Somaliland government issues a strong condemnation to the United Nations Special Representative of Secretary General Mr. James Swan following a statement he made at the International Peace Institute where he discussed inclusion of Somaliland in Somalia’s electoral process.
The government unusually strong rebuke to Mr. Swan statement questioned the United Nations impartiality in regional diplomatic initiatives and reiterated that the Somaliland government is the sole and legitimate representative of the Somaliland people.
The statement also indirectly warned the international community at large to “refrain from any action or rhetoric that risks defaming Somaliland’s electoral integrity, independence and sovereignty“.
According to senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Somaliland government discussed a range of options in response to Mr. Swan’s statement that included issuing him a persona non grata status and added that “We have been painfully polite to a fault but statements like this will no longer be tolerated from anyone. We are willing to oblige anyone who is seeking an early retirement. This is effectively Mr. Swan’s only and final warning“.
According to statement released by the office of President of Kenya Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan government had issued a stern warning to Somalia to “to cease and desist from the unwarranted provocations and focus on managing its internal affairs for the welfare of her people; defeating terrorism; and advancing the cause of peace, security and stability in the region.”.
The latest tension between Somalia and Kenya follows an assault by Somalia National Army on the border town of Beled-Hawo on the 2nd of February on forces from Jubbaland State.
Media outlets reported injuries on the Kenyan side of the border in Mandhera town.
Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya
The strongly worded statement from President Uhuru’s office noted that Kenya is a host to hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees who fled war and hostilities in Somalia and Kenya’s contribution to the peacekeeping efforts in Somalia and urged the Federal Government led by President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo to rationally use its resources to defeat Alshabaab terrorist group.
The warring sides used anti-aircraft guns and other heavy weapons and there has been reports of casualties on both sides.
Jubbaland Minister of Interior Abdirashid Hassan Abdinur (Janan)
Tensions between Somalia’s Federal Government and Jubbaland has been on the rise since the reelection of President Islam Madobe and the former’s failure to successfully field competing candidates.
Somalia claims to be in pursuit of Jubbaland’s Minister of Interior who has recently broke out of a jail in Mogadishu where he has been imprisoned since September 2019.
Rodney Hunter the Political Coordinator of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations has also expressed alarm over Somalia’s airlifting of army units to Jubbaland “The deployment of SNA troops to a politically motivated offensive in the Gedo region of Jubaland is unacceptable and diverts resources from the agreed roadmap for security operations.”
Some say, one of the options to restore Somaliland-Somalia reunification is the use of military coercion, or to impose sanctions to prevent international aid to induce unsolicited unity. The intention of the Somalia elite is to put people of Somaliland the very same oppressive treatment – the prejudiced and cruel exercise of political authority. After all these political and economic inequity as well as the long-drawn-out social grievances of unjust, Somaliland voluntarily withdrew the union after ten years of blood-spattered war, which killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, mostly women and children as a result of aerial bombardment and heavy artillery shelling that targeted predetermined densely populated dwellings and crowds (Drystdale, 1992).
Since the disintegration of the unjust union, people of Somaliland accomplished as Pham argued ‘’to not only establish external security and internal stability—enough of the latter, in fact, to have developed what is arguably the most democratic politics in the region—but have done so without the benefit of international recognition of their existence or much foreign development assistance’’ (Pham, 2012). This refers that Somaliland marked and justified every condition of state, including the Montevideo Convention on the rights and duties of states. Ever since it declared its sovereignty the country relished a relative and robust peace, it has its own currency regulated by the Central Bank, legalised capable bureaucracy, and has functioning government institutions. Unlike Somalia, the country also has self-governing people’s elected multiparty political system with the foundations of democratically elected office-bearers, including President, Members of Parliament and District Councillors.
