Today the regional court in Hargeisa has sentenced Naema Ahmed Ibrahim to three years in prison over charges related to statements she allegedly made in Mogadishu. According to the charge sheet, these statements are “insult and defamation against the state.”

Naema was arrested on 27th January 2018 from Hargeisa Egal International Airport while she was traveling to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The prosecution charged Naema of two accounts: Anti-national Activity of a citizen abroad (article 212 of the Penal Code) and Bringing the Nation or the State into Contempt (article 219(2) of the Penal Code).

The court said Naema has not committed Anti-national Activity of a citizen abroad (article 212 of the Penal Code) but “found her of Bringing the Nation or the State into Contempt (article 219(2) of the Penal Code).”

The charge is related to statements which the prosecution said is against ‘the separation of the Republic of Somaliland,” and calling Somaliland a “region”.

“We are very concerned about the conviction and sentence of Neame. Freedom of expression is enshrined and protected by the Constitution of Somaliland,” says Guleid Ahmed Jama, the director of Human Rights Centre.

“We urge the government of Somaliland to respect its own constitution. We are also very concerned about the allegations of ill-treatment made by the lawyers of Naema.” he added.

Human Rights Centre requests the government of Somaliland to release Naema Ahmed Ibrahim.

Guleid Ahmed Jama

The Director of Human Rights Centre

Email: hrcsomaliland@gmail.com

Twitter: @hrcsomaliland

Policies  the Somaliland government has adopted under President  Bihi turn analysts’ attention to what Hargeisa looks upon as external threats. Those challenges range from a sovereignty dispute with Mogadishu to a territorial dispute with Puntland.

It is easy  to regard the economic policy of Somaliland government as a continuation of the ruling party’s policies under President Silanyo.  Inflation poses a challenge to Somaliland economy. The previous government regulated mobile money transactions to deal with  inflation.

The current government has taken   a further step to set the exchange rate but has not publicised it. Telesom Managing Director, Abdikarim Mohamed Idd, told BBC that “Somaliland Central Bank will set the daily exchange rate for money changers.”  It is not clear whether the monetary policy affects only money changers using  the new Telesom mobile exchange platform.

The government-set exchange rate will unlikely make the parallel exchange rate cease to exist. If anything, the new monetary policy shows  how President Bihi has turned his back on  free market economy.  The Somaliland Central Bank does not control the hard currency in circulation in Somaliland. How will the government be able to set the exchange rate for money changers without colluding with some businesses?

There are lessons to learn from the expediently adopted economic policies of the last military government of Somalia.  In 1986  the  former military regime gave in to IMF pressures, abandoned national development plans to adopt Structural Adjustment Program. The late Somaliland President, Egal,  then Chairman of  the Chamber of Commerce, argued  the IMF initiative could   “sap the Somali economy”.

In January 1986 one hundred   Somali Shillings bought one US Dollar. After the IMF-mandated hard currency auction, 3000 Somali Shillings bought one US dollar. Although the government had introduced economic liberalisation the Ministry of Finance  set the price of rice, sugar and wheat flour. The government intervention forced wholesalers to hoard  their commodities.

Wholesalers used to buy  hard currency  in the black  market to import goods. There was no way wholesalers could offset shortfall in revenues caused by auctioning of the hard currency.  Neither the Central Bank nor Commercial and Savings Bank had hard currency reserves importers  could have bought.  The only option open to wholesalers was to raise prices of rice, sugar and wheat flour, a move the government opposed. Relaxing of government regulation of businesses led to the creation  of new businesses in an environment without fair competition. Economic liberalisation paved the way for crony capitalism. To do something about declining government revenues  the government created a Ministry of Revenues. It sent tax bills to businesses for profits made prior years in a country without accounting standards for income or corporate tax.

The Somaliland government might be repeating the economic mismanagement Somalis experienced under a military regime if the Central Bank sets the exchange rate. Somaliland Central Bank authorities haven’t explained why the bank usurped  the role of the market. Ahmed Saeed Egeh, the BBC stringer in Hargeisa, asked a money changer if money in his Telesom account was ” air money or banknotes”.

The World Bank report, Somaliland’s Private Sector at a Crossroads, lauded Somalilandfor resilience and vibrancy but spotlighted threats to the polity thus: “At present, Somaliland’s government is vulnerable to capture by private sector interests, which constrains its ability to take policy actions for the public good. As pressure mounts for passage of key legislation to promote good economic governance, interest groups with a stake in the status quo will work to block reform.”

Liban Ahmad

Libahm@icloud.com

Fadumo Adan Egal, 60, goes out every day with a bucket and a sack to climb the hills around the Nasa-hablood 2 displacement camp where she lives on the east side of Hargeisa to collect up rocks and stones for crushing into gravel.

Fadumo and a female neighbor work together, and can make $20 between them over a period of four days.  It is tough physical work but the women have families to feed, and selling gravel for construction has become a regular source of income for them.

There are 540 families living in makeshift shelters in this camp in Somaliland.  Fadumo, like many of them, used to be a pastoralist but the family’s livestock died in the harsh drought and their livelihood collapsed.

She is one of 200 pastoralist women now making a living breaking stones into gravel in the hilly areas of in eastern Hargeisa.  She walks five kilometres each morning to the quarrying site.

“I work half the day and spends the other half taking care of my sister, who is paralysed,” Fadumo told Radio Ergo. “No one else works for us, I cook the food and care for her.”

Most of the women working here are raising families and looking after households alone. Some lost their husbands and others are divorced. They would rather earn independent income than have to wait for handouts, or beg from relatives.

