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Ex-US Ambassador to Somalia Lobbies for Hormuud’s Access to American Banking System

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Somaliland Democracy Prevailed

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The Republic of Somaliland entered the New Year, 2022 a period of constitutional ambiguity, stemming from an announcement made by the minister of information Mr. Koore during a ceremonial speech saying that the terms of the existing political parties and licenses are about to expire in December 2022 according to the Somaliland constitution. 

When the constitutionality of this came forth in the parliamentary debate it resulted in chaos including physical violence among the individual PMs.The current opposition parties were not thrilled by the prospect of bringing “new kids on the block” and sharing a stage with new rivals, and they vehemently defied the notion of the opening of new political parties. This created confusion and uncertainty among the opposition parties, the parliament, and Somaliland citizens. Suddenly, Somaliland was at a dangerous crossroads between the influx of democracy and lawlessness. This was a constitutional litmus test for the new and young republic. Proudly, but not surprisingly the Somaliland constitution passed the trial with flying colors and democracy prevailed.

Democracy is fragile even in those regions of the world where democracy flourished for hundreds of years including The United States of America where its democracy was threatened in January, 6th 2021 by the then outgoing president.

“…Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: “A republic, if you can keep it.” The brevity of that response should not cause us to under-value its essential meaning: democratic republics are not merely founded upon the consent of the people, they are also absolutely dependent upon the active and informed involvement of the people for their continued good health”

On January 16, 2022, the Republic of Somaliland and its citizens kept their republic ones again, when the Superior Court of Somaliland ruled for a group of citizens to pursue and exercise their rights to form political parties of their own, and at the same time rejected the validity of the court filing of forty-seven members parliament due to procedural irregularities. Although the Somaliland democracy is in its infancy, it has demonstrated that it has robust foundations, its constitution, and the three branches of its government.

While this constitutional debate was playing out locally, Somaliland footprints were being seen in all major world stages both in friends and faux included. The British parliament is scheduled to debate about the recognition of Somaliland on January 18, 2022, and the president of Somaliland H. E. Muse Bihi is scheduled to meet his counterpart the President of the United States, President Biden. On the other hand, Beijing is expanding its influence in the Horn of Africa, which is worrisome to both nations and to the western hemisphere regions in general.

This renders the Somaliland Republic an important geopolitical spot to the rest of the world to counter the aggression of the Chinese government and its expansion.
  Somaliland has a unique form of government, a hybrid of western-style democracy, and a chamber of elderlies (Guurti). This blend of local and international systems of laws are the real guardrails of the Somaliland democracy.

This time the constitution prevailed and many times in the past in the thirty-one years of the history of Somaliland the Guurti came to the rescue. That is why the criteria and the requirement of the future Guurti should be similar to the current serving body. The individual candidate’s qualifications for the Guurti must be based on the knowledge of the customs and traditions of its community and must demonstrate the ability and skills of conflict resolution. In other words, one must be a mature individual.

Beeman, R. R. (n.d.). National Constitution CenterRichard. National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/historical-documents/perspectives-on-the-constitution-a- republic-if-you-can-keep-it

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mohamed Adan Samatar is a Former State of Arizona Government Management and holds BSc, MS Agriculture. He can be reached madan.samatar01[@]gmail.com

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of the Somaliland Chronicle, and its staff. 

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Notice: This article by Somaliland Chronicle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Under this license, all reprints and non-commercial distribution of this work are permitted.

Open Letter to UK MPs regarding House of Commons debate: U.K. Government’s Recognition of the Republic of Somaliland.

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Dear Members of UK Parliament,

Cc: The UK Government; the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson; Minister for Africa Vicky Ford; Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, Lizz Truss.

We write to you today regarding an important matter: the UK Government’s recognition of the Republic of Somaliland.

What is happening?

A House of Commons Adjournment Debate (titled ‘UK Government Recognition of Somaliland’)  is scheduled on Tuesday the 18th of January. The British Somaliland Community has been campaigning for 30+ years for the UK to recognise Somaliland.  It is a welcomed development that the UK Parliament is set to take part in this cross-party debate.

What is Somaliland and why should you care?

Somaliland was the former British Somaliland Protectorate. Its citizens (British-Somalilanders) valiantly fought alongside British troops during both World Wars. Somaliland subsequently gained its independence as a sovereign, independent country on the 26th of June 1960 as ‘The State of Somaliland’. Later, it united with the separate country of Somalia (the former Colony of Somalia Italiana), in a union that was never formally ratified or approved by Somaliland and Somalia’s parliaments or supreme courts.

