the former Hargeisa mayor during the civilian government.
Ahmed Jimale was dissident, and the military dictatorship sentenced him 4 years in prison, for refusing to co-opt the military regime. He fled into exile in 1975 to fight against Siad Barre’s tyranny.
But so far, as always, the police have not arrested or questioned any suspect for this murder, including the alleged perpetrator of the crime.The government is trying to sweep the murder under the rug, but the family have refused to bury Jamal until investigation of his death is done.
Jamal has been harassed and intimidated by criminal thugs and rogue policemen hired by the perpetrator, and was hiding from them, according to his relatives.
The judges and the police were conspiring with the alleged perpetrator because of the clan identity politics. The appeal court has ruled the ownership of land to the perpetrator, and issued a two-year sentence against Jamal, plus ordered him to pay the court cost and the legal fees. So far, we do not know what the charges were against him.
But the Hargeisa local government land resolution unit has reversed that ruling and declared that Jamal is the rightful owner of the parcel.
However, according to the relatives of Jamal, the Minister of Interior, Mr. Mohamed Kahin, decided to get involved in the case and vacated the Hargeisa municipal government order.
The killing of Jamal in Hargeisa last Saturday has brought to the fore the high stakes involved in land grabs in Hargeisa. In Hargeisa, a lot of people have been killed or injured because of deadly violence over land disputes. Our judicial system and police are broken and corrupt.
The judges and the police are crooks who take bribes from all the litigants, and they are complicit with the violence emanating from the land grabbers. They collude with land grabbers. The trials for the land disputes usually are long, and sometimes take years, to reach a verdict. In fact, I was involved in a land dispute, and I had a horrible experience.
An entrenched, greedy merchants are also fueling the violence of the land disputes. These merchants have repeatedly used the politicians, courts, and the police as a conduit to illegally grab public and private lands, and buildings, including a public library near Hargeisa Central police station, schools, and police stations.
But most troubling of all however, in this case, is the involvement of the Interior Minister. Mr. Kahin, who runs a sprawling agency including the coast guard, immigration Department, the police, the local government and rural affairs, and election matters.
Why is Mr. Kahin, whose main job is public safety and national security, getting involved in a local land dispute in the first place? This is unusual, we need an investigation on why he is obstructing justice and abusing his power!
The wheel of justice is usually slow for the victims of murder, rape, and other heinous crimes. Our justice system is not working, and it is failing our people, including the sons and the daughters of the men who fought for our freedom.
Why is the alleged perpetrator getting special treatment? We need answers from our government. Who murdered Jamal? Why was Jamal murdered?
We are also demanding from the Bihi administration, at the very least, to appoint a special prosecutor to do a thorough investigation the murder of Jamal and arrest all suspects of this crime.
The Minister, Mr. Kahin, must recuse himself from the investigation of the murder because he has already aided and abetted with one side of the case.
Since Jamal was a Canadian citizen, it is prudent for his family and relatives to ask the Canadian consulate in Nairobi for help with the police investigation. Because Somaliland police forces are ill-equipped and have no capacity to do a crime scene investigation.
We do not have forensic labs to do a murder investigation. Moreover, we do not even have a functioning coronary or medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of the death.
We lost a man who could have been the next Attorney General of Somaliland. But it is the land grab of a greedy individual colluding with corrupt court judges, the police, and the Powerful Interior Minister that cost Jamal his life. We should not tolerate the killing and maiming of people over their own rightful lands.
It would be a gross injustice for the victim and his family if law enforcement fails to hold the perpetrator and their thugs accountable. If justice is not administered for Jamal and his family, people will then have to take justice into their own hands, resulting in increased levels of mob violence.
We will not see justice until the government arrest, indict, and convict the perpetrator or the perpetrators of this heinous murder. Justice delayed is justice denied.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ali-Guban Mohamed Founder and Editor
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of Somaliland Chronicle, and its staff.
According to Somaliland government records examined by Somaliland Chronicle, two companies, BIOSOM Diagnostic Care and Modern Medical Laboratory, owned and operated by government employees and presidential appointees, are supplying COVID-19 reagents and related supplies to the COVID-19 testing facility at Hargeisa Group Hospital.
