The Minister of Education and Science Hon. Ahmed Mohamed Diriye Egeh announced the construction of 31 new schools in rural areas of Somaliland. The new schools which will consist of 2 to 4 classrooms are expected to host 7500 students for two shifts.
According to Minister Egeh the cost of the construction of the 31 schools will cost 1.1 million US dollars and is entirely funded by the government of Somaliland. The 1.1 million US dollar price tag of the project represents roughly 5% of the Ministry of Education and Science’s 22 million US dollar budget for 2021.
Budget line for the Ministry of Education and Science in 2021 budget.
In addition to the 31 new schools that will house an expected 7500 students, an additional 100 schools were constructed in Somaliland in 2020 by the Somaliland government and international donors.
Asked if the Ministry of Education and Science will undertake other activities to renovate expand or upgrade existing public schools Minister Egeh stated that a lot more schools will undergo extensive renovation, upgrade, and re-equipment. In addition, Minister Egeh stated that 300 new teachers were hired where additional 2000 were trained and licensed by the Ministry.
According to Minister Egeh “the Ministry purchased 4,000 solar-powered tablets in which pre-recorded lessons of grade 1 to grade with sign language will be uploaded as a mobile school for the children of the transient pastoralist households”.
In July 2020, Minister Egeh stated that 40% of Somaliland school-age children lack access to basic education. following an extensive tour of the country.
On January 21, 2020, the Minister of Telecommunication and Technology, Dr. Abdiweli Soufi Jibril sent a Letter of Intent to the Sierra Leone Minister of Information and Communication Mr. Mohamed Rahman Swaray asking for help and collaboration as well as the use of the top-level domain .sl which is registered for the government of Sierra Leone.
“We, the Ministry of information and Communication Technologies of Somaliland, would like to submit this Letter of Intent (Lol) to acquire your support and collaboration in the ICT industry, including having a commercial partnership with your esteemed office regarding the internet Top Level Domain.” Dr. Abdiweli wrote.
Dr. Abdiweli, the Minister of Technology and Telecommunication of Somaliland has promised during his confirmation hearing at the Parliament to move Somaliland to its own domain and issued a directive prohibiting the use of the .so TLD that belongs to neighboring Somalia.
In addition, the Minister promised to get Somaliland its own telephone country code, making Somaliland a technological hub among other lofty goals if confirmed by parliament.
It is unclear if Dr. Abdiweli was familiar with the concepts governing ccTLD and aware that the .sl is in fact Sierra Leone’s country code top-level domain before committing before Parliament and that sharing a country code top-level domain with another country is an unorthodox way of solving the problem.
Although Dr. Abdiweli declined to comment on whether Sierra Leone has given him a response to his request for collaboration and use of its ccTLD, the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology has settled on the generic govsomaliland.org for Somaliland’s government portal.
According to sources present at the latest ICT Conference held by the Ministry of Information and Technology where the Somaliland Government Portal was unveiled described the new portal as “a disappointment and nothing more than Word Press site with many links that lead to nowhere”.
Sources at the Ministry of Communication and Technology who spoke to Somaliland Chronicle on condition of anonymity state that the new government portal cost more than 120,000 US dollars and includes the purchase of 15,000 US dollars worth of Internet Protocol addresses.
Despite the hefty price tag of more than 120,000 US dollars to develop the website and purchasing of more than half a million dollars worth of hardware by the ministry last year, the website is hosted on the budget Bluehost service provider.
In September 2019, following an extra-ordinary session of President Bihi’s cabinet, the government of Somaliland announced the implementation of e-government as well as the inclusion of information technology in the national curriculum, neither has materialized.
Director General of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology Mr. Ali Abdillahi Dahir
On January 20th, President Bihi has sacked the Director-General of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology Mr. Ali Abdillahi Dahir among many officials. No reason was given on why Mr. Dahir was relieved of his duties.
The West African nation of Sierra Leone does not stand out as a technological heavyweight, and besides the fact that it owns the .sl country code top-level domain, it is unclear what other areas Sierra Leone can assist Somaliland in developing its information technology sector.
FOXCONN is Taiwan’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor and supplies Apple and other global companies.
In contrast, Taiwan, Somaliland’s new ally is considered a global powerhouse in information technology and although it has not been announced yet, information technology is one of the areas that Taiwan is expected assist Somaliland as part of the agreement signed last year by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan and Somaliland as part of the bilateral ties between the two countries.
