The negative impact of political polarization on ‘Health security’. The case of America during a health crisis.

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November 27, 2020

This new virus, the ‘Covid-19 pandemic’, affected many countries around the world. Due to their different political and governmental structures, countries started coping with this pandemic by taking different measures. Some of these measurements allowed many governmental leaders to expand their power instead of sharing it with other government branches such as the states or local governments. Some of the common ones that many countries were implementing to lower the disease’s spread were announcing lockdown on public schools, transportation, bars, cinemas, museums, and telling coffee shops to force people to use take out.

Since not all countries worldwide have the same political systems, those who practice different political systems beside unilateral system of government faced some challenges in having an adequate response. For example, one of the challenges that those countries that use federal governmental systems faced during this time of the outbreak was the lack of power to make ‘unilateral decisions’ since different states or local governments had a different way of practicing the law.

Passing a new policy of’ a travel ban is one of the measures some countries did to slow this virus’s spread. Some countries introduced ‘nationwide lockdown’ to not allow citizens to travel to other cities unless they go out for work or an emergency. Italy’s lockdown had been an exceptional one, and there have not been any other countries that responded to this outbreak as Italy did it. Encouraging people to avoid public gatherings and crowds within the country and passing ‘quarantine policies’ had been effective strategies that some countries did. In contrast, other countries were worried about global traveling and closing borders instead of taking an early response concerning their inner cities. Not having or setting up late testing stations for the people infected by the virus were also some of the most irresponsible mistakes some countries made.

The United States of America is amongst the countries most affected by this pandemic, with more than fifty million total cases and almost two million death cases (The New York Times,2020). The separation of power between the different government branches makes it hard to pass any new law. The role of policymaking that the states, judicial review, legislatures, and executives of the U.S. government play makes it hard for the president to create different policies that might seem adequate for tackling this deadly disease.

According to the USA Today magazine, “public health experts say face masks are an effective way to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but the inconsistent use of masks in the U.S. could lead to the cumulative loss of more than half a million lives by the end of February” (USA Today,2020). The newly elected president, Joe Biden, will issue a national mask mandate, requiring everyone to wear face-covering when they are inside public buildings (public transit areas, national parks, public school, and university buildings). There will be constitutional issues that all government branches must check before the federal agencies fulfill and execute this new policy. The U.S constitution, agreed upon by more than thirty states, gives specific power to the executive, legislatures, and judicial review to protect the constitution, and at the same time allows them to do what is good for the nation.

The president working with his administration agencies can issue a national mask mandate by claiming and announcing a ‘National emergency’ since this pandemic threatens the American citizens and the nation’s security; in a crisis the federal government’s usual power might not be compelling enough. Using the National Emergency Act passed by congress in 1976 will allow and give the federal government a transient increase of power to make changes till the crisis passes, or the legislatures will pass new laws to end the ‘national emergency’ state (The Atlantic, 2020). In American history, many elected presidencies exercised ‘inherent constitutional powers’ to perform new actions that were unconstitutional or outlawed by congress. For example, “George W. Bush’s programs of warrantless wiretapping and torture after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”; This act was totally against the U.S federal and international law, even though the main intention behind this act was protecting the security of the nation.

Using the ‘Elastic Clause or inherent power,’ if the legislature passes and adapts the president’s new policy of issuing a national mask mandate in all public places, being the ‘Chief Of Executive’ will give the president the executive power to fulfill this policy. Later ‘Secretaries of dependent Departments’ appointed by the president (President’s Cabinet) working with their departments and sub-departments have to write and regulate the policy and regulations needed to enforce this new policy, and this will be a role played by the different ‘Bureaucracies’ of the government. U.S Department of Health and Human Services can use the ‘Public Health Service Act’ passed by congress in 1944, which allows and gives the Secretary of this agency the power “to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases” into the U.S. or between states” (USA Today,2020). This will allow the elected president and the Center of Disease Control to mandate this new policy.

In this process, the legislature’s role will agree with Biden issuing this new policy of a national mask mandate in all public places. Since the Democratic Party is the majority party of the ‘House of Representatives,’ it is more likely that the ‘House of Representatives’ will give him more support since his party controls the agenda and have the capability of arranging a debate schedule when most of the representatives from the Republican Party are not present. In the ‘House of Representative,’ the Democratic Party holds more ‘Committee and Sub-committee’ positions, which are essential for passing a new bill or policy. Biden’s ‘policy of issuing a national mask mandate in all public places’ will be challenged the most in the ‘Senate House’ and will more likely die in the committee since the Republican Party is the majority party of the senate. The Republic Party holds the most’ Committee and Sub-committee’ positions in the ‘Senate House’ since this party is the majority. The legislatures can use the ‘power of the purse,’ policy that will allow them not to give any federal funding to the president, making it possible for the president to implement this policy without funding. The ‘Party Whips’ in both the Senate and House of Representatives will make sure these Legislatures will vote based on their party’s agenda.