BIOSOM’s company registration shows four of its shareholders are government employees who work at the COVID-19 testing facility at the Hargeisa Group Hospital, this includes the Deputy Head testing facility Mr. Hassan Mohamed Abdi, and Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Hergeye, the brother of the Ministry of Health Development’s Director General Mr. Mohamed Abdi Hergeye.
Modern Medical Laboratory is owned and operated by Mr. Abdirahman Hassan Derie, the ultimate insider who has served as an advisor to successive ministers of Health and a member of Central Committee of the ruling party of Kulmiye. In addition, Mr. Derie is a presidential appointee to represent Somaliland on the DP World Berbera venture since former President Ahmed Mohamoud Siilanyo’s government.
Mr. Derie with President Bihi and DP World Chairman
Mr. Derie’s company, Modern Medical Laboratory, has sold a whopping $766,369.69 worth of COVID-19 reagents and other unspecified supplies since March 2021, while BIOSOM has done $295,822.80 worth of business in the same period. The two companies have billed more than million US dollars to the Ministry of Health Somaliland and the Somaliland taxpayers.
Although official government reports on COVID-19 infection trends are no longer issued consistently, BIOSOM and Modern Medical Laboratory’s business of selling reagants and other COVID-19 supplies to the Ministry of Health Development has been steadily on the rise at times more than the height of the pandemic.
In addition, the Ministry of Health does not issue statistics on number of travelers served by the COVID-19 testing facility. Negative COVID-19 PCR test result which is still a requirement for most travel destination costs $45 US dollars. According to the 2022 budget, Ministry of Finance expects 2.3 million US dollars to be generated from COVID-19 testing fees.
Areas of revenue for the 2022 budget. Page 39 of 2022 Budget.
A closer inspection of BIOSOM and Modern Medical Laboratory transactions shows massive inconsistencies. BIOSOM is charging more than a thousand dollars for a box of reagents that are available in the market at around 300 US dollars. Modern Medical Laboratory seems to cut and paste the same amount for eight consecutive times down to the cents. It is unclear how a company’s cost can stay consistent for eight billing periods with the rise in transportation and fuel costs.
Although government policy mandates that all contracts exceeding fifty million Somaliland Shillings be put through bid through the National Tender Board, there is no indication that BIOSOM and Modern Medical Laboratory have won their contracts through the National Tender Board.
Representatives of the companies we have spoken to disputed any wrongdoing, including conflict of interest, and did not seem to be aware that multiple laws prohibit government employees and appointees from directly benefitting from their position.
With BIOSOM, where half of the company’s shareholders also work at the COVID-19 testing center and include the brother of the Director General of the Ministry of Health, self-dealing seems to be business as usual as the entire lifecycle of the purchasing process is done by the same people on both ends of the transaction.
In Somaliland, where systemic corruption has been the norm, an appointment or a government job has become license to steal and a shortcut in landing coveted government contracts.
According to a legal counsel we consulted for this report, multiple statutes and laws prohibit government employees and officials from directly participating in business ventures that can create a conflict of interest.
Mr. Derie the owner of Modern Medical Laboratory denied any wrongdoing and claimed he has owned the company before his appointment, despite all the company’s business with the government starting last year and stated that he pays his taxes before abruptly stating that he did not wish to make any more comments to us.
BIOSOM shareholder Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Hergeye, the Brother of the Director General of the Ministry of Health, accused us of unprofessionalism and that it was inappropriate to ask if he and the Director General were siblings.
According to sources, the World Health Organization which donated the COVID-19 equipment to the Ministry of Health has stopped supplying COVID-19 reagents and related supplies last year. World Health Organization Officials in Hargeisa who work directly with the Ministry of Health and COVID-19 testing center did not respond to repeated calls for information.
Repeated attempts to reach the Minister of Health, Mr. Hassan Mohamed Ali (Gaafaadhi), and the Director General, Mr. Mohamed Abdi Hergeye for answers to questions for this report were unsuccessful.
In this interview, we are speaking with Mr. Larry André, the current United States Ambassador to Somalia, about Somaliland and his view on its independence and potential cooperation between Somaliland and the United States.
Somaliland Chronicle: You have been in the region for quite sometime, and as we know, the Horn of Africa is a restive region because of internal conflicts and global power competition. How do you see the future of the region? And how much does the rivalry between foreign powers contribute to the instability in the region?