Three women displaced by drought started the quarrying here in 2016. More women have joined over time. Basra Mohamed Muse works 12 hours a day to support her four children. She started working three months after the death of her husband. “Indeed it is very hard work, but I do it because of the circumstances; I cannot watch my children sleep hungry,” she said.  Her earnings pay for the children’s food, education and health bills. Two of her children are in Sheikh Nur School, a government run school charging $5 monthly fees.

Mohamed Hussein, a truck driver, told Radio Ergo he buys whatever gravel is ready for collection when he arrives. He said he and the women have been doing good regular business. Mohamed gets the gravel he needs, and he pays the women on time.

Ergo

By:Saad Ali Shire

This week, leaders from the 53 member-states of the Commonwealth are gathering in London for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Representatives from across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific will work towards the laudable goal of delivering a fairer and more prosperous, secure, and sustainable future for all Commonwealth citizens, and particularly young people.

However, the Republic of Somaliland, despite being a former British protectorate that attained independence from the British Empire in 1960, won’t be afforded the opportunity to participate in these important discussions as a Commonwealth member-state. More than 27 years after Somaliland dissolved its political union with neighbouring Somalia, resuming its position as an independent state, and fulfilling all the requirements of a sovereign state, our country is still waiting for recognition as a sovereign nation.

Somaliland’s exclusion from the Commonwealth is particularly unfortunate because we have long embodied the core values on which the organisation was founded and have a storied track record of working to address the challenges we face.

For example, the fundamental values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter are the cornerstones of Somaliland’s political culture. Our citizens have participated in six consecutive multi-party elections certified as free and fair by international observers since 2002.

With 70% of our population of 4 million people below the age of 30, we also share the strong focus on youth that will be a central theme of this year’s CHOGM. It is thanks to the concerted activism from groups across civil society, but in particular youth groups and women in Somaliland and the UK diaspora, that Somaliland is in the latter stages of passing new bills targeting sexual offenses and FGM, in line with international human rights norms. Youth participation in politics has also been expanded in recent years, with Somaliland now boasting of several young mayors and local councillors following a successful campaign to lower the age of participation in local government from 35 to 25 in 2011.

It’s not just at home that Somalilanders are making a positive impact, but also in the diaspora across the Commonwealth. From the UK and Canada to Uganda and Malaysia, Somalilanders living abroad and their dual-citizen children are opening businesses, attending universities, becoming elected officials, and generally contributing to the economic and social prosperity of their adopted or host nations. We consider ourselves very much part of the fabric of the Commonwealth patchwork.

Moreover, Somaliland stands tall as an able and willing partner for the international community, not only ensuring that terrorists and pirates find no refuge within our borders, but also helping to contain and weaken their impact within the Horn of Africa as a whole. The fact that we do not have observer status or associate membership at the Commonwealth to enhance our engagement with the other member states in such areas is a missed opportunity to reward and build upon our valiant efforts to date.

Given this extensive alignment of values, it’s hardly surprising that the common challenges that Commonwealth member-states are gathering to confront are practically identical to those that the Somaliland government has designated as its top priorities. As CHOGM prepares to debate weak global trade and investment flows, cross-border security threats, and climate change, we are working to attract foreign investment that will drive economic development, combat the threat of international terrorism beyond our southern border, and to insulate Somalilanders from the devastating effect of recurrent droughts by building community resilience and better preparation.

We are therefore steadfastly committed to further developing our engagement with the Commonwealth, and with the UK in particular, as it succeeds Malta as ‘Chair-In-Office’ of the Commonwealth until 2020.

As the UK approaches a post-Brexit future, the Commonwealth is taking on a renewed importance, as a forum with which the country can translate its historic ties and position as a leading world force into a new international network of economic opportunity and diplomatic influence. Somaliland, with its century-long special relationship with Britain and enduring goodwill among its citizens, is just the sort of international partner that the UK and wider Commonwealth needs to forge this new order.

What better way to solidify this partnership than by welcoming Somaliland into the Commonwealth with open arms?

MOGADISHU, 17 April 2018 – The Government of Japan is providing generous funding to UNICEF to support children with proper sanitation facilities in schools, keep them in education and provide abused women and children with support services, UNICEF said today. The US$3million grant will, over the course of the next year, help some of the communities worst affected by the prolonged drought in central and southern regions of Somalia.

Somalia is still facing an ongoing malnutrition and displacement crisis, with 2.8 million children in urgent need of humanitarian assistance due to failure of successive rainy seasons. The coping mechanisms of the population have been weakened and the threat of famine could rapidly reappear without continued support from key donors such as Japan.

The drought has meant widespread use of contaminated water, which in turn has led to disease outbreaks including Acute Watery Diarrhoea/cholera that affected tens of thousands in 2017 and is on the rise again this year.

Part of the Japanese funding will provide 10,000 children in 50 schools with a package of services. The school latrines will be rehabilitated or constructed, safe drinking water provided and hygiene education undertaken. Japan’s funding will be also used to establish temporary spaces or rehabilitate classrooms in the 50 schools, targeting areas with high IDP influx. Emergency cash grants will fund lunches and snacks at the schools, so that families have an incentive to keep children in school, while children who are out of school will be encouraged to join.

Japan is also the largest donor to UNICEF’s gender-based violence programme in Somalia. The new funding will be used to monitor grave child rights violations, as well as provide support to 1,250 survivors of abuse, and to children who were previously involved with armed groups.

