Women are part of our society and their political engagement is invaluable. Building women’s and men’s equal participation in governance procedures is very important for sustaining inclusive and effective governance in Somaliland. As a developing society, it is very essential to recognize that women can play vital roles in their communities, as they are effective in advocating about pertinent issues that concern them. Regardless of the successes recorded in some Somaliland’s institutions, the underrepresentation of women in these political institutions is quite appalling. The reason for this is not far-fetched, as they face serious challenges trying to be a part of the political atmosphere of their country. These challenges include structural barriers emanating from discriminatory laws and cultural beliefs, which cripples the ability of women to vie for a political office.

Although there is a newly built democracy in Somaliland, tribalism is another limiting factor to women’s participation in Somaliland’s politics. The impact of this factor is enormous as it has its roots in the grassroots, the clans which are very crucial in getting elected into any political office. The traditions and the clan system favor only the male politicians and fails to recognize the woman as a permanent member of the family. In this system, a woman’s political ambition is not even given a chance to survive, as she does not even have a voice in her own constituency, let alone represent her people in the political landscape of the country. Other factors like social discrimination and aggressiveness towards the women folk, inability to get support as well as lack of adequate resources have really crippled the participation of women in the political affairs of the state.

It is true that women’s exclusion from the politics and decision-making tables was formalized by the culture but now the country has politically shifted from the clan-based to the multiparty system. Therefore, it is not just an issue of poor women representation in politics but also the poor development of inclusive and transparent democracies. Women have been playing a major role in Somaliland history and have greatly committed to independence, peace building, reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction. It is clear that women are the backbone when it comes to the reconstruction of the country and advocating for national stabilization, human rights, and democracy. With this antecedence, women’s political participation will increase the legitimacy of the governance, transparency of the growing institutions and provide transformative leadership in all sectors of government. Also, their engagement will decrease the corruption, nepotism, tribalism, and injustice which is currently prevalent in several quarters. Women’s political involvement begins with increasing the number of slots allocated to women in vital decision-making positions like parliaments, local councils, and other governmental institutions. When we have a good number of female political figures in these positions, they stand a better chance of contributing more to nation building as well as addressing very important and challenging issues affecting the well-being of women.

However, women in Somaliland are still largely absent from national and local decision-making bodies and are excluded from political processes especially in recent times. Despite representing half the country’s population, women comprise less than 3 percent of Somaliland’s legislators. Evidence from developing countries around the world shows that an increase in women’s participation in the political life of their countries often leads to improved socio-economic conditions, as many of these women– more readily than their male counterparts– tackle poverty reduction and service delivery as areas of primary importance to their constituents and supporters, as seen in Rwanda. During the civil war and up to the 1994 genocide, women’s parliamentary participation was 18 percent at most. This number increased in the years leading up to the 2003 constitution, reaching a record 56.3 percent in 2008. The increased numbers of women’s participation are a result of gender-sensitive constitutional quotas, an innovative electoral structure, and the participation of partner institutions. Against this backdrop, in a bid to correct this, an electoral quota is considered an effective administrative tool which can pave way for a mandatory percentage of women candidates for the leadership and decrease the historic exclusion of the women from the politics. The outcome of a meeting at the presidential palace, which had Somaliland’s President, Hon. Musa Bihi Abdi and his cabinet in attendance revealed suggestions made to reserve a quota for women in parliamentary and local government elections. For, Mr. Musa Bihi Abdi this is a step in the right direction and it could be historic when it is approved by the parliament and the country’s house of elders. Once this bill is approved, it will bring a high increase in female political representation and will eliminate the domestic gender-based violence. This will also go a long way in strengthening women’s rights and addressing barriers to political partaking which are critical to achieving an equal society where everyone has his or her own voice by improving women’s access to justice, thereby increases citizens’ confidence in democracy.

Women’s exclusion from decision-making bodies is detrimental to democracy and any democracy that excludes half of its people is a big contradiction and huge failure. In that case, we need to work towards strengthening women’s rights and political participation, because increased female political influence will promote the growth of our democratic institutions and improve our social wellbeing.

Musa M. Isse is a journalist, author and social entrepreneur based in Stockholm, Sweden
He can be reached at haji_musa@hotmail.com

HARGEISA– Minister in charge of environmental development, Ms. Shukri Ismail Bandare has dismissed media reports indicating that she has tendered her resignation letter to the incumbent Somaliland President, Hon Musa Bihi.

The minister has said that media reports circulated in social platforms for the past three days are rumors and untrue. She has said that she has raised her eyebrows after hearing the media reports while she was out of the country. She has stated that she is hundred percent happy with her job as being the minister for environment.

The government of Somaliland has spoken about the recent visit by Ethiopia’s PM Mr.Abiy Ahmed to Mogadishu, Somalia whereby bilateral agreements were signed by both parties. The minister of information culture and national guidance Mr.Abdirahman Abdillahi Farah Diriye (Guri-Barwaqo) who spoke to the media today confirmed that Ethiopia/Somalia agreements is not binding to Somaliland which is an independent country.

“Ethiopia is a sovereign country and has the right to sign agreements with whomever it wishes that’s not our business; in this respect that agreement won’t affect Somaliland wellbeing whatsoever.” The minister of Information stated.

The minister of information cleared the air about the inclusion of Berbera port to four ports the government of Somalia and Ethiopia agreed to construct and develop  he said “There some things we have to use logics to reason for instance Somaliland, Ethiopia and the UAE signed a tripartite agreement in Dubai. Hence there is no other agreement in the name of Berbera port that Ethiopia will sign with Somalia. They should not confuse people everybody knows Somalia and Somaliland are to separate countries Somalia is Somalia and Somaliland is Somaliland.”