The role of the ‘Supreme Court’ in this process is to decide whether Biden as the newly elected president can issue a national mask mandate in all public places, and if it violates any constitutional laws. The ‘Supreme Court’ will check if the ‘Executive’ or the ‘Legislatures’ stretched their power too far to enforce this new policy. Since there are more possibilities that the federal government might take control over the states, the Supreme Court also must check if any unconstitutional actions such as shrinking and narrowing the power of the states was done by the congress, president, or his subordinates. Separating powers between the Federal Government and the States was incorporated in the U.S. Constitution signed by thirty-seven states in September,17,1787. The powers of the national government and the states are divided clearly in the constitution and violating the separation of power is unconstitutional by law.

Since there is no such law in the constitution that will force states to follow this policy of issuing a national mask mandate in all public places, many states will not follow or enforce it. This policy also has the limitation of only applying to ‘federal buildings.’ There are more private buildings than federal buildings, which allows people not to be subjected to these policies if they are not in federal buildings. States run by Democratic governors are more likely to accept Biden’s plan, while Republican governors are unlikely to accept this policy. Since not all states are financially capable of pushing and enforcing this policy, their law enforcement might not support it.

According to their political party’s plank and platform, some political party leaders will go against this policy. For example, the Conservative and the Libertarian Party will not support this policy since both parties promote and support less government regulation and interventions. On the Other side, Liberals will support this policy since it provides individualistic rights of protection. The Liberals also favor having more government regulations and programs so this policy will fit their agenda.

Since there are many organized groups of people with a shared belief on an issue that puts pressure on others in society regarding their specific concern, these groups will play their role to challenge or push Biden’s policy. Some of these groups are pluralism, hyper-pluralism, business, and economic benefit interest groups and ideological groups. Pharmaceutical and drug businesses and economic interest groups might support this policy since this policy might increase their demand and supply of products by creating ‘face-masks,’ to gain more profits. Since many of them are health professionals, they will use their knowledge to influence more people outside of their group to support this policy.

However, due to the federal system in America with the checks and balances, the new-elected president Biden’s policy will face many challenges in which the possibilities it might fail are high. Polarization and usage of the federal system make new policies hard to pass and accept by all government branches. This policy can only get a pass if Biden sets personal meetings with the state governors and convinces them of this new policy in their states.

Sources

“50 U.S. Code Chapter 34 – NATIONAL EMERGENCIES.” Legal Information Institute, Legal Information Institute, www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/50/chapter-34.

“A Guide to Emergency Powers and Their Use.” Brennan Center for Justice, www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/guide-emergency-powers-and-their-use.

Crsreports.Congress.Gov, 2020, https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10530.

Goitein, Elizabeth. “The Alarming Scope Of The President’s Emergency Powers”. The Atlantic, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/01/presidential-emergency-powers/576418/.

Hauck, Grace. “Biden Wants Mask Mandates Nationwide, but He Can’t Actually Enforce Them. Here’s What He Could Do Instead.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 11 Nov. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/11/joe-biden-national-face-mask-mandate-covid/6233249002/.

ABUT THE AUTHOR

Sayidcali Ismail Ahmed is an alumnus of Abaarso School of Science and Technology (Somaliland) and Carroll High School (Indiana-USA). Sayidcali won a full scholarship sponsored by MasterCard Foundation Scholars (African Leadership Academy) to attend and do his undergraduate studies at Westminster College(Missouri- USA). He is double majoring in political science & Global and Transnational Studies and minoring in law. He is passionate about discussing, analyzing, and writing about geopolitics’ dynamics and the political changes in the world, especially Africa.

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

Notice: This is an article by Somaliland Chronicle and 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.

Somaliland Government lobbies South Africa for Recognition

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November 24, 2020

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The Minister of Finance Development Dr. Saad Ali Shire is in Johannesburg attending the Solidarity Conference with The People of Somaliland organized by the Somaliland Trade Office and a coalition of political parties and business interests. The two-day meeting is attended by heavy-weight South African politicians including ministers.

Dr. Shire who spoke at the meeting presented Somaliland’s case for recognition and the fact that it has maintained peace and checked all boxes for statehood with budding democracy and will soon become a major player in the continent’s trade and economics.

Emphasizing the connection between the Republic of Somaliland and South Africa, Minister Shire noted that Abdulrahim Abby Farah, a Somalilander, who served as Assistant Secretary-General for special political questions from 1973-78 and as Undersecretary-General from 1979-90, chaired the special committee against apartheid, and is credited with helping to secure the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990.

Dr. Shire who has served in multiple roles before taking the helm at the Finance Development Ministry spoke about opportunities for cooperation between South Africa and Somaliland including investment, trade, and security. Sources add that a follow-up meeting is scheduled in Hargeisa in December.

Somaliland’s international profile has improved with a string of diplomatic successes including the establishment of bilateral ties with Taiwan and the opening of Representative Offices in Taipei and Hargeisa.

Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with the Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen

According to sources, the Somali Federal Government has protested the conference and has unsuccessfully lobbied the South African government to ensure it does not take place. It is unclear if the Somali Government will take any steps against South Africa. In the past, it has cut ties with Guinea Conakry when President Muse Bihi Abdi visited in July 2019.

