Heavy rains in Hargeisa today have claims the lives of five people and injured six others. This is according to the government officials, including the President HE Muse Bihi Abdi, who have surveyed the damaged areas of the Capital of Hargeisa, Somaliland.
President Bihi and other government officials surveying flood damages in Hargeisa.
Two of the victims were killed by downed power lines where the remaining three were swept in a vehicle by heavy floods. Officials added that a total of nine people were rescued from floods by police and fire services.
This is not the first time that heavy rains and floods have resulted in loss of live in Somaliland, especially in the capital. Last year, 2 children were killed by floods in Hargeisa after heavy rains.
Ahmed Qorane, father of children lost to floods in Hargeisa last year.
Lack of building, electrical codes or designated flood areas coupled with non-existent flood drainage in Hargeisa have often caused heavy floods in the rainy season.
The Ambassador of the UK to Somalia, Mr Ben Fender OBE is visiting Somaliland this week. Mr. Fender is scheduled to hold a series of meeting with the President of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi and members of his administration as well as the opposition parties and civil society organizations.
Dr. Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro, the Chairman of the Opposition party of Waddani has met with His Excellency Hassan Hamza Asad Hashem, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Somalia in Nairobi.
Professor Ahmed I. Samatar and Dr. Abdirahman Abdillahi Irro in Hargeisa.
According to diplomatic sources in Nairobi, Dr. Irro was accompanied by Professor Ahmed I. Samatar on his trip to Nairobi. Professor Samatar was reported to have attended the meeting of the Chairman with the Qatari Ambassador.
His Excellency Hassan Hamza Asad Hashem, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of Somalia with Somali Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi M. Gulaid
Sources added that Dr. Irro and Professor Samatar have also met with the United States Ambassador to Somalia Mr. Donald Yamamoto. Neither meeting was publicly disclosed and no details of the topics discussed have emerged.
Somaliland government has officially sided with the UAE/Saudi side of the Gulf crisis, where Mogadishu has fostered close cooperation with Qatar and Turkey.
Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Dhakool, a member of Somaliland Parliament representing the eastern region of Sool was arrested today.
No official statement has been released to explain the MP’s arrest but all indications point to the MP’s opposition to the commemoration of the establishment of Somaliland Republic on the 18th of May.
Mr. Dhakool stated that the 18th May should not be a national day and that it is a dark day as it is related to the disintegration of the Somali state at the hands of Somali National Movement. Mr. Dhakool has been a Somaliland MP since 2005.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswY2NmYEBg
It is unclear if the MP has been officially charged but sources in Somaliland security services indicate that he is currently being held in Hargeisa Central Police Station.
Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria arrived in Hargeisa on an official invitation from the government of Somaliland.
Dr. Obasanjo led a delegation from the Brenthurst Foundation founded by Billionaire Jonathan Oppenheimer of South Africa. Dr. Obasanjo is the chairman of the foundation.
President Bihi and members of his administration met with Dr. Obasanjo, the Director of the Brenthurt Foundation, Mr. Gregg Mills and others who accompanied them on their visit to Somaliland. The delegation also met with the chairmen of Somaliland Parliament and Judiciary Committee.
The most significant factor that made our revival journey distinct and, by far, sets us apart from our chaotic neighbours was the fact that we were blessed with profoundly gifted, great negotiators. A group of men who have had social knowledge, personal stamina, and a steely determination to help their people put an end to the misery of infighting, fear and destitute.
They worked tirelessly to broker peace through bottom-up peace building meetings, gatherings and national conferences which, ultimately, culminated in the establishment of a fully functioning government, with the blessing and support of all the previously combating factions.
However, nations are like waves, they show periods of crests: strength, prosperity and unity, and times of troughs, where the well being of the country is not how it is supposed to be. Unfortunately, we haven’t reached the crest of our nation yet. In reality, during the last few years, we fast-tracked into a state of perpetual stagnation, regarding both effective state building and prioritising citizens welfare.
It is these particularly challenging times when we are in dire need for someone to formulate the right prescription. Nonetheless, the field is almost devoid of concerned, untainted and impartial statesmen, the likes of those great negotiators; many have left for the eternal life, and the surviving few were deliberately pushed aside.
The countless political and tribal arguments, we are witnessing today are some of the manifestations of that public erosion coupled with a penetrating decay invaded the entire political elite. Although there are persistent attempts to befoul them into the current political climate, it is for the young, educated men and women to take the initiative and plan or the future. The dullards in the so-called three parties put the country in deadlock as can be seen from the recent unwise, ill-conceived alliances and the opposed utter defiance and lack of vision.
