Kilil 5 Editorials
October 25, 2011
Waxaan aad uga xunahay dagaalka sokeeye ee kadhacay xuduuda degmooyinka Xarshin iyo Yoocaale. Waxaan ugu baaqaynaa waxgaradka, culimada iyo aqoonyahanka labada beelood ee wadadhashay inay colaadan soo jiitamaysay xal waara uhelaan, si looga hortago iskudhac dambe iyo dhimasho aan loobaahnayn. Waxaan sidoo kale aad udhaliilsanahay talaabooyinka ay xukuumada madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamuud Cumar qaaday ilaa hada iyo sida ay xukuumadu ugabeen sheegtay jiritaanka ciidamo Soomaaliland kasooduulay oo farogashi kusameeyay dagaalka labada beelood, arintan oo siiyaasadaysay iskudhaca labada beelood oo mudo dheer soo noqnoqanaysay.Inkasta oo xukuumadu ay ku amaanantahay sida dhakhsaha leh ee ay ukala dhexgashay beelahan walaalaha ah, hadana waxay mudantahay canbaarayn kusaabsan sida ay ukala dhexgashay iyo sida ay wax umaaraysay. Iskudhaca beelaha deegaanka oo soojireen ah ayaa mudan in xukuumada deegaanku udhexgasho si cadaalad iyo sinaan kusalaysan sida ugu dhakhsaha badan marka iskudhacu yimaadu. Waxaa sidoo kale muhiim ah inaan siyaasad qabiil loo badalin marka iskudhacu yimaadu, hadii kale waxaa kadhalan cawaaqib xumo raadxun kuyeesha dawlada DDS.
Waxaan sidoo kale canbaaraynaynaa si wayna uga digaynaa borobogaandada iyo beenta dhaqanka unoqotay xukuumada madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar, borobagaandadan oo dawlada DDS dhaawac wayn ukeenay, waxyeelada shacabka Soomaaliyeedna maalinba maalinka kasiidambeeya kor uqaadaya. Waxaan sidoo kale xasuusinaynaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed in midnimada, cadaalada iy sinaanta oo lagudadaalaa ay kujirto hormarka iyo nabadgalyo waarta mustaqbalka dhow iyo kan fogba.
Borobagaandada Dawlada DDS Iyo Cawaaqib Xumada Kadhalankarta Hada iyo Mustaqbalka.
Waxaa ilaa intay xukuumada Cabdi Maxamud Cumar hogaanka deegaanka haysay dhaqan noqday borobagaando iyo been abuur ujeedada lagaleeyahay ay tahay waxyeelada shacabka iyo muwaadiniinta deegaanka. Inkasta oo xukuumadihii kahoreeyay xukuumada madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar ay kabeen sheegi jireen amase buunbuunin jireen waxqabadkooda iyo tayadooda, waxaa lagudoodi karaa inaysan kukicin borobagaando leh xadka ay leedahay mida hada ay kumashquulsantahay xukuumada uu hogaanka u hayo madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar. Borobagaanda ay kumashquulsantahay aalada warbaahinta xukuumada Cabdi Maxamud Cumar ayaa aasaaskeedu yahay iskadhicinta mucaaradka kasoohorjeeda dawladiisa, haday noqon lahayd ururka hubaysan iyo haday noqon lahayd dadka siyaasad ahaan kasoohorjeeda madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar. Inkasta oo dawlad kasta maanta ay samayso nooc borobagaando ah oo aysan kali ku ahayn xukuumada Madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar, hadana qaabka ay xukuumadu u isticmaasho borobagaanda iyo nooca borobagaando ee ay xukuumadu kumashquulsantahay ayaa aasaaskeedu yahay, bahdil iyo danbi u’maleeg shaqsi kasta, qabiil kasta iyo muwaadin kasta oo lagu tuhmo inaysan kuqanacsanayn xukuumada uu hogaanka u’hayo madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar. Waxaanu dhagaysanahay cajalado maqal iyo muuqaal ah oo tilmaamaya qaabka ay ushaqayso xukuumada hada hogaanka deegaanka haysa iyo noocyada iyo qaabka loo soo maleego sumcad dilka iyo danbi usameynta shaqsiyaadka iyo beelaha ay xukuumadu saluugsantahay, waana mid qof kasta oo maqla amase daawada cajaladahan argagixiso iyo cadh owayn galinaysa, marka ay isbarbardhigaan sida loo soo maleego borobagaandadan iyo sida borobagaandadan ay ufuliyaan aalada warbaahinta ee dawlada deegaanka, saxaafada hoosyimaada iyo madaxda deegaanku.
