The National Preparedness Committee for COVID19 chaired by the Vice President of Somaliland HE Abdirahman Abdallahi Ismail Saylici have announced a temporary moratorium on khat import into the country.
The ban starts from Sunday April 26 and will last until May 21st two days ahead of Eid al-Fitr depending on changes on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Khat and the possibility that it may spread COVID-19 has been the subject of intense public debate, where prominent politicians, including Dr. Gabose have recently appealed to the President to stop khat import at once.
From 26th of April till 21st of May, The Republic of #Somaliland halts Khat importation from abroad as well as both it's local trade and consumption. pic.twitter.com/qhjPxxkQc5
— National Preparedness Committee for COVID19 (@NPCCOVID19) April 23, 2020
The statement from National Preparedness Committee for COVID19 instructed various provincial administrations and law enforcement agencies to cease apprehend any khat shipped into the country and incinerate it and to also ordered the seizure of any transport carrying khat and to bring to justice anyone caught bringing in the country.
Although members of the COVID-19 committee previously explained why the government was unable to ban khat imports, today’s decision of a temporary moratorium was not expected.
Khat is a Cathinone narcotic consumed in Eastern Africa and parts of the middle east is widely used in Somaliland and is the most widely imported commodity costing Somaliland tens of millions of dollars.
No economic impact assessment has been issued by the government that the khat moratorium may cause.
Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation issued a strong statement warning Somalia’s Federal Government to refrain from interfering in its sovereignty.
The statement also informed the United Nations, African Union and the European Union that the Bahnaano social welfare program recently unveiled to be a direct threat to Somaliland’s security and a deception of the international community.
The Statement asked the World Bank to pay extra attention to the grants given to Somalia’s irresponsible government which has used aid and humanitarian assistance for political purposes to undermine security and stability in Somaliland.
As a government, we believe in a #Somalia where the most vulnerable in our society access the required support for their prosperity and sustenance. I firmly believe our nation shall overcome uncertainties at critical times such as now during this #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/7w9t2oAdFb
A statement from Somalia’s Minister of Labour at the unveiling event stated “The project will grant $ 4 million each month to 200,000 poor households throughout this year. and will target 1>million families in the next years. This is the beginning of a ministry-led plan to reduce poverty”
"The project will grant $ 4 million each month to 200,000 poor households throughout this year. and will target 1>million families in the next years. This is the beginning of a ministry-led plan to reduce poverty" said Minister @HonWarfa at the historic #BaxnaanoLaunch. pic.twitter.com/m0X5fbzVeO
— Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs 🇸🇴 (@SomaliaMolsa) April 18, 2020
— Carlos Felipe Jaramillo (@CF_Jaramillo) April 20, 2020
The districts of Gabiley, Lughaya and Saylac in West of Somaliland are among the 21 locations the project is set to be implemented.
The statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned against the participation of this project in it’s territory. The Ministry did not specify of any consequences for either local or international NGOs who participate in this project.
Critics have accused President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo of using the World Bank funding to boost his reelection chance. Although it is not entirely clear if elections will take place or delayed due to COVID-19. Somalia is scheduled to hold its first ever 1 person 1 vote elections in late 2020 or early 2021.
Ethiopian Airlines flights into Somaliland has been the subject of public debate recently where some including this outlet have suggested banning passengers coming into Somaliland to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity reiterated a directive issued by the government a while ago that airlines are prohibited from bringing in passengers from countries worst affected by COVID-19 such as the United States and some European destinations and that Ethiopian Airlines has been compliant.
He added that legally, no one can prevent a citizen from returning home and although Somaliland government cannot afford to charter flights to ferry its citizens’ home, Ethiopian Airlines through limited routes such as Addis Ababa is their only way back in the country.
Although Somaliland government has struggled to articulate this clearly, Sources from Somaliland Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health based at Egal International Airport, Ethiopian Airlines has severely limited its flights and all passengers are tested and quarantined upon arrival. Despite these measures, there have been complaints about the condition quarantine premise, an arrangement made by the government.
There is, however, another less visible but important role that Ethiopian Airlines has played recently and that is being an indispensable lifeline that has been bringing in medical and other necessities in Somaliland.
According to sources, Somaliland’s Diplomatic Mission in Ethiopia is working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Health, Customs and Ethiopian Airlines to ship two tons of critical supplies purchased by Hargeisa Group Hospital from Dubai and facilitated shipment from Dubai to Addis Ababa by Somaliland’s Liaison Office in the UAE.
Because of the urgent need for these supplies by dialysis patients and at a time when no country is allowing medical supplies to leave its territory, sources say, the work of Somaliland’s Mission in Addis and specially the Deputy Ambassador Mr. Barkhad M Kaariye has been instrumental in ensuring the expeditious delivery of these vital supplies by ground. Ethiopian Airlines’ Hargeisa office has declined to comment on the matter.