However, most elites in Somalia disregard the self-made peace, relevant social stability, democracy and the rule of law, merely for the motive that Somalis share the same ethnicity, language, religion and cultural heritage. These folks place great emphasis on the patrilineal and clan segmentary lineage of the Somali society. On the contrary, there are independent elites who theoretically indicate that Somaliland has the right to self-determination. There arguments emphasise such theoretical foundations; for example, ‘’Democratic theory stresses the democratic right of people to govern themselves – the right of free political association; liberal theory advocates the right of the individual to determine his/her destiny; communitarian theory conversely seeks the right of self-determination in the collective. While realist approach focuses on the principle of the territorial integrity of states (Freeman 1999). Territorial justice theory advances the idea that people have the right to supremacy in their territory (Steiner 1998; Castellino 2008). Other lesser known theories of self-determination are the theory of suffering and remedial theory’’ (White 1981; Freeman 1999). Henceforth, although all theories are applicable to Somaliland’s justification of sovereignty, there are also legal, humanitarian and political cases that fully support the self-determination of Somaliland that bolster up its right of political proclamation.
Hence, unlike any other newly recognised country such as Eritrea and South Sudan, Somaliland people can commonsensically claim that their country has the right of self-determination for several counts and reason. Moreover, the international law concurs self-determination when people experience problems of injustice, political domination and social alienation. The thirty years of the political union brought no benefit to the people of Somaliland, but conversely disadvantageous and ultimately it occasioned years of humanitarian crisis.
War made most of Somaliland’s children uneducated at the time, whilst many of them lost their lives either on fire of hostility and regime aggression against civilian population, or its consequences – the mass displacement resulted that the vulnerable elderly and children suffer diseases such as cholera, measles, tuberculosis and malnutrition. Nonetheless, in Somalia some political perpetrators still desire to do harm to the people of Somaliland. They are eager because of the increased military assistance from the international community – such a blunder could weaken the peace and stability of the region.
After liberating the country from political subjugation the people of Somaliland admit that they made a big mistake to unite with Somalia. Some blame their fathers and grandparent at the time for making this unnecessary sacrifice for their sovereignty.
In 2001, predominantly people of Somaliland voted a referendum in which 97.7% approved the aspiration of an independent sovereign nation-state. Liberty is again figured in opposition to the internal tyranny of appetites. Yet, the Government in Mogadishu discounted the results of the referendum outcome – and it wants to declare war in order to recommit genocide – a seemingly impossible task as the Somaliland’s defence capability is utmost sounded its sirens.
In other words, the very same people who became victims because of democide and the mass indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of many citizens from their own government are currently in a state of keeping careful watch for any potential danger – unification is the potential danger of today’s Somali societies. The people of Somaliland, completely believe that reunification between the Hargeisa and Mogadishu will further disgrace the political stability and social cohesion of the Somalis.
About the Author Mohamed O. Hagi Mohamoud, Researcher & Political Analyst. is a A professional with extensive experience on political economy and security studies, who has the ability to use a set of interrelated tools in identifying and analysing socioeconomic and political problems of Turkey and the developing world, particularly the East Africa region. An academic fellow and reader with distinguished reputation in research that clearly delineate strategic guidance to the regional security dynamics, who also has the leadership to supervise and advocate policy programmes by identifying viable and sustainable support measures that are economically, politically, ecologically, socially and institutionally require imperative act.
After BA (Hon) and Masters Degree in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, Mohamed is currently working on his PhD in Politics and Philosophy on Turkey’s Strategic Advantage in Sub-Saharan Africa: at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of Somaliland Chronicle and it’s staff.
On February 19th, the Somaliland Central Bank has issued a warning about get rich quick schemes involving forex currency or other online trading activities that promise astronomical returns and a life in the lap of luxury.
Prior to the Central Bank’s warning to consumers to stay away from these schemes, on February 16th the Marodijeh Regional Court ordered the restriction of bank accounts of Godaad Trades, Hargeisa Forex and one Abdishakur Sh. Muse Jama Goodaad. Two of which seem to be related to the same entity of Godad Trades.
Despite the warning from the Somaliland Central Bank that labelled these businesses essentially a scam to defraud investors and the freezing of the bank accounts, we found that at least two of them, Hargeisa Forex and Godad Trades to be still fully operational in Hargeisa, Somaliland.
Are you fed up with unemployment? Become a Millionaire. A poster from Hargeisa FOREX Facebook page.