MED Dr. Adan Y Abokor: A society leader worth to emulate passed away.

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November 19, 2020

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Dr. Jama Musse Jama

In 2016 the late Dr. Hussein M Adan, another prominent Somalilander, delivered a Keynote at the 12^th Hargeysa International Book Fair and he spoke about academic leadership. He said “Leadership may be grouped into two main categories: state-oriented leadership, and civil society focused leadership style. An aspect of civil leadership is cultural and academic leadership”. Dr. Adan’s life in general and his long-standing activism are the personification of civil society leadership. Whoever is asked to tell Dr. Adan’s story finds themselves telling the history of Somaliland and the struggle through which the identity and existence of Somaliland today is shaped. Dr. Adan loved reading, and when I asked where this closeness to the written word comes, he attributed his love of reading and literature to his upbringing in the famous Aden streets of southern Yemen, his high school education and his university education at Warsaw University in the Polish capital in the late sixties. He testifies to his ability to read and speak Somali, Arabic, English and Polish with equal fluency.

In the years 1980-81, Dr. Aden Yusuf Abokor was a medical doctor and the director of Hargeysa Hospital. He called on other young people and consulted them on what work needed to be done for the hospital. The team he co-founded were known as UFFO and their story was the catalyst that ignited the self-preservation struggle of the early eighties in Somaliland. That fire arose from the desire to provide social services primarily for health and education. It is clear that that moment triggered something in terms of Dr. Aden’s leadership, but UFFO’s work was considered by the government to amount to subversive action against the state, and group members were arrested. In a kangaroo-court, they were charged and sentenced to capital punishment. The death penalties were later commuted into long-term imprisonment, with Dr. Adan condemned to a life sentence.

The UFFO group was detained in the Labaatan-Jirow maximum security prison in a remote and deserted part of Bay region. This prison built by the East German military regime, was a place of fierce punishment and physical and mental death. People in political prisons are uniquely subject to the whims of a repressive state, so neither the conditions nor the fact of their confinement are predictable. For the UFFO group, everyone was in a small 2x2m room, with neither visual nor verbal communication possible even with the person in the neighbouring ‘hole’. During that difficult time, Yusuf Gaydh, a member of the detained group, started tapping and banging the wall to create a secret pattern that turned into a means of communication and information exchange with the others.

Dr. Aden’s role as a doctor was not only important before his arrest, while he was in charge of the General Hospital. While locked away in their lonely cells, Dr. Adan was able to ‘treat’ his friends, especially Mohamed Barud Ali, a fellow geologist by training, and to read from Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel, Anna Karenina. Communicating over 800 pages using the secretive communications system they had created. According to Mohamed, this was critical in supporting Dr Adan’s friends through the trauma and the pain of long imprisonment.

When he and his friends were released in 1989 after suffering merciless abuse over eight long years, Dr. Adam was among the ones who had the opportunity to go abroad, to Europe or America, but he preferred, instead, to return to Somaliland, extinguishing the old fire and starting a new one. After service with the Somali National Movement, he returned home in 1990 and immediately set about establishing the Somali Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SORRA). SORRA, along with SOMRA (Somali Medical Research Association), were the nongovernmental organizations that started a new and very real phase in humanitarian civil society action. SORRA distributed food to the needy in the city of Hargeysa, which was heavily damaged, the land was heavily mined and there was trash everywhere.

In the fall of 1993-94, when Somaliland fragmented into civil war, Dr. Adan was the leading figure who worked across both sides of a divided Hargeysa, and rose to restore this wise nation once and for all. But people often remain unaware of the range of NGOs, youth umbrellas and other community organizations for which Dr. Adan remained the backbone.

In recent times, Dr. Aden Yusuf Abokor was respected as an experienced, elderly consultant on matters of national interest. For me particularly he was my mentor and there have been very few decisions on social and cultural activities – my main work at the moment – that I have taken without consulting him. In particular, he was a critical advisor and huge contributor in the establishment of Hargeysa Cultural Center and the annual organisation of the Hargeysa International Book Fair.

Dr. Aden Yusuf Abokor’s commitment to social justice has been evident since his youth and came from his heart, his love for people and a great sense of his heavenly personality. On top of that, he had a wonderful sense of humour. I fervently hope that his beautiful soul now remains in eternal peace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Jama Musse Jama has a PhD in Computational Linguistics, and has extensive research publications in mathematics, ICT and the role of art and culture in development. Founder of the Hargeysa International Book Fair, and currently Director of the Hargeysa Cultural Centre in Somaliland, Dr. Jama has also a Senior Research Associate position at DPU, University College London, UK.

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

Notice: This is an article by Somaliland Chronicle and 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.

Taiwan-Somaliland healthcare cooperation is kicking off: For mutual assistances, for mutual benefits, and for better life

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Staff

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November 17, 2020

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News Release

To enhance the health care cooperation between Taiwan and Somaliland, the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland held a virtual conference on “Maternal and Infant Health Care Improvement Project and sharing experience in fighting COVID-19” at Taiwan Representative Office on 16^th November.