Bahdilka iyo waxyeelada dawlada ayaa umuuqda kuwo kor usiikacaya iyada oo xukuumada dhibka kadhasha borobagaandadeeda ay isku dayayso inay kuxaliso borobagaando horleh. Kalsoonida dawlada shacabka u’hayo iyo kaladambaynta dawladeed waxay kutimaadaa markay dawladu u’hogaansanto kudhaqanka dastuurka, midaynta shacabka iyo waxqabad muuqda oonan ahayn borobagaando iyo hadal kaliya. Taariikhda aduunka, dawlad kasta oo iskudayda inay maquuniso shacabkeeda, amase waxqabadkeedu uusan dhaafsiisnayn borobagaando iyo adeegsiga militariga, amase kushaqeysata ciyaarta iskahorkeenka muwaadiniinteeda (ethnic conflict), amase iskudayda abuurka cadow aan jirin, amase cadow iskagadhigta shacabkeeda, amase aan kudhaqmin nidaam kusalaysan dastuurka ay samaysatay, amase aan samaynin aalado warbaahineed oo madaxbanaan oo ilaaliya xuquuda shacabkeeda iyo hantida dawlada---iyada ayaa iskudumisa falalkeeda iyo dhaqankeeda kadib marka uu shacabku u’adkaysan waayo. Waxaa tusaale u’ah kacdoonka iyo kacaanka muwaadiniinta Carabta ee hada kasocoda dhamaan wadamada Carabta (Arab Spring).Kacdoonkan ayaa kadhashay kadib markay xukuumadaha Carabtu waxqabadkoodu dhaafi waayay borobagaando iyo markay shacabkooda isugu dareen duudsinta danaha muwaadiniintooda, xoriyada shaqsiga, hormar la’aan iyo bahdil.
Borobagaandada xukuumada Cabdi Maxamud ayaan kukoobnayn gudaha deegaanka iyada oo ay xukuumadu usoo dhoofisay jaaliyadaha qurbaha borobagaandada gudaha kasocota mid le'eg. Abuurka iyo hirgalinta ajendahan aan dhaafsiisnayn borobagaandada ayaa waxay xukuumadu kubixisaa hanti wayn oo waxkaqaban lahaa baahida adeeg la’aanta ee kajirta dawlada DDS.Lacagta balaadhan ee ay xukuumadu kubixinayso dhisida jaaliyado iyada u adeega bedelkii ay dhiirigalin lahayd abuurka jaaliyado madaxbanaan oo katurjumaya aragtida jaaliyadaha dibada iyo u’adeega baahida jaaliyadaha ay uqabaan wadankii hooyo ayaa dhaliyay khilaaf iyo kalajab jaaliyadaha dibada. Ajendahan samaynta jaaliyado fuliya danaha siyaasadeed ee xukuumada Cabdi Maxamud ayaa kukeenay jaaliyadaha dibada niyad jab, iyo aragti cusub oo jaaliyadaha dibadu ay ka qaateen madaxwaynaha iyo xukuumadiisa. Sidoo kale, lacagtan balaadhan ee xukuumadu ay adeegsanayso ayaa jaaliyada qurbaha kubeeray qabyaalad, isqabqabsi, xulufaysi iyo sheegashada taageero dawladeed oon dhaafsiisnayn in xoolo ama hanti lagu cuno iyo waxkaboobka hantida shacabka ee dawladu bixinayso.Taageeradii jaaliyadaha dibadu uqaadeen ama u muujiyeen madaxwaynaha iyo xukuumadiisa ayaa iskugubiyo shubtay wakhtiga xaadirka ah kooxo kooban oo ujeedadoodu tahay sad raadin ama lacag raadin iyo magac iyo mansab raadin, waxaana meesha kabaxay dadkii tayada hogaan iyo maalgashi kusookordhin lahaa jaaliyadaha dibada iyo wadanka gudahiisa. Sidookale, waxaa meesha kabaxay ganacsatadii awooda maalgashi lahayd iyo aqoonyahankii xirfada kusoobiirin lahaa deegaanka ee uhanqal taagayay deegaanka Soomaaliyeed.