This ill-fated union between the two countries ultimately failed on conception. Between 1960 and 1991, the people of Somaliland suffered repression, discrimination and a terrible genocide. In what became the ‘Isaaq Genocide’ and ‘Hargeisa Holocaust’, Somalia’s government carried out indiscriminate aerial bombardments, flattened Somaliland’s largest cities, and killed an estimated 50,000-100,000 Somalilanders. Somalia descended into anarchy and terrorism.

Somalilanders understandably chose to dissolve this failed union. They dissolved the union on May 18 1991 and re-declared their independence as the Republic of Somaliland. Through locally-owned initiatives and with no outside support, they rebuilt their cities and country.

In the 30+ years since 1991, Somaliland has been a thriving, peaceful, and stable democracy. Somaliland has fulfilled all the requirements of the Montevideo convention; it has a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and a capacity to conduct international relations. It is often described as ‘the beacon of hope’ in a volatile Horn of Africa region.

What do your constituents need you to do?

We urge MPs to attend the upcoming ‘UK Government Recognition of Somaliland’ debate on the 18th of January, represent the voice of the 200,000 strong British-Somaliland community, and make interventions in support of UK Government recognition of Somaliland.

In addition to the above, we ask MPs to Write to the Foreign Secretary and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, to urge the UK Government to shift its policy towards Somaliland to:

  • support a binding referendum within 2 years to allow Somalilanders to express their democratic will, guaranteed by the International Community;
  • upgrade the U.K Office in Hargeisa, Somaliland, to a dedicated UK embassy that is separate and distinct from the Mogadishu based British Embassy;
  • spearhead an international mechanism to remove Somaliland from financial, security & legal sanctions placed on Somalia (these are clearly inappropriate for a mature, stable and democratic country like Somaliland);
  • request that FCDO and Foreign Secretary to work with the AU, East African Community (EAC), IGAD and UN to recognise Somaliland as a separate and independent country from Somalia.

What has Somaliland got to offer the UK?

Somaliland has a large untapped market. It imported $20bn over the past 10 years. British companies could expand into this fast-growing export market. Particularly through Somaliland’s Berbera port – a growing trade and logistics hub that has attracted upward of $1bn of investment. Dubai’s BP World, the UK’s CDC Group, Coca Cola, Trafigura, Mott Macdonald and other international companies are already active in Somaliland.

In a post-Brexit world, Somaliland is well-positioned to unlock UK-African trade. It serves as the key gateway to the wider Horn of Africa market and its 282 million population market. This is one of the largest untapped consumer and business markets in the world. Recognising Somaliland would unlock significant opportunities for economic growth and UK-African trade.

It is now time for the UK to provide international leadership. It is time for the UK to stand up as a champion of democracies. It is time for the UK to spearhead a process whereby Somaliland is recognised as a sovereign and independent state. It is the right thing to do. It is the moral thing to do. It is in the UK’s self-interest. The world will be a better place for it.

Yours sincerely,

The British Somaliland Community

President Bihi to Visit Addis Ababa

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According to multiple government and diplomatic sources, the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi will travel to Addis Ababa in the coming days. Sources add that President Bihi is going to Addis on an official invitation from his counterpart, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mr. Abiy Ahmed.

President Bihi has visited Ethiopia multiple times during his four years at the helm, and his latest visit was on February 2020 during The African Union Heads of State and Governments Summit, where Prime Minister Abiy has set up a meeting between President Bihi and Farmajo.

Prime Minister Abiy has changed a long-standing policy of successive Ethiopian governments that treated Somaliland separately from Somalia by allying himself with Farmajo and all but ignoring Somaliland. Ethiopia is Somaliland’s largest trade partner and holds a 19 percent stake in Berbera Port.

The Somaliland government has not issued an official statement on President Bihi’s impending visit to Addis Ababa, and no details of the agenda have emerged.

Looming Constitutional Crisis in Somaliland

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By: Mahmoud Adam Jama “Galaal”

Just under one year prior to presidential elections and in the wake of growing public discontent and a huge slump in popularity, president Muse Bihi orchestrated a cunning and yet highly dangerous maneuver that put Somaliland on a costly path to a constitutional crisis.  The mood in the country and the dwindling prospect of being re-elected appear to be the primary motivation for taking such a drastic and risky strategy clearly formulated to keep him in office beyond his five-year fixed term. 