“This emergency education package, generously funded by Japan, promotes schools as places for the most vulnerable children to receive life-saving and life-sustaining services,” said UNICEF Somalia Representative Steven Lauwerier. “We also need to keep providing child protection services to the most marginalized children. UNICEF is the largest provider of emergency child protection and Gender Based Violence services in Somalia.  It is thanks to donors such as Japan we can continue and scale up this crucial work.”

President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh hoped that Sunday’s Arab summit in Saudi Arabia will help shed light on the various problems and crises in the Arab world.

In addition, he told Asharq Al-Awsat that the foreign military bases on Djibouti’s soil are “aimed at combating terrorism and marine piracy and protecting international navigation.”

He said that the Arab summit, hosted by Dhahran, is being held at a critical time in the region as several countries, such as Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia and Libya are facing crises. He also said that the Palestinian cause remains the main issue for joint Arab work. He also highlighted terrorism as another obstacle facing the Arab world.

Guelleh hoped that the summit will shed light on these problems and reach important resolutions that will help resolve them in a manner that would preserve unity and solidarity and bolster cooperation away from petty disputes.

He expressed his optimism in this regard over the Dhahran summit and the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

Ties with Saudi Arabia, he said, are “solid and historic.”

They are based on trust, understanding and coordination on the highest levels, which reflects a harmony in political visions on several regional and international crises, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Commenting on the French, American, Japanese and Chinese military bases in Djibouti, Guelleh explained that they are not aimed at creating international competition over economic and strategic interests.

They are primarily aimed at combating terrorism and marine piracy, he stressed.

“We are also keen on preserving the security, stability and development of our country,” he stated.

Djibouti, he continued, enjoys a strategic position on the Red Sea basin and it overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which is a vital passageway for the global economy. His country also acts as the gate to east Africa.

Given this unique position, he added: “We look forward to playing a very important role in the Horn of Africa and east Africa in order to achieve economic security and political stability.”

This is embodied in the opening of investment, establishment of a free economy and the presence of the international military bases, Guelleh explained.

Addressing regional issues, he said that the political solution is the only resolution to the tragedy in Syria.

He hoped that the resolution would meet the expectation of the Syrian people and be based on factors that will preserve their country’s unity and independence and restore its security and stability.

On Yemen, he called on the people to support the legitimate forces and end the coup that has created the current chaos in their country.

Guelleh also underlined the importance of a peaceful political solution to the crisis.

Furthermore, he expressed his solidarity with Iraq in its fight against terrorism and his support to Libyan parties, urging them to unite to end their disputes and reach a solution that can restore security and stability to the people.

Commenting on the Iran-backed Houthis’ firing of ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia from Yemen, he said: “This is a blatant violation and threat to regional and international security.”

He also deemed their firing of rockets at villages and cities a “violation of International Humanitarian Law and a dangerous development in the war against the terrorist groups and their backers.”

“We reiterate our constant solidarity with Saudi Arabia against the heinous aggression … and hope that security and stability will be restored in Yemen,” Guelleh stressed.

The Houthi militias have repeatedly fired missiles against Saudi Arabia and they have all been intercepted by the Kingdom’s air defenses.

Al Sharq

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, held talks on Sunday with Arab leaders on the sidelines of the Arab League summit that was hosted by the Saudi city of Dhahran.

He held separate meetings with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh.

They focused on regional developments, as well as bilateral ties and ways of developing them in various fields.

The Arab summit was held on Sunday with the Palestinian cause and Iran’s meddling in the region taking central stage.

The annual meeting was attended by the kings, presidents and leaders of 17 Arab countries.

Al Sharq

Somaliland Mission to the UK would like to cordially invite you to a briefing and Q&A session with H.E. Dr Saad Ali Shire, Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation, with the Somaliland Community in the UK, the event will be in Somali language. The event will take place on Friday, 20 April, at 18.00-21.00 pm, at Botwell Social Centre, Botwell Lane, Hayes, UB3 2AB.

This event will provide the opportunity for the Foreign Minister to update attendees on foreign policy priorities under the new Musa Bihi administration. This will include a discussion of developments surrounding the Berbera Port deal, relations with the international community, Somaliland’s position amid geopolitical changes in the region, and other issues.

1. Historical perspective

1.1                   Implications of Britain’s Transfer of Somali Territory to Abyssinia in 1897

Although there was no Act of Union, the voluntary merger between the state of Somaliland (Today the Republic of Somaliland) and on 1^st July 1960, should be seen in the light of Britain’s illegal transfer of some 25,000 square miles of Somaliland territory, known subsequently as the Haud and Reserved Area, to king Menelik of Abyssinia in 1897.  There was no consultation with the Somali people.

The gravity of this transfer, which at the point in time secured for king Menelik’s cooperation with Britain’s imperial interests in the Sudan, only impinged in later years on Britain’s conscience when she exercised the responsibilities of a ‘protectorate’ ostensibly protecting the interests of the people of Somaliland.

To that extent Britain after World War II, offered Ethiopia in exchange for the Haud and Reserved Area, a corridor to Zeila, which was turned down by the French. Undaunted, Britain then offered a cash payment, even a battleship, in consideration for the return of this territory to Somaliland.

The offers were not accepted by Ethiopia.  Instead, Britain, whilst recognizing Ethiopia’s sovereignty over this territory, established, by virtue of Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement of 1954, a liaison office in Jigjiga to protect the rights of Somalilanders in this territory.