Cooperation related parties including Ministry of Health Development, Hargeisa Group Hospital, Ministry of Foreign Affairs ROC (Taiwan), TaiwanICDF (International Cooperation and Development Fund), Taiwan and Somaliland Representative Offices and Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital attended the said conference.

Today’s conference is the follow-up of the signing of the ICDF Cooperation Framework Agreement by Foreign Minister of the ROC (Taiwan) Dr. Jaushieh Joseph Wu and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Somaliland Yasin Hagi Mohamoud on 17 August 2020, the date that Taiwan Representative Office was officially established. Today’s conference is also the follow-up of the meeting that Ambassador Allen C. Lou called on H. E. President Muse Bihi Abdi on 26^th October to brief the Taiwan-Somaliland comprehensive cooperation. President Bihi has high expectations on Taiwan-Somaliland health care cooperation to benefit the Somalilanders.

Health care cooperation is the “Flagship” cooperation between Taiwan and Somaliland. Taiwan develop 4 dimensions of health care cooperation to work with the like-minded countries to implement them in Somaliland. Taiwan will continue to share the experience and capacity building with Somaliland.

Taiwan Representative Office, on behalf of the Taiwan Government, also donated 2,880 PCR Reagents which accounts for around 20% of Somaliland’s test cases and surgical masks to the Ministry of Health Development to support Somaliland proactively to combat the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. It is worth mentioning that the surgical masks are sponsored by Takming University of Science and Technology of Taiwan. It also shows the efforts to integrate the strategic medical resources provided by the Taiwan Government and private sectors to channel to Somaliland.

Taiwan also in the last months supported Somaliland to combat Covid-19 with medical equipment including high quality masks, protective clothes, PPE, tablets, infrared forehead thermometers, infrared thermal imagers which can detect multi-body temperatures, high-quality PCRs (According to the report done by Ministry of Health Development, these PCRs are the best among those donated by other countries and WHO) ,reagents, quality rice to relive the food shortage caused by Covid-19 and fund for disaster relief.

Taiwan can help. Taiwan is helping. Taiwan can contribute, and has long been contributing on many fronts. Our effort is proudly described as the Taiwan Model. The spirit of the Taiwan Model is: Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. We are ready to share with the East African countries.

Somaliland Government Backpeddles on Il-Conceived Decision to Ban the Livelihood of Thousands.

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Staff

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November 10, 2020

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In Thursday’s cabinet meeting, the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi and his cabinet discussed transportation and road safety and issued a number of directives intended to curb high traffic mortality rates and road congestion in Somaliland.

According to the statement issued by the Presidential Spokesperson, one of the items debated at Thursday’s cabinet meeting was banning the importation of all right-hand vehicles and the subcompact known as Vitz into Somaliland.

The statement goes on to describe the importance of the Somaliland Roads and Traffic law Lr.56/2013 passed by Parliament and signed by President Ahmed Mohamamoud Silanyo on April 6th, 2013, and the fact that it needs to be updated and amended. The statement did not describe what specific parts of the law needs an amendment.

Although there are no official statistics available on the number and the type of vehicles, the majority of vehicles on Somaliland’s road network are right-hand vehicles while the road remains left-hand. Somaliland is the only country in the world where the road and the automobiles are mismatched.

The statement from the cabinet meeting describes a report from a committee previously assigned to advise the cabinet on ways to resolve issues related to right-hand vehicles and what the statement described as “small vehicles that do not have much benefit to the community” and that out of 8,628 vehicles imported into the country in 2020, most fall in this category.

One of the main outcomes of this weekly meeting is the decision to completely ban left-hand vehicles to conform automobiles on Somaliland road to the standard lane. In addition, the cabinet has decided the total ban of subcompact vehicles known as Vitz, describing it once again as “useless vehicles”.

While banning left-hand vehicles from Somaliland roads would contribute to road safety it is unclear why the cabinet decided to ban small subcompact vehicles which have gained popularity as taxis in Somaliland since the introduction of Somaliland’s Uber-like taxi service known Dhaweeye.

The decision to ban the Vitz vehicles from the Somaliland government met a swift public backlash where some have questioned if the government considered the thousands who make a living as taxi drivers on the Dhaweeye service.

Vitz known colloquially as Dukhaan or flea, presumably due to their shape resembling that of the tiny blood-sucking insect is a major nuisance on public roads and even cause accidents while whizzing through traffic to drop off a fair and pick up their next passenger but there is rarely any traffic law enforcement in place to deter such actions.

Some even went as far as comparing the Somaliland government’s decision to ban Vitz in Somaliland to the Tanzanian President John Magufuli who ordered his cabinet to switch from gas-guzzling Toyota Land Cruisers to these economical subcompact vehicles.

In an interview with the press, the Minister of Transportation and Road Development Hon. Abdillahi Abokor Osman, walks back the previously released statement from the Presidency following the cabinet meeting and stated that it is not a total ban but a limited moratorium intended to address complaints related to congestion andtraffic accidents.