About the Author: Dr. Abdikarim D Hassan MSc Diabetes and Endocrinology at Salfor Univeristy, UK. Dr Hassan is a freelance writer with special interest in good health care and Education for all citizens. He can be reached on Qurbe206[at]hotmail.com;
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints of Somaliland Chronicle and it’s staff.
The Auditor-General has started an investigation into corruption allegation at the Ministry of Education and Science. Sources inside the Presidency, tell Somaliland Chronicle that President Bihi has directed the AG to investigate the Ministry of Education and Science.
The Auditor General investigation into the Ministry of Education and Science follows their recent investigations of the Ministries of Defense and Information that has resulted in the filing of criminal complaints with the Attorney-General, the firing of the Ministers and many senior level appointees from those ministries.
Auditor-General seal on one the doors at the Ministry of Information
The nature of the alleged corruption at the Ministry of Education and Science is unclear but sources confirmed that President Bihi has been fully briefed and is following the investigation closely.
Former Ministers of Information and Defense
Multiple employees of the Ministry of Education and Science who spoke on condition of anonymity have pointed to widespread mismanagement, cronyism and corruption. One particular employee added, “No one cares if you showed up to work on time for the last 20 years or you just popped in once a month to grab your salary and never work, it is unbelievable”.
To corroborate the employees misgivings about the ministry, we have asked a high-ranking member of President Bihi’s government familiar with the work of the Ministry of Education and Science and he said “The one place that functions properly is the examination team, do you realize they hold exams to more school kids, on time, then those that took part in the recent election? Maybe we should make those guys in charge of the election!”
Except the Director-General Mr. Ahmed Abokor who was previously at this ministry, the Minister and Vice Minister are both relatively new.
Both the Vice Minister Mr. Mohamed Dahir Ahmed and the Director General Mr. Ahmed Abokor were appointed to the Education and Science following President Bihi’s first major reshuffle on November 10, 2018. Mr. Ahmed was the Vice Minister of the Finance Ministry.
We have reached out to the Vice Minister Mr. Mohamed Dahir Ahmed to ask him about the Auditor-General’s investigation and if the reports of alleged corruption are true “I welcome the investigation to fix anything that may be wrong but I cannot comment on an ongoing investigation but it is that law that the Auditor-General investigate every Ministry and government agency every year” he responded.
Public records show that the Ministry of Education and Science receives tens of millions of dollars from the international community. There are multiple projects funding different aspects of education in Somaliland.
Mr. Ahmed Abokor with Hargeisa Mayor Abdirahman SOLTELCO
Despite the large influx of donor funds when compared to private schools, the quality of public education in Somaliland has been poor and many school facilities lack the most basic facilities.
There are previous allegation of corruption against the Vice Minister Mohamed Dahir Ahmed he led the now defunct Somaliland Food Security Agency when asked the Vice Minister was the head of the Somaliland Food Security Agency which resulted in his removal from that position, he responded “I had clashed with Mr. Hersi back in Siilanyo’s time. I have not been removed because of corruption and there is no court or Auditor-General that has accused me of those things”.
Mr. Hersi Haji Hassan, the former Minister of the Presidency.
The Vice Minister did not say why he clashed with Mr. Hersi. The former Minister of the Presidency, Mr. Hersi Haji Hassan, did not respond to request for comment.
The Director-General, Mr. Ahmed Abokor has also been implicated in corruption in the past while working for Save the Children on projects for the Ministry of Education and Science. According to sources, Mr. Abokor has been terminated by SCF as a result of those allegations.
Both the Director-General and the Minister did not respond to questions for this article.
Mayor of Somaliland’s capital city of Hargeisa Mr. Abdirahman M. Aideed “Soltelco” has finally figured out what is wrong with the city he is in charge of, why things are so bad that when it rains, mountains of garbage that magically appear out of nowhere, new roads he has worked tirelessly to build disappearing overnight.
It is mutant goats, the corrosive soapy water thrown on the roads in the cover of darkness to destroy the miles and miles of new roads he has built and the magical trash that folks out of town sneaking in and to embarrass his beloved city. Everyone is colluding to deny his tremendous accomplishment as the mayor of Hargeisa. He has accolades to prove it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IueFj0G1BS4
The Mayor’s reason to kidnap the livestock of Hargeisa is to protect the lush greenery he has spent so much time and effort to transform Hargeisa into an oasis that exists only in his fantasy.