The two opposition political parties in Somaliland Waddani and UCID vociferously claim the president engineered the scheme in a bid to avoid contesting the presidential election scheduled for 13 November 2022 against the two current presidential candidates in order to remain in office. The move could potentially put the Republic of Somaliland on a perilous path to a constitutional crisis and civil unrest. 

Background 

The Somaliland constitution allows three national political parties which are currently licenced for a period of 10 years. There are two notable statutes that govern the elections as well as the process of competing for political party licences.  These are Laws 91 and 14 respectively. Six months prior to the end of the ten-year political party license term, registrations for applications for political parties are opened.  It’s an open field at this point as applications are being accepted from any new applicant organisation that fulfills the basic criteria and pays a $34,000.00 registration fee. It’s important to note the law waives the registration fee for the existing three political parties. Prior to now, organisations wanting to become political parties competed for their licenses through nationwide local municipal elections.  The three organisations with the highest regional votes in the local election then became the officially recognised and duly licensed national political parties. 

Recent developments and the current situation 

Toward the end of the last parliament, the governing Kulmiye party introduced amendments to Law No 14. The house of elders “Guurti” ratified the amendments and sent the bill to the president to be signed into law.  The president refused to sign the bill and returned it to parliament citing a number of legal flaws and insisting on further amendments. In his covering letter to parliament, the president asserted the bill was incompatible with constitutionally binding Presidential and Guurti elections as well as the provisions of Law No. 91. He instructed parliament, using his constitutional presidential prerogative, to make further amendments to make Law No. 14 compatible with constitutionally obligatory presidential elections and the terms of Law No. 91. 

Before parliament could consider the president’s suggested amendments several significant political events occurred. First, a number of notable Kulmiye party politicians, including the author of this article, defected to the main opposition party Waddani.  

Shortly after, on 16 November 2021 Waddani elected Hersi Ali Haji Hassan as its chairman at their 2nd General Assembly. 

These two events caused major reverberations in the seat of government because it expanded the Waddani party’s appeal to a broader constituency particularly in the Eastern regions of the country.  In response to these developments, the Kulmiye party organised 28 members of parliament to table a motion declaring that Bill No. 14 had assented into law.  This was shortly followed by the Somaliland Minister of Information’s impromptu press conference on 12 December 2021 where he told the waiting media that he was speaking on behalf of the president and that Bill No. 14 had assented into law.  He asserted that new political parties were hence open for registration. 

Despite the fact that the current three political parties Waddani, Kulmiye, and UCID were licensed up until 26 December 2022 and were therefore entitled to contest the 13 November 2022 presidential elections, the government bombarded the media with the suggestion that the current three parties would not be allowed to contest those elections unless they qualified as one of three organisations gaining the top three positions in a direct political party ballot. 

The motion by the MP’s stalled in parliament as Kulmiye members and others supporting the government’s position failed to find the two-thirds majority required.  On 13 December a cynical strategy of refusing to enter the parliament chamber to prevent a quorum and hence a debate was employed by the government’s MPs and supporters.  As those MPs congregated outside parliament refusing to enter the building, the situation become heated and there were physical altercations and clashes between opposing MPs.  

Armed police entered the parliament compound and attempted to arrest an opposition MP.  The MPs resisted the arrest of their colleague and asserted the parliament immunity privilege as defined in the constitution. As MPs struggled to prevent the arrest, the situation quickly become volatile and highly dangerous culminating with police discharging live rounds.  As a consequence of the apparent boycott by MPs supporting the government, parliament remained without a quorum of members and was therefore closed for twelve days.   

On 21 December 2022 forty six parliamentarians supporting the government’s position lodged a petition with the Supreme Court requesting a legal opinion on the basis that the dispute over Bill No. 14 had caused an impasse. The opposition and legal experts contended that the Court’s legal opinion could not be sought as the bill had not been debated in parliament and there was no specific clause/s which the court was being asked to define or provide an opinion on. It was further argued that it was the parliament’s duty to decide on whether or not the bill had assented into law and not the courts.  

Obstructing the duties of parliament by preventing a quorum, is of course a questionable and an unparliamentary maneuver intended to prevent debate and a democratic vote in the house.  Deploying such tactics and then seeking a judicial remedy is a clear abuse of process and a breach of established general rules and principles.  The Court’s acceptance of the petition and failure to thus far reject it is therefore of serious concern and may create the perception that even the highest court in the land has an ad hoc attitude to the legal process.   