Ambassador André: The entire world is currently confronting greater than usual challenges, including this region. If the various peoples who make up this region, and their leaders, can overcome these challenges through building optimal relations within their borders and with their neighbors, then this region has a bright future. Conflicts, both internal and external, make sustained social and economic progress impossible. Mutually beneficial, mutually supportive, and mutually respectful relations among individuals, among groups, among regions, and among countries advances the best interests of all. Freedom of expression and open discussion are required to achieve optimal relations. These principals apply to all human societies, including my own. An inclusive, tolerant, and united society and region is more resistant to negative external forces.
Somaliland Chronicle: Somalia went through a rough “election” cycle over the last one and a half years, but finally a new president is in place, however Al Shabab has been resurgent and has intensified their attacks. There are calls for the need to open talks with Al Shabab. Does the US encourage some type of dialogue with Al Shabab just like you did with the Taliban?
Ambassador André: Our top goal is to increase security for the United States and Somalia. Our role is to assist Somali security forces and their African Union allies in protecting Somalis, East Africans, and Americans from terror attacks, violent extortion, and the other criminal activities of the extremist organizations al Shabaab and Daesh. Somalia’s leaders will decide the best approach to protect the population from these groups, and how best to rid the country of their murderous and extortionary behavior.
Somaliland Chronicle: Somaliland is described as a model for peace, stability and democracy in the region and has been relatively successful in holding one person one vote elections with minimum outside help, especially from the US. Somaliland’s President visited the US in March 2022 and had fruitful meetings with the different sectors of the US administration and legislative houses. You are also aware there is a Somaliland Partnership Act with bipartisan support by the senate and similar bills by the House calling for establishing closer cooperation between Somaliland and the United States in areas of strategic interest. What are your plans for further advancing and solidifying this growing momentum?
Ambassador André: We often hear the mistaken assertion that the United States does not aid the people of Somaliland. That is false. As I informed President Bihi when we last met in Hargeisa, over a recent 12-month period the American people provided the following assistance to the people of Somaliland:
More than $160,000 in security projects to counter money laundering and terrorist financing, upgrade visa registration systems, and train Somaliland Cost Guard officers.
More than $1 million in programs to support increased investment, job creation, and renewable energy generation.
More than $2.2 million to expand access to justice and support educational and professional opportunities for women and youth.
Since October 2020, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration have provided more than $640 million in humanitarian funding to meet the needs of people in Somalia, including in Somaliland.
As I have told President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and President Muse Bihi, the United States is deeply committed to Somalia’s revival. We work with all stakeholders to improve security, prosperity, and governance. In collaboration with other international friends of Somalia, the United States has supported talks between Mogadishu and Hargeisa, most recently in June 2020 in Djibouti, which I attended at the invitation of both parties. The purpose of such talks is to find a way forward on specific arrangements that will improve the lives of all Somalis. We hope to provide future diplomatic, technical, and material assistance for a new round of talks when leaders are ready.
Within this context, we are currently considering additional partnership measures to propose to Somaliland authorities.
Somaliland Chronicle: What goals do you have for Somaliland – what would you like to have achieved at the end of your term?
Ambassador André: Exactly the same goals as I have for all of historic Somalia: Increased security, humanitarian response, inclusive economic growth, and effective governance.
Somaliland Chronicle: What are your plans to visit Hargeisa in an official capacity?
Ambassador André: I already visited Hargeisa and Berbera in my official capacity on May 12, including a formal call on President Bihi and his cabinet in Hargeisa, a tour of the Berbera airport, and an aerial tour of the Berbera sea port. This was my first official visit outside Mogadishu, other than meeting our troops in Baledogle. I have a list of other places and senior leaders within historic Somalia that I should visit. Once I complete those initial visits, I plan to return to Somaliland with more of my colleagues to consult with leaders and to review our aid programs.
Somaliland Chronicle: Can you elaborate on your recent comments to Hiiraan Online that U.S. policy is to recognize “historic Somalia, in its historic borders”?