To combat COVID-19 and highlight the importance of testing in the fight against the virus. TaiDoc Technology Corporation and ForaCare Foundation have donated jointly COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test for our allies. The Rapid Tests, certified by Taiwan and the EU, can produce results in just 15 minutes.
Taiwan Representative Office, on behalf of the Taiwan Government and private enterprises, donated 6,000 COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test to the Ministry of Health Development to support Somaliland proactively to combat the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. It shows the efforts to integrate the strategic medical resources provided by the Taiwan Government and private sectors to channel to Somaliland.
Taiwan has been side by side with and supported Somaliland to combat Covid-19 by donation of the medical equipment including high-quality masks, protective clothes, PPE, infrared forehead thermometers, infrared thermal imagers which can detect multi-body temperatures, high-quality PCRs and reagents, as well as quality rice to relieve 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 Somaliland and other allied nations.
Although the Mayor of Hargeisa Mr. Abdirahman Mohamoud Aideed SOLTELCO has not officially declared his candidacy for a second term, he has been on overdrive behind the scenes working the elders and manufacturing an aura of having the blessing of the President of the Republic HE Muse Bihi Abdi, which he has been known to tell associates that the President is indebted to him for his outsized role in the 2017 presidential elections.
Mr. SOLTELCO is determined to become a mayor for a second term and has been desperately seizing every PR opportunity whether it’s at the inauguration of a sewage treatment plant being bankrolled by the German KFW Bank, or standing aimlessly at 1:00 AM next to another road that will soon be washed by soapy water. We are not making this up, the Mayor theorized that people are destroying the roads he has built with their dirty dishwater.
Strangely, the Mayor has upped his environmental vandalism by burning much more expired products than the municipality has done in the past, perhaps as a way to remind Hargeisa residents that he cares about their health and wellbeing.
It is an open secret that Hargeisa Mayor Mr. SOLTELCO who has been a terrible mayor to say the least wants a second term but what is rarely discussed is why he wants a job he has miserably failed or the fact that the odds are not in his favor to win the mayor seat itself which is not directly elected by the public.
SOLTELCO is braving a gauntlet by facing long-disenchanted electorate at the ballot box and hoping that he will be elected a mayor by the incoming local council who are mostly jostling for the position themselves and may contain guys that promised to not take a salary without ever facing the risk of being asked how they will pay for their living expenses and are more focused on their skincare regiment than serving their future constituents.
This is a costly campaign, and especially for SOLTELCO and the return on investment seems to be not there unless you look at what he may or may not have stashed away and wants to protect.
1
Valuable Land Plots
Local governments in Somaliland have had unfettered access to valuable plots of land carved from new traditional farmlands being converted to residential plots. These plots are intended for what is known as “Public Interest” and are earmarked for hospitals, schools, police stations, places of worship – generally publicly owned properties, but instead, local councils and especially the Mayors deal with these valuable properties as their own and may sell them or “gift” them to their allies. In this tenure as a mayor, Mayor SOLTELCO may have sold, gifted, or quite possibly stashed away many of these public interest plots of land.
Mr. Hassan Shahar a former butcher and a sitting local council member of Hargeisa had recently admitted on tape to have sorted out a local mufti’s medical expenses by quickly liquidating two blocks of land.
2
GEOSOL Ownership Stake
Mayor SOLTELCO who has enlisted the help of GEOSOL, a private company that he holds a stake in, to run the most important aspect of the local government’s function – land and property records management may at some point get a second look by an incoming mayor, possibly because the entire enterprise is illegal and the fact that the local government itself needs the revenue that GEOSOL is currently collecting from Hargeisa residents.
3
Garbage Business Ownership Stake
Another fundamental function of a municipality is garbage collection and although in some part of the world this is outsourced under strict circumstances, in the case of Somaliland and particularly Hargeisa, this is outsourced to private companies that charge $5 to every household, some of these companies once again have direct links to the mayor and his close friends who are also part of the GEOSOL gang.
Complicity
Mayor SOLTELCO is not alone; instead, there is a system that protects people like him. Remember when Hargeisa Local Government was investigated by the Auditor General’s Office and miraculously found no wrongdoing? The Auditor-General’s report was never made public and the executive, the legislative neither cared enough to order an investigation because corruption is as rampant everywhere in Somaliland as it is in SOLTELCO’s local government.
Regardless of the President’s support for Mayor SOLTELCO, his inaction speaks volumes and if he really cared about what goes on in Hargeisa and outside of the walls of the Presidency, his Auditor General would not have had the nerve to give SOLTELCO’s local government a clean bill of health.
