Investigative Reports

From Controversy to Cornerstone: DP World’s Lesson for Egal Airport

Many got DP World's Berbera deal wrong, but Berbera...

Another Fake Degree Scandal Rocks Somaliland Presidency: Director General Caught With Diploma Mill “Masters”

Repeat of 2022 Central Bank Fraud Scandal Exposes Somaliland...

AFRICOM Commander Admits Somalia Al-Shabaab Policy Failure in Final Briefing 2025

Special Report | AFRICOM Commander General Michael Langley acknowledges...
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Ministry of Investment Signs a Billion Dollar Deal with a Non-Existent Chinese Bank

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On August 14th, the Minister of Investment Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud and a Maxtor Bank, a major Chinese bank has signed a billion dollar Memorandum of Understanding. The press event featured the bank’s leadership and the minister signing the deal where they both gave details on the nature of investment.

If all goes according to plan, this will be by all accounts the foreign largest investment which dwarfs even Berbera DP World.

There are few problems that make the deal seem bit murky atbest, starting with the nature of Chinese banking services. Banking in China is a private public partnership where the Chinese government owns 50% of all banks. This alone make the size and the caliber of the delegation seem unlikely.

The other red flag is existence of the bank itself. We simply cannot find this major bank on any registry.

Somaliland Chronicle has contacted China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the Bank of China to try and find out more about Maxtor Bank and it turns out that they are not aware of the existence of this bank. They suggested that we double check the name of the bank but assured us that Maxtor Bank is not on their registry.

In our research, the closest thing we are able to find to Maxtor Bank is UN Maxtor Bank, a website with very little information that was last updated in 2012 and few other entities with variations of the name United Nations Maxtor registered with various authorities in the United States and United Kingdom. 

It is entirely possible that Maxtor Bank goes by a different name and it may be entirely possible that it is sort of a venture capital where they will be raising the funding from private investors. In other words, having the word bank in the name does not necessarily make an entity a bank.

Maxtor Bank Chairwomen explaining the nature of the billion dollar investment.

“I don’t think any of us understood what was happening”

Ministry of Investment employee

According to Minister Mohamoud, Maxtor Bank will invest in the tourism sector where an entire city with its own wildlife center, luxury hotels, supermarkets, farms and university will be constructed.

It is unclear what data was used to to come to the conclusion to invest one billion dollars in the tourism industry while there are more urgent needs such as transportation and energy infrastructure.

“I don’t think any of us understood what was happening, cameras, microphone and hard to understand translation. My guess is we are trying show the President we are very busy attracting investment” said an Ministry of Investment present at the meeting.

While a billion dollar investment in Somaliland would go a long way, it seems that no due diligence was done by the Ministry of Investment to ascertain the credentials and veracity of various investment firms Somaliland have signed deals with so far.

Somaliland has had a history of entering into dodgy agreements with foreign and domestic entities in the past such as Fishing agreement for ASR and privatization of Berbera Oil Terminal and storage facility which President Muse Bihi Abdi has recently cancelled.

Dr Plagiarizer: Ethiopian Prime Minister Plagiarizes Henry Kissinger

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A video of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia surfaced on twitter where he is repeating words from an interview of Henry Kissinger by the Atlantic.


The videos also show another instance of Dr Abiy Ahmed parroting  words by the comedian Russel Brandt in his interview for NewStatesman published on October 2013.

The entire interview in which Dr Abiy Ahmed has extensively borrowed from others thoughts and exact words is only 12 minutes long. 

These have not been widely circulated but others will be combing over every address Dr Abiy has given in search of more instances of plagiarism.

Results of President Muse Bihi Abdi’s Job Performance Review Poll

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The results of our week long poll to evaluate President Muse Bihi Abdi’s performance rating through public polling are finally here! The response rate was less than we anticipated but we believe we have a representative sample to accurate gauge public sentiment of Somaliland President HE Muse Bihi Abdi and his administration.

It is also worth noting that 80% of the votes came in after the President re-nationalized the Berbera Port Oil terminals.

Number of Participants4,193
Poll Duration6 Days
Poll MethodOnline

43.2% of respondents believe the President is doing great or good work with 29% unfavorable. Interestingly 27.8% think it is too early to evaluate President Bihi’s performance.


Clear majority of respondents have a unfavorable view of the President’s cabinet members. A point the President has acknowledged in a recent speech.



Most interesting question of the lot and its even more interesting that people are putting national unity ahead of the economy and justice.


Another area of consensus is the negative view of Somaliland’s Foreign Affairs team. 66.7% do not believe Somaliland will be recognized during President Bihi’s term as President.



Reshuffle at Somaliland Foreign Missions

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United Arab Emarites

The President of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi issued a Presidential decree in which he replaced and reassigned members of Somaliland representatives to the United States, United Arab Emirates and Kenya.

Ambassador Bashe Awil, the former Representative of Somaliland to the United Arab Emirates was reassigned to Kenya. This is the most significant change President Bihi has made thus far in his eight month old administration. Mr Awil was appointed by former President Ahmed Mohamoud Siilanyo and is considered one of the most powerful officials in Somaliland government;

While Mr Awil is credited with what some have hailed as a close relationship with the United Arab Emirates and and a key figure in the Berbera DP World deal, he is none the less a lightening rod for opposition where without prove have accused him of corruption and abuse of public office.