Ambassador André: Sure. I note that Somaliland has cooperative relations with several countries, including Ethiopia, Djibouti and UAE, as well as ourselves. No United Nations member state recognizes Somaliland independence. We are no different than Somaliland’s other international friends. The United States recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia in its historic borders, which include the Somaliland region. We respect the achievements of the Somaliland region in terms of democratic governance and security. We work on shared goals with Somaliland’s authorities just as we do with Somalia’s Federal Member States. We view the question of Somaliland’s status as an issue for the people of Somalia (including Somaliland) to determine. We note that in the June 2020 talks in Djibouti between delegations from Hargeisa and Mogadishu, both parties agreed to work together to promote the interests of all Somalis within the territory of historic Somalia, thereby increasing mutual confidence and promoting reconciliation and an eventual agreement on status.
Somaliland Chronicle: How does the U.S. government define “historic Somalia”?
Ambassador André: Somalia was admitted into the United Nations on 20 September 1960. The United States, like all United Nations member states, recognizes Somalia as it was on that date.
Somaliland Chronicle: Your recent statement that U.S. policy to recognize “historic Somalia, in its historic borders ever since former British Somaliland opted to join the former Italian Somaliland and form the country” has been interpreted by some as wholly dismissing Somaliland’s sovereignty, and in more categorical terms than your predecessors. How do you respond?
Ambassador André: Official United States government policy is stated on this public webpage: U.S. Relations With Somalia – United States Department of State. Note this sentence: “The United States recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia within its 1960 borders…”
Somaliland Chronicle: Is it fair to say that you are taking a contrarian position to the rest of the US government when it comes to Somaliland and the fact that direct US engagement may be in the best interest of the United States? And how do you square your adherence to “historic Somalia” with the interest of the United States that may include potential military base in Berbera?
Ambassador André: My job is to accurately represent the views of the United States government. If I took “a contrarian position to the rest of the U.S. government” then I would soon become a former Ambassador.
Somaliland Chronicle: Do you agree with the 2005 assessment by an African Union fact-finding mission that Somaliland’s search for recognition is ”historically unique and self-justified”?
Ambassador André: I defer questions about African Union positions, past or present, on any given matter to the African Union.
Somaliland Chronicle: How would you compare the current state of democracy and security in Somaliland against that in Somalia?
Ambassador André: I frequently express our admiration for the achievements of the Somaliland region in terms of democratic governance and security. I first visited Hargeisa in 2001. Much progress has been achieved since then in terms of economic development and infrastructure as well. The Federal Government of Somalia was established ten years ago. Progress in all sectors has been achieved, although the last two years saw a partial reversal of that progress due to a dysfunctional level of political contentiousness. I sense a current public mood of cautious optimism, which we share.
Somaliland Chronicle: You have been extraordinarily deferential to government in Mogadishu, particularly in your rhetoric about the “one Somalia policy,” so how do you explain actions that seem to suggest a de facto recognition that the writ of the state does not extend into Somaliland, such as accompanying the U.S. AFRICOM commander to Hargeisa and Berbera?
Ambassador André: I disagree with your characterization. I characterize explaining our longstanding policy in clear terms as “extraordinarily honest.” We work with regional administrations throughout historic Somalia, as well as with the federal government in Mogadishu. General Townsend and I traveled together to Hargeisa and Berbera. Recently, Colonel Bishop and I traveled to Kismayo. This is normal.
Somaliland Chronicle: The Somaliland government has been very vocal about seeking partnership opportunities with the U.S.; what tangible steps is the U.S. taking to reciprocate these proposals?
Ambassador André: Per my response to question 3, we have extensive partnership programs in Somaliland. We have other potential cooperation under discussion. We are not able to satisfy every request, but our level of cooperation is comparable to that in other regions.
Somaliland Chronicle: How do you respond to criticism that you have alienated the Somaliland people by failing to visit Hargeisa for official consultations with government and civil society leaders? What is your message to those who have interpreted your recent statements and lack of direct engagement as signs of bad faith?
Ambassador André: I respond that they are mistaken. Again, I made an official visit to Hargeisa and Berbera on May 12, meeting with President Bihi, his cabinet, and several officials in Berbera. I first met President Bihi in Djibouti during the June 2020 talks between delegations from Mogadishu and Hargeisa. I have also spoken on the phone several times to President Bihi, Foreign Minister Kayd, and leaders of Somaliland’s political parties. I made a point of reaching out to Somali Americans with Somaliland origins when I was in Minneapolis earlier this month. I also met Somalilanders in Washington DC. I called on Somaliland’s representative in Nairobi. I communicate frequently with Somaliland’s representative in Washington DC. My record shows frequent direct engagement and good faith.