If you think Mayor SOLTELCO’s chance of reelection is slim, think again and remember people will vote along tribal fault lines, and perhaps seeing SOLTELCO – the apotheosis of greed and corruption – as the person closes to them tribally will be motivation enough to vote for him again.
As a resident of Hargeisa, this is the chance you have been waiting for you seven years, what you do in the next election determines if you will live in the squalid city whose most basic services are outsourced to private companies who charge for their services despite the fact that you have paid your taxes. Seize this opportunity and make sure you do not regret your vote, or as President Bihi eloquently put it “fartaada ha eedin“.
Somaliland Chronicle is responsible for the content of this editorial.
The Vice President of the Republic of Somaliland H.E. Abdirahman Abdilahi Ismail Saylici inaugurated development projects funded by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation in Somaliland. The projects include an 8 million US dollar solar power plant in Berbera, state of the art dialysis unit in Hargeisa Group Hospital, and two new healthcare facilities in Berbera and Burao.
The solar 7-megawatt solar power plant in Berbera is expected to reduce high electricity costs and cut emissions from diesel generators currently in operation. The Vice President stated that electricity cost has not been finalized yet but he expects it to be much lower than current prices.
According to a statement released by the Abu Dhabi Fund For Development, the project cost is 29.3 million dirhams or 8 million US dollars. Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is also financing the construction of the Berbera Corridor project linking Berbera to Ethiopia.
Emirati News Agency reported that the solar power plant is a public-private-partnership and that Somaliland government will be supported by a consulting company named Coretec.
The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has handed three state-of-the-art medical facilities including a dialysis unit to the Ministry of Healthcare Development of Somaliland. The facilities are in Hargeisa, Berbera, and Burao. Details about the medical facilities including cost, capacity, and if the foundation will provide future support to these facilities were shared.
The Somaliland Civil Service and the World Bank have quietly restructured Civil Strengthening Project into a second phase for what the World Bank described as “closing the financing gap resulted from the CSSP design stage underestimated the cost of doing business in Somaliland”. To date, 5.63 million of the project’s 10 million US dollars has been spent.
The new Project Information Document published by the World Bank on December 14th describes major shortcomings in the previous phase of the project including the fact that the Civil Service Commission has not included more than 8,500 employees in the HR Audit it has completed in July 2018. The Civil Service Commission has launched the headcount in January 2018 in a glitzy event attended by President Muse Bihi Abdi, one of the first events he attended as he took office.
The Civil Service Commission has paid $566,700.00 to a company called Extra Insight for the headcount activity. No official explanation can be gleaned from the World Bank’s restructuring documents for how more than 60% of the government employees could be missed by the headcount activity that the Civil Service Commission has touted as a major accomplishment [link to previous press releases].
Contractor Name
Description
Amount (US$)
Extra Insight
Hr-auditing Firm For Head Counting Activity
$566,700.00
The restructuring of the project comes at a time when the Civil Service Commission is in the middle of recruiting subject matter experts for specific government ministries and agencies in a program known as Talen Management Program or TMP. In the restructuring, the number of recruits is reduced from 80 to 57 with a projected cost saving of 600,000 US dollars to be reallocated to other areas of the project.
The main purpose of the Talent Management Program is to give Somaliland government the ability to compete for critical talent with other employers in Somaliland especially the UN, aid agencies, and large private companies such as Telesom and Somtel.
The World Bank restructuring document also peels the curtain on an embarrassing episode where the Civil Service Commission and the Somaliland government has not adequately budgeted for TMP staff salaries.
“The GoSL did not include in their CY2020 budget sufficient amount to pay all CY2020 salaries and allowances for TMP staff. In its letter to the Bank dated September 19, 2020 (attached), the Government has requested the Bank to advance US$108,786 to cover salaries and allowances of existing TMP staff for the rest of CY2020, i.e. for September to December 2020; and salaries and allowances of new TMP staff to be recruited in December 2020.” is how the restructuring document described the current challenges in with the Civil Service Strengthening Project.
The impact of the Civil Service Strengthening project in raising the bar on civil service in Somaliland is negligible at best despite the 10 million dollar price tag. So far the Civil Service Commission has not implemented the most basic mechanism of managing employees’ records.
High-ranking government officials who spoke to Somaliland Chronicle on condition of anonymity, describe the CSC leadership as wasteful and being too focused on PR stunts that include piloting a headcount project in local governments despite missing more than 60% of government employees in headcount that has cost $566,700.00. In addition, the Civil Service Commission has concluded a year-long study looking into what it will take to create a healthcare program for government workers.