Kalaqaybinta Shacabka Iyo Ajendaha Lagutakoorayo Beelaha Deegaanka Qaarkood.
Waxaa sadexdii bilood ee ugu dambeeyay kor ukacay eedaynta beelaha dega xuduuda wadanka Itoobiya iyo deegaanka Soomaalida kadib markii madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud uu dhowr jeer khudbado uu jeediyay ku eedeeyay beelaha dega xuduudada inaysan lahayn wadaniyad iyo inay laba kaadhlayaal yihiin. Shaki kumajiro dhibaatada xukuumada deegaanka kahaysata xuduuda dheer ee deegaanku laleeyahay wadanka Soomaaliya, Soomaliland, Soomaaliya iyo Jabuuti; haseyeeshee far kufiiq iyo canbaarayn beelo khaas ah kumajirto xal uhelista xuduuda deegaanku laleeyahay wadamada jaarka. Xalku waxuu kujiraa lashaqaynta wadamada jaarka laleh deegaanka iyo dhiirigalinta beelaha dega xuduuda inay kasoobaxaan xilka kaga aadan wadankooda iyo dhiirigalinta wadaniyadooda.
Mida Kale, yaynaan halmaamin abaalka ay wadamada jaarka laleh deegaanka usoogaleen iyo wakhtiga dheer ay martigalinayeen shacabka deegaanka Soomaaliyeed. Wadanka Soomaaliya waxuu martigaliyaa muwaadiniin asal ahaan kasoojeeda DDS oo wali kunool, Soomaaliya, Soomaaliland, Kenya iyo Jabuuti. Shacab kasoo jeeda DDS ee kunool dalalka dariska la ah DDS ayaa laguqiyaasaa inta udhaxaysa 500,000 kun ilaa 1 milyan. Wadanka Kenya shacab kabadan 250,000 kun, wadanka Somaliland 100,000-250,000, wadanka Jabuuti tiro gaadhaysa 25,000-50,000.Sidoo kale, beelaha ugu waawayn deegaanka waxay wada degaanka dhamaan wadamada jaarka la’ah deegaanka, labada dhinac ee xuduudada, macquula ma'aha in lakalasifeeyo dadka mudo gaaban amase dad gooni ah lagu farfiiqo inaysan udhalin deegaanka.Tusaale, beesha ugu wayn deegaanka Soomalida ee Ogaadeen sadex jibaar marka tiro ahaan layiraahdo wali waxay martikuyihiin wadamada Kenya,Somaliya,Somaliland iyo Jabuuti.Sidoo kale,beesha Ogaadeen ayaa waxay raadwayn kuleedahay tiro ahaan wadamada Somaliya iyo Kenya sidaas darteedna ay doqonimo tihay in dadka ku abtirsada beesha Ogaadeen ay ku eedeeyaan beel kale inay kadhexeeyaan deegaanka iyo wadamada jaarka deegaanka la’ah amase ay bilaabaan inay takooraan dadka kasoojeeda wadanka Soomaaliya ee shacabka DDS uu mudo kabadan 50 sano kahelayay taageero dhaxal gal ah iyo martigalin aan dhamaanin ilaa hada.Waxaa waajib ku ah shacabka deegaanka iyo xukuumada DDS inay siiyaan dadka walaalaheen ee kasoojeeda Soomaliya, marti galin xanbaarsan sinaan, nabadgalyo iyo waxqabad taageero oo lasiman midkay inoofidiyeen markaan ubaahnayn garab istaag iyo gacanqabasho.Waa wax lagayaxyaxo oo xuquuqul insaanka kabaxsan inaynu durba bilawno dab takoor ama beel takoor iyo gooni usoocis dadka kasoojeeda Soomaaliya ee inoogu yimid martigalinta xili ay inaga mudanyihiin soodhawayn iyo martisoor.Sidoo kale, waxaan suurogal ahayn in iyada oo beelaha deegaanka dega ay dhamaan sidookale degaan wadamada jaarka inala ah inay beelo meelo kale iyaguba daga ay kufarfiiqdaan beeelo deegaanka dhab ahaan udhashay, muwaadiin dhab ahna ah. Qofna shaati uu isagu xidhanyahay kuma odhan karo qof kale iskabixi.