Lack of women politicians is not only hurting Somaliland’s economy and society, it is also damaging Somaliland’s recognition efforts abroad. Somaliland women are the backbone of the nation; they are often more educated and vote at a higher rate than men. Yet, their path to politics and decision making has been a rocky one.
On January 18 2022, Gavin Williamson, a member of the British Parliament, organized a debate where about 24 British MPs gathered to discuss Somaliland’s recognition. Williamson praised Somaliland on the progress it has made over the past 30 years apropos of education, health, and development. He emphasized his admiration for Edna Adan, “one of the most remarkable women [he has] had the pleasure of meeting.” He described Hargeisa University, where majority of the students are girls and women, as “the sort of example that we want to set around the world, ensuring that young women and girls are able to thrive and seize all the opportunities that should be available for them, whether in Somaliland or elsewhere on the global stage.” However, Kerry McCarthy, another MP, mentioned that what was “slightly disappointing about the most recent election is that… a lot of progress still needs to be made on female representation. There was one woman MP, but now there are zero, out of 82 elected MPs.”
Somalilanders exercise their power by freely voting, so at first glance one can blame women themselves for their lack of representation. While there is a degree of truth to this, it is a simplistic interpretation of the matter. Somaliland’s democratic process begins after the candidates are selected, a process that both historically and presently stops women in their tracks. Not only has that prevented women from even entering the ballot, it has also led to a Somaliland that is almost exclusively governed by men. To move forward, both the candidate issue and men’s de facto political domination must be overcome.
In the 2005 house of representative election, only two of the 82 people elected were women, In the house of elders, which were originally chosen by the clans, all 82 seats were held by men. One woman inherited after her husband passed away, but she resigned in 2012. In the 2021 elections, no woman was elected to the house of representatives. In the 2012 local council elections, women won 10 out of the 375 seats. All the 25 seats in the Hargeisa local council were held by men. According to the Somaliland National Electoral Commission, 28 out of 798 (3.5%) candidates were women in 2021 municipal and parliamentary elections. Under Article 22, “every citizen shall have the right to participate in the political, economic, social and cultural affairs in accordance with the laws and the Constitution.” How is every citizen equal if more than 96% of the SELECTED running candidates are men? How can there be a fair election if Somaliland elders have patriarchal ideologies that discriminate against female candidates?
Amina-Bahja Ekman, Michael Walls, Marie-Luise Schueller ‘s Political Settlement in Somaliland: A gendered Perspective” sheds lights on “the influence of the gender ideologies held by the Somaliland political elite and wider society on the interpretation of women’s needs and interests, which leads to women’s exclusion from existing political agendas and policies.”
The clan based selection does not “only discriminate [against] women in the election process, but also disfavors them in the appointment or nomination of political positions and public offices..This could be inferred from the fact that there is only one woman out of 40 cabinet members in 2007” (Abdi 2007, 15).
Almost no women have a track record or experience in government, in part due to Somaliland starting by choosing all men for elders and not choosing women to ministries. Leaves those running playing from behind. Women’s absence from the government is not a woman’s issue or a man’s issue. It is a societal issue. It is a Somaliland issue. We all need to work together to elevate women’s presence in politics because after all, Somaliland’s prosperity and success depends on both women and men. Somaliland’s democracy cannot sustain itself if half of its population is excluded from politics?
We need to start from scratch in getting men and women to view women as viable candidates.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Originally from Somaliland, Fahima Abdi Ali is currently pursuing a master’s in International Business and Global Governance at Tufts University, She completed a bachelor’s degree (Sociology) at Columbia University in the city of New York. She founded Hiil Movement, an initiative whose mission is to advance and broaden opportunities available to Somaliland Women by integrating women into Somaliland’s political fabric.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of Somaliland Chronicle, and its staff.
The Ministry of Education Development of the Republic of Somaliland has announced that it is beginning vocational training for 1032 students and that the Ministry of Education and Science will conduct training across the regions of Awdal, Marodijeh, Sahil, and Togdheer.
Mr. Abdiasis Egeh Riyale, the Director of Vocational Training who made the announcement, the vocational training will include plumbing, electricity, mechanical, welding, metal and woodworking, and new skills such as gypsum installation and interior decoration, hospitality, and cosmetology. Mr. Riyale stated the Ministry added the additional training modules following market research that showed the need for skilled workers in these fields.