Speaking to Mr. Khadar Mohamed Yusuf Adan who answered the phone number listed for Hargeisa Forex, he has been kind enough to explain how the operation works in the most arcane way possible highlighting the riches that some people have already made trading foreign currencies while barely mentioning the risks involved.
US Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulatory agency that polices the banking and trading industry describes the extreme risk of forex trading “The risk of loss for individual investors who trade forex contracts can be substantial”.
Mr. Adan explained that his firm, Hargeisa Forex currently has two service offerings, one is educational path for potential investors on how Forex trading works and prepare them to self-direct their portfolio and trading activities, the second is a fully managed Forex account that will use a Percentage Allocation Money Module or PAMM account.
Mr. Adan who has acknowledged the challenges the Forex trading companies like his currently face from the Somaliland Authorities, explained that the big banks in Somaliland who see them as a threat are using the government due to drain in their deposits from people who want to invest in Forex trading. In other words, the big banks are facing a stiff competition from Forex firms that they have resorted to bringing in the government to shut them down.
Highlighting how lucrative the forex trading can be, Mr. Adan stated that he personally knows someone who has made $20,000 US dollars from just a hundred bucks of course after loosing a measly 200 dollars in the beginning. He has also explained that he has heard of major Somaliland businessmen who have brought in foreigners to invest in the same schemes and have turned 100,000 dollars into 15 million in few short years.
A common trait among those promoting forex as a way to become wealthy for the unemployed or underemployed youth in Somaliland and more so in Somalia is the use of slick video advertisements complete with fast cars and a plethora of numbers and graphs designed to create an image of success.
While Hargeisa Forex is small and operates from a small car rental business next to Safari Hotel in Jijiga yar, Godad Trades occupies a lofty two story villa in Badda Cas suburb and is also very much operational.
The most notorious of these traders is Godad Trades, its owner, Mr. Abdiqani Sh Muse Godad who appears to have stepped out of a rap video with his trademark shaggy hair, cash and multiple credit cards casually spread on the center console of his European Audi or on his desk where ironically the laptop on the same table shows a trading app.
Mr. Godad does not behave like a typical securities broker and is eager to flaunt his success on social media as a way to attract potential investors.
On his Youtube Channel Mr. Godad gives lessons on how to trade but mostly touts his own success by repeatedly stating that he will share the secrets of his transformation.
Mr. Godad’s lessons on trading, the riskiest and bottom of the barrel instruments in the financial market such as forex and digital options, also known as “all-or-nothing options” sounds like a motivational or a personal coach who is intent on tapping into your inner confidence to follow his path and trust him with you money but not much in terms of substance on how these instruments actually work.
A typical posting by Mr. Abdiqani Sh Muse Godad
When we visited Godad Trades office, a group of young men were gathered in the foyer of the two story villa with an armed guard also present in the courtyard. A chat one of them who identified himself with only his first name explained how the venture works and that a minimum of one thousands dollars with a 20% fee is required and that within 40 days an investor will receive a 100% profit.
When asked how an investor will transfer funds to Godad Trades he quickly explained that only cash is accepted but the proceeds can be deposited to any type of account an investor chooses. There was no mention of any risks involved and was happy to inform us that there is no limit on how much one can invest and the more they invest the higher the return.
Licensed Securities Brokers? Nope!
Search through multiple jurisdictions including Turkey where Mr. Godad seems to be operating from for a licensed stock broker or a financial adviser that matches Mr. Godad’s name where unsuccessful. It is highly unlikely that any of the entities targeted by Somaliland authorities employ licensed stock or other securities brokers and while there are a lot of anecdotes of people making money handover fist from forex ventures, we are unable to locate anyone who has made money with these these companies.
There are clear warning signs that point to the illegitimacy of these businesses that would make any knowledgeable investor run for the hills but one of the most alarming is the promise of 100% return rate and the fact that they only accept cash from potential investors.
It is very likely that these sophisticated conman are not doing any trading but are rather engaged in a simple ponzi scheme where new investor money is given to few old investors to lure in more unwitting clients with the hope to relief many of their hard early money.
Although Somaliland government has acted against these companies in force, existing laws are too antiquated to keep up with modern financial crimes that involves multiple jurisdictions and use of intermediaries’ accounts to transfer money from customers.