Although the Civil Service Institute has been in operation for a long time and has trained thousands throughout the years, Chairman Farhan has recently unveiled a program with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) that would identify the areas where government employees need training. The program comes at a whopping cost of 670,000.
Part of the contract with GIMPA is an English language training for civil servants conducted by ACH a British firm subcontracted by GIMPA that according to the inception report trains 3000 refugees a year in basic English literacy and coaches new employees for Starbucks and other unskilled laborers.
The sweeping changes to many government agencies including the Civil Service Commission announced yesterday, President Bihi has sacked the Deputy Chairman and the Executive Director of the Civil Service Institute. It is unclear if the changes at the Civil Service Commission are related to the World Bank’s restructuring of the flagship project due to financial and other structural challenges.
When asked about the reason for the restructuring and the new agreement that it will entail, Chairman of the Civil Service Commissioner Mr. Farhan Adan Haybe stated that there is no restructuring and that this is simply an extension of the project term due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President of the Republic of Somaliland H.E. President Muse Bihi Abdi has reshuffled his cabinet for the 7th time since taking office in 2017 and has sacked the Ministers of Employment, Social Affairs, and Family and Justice and numerous Director Generals. In addition, President Bihi has issued a number of directives that include the nomination of the National Insurance Commissioners.
The Minister of Justice Hon. Mustafe Mohamoud Ali was reassigned to replace Hon. Hinda Jama Gani and President Bihi has appointed a new minister to head the Justice portfolio. This would be the third time President Bihi has changed the Minister of Justice.
The sacked minister of Employment, Social Issues, and Family Hon. Hinda Jama Gani, was nominated by President Bihi upon taking office and has been a member of a number of important committees including the Public Sector Reform Steering Committee. She did not have prior public service experience and had a limited formal education according to people who have worked with her as a minister.
In addition to the two ministers, President Bihi has fired five Director Generals, the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Higher Education Commission, the Deputy Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, and has reassigned a number of other Director Generals.
Somaliland Higher Education Commission, an independent commission with seemingly no discernable function has been around for years and is considered a dumping ground for sacked government officials.
As part of this wide-ranging directive, President Bihi has also nominated the National Insurance Commissioners, the Institute of Agricultural Research, and the Office of Endowments Registry. The latter which has been around for years is considered to be a redundant function that is already part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments.
According to a directive issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism, the cost of registering a business in Somaliland by both citizens and foreign nations will be cut by 50%. The directive adds that the discounting of registering businesses in Somaliland is due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although the discounting of registering a business in Somaliland would be a welcome relief for a new business venture, the process itself is arcane and may require dealing with multiple government agencies such as the Chamber of Commerce, the Attorney General’s Office, Ministry of Finance and possibly others.
The directive from Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Hon. Mohamoud Hassan Saad (Saajin) hints at a one-stop-shop business registration and licensing process but does not offer details on when and how it will streamline the process of registering a new business in Somaliland.
On multiple occasions, the Somaliland government, with the help of the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) of the World Bank Group – One Stop Shop (OSS) Project which was supposed to support Somaliland government service delivery and centralization of business registration processes to avoid dealing with multiple disjointed bureaucracies.
In February 2018, IFC has contracted WYG a consultancy firm to develop an online business registration and licensing system for the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism. However, the project was not successful and IFC has reportedly terminated WYG consulting service for delivery and implementation purposes.
According to sources, previous attempts were completely botched due to differences in the implementation of the One-Stop-Shop project between the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism and the International Finance Cooperation.
Sources added that the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Hon. Saajin has lost patience with International Finance Cooperation for the development of the One-Stop-Shop platform and digitalization of business registration services thus hampering and IFC and MoCIT relations.
It is worth mentioning that IFC has advertised a request for expression of interest for the implementation of online business registration and licensing system in June 2020.
Removing unnecessary hurdles from establishing a new business in Somaliland is a critical step in creating a climate conducive to business in Somaliland that may help attract direct foreign investment from small to medium foreign companies.
Despite repeated promises by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Technology to implement an e-government service, so far Somaliland government does not offer any online services including registering a business.
Efforts to reach the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Hon. Mohamoud Hassan Saad (Saajin), IFC, and other officials for comments were unsuccessful.