Despite the lack of grounds for a judicial remedy, the government and proponents of the petition display a remarkable degree of confidence in the outcome of the case.  Notwithstanding the legal and ethical duty not to prejudice ongoing proceedings, parliamentarians aligned with the Bihi administration and even the president himself continue to make public pronouncements on the outcome of the case. Such action not only undermines the public and international community’s confidence in the independence of the Supreme Court but also brings to question the separation of power issues between the three main organs of government, the executive, judiciary, and legislative. The fact the Chief Justice/Chairman of the Supreme Court is appointed and may be dismissed by the president does not help to quell this concern or indeed inspire confidence. 

The president’s scheme to avoid contesting the presidential election against the current political parties is illegal and potentially very damaging.  It is an obvious attempt to deprive legitimate opposition candidates of their inalienable rights.

The law prescribes the next presidential election to take place on 13 November 2022, six weeks prior to the license expiry of the current political parties. Contrary to the government’s narrative, even the amended and disputed version of Law No. 14 does not preclude the current opposition from contesting the 13 November 2022 presidential election – providing the election is held on time.  

The relevant provisions in the amended Bill are as follows;  

License Period of Political Parties

  1. The validity of a national political party’s license shall be a period of ten (10) years, starting from the date the license is issued and cannot be extended
  • A political party may obtain a license by participating in direct elections held for organisations and political parties and then becoming one of the three parties with the highest percentage of votes in the regions. 
  • Political parties whose license period has ended will not be permitted to participate in presidential, parliamentary or local elections, and will remain temporary parties until direct election which yield national political parties are held. 
  • Registration of organisations and parties which will participate in direct elections, will be take place six months prior to the end of the political parties’ license period. 

As is evident, the above clauses contain nothing which can legally prevent the opposition from participating in any election which takes place before 26 December 2022.  

It’s abundantly clear that President Bihi has lost the confidence to race for another term. It’s also obvious the creation of a false and misleading narrative with respect to the eligibility of the opposition right to contest the next election is essentially a crude attempt to create a constitutional crisis with a view to winning an extension to his term in office.  

The concern is that continued political meddling will undermine the credibility of the judiciary and cause disenfranchisement of a large number of citizens. Such action could have damaging medium and long-term consequences on community cohesion and everything that entails. It will also leave an ugly stain on president Bihi’s legacy. 

In spite of the political damage the government’s ill-advised scheme to muddy the waters may cause, it may still be unsuccessful in achieving its ultimate goal of illegally disqualifying the current opposition from presidential elections. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mahmoud Adam Jama “Galaal” served as the Republic of Somaliland Ambassador to Ethiopia. He also served as State Minister for National Planning and State Minister for Health. He is now a member of the opposition Waddani Party.

Somaliland Declares Emergency Drought Situation and Asks for Humanitarian Assistance

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According to a statement from the newly formed dought committee appointed by the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi and headed by the Vice President HE Abdirahman Abdallahi Ismail Saylici, Somaliland is facing a severe drought affecting the country’s pastoral heartlands of Togdheer, Sool, Sanaag with partial effect to Marodijeh, Sahil and Awdal regions.

The statement attributes the drought to lower than expected rainfall in the main rainy seasons known in Somali as Gu and Dayr and that approximately 810,000 people are currently facing an acute shortage of water and food and the numbers could rise sharply if the current drought conditions persist.

Somaliland government has allocated 3 million US dollars for those affected with water trucking, maintaining existing water wells, and ensuring adequate emergency food supplies are available as well as the production of Rapid Drought Situation Assessment Report.

Permanent water infrastructure outside of main cities is nonexistent in Somaliland and low rainfall due to climate change has ravaged Somaliland’s rain-dependent pastoralist communities in the past few years.

The drought emergency declaration comes at a time when there is a sharp rise in the prices of food and other essential provisions in Somaliland. The government disputes that food prices increases are the result of service charge increase at the port currently managed by DP World.

The statement concludes with an appeal “I, therefore, call upon the private sector, donors, international partners, and friends of Somaliland, to extend assistance to people affected by the drought to complement the government’s ongoing efforts in addressing the current crisis.”

The appeal for humanitarian assistance was sent to donors and aid agencies with the below assessment report on the drought situation in Somaliland.

President of Somaliland Will Visit the United States of America – Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

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According to multiple sources present at the confirmation hearing of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr. Essa Kayd Mohamoud, the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi will visit the United States in the coming weeks.