Central Bank of Somaliland officials did not respond to questions for this article related to the number of current customers that have invested with these companies, the warning they have issues about these schemes and if there was any other enforcement action underway beyond the warning to protect current and future investors.
The Minister of Education and Science Hon. Ahmed Mohamed Diriye Egeh is undertaking a major restructuring of the Ministry of Education and is reducing the number of Ministry departments from more than 23 to just 12.
Sources add the Minister who is currently attending a meeting on education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sent the list of new departments and how existing units will be organized in the new structure.
Minister of Education Hon Ahmed Mohamed Diriye Egeh in Saudi Arabia
Ministry employees at the headquarters have shared mixed feelings about the changes although no department heads have been nominated for the new 12 units and new department heads will be announced on the Minister’s return from Saudi Arabia.
One of the major changes in Minister Egeh restructing is the Examination and Verification section which has been reorganized into the new Curriculum and Examination Department.
Sources who spoke to Somaliland on condition of anonymity who are affiliated with the Ministry stated that there has been duplication of efforts and multiple departments seemed to have the same function.
Although the Minister of Education and Science and other ministry officials have denied our recent report of employee discrepancy that led the Minister to temporarily freeze salaries for parts of the Ministry, no reason was given for the major reorganization of ministry departments.
Minister Egeh has been in charge of the Ministry of Education and Science for roughly three months and seems to be moving at a breakneck pace in understanding the ministry’s challenges and is making changes accordingly.
Minister Egeh did not respond to questions related to the changes he has made to his ministry.
Somaliland President HE Muse Bihi Abdi and opposition leaders of Waddani and UCID have reached a new agreement where the President will back off from his recent position of opening up new party registration two years ahead of its schedule and the opposition parties will accept the recently formed Election Commission with Mr. Abdirashid Riyoraac as its Chairman.
Former Election Commission Chairman Abdiqadir Iman with new Election Commission Chairman Mr. Abdirashid Riyoraac.
According to sources, the agreement reached by the President who is also the Chairman of the incumbent Kulmiye Party and the Opposition Party leaders includes the formation of a new technical committee consisting of old election commissioners and International Community representatives to avoid future election related disputes.
President Bihi meeting EU Somalia Ambassador Mr. Berlanga
The new agreement between the President and the Opposition Parties was brokered by the European Union Ambassador to Somalia, Mr. Nicolas Berlanga who has been holding meetings with the President, the Chief Justice of Somaliland Mr. Adan Haji Ali and the opposition parties.
The agreement is scheduled to be signed tomorrow morning.
The latest political turmoil erupted when the President announced that he will be asking Parliament to approve an amendment to election laws governing new party formation. Opposition parties responded by calling for early Presidential elections.
Waddani opposition party has accused the last Election Commission of impartiality and at times rigging the election in favor of President Bihi and has demanded their desolution but also objected to the newly formed Election Commission member and its eventual Chairman Mr. Riyoraac as being an active Kulmiye party member.
Previous agreement between political parties brokered by Mr. Nicholas Berlanga
This is not the first time the EU Ambassador to Somalia, Mr. Berlanga has brokered an agreement between the President and the Opposition parties over election disputes.
Although it is not exactly clear what the mandate of the new technical committee will entail, its formation could add another layer of complexity to Somaliland’s election process.
Update:
Below is the complete text of the agreement by the President and the chairmen of the Opposition party of Waddani and UCID
The Chairmen of the two opposition parties of Somaliland Mr. Abdirahman Abdillahi Cirro and Mr. Faysal Ali Waraabe, flanked by other party officials held a press conference today in Hargeisa.
In their press conference, Mr. Warabe and Cirro both stated that the President of the Republic of Somaliland His Excellency Muse Bihi Abdi has embarked on a dictatorial path and has refused to consult the opposition parties on range of issues and called for an early Presidential elections to be held on 2020.
Although both chairman spoke at length of the President’s recent trip to Addis Ababa during the African Union Summit and the purported visit by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia Mr. Abiy Ahmed and the President of Somalia Mr. Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo to Hargeisa, Mr. Warabe spoke of a never heard before detail involving 30% of an 800 million dollar that was promised to President Bihi. He added that the President “tap dances” when he hears money.