Aduunka maanta waxaa lagu jiraa xili dawlad kasta ay ugu jirto dadaal soo dhoofinta iyo soodhawaynta dadka aqoonyahanka,xirfadlayaasha iyo maalqabeenada, si ay kor ugu qaadaan maalgashiga, aqoonta iyo maalgashiga lacagta.Dadka aqoonyahanka iyo maalqabeenadu waa dad reer guuraa ah, oo kolba daaqsin udoonta meesha ay kahelayaan xoriyada shaqsiga, meesha ay kajirto nabad, meesha ay kajirto kaladambaynta sharciga iyo xukunka dastuuriga ah iyo meesha ay kubadbaadayso hantidooda iyo naftooda.Sidaas daraadeed,hadii ay rajo kaqabno hormar bulsho iyo mid dhaqaale, waxaa waajib inagu ah inaynu kawadashaqayno dhisida iyo kobcinta nidaam dawladeed oo kutaagan dastuur iyo saraynta sharciga.Nidaamka dawladeed ee hada kajira DDS waa mid caydhin haya qofkasta oo aqoonyahan ah, ganacsade ah, maalqabeen kasta iyo qof kasta oo aysan dantu kuqasbaynin deganaanshaha deegaanka.
Sidookale, udub dhexaadka dawlada iyo xadhiga iskuhaya bulsho kasta waa hirgalinta cadaalada iyo sinaanta shacabka, waana mida kamaqan nidaamka dawladeed ee hada kajira dawlada DDS iyo deegaanka Soomaalida Itoobiya. Hadaynaan dhisin, sijoogta ahna iskugu taxalujin hirgalinta iyo iskumaamulka nidaam kusalaysan sinaan iyo cadaalad, way adagtahay inaynu nabadgalyo kuwadanoolaano amase dawlad tayo leh oo shacabka wax utarta aynu yeelano. Sidookale, waxaan muhiim ah inaynu fahamno in mar hadii dawlad lanoqday dhulkii horay beel kasta isasiinaysay amase kumagacownayd ay hada dawladu kumagacaabantahay. Dawladu waa hantiwadaag, dhulkana waxaa iskaleh dawlada, qofka amase shaqsigu waxuu kuleeyahay dhulka iyo hantida ay dawladu usharciyayso sida dhulka uu guryaha kadhistay, beeraha ay dawladu usharciyaysay. Dadka reer guuraaga ah waxay xaq uleeyihiin in xoolahoodu udaaqsadaan dhulka ay daaqsinta udaganyihiin dhul aynan kasharci garaysanin dawlada oo ay leeyihiina aysan jirin, waxayna xoolahoodu daaqi karaan meel kasta.
Rayigan kudhisan dhulka beel hebel baa leh iyo fulaan, waxuu dhamaaday markaynu go’aansanay inaynu dawlad dadka iyo beelaha ka dhexeysa oo hantiwadaag ah yeelano, dhulkii beel kasta kumagacaabnayd shacabku wuu iskudarsaday oo maanta waa hantiwadaag.Beel kasta waxay xaq uleedahay in ay cod kuyeelato amase ay kamuuqato si sinaan iyo cadaalad ah dawlada DDS; balse majiro beel xaq uleh, amase gooni usheegan karta dhul gooni ah,taasi waxay jabinaysaa nidaamka dawliga ah, waana muhiim in xukuumadu fahamsiiso shacabka arintan. Sidoo kale, waxaa waajib ah in xukuumadu kudhawaaqdo in dhamaan dhulka ay xukuumadu leedahay, bilawdana mashruucyo ay ugu diiwaangalinayso shacabka leh hantida beeraha ee laisdhaxalsiiyay iyo hantida maguuraanka ah sida guryaha. Sida kaliya ee lagu soo afjari karo colaada salka kuhaysa dhul sheegashada iyo faanka qabiilka ee lahadhay deegaanka, waa inay dawlada DDS iyo dawlada dhexe ee Itoobiya ay kudhawaaqaan lahaanshaha dhulka guud ahaan iyo diiwaangashiga beeraha iyo hantida maguuraanka ah ee dadku goonida uleeyihiin.