Although official statistics on the Somaliland workforce and what new skills are required are not readily available for independent analysis, many high-paying fields, such as the installation of gypsum or drywall for decoration and HVAC installation, are currently denominated by foreign workers.
Mr. Riyale, the Director of Vocational Training at the Ministry of Education and Science, stated a strong desire and commitment to learn is one of the basic requirements to apply for one of the 1032 slots available for this training.
In addition, it is unclear if the Ministry of Education and Science is coordinating with public and private higher education institutions to ensure the curriculum keeps up with market needs and prioritizes workforce-ready graduates to combat rampant unemployment, especially among educated youth.
It has been nearly three years since the Minister of Telecommunication and Technology, Dr. Abdiweli, announced in a cabinet-level extra-ordinary session a plan to include information technology into the national curriculum. So far, this plan has not materialized and technology is not part of the national curriculum.
A massive forest fire has been raging in Somaliland’s mountainous region of Sanaag for the last two days. Although authorities have not announced what and how the fire started, the terrain, elevation, dense vegetation, and lack of resources are making it difficult to bring under control.
The original site of the fire appears accessible by Tab’a road, a treacherous road that winds through Sanaag’s scenic mountains, but NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System shows the fire spreading into a second location not far from the original fire, and both sites seem to be spreading.
Somaliland government has ordered all armed forces including police, military and coastguard to head to the site to combat the fire in coordination with the governor, the local governments in the area and Sanaag population in general.
Somaliland’s is still reeling from the massive fire that consumed Waheen Market which has wiped an estimated two billion dollars worth of property. It is unclear if Somaliland government will appear for international assistance to help bring the forest fire raging in Sanaag region.
This is a developing story and we will update as we know more.
Since Russia deliberately violated international law by invading Ukraine, the EU has adopted six packages of sanctions against Moscow. Our measures now target nearly 1,200 individuals and 98 entities in Russia as well as a significant number of sectors of the Russian economy. These sanctions were adopted in coordination with the G7 members. Their effectiveness is enhanced by the fact that over forty other countries (including traditionally neutral countries) have adopted them or taken similar measures.
By the end of 2022, we will have reduced our Russian oil imports by 90% and we are rapidly reducing our gas imports. These decisions are gradually freeing us from a dependence that has long inhibited our political choices in the face of Vladimir Putin’s aggressiveness. He probably believed that Europe would not dare to engage in sanctions because of its energy dependence. This is not the most insignificant of the Russian regime’s many miscalculations during this conflict. Of course, weaning ourselves off Russian energy so rapidly also creates serious difficulties for many EU countries and for several economic sectors. But this is the price we have to pay for defending our democracies and international law, and we are taking the necessary steps to deal with these problems in full solidarity.
Some may ask do these sanctions really have an impact on the Russian economy? The simple answer is yes. Although Russia exports a lot of raw materials, it also has no choice but to import many high value-added products that it does not manufacture. For all advanced technologies, it is 45% dependent on Europe and 21% on the United States, compared with only 11% on China.
In the military field, which is crucial in the context of the war in Ukraine, the sanctions limit Russia’s capacity to produce precision missiles such as the Iskander or the KH 101. Almost all foreign car manufacturers have also decided to withdraw from Russia and the few cars produced by Russian manufacturers will be sold without airbags or automatic transmission.
The oil industry is suffering not only from the departure of foreign operators but also from the difficulty of accessing advanced technologies such as horizontal drilling. The ability of Russian industry to bring new wells on stream is likely to be limited. Finally, in order to maintain air traffic, Russia will have to withdraw a majority of its aircraft from circulation in order to recover the spare parts needed to allow the others to fly. Added to this there is also the loss of access to financial markets, being disconnected from major global research networks and a massive brain drain.
As for the alternative offered by China for the Russian economy, in reality it remains limited, especially for high-tech products. To date, the Chinese government, which is very dependent on its exports to developed countries, has not assisted Russia in circumventing Western sanctions. Chinese exports to Russia have fallen in line with those of Western countries.
Will these significant and growing impacts lead Vladimir Putin to modify his strategic calculations? Probably not in the immediate future: his actions are not guided primarily by economic logic. However, by forcing him to choose either butter or guns, the sanctions lock him in a vice that is gradually tightening.