Hargeisa Mayor Abdirahman Aideed Soltelco among goats he confiscated.
The garbage that plagues the capital, according to him results from people using the torrents of rainwater to get rid of their garbage. He says folks should use the refuse disposal services that show up one a week. He neglects to mention that the garbage collection service in Hargeisa costs 5 dollars a month. A service that should be included in one’s property taxes.
Garbage in Hargeisa in the rainy season.
The Mayor has cracked the mystery behind the magic roads that seem to disappear days after being inaugurated with wall-to-wall media coverage – soapy water! He has explained that this has been damaging Hargeisa roads all along and sent a stern warning to restaurant busboys who throw their dirty dishwater on the roads.
The experts who know a thing or two about building roads disagree that the root cause is ravenous goats eating the new roads or corrosive dirty dishwater, they think it’s a thin veneer of tar on top of sand that makes the road disintegrate in days.
What garbage?
Hargeisa collectively blames the Mayor Cabdishakur Cidin of Berbera who has been doing a fantastic job for his city. His recent efforts, and we say recent because he too, made drastic and noticeable changes to his city by way to new roads and planting a lot of palm trees in Berbera that he made Hargeisa Mayor come out of his long-term comma to declare an all-out war on goats and other livestock in Hargeisa.
The problems that need immediate attention in Hargeisa and every city in Somaliland go beyond goat droppings and cow dung, it is the lack of proper roads, simple city planning, power grid, sewage, environmental stewardship and honest service delivery to the citizens in their respective cities.
Mayor of Hargeisa, Mr. Soltelco is the embodiment of everything wrong with Somaliland. He has been adept in serving one particular citizen the entire time he has been in office and that is the President and the first family. Dropping to all four, tail tucked and playing dead has served him well but the people of Hargeisa are no longer accepting the excuses that a goat eat your plan and that it is someone else’s fault why their city is, despite the burgeoning population, a medieval city where citizens are wading knee deep in a mixture of excrement and garbage with zero services from their local government.
Mr. Soltelco, whose namesake is a telecom company he has run into the ground two decades ago, even hoodwinked President Bihi shortly after he has taken office by promising a new ambitious plan to manage Hargeisa via GIS and aerial drones – Whatever happened to that?
We are very skeptical of the recent “recognition” the mayor has received from Ethiopia and presented by the Minister of Public Works but we recognize him as the World’s Worst Mayor.
Have you no decency, Sir? Please resign and maybe in few years you could re-brand yourself with your ill-gotten gains and join the former Ministers of the Presidency, Messrs. Mohamoud Hashi and Hersi Haji Ali in debates about how well you have served your city and country and hope that we have forgotten that even a goat could have been a better mayor for Hargeisa.
Somaliland Chronicle is responsible for the content of this editorial.
Aktis Strategy, a major contractor for the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom (FCO) went into bankruptcy on March 14 leaving behind a trail of unfinished projects in Somaliland and around the world.
British media’s extensive coverage of Aktis Strategy’s spectacular implosion included gross financial mismanagement and £100,000 lavish parties complete with ladies swinging from poles.
Aktis Strategy has been established by two former British Diplomats, Dr Andrew Rathmell and Alex Martin, who knew their way around the Foreign Office and how and where it spent the money.
Swinging development: a photo from a party thrown by the now defunct Aktis Strategy for its employees.
What was AKTIS Strategy working on in Somaliland?
Aktis Strategy has been working in Somaliland for years, mainly in the security and the justice sectors with another British firm – Axiom International.
While Aktis Strategy seemed to have a large footprint in many conflict zones and held many lucrative contracts including work with AMISOM, Axiom International Ltd seems to be mainly in Somaliland and does not appear on the UK’s Foreign Office’s in terms of directly awarded projects.
@AxiomIntLtd, in partnership with @AktisStrategy, are proud to have supported the design & installation of a Case Management System that enhances the management of cases in Somaliland courts. Here the Chairman, Hargeisa Regional Court demonstrates it to his Excellency @musebiihi. pic.twitter.com/G2f5KaRhuW
The relationship between the two entities is unclear but it seems to have been jointly working on many defense and security-related projects in Somaliland.
According to sources in Somaliland Judiciary, the now defunct Aktis Strategy and Axiom International Limited has been working on developing the case management for Somaliland courts.