“We have received a lot of complaints about the vehicles known as Vitz, these complaints came from mayors around the country in the last six months,” said Minister Abokor.

Although the statement from the Presidency stated that most of the 8,628 vehicles imported in 2020 were Vitz, in his interview with the media, the Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Hon. Abdillahi Abokor stated that only 2,701 or 31.5% are Vitz and Probox, another vehicle widely used as a taxi in Somaliland.

This is not the first time the government of Somaliland and particularly the Ministry of Transportation and Road Development, often reacting to horrific traffic accidents that cause multiple casualties issued reactionary policies as a response with little to no follow-up or enforcement.

November, 2018

Buses with an entrance on the wrong side

The Ministry of Transportation and Road Development has banned the importation of left-hand buses with the passenger doors facing oncoming traffic as well as the immediate reconfiguration of existing buses’ doors to avoid dropping passengers onto oncoming traffic.

In the same month, the Ministry unveiled the new license place, 2 years later, much of the existing automobiles in circulation still have the old license plate.

November, 2018

March, 2019

Student Buses

The Ministry has ordered all busses that transport students to reconfigure the doors to be on the correct side of the bus.

March, 2019

September, 2019

Speed Governor

The Ministry unveiled a program to mandate the use of speed governors for busses that ferry passengers between regions.

September, 2019

While backtracking and contradicting the government’s decision to ban Vitz and characterizing it as a limited moratorium, the minister of Transportation and Road Development Hon. Omar acknowledged the potential economic impact of such an action and that many otherwise would-be unemployed youths depend on it but added that there is a market saturation that is also not helpful to the existing drivers who depend on it and a limited moratorium would be to their benefits.

It is unclear if the cabinet discussed enforcement measures or even institute time-tested methods such as traffic signs in its efforts to make roads safer and reduce traffic fatalities.

Although solar operated traffic lights without a central command have been implemented in some parts of Hargeisa in the past, most have been broken for years and the entire traffic police’s resources are being deployed to direct traffic with minimal enforcement of traffic laws.

While it is commendable that the Somaliland government may be getting around to taking an action and ban right-hand vehicles in Somaliland, its unclear how much of an impact the ban would have on traffic accidents and fatalities since the majority of automobiles on Somaliland roads including trucks are currently left-hand vehicles and are exempt from the current orders.

One of the main reasons for the government’s abject failure to institute any semblance of order to curb the high mortality rate and relieve congestion on Somaliland’s public roads is its inability to take a holistic approach and implement meaningful road development agenda that includes traffic signs, consistent enforcement of existing traffic laws. Unfortunately, it has been busy issuing ill-conceived order after another, perhaps for the sake of appearances.

Efforts to reach the Minister of Transportation and Road Development Hon. Abdillahi Abokor and the Director-General Mr. Omar Sayid have been unsuccessful.

Notice: This is an article by Somaliland Chronicle. It 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.

Somaliland Announces Voter Registration Schedule for Parliament and Local Council Elections

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Staff

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November 4, 2020

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In a decree, the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi announced the voter registration for the upcoming parliament and local council elections to start on November 11th, 2020.

Parliamentary and local council elections have been repeatedly delayed for various reasons including a long-running disagreement between the incumbent party of Kulmiye and Waddani and UCID opposition parties of Somaliland. The current parliament was elected in 2010.

The dispute between the political parties was related to the National Election Commission itself where Waddani party has demanded its dissolution following the bitter presidential elections of 2017 and disagreement with the new commission’s composition.

In addition to the disputes, the actual election law itself was in draft and was recently passed by parliament without a much-anticipated quota for women and minorities in Somaliland.

Somaliland National Election Commission tweeted “Pursuant to Article 44 of the Electoral & Voter Registration Law, Act No.91/2020 and based on the Consultations with the National Electoral Commission, the President of the Republic of Somaliland today has issued a Presidential Decree on the start of Voter Registration” following the release of the Presidential decree announcing the date for the voter registration.

UN and Somaliland start Negotiations on Special Arrangement for Somaliland

By

Staff

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November 4, 2020

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According to multiple Somaliland government sources, the United Nations and the government of Somaliland have started negotiations on new terms that will allow the UN and its agencies to engage with Somaliland separately.

Sources have confirmed a phone call between President Muse Bihi Abdi and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General Mr. James Swan on Monday. This was also reported earlier by the Geeska newspaper.

Somaliland government has halted all preparatory work related to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNCF) agreement signed by the United Nations and the Federal Government of Somalia.

Today I signed the @UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2021-25 with SRSG James Swan, @AmbGamal and DSRSG Adam. This Framework is #Somalia and @UNSomalia's commitment to strengthening cooperation to accelerate development in Somalia in line with our priorities. pic.twitter.com/bTPQWLckUV
— Mahdi M. Gulaid (@KhadarGulaid) October 15, 2020

Somaliland has accused the United Nations of taking orders from Mogadishu and attempt to implement projects that are not aligned with its National Development Plan.