Sources also point to the 1.4 million worth of medical supplies donated to Somaliland by Mr. Ismail Ahmed, the founder and the Chairman of the World Remit financial services company was delivered by Ethiopian Airlines on Friday, April 17th. A government official said, “without Ethiopian Airlines, it would be impossible to get these supplies on time”.
Other governments are workings with Ethiopian Airlines to help deliver critical aid for COVID-19 into Somaliland. A source close to the Airlines Hargeisa office stated that many companies that work in Somaliland have approached them about bringing in medical cargo from as far away as South East Asia, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates.
Asked about the ongoing debate to shut down the airline’s operation in Somaliland, the official stated that Ethiopian Airlines’ work in Somaliland has not been commercially viable since the COVID-19 pandemic and added that it is important for Ethiopian Airlines to ensure that Somaliland can receive critical supplies in this difficult time.
Ethiopian Airlines has been delivering COVID-19 aid from various sources including a large shipment from the Founder and CEO of Alibaba Group Mr. Jack Ma to many African countries
President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi addressed the nation this afternoon on renewed hostilities in Sanaag region and spoke at length on various measures his administration is currently working on to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
President Bihi has spoken on the government’s initial three million dollar funding for the COVID-19 prevention fund and appealed to businesses and the public in general to give contribute.
Mr. Ismail Ahmed addressing the TechCrunch Disrupt London at the Copper Box on December 5, 2016 in London, England.
President Bihi thanked Mr. Ismail Ahmed, the founder and the Chairman of World Remit financial services company and a native son of Somaliland who has donated 1.4 million dollars worth of medical goods to help combat the spread of COVID-19. The President added that Mr. Ahmed has also imported more products that he will be selling back to the public at cost.
President Bihi also spoke on austerity measures that will curb spending due to anticipated economic impact of COVID-19. Austerity measures were first reported by Geeska newspaper.
On the khat import, a subject of Dr. Gabose’s recent appeal to the President to halt its import, the President addressed the difficulties of trying to ban khat in a country with porous borders but added that there are still ongoing discussions with khat traders and that he expects some good results from those negotiations soon.
One of Somaliland’s most respected doctors, Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gabose who spoke to the media a short while ago made an impassioned plea directly to the public and the President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi to stop Khat imports to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 in Somaliland.
Dr. Gabose who spoke candidly about the dangers of COVID-19 pandemic and the possible life long complications that one may encounter even if they recover from the virus. He added that so far there is no solution to these complication which may effect multiple organs.
Dr. Gabose reminded the public that khat is not packaged or prepared for human consumption as one expects of other consumables but is handled directly by hand in the most unsanitary conditions possible and is a perfect vehicle to spread COVID-19 from its consumer to anyone they get in contact with.
Speaking directly to the President, Dr. Gabose spoke of his unique qualification and training on prevention of infectious diseases and implored President Bihi accept council from someone with his breadth of expertise and stop khat imports at once.
Dr. Gabose with Somaliland VP and former Minister of Health on the opening of Haldoor Hospital
Dr. Gabose, a renowned neurologist who has held cabinet position in President Egal’s government who currently runs Haldoor private hospital in Hargeisa is a high ranking member of the Waddani opposition party and has in the past leveled withering criticism against the President. He is not on the National Preparedness Committee for COVID19.
According to government records examined by Somaliland Chronicle, Somaliland is spending lavishly to cover the living expenses of top government officials including the Chairmen of Senate and House of Representatives and various high ranking government officials.
President Bihi at Somaliland Parliament for the Annual State of the Union address
Expenses include over 160,000 US dollars for a house being built for the Chairman of the House of Representatives Hon. Bashe Mohanmed Farah complete with own private electric generator. In addition to the house, Somaliland government has spent additional 10,000 US dollars to cover the rent and domestic help expenses for Hon. Bashe for fiscal year 2019.
Efforts to locate officials tender for the home being constructed for Chairman Bashe’s were unsuccessful.
While the expense on Chairman of the Parliament and the new house being constructed for him stand out, Somaliland Senate and specially the Chairman Hon. Saleban Mohamud Adan and other senate leadership is a close second who are also getting their most basic expenses covered such as rent, water, electricity and internet usage to the tune of thousands of dollars a month.
On the Executive Branch, there is nearly 20,000 US dollars spent to cover the rent expenses for couple of Ministers of Justice, Constitutional Affairs and Information and National Guidance. This includes rent for the former Minister of Justice Mr. Cabdirisaq Ali Abdi Salah who was removed on December 2, 2019.
In Somaliland where an average Grade A government employee makes a little over a hundred dollars, it is unclear if living expenses are part of these officials’ compensation package and if lavish package is codified by any existing legislation. It is also unclear why these perks are not consistent.
Mosques across Somaliland are still open and packed despite a confusing order from National Preparedness Committee for COVID19 on April 13th that asked the public to perform prayers in their homes but stopped short of ordering the mosques to be closed.
The lack of clarity on the status of the mosques led to a widespread confusion where some religious leaders rejected the order altogether stating that stopping international flights and banning khat import should be prioritized over shuttering of mosques.
The Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments has since held a press conference and read a statement from the Minister to try to clarify the specific order concerning mosques and stated that the order did not order the closure of the mosques but that the public were informed to perform prayers in their homes.
Statement from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowment
Although the Ministry of Religious Affairs tried to clarify that mosques have not been ordered to close, it failed to clear up confusion surrounding the government’s actual position to prevent large gathering including prayer at mosques.
Islam’s two hollies sites closed for worshipers due to COVID-19 pandemic.
In the same confusing directive from April 13th, National Preparedness Committee for COVID19 has also issued a guideline regarding the number of passengers on various types of public transportation including buses and taxis.
The Committee has set various limits for in-city transportation such as taxis and auto rickshaw known as bajaaj and a limit of 50% capacity for all long distance transportation.
It is unclear what scientific basis if any, the Committee has used to achieve the public transportation limits which fall below the 6 feet or roughly 2 meters recommended for social distancing.
The Committee has instructed public transportation owners to maintain current price levels but did not specify if the government will cover some of the lost income.
Khat Import
cant touch this!
Although the Committee has met with a group of khat importers few days ago who seemed to welcome the idea of total ban of khat in Somaliland, so far no decision has been made whether to ban khat imports.
The clearest sign that Somaliland government does not intend to ban khat import from Ethiopia came from he Minister of Information and National Guidance by stating that the government does not have the capacity or the resources to enforce a total ban of khat.
Khat is currently imported by few individuals and may not require a large scale intervention to prevent smuggling but if unclear why Somaliland government is considering the economic impact of banning one of the largest source of tax in Somaliland.
In addition to Khat, Minister Saleban Ali Koore, the Minister of Information and National Guidance also spoke about arriving flights and the fact that there no arriving passengers but rather departures. This is in inaccurate as we have confirmed that there are still arriving passengers also Ethiopian Airlines flight schedule is limited.
No further cases of COVID-19 has been confirmed by the Ministry of Health Development since April 13th announcement of additional 3 cases raising the total to 5.
Efforts to reach Minister Koore and other members from the COVID-19 Committee were unsuccessful.
The Ministry of Health Development announced three additional cases of COVID-19 in Somaliland, two in Hargeisa and one in Borama in addition to the two previously confirmed cases.
No additional details were announced about the patients including age, sex and their current status as well as contact tracing information.
The announcement came from hastily convened press conference by the Minister of Health Development and the Director General. So far, the COVID-19 committee has not commented on the new cases.
No steps have been taken yet to curb large public gathering in Somaliland. International flights by Ethiopian Airlines, khat import from Ethiopia, public transportation such as taxis and buses as well as mosques are still operational.
This is a developing story and we will update as we receive more details.
As part of the COVID-19 prevention and preparedness, the Ministry of Health Development created a detailed preparedness and response plan that will cost a little over 15 million US dollars.
Using China as a scenario modelling the plan assumes that 6,800 people might be infected by COVID-19 Somaliland with majority of the patients who require hospitalization and critical care are those above 60 years.
Efforts to reach the Minister of Health Hon. Omar Ali Abdillahi and the Director General Mr. Mohamed Abdi Hergeye for more information were unsuccessful.
On Thursday April 9th, the President of the Republic of Somaliland, HE Muse Bihi Abdi sacked the Manager of Hargeisa Group Hospital Dr. Yassin Abdi Arab and reappointed the former manager that he replaced a little over a year ago.
According to high ranking official at Hargeisa Group Hospital Dr. Yassin informed them on Thursday of the President’s decision that he has been replaced effective immediately and that he will handover to his successor Dr. Ahmed Omar Askar.
In his second short tenure at Hargeisa Group Hospital, Dr. Yassin is said to have made multiple staff changes with minimal consultation with others and has recently added 16 new qualified nurses to hospital staff.
Sources say that the newly recruited nurses were the source of an administrative dispute as they were not not from the available pool of volunteer workforce that should be prioritized for employment. According to sources, this has been resolved where subordinates have yielded to Dr. Yassin.
Asked if the recent loss of life due to lack of oxygen at Hargeisa Group Hospital might be the reason for Dr. Yassin’s abrupt termination, sources stated that the oxygen equipment has been operating past its operational lifespan and that the President was aware of the situation.
In trying to answer why the President would reappoint the same manager he has fired a little over a year ago, sources indicated that Dr. Askar being a respiratory specialist and his involvement with the COVID-19 committee might be the reason for why President Bihi has picked him to lead Hargeisa Group Hospital again.
Dr. Yassin is a founding member of Manhal hospital, one of the largest privately owned hospitals in Somaliland. It is unclear if this affected his performance in Hargeisa Group Hospital or was a factor in President Bihi’s decision to terminate him.
Efforts to reach Dr. Yassin and Askar were unsuccessful. Additionally, calls to the Minister of Health, the Director General and the Presidency were not answered.