1.2                   Independence and Merger with No Act of Union

The British acceptance of Ethiopian sovereignty over the Haud and Reserved Area was the forerunner to demands by the people of Somaliland for the rights of self-determination and independence from colonial rule. It was followed on 26 June 1960 with the promulgation of the independent State of Somaliland.

With a view to pressing for the union of all the Somali people in the Horn of Africa to form what was then known as Greater Somalia, Somaliland initiated the merger with Somalia on 1^st July 1960. The reluctance of political leaders in Mogadishu to accept wholeheartedly what most of them felt was Somaliland’s intrusiveness in their internal political affairs was manifest when Somaliland’s Prime Minister Mr. Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal, visited Mogadishu before merger. He discovered to his chagrin that, without previous consultation, to appointments to the, as yet unpromulgated, new government had already been agreed, namely the president of the proposed Somali Republic, the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Minister of Interior. This was a portent of problems to come.

Both the Somaliland and Somalia legislatures, before independence, had independently prepared their own versions of ‘Act of Union’.

These two versions were so apart conceptually and in detail that the Somaliland legislature, whilst agreeing in principle on June 30 – one day before Somalia’s independence and merger with Somaliland- to an Act of Union had been agreed and despite the fact that the provisional president had signed a decree entitled the Law of Union of the State of Somaliland and Somalia. This was unacceptable to the merged legislatures, now known as the Legislative Assembly and a consultative Commission for integration was thus appointed whose findings would be subject to a referendum.

The national referendum on the findings of the Consultative Commission for Integration was held in July 1961. The Somali National League, the leading political party in the State of Somaliland, campaigned against the ratification of the constitution. Percentage votes against were: Hargeisa 72%, Berbera 69%, Buroa 66% and Erigavo 69%.

The total number of votes cast in the Somali Republic as a whole were officially reported to be 1,952,660 out of which only 100,000 votes were recorded from the State of Somaliland.

The new constitution was promulgated, but not before a military coup d’état in the State of Somaliland had attempted to restore the sovereignty of the State. The coup had been instigated by Sandhurst-trained junior officers, serving under Italian-trained senior officers. The leaders of the attempted coup were brought to trial in Mogadishu before a British judge on the charges of treason. He acquitted the officers on the grounds that the court had no jurisdiction over the State of Somaliland in the absence of an Act of Union.

1.3 Coup D’état Heralds Marxist Socialism

By 1969, no advance had been made with the objective of a Greater Somalia, save to antagonize both Kenya and Ethiopia. A military coup d’état in Mogadishu replaced the democratically elected government of the then Prime Minister, Mr. Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal, and Marxist Socialism was introduced by the military dictator, General Mohamed Siad Barre with the support of the Soviet Union. The Somali Republic became the Somali Democratic Republic under Barre’s communist doctrine.

In 1977, the armed forces of Somalia were drawn into an invasion of Ethiopia from the State of Somaliland, but they were repulsed in the Jigjiga area by an Ethiopian counter-offensive, assisted by armour flown into the battlefield by Soviet and Cuban forces based in Addis Ababa. General Siad Barre, defeated in battle and fearful of assassination, embarked on a defensive course of clan nepotism, and an aggressive course of genocide towards the people of the State of Somaliland who, in 1981, formed the Somali National Movement (SNM) to regain the independence of their country.

TO BE CONTINUED ……………..

Immediately he assumed the Somaliland presidency in Mid 2010 former President Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo handed over the Kulmiye party chairmanship to his deputy Musa Behi Abdi.

That move facilitated the candidacy of Musa Behi on Kulmiye party ticket that led to his election as Somaliland president in November 2017.

That being so many people have been wondering on when the incumbent president shall like his predecessor, relinquish party Leadership to his deputy who happens to be the current interior minister.

But according to Member of Parliament Ibrahim Jama Rayte, Silanyo made the decision not based on legal basis thence it is only President Behi who has such prerogative.

Speaking to Eryal Tv MP Rayte Said “President Behi is not President Silanyo who took the decision to handover party leadership to his deputy, it is not a legal stipulation thence not binding to Behi”

Stressing that President Behi can still operate as ruling party chair simultaneously as head of state, the legislator said people should stop confusing personal decisions with legal stipulations.

As the debate over continued chairmanship of Behi at the party, all are acquiesced to facts that former president minister Mahmud Hashi Abdi is on the lobby trail towards ascending to the Kulmiye party chairmanship .

Horn

Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Dr. Saad Ali Shire

HARGEISA– The government of Somaliland has denied that plans are afoot for establishment of a Russian Military Base in the western port town of Sayla.

This denial was made by the foreign minister Dr Saad Ali during an interview with Geeska Afrika,  promoted by reports circulated by local English language news agencies.

According to the reports Russia and Somaliland have entered an agreement for the European power to establish the base that will host Air and naval forces at Sayla, in exchange for recognition of Somaliland as a sovereign nation among other benefits.

“While we have no qualms with the Russians the issue of a military base in our country has never been broached” said Dr Saad Ali adding that if it is ever raised then it shall receive relevant deliberation.

Stating that Somaliland welcomed friends from all parts of the world, the  foreign minister said that any country wishing to partner this government shall be accorded necessary protocols though of most import shall be what benefit citizens accrue from such an enterprise

On the issue of the UAE having finally acceptable the Somaliland passport as a valid travel document to the gulf country, the FM  revealed that final agreement on the same was reached during the recent official visit to the emirates by president Musa Behi Abdi

To this effect Said Dr Saad Ali Shire Citizens of Somaliland shall start utilizing their local passports for multifaceted visits to the emirates, “that is as soon as technicalities are completely.