Regarding the impact of these sanctions on third countries, particularly African countries, which depend on Russian and Ukrainian wheat and fertilisers, where responsibility lies in terms of the food crisis is clear. Our sanctions do not in any shape or form target Russian wheat or fertiliser exports, while Ukraine is prevented from exporting its wheat by the Black Sea blockade and destruction caused by Russian aggression. If such issues linked to our sanctions were to arise, we are ready to put in place the appropriate mechanisms to address these. I have informed my African counterparts of this and asked them not to be fooled by the Russian authorities’ untruths regarding our sanctions.
The real answer to the difficulties on the world energy and food markets is an end to the war. This cannot be achieved by accepting the Russian diktat, it can only be achieved by Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine. Respect for the territorial integrity of states and the non-use of force are not Western or European principles. They are the basis of all international law. Russia is blithely trampling on them. To accept such a violation would open the door to the law of the jungle on a global scale.
Contrary to what we thought rather naively just a few years ago, economic interdependence does not automatically imply a pacification of international relations. This is why the transition to a Europe as a power, which I have been calling for since the beginning of my mandate, is imperative. Faced with the invasion of Ukraine, we have begun to move from intention to action by showing that, when provoked, Europe can respond. Since we do not want to go to war with Russia, economic sanctions are now at the core of this response. They are already beginning to have an effect and will do so even more in the coming months.
Josep Borrell Fontelles
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Archaeologists spend a lot of time examining the remains of distant pasts, which includes the study of rock paintings. This is largely visual work – but sometimes we can “hear” the ancient past using acoustic methods.
Our archaeoacoustic research is focused on bringing to life sounds made by people living in the past. No aural record remains but people did dance, sing and clap. Instruments either no longer exist or are extremely rare. One exception are the gong rocks, known as lithophones, which ring when struck and produce purposeful, percussive sounds. Occasionally, unfamiliar and rare musical instruments are depicted in rock paintings.
In a new study we turned our ears to a rock painting in the Cederberg Mountains in South Africa’s Western Cape province. The human figures in this painting have previously been interpreted as healers holding fly-whisks and doing a trance-dance. Fly-whisks were an important accessory for the dance because they were thought to keep arrows of sickness at bay.
But our results suggest that the fly-whisks are in fact musical instruments of a type known as a !goin !goin – a name that only exists in the now extinct ǀXam language that was spoken by hunter-gatherers in central southern Africa. The !goin !goin is an aerophone; these instruments produce sound by creating vibrations in the air when they are spun around their axes.
To reach this conclusion we combined digital image recovery techniques with instruments created from life-size templates based on our findings. The eight instruments were played in a Cape Town sound studio and the sounds were recorded. Sound produced by the recreated instruments convincingly matches the sound spectrum (90 – 150 Hz) produced by a similar 19th century model of the !goin !goin aerophone, which is archived in the Kirby Collection of Musical Instruments, curated by the University of Cape Town’s College of Music.
Our results suggest that !goin !goin type aerophones were used around or before 2000 years ago. This conclusion is based on the age of the image that is painted in the fine-line technique, which is a style of painting that disappeared with the arrival of pastoralists in the southern Africa region 2000 years ago.
The Cederberg painting is one of only four known examples of aerophone playing depicted in rock paintings in the southern Africa region. By contrast many paintings are identified as illustrating fly-whisks. Our findings suggest the need for greater nuance when studying rock paintings. Perhaps some of the fly-whisk depictions should be revisited with a “listening ear”?
Composition
The !goin !goin generates a distinct pulsating sound (visualised in the image below) due to the circular rotation of the player’s arm and the twisting and untwisting of the cord that attaches the rotating blade to the stick.
Spectrogram illustrating the pulsating charater of !goin !goin sound. Orange and yellow areas represent frequencies of high intensity, and blue the low intensity.
An unexpected finding was the compositional possibilities offered when two or more !goin !goin were played at the same time. Speeding up and slowing down the rotation subtly changes the sound. Two instruments, one played fast and the other slow, creates a composition. Playing in sync and out of sync adds another layer of musical creation.