The Chairman of the opposition party of UCID, Mr. Warabe called the President’s actions in meeting with Somalia treasonous although he did not elaborate exactly what the treasonous action the President took or share any evidence to that effect.
Back in July 2018, Mr. Warabe met with an uproar when he met with the President of Somalia, Mr. Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo in Belgium.
The latest political chasm follows President Bihi’s annual address to join sessions of the congress where he announced a solution to end the political stalemate by opening up the political arena to other parties and ending the 10 year period that limited the number of parties to the existing three.
The Chairmen of the opposition parties of WADDANI and UCID did not explain the logistics of holding a Presidential election years before President Bihi’s term is up.
At the closing, Mr. Warabe repeated “I will cut off their rent payment, I will cut off their rent payment” possibly referring to something the President said regarding the public funding of the three parties and gave the President an ultimatum to come to the negotiating table by a certain date or that he will no longer be President and that he would not be able to collect taxes.
The existing parties, including the incumbent Kulmiye party receive public funding of 171,080,000 million Somaliland Shillings a month or roughly 240,000 US dollars annually.
According to sources at the Ministry of Information and National Guidance, the Minister Hon. Saleban Ali Kore and the Director General Mr. Mukhtar Mohamed Ali has been at odds on multiple issues at the ministry and the latest difference has spilled into the open in the form of a memo from the Minister.
Somaliland’s Minister of Information and National Guidance Hon. has issues a directive regarding the Ministry’s fuel spending and has instructed that hence forth, only Deputy Minister can approve all fuel related expenses.
It is unclear prompted the Minister to restrict the Director General’s ability to approve fuel spending but government records seen by Somaliland Chronicle and corroborated by sources at the Ministry show that the Ministry of Informational and National Guidance has spent more than 115,000 US Dollars on fuel, a much higher spending level than most other Ministries.
Ministry records are not clear enough to understand if the 115,000 US Dollars of fuel was on running the television, radio or was used for the ministry’s vehicles.
Since His Excellency President Muse Abdi’s visit to Addis Ababa during the African Union annual summit, Somalia has launched a massive misinformation campaign to frame his visit on the background of meeting with the Somali President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo.
Official response from Somaliland Government has taken days until President Bihi in his latest annual address to joint sessions of congress clarified the purpose of the visit and explained the sequence of events that led to the brief encounter with Somalia leader at the behest of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia.
Although the Ministry of Information and National Guidance has an array of media outlets including Somaliland National Television, Radio Hargeisa and multiple print and online newspapers, it has not been effective in countering the wave of misinformation from Somalia.
In fact, Horn Tribune, the English version of Dawan newspaper used a widely debunked fake photo of President Bihi shaking hands with Farmajo.
The Ministry of Information and National Guidance was rocked by corruption allegation and although criminal charges have filed against a former Minister and other high ranking officials, no was prosecuted.
Although the current Minister, Hon. Saleban Ali Kore was a member President Bihi’s original cabinet, he has been reassigned from the Ministry of Water Resources on December 2nd 2019.
On a warm mid-day in November 2019, around the public bazaar in my longitudinal research field town of Gebiley, 58km west of Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland, I unexpectedly encountered with an old man who stood on a bench stoning a dead dog. A young boy nearby explained to me gently that the old man, his maternal uncle, had lost his mind after having witnessed a massacre around his house on one evening in 1989 at the height of the Hargeysa Holocaust when the genocidal regime adopted annihilation strategies (e.g. Africa Confidential 1988, 1989; Indian Ocean Newsletter 1988, 1989; Amnesty International 1989; Human Rights Watch 1990).
The old man was not directly related to the victims of the massacre who were all but Isaaq clan civilians (Isaaq being the predominant clan in Somaliland). They were caught of harbouring solidarity and sympathy with the largely Isaaq-dominated armed resistance front: The Somali National Movement (SNM). Gérard Prunier, who visited the SNM fighters around Zeila in 1989, reached an apt conclusion that they were ‘the Isaaq people up in arms’ (1990). For the genocidal regime, if the SNM forces were the hard target that could not be suppressed, the Isaaq civilians were the soft target that could be silenced.