Horn

Inflation is simply rise in prices of commodities and devalues of money. It directly influences the standard of living. The effect of inflation has made it very difficult for many households have to get their basic necessities which have gone beyond their purchasing power. This article is about the impact of inflation to the standard of living and its main objectives are to find out the riskiness of inflation to the purchasing powered of society and to determine the main factors those contribute the inflation of Somaliland. The purpose of this article is to give the impact of inflation on standard of living. This paper examines the dynamic interactions between inflation and standard of living in Somaliland, to see how the inflation affects standard of living, Somaliland people has been weakened by uncontrollable inflation and they need a long term solution which at least reduce the inflation or the rising prices of the commodities. Somaliland has no an effective economic system that works properly, therefore it is difficult to explain any component of the economic philosophy such as the rate of inflation and unemployment, which are the most important tools that drive the measurement of economic wellbeing of any country whether its developed or under developed one. This article therefore focuses on finding the impact of inflation on the standard of living of people Hargeisa and other additional cities of Somaliland.

Inflation is simply rise in prices of commodities and devalues of money. It directly influences the standard of living. This article dealt with the effects of inflation on standard of living in terms of expenses on food and non-food items, income, saving, loan and recreation in the city of Somaliland. The inflation rate of Somaliland still remains high in absolute terms and by comparison with many other countries in the sub-region and the world in general. There is some hard problems like high prices on goods and services because there is no government plans to address and determine the original prices of this products and services, the households in Hargeisa is so poor and some of them haven’t the basic needs. In this country there is allot of households which earns very low income and other basic needs like; Shelters, clean water and also food and clothes, so this Article will examine how the increasing rate of inflation in this country affects these households and their life. Rising inflation is one the unsolved problems in Somaliland and the political plans of the government aren’t success plans, therefore these people suffer enough for their life because of their affordability on high prices and the unemployment in all Somaliland, and there is no controlling inflation, especially when inflation is unexpected and catches people off guard or when it fluctuates widely from month to month or year to year. And also this Article will look into what are the main the sources of the inflation and what causes it repeatedly, why inflation in this country is uncontrollable.

TYPES OF INFLATION ON THE BASIS OF SPEED AND INTENSITY:

Creeping Inflation: This is also known as mild inflation or moderate inflation.

Galloping Inflation: If mild inflation is not checked and if it is uncontrollable, it may assume the character of galloping inflation.

Hyperinflation: It is a stage of very high rate of inflation.

CAUSES OF THE INFLATION

Demand Bull Theory

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) and his followers emphasized the increase in aggregate demand as the source of demand-pull inflation. The aggregate demand comprises consumption, investment and government expenditure. When the value of aggregate demand exceeds the value of aggregate supply at the full employment level, the inflationary gap arises.

Cost Push Theory

Cost-push inflation is caused by wage increases enforced by unions and profit increases by employers. The type of inflation has not been a new phenomenon and was found even during the medieval period.

Excess Demand

Excess demand is when the supply of goods and services falls short of the demand for them. Excess demand leads to rise in prices of goods and services because interested consumers engage in competitive bidding which result into higher prices.

Market Power and Inflation

Market power exercised by firms has become central to macroeconomics. Hall (1986, 1988) demonstrates how substantial market power and declining or flat marginal costs attenuate firms’ incentive to alter prices, thus contributing to aggregate fluctuations.

2. STANDARD OF LIVING

Standard of living is defined as the level of wealth, comfort, material goods and necessities available to a certain socioeconomic class in a certain geographic area. And quality of life is defined as the perception of ability to meet daily needs, physical activities, and well-being. In generally, Standard of living is related on the buying power of the household and the owning power of property in the country. So it is always related the income of people and the economic inflation rate. Quality of life is the general wellbeing of a society in term of health care, education, political freedom, a clean natural environment and any that can help to improve one’s satisfaction and happiness. Good in standard of living is always being first; and then we will able to have a high quality of life. A good standard of living had the characteristic of high income, low inflation and low unemployment happen in the country. From the perspective of business, standards of living in the country are important information that shown the level of consumption in the country.

Measurements of Standard of Living

Measuring living standards is very important for economic policy. However, in practice there are several difficulties in measuring living standards and therefore there are several different measures we could use.

GDP per Capita

GDP measures National Output / National Income. Per capita is the average income per person in the economy. This is a rough guide to living standards because it measures average incomes / the amount produced in an economy. However, income and average output is only a rough guide to living standards.

GDP – Purchasing Power Parity PPP

Another important factor in measuring living standards is GDP measured at Purchasing power parity. This means that the statistics take into account the actual cost of living. For example, some countries may have lower GDP, but the cost of living is much cheaper. PPP adjusts for these different costs of living.

Real GDP per Capita / Hours Worked

A more accurate guide to living standards is to take into account the number of hours worked. If you gain high GDP per capita but have to work a 12 hour day, then this is less desirable than same income for 6 hours work per today. (Measuring living standards / hours worked)

Household Expenditure / Consumption

Most measures of living standards focus on income. However, income is only a rough guide to the goods and services you can actually buy. Some people may have very high living costs (e.g. rent / council tax / transport costs). Therefore, the quantity of goods and services you can actually buy will give a better guide to living standards than just income. Another issue is that some people may receive benefits in kind.

Poverty and Living Standards

An important factor in measuring living standards for the economy is the number of people living below the poverty line.