When asked about Somalia and Ethiopia point of agreement that stated both countries should respect the independence and the politics of the other he had these to say “Politically that agreement does not concern Somaliland, for example the man dreaming about Somaliland and what is inside his mind we cannot judge but the unity they are talking about is the Somalia’s regions such as Puntland,Jubaland and others this does not pertain Somaliland.”

Minister Guri-Barwaqo went on to answer the uttering of the Somalia information minister who said that the Mogadishu administration is not against the tripartite agreement between Somaliland, Ethiopia and the UAE.

He went on to state that Somalia regime is opposed to other countries signing biteral agreement with Somaliland. However the UAE cannot cancel an agreement reached with Somaliland to jump to another bandwagon and sign with Mogadishu.

Speaking about the ports signing deal by Mogadishu Mr.Guri-Barwaqo said “If Somalia is signing new agreement with the UAE leasing her ports the likes of Kismayo, Barawe or even Mogadishu that is their prerogative. Nevertheless the Berbera agreement has been signed between Somaliland and the UAE and is here to stay.”

Minster Guri-Barwaqo said that Somalia did not wake up from the slumber now and Mr. Farmajo his administration officers were all aware of the agreement. Furthermore the government of the UAE cannot sign another agreement with Mogadishu since the Somaliland/UAE memorandum is binding.

In the 1980s during the era of military dictatorship under Siyad Barre, Law No. 54 of September 1970 was an instrument irresponsibly operational used by the security. It contained articles related to the “protection of national security”, “crimes against the state” and mandatory death penalty. The Somali people especially citizens from the North were affected. Detailed personal accounts of some members of the group such as Mohamed Barud Ali and Bashe Abdi Yusuf are recorded elsewhere (in the author’s forthcoming book ‘The Rebirth of Somaliland).

The Hargeisa Hospital Group composed of young civil servants, voluntary sector workers, entrepreneurs and businessmen and professionals such as medical doctors, veterinary surgeons and teachers. Most of them were from Hargeisa (RUDM – ragga u dhashay magaalada) but also from the other parts of Somaliland.

As a group, they organized themselves as a voluntary self-help group whose sole intention was to improve the deteriorating conditions of the dilapidated Hargeisa General Hospital which was utterly neglected by the government. The hospital fell into longstanding disrepair. There was lack of the basic utilities, far short of the needs of increasing population of the city. As recalled by one of the members, the midwives used to request husbands of the pregnant wives brought to the hospital to switch headlights of their vehicles because of lack of electricity in the hospital so as to carry on deliveries.

The group started meeting and discussing issues and immediately staged small initiatives to convalesce the situation of the hospital. But nevertheless, they never belonged to any organized political group. They were just a group of like-minded individuals.

What was the reward for groups’ charitable activities?

They were all imprisoned allegedly belonging to the SNM opposition and precision of support to its cause. One after the other or in groups, they were put in jail. Ahmed Yusuf Jabane was imprisoned first, two days (on 4^th August 1981) Engineer Mohamed Barud Ali was taken from his home in Hargeisa by security officers. He was then in honeymoon.

One day while in his business premises, plainclothesmen from the NSS came to Bashe Yusuf Abdi. They took him away to jail. Other colleagues were already in jail before him. In fact, Yusuf was ready at the time as he knew the odd hour visitors (the security) would come at any time for him. The fact that the group was put together as a political group called ‘UFO was simply erroneous. They were 28 in number grouped together as UFO group. UFO was a leaflet written by Ahmed Yusuf Jabane and Mohamed Barud which was secretly distributed and dropped in the streets of Hargeisa. That is how the UFO jargon spread in the public and became associated with the group.

The group was in jail at Hargeisa for about a year. Torture of different forms was a routine. On the day of their trial at the security court in Hargeisa, some of them were actually unconscious most of the time. They were unable to move and could barely stand up. The witnesses present at the court were the officers who tortured them in prison. On that day, there was a mass student uprising in Hargeisa whereby life bullets were used to students who were demonstrating against the injustices nearby their schools. The prisoners were literally saved from the firing squad by those very demonstrations by the students in schools.

Few days after, the prisoners (20 of them??? ) were escorted to the south to be imprisoned at ‘Labaatan Jirow’ prison, north of Baidoa (between Wajid and Hudur). 14 of the group were put in solitary confinement; the rest had variable jail terms for 7 to 20 years terms.

In 1989, after the eruption of civil war in the North and the SNM invasion and after being in the jail for 7 years, all of them were all released by Barre’s order.

Who were the members of the UFO group?

The names of prisoners and the convictions of the chaotic hasty trial outcome are listed as below with professions/occupations and prison terms:

1. Ahmed Yusuf Jabane (Physics teacher), life imprisonment; 2. Mohamed Barud Ali ((Industrial chemist), Life imprisonment; 3. Mohamed Mohamoud Omar Hashi (Economist/Entrepreneur), 30 years; 4. Abdirahman Abdillahi Haji Aden (civil servant), 30 years; 5. Mohamed Ali Ibrahim (head of self-help schemes, Hargeisa), 25 years; 6. Dr. Aden Yusuf Abokor (Medical doctor), 20 years; 7. Hussein Mohamoud Duale (Berberawi)(Teacher, Biology/Chemistry), 20 years; 8. Aden Warsame Said (Economist/Businessman), 20 years; 9. Yousuf Abdillahi Kahin (Businessman. Farmer), 20 years; 10. Dr. Mohamoud Sh Hassan Tani (Medical Doctor), 20 years; 11. Dr. Abdillahi Ali Yusuf ‘Olad’ (Veterinary Doctor), 20 years; 12. Dr. Osman Abdi Meygag (Medical Doctor), 20 years; 13. Ahmed Hussein Abby (Banker), 20 years; 14. Bashe Abdi Yusuf (Businessman), 20 years; 15. Mohamed Ma’allin Osman (Teacher Biology), 8 years; 16. Mohamed Abdi Ji’iir (Teacher Biology), 8 years; 17. Ahmed Muhumed Madar (Teacher Biology), 8 years; 18. Ali Egeh Farah (Ali Biid) (Engineer/ Manager construction Agency), 3 years; 19. Omer Isse Awaleh (Civil servant Accountant), 3 years; 20. Dr. Mohamed Ali Sulub (Medical Doctor), 3 years; 21. Hassan Abdisalan Aw Ali (Pepsicola Co. worker), released; 22. Hassan Abdillahi Ali (Elgeye), released; 23. Mohamed Abdi Ducale (Ayub), released; 24. Ismail Abdi Hurre (Dheg), released; 25. Ahmed Hassan Madar released; 27. Lt. Colonel Ismail Hashi Madar, released; 28. Said Mohamoud Ibrahim, released. 2 of the prisoners were given life sentences, 2 were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, one with 25 years 9 with 20 years, 3 with 8 years, 3 with 3 years and 8 were released for lack of evidence and other reasons. The initial charges carried death penalties but charges were changed or dropped for lack of evidence (some of them were of the targeted group of people of the society). Eight of the prisoners were released without charges most of them did not belong to target group’s clan affiliations.