The overall objective of the massacre was to instill fear in the psyche of the infuriated Isaaq men and women. The perpetrators were foot soldiers (levies) from southern Somalia, commanded largely by certain cruel clan commanders (the local people could identify who was whom). Some of these commanders are now living abroad, often with impunity, in places like Birmingham, London, Manchester, Minneapolis and Washington. One exception is Colonel Yusuf Ali Tuke of Fairfaix, Virginia, who was found guilty of war criminal activity.
How this specific massacre in Gebiley occurred was still fresh in the mind of the madman on that day . Once the massacre began, he recalled and recounted through his young nephew, the anxious cries of the Muslim shahada (the first pillar of Islam) could be heard from a faraway neighbourhood. At the end of the mass murder, the killing site was silent. In the next morning, dogs devoured the unburied bodies. Unable to stop thinking about what had happened, today the madman kept stoning dogs whenever and wherever he met them. Hapless and hopeless, he kept silent throughout the massacre. Thirty years later, he was still silent, expressing the memories of what he saw through silence and stoning.
Seen from an anthropological perspective, as social anthropologists would have it, stoning is an aggressive gesture divorcing the self from (un)seen devils, but silence forces the self to act in that unique way. Determined both by the setting, silence and stoning are substantial and surreal. It is with silence that the apparently irrational, yet deeply expressive act of stoning a dead dog by the madman can be fully understood.
In the talkative pastoral Somali culture, speech is highly-valued, often synonymous with authority and influence, whereas silence is frequently seen as a tacit (dis)approval of something mysteriously secret. In her ground-breaking study of silence as a significant strategy, the anthropologist Cheryl Glenn (2004) has revealed various methods in which tactical silence can be as expressive and strategic an instrument of people’s communication as powerful speech itself.
In 1989, the same year that the massacre happened in Gebiley, the poet Mohamoud Abdullahi Iise ‘Sangub’ composed a playwright named ‘waa maadeys adduunyadu, dadkuna wey metelayaan’ (the world is a stage and people merely players). Intentionally or unintentionally, Sangub borrowed the title of William Shakespeare’s 1599 comic ‘all the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players’.
Strikingly, Sangub included in his playwright a political song concealed as a love song to divert the attention of the censors from the genocidal regime. The song was sung by two female and one male singer. The latter, Mohamed Ahmed Dhabarlow, chanted: ‘Hadduu carrab, hadalka daayana cillado badan baa ku aasan’ (if a tongue stops talking, mysteries are buried underneath). Such mysteries resulted in a combination (or complication) of madness, memory and massacre.
In Somaliland, many people are silent today because of the massacres (part of the broader genocide in the 1980s) they had witnessed or lost family members. Like the madman, some are out of action, while others are in/of absence. In a recent research report entitled ‘Mental Health in Somaliland: A Critical Situation’, published by Bjpsych International in 2020, the London-based psychologist Fadumo Abdi Abdillahi, the Hargeysa-based Edna Adan Ismail and Warwick Professor Swaran P. Singh have painted dire psychiatric spaces where patients needed urgent care and cure.
The mental health condition of the madman, both a cause and a consequence of the genocidal regime, enables anthropologists, historians and political scientists to glimpse important elements of a specific contemporary silence – the one pertaining to the state terror of the genocidal regime and its excessive use of violence to deal with the anti-autocratic public uprising. The reflections and revelations of this history adds a fresh empirical data to the debates and discussions over what to do and not to do about the crimes committed (and continue to be committed) in the name of the Somali state in the present regime of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo as well as in the past regime of Mohamed Siad Barre.
About the Author Mohamed Haji Ingiriis is a BA, Dip., MSc, MA, Ph.D. (DPhil) Candidate in Modern History, University of Oxford and Fellow at the LSE & the African Leadership Centre, King’s College London.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of Somaliland Chronicle and it’s staff.
Somaliland Chronicle stands behind its original report and after legal consultation has decided to publish the Minister’s email with minor redaction on page 3.
Repeated efforts to reach the Minister were unsuccessful.