The poverty line is defined as: The level of expenditure necessary to buy a minimum level of nutrition and other basic necessities. The World Bank say that the poverty line can vary somewhat from country to country, reflecting different costs of living for taking part in the everyday life of society.

Index of Human Development HDI

This is a measure which seeks to look at the available choices that people have. It is a composite indicator comprised of 3 basic factors affecting living standards – income, life expectancy and education. The three components are:

• Real GDP per Capita, adjusted for the local cost of living (PPP)
• Life expectancy
• Education – levels of literacy

The highest human development is given a value of 1. Low levels of Human development are given a value close to 0.

• In 1997, the country with the highest levels of HDI was Canada with 0.932
• The poorest country was Sierra Leone with an HDI of 0.254

Index of Human Poverty HPI

This was introduced by the United Nations Development Programme UNDP

It is similar to the Index of Human Development, but, the HPI gives a greater weighting to examining how economic development is distributed throughout society.

FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion:

This Article is about the impact of inflation to the standard of living and its main objectives are to find out the riskiness of inflation to the purchasing powered of society and to determine the main factors those contribute the inflation of Somaliland. It also focuses the exact impact that inflation does exert the life of individuals and the real relationship between these variables.it also focuses on the reasons that the government wouldn’t interfere the impact of inflation on standard of living and why the inflation of Somaliland especially the capital city of Hargeisa is uncontrollable and why the prices are always rising not declining, and what is government’s policy recommendation towards inflation. This Article is a summarized research paper in 2016. Therefore after the analyze of the collected data the Article found that 91% of the society agreed that inflation worsens the purchasing power of society, which clearly decides that inflation has an negative impact to the purchasing power of Somaliland society and their standard of living which effects their basic necessities like sheltering and water and sanitation.

This Article also summarizes the most important factors those contribute the inflation of Somaliland are; the huge imports of goods from abroad and rises the prices of the commodities which effects the society, and lack of role of ministry of commerce or lack of government intervention to the market which is why the local merchants decide the determination of prices of the most commodities.

Recommendation:

In the conclusion of this Article we summarized the findings of the Article and confirmed that inflation hurts the standard of living and real purchasing power of society, we also discovered that inflation in Somaliland is worsening after time and the government of Somaliland must set a policy for controlling inflation or at least to slow its rate. We recommended the following points:

• The ministry of finance should impose heavy restrictions to the imported goods since they are causing inflation or taking a huge contribution this worsening situation.
• The government should encourage and improve the central bank in order to manage the exchange rate and take back the determination of exchange rate as well as supply of money to distribute efficiently.
• Since inflation is big disaster in here Somaliland the government must set policies towards that problem and the ministry of commerce should participate and also the ministry of planning should take part of planning this policy.
• The government must improve the standard of living of individuals in order to reduce the riskiness of inflation.
• Business community must use domestic produced goods rather than imported goods, this would help the infant industries to produce more commodities with lower prices and the purchasing power of the society will go up and the life style of the population will be better, this is will cause economic growth and the society will save money, which can create investment opportunities and new labor will be used and non-functioning resources will be used.
• Business community should improve their investment capacity for increasing employment activity in order to improve the standard of living.
• Business owners should give care their community and charge as low prices as possible, the people of Hargeisa and the other provinces are weakened by high prices of commodities, so the merchants or business community must think of their society and stop seeking high profits which effects the life style of the population and lower the prices as possible.

REFERENCE

• Mukhtar M. Aden., & Mohamoud A. & Rahma Abdi., (2016), the impact of inflation on standard of living, Hargeisa Somaliland, V.1.

Summarized By: Mukhtar Mahdi Aden

Tell: +252634056993

Email: Mukhtarmahdi10@gmail.com

Abdirashid Duale, Dahabshiil Group Chief Executive, infinitely pleased women and youth entrepreneurs by announcing that Dahabshil Bank International and its microfinance department will, in future, encourage them through very much lowered services to ease access to financial services.

“Women and youth are at the top of our coveted clientele and would remain so in the foreseeable future,” he said. “We, at Dahabshiil, pledge that our services will all be geared to ease access to financial services for them at much-lowered rates”.

Mr. Duale was one of the keynote speakers at  an event where the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Tuesday, launched a large-scale program with major Somali Financial Institutions,  among whom was Dahabshil Bank International (DBI),  to expand the provision of low collateral loans to Somali-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The program aims to increase access to finance for merit-worthy SMEs that lack sufficient collateral or possess other non-financial credit challenges. The program will in particular target female and youth entrepreneurs and business owners.

“This kind of partnership between Somali banks and international actors like SIDA will increase job creation and development across the Somali-speaking regions. Thanks to SIDA working with Somali financial institutions, this will have a positive impact on stability and security,” Duale said.

Addressing participants at the launching event at the head of the occasion, Ambassador Andreas von Uexkull said: “This program provides tools for Somali financial institutions to expand their lending procedures and opens up new, viable markets”.

“SMEs are widely recognized as key drivers of new job creation and overall economic growth. This program will provide these businesses increased access to financing,” Ambassador von Uexkull added.

The government was well represented at the event. The Vice Ministers of National Planning and Foreign Affairs, Engineer Hussein Buuni, and Liban Osman, respectively, the Director General of Commerce, Dr. Osman Hussein Warsame, Director General of Investments Ahmed Abokor, Central Bank Governor, Mohamed Abdi Ibrahim, among many more, all welcomed the initiative pointing out its merits and contribution to not only the direct SMEs beneficiaries but to the overall economic development of the private sector.