It was not possible to play eight instruments in the sound studio at one time. An eight-instrument performance requires more space than the studio could provide. But a sound recording of three !goin !goin playing together suggests what group music-making with the !goin !goin may have sounded like.
A sound recording of three !goin !goin playing together. Neil Rusch, Author provided (no reuse)309 KB (download)
This compositional aspect of the instrument was not well known at all so we delved deeper. In the Special Collections archive at the University of Cape Town we found an obscure description of the !goin !goin which confirmed, as does the Cederberg painting, that groups did play the instruments together.
ǀXam-speaking hunter gatherers associated the sound of the !goin !goin with honey bees. They even went so far as to say that with the !goin !goin they could “move bees”. This complements the previous statement linking the instrument’s sound with “causing rain”. The archive statement also confirms that both men and women worked with rain, using the sound of the !goin !goin for this purpose.
Trance links
What of the trance healing dance suggested by earlier interpretations of the Cederberg painting? It is well known that all senses, not just vision, hallucinate in trance and that the aural hallucination of buzzing is construed as the sound of bees, rushing wind or falling water. So the painting does link to trance because of the association with bees and buzzing – but the items depicted in the painting are musical instruments, not fly-whisks.
Since Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland established in August 2020, the “Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project” plays key role of bilateral medical cooperation. This project aims to increase the accessibility of maternal and infant healthcare services and is cooperating together with Somaliland’s Ministry of Health Development, the Taiwan ICDF and Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital.
In order to strengthen the healthcare referral mobility, this project hands over two ambulances to Hargeisa Group Hospital and Gabiley General Hospital for integrating case management between different facilities to refer and track reported cases, as well as increasing healthcare mobile capacity.
Capacity building is crucial for the project, the first batch of 8 experienced health professionals currently are in Taiwan for a 3-month training. The second batch of the seed trainers are scheduled to go to Taiwan in Oct 2022.
Ambassador Allen C. LOU of the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland remarks that according to the Health Care Index 2022 released by Numbeo, Taiwan’s healthcare system has been ranked number 1 in the world four years in a row. Taiwan can help and is willing to share what we have and what we are good at with Somaliland and like-minded countries. We believe this project will catalyze a win-win-win situation to benefit the people directly, hospitals and the Government.
In a series of escalating steps by the government and electricity providers following the massive hike in electricity prices, the Somaliland Electricity Association, an umbrella organization whose members are electric providers in Somaliland, informed the public of a five-hour electricity blackout beginning from 11 PM to 4 AM starting on August 1st, 2022.
The electric association stated rising fuel costs and an attempt to conserve their fuel reserves as the reason for the five-hour blackout.
In addition, the association stated that its members have agreed to a ten-cent hike per unit instead of the 85 cents per unit that customers were billed without warning. The average rate per kilowatt was around 50 cents prior to the hike.
Somaliland government’s attempt to negotiate with the electricity providers to prevent the steep price hike at a time of major inflation of essential commodities has failed. The cost of fuel in Hargeisa was 12,000 Somaliland Shillings, or $1.4 US dollars as of today.
Letters from the Ministry of Interior and Energy Commission did little to sway the electricity providers to back off the 35% price hike. In a previous statement, the electricity association stated that their fuel reserves are running short and may be unable to provide electricity to their customers.
Yesterday, the government’s Economic Council consisting of President Bihi’s cabinet members, including the Minister of Finance Dr. Saad Ali Shire, issued a similar statement that the Energy Commission and electricity providers have agreed to a ten cent hike and that the cost of electricity will be reviewed in October 2022. The statement did not mention the five hour electricity outage the electricity providers have announced.
Courtesy: Somaliland National TV
On June 19th, Somaliland Parliament announced that the decision by the Energy Commission to halt the electricity price hike was unlawful and invalid, and the disbandment of the Energy Commission and asked the President to appoint new commissioners.
The Chairman of the Energy Commission, Mr. Ahmed Farah Adarre, has accused members of Parliament of being shareholders of electricity providers and that they lacked the authority to disband the Energy Commission.
Despite tens of millions of aid and foreign funding pouring into the energy sector and electricity providers, Somaliland’s electricity is unregulated and counts among the most expensive in the world.
It is unclear if the five-hour blackout is part of the agreement between the government represented by the Energy Commission and Economic Council and Somaliland Electricity Association. Efforts to reach government officials and electricity providers were unsuccessful.