After this group, thousands of civilians, civil servants, academicians, and politicians were arrested, tortured, sentenced to long prison terms, life imprisonments and death penalties. In fear of such policies, hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes in the North to seek sanctuary and work in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America as migrants and political refugees.

On 20^th February 1982 after the sentence of the above group, students in the schools in Hargeisa made riots by throwing stones (Dhagax tour). In fact, the students staged a big demonstration on the day of the trial of the group.

School children and many of their teachers were imprisoned for their non-violent beliefs and suspect of belonging to an armed band, the SNM.  Some of the hundreds of the school children arrested included: 1. Adan Moussa Abdullah; 2. Abdukadir Haji Arap; 3. Abdirahman Abdi Elmi; 4. Amal Jama Ibrahim; 5. Mohamed Mohamoud Ismail; 6. Abdillahi Kayd Mohamed; 7. Anisa Abdi Yusuf; 8. Nasir Aden Yusuf; 9. Faisal Abdillahi Aden. Among the teachers imprisoned were: Abdi Abdillahi; Mahdi Osman and Ahmed Ali Toor.

Arbitrary arrests, detentions and unfair trials were common practice in the daily life of the Somali people. Security-related offenses and crimes punishable by death were tried by the National Security Court (NSC) which was shielded from any independent scrutiny. The court tried both civilians and military officers. NSC courts did not form part of the regular judicial system and headed by an army officer and a Cabinet Minister, a member of the Central Committee, General Mohamed Ghelle Yusuf who had no legal training and who was appointed by the president. There was a wholesale denial of due process in the summary proceedings of the court which was more of a military tribunal than a court of justice. Important political trials usually took place in great secrecy. Habeas corpus, the legal recourse in the case of illegal detentions, was abolished in 1970 and there was no right to appeal. Death sentences were only reviewed by the president and was the only who could offer pardon appeals of clemency.

To be continued

In a statement, the Federal Government of Somalia declared its objection to the Somaliland Special Agreement (SSA) which was in force since 2013 in which the International Community have been engaging with Somaliland in regard to the Donor funding.

The Somaliland Special Arrangement lays out a way forward for institutionalizing on-going Somaliland processes and initiatives within an overarching and equal partnership between the Somaliland government, its people and the international community.

Below is the statement from the Federal Government of Somalia:

Renewal of the Somaliland Special Agreement

Verdict: important viewing for anyone politically minded.Most of the stories you hear out of the Horn Of Africa are overwhelmingly negative. But in Somaliland, a state battling for recognition, they have attempted to create something hopeful – a blueprint for the region: a democratic state. Screened as part of ConIFA’s film festival, Somaliland: An Experiment in Democracy covers the 2012 elections.

Despite being surrounded by a plethora of states where democracy makes the government shudder, Somaliland was founded as one in 1991, when the central government in Somalia collapsed. It covers the land of the former British Somaliland colony, which merged with Italian Somaliland in 1960. Hargeisa is its capital and this documentary is filmed there. We meet Ali, the head of the electoral commission, in charge of distributing ballots and ensuring the integrity of the elections. There’s a travel ban to prevent voter fraud, as the infrastructure for voter registration no longer exists, and the department controls who gets plates to allow them to bypass this rule – mostly international observers, electoral commision members, journalists etc. The elections in Somaliland break in a 10-year cycle. They are essentially local elections, but the top three parties will be classed as constitutional parties, allowing them to run for the presidency.

Sideways Films speak to people on the ground, international observers and political leaders about their hopes for the fledgling state, which is without any international recognition.
As one voter explains, democracy is part of Somaliland culture and even tribal politics had a fair deal of democracy.Despite all the hope and the fact that it is the seventh democratic election in the state, the election is not smooth. Ali has a tense several days when 31 number plates go missing and the security at the commision abandon their posts, stations run out of ballot papers, and there’s controversy over the results of the vote.Somaliland’s experiment in democracy may be closer to a success than a failure, but there is some way to go yet. This documentary shows that very well, explaining how the balance is maintained, with the constant threat of democracy breaking, and the usual “failed state” rhetoric always close to being bandied about.
The documentary is a real eye-opener into how to run and maintain a free and fair election – something we have a tendency to take for granted in the West, although my one criticism would be that it does not delve into everything in very much detail. We don’t know what the parties really stand for or the effects of the democratic experiment on daily lives.
Despite that, it does help give a hopeful view of the country and the region and shows a side to it we rarely see.

http://www.thenationalstudent.com/Film/2018-06-20/somaliland_the_experiment_in_democracy_review_a_powerful_and_eye_opening_documentary.html

Somaliland says that the recent joint agreement aimed at developing ports which Ethiopia and Somalia leaders has nothing to do with Somaliland.