Waxaan xasuusinaynaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed inaysan dhul la’aan kajirin deegaankeena, dadka kudhimanhaya qorshe la’aanta ay kamuhiimsanyihiin dhulka aynaan u’haynin dad kufilan. Waxaan xasuusinaynaa shacabka Soomaaliyeed in wadanka Jabaan ee leh dhaqaalaha sadexaad dunida maanta iyo tirada dadka kunool oo kabadan 127 million uu kayaryahay gobolka Afdheer.Sidoo kale, wadamada Norway iyo Sweden waxay kagalaan sanad kasta kaalinta ugu horaysa aduunka dhinaca qaninimada, waxayna kamidyihiin wadamada ugu hormarsan aduunka maanta. Labadan wadan, waxay kayaryihiin dhul ahaan dhamaan 9-ka gobol ee deegaanka Soomaalidu kakoobanyahay.Gabagabadii, dhul yari ma'aha dhibkeenu, waa jahli, aqoonyari iyo qabyaalad. Waxaynu uga gudbi karaa midnimo iyo iskaashi aynu kudhisano (abuuro) dawlad kusalaysan dimoqraadiyad iyo dastuur,sinaan iyo cadaalad iyo kobcinta shacabkeeda.
Kilil5 Editorial.
16 September 2011
Kilil5 Online--Qormadani waa faallo gaaban oo aanu ku eegayno cadaadiska iyo bahdilka ay shaqaalaha Dawlad Deegaanka Soomaalida Itoobiya lakulmaan, iyo sida lagu heli karo maamul suuban oo ka fayoow musuqmaasuq, eex iyo karti xumo.
Inkasta oo hadii maamul wanaag ladoonayo aytahay in la isla xisaabtamo, lana eego in qof kasta uu kasoo baxay shaqadiisii, hadana DDS maanta mayaalo nidaam kusalaysan sharci iyo isla xisaabtan dhab, maxaayeelay kuwa awooda badan leh, sida Madaxwayne Cabdi iyo kuwa isaga ka agdhawdhaw cidna lama xisaabtami karto, oo hadii ay iyagu gaf galaan; WAA LAMA CANAANTAA CAANIHII DAADIYAY, oo cid la xisaabtami iyo cid odhan karta gafkan ayaad gasheen oo Jigjiga jooga majiro.Sidaa darteed maamul wanaag ma imaan karo inta ay dadka qaarkood oo uu madaxwaynuhu kow kayahay ay kasareeyaan sharciga, waxa la xisaabinayo ee laleeyahay maamul wanaag sameeya waa dadka taagta yar, waa shaqaalaha hoose, waa kuwa aan xidhiidh hoose la lahayn Madaxwayne Cabdi iyo madaxda sare ee DDS.
Madaxwayne Cabdi waa inuu ogaadaa hadii uu doonayo maamul suuban inuunan kukeenaynin, cabudhis iyo caadis, awood sheegad, ee uu kukeeni karo oo kaliya, kasbashada dadka, kalsooni abuurid iyo dadka wanaagsan ee dadka wax uqaban kara oo hawsha loodhiibo.
Bishan Sibteembar 6 ilaa 8, waxaa Jigjiga kasocday qiimayn lagu samaynayo shaqaalaha DDS, qaabka wax loo qiimaynayo ma ahayn qiimayn ladoonayo in wax lagu hagaajiyo, in musuqmaasuqa lagula dagaalamo iyo in maamul suuban laga yagleelo DDS, ee waxay ahayd qiimayn lagu cabsigalinayo shaqaalaha. Taasna waxaa tusaale u ah, hadii qofka uu madaxwaynuhu eed usoo jeediyo uunan isdifaaci karin, sida uu doonana uu madaxwaynuhu kayeelayo shaqaalaha, dambigii la doonana loo maleegayo ama la dulsaarayo, sideebaa loogu tilmaami karaa waa shirqiimayn ah.