In addition to the 4 cranes that have arrived on December 24th, Somaliland Port Authorities have received four more cranes this morning at 12:00 AM according to a statement from Berbera Port Manager Mr. Saeed Abdillahi Hassan. This makes the number of Rubber Tyred Gantry Cranes (RTGs) at Berbera port a total of 8. Additional 3 larger cranes from Germany are expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2021.
Liebherr has signed a deal with DP World in March 2020 to supply the Berbera Port with the eight RTG cranes that have arrived in Berbera. Previously, Berbera Port had three Liebherr LHM 420 mobile harbor cranes.
In a brief conversation with Port Manager Mr. Hassan, the arrival of these cranes puts the Berbera port in direct competition with other ports in the region and will triple the port’s container handling capacity from 170,000 to 450,000 containers per year and will significantly increase average unloading rate of cargo. Mr. Saeed added that an increase in the port’s handling will have a major impact on Somaliland’s economy.
Berbera Port Manager Mr. Saeed Abdillahi Hassan with Taiwan’s Ambassador to Somaliland Mr. Alleh C Lou in November 2020
Mr. Hassan stated that all eleven cranes are expected to come online this summer and welcomed the Parliament’s approval of the Free Trade Zone legislation as a major step in the right direction that will boost trade in the region and cement Somaliland’s position as a major player in the Red Sea commerce. He added that so far 35 international companies have reached out to the government of Somaliland for cooperation on the Free Trade Zone.
The expansion of the Berbera Port by DP World with a price tag of 450 million US dollars is the largest direct foreign investment Somaliland has attracted so far, in addition, the Somaliland government has announced a deal with Trafigura, an international energy conglomerate to manage the Berbera Oil Terminals. The deal with Trafigura has not been finalized yet.
In the latest change of guard at Somaliland Journalist Association (SOLJA), the majority of board members including the newly elected chairman Mr. Zakaria Ahmed Mohamed are employees of the Ministry of Information and National Guidance.
The organizations’ stated goal is “SOLJA stands for Defense, Development, and Integration of Somaliland Journalists” according to the outgoing chairman Mr. Mohamoud Abdi Jama (Huto) but in its upcoming permutation that may be an issue since most of its current leadership report directly to the Minister of Information and National Guidance Hon. Saleban Ali Kore who in the recent past has had major issues with SOLJA and its stance on various directives he issued including a Draconian registration and demand of information from media houses that SOLJA has fiercely opposed.
We strongly condemn Somaliland police arrest of Journalists Ilyaas Abdi works for Humanitarian Radio-Ergo. We're also against today's 7 days to be held in custody legitimized from the regional court without proper reasons of arrest.@YahyeXanas@RSF_Africa@CPJAfricapic.twitter.com/T9guQBsIzo
Although the organization’s effectiveness has been questioned in the past and many of its former chairmen have moved on to high-level government positions, it has nonetheless been focal in its opposition to the arbitrary detention of journalists and issues detrimental to freedom of speech. The outgoing chairman Mr. Mohamoud Abdi Jama (Huto) is a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
In addition, SOLJA has strongly condemned Minister Kore’s action to shut down two television stations for failure to carry a live broadcast of the June 26th Independence Day festivities at the Presidential Palace. The TV stations have since been fined and reinstated.
The general assembly of SOLJA where the new leadership was elected was boycotted by a large number of journalists who condemned the process as rigged and have stated that they will establish a new umbrella that represents journalists.
This is not the only effort by the Somaliland government and Minister Kore to bring the media under government control, in 2020, the Ministry of Information and National Guidance has spent nearly 70,000 US dollars on various outlets for what it calls “defending Somaliland’s interest on social media“. The bulk of the funds went to few individuals and media outlets include Qaran News, Oodweyne News among others. Minister Kore decline to comment on the nature of the payment to these individuals and media outlets. Repeated calls to reach Mr. Kore were unsuccessful.
It is unclear if SOLJA, under the current leadership, will be able to advocate for Somaliland media professionals when detained by the government effectively putting them on a collision course with their employer but counter-argument by reporters who support the new leadership online points to the fact that the organization’s charter does not preclude government employees from leading the organization and that the Ministry of Information and National Guidance employs the most journalists in Somaliland.
Although successive Somaliland governments have cracked down on journalists, media freedom under President Bihi has been in steep decline, and the current Minister of Information and National Guidance Mr. Kore has been one of the most Draconian in stifling free media and the usurpation of SOLJA into government control may signal a desire to extinguish independent media and muzzle critical coverage of its activities.