Other luminaries gracing the event included Dr. Edna Adan Ismail, founder of the Edna Adan University of Hospital and a veteran, internationally renowned social welfare campaigner. Abdullahi Ahmed, Director General of the Central Bank was, also, among the front-line participants.

Dahabshil Bank International played an instrumental role in bringing about the program in conjunction with the Swedish development agency. Dahabshil bank and its affiliates offer its clients services including loans, microfinance, global remittance services, mobile payments, credit card services including MasterCard, and serves clients from every walk of life. It serves the business community and international and local partners, among others. This all contributes towards development and job creation.

SIDA is a governmental agency working on behalf of the Swedish parliament and government, with the mission to reduce poverty in the world. Through their work, and in cooperation with others, SIDA contributes to implementing Sweden’s Policy for Global Development, which includes activities that will enable poor people to improve their lives. SIDA conducts enhanced development cooperation with a total of 33 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.  SIDA has more than 700 employees, located in our three offices in Sweden as well as abroad in our cooperation countries. The Swedish strategy for Somalia focuses the contributions on crisis management, democracy, human rights and job creation.

We fail to start the process towards building a clean society, but we never give up serving for the greater good. Somaliland unprincipled patriot traitors, lacked moral compass to enforce rational and efficient laws. It is too far exceptional to be ignored, that the Somaliland is turning path towards tribal administration. Where lawlessness becomes the law, honest citizens become cheats, crooks and dacoits.

We are condemned Somaliland human rights violations in the strongest terms, and should be given an international attention more and more. After we conducted a comprehensive survey of evidence gathering and information sharing, we presents aprofessional reports identifying criminalization of politics, Somaliland detention without trial cases have been steadily increased and full of  with the police stations .

So far current administration has committed multiple human rights Violations including, politicized city water, re activating Sanaag tribal civil war, marginalized Somaliland development fund by allocating Sool and Sanaag region 5% of the development funds, arresting three Oodweyne district elected city council, and detained to Hargeisa without trail, and lack of transparency, corruption and money laundering etc.

Niciima Qorane were wrongfully sentenced, she was detained in January 2018, and sentenced in the 15 April 2018. Detention time frame plus her freedom of expression are total violations of the fundamental human rights, shame to blame “Jeegaanta” tribal unionist administration evil acts, due to tribal animosity in nature, the current administration have a failed grade  F to tick fundamental boxes of statehood.

Poet Nacima Qorane was not found guilty of bringing the state into contempt for backing Somaliland’s reunification with Somalia. A court in the self-declared republic of Somaliland has sentenced a young poet to three years in jail. Nacima Qorane was wrongfully accused and misjudged of bringing the state into contempt by advocating for Somaliland to reunite with Somalia. Pressure groups in Somaliland said Ms Qorane’s basic human rights have been violated and oppressive act.

Jamac Oday, former minister of the mineral and natural resources of Somalia, in the Hassan Sheikh administration, were landed two days earlier at Egal international airport, and was taken from the airport by vehicle owned by the chairman of the Somaliland House of Elders AKA (Suleiman Gaal)

Furthermore, Boqor Osman Burmadow was landed today at Egal international airport, who committed similar crimes sentenced by the Niciima, but he was not arrested also , we ask questions about the Somaliland officials,  why he did arrested also the king, they told , he is above the law and serving the interest of administration. Equal justice is not under the law, as far as we know in the Somaliland, certainly our law harass the women.

Somaliland is break away and self-declared independence in 1991, but is not qualifying to recognise internationally. Ms Qorane was arrested in January after returning from the Somali capital Mogadishu, where prosecutors said she had recited poetry calling for Somali unity. After a ferocious civil war, north-west Somalia broke away from the rest of the country and declared itself as an independent Somaliland.

In February 2018, the self-declared republic agreed to allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to set up a military base in the coastal port of Berbera, as part of the UAE’s fight for throne against Yemen’s Houthi. Even thought Somaliland and U.A.E treaty is null and void, according to absence of terms of conditions of the agreements including, natural resources and environmental preservation and conservation were not mentioned while Somaliland resources are vulnerable and exploitable.

The prosecution said that she had labelled the self-declared republic of Somaliland a “region” and “insulted and defamed” its government. Somaliland’s Human Rights Centre has asked the government of Somaliland to release Nacima Qorane and respect human rights.

Its director, Guleid Ahmed Jama, told the BBC that it was “very concerned about the conviction and sentencing of Nacima Qorane”.

“Freedom of expression is enshrined and protected by the constitution of Somaliland. They were urged the government of the Somaliland to respect its own constitution,” he said.

A number of other artists and journalists have been arrested in Somaliland for the same baseless offences.

Nacima Qorane in an undated handout picture from Somaliland’s Human Rights Centre Image copyrightHUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE SOMALILAND

The right to have rights is the basic right of a citizen without which a person is stateless, disgraced and degraded. The press can waken and play a very important role. Whilst we don`t have as free a press as we deserve and many of our special interests are not protected, there are sections of the Somaliland media that fight injustice and corruption. We need to encourage these journalists, editors and owners to raise the level of their crusade against women abuses, insults and character assassinations crimes, to increase awareness among the people. There should be no place to hide.

Human Right Activist

Ahmed Ali Abdi

sareecan@gmail.com

0634108989

My Past publications

http://www.hubaalmedia.net/somaliland-human-right-bulletin-assessing-human-rights-conditions-in-somaliland/

Hargeisa—Ministry of Education and Science launched a workshop on jobs and employment in Burao on Wednesday.