Ambassador Awil with Former President Silanyo and 

In an interview with Bulsho TV, Ambassador has graciously accepted the reassigned and touched on few of his accomplishments related to the DP World and the lease of the Berbera Airport to the UAE Military.

Ambassador Bashe Awil speaking to Bulsho TV

Mr Awil is replaced by Hassan Hirad Yasin. Mr Yasin is virtually unknown but unconfirmed reports on social media state that he is in the education field currently working in the UAE as a teacher in a private school.

United States of America

President Muse Bihi Abdi also replaced the long term Representative of Somaliland to the United Stated Ambassador Rashid Garuf with Bashir Sheikh Omar Goth.

Rashid Nur Absiye in his office at the Mission.

Mr Goth who is not widely known in Somaliland political circles and hails from a well respected family and is said to be an accomplished poet and a has been an avid blogger who has written about issues in both African and Somali society extensively. According to people who know him, Mr Goth is said to be well qualified for to represent Somaliland in the United States.

In addition to the changes at the foreign missions, the President appointed Mr Hassn Ahmed Ibrahim (Embassy) as the Administrator to the Berbera port fuel and storage facilities. President Bihi has re-nationalized the Berbera port fuel and storage facility on Saturday 11th of August 2018.

Somaliland Government Re-Nationalizes Berbera Port Oil Terminal and Storage

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In a move that is hailed as a major step in the right direction for Somaliland, today the President of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi issued an order to re-nationalize Berbera Port Oil Terminals.

In addition to re-nationalizing the Berbera Port Oil terminals, the Presidential decree also withdrew the Somaliland government from two other agreements where private enterprises have been contracted to provide security and manage the Egal International Airport parking facilities.

President Muse Bihi Abdi in his weekly cabinet meeting.

There has been a lot of complaints about the manner in which the previous Somaliland administration has transferred the management or outright sold some public infrastructure in the past including the cement factory near Berbera which was sold off to a Kuwaiti and Dahabshiil joint ventures.

Without specifics, the the Presidential decree stated that these contracts where awarded in less than legal circumstances.

Transfer of Berbera oil terminal and storage facilities to Berbera Oil Group where approved by Somaliland Parliament back in 2016 and has caused a lot of public outcry.  There are unconfirmed reports that claim members of former President inner circle have ownership stakes in Berbera Oil Group.

Mohamoud Hashi, former Minister of the Presidency and Aviation.

SRM and E-pass where approved back when Mohamoud Hashi was the Minister of Aviation. Again, there are allegations that he owns a stake in both enterprises.

Ambassador Awil

It is unclear if the President’s decree to re-nationalize the Berbera oil terminal and withdraw from the airport related contracts are related to the Parliamentary Commission’s ongoing investigation into former Ministers from the previous administration.

There has been no comments from BOG, SRM and E-pass regarding the presidential decree.

President Muse Bihi Abdi’s Job Performance Review Poll

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Evaluate Your President!

We are excited to introduce Somaliland Chronicle Polls. Today, we are conducting a poll to gauge the public opinion on the performance of President Muse Bihi Abdi and his Administration. The Poll is open until midnight August 16th and will publish the results as soon as it closes.

Exclusive: Somaliland – Somalia Accept Peace Settlement Brokered By The United States to End Tukeraq Conflict.

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Somaliland and Somalia have accepted peace treaty brokered by the United States Chargé d’affaires Martin Dale. Mr Dale met with Somaliland President HE Muse Bihi Abdi on August 4th and discussed the terms of the peace settlement to end the conflict in Tukeraq with Somalia’s state of Puntland.

Additionally, Mr Dale met with the Somali President Mohamed Abdillahi Farmajo in Mogadishu the same day.

United States Charge D’Affairs Martin Dale with President Muse Bihi

Mr. Dale’s meeting with the two heads of state follows the meetings with the recent visit of IGAD and UNSOM delegation that met with both sides of the Tukeraq conflict as well as members of Somaliland’s opposition parties.

Diplomatic sources in Nairobi as well as others in Somaliland Presidency confirm the peace settlement and that all sides have accepted and have started to quietly implement its terms.

The most important elements of the settlement include the immediate cessation of hostilities and establishment of direct communication channel between commanders, restart Somaliland and Somalia talks as early as possible and release of POWS.

There are additional terms that Somaliland Chronicle have agreed to not discuss due to the sensitive nature of the settlement.

Mogadishu: Where Hope Goes to Die

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Mohamed Mohamoud Sheik is the latest casualty of a war that continues to claim thousands of innocent lives in Somalia, what is different this time is, the victim, Mohamed Mohamoud Sheik was the embodiment of hope and unrelenting ambition and tragically, he too has been consumed by the city where hope itself goes to die.

Mohamed was a prolific entrepreneur and a diaspora returnee who sought to create not only much needed services but also got involved in multiple causes including Startup Grind a global business incubator and a entrepreneur support network in partnership with tech giants like Google.