Waxaan odhan karnaa shir qiimayn ma’ahayne wuxuu ahaa shir lagu argaginxinayo, laguna bahdilayo shaqaalaha DDS.Sidookale, waxaan odhankarnaa Waxaa shaqaalaha lagula kacay wax sharciga ka baxsan, oo ah in beelo lookala qaybiyo iyo in lagu qasbo in ay furaan emailadooda.Falkan noocan ah ayaa noqday falkii ugu horeeyay ee lagulakaco shaqaalaha dawlada deegaanka. Nasiib daro, dhacdadan ayaan noqonaynin mid kalsooni galinaysa shaqaalaha dawlada mise kor uqaadaysa kalasaraynta shaqaalaha iyo kobcinta sharciga.Falkan shaqaalaha deegaanka lagula kacay ayaan meela kagajirin dastuurka dawlada deegaanka Soomalida iyo dastuurka wadanka Itoobiya.
Inkasta oo ay dawladdu xaq uleedahay inay sugto wadaniyada shaqaalaheeda iyo daacadnimooda, waxaa jirta siyaabo sharciga waafaqsan oo kahaboon falkan oo xukuumadu ay qaadi kartay awoodna uleedahay sharciguna u'ogolaanayo. Sidookale,falkan madaxwaynuhu kutalaabsaday ayaa kor uqaadaysa dhaliilaha ah in xukuumada Cabdi Maxamuud ay tahay mid adeegsata mise kafaaidaysata xumaatada qabiilka. Mar labaad waxaan odhan karnaa wuxuu ahaa shir lagu bahdilayo shaqaaladah DDS ee ma’ahay mudane Madaxwayne mid aad ku yagleelaysid maamul suuban, kulana dagaalamaysid musuqmaasuqa iyo maamul xumada.
Waxaa isla bishan Sibteembar 11, laxidhay 28 qof oo ushaqaynayay xafiiska Biyaha. Sida aanu lasoconno shaqaalaha la xidhxidhay waa kuwii hoose ee ma’aha madaxdii iyo kuwii shaqada ka masuulka ahaa. Shaqaalahan musuqa lagu eedeeyay ayaa sidoo kale loobahdilay sida kuwii laqiimaynayay. Falalka dhaqan ee xukuumadu kutalaabsatay labadan jeerba ayaa tusaale fiican iyo kalsooni toona siinaynay shaqaalaha dawlada deegaanka, shacabka Soomaaliyeed ee ay xukuumadu matasho iyo qurbajoogta deegaanka kasoojeeda ee jecel in deegaanka kahirgalo nidaam suuban oo kusalaysan sharciga dawliga iyo kudhaqanka dastuurka deegaanka Soomaaliyeed iyo dawlada dhexe ee Itoobiya.
Madaxwayne Cabdi,waxaan kugu raacsanahay in DDS ubaahantahay maamul suuban, maamul karti leh, maamul ladagaalama musuqmaasuqa iyo cadaalad darrada, hase yeeshee waxaan aaminsanahay in sida kaliya ee lagugaadhi karo ay tahay kudhaqanka dastuurka deegaanka iyo wadanka.Waxaan madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud xasuusinaynaa maahmaahda Soomaalida ee ah "ritiga dambe, ritiga hore raadkiisa ayuu qaadaa" iyo maahmaahda sawaaxiliga ee ah,"mtoto ya nyoga ni nyoga" oo macnaheedu yahay, masba masbuu dhalaa. Nuxurka labada maahmaah ayaa ah in in haday mas'uuliyiinta sarsare kudhaqmaan dastuurka deegaanka iyo wadanka,in haday kanabadgasho hantida shacabka,in haday madaxda sare layimaadaan karti shaqo iyo hufnaan qabiil iyo xigtaysi, shaki kumajiro in shaqaalaha dawlada deegaanka iyo shacabka deegaankuna ay qaadi raadkooda.
Waxaan kulatalinaynaa Madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamuud inuu layimaado kudayasho,waxaan xasuusinaynaa madaxwaynaha in sida kaliya ee deegaanku kugaadhi karo horumar iyo nidaam suuban ay tahay in madaxwaynuhu kameedhmo musuqmaasuq iyo xigtasho qabiil. Sidookale, waxaa muhiim ah in madaxwaynuhu markasta kudhaqmo dastuurka wadanka iyo deegaanka oo uusan kasaraynin sharciga si uu tusaale ugunoqdo shaqaalaha hoose ee dawlada iyo shacabka Soomaaliyeed. Waxaa muhiim ah in madaxwaynaha shaqaalaysto dadka kartida iyo aqoonta leh ee daacadda ka ah inay shacabka wax uqabtaan.