Besides direct contact between the Somaliland President HE Muse Bihi Abdi and the SRSG James Swan, other high-ranking officials from UNDP in Somalia and OCHA have been in Somaliland for discussions on the matter with the Ministry of Planning and National Development.

Direct aid arrangement for Somaliland has been in effect for many years with donor countries, it is unclear if a special arrangement by the United Nations for Somaliland would follow a similar template.

Discussing Somaliland’s alternative options to the United Nations, one government official speaking on condition of anonymity stated “Although we prefer to work with Taiwan on direct investment and not aid, being an economic powerhouse can easily step into any vacuum left by the United Nations if we were to toss them out”.

It is unclear how Villa Somalia would react to any direct agreement between the government of Somaliland and the United Nations.

Despite Somaliland declaring independence in 1991 from Somalia and successfully maintaining its security and an imperfect but functioning government, Villa Somalia with a shrinking sphere of influence and a worsening security situation has claimed Somaliland as part of its territory.

Villa Somalia, under the leadership of the current President of Somalia, has been openly hostile to Somaliland and has unsuccessfully attempted the cancellation of the Special Arrangement for Somalia.

Attempts to reach the Minister of Planning and National Development Hon. Hassan Mohamed Ali (Gafadhi) and the Somaliland Presidency for comments on the ongoing negotiations have been unsuccessful.

Support Taiwan’s inclusion in the post-COVID-19 global public health network

By

Staff

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November 3, 2020

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Dr. Chen Shih-chung
Minister of Health and Welfare
Republic of China (Taiwan)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have more than 40 million cases and more than one million deaths around the world. The virus has had an enormous impact on global politics, employment, economics, trade and financial systems, and significantly impacted the global efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Thanks to the united efforts of its entire people, Taiwan has responded to the threats posed by this pandemic through four principles: prudent action, rapid response, advance deployment, and openness and transparency. Adopting such strategies as the operation of specialized command systems, the implementation of meticulous border control measures, the production and distribution of adequate supplies of medical resources, the employment of home quarantine and isolation measures and related care services, the application of IT systems, the publishing of transparent and open information, and the execution of precise screening and testing, we have been fortunate enough to contain the virus. As of October 7, Taiwan had had just 523 confirmed cases and seven deaths; meanwhile, life and work have continued much as normal for the majority of people.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 has reminded the world that infectious diseases know no borders and do not discriminate along political, ethnic, religious, or cultural lines. Nations should work together to address the threat of emerging diseases. For this reason, once Taiwan had stabilized its containment of the virus and ensured that people had sufficient access to medical resources, we began to share our experience and exchange information on containing COVID-19 with global public health professionals and scholars through COVID-19-related forums, APEC’s High-Level Meeting on Health and the Economy, the Global Cooperation Training Framework, and other virtual bilateral meetings. As of June 2020, Taiwan had held nearly 80 online conferences, sharing the Taiwan Model with experts from governments, hospitals, universities, and think tanks in 32 countries.

Taiwan’s donations of medical equipment and antipandemic supplies to countries in need also continue. By June, we had donated 51 million surgical masks, 1.16 million N95 masks, 600,000 isolation gowns, and 35,000 forehead thermometers to more than 80 countries.

To ensure access to vaccines, Taiwan has joined the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility (COVAX) co-led by GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance; the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; and the World Health Organization. And our government is actively assisting domestic manufacturers in hopes of accelerating the development and production of successful vaccines, bringing them to market as quickly as possible and putting an end to this pandemic.

To prepare for a possible next wave of the pandemic as well as the approaching flu season, Taiwan is maintaining its strategies of encouraging citizens to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, and strengthening border quarantine measures, community-based prevention, and medical preparedness. Furthermore, we are actively collaborating with domestic and international partners to obtain vaccines and develop optimal treatments and accurate diagnostic tools, jointly safeguarding global public health security.

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that Taiwan is an integral part of the global public health network and that Taiwan Model can help other countries combat the pandemic. To recover better, WHO needs Taiwan. We urge WHO and related parties to acknowledge Taiwan’s longstanding contributions to global public health, disease prevention, and the human right to health, and to firmly support Taiwan’s inclusion in WHO. Taiwan’s comprehensive participation in WHO meetings, mechanisms, and activities would allow us to work with the rest of the world in realizing the fundamental human right to health as stipulated in the WHO Constitution and the vision of leaving no one behind enshrined in the UN SDGs.

The impasse with the United Nations: How Far is Somaliland Willing to go to Assert its Sovereignty?

By

Staff

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November 1, 2020

0

On October 25th, the Ministry of Planning and National Development issued a directive halting all discussions and consultation of the UN Country Program with the United Nations and all of its agencies in Somaliland.

The authenticity of the directive which was appeared online was confirmed by the Minister of Planning and National Development Hon Hassan Mohamed Ali (Gafadhi).

Although the English version of the directive sent to the UN agencies does not provide details or a reason for the government’s action, another directive issued on the same day and sent to government ministries and agencies provided ample information as to what caused the government of Somaliland to take this drastic action.