Mr Sheikh hosting Startup Grind Mogadishu.

Mr. Sheikh was also featured as judge on Inspire Somalia a sort of Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to seek funding and guidance from seasoned business people like Mr Sheikh.

In Tedx talk in Mogadishu Mr Sheikh talked about what inspired him to return to Somalia and start a business in Mogadishu.

Aside from his enterpreneurial spirit and infectious smile that has won the hearts of everyone who has come to know him, Mr Sheikh was far from a nobody, instead he was the son of the commanding General of Somalia’s Air force General Mohamoud Sheikh Ali.

Mr Sheikh’s killing bears all the hallmarks of recent spate of brazen assassinations by Al-Shabaab, where victims who were mostly identified as government officials were targeted in public places such as restaurants. Oddly enough though Al-Shabaab generally take credit for terror attacks almost immediately but in the case of Mr Sheikh slaying, there has been no claim of responsibility.

Although no arrests were made public, sources in security services in Mogadishu say there are three suspects in custody and confirmed that they are not affiliated with Al-Shabaab.

From his twitter Mr Sheikh was an outspoken and openly discussed all sorts of things including politics and freely shared his displeasure with some government officials.

We have reached out to family members of Mr Sheikh to ask if he had any enemies or had any safety concerns and they were unaware of any specific threats to Mr Sheikh’s life. A relative of Mr Sheikh in Switzerland confirmed that there has been reports of arrests though the government has not made any details public and he added that the accused are not Al-Shabaab.

Even in death, Mr Sheikh is still a lightening rod for social justice and his friends in Mogadishu have launched a rally to demand justice for Mr. Sheikh’s killing

Update: There are unconfirmed reports via twitter and other social media network that Somali authorities have killed the assailants behind Mr Sheikh’s killing. At the moment, Somaliland Chronicle is unable to locate an official statement from the Ministry of Information.

Ready for Robots to Make your Burger?

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Welcome to a not so distant future where robots make your burgers!

Prime Minister Abiye First Test: Major Unrest in Ethiopia’s Somali Region

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Unrest in Ethiopia’s Somali region has gained momentum on Saturday following the deployment of military in regional capital of Jijiga early Saturday morning.

Scenes of chaos in Jijiga

Looting and burning of property has been reported by witnesses on Satuday as unrest spread across the region. Witnesses also reported gunfire and sporadic fighting between the Ethiopian military and local security forces known as Liyu.

Reports of arson against Ethiopian Orthodox churches have been reported as well as violence against non-Somali ethic groups according to witnesses.

The fate of regional administration officials is unclear and there are conflicting reports as to their whereabouts. What is clear though is that all regional administration offices are under military control across the region.

Ethiopian military in Jijiga and other Somali cities in eastern Ethiopia

It is unclear why the central authorities Addis Ababa have intervened in the Somali region but there have been unconfirmed reports that members of the Somali regional parliament were planning on Saturday to invoke article 39 of the Ethiopian constitution which allows self-determination including secession from Ethiopia.

President Abdi Mohomud Omar

Statement from the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense confirmed the troop deployment. “The violence has not been halted despite attempts by defense forces and other security forces to restore calm,” the ministry said in a statement.

“The violence has not been halted despite attempts by defense forces and other security forces to restore calm,”

Ethiopian Ministry of Defense

The statement from the ministry stated “Hence, as the region’s peace and security has come under threat, our defense forces will not remain silent in the face of unrest and chaos and will take necessary measures in accordance with constitutional obligations.” Underscoring the seriousness of the situation in Ethiopia’s Somali region.

United States Department of State travel advisory.

The province has been plagued by violence for the last three decades. The government has fought the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) since 1984 after the group launched a bid for secession of the region, also known as Ogaden.

Liu Police

Since 2017, clashes along the Somali region’s border with Oromiya province have displaced tens of thousands of people.

On July 4th, the Human Rights Watch published a detailed report of human rights violation at the notorious Ogaden prison in Jijiga. Last month, Ethiopia fired senior prison officials there after details emerged of torture and other abuses in one notorious prison.

Jail Ogaden is unthinkable. From the moment you are put there until the moment you are released, you do not know if you are alive or dead. You are tortured and humiliated day and night, you are starved, [and] you can’t sleep because there’s so many people.

42-year-old Mohamed who spent five years without charge in Jail Ogaden, August 2017

In a statement, the ONLF criticized the deployment of federal troops, saying the government had ordered its military “to attack and take over the Somali regional administration … creating chaos and uncertainty”.

Ogaden National Liberation Front fightes

The “ONLF calls upon the new Prime Minister of Ethiopia to halt immediately any military activities and initiate a peaceful process,” it added, referring to Abiy Ahmed, who took office in April.

Somaliland authorities have issued a directive to tighten border with Ethiopia following the unrests. It is unclear how much the chaos in the region will affect Somaliland’s massive trade Ethiopia specifically the Somali Ethiopian region currently roiled by unrest.

Sources: Wire Services, AP and Reuters.