This was disclosed by Somaliland foreign affairs and international cooperation minister, Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire in an interview with Somali BBC services.

The leaders of Ethiopia and Somalia stressed that both sides must respect the sovereignty and unity of both countries and SL FM said that it does not concern on somaliland as they were talking about not violating their borders.

The FM of Somaliland added that administering Somaliland ports is not a business for Farmajo as he has no control over them.

Once asked if Somaliland asked Ethiopia to provide details of the agreement, Mr. Sa’ad said that there is no point of urgency but we will wait and see.

Somaliland authority has taken a hard stance on the recent joint agreement reached by Ethiopia and Somalia to developed four key ports in Somalia.

It is not clear if Ethiopia has revoked its treaty with Somaliland which acquired shares in the development of Berbera port which Ethiopia, a landlocked country signed the deal with Dubai Ports World.

Somalland is self declared state which broke away from Somalia in 1991 but the int’l community turned a blind eye to grant a recognition as an independent state.

The UN and IGAD have failed to reach amicable solution to the Tukaraq war pitting Somaliland and the Somalia province of Puntland. According to confidential reports reaching the Horn Newspaper the president of Puntland Mr.Abdiweli Gaas told the UN special envoy to Somaliland /Somalia Mr.Michael Keating that if he wants the peace talks to commence Somaliland armed forces should withdraw their forces from Tukaraq hamlet.

The Indian Ocean newspaper last publication wrote that the president of Puntland Mr.Abdiweli Gaas convinced the UN special representative that Somaliland is at fault an attacked Puntland. The Indian Ocean Newsletter further stated that Puntland administration have a far superior foreign policy than Somaliland hence they are always on top of the game compared to the Somaliland foreign minister Mr.Sa’ad Ali Shire who is playing catch up.

The UN special representative to Somaliland and Somalia recently toured the IGAD nation’s members to seek their support in quelling the Tukaraq fiasco however Mr.Abdiweli Gaas of Puntland became a dilemma.

The IGAD countries want both parties to stop the Tukaraq war unconditionally thence exchange the prisoners of war captured during the fiasco.

Prof. Ismael Mohammud Hurre Bubaa

Hargeisa – Prof. Ismael Mohammud Hurre Bubaa a Somaliland politician from the opposition National Party (Wadani) has said that it is perplexing and flabbergasting to hear that Puntland is claiming part of Somaliland legitimate territorial border.It went further to attack Somaliland army stationed inside Somaliland sovereign border town of Tukaraq then announced to the world that Somaliland has attacked Puntland. The Sool Province fiasco, particularly the Tukaraq saga is for the Somalia and Somaliland government to reach armistice not Puntland a mere province of Somalia.

He was speaking during an exclusive interview with the Horn Newspaper whereby he also talked about the recent lift of Somaliland livestock export ban by the government of Saudi Arabia. “Somaliland has an international border with many countries, but Puntland wants Somaliland territory through tribal connections. Somaliland and Somalia need to start the talks and a third party like Puntland should not be allowed to interfere with the talks.”

About the Saudi lift of ban on Somaliland livestock he said “I welcome the lift of the ban because our economic wellbeing and the fight of inflation is interconnected with the foreign exchange tricking back to the country.

The Horn

HARGEISA– The country’s Vice President attends the commemoration of World Refugee Day held in Hargeisa today.

The VP has called on Somaliland citizens to welcome and treat with dignity with all refugees currently staying in the country. He further said that the refugees must respect the local culture and live in dignity and peace in Somalland.

Mr. Abdirahman Sayli has urged refugees to refrain from breaking the country’s laws.

World Refugee Day is marked on the 20th of June every year around the globe.

Somaliland accommodates 19581 refugees staying in the country with the protection of the govt.

Majority of refugees in Somaliland are those that have fled from the war torn country of Yemen which has descended into chaos. There are Ethiopian refugees mainly from the Oromo ethnicity.

Somali schoolgirl Rahimo Mohamud, 15, was expecting to sit this month for the important examinations marking the end of her primary education leading onto secondary school. But the tropical cyclone that the northwest of Somaliland have left her uncertain about the immediate future.

Rahimo is among the 270 school children in Awdal district’s Lughaya district, who were supposed to sit the exams in one of the designated exam centres in Gargara.  The storm wreaked heavy damage in Gargara, and the schools serving as exam centres were destroyed or badly damaged.

A total of 14 schools were closed down in Awdal due to the storm damage.

The education ministry’s coordinator in Awdal, Jeeke Osman Iye, said a group of experts had been sent to assess the damage to the educational infrastructure and the amount of money and time it would take to rebuild the schools.

He said classrooms were destroyed, and furniture and equipment including desks, chairs, chalkboards, and books were all lost.

Schools in other parts of Somaliland have already started the exams, but Jeeke Osman said there is still no examination plan for the students in cyclone-affected areas.

Rahimo feels very nervous not knowing if they will be referred to another examination centre. She lost her all books and has not managed to prepare for the exams. Here family’s house had its roof damaged but no one was injured.

Many other students are in a similar position or worse. Some are displaced, others lost parents or family members.

The head teacher of Elmi Gaab Suge School told Radio Ergo that some of his students lost their parents while others have been forced to stay at home.  He said the students have all dispersed, although the teachers were ready to help them prepare for the exams.

Almost 8,000 primary school students in Lughaya, Baki and other parts of Awdal had their education disrupted by the storm.

Radio Ergo

Patients from Mandhaye mental health centre in the northern Somali city of Burao, in Somaliland’s Togdher region, have been found roaming the streets since being taken off their prescribed medication due to cuts in funding.

For the last six years, Sahra Hassan Jama was getting free medication for her 18-year old daughter at the centre. She told Radio Ergo that she cannot afford the $20 a week the drugs would cost her, so her daughter has been off the medication she was prescribed for five months. Her health has been deteriorating.