This news comes shortly after the conclusion of a visit by a US Congressional staff delegation from the Senate Foreign Relations, House Foreign Affairs, and House Appropriations and Conservation Committees to Somaliland on what was described as a fact-finding mission.

In addition to the Congressional Staff delegation’s visit, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Dr. Essa Kayd Mohamoud was in the United States late last year as his first foreign visit where he had met with numerous current and former high ranking government officials and it is unclear if paving the way for President Bihi’s visit is a direct result of the delegation’s visit and meetings in Washington DC.

President Bihi’s visit comes at a time when the United States has shown a heightened interest in Somaliland as of late despite the failure of a monumental amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act requiring the Departments of State and Defense to work directly with Somaliland on matters pertaining to security submitted Senator Risch.

Somaliland’s global stature has been on the rise following a string of diplomatic successes and a boost to its democratic credentials following the successful nationwide one-person-one-vote Parliamentary and local council elections with minimal outside help and for rebuffing Chinese overtures to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

The United States has been in a race to turn the tide of rising Chinese influence in Africa and particularly in the strategically important Horn of Africa where the People’s Republic of China has its first overseas military base in Djibouti.

Officials at Somaliland Presidency and Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Ministry did not respond to questions relating to the President’s visit to the United States.

Hargeysa & Washington: Win-Win or No Deal

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In recent years, Somaliland recognition has become a hot topic within the circles of US congress, top diplomats, think tanks, and international relations experts. This generated different sets of ideas or roadmaps on how the US should establish formal diplomatic relations with Somaliland.

In this article, I will compare these roadmaps with the hope to identify a WIN-WIN deal. Failing that, I will recommend not to establish any relations between Somaliland and the US until one is found. In the words of Stephen Covey, always strive for a win-win or no deal

The roadmaps towards direct relations between the US and Somaliland are as follows:

  • Suggested Talks with Somalia (with AU sponsorship)
  • The UK treatment (de facto recognition)
  • Direct US recognition
  • The Abraham Accord

To help compare and contrast, we will look at 5 criteria to assess the practicality and how a roadmap constitutes a WIN-WIN deal.

  • Capacity for adverse actions by Somalia or any third party
  • Unwanted side effects
  • Materialisation of US interests
  • Materialisation of Somaliland’s interests
  • Time and effort

Before any comparisons, below is a brief description of each roadmap

Suggested Talks with Somalia (with AU sponsorship)

Advocates: Somalia, Former US ambassador

Similar to South Sudan and Eritrea, this roadmap puts pressure on the so-called parent country (Somalia) to approve the independence of a breakaway region (allegedly Somaliland). Fruitless talks have been going on for a decade between the two countries. What is different in this alternative roadmap is exerting pressure on Somalia by the African Union with the use of tight deadlines and active mediation. This is mainly suggested by former US ambassador Stephen Schwartz

The UK treatment (de facto recognition)

In this roadmap, the immediate resolution of Somaliland’s recognition is deferred and everything that could come after recognition is put forward especially in the area of economic development and limited aid. This is the nature of the relationship between Somaliland and the following countries: Ethiopia, UAE, UK, and Taiwan. Advocates for this roadmap see it as a stepping stone towards full recognition. A military flavor of this roadmap appeared on the floor of the US senate in an NDAA bill amendment by senator James Risch. Although the amendment was withdrawn, it shows the preference for de facto recognition by some.

Direct US recognition

Advocates: AEI Scholar Michael Rubin, Former US assistant secretary of States: Tibor, Frazer, Cohen, The heritage foundation, and The Economist

By far, this is the most popular roadmap by experts and diplomats. This roadmap calls for the immediate and unconditional full diplomatic recognition of Somaliland. The basis behind it is deep knowledge of Somaliland’s history and awareness of how other roadmaps have led to failures. This roadmap sees the AU fact-finding mission inviting for such direct intervention. It underscores how Somaliland does not open a pandora box for any other African movement to declare independence unilaterally. Furthermore, this roadmap argues that Somaliland is setting the bar really high in a way that is impossible for any other future country to pursue the same path. The most comprehensive research on this roadmap is done by The Heritage Foundation’s Senior Policy Analyst Joshua Meservey

The Abraham Accord

Advocates: Dr. Edna Aden, AEI Scholar Michael Rubin, Somaliland and Israeli politicians and activists

Like Taiwan, Israel has a similar profile to Somaliland: a free democratic nation within unstable and unwelcoming neighbours. Despite the mutual interest, a direct diplomatic recognition between Somaliland and the US is similar in magnitude to the lifting of sanctions against Sudan and the Abraham Record. Since no country has recognised Somaliland yet and the significance of a US recognition, Somaliland might need to move out of its comfort zone (is dhigasho) and offer the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel in order to secure full recognition. This has been written favourably by senior scholar Michael Rubin

The Win-Win deal

In this section, I will compare these roadmaps. The following can be considered a framework that can be used to evaluate any future roadmap.