A screenshot of Somaliland Case Management System Aktis Strategy and Axiom International limited A screenshot of Somaliland Case Management System Aktis Strategy and Axiom International limited
According to technology specialists we have asked about the platform and its back-end system – FileMaker, they pointed to the fact it is hardly used for enterprise grade systems because it lack of scalability and comes with massive technical debt because of its proprietary nature that would rule out migration to more modern systems down the line.
Somaliland Chief Justice at the unavailing of the Court Case Management system back in 2016
Although this project has been hailed a massive success back in 2016, it does not seem to have any effect as a decongestant for the court system in Somaliland.
What happens to projects awarded and actively being worked on by Aktis Strategy is unknown.
Another area of concern is the confidential information with potential national security implication for Somaliland that Aktis Strategy has stored in its soon to be liquidated systems.
Despite the risks presented by the demise of Aktis Strategy and possibly Axiom International Ltd. These companies are insignificant compared to their much larger counterpart, Mott MacDonald.
Mott MacDonald and Somaliland
If you have never heard of Mott MacDonald, it is the private company that manages the Somaliland Development Fund and the international partners who fund the SDF have paid it 25 Million British Pounds to manage these funds.
Mott MacDonald have has been accused of corruption and improper conduct from Lesotho, to Singaporeand everything in between.
Many former and current Somaliland officials described the Mott MacDonald and its staff who manage the Somaliland Development Fund as very powerful and pointed out the Fund Manager Mr. Anthony Njue as the last say in many government schemes the fund finances.
Dr. Saad Ali Shire (second from right), Anthony Njue (second from left) with former Ministers of Finance and Presidency.
One former Ministry of Planning official who worked under Dr. Saad Ali Shire when he was the minister, responded with a question “hundreds of millions of dollars went through this fund, does it look like anything that is worth hundreds of millions was done in Somaliland?”
The of SDF Fund manager’s out sized role is corroborated by Somaliland Development Fund’s own documents, here are is how the Fund Manager’s responsibilities are described
Overseeing the procurement
activities of the SDF;
Establishing Procurement and
Evaluation Committees;
Endorsing award recommendations;
Reviewing complaints by
suppliers, contractors, consultants and stakeholders, and reporting the
complaints and findings;
Signing contracts on behalf of the Somaliland Development Fund prior to endorsement by the Project Holder, Ministry of National Planning and Development, Ministry of Finance and execution by the contractor/consultant.
Mr. Njue has been the SDF fund manager since it is inception, unfortunately, Somaliland Chronicle could not locate prior work experience in the financial industry that qualified him to run a fund of this complexity. It is unclear how and why he was selected to lead the Somaliland Development Fund.
Minister of Transport and Road Development Mr. Abdillahi Abokor (left), Anthony Njue (Second from right)
There are serious corruption allegations that point to Mr. Njue colluding with government officials to inflate the cost of a project and split the profits. The report points to an unlawful collaboration between the Minister of Transport and Road Development Mr. Abdillahi Abokor and Mr. Njue
Mott MacDonald is paid millions to ensure Somaliland’s Development Fund are managed in a fiduciary manner, yet its long serving Fund Manager Mr. Njue seems to a case of the fox guarding the henhouse.
As the case is in many third world countries, in Somaliland foreigners are perceived to be less corrupt and more trustworthy than honest and hardworking locals but the case of Aktis Strategy and its £100,000 party, eventual collapse and trail of unfinished projects proves otherwise.
A current official in the Ministry of Finance told Somaliland Chronicle “In Somaliland, expert fallacy is so chronic that there is a dirty secret and it called bringing a white guy or a foreigner to have any glimmer hope of anything done, it’s sad but it is the reality in our country”.
Foreign firms operating in Somaliland, especially in sensitive areas with national security implication pose a particularly unmitigated risk and Mott MacDonald’s Somaliland Development Fund is the biggest of all.
President of the Republic of Somaliland Muse Bihi Abdi has departed for the United Arab Emarites today on an official visit.
According to a press briefing by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mr. Faratoon, the president has recieved an official invitation from the government of the UAE.
President Bihi is accompanied on his visit to the UAE by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mr. Yasin Hagi Mohamoud Hiir (Faratoon) and the new Minister of Planning Dr. Abdiraxiim Osman Haji Abdi (Shibbiin).
United Arab Emirates is involved in large-scale projects in Somaliland including the management and expansion of the Berbera port by DP World, the Berbera Corridor road expansion/construction project and leasing the Berbera Airport for use by its military.