Abdelkader Mohamed Sheikh, Deputy Minister for Ministry of Education and Science who open the training workshop said this kind of training must be pursued to creating jobs for the learned ones.

It was the second workshop arranged by the Ministry of Education and Science.

Professor Salebaan Jaama Abdi said that the foreign companies should hire students graduated from colleges throughout Somaliland.

During the training Ahmed Muse Murud, Director General in the Ministry of Education said that jobs should be created and graduated students need to be hired as part of encouraging people to learn and create jobs.

Head of the SPARK Company Ahmed Isse said that he is willing to receive applications from college students and will finance their own investment plans and ideas.

The criteria required from unrecognized state to prepare itself to be acknowledged as a sovereign state was set in different approaches according of the design and prioritization of different groups of political experts; but all are based on the Montevideo Convention of 1933.
Accordingly, it is necessary as a political analyst to see the case from each of its internationally accepted existing angles. Here is one criteria that constitutes a set of prerequisites that unrecognized states are to possess to achieve sovereignty. This is proposed by three well known political experts. The fundamental pillars with clarifications I made include:
The unrecognized states must first satisfy the international laws and rules set forth by international Conventions. – means remaining within the limits of international law; or to acknowledge and follow internationally accepted Rights and Duties needed from a State; like peace coexistence with the neighbor, human rights, free from any kind of oppression, child rights, freedom of the press, come into power through free and fair elections not through coup or using force, and many others.
The unrecognized states are to exist within a clearly defined territory. — means the land they control should have well known defined territory
The new country should show in action its intentions of being a new state – means this should occur either by administering its territory in full control by its own government; or by setting a referendum letting the world knows that the people in the region decided to secede from its counterpart.
The consent of a dominant majority of the local population, permanently living on the territory. – means the unrecognized state should have common acceptance from all the permanent population living in the territory of its decision declaring as an independent state
Has been a victim of genocide before declaration as an independent state; their grievance are considered legitimate. – means if the decision to claim as an independent state was caused by a genocide or mass killings targeted to the population living in the new state by the rulers of the parent country.
Incompatibility with parent state (historical, religious, ethnic). — means the new state that declared itself as an independent state and the parent state to exist together in harmony any more in the future Could not be possible what so ever; because of bitter enmity by one of the above causes.
No potential security risks to the parent state. – means the recognition of a new state as an independent state will not be a security threat to the parent country.
Stand neutral from all political, sectarian and group alliances between existing countries (except under acceptable circumstances). – means use friend for all policy internationally and regionally until you clearly differentiate between your true enemy and your true sympathetic friend. You need the support of every existing country.
Borders with third countries or an outlet to the sea. – means the unrecognized state’s territory should have borders with third country/countries or has an outlet to the sea; not locked from all sides by parent country’s land.
Economic and sociopolitical viability. – means its financial systems and Projects operating manners have a positive impact on society livelihoods and the national development; and must be legitimate and transparent; free from wasteful irregularities, fraud and corruption.
A new state’s existence can be seen when it is recognized by existing country or countries within the international community. — means it should achieve recognition even if it is only one country. This leads to a position that its case be considered.
Somaliland has met most of the requirements or possesses such qualities of the above except three. 1st is that the last above mentioned pillar is still absent from the minds of our leaders, that a country recognition even of a single country can make our case legitimate to be discussed on the international or regional political tables.
The 2nd is that Somaliland moved from the neutrality position of its region’s conflicts; sided with one group of the conflicting alliances; to the extent that it gave military base. Somaliland an unrecognized state searching and appealing recognition from the international community, at the same time deploying military base in its territory for some foreign powers, are two Incompatible actions.
The 3rd case is that we are now in a situation that the international community is very disappointed about how corruption on public assets and misuse of international donors’ grants supported to Somaliland are rising nowadays.

Adam Ali Younis

Email: aayonis@hotmail.com

The reopening last week of the only road between Burao and Buhodle in Somaliland’s Togdheer region symbolized the resolution of a violent feud between two clans that has rumbled on in a cycle of revenge and counter-revenge for eight years.

Local elders and religious leaders successfully mediated peace talks in Qorilugud village, 40 km north of Buhodle.

Sheikh Omar Ahmed, an elder in Buhodle, told Radio Ergo that they finally reached consensus involving handing over a man accused of killing another man to the victim’s family.

This murder occurred during a fight between two families over water in April 2011. It sparked the conflict that escalated between the clans that led to eight battles between them and the deaths of around 300 people.

Under the traditional justice that will take its course, the man handed over will face execution.

Sheikh Omar said they had also agreed that a number of other issues in the area would be solved by the elders from both clans.

The 160 km road, an important route for the livestock trade from south-central Somalia, was barricaded and out of bounds for eight years during the conflict. Traders and other travellers were forced to use longer routes. The residents lived in constant fear for their own lives and their families.

Abdirahman Ahmed Ali, a truck driver, told Radio Ergo they used to travel 300 km by-passing the conflict area to reach other parts of the region. These trips took 16 hours. Now the road is open, the travel time has been reduced to six hours.

Fares have also gone down as a result. Abdirahman said he has reduced the fare per person from $20 to $10.

More than 30 shops, restaurants and other small businesses in Qorilugud closed down during the period of conflict as trade shrank.

Yusuf Abdullahi Mohamed, a restaurant owner in Qorilugud, said he had just reopened his business after closing two months after the conflict erupted. Customers were starting to come back, he said, as the local residents who fled were now returning and travellers were once again passing through what had been a conflict zone. Around five trucks arrive in a day.
Source : Radio Ergo