Sahro’s daughter was discharged from Mandahye centre in 2015 when she was recovering and was prescribed medication at home. The family was able to access the drugs free of charge on an out-patient basis from the center. Sahro owns a small stall selling tomatoes earning around $14 a week. She has seven children.

Dr Abdi Sudi, the health centre director, said their medicine stocks ran out in January. Somali diaspora funders had been sending about $2,000 a month to support the centre, after financing from the Somaliland administration was cut.  The remittances paid for cleaning, water and electricity bills, as well as pay the doctors. The doctors have been working unpaid since January, when the remittances tailed off.

The centre has 15 adults, including five women, living in. Their families are managing to buy their own drugs. Other in-patients had to be sent home because the relatives could not afford the treatment. The doctors say some of them have become very sick and have been found roaming in streets and in markets.

Farah Ahmed Diriye, 25, has been ill for two years.  His family in Ainaba, 120 km from Burao, brought him to Mandhaye hospital in May.  The doctors agreed to admit him but said his family had to buy the drugs.  Other patients have been arriving from far off places in Togdheer and cannot be treated due to to inability to pay.

The centre has been regularly serving more than 2,000 out-patients

Radio Ergo

In the late 1980s, people of Somaliland origin living in the south (Somalia), especially in Mogadishu, were mostly civil servants, businessmen, traders, students etc. They were often subjected to subjugation, discrimination, and harassment as they were alleged to belong to the SNM or have a family member defected to the opposition organization.

A historical date is the 17^th of July 1987 when a massacre of a total of more than 50 people (others reported 48) of innocent civilians (civil servants, traders and students etc.) all of the northern origin took place at Gezira beach, nearby Mogadishu.

The victims were rounded up in the late evening (the 11^th hour) in-house to house search and under the bed/cupboard operation. They were swooped from their homes in Bulo-Huubey constituency, west of Mogadishu. All were picked up or snatched by virtue of being belonged to specific clans of the people of the North. It was purely an act of ethnic cleansing. From behind the scene, the operation was reportedly directed by Brigadier-General Maslah, a son of the president, but the operation was disguised as it was headed by one Colonel Ibrahim Ali Barre (Anjeeh). This was one of the worst atrocities committed by the regime. The names of the victims are: 1.Ibrahim Hussein Gelle; 2.Ibrahim H Abdillahi Dirie (Businessman); 3.Mohamed Ismail Ahmed; 4.Yussuf Mohamed Handulle (USAID employee); 5.Abdulwahab Farah Ahmed (student); 6.Mohamed Mohamoud Abdi (Businessman); 7. Hassan Aw Nur Barud (Businessman); 8. Abdi Osman Dubad (Trader); 10.Mohamoud Bacadle (Civil servant); 11.Daud Sh. Ibrahim; 12.Farah Ismail Awale (Student); 13.Dahir Mohamed Jama Warfa (Trader); 14.Dayib Abdi Burale (Trader);  15.Hussein Omer Hussein (Trader); 16.Saed Mohamed Mumin (assistant Professor, Somali National University); 17. Musa Abdi Gas (Businessman); 18. Abdi Barre Osman (University Graduate); 19. Barre Osman Abdi (Trade);  20. Ali Aw Muhumed Mohamed Burale (Trader); 21. Yusuf Abdillahi Roble (Doctor Graduate); 22. Ali Mohamed Abdi (Student); 23. Abdi Mohamed Abdi(Technician); 24.Ahmed Yassin Omer Jama (Businessman);  25. Mohamed Abdi Hassan (Businessman); 26. Ibrahim Hassan Egeh (Technician); 28.Abdi Muhumed Daud (Businessman); 29.Jama Mohamed Abdi (Trader); 30. Ahmed Hassan Elmi (Dheereeye) (Sportsman); 31.Rashid Mohamed Osman; 32. Mohamed Bashe Abdillahi Hebaan (Trader); 33.Abdirahman Ahmed Dhimbiil (Civil Servant); 34. Hussein Mohamed Farah (Civil servant); 35. Abdirahman Mohamed Osman (Beledi) (T; rader); 36.Abdirrizak Aideed Mohamed (student); 37. Hussein Osman Jama (Student); 38. Khadar Mohamed Ahmed (Student);  39. Bihi Ibrahim Ahmed (Student); 40. Hassan Nur Hersi (Student); 41. Abokor Mohamed Yussuf (Trader); 42. Hassan Guure Abdi (Trader); 43.Khadar Nur Jama (Trader); 44. Mohamed Osman Jama (Trader); 45.Hassan Abdi Muhumed (Businessman); 46. Mataan Abdi Habashi (Student); 47.Fuad Abdillahi Ibrahim; 48. Hussein Abdi Aden (Businessman); 49. Saed Nur Musa (Businessman); 50. Abdirahman Mohamed Bihi (Businessman); 51. Abdifatah Ahmed Jiir (Student); 52. Ali Mohamed Dirie (Civil Servant); 53. Jama Aden (Barosin) (civil Servant); 54. Hussein Kheyre Abdi (Civil Servant); 55. Warsame Dugsiye Raydal (Businessman); 56. Mohamed Abdillahi Warsame (Trader).

This list is in accordance with Abdirizak Fadal (www.ramaasnews.com website) and Dr. Ahmed H Omer Askar’s book ‘Xeebta Dhiigga’ by (Haan Associates 1988). Dr. Ahmed is currently the director of the Hargeisa Hospital Group. Fadal’s report confirms in an interview with the only single survivor, Omer Muse Mire. Some other sources still report a total of 47 people. The survivor’s name does not appear in the list but he probably has changed the name when he went abroad. Other sources add the names like Ali Aw Muhumed Mohamed (Burale), Mohamed Muse Mohamed, Yusuf Abdillahi Roble, Muhidin Maa’allin Ahmed and Sadiq sh Ahmed.