1 Treating Somaliland as a breakaway region not only is against the African Union fact-finding mission report it also gives Somalia unnecessary illegitimate control over the Somaliland case.

2 Most likely, an AU pressure will not work given how ineffective it has been in fighting terrorism in Somalia. Furthermore, the African Union does not have the same level of interest in the region as the US does. The biggest mistake when discussing Somaliland recognition is to treat the African Union as its main and only stakeholder. Somaliland is not only in Africa but also in the Red Sea and the Indo Pacific. This spans five continents and just Africa. The US and other democratic partners such as the Quad must look for their interests; which are not shared with the rest of Africa such as an open and free Indo Pacific. This means when considering allies’ positions, the US should not be limited to nations like Kenya but also Australia, India, and Japan. On the other hand, anchoring on the African Union role will not materialise any US interest.

3 There are presidential elections due in Somaliland in 2022. As part of Wadani’s campaign, Abdirahman Iro has indicated that he will prefer China over Taiwan. Wadani is the biggest opposition party and the one who won the last parliamentary elections earlier this year. This means the US has a few months to respond positively and show Somaliland people the value of forging relations with Taiwan. This has been highlighted by former U.S. National Security Advisor, Robert C. O’Brien.

4 This roadmap has already been going on for 10 years without any progress. During that period, Somaliland has incurred higher unemployment rates and increased chances of War with Somalia. The latter is already preparing for war to annex Somaliland.

5 The current status quo of keeping the talks with Somalia is blocking the US or any other country to recognise Somaliland. For example, if the US recognises Somaliland today, it will be blamed for disrupting the ongoing talks. Somaliland must end the talks immediately, not just because it did not work for a decade, but also to open doors for other nations to engage with better alternatives.

6 Turkey has supplied Somalia with drones capable of attacking Somaliland. Without full diplomatic recognition, even with good intentions, the US cannot help Somaliland to buy arms and be able to defend itself. Unlike Taiwan, which enjoys military support without formal recognition, there is an arms embargo on Somalia by the UN and security council. In other words, a de facto recognition does not address the security interest of Somaliland.

7 A direct US recognition might not be as direct as it sounds. Despite Somaliland being a democracy that ticks all the boxes, not many countries are aware of Somaliland. The shortcomings of effective Somaliland lobbying worldwide put weight and extra effort on US diplomats to not only explain their new position but also convince other nations in Africa, Quad and Europe to follow suit.

8 While there are several politicians and advocates that support forging relations with Israel, there are many conservatives in Somaliland who oppose this move. This is a risk to the ruling party with elections coming soon in Somaliland. However, it is a manageable risk given the rewards in the return which are always guaranteed within the Abraham Accords framework. Needless to say, this roadmap also requires both US and Somaliland to align their interests with Israel. In comparison to the previous roadmap, this requires far less diplomatic work.

Conclusion

Before anything else, ending the talks with Somalia will be the best way to start a new chapter in Somaliland’s engagement with the world. For a win-win deal, Somaliland and the US have to work hard in 2022 towards a direct formal recognition, or a deal within the Abarahm records. This will have a positive influence on the many geopolitical regions that Somaliland belongs to.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abdirahman Mohamed Abdi Daud is an Australian Somalilander and Software Engineer. Works as a principal developer in a fintech company. Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Daud is also a Non-Resident Scholar at Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Hargeysa Somaliland

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of the Somaliland Chronicle, and its staff. 

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Notice: This article by Somaliland Chronicle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Under this license, all reprints and non-commercial distribution of this work is permitted.

Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology Outsourced Basic Functions and Overpaid for Free Services

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The Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology of Somaliland has outsourced the creation of the Address System for Hargeisa, the capital of the Republic of Somaliland, to a private company called GEOSOL.

GEOSOL is currently managing the land records of Hargeisa Municipality for exuberant fees to the public and Mr. Abdirahman Aideed SOLTELCO, the former mayor of Hargeisa, is reported to be a major stakeholder in GEOSOL.

The Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology has so far paid 400 million Somaliland Shillings or roughly 74,000 US dollars to GEOSOL. Details of the agreement with GEOSOL are scarce and it is unclear what the contract entails and if Hargeisa Municipality is a stakeholder, the project’s price tag, and if GEOSOL will charge the public for the address assignment service or if this engagement will be rolled out nationwide in the future.

We are introducing a postal addressing system for the first time in Somaliland history. The new addressing system will make it easy for residents should know which district they live in, their street name, door number, and zip code to receive and send national and international parcels and other delivery packages. Furthermore, the service will create new job opportunities for citizens for new services such as deliveries, post services, and E-Commerce. the Ministry said in a statement published on its website.

Although successive governments have been promising to get postal services up and running, Somaliland does not have a functioning postal service and the public relies on private package couriers for local and international shipments.

In addition, the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology has spent over 100,000 US dollars in verifying Somaliland’s government social media pages. This is according to anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the project. Verification of social media accounts for public figures and institutions is free but requires a basic understanding of the various platforms to navigate their qualifying requirements.

During his confirmation by Somaliland Parliament, Dr. Abdiweli Abdillahi Soufi has promised that he will work to ensure that Somaliland has its own telephone country code and an internet top-level domain, neither has materialized so far but records examined by Somaliland Chronicle show the Ministry has paid various consultants over 53,000 US dollars in 2021 for telephone country code.

One company tasked with getting Somaliland its own telephone code is Mind Power Consulting a three-person company and seems to have little to do with telecommunications. For the top-level domain, the Minister has asked Sierra Leone if Somaliland can share its top-level domain. Sierra Leone owns the .sl top-level domain.

A source from the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described how the Minister finds and vets vendors as “nothing more than throwing a rock at google and seeing what comes up”. This is despite lofty goals of establishing an “e-cabinet” system in collaboration with the Presidency, according to the Ministry’s e-government Strategic Plan.

Although the Minister has been promising to deliver an e-government system for years among others including interconnecting various telecom providers, it does not appear that an e-government system would go live soon to enable Somaliland’s highly connected population to consume government services digitally.

Taiwan, a technology powerhouse that has signed an agreement with the government of Somaliland to help with the digitization of citizen services, but it is unclear if Taiwan is offering technical expertise, equipment, or the funding of an e-government system for Somaliland.

Although it is uncommon for governments to elicit help from foreigners including allies for sensitive or classified government systems for national security reasons, many systems currently in use by the Somaliland government have been funded by the World Bank and developed by foreigners with little to no input from the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology.

Dr. Abdiweli Abdillahi Soufi, the Minister of Telecommunication and Technology did not respond to questions for this report.

Turkey’s Ties with Somaliland Must be Reciprocal

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Somaliland is on a roll. Early last month, a U.S. Congressional staff delegation visited Hargeisa, the first such trip in more than a decade if not two. In Washington, DC, two former national security advisors, three former assistant secretaries of State for African Affairs, and a previous U.S. ambassador to Somalia have all praised Somaliland if not endorsed formal ties if not independence. Nor is Somaliland’s diplomatic momentum limited to the United States. The establishment of Somaliland-Taiwan ties augmented awareness of Somaliland internationally. Kenyan diplomats will soon arrive to staff an embassy already established near the Ambassador Hotel. European delegations come more frequently and, slowly but surely, Somaliland diplomats make progress in both western and southern Africa. Several airlines are in the final stages of negotiations to serve Berbera’s new international airport.

Contrast that with a decade ago, when an air of diplomatic desperation surrounded Somaliland. Today, diplomatic momentum and expanding ties give Hargeisa leverage. It is against this backdrop that Somaliland’s government should reassess and rebalance the country’s ties with Turkey.

Certainly, Somaliland should value the fact that Turkey has long maintained a consulate in Hargeisa at a time when many countries shunned the nation. Such praise requires an asterisk: While Turkish diplomats may live in Hargeisa, but Turkey accredits them to Mogadishu. That may be standard given Somaliland’s unrecognized status, but what is not are violations of regional sovereignty, for example, distributing aid with Turkish and Somalia’s flag to villages well within Somaliland’s internationally recognized borders.