This directive sent to Somaliland Miniseries and agencies delves right into the heart of the issue and opens with “as you are all aware the Somali Federal Government and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations [Mr. James Swan] have signed an agreement that will govern the working relationship of all the United Nations agencies for the next five years 2020 – 2025.”

The directive continues to describe an exchange in April between the Somaliland government and SRSG James Swan where Somaliland made its position clear that it will not be a party to any agreements that are not based on its development agenda and that it has not signed. It adds that Mr. Swan has committed to dialogue with the government of Somaliland on his response in July but instead has signed an agreement [with Somalia] without any consultation with Somaliland.

Today I signed the @UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2021-25 with SRSG James Swan, @AmbGamal and DSRSG Adam. This Framework is #Somalia and @UNSomalia's commitment to strengthening cooperation to accelerate development in Somalia in line with our priorities. pic.twitter.com/bTPQWLckUV
— Mahdi M. Gulaid (@KhadarGulaid) October 15, 2020

Prior to the issuance of these directives to halt all preparatory activities of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNCF) signed on October 15th by the Somali Federal Government and the United Nations represented by SRSG James Swan, the Somaliland government condemned the agreement following an extraordinary session of President Bihi’s cabinet on October 17th.

Although multiple outlets reported the issue as Somaliland freezing all activities of the United Nations, in an interview, the Minister of Planning and Development Hon Hassan Mohamed Ali (Gafadhi) has clarified that Somaliland’s government affects the new agreement and that all ongoing activities will continue.

The President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi addressing the central committee of the ruling party of Kulmiye on October 28th gave the issue more clarity when he accused the United Nations of following orders from Mogadishu and that the UN and other aid agencies have politicized their activities when it comes to Somaliland.

The President reminded the delegates that safeguarding Somaliland’s sovereignty is the party and his government’s prime directive and will not capitulate to any pressure whether political, economic, or military intended to strongarm Somaliland and to always stand up for the sovereignty of the Republic.

President Bihi continued “Anyone with a strong military, nuclear weapons or a rich nation, we will not acquiesce Somaliland’s sovereignty and statehood because … if I remind you what happened in this country 30 or 32 years ago, the destruction, death, massacre, fleeing was all a sacrifice to realize Somaliland’s statehood and to withdraw the 1960s union [with Somalia]”.

Speaking of SRSG James Swan, President Bihi said “the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Mogadishu, is there for Somalia. We respect the United Nations and we are ready to work with them, and we have brotherhood and cooperation for every nation including our neighbors as long as they do not encroach on our honor and sovereignty. What we want is to work together with mutual respect and to deal with Somaliland”.

President Bihi continued that “we will not accept from the UN, its agencies and so-called humanitarian organization to bring us plans and orders issued from Mogadishu. It is forbidden and we will not accept it“.

According to multiple sources privy to ongoing deliberation, the Somaliland government is intent on ensuring that the development plans of all aid agencies and particularly that of the United Nations conforms to its development agenda and do not lump Somaliland together with the rest of Somalia.

In addition, sources tell Somaliland Chronicle that President Bihi has ordered a complete review of all UN projects particularly the UNDP’s JPLG and possibly major projects funded by the World Bank and how Somaliland engages foreign governments and their diplomats currently assigned to Somalia and explore precedents in other parts of the world where countries have sent special envoys to unrecognized countries.

Although the Somaliland government has incorrectly but officially identified ambassadors and other diplomats sent to Somalia as also representing their countries in Somaliland, most, especially the most active Ambassador in Somaliland Mr. Nicholas Berlanga is the European Union’s Ambassador to Somalia.

It is unclear if Somaliland will insist on the appointment of a United Nations special envoy to directly engage with Somaliland as a separate and sovereign nation from Somalia or is simply seeking to be a signatory of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNCF) and if this assertive policy towards its sovereignty this will apply to foreign governments with ambassadors in Somalia that Somaliland government has maintained a working relationship such as the United States, United Kingdon, Sweden, Denmark, the European Union, and others.

Formar Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Somalia Mr. Nicholas Haysom.

The Federal government of Somalia has been successful in getting the United Nations, aid agencies, and diplomats to toe the line of painting a rosy picture of its security and development and comply with its agenda following the persona non grata of Mr. Swan’s predecessor SRSG Mr. Nicholas Haysom on January 1st, 2019.

This would not be the first time that the Somaliland government had an impasse with the United Nations, in 1993, a disagreement with SRSG Admiral Jonathan Howe resulted in the expulsion of AMISOM from Somaliland’ by the late President Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal.

Although public support of the Somaliland government’s limited action to halt the United Nations preparatory activities related to the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNCF) in Somaliland is high, how far the Somaliland government is willing to go to assert its sovereignty and President Bihi’s resolve to stand his ground are yet to be seen.