Many families lost loved ones. For instance, Sado Mohamoud Abdi (who now lives in Buroa) lost nine relatives altogether (4 brothers, 4 cousins and a nephew). Hussein (Jamal) Muhumed Abdi lost 7 relatives. In fact, Sado recalls how the soldiers forced into their home at around 11.00 pm on one Monday evening while family members were asleep. She vividly recalls that it was Colonel Anjeeh (Canheex) himself who was the commander. He was the one who was giving the orders to the soldiers yelling at them to beat the detainees with rifle butts and bayonets. She was beaten up. In the interview, she showed the permanent scars on her body. On another occasion she and 24 and other women went together in search of their missing family members after the operation the day after, they were threatened by soldiers guarding the site of the massacre.

Colonel Anjeh gave the orders to take the detainees to the beach to be executed. The one survivor provided details of his ordeal as interviewed by (Abdirizak Fadal) of Ramaas News (Omar Muse Mire, the survivor’s, details is available elsewhere (the author’s forthcoming book Rebirth of Somaliland).

On the evening of 17 July, 1989 military soldiers appeared all corners of the streets in Buulo Xuubay residential area. Around 1.00 am on 18 July 1989, violent knocks on front doors of families from the North were heard. According to the information provided by the survivor, soldiers began climbing the wall of his home and eventually broke searching the rooms of the house. Almost similar activities happened in other houses. People were then gathered in open space. They were made to sit in squatting posture whilst soldiers were continuously hitting them with rifle butts. Some were even receiving burns from cigarette butts by the soldiers. After a while, the mass of people were loaded on a big military truck, ‘Pegassu’ type, and driven westwards to the Gezira beach, about 13 miles south-west of Mogadishu. They were escorted by another military vehicle (Braun Type). They were off-loaded at the peach and ordered to sit in squat postures on top of a big sand dune in groups of 5’s with their hands on their heads. After a brief period and arguments between the perpetrators, the soldiers were given the order to open fire at them which continued for few minutes after which the soldiers came around finishing off with more shots on those who were still kicking from ‘rogor mortis’ and others alive or were struggling to die. The survivor was hit lightly and hid in the heap of falling bodies on top of him unknowingly spared of the shots. He was left for dead. At the crack of dawn, the survivor ran off the site to the beach, washed and jogged home informing relatives of what happened.

These are some of the gruel robust and hard evidence that are clearly indicative of the government atrocities and commitment to clan cleansing and eradication of a large section of the society simply because they belonged to specific clans of the Somali people who were alleged to support and belong to the SNM.

According to an interview with Colonel Ibrahim Anjeh by Ramas News, he claimed that he was neither at the scene nor funnily he claims that he did not know where Jazira was!!!. He claims the main culprits as General Deria Hersi and General Mohamed-Nur Hassan (Dhega Ba’ayr). Colonel Ibrahim Ali Bare (Anjeeh), currently lives outside Somalia. He is one of the culprits in the genocide and mass murder of the people of the north in the south whose offense was merely to belong to a specific clan.

Colonel Bare (Anjeh) is now living abroad. He was reported to have resided in different countries (Kenya, Syria and Saudi Arabia). Most recently, however, he has been reported to be in the Netherlands.

To be continued….

Somaliland has freed a king, Osman Aw Mahmud Burmadow, who was imprisoned in April for attending the inauguration of a monarch in neighbouring Puntland.

Puntland and Somaliland are at loggerheads over disputed territory along their border in the Sool and Sanaag regions.

Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi pardoned the monarch, who was sentenced to five years in prison.

Human rights organisations have condemned the self-declared republic of Somaliland of suppressing free speech and arresting people critical of the administration.

In April, a court sentenced female poet Nacima Qorane to three years in prison on “contempt of state” charges.

She was also freed after receiving a presidential pardon.

bbc

Tehran, June 21, IRNA – A number of imprisoned sailors who had been arrested in late 2017 on charges of trespassing into Iran’s waters were released and returned to Iran on Thursday.

Following the efforts by the Iranian foreign ministry and the country’s embassy in Kenya, 17 sailors who had illegally entered Somalia’s territorial waters in October 2017 and were sentenced to two years jail by a local court and also fine were freed and handed over the the Iranian embassy in Nairobi.

The freed sailors were later returned to Iran by airplane and were welcomed by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Panahi Azar at Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Irna

HARGEISA– Somaliland’s Public Works and Housing minister, Hon. Abdirashid Du’ale Qambi has accused local municipalities of rampant looting of state owned land.

The minister has further said that the local cities are conducting land plan which is illegal and added that there is no management in the municipalities. The Public works minister has blasted the municipalities of not only donating public lands for bribe or selling to particular individuals without the consent of Somaliland govt which is a big shame for mayors in major townships in Somaliland.

Hon. Abdirashid, the minister in charge of housing has announced that the govt is about to start public land planning. The minister has blamed of local mayors in major townships in Somaliland of having failed to provide the master plan of districts that they administer.

He said that they have failed to live up to their promises according to the minister. The minister has spoken of several meeting that he held with local mayors and has informed them about the interest of the nation and populace.

The minister has admitted that there is widespread corruption in looting public lands where local Councillors are giving lands to individuals without the consent of Somaliland authority. The minister while on an inspection tour to public land in Hargeisa vicinity has confiscated a tractor which was illegally ploughing a land.

HARGEISA— Somaliland’s ministry of Agricultural Development has officially launched Beer land earmarked for farming which is going to be a pilot project where different types of seeds will be grown.

The mission which the ministry is spearheading a campaign across the country to reach self sufficiency in food production.

Hon. Ahmed Ali Maah, the general director of the ministry of Agricultural Development has conducted the campaign of clearing Beer land which is located in Togder region where different types of seeds will be sown.