Ugu dambayntii, mudane madaxwayne, hadaad daacad katahay aragtidaada ku aadan helista nidaam suuban iyo hirgalinta qorshaha shanta sano, waxaan shaki nagagajirin in loobaahanyahay abuurka nidaam laxisaabtamikara dhamaan madaxda, shaqaalaha dawlada ee guud, lagasoo bilaabo madaxwaynaha ilaa qofka jidka xaaqa. Madaxwaynaha iyo madaxda sarsare waa inay layimaadaan kudayasho ficil leh. Mudane madaxwayne xasuuso, ritiba ritiga kahoreeya raadkiisa ayuu qaadaa iyo mtoto ya nyoka ni nyoka.
Kilil5 Online
Op-ED.
The people of Ethiopia are suffering at the hands of yet another round of a rise in the cost of living. Of course, this phenomenon is not unique to Ethiopia; it is a global trend. Therefore, the blame cannot be put on the Ethiopia government alone.
It can be held up to criticism, however, if it does not take measures aimed at easing the crippling inflation.
Raising the salaries of civil servants and the imposition of price caps on selected goods - steps intended to rein in the soaring inflation - have unfortunately not succeeded. Hence, the government is expected, and indeed has to, take other policy measures that help to tackle the rising cost of living.
This increase has different aspects. First, apart from the obvious increase of the prices of goods, some items have become scarce.
Second, workers are not finding it difficult to make ends meet but are also facing the prospect of layoffs. The swelling in the number of those who join the ranks of the unemployed is bound to have undesirable repercussions.
It’s not workers alone who are bearing the brunt of the problem, though; employers are no more able to sustain their normal level of operation and profitability due to the increase of the prices of or the unavailability of inputs. Aside from causing lay offs and a reduction in the real income of workers, this slowdown in business is certain to lead to a fall in tax revenues for the government.
Presently, it’s beyond the means of both employers and employees to overcome the difficulties they are in. Employers know the salary they pay to their employees is not enough to cover the latter’s needs. On their part, employees are cognizant of the fact that though they can barely survive on their current salary, employers cannot afford to pay them more owing to a slump in business activities and income. Fortunately, each party understands the position the other party is in, enabling both to make the best of what they have.
While not downplaying the concerns of workers, the government should give particular emphasis to the alarming situation the business community is in. Investor confidence has waned. And the slowdown in business is having broad economic and social impacts.
It should be noted here that we are concerned about the fate of businesspersons who habitually break the lawbut rather of those who find the going difficult despite working hard and abiding by the law. We are in no way advocating the right of lawbreakers. In fact, we want them to be shut down. We believe the government should support only members of the business community who respect the law and have a sense of social responsibility.
Coming back to the galloping inflation, there is no denying that it was primarily induced by developments outside Ethiopia and as such cannot be totally controlled by the government. Nonetheless, there are policies which can tame the factors that aggravate the problem.
This calls for a concerted effort on the part of different stakeholders - namely the government, the business community, professionals and the public at large - to identify the nature and source of the problem and its solution. It’s chiefly up to the government to ensure that this process is inclusive.
It cannot be argued that getting to grips with the problem can be put off to a later date because Ethiopia needs to be focused now on building the renaissance dam. It is not impossible to do both simultaneously. It cannot be argued that we cannot do anything about it because it is a global phenomenon. We can do something about it. It cannot be argued that the government budget cannot be trimmed for the sake of bringing down the high cost of living. After all, the very survival of citizens is the most critical agenda for any government.
In short, it’s high time the government sought effective solutions to arrest the run-away inflation that is bringing many to their knees. If such policy measures are not implemented immediately, unpleasant consequences could be in store for the country.
Source:The Reporter.Reprinted with permission by the Reporter Paper. Editors note: This Op-Ed was the editorial of the Reporter Daily.All rights reserved by the Reporter.
Op-Ed adopted from the Guardian Thursday Editorial
Every day 1,000 Somalis stream across the Kenyan border to Dadaab, which is full to bursting with 367,000 people and already constitutes the largest refugee settlement in the world. They arrive malnourished and dehydrated but – after a walk lasting weeks – grateful that they have made it to a point where they will get food and water. The exodus is not the only indicator that a major food crisis is brewing in the Horn of Africa after the driest year for 60 years.