Hargeisa: A City Blessed With Precedence

By

Staff

-

October 28, 2020

0

In a very quiet morning, where both the city and its atmosphere enjoy purity and freshness left by the last night’s rain, the sun rises and sends its colorful and yet to be warm rays to the people and other inhabitants in the city, to welcome them to this beautiful day. The air is very clear that one can visibly see the famous Girls’ Breast Mountain (Naasa Hablood) from every corner of the city. These breast-like hills, though uneven, are two small pyramids in the East of the city. They are very popular that Hargeisa Municipality uses them as their logo as well as the symbol of the city. Such beautiful morning compels you to write about your city.

Hargeisa is encircled by mountains. One can safely assume that the early settlers of the city have chosen this position strategically, to get warmth in the winter, when this part of the country is moderately cold, unlike the coastal cities by the Red Sea. The Marodijeh dry river (doox) runs from West to East and divides the city. It only floods the rainy seasons – Gu’ and Dayr – but its water quietly passes the city, unexploited, and ends up in the Red Sea, not to mention that they sometimes claim lives. The doox has two small bridges and several unofficial crossings.

Hargeisa is the city of firsts as Edna Adan, also from Hargeisa, is the woman of firsts. It is the first city where an independent Somali flag was raised – on 26 June 1960, when Somaliland celebrated its independence from Britain. When the issue of modern education is raised in the Somali context, Hargeisa has to be mentioned as it is where it all started, at least in Somaliland. In 1943, Fisher School (now Sheikh Bashir School) opened its doors and in the first class in the same year, registered two young boys, among slightly over dozen others, who will go down the history to become eminent politicians and, eventually, presidents – they were Mohamed Ibrahim Egal and Abdirahman Ahmed Ali.

This city has a very special place in the history of modern Somali music. If the geneses of the modern Somali music is traced, one has to definitely start with the Hargeisa Brothers band (Walaalaha Hargeysa) in the 1950s and their composers and singers whose names dominated the Somali theaters in the three decades leading up to the Somali tragedy (which began in the late 1980s), but more captivatingly, whose music and poetry remains alive as long as Somalis who speak the Somali language and enjoy its music and poetry remain breathing in this world.

The names of the stars who belonged to this band have a special place in the hearts and minds of every Somali; among them were Abdillahi Qarshe, Ali Sugulle, Hussein Aw Farah, Hudeidi, Mohamed Ahmed Kuluc, and Sahardid Jebiye, to name a few. Some of these names either composed, made the music for or sung the most famous independence songs in 1960 which remain unparalleled to this day in terms of the power of their words, catchiness of their rhythms, and eminence in illustrating nationalism. By the same token, Hargeisa Brothers played a vital and an unequivocal role in the Pan-Somalism movements which led to the merging of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland in 1960 – so did Hargeisa –, and the later Somali irredentism to reclaim the other three missing Somali territories.

In the 1960s and 70s, when the Somali music was at its peak, Hargeisa again produced quite a number of exceptional singers and composers. What about contemporary music? In spite of the fact that Somali music has been floundering in the last three decades, Hargeisa played an influential role in reviving it – a prime example is that it produced the Horn Stars (Xidigaha Geeska), the most popular present-day Somali music band.

Music treated Hargeisa well as it treated the music well. It is the city whose name is mentioned in songs more than any other Somali city or, in other words, the Somali city to which the most songs are dedicated, often saying nice things about it: “the home of wisdom; the mother of poets” in Awale Adan’s song; “the freedom park” in Salah Qasim’s song; “the home of intellectuals” in Sahra-Ilays’s song; and the city that “nurtures composers and singers” in Abdirahman-Dhere’s song – note that I mentioned the singers here rather than the composers whom these verses belong to.

Notwithstanding music, Hargeisa also excelled in other areas of arts in recent years; Hargeisa International Book Fair, held annually, is the longest-running book festival in the Horn of Africa. Moreover, in the last decade or so, there has been a dramatic increase in writing and publishing not to mention that Somalis have historically always been portrayed as an oral society who do not keep written records – given the supremacy of poetry and storytelling among them, Somalis were in no doubt oral society.

Above all, Hargeisa’s recovery from the total destruction it underwent in 1988 from its own “national army” which reduced it to rubble and ruins, is a testament to its strength and assertiveness. Today, Hargeisa not only recovered but it expanded in size, improved in appearance, and increased in population – over one million people currently live in Hargeisa.

Unfortunately, that beautiful Hargeisa is impaired in a number of ways and undeniably faces grave challenges, chief among them are poor and inadequate water and road infrastructures. Hence, Hargeisa and its population lay claim to the social services and the public resources they deserve which, not only necessitate full commitment from its public institutions but also unreserved sacrifice from its residents.

Hargeisa is home to all. To those who choose to live in it. To those who decide to enjoy its beautiful and perfect weather. Our Hargeisa. Long live Hargeisa.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Muhumed M. Muhumed “Khadar” is a researcher based in Hargeisa, Muhumed M. Muhumed (Khadar) is the author of “Kala-Maan: Bilowgii iyo Burburkii Wadahadallada Soomaalilaand iyo Soomaaliya” and a number of scholarly articles. He can be reached at baadilmm@gmail.com

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

Notice: This is an article by Somaliland Chronicle and 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.

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