Over the last several years, Somaliland’s balance of payments and balance of trade have skewed increasingly heavily toward Turkey. Turkish clothes, food, and electronics increasingly fill Somaliland markets, but Somaliland livestock and animal products seldom reach Turkey.  As a result, far more money flows from Somaliland to Turkey than vice versa. While that is a testament to the diversity of Turkey’s economy and its manufacturing power, the problem is that Turkey delivers nothing diplomatically to compensate for the imbalance and the tens of millions of dollars it takes from Somaliland.

If such Turkish trade imbalance is to continue, then Ankara should compensate in other ways: First and foremost, the Turkish Foreign Ministry should accept reciprocity for Somalilanders. Rather than condemn Somaliland’s representative to conduct business in Ankara coffee shops, Turkey should allow Somaliland to establish an office and treat it with the same respect that Somaliland treats Ankara’s consulate in Hargeisa. When I visited Ankara two decades ago to meet representatives of Iraqi Kurdish political parties, the Turkish government was hardly on speaking terms with them but still allowed them to maintain official offices. Somaliland deserves no less.

The same holds true for passports and visas. Somaliland officials accept Turkey’s passports and readily provide visas to Turkish businessmen. It is a diplomatic insult that Turkey refuses to recognize Somaliland passports and often treats visa applicants—both businessmen and students studying at Turkish universities—harshly and with disrespect. The issue is not just biometrics; Turkey will accept many other passports that are on par technologically with Somaliland’s.

Reciprocity should extend beyond simple diplomatic protocol: Somaliland does not interfere in Turkey’s security by establishing separate ties, for example, with Kurdish groups whose actions Turkey says undermine its internal security. Yet, Turkey consistently subordinates its relationship with Somaliland to the dictates of Somalia and increasingly provides President Mohamed Farmaajo’s expired presidency and its inner-circle with lethal weaponry which they might use against Somaliland.

That same subordination of interests is also evident in Turkish Airlines. Turkish authorities repeatedly brag about the rapid expansion of Turkey’s national airlines into one of Africa’s major carriers. In 2011, the airline served 14 African destinations; eight years later, it flew to 52 African cities. It should be 53, but out of deference to Farmaajo, Turkish Airlines boycotts Hargeisa even though it could be financially viable.

Turkey’s economy is faltering and, happily, Somaliland today has more friends. Turkey is not in the command position it once was. Rather than let Turkey continue to operate in Somaliland without restriction, it is in the interests of all Somaliland to use Hargeisa’s growing leverage to insist on the reciprocity inherent in normal diplomacy or, alternately, to scale down the opportunities Turkey enjoys in the country.

Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute

Corruption and Constant Power Struggles at the Ministry of Education and Science has Divided Staff and Crippled Workflow

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According to multiple sources, the Director-General of the Ministry of Education and Science Mr. Abdirisaq Jama Nur (Nakhude), has stopped payments on multiple transactions totaling over 64,000. Sources add that the expenditure’s nature was questionable, and the funds were reallocated from accounting sub-heads without the proper procedures that include approval from the Accountant General or the Ministry of Finance.

Sources add that the new Director General who was recently reassigned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has been trying to track down multiple stamps that were used to authorize expenditure and together with the Deputy Minister are trying to reign in more than 20 bank accounts in private banks.

Minister Diriye, whose appointment was initially welcomed as a disrupter who has removed layers of entrenched corruption and restructured the ministry operations, is now described by sources as a chaotic and erratic personality leading to even widespread corruption, nepotism, and disfunction at the Ministry of Education and Science.

The Minister of Education and Science Hon. Ahmed Mohamed Diriye Egeh is the co-owner of DARS Research—a private research firm, and although an effort was made to scrub the Minister’s name and all traces of the fact that it operates in Somaliland off the DARS Research website, multiple sources state that Minister Diriye is involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm and in ensuring that DARS receives funding and contracts.

The Ministry of Education and Science which receives millions of dollars in funding from the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait has one of the highest turnovers of any ministry and sources from the Ministry and others from international organizations with a direct working relationship with the Ministry describe it as an environment rife with turf wars and corruption.

Many of the donor-funded projects for education in Somaliland are channeled through Safe the Children, Care International, and other international NGOs as implementing partners and do not award funds directly to the Ministry of Education. As a result, tens of millions of dollars from donors to the Ministry of Education and Science are hard to track as funds do not go through the Ministry of Finance Development and Somaliland Central Bank and instead are deposited in multiple accounts in private banks with minimal accountability and oversight.

Efforts to reach the Minister of Education and Science Hon. Ahmed Mohamed Diriye Egeh, the Deputy Minister and the Director General for comments were unsuccessful.