In Somalia the price of the cereal red sorghum has risen by 240% in the last year, and a 90kg bag of maize is bartered for five goats now instead of one. The malnutrition rates of refugees arriving in Ethiopia are 23% – six times the rate that constitutes an emergency. Figures like these caused aid agencies to launch multimillion-pound appeals this week to address a humanitarian emergency in east Africa affecting up to 10 million people. Britain announced that it would give £38m in food aid to Ethiopia, which is generous. Would that other donors gave as much, even if that sum may only fund the World Food Programme operation in the country until September.
But the problem is not just assessing the size of the current crisis, which is sure to grow. It is also the fact that the droughts in this region have become an almost annual occurrence. There have been five in the last seven years and, in terms of numbers affected, this may not be the largest. The biggest crisis peaked in 2009 when 22 million people were affected.
Should everyone shrug their shoulders and put serial drought down to climate change? No, these are some of the least developed areas in Africa. Of course, Somalia is shattered by decades of intervention and insurgency, and the drought has got so bad in the areas controlled by the militant Islamist al-Shabab that it has lifted its ban on getting food aid from UN agencies. But the largest number affected are in north-eastern Kenya, where the lack of roads, the soaring cost of transport, the lack of access to markets makes pastoralists and their livestock vulnerable from one month to the next. As the NGO Care says, simple measures can strengthen their resilience – building water pans, leaving pastures spare, setting boreholes and maintaining them, and training health workers to diagnose diseases and provide treatment to livestock. There are larger structural problems such as migration routes blocked by land bought by agribusiness and tourism.
As it is, aid agencies race from one drought to another. And the fact that the shortfall in WFP funding is 42% in Somalia, and 67% in Ethiopia and Kenya, speaks volumes about the mentality of donors who are only moved to act when it is too late.
Source:Guardian Newspaper,London U.K
Kilil5 Editorial.
The role of the news media in society springs from the right of people to learn about matters of public concern. The citizens of the Somali region should have the right and freedom to speak about the workings of their government, should be entitled to debate their government conduct, and have the right to demand that their leaders defend their decisions, and the policies they are pursuing. People can play a useful role in a society and hold their government accountable only if informed well enough to do so. In this context, kilil5 Online strives to act as both a conduit and a watchdog. It’s our belief that free expression encourages a government to be answerable to its people.
Kilil5 Online believes access to information is essential to the health of the Somali region for two reasons. First, it ensures that citizens are informed about matters that affect their daily lives within their boundaries and the outside world. Second, information serves as a checking function by ensuring that SRS Officials and people put in position of leadership uphold their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those who have entrusted them in their positions. We believe, we have an antagonist relationship with the region’s leadership and it should be that way because in the developed world, and nations with democratic societies, it has been proven that, an antagonistic relationship between media and government plays a vital and healthy element for the full functioning of society and the supremacy of the rule of law. Our role is not to be cheerleaders for the regional or the federal government but to disseminate information as a way of mediating between the Somali regional state and a Somali society with many differing, and often competing special interest clans. Our role is to inform the public, and hold government accountable. In return, this eventually yields good citizens and better government. The rule of law may be further institutionalized if we play our role independently.
Within the context of supporting and encouraging a democratic society and the rule of law in the Somali region, our goal has been to move to a more open role, from one that isn’t overtly controlled by the government and private interest groups, and to a position which has a degree of editorial independence that serves the public interest and the region’s citizens. We strongly believe that, inorder to have a meaningful role in the Somali region, and the country as a whole, then our goal is to welcome, nurture, promote, and encourage a diverse range of opinion and voices, even if we don’t agree or share the same ideology. We believe this because we realize the region’s interest is better served by having plural voice and diversity of opinions.
It’s because of this believe that we invite and welcome editorials, and Op-eds from current SRS leadership including the current president Abdi Mohamud Omar (he can explain his policies, and vision for the region and when needed, defend them from unfair critics if he feels so. This is what leaders in democratic societies do and he is welcome at this website anytime he wishes) and former leaders such as president Da’ud Mohamed and Abdullahi Hassan Mohamed. We invite academicians, technocrats and all professionals to write academic pieces, articles, op-ed pieces that will bring forward creative, stimulative and thought provoking ideas that might be useful to the Somali regional state’s economic and political well being