This is part of an ongoing plan that the ministry is conducting and is aimed at planting seeds in Xaaxi, Togwajale, and Beer farm lands.

The minister for agricultural development formally launched the clearing of 1500 Hectare of land in Tog Wajale where the ministry planted different types of seeds.

International partners supporting Somalia and Somaliland on a number of reconstruction, security, and governance programmes in Somalia, and on development and democratization processes, among others, in the case of Somaliland, softly – and in diplomatically cached terms – reminded Villa Somalia that aid relations were not the same as scoring political kudos and, as such, need not be politicized.

Responding to a letter the FGS’s young Minister of Planning, Gamal Mohamed, gunned at partners on June 9, 2018,  calling for an end to the Special Arrangement aid deal with Somaliland, the partners said the arrangement was well in line with the ‘spirit of  transparency and equity’ which they believed was ‘both necessary and desirable, and in the interests of all Somalis’, and, so accordingly, that ‘the arrangements that have worked so well since 2013 be continued’.

Partners recalled that at the time the new deal was put into effect,  both donors and ‘Somali government partners’ recognized that the ‘situation was different in a number of ways from that of Puntland and what at that time was describes as “South Central Somalia”‘.

The partners would certainly act in accordance with the kind of response their view of the Somaliland deal garners in Villa Somalia. Their response may not be as gentle and courteous as it is in this first communication with the FGS team.

The partners’ response is a slap in the face to a rash, diplomatically uncultured young team at the helm of Somalia smelling blood since they have succeeded to lasso in ICAO, a UN body, to unilaterally hand over  Somali airspace management despite the fact that issue was a contentious, most contested central point to the internationally-chaperoned Somalia-Somaliland talks since they started in 2012.

What is striking in this response, however, is that it does not directly or indirectly address the minister whose communication inspired it, completely ignoring him.

Find a copy of the partners’ letter below:

HARGEISA– The Somaliland government is said to have boycotted the attendance of a high level conference which is due to open in Brussels on the 28th June where int’l donors are supposed to allocate aid to Somalia.

According to reports confirm that Somaliland has received a formal invitation to the summit but it is reported that Somaliland has decided not to go to the gathering.

The gathering has been delayed as it was scheduled to kick off on the 16th of July.

The decision reached by Somaliland not to attend the high level gathering has not been fully explained but this move was also taken by the previous administration led by former Somaliland president Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo who refused to send a high level delegates from Somaliland to a conference held in Denmark in 2014 and the incumbent administration led by Hon. Musa Bihi is following the foot steps of his predecessor.

Silanyo government also rejected the attendance of a conference held in Brussels in 2013 and the Somali government under the administration of Hasan Sheikh Mohamoud has made the invitation to Somaliland which it was furious.

The Farmajo led government in Somalia has turned down the int’l community to renew the Special arrangement with Somaliland which has paved the way for IC to allocate aid to Somaliland through its channels.

Dr. Hussein Mohamed Nur

Throughout the 1980s a scorched earth policy was effectively in place in the whole of the Northern regions (Somaliland).

One of the decisive factors that increased the tension and dissidence in the North and which accelerated the formation of an all-war open opposition, i.e the SNM, was the extreme and mounting political instability and government pressure on the local population coupled with the implementation of treacherous policies of obliteration of large sections of the population (in the North).

Meanwhile, as the SNM finally became a real threat to the government troops, in retaliation (as ill-mannered responses to SNM’s activities) the government waged campaigns and a full-scale war against its citizens, the entire civilian population in the North. Civil liberties and human rights were eroded and abused. Policies and campaigns of eradication of the population in masses became the order of the day. Destruction of human settlements, towns, and villages was common and part and parcel of the government’s integral policy. That was sadly detailed by a secret letter which became popularly known as the ‘letter of death’ which was written by General Mohamed Said Hirsi ‘Morgan’, president’s son-in-law, the Commander the 26^th sector of the national army stationed at Hargeisa. The letter was sent as a confidential document. It was a blueprint for social engineering and a deliberate ethnic cleansing report, so to speak, to the president of the country, Said Barre. The letter was compellingly undisputable evidence and a prime example of the devious policies of the government against innocent civilians. It carried vengeance, hatred and animosity showed by the Generals towards the people of the North. The ‘letter of death’ and its detailed contents are dealt with below.

In the 1980s the government encouraged, organized and armed tribal militias of clans in alliance with the government to unashamedly ignite clan feuds and reanimate past differences just to keep the fire blowing merely for the survival of the regime and for Barre to buy more time to stay on the saddle of the power. Nevertheless, such activities eventually backfired and did not pay dividends. In fact, they turned out to be a blessing in disguise for local people in producing regrettable results for the regime. Some clans actually read Barre’s mental map and exactly understood his hidden tricks while others didn’t. However, by the late 1980s, political analysts began to relate Barre’s fate comparable to what happened before elsewhere by contemporary dictators like Idi Amin of Uganda, the Marcos of the Philippines and Baby Doc Duvalier of Haiti.

With the increase of security-related incidents in the North, public demonstrations in particular by the students at high schools were rather a common denominator and a major activity particularly in Hargeisa, the capital of the North. Dusk-to-dawn curfews were drawn in Hargeisa and main towns (Buroa, Berbera, Gabiley, and others). At the same time, General Mohamed Said Morgan ordered the army commanders to proceed to the destruction of large swathes of rural settlements merely in an attempt to deprive SNM support. In rural areas, wells and boreholes were sealed, poisoned and destroyed. Crops in farms in agricultural areas were burnt and not spared and burnt to eliminate peasant farmers and settlements suspected of supporting the SNM opposition organization.

The Letter of ‘Death’

It was in 1986 when the president appointed General Mohamed Said Hersi (Morgan) was appointed as the military ruler in the North. He was appointed to succeed his predecessor, General Mohamed Hashi Gani, who was a cousin of the president and the top commander of the north as he was unable to crush the opposition revolt in the North and failed to put down the SNM opposition struggle, its supporters, and its recruits. But nevertheless, General Gani was also a ruthless man in nature and vulgar expressionist in terms of a relationship with the citizens and alienated the majority of the population. He was still unable to gain the trust of the public and local elders in his determination to smite the jugular vein of the SNM, cut its head off and succeed in the putting an end to the uprising of the population.

Soon after his arrival, General Morgan stepped up the repression of the civilian people and military operations, the only technique the clique in power knew. But he also did not succeed in his operations to stamp out the SNM, as he often boasted and vowed, and it’s guerrilla tactical operations which were continuously causing great havoc and humiliation to the government troops. Persistent frustrations and hatred led him to devise the most deceitful Machiavellian styled plan one could ever think of. In fact, the plans were already operational and in place by the militarily but Morgan decided to write a damning report (dated 21 January 1987) to his boss, the president, pretending to make a formal and official request or permission to launch a sinister programme of obliteration of the main clans from which the SNM draws and relies for support. He did so simply as a show off to his boss, the president. The plan confidently displayed its sinister operation at length (but remember that was already going on without seeking permission) included the destruction of towns and villages inhabited by those clans along the long border with Ethiopia and to substitute the local population with people of loyal close kinship clans (mostly refugees), controlling the trade, commerce and business. The plan was clearly specified in the letter which later leaked and popularly became known as the ‘letter of death’. The letter was simply a show off ‘this is what I am already doing’ kind of.

Although the letter was strictly a top secret and a copy was filed in archives of the Ministry of the Interior in Mogadishu which was headed by General Ahmed Suleiman Abdalla, one of Barre’s son-in-law, it was leaked finally by an employee who was working at the Archives Department of the Ministry of the Interior who passed it to another employee at the Mogadishu Electricity Power Supply (Ahmed Mohamed Tukale known as ‘Berberawi’). Berberawi provided copies of the letter to a friend, Jama Ali Osman who successfully smuggled it to the SNM.

By the end of 1988 General Morgan, the commander of 26^th sector in the North, after receiving authority of the President ordered total war against the population in the North under the code name of ‘Operation North’ as revealed by the leaked confidential letter by General Morgan directly to the president on 23 January 1987 and copied to the Minister of Defense, a post held by late General Mohamed Ali Samatar who was then promoted to first Premier as well as to the Minister of Interior, Ahmed Suleiman Abdulla (Dafle), the  son-in-law of the president and the third deputy prime Minister.

The letter made a detailed account of horrendous proposals aimed at the eradication of large section of the population in the North. It specifically targeted major clans. As the letter leaked it became a hit and popular within the international press and media and was named as the ‘letter of death’ (Africa Now July 1987, Africa Confidential, 1987 etc.). The letter became the biggest scandal of the regime after it was translated in London by a well-known Somali lawyer, Mohamoud Sh. Ahmed Muse (a former High court and a Somali government prosecutor).

The letter exposed the typical plan which was already underway. It was just one of the blueprints of many plans already in action as part of campaigns of obliteration of large sections or proportion of the population in the North. That showed the nature of the government and its extreme revulsion towards the people in the North. The General showed a bitter dislike and aversion against the people. At best General Morgan was only a representative master of ‘social engineering’. “…….and its (SNM) supporters are subjected to a campaign of obliteration, there will come a time when they will raise their heads again” was part of his own words clearly expressed in the letter.

An outline of repressive measures proposed (albeit they were already effectively in place) included: a) Elimination of selected wealthy people suspected of supporting the SNM; b) Re-organization of the Local councils consisting of dilution of school population with an infusion of children from refugee camps; c) Rendering uninhabitable large swathe of land, i.e., the territorial area between the national army and the SNM forces, by destroying the water reservoirs and tanks and villages lying around and across the territory used by the local population and suspected for the SNM for infiltration; d) Removing and suspending those holding key posts in the army and civil service held by northerners especially from Isaaq clan f) Confiscating and reducing number of public transport buses, especially in Hargeisa, owned by people from specific clans and use those confiscated by the army; g) Detaining businessmen and well-to-do people of the Isaaq clan; h) Transferring chiefs, sultans, and headmen in Mandhera prison, North East of Hargeisa, to Laanta Buur prison in South Somalia. General Morgan was given the seal of approval and the authority by the president in a flick of time to proceed with the operation. The letter had unashamedly pointed out how to ‘lay waste’ and make vast areas in the North uninhabited. The destruction and razing of entire villages and towns, poisoning wells and cutting off electricity and water supplies, uprooting crops on farms and fruit trees, imprisonment of key entrepreneurs, confiscating money of wealthy traders and businessmen and their vehicles and transport, persecution of prominent intellectuals and students, arresting and detention of school children were amongst the activities proposed. In the schools, pupils were substituted by children from refugee camps in order to plant informers and spies within the students and teachers community. Some teachers were trusted than others because of clan affiliation and loyalty were given arms with pistols in the school classes. Raaqiya Omaar (1988) of the Africa Watch rightly referred to the actions of the regime as a ‘government at war with its own people’.

In the north of the country deteriorated and escalated to an explosive point. Of course, the SNM stepped up its guerrilla operations along Ethiopian the border. On 17 March 1988, the SNM captured Tog-Wajale, Godka and Geed Baladh after skirmishes with the government troops inflicting heavy casualties. The SNM also attacked the road between Bali Gubadle and Gumuburaha.

How Siad Barre regime mismanaged national resources and endowments; foreign financial aid; misused even the refugee food aid and arming militias from refugee camps are detailed elsewhere (in author’s forthcoming book ‘The Rebirth of Somaliland’).

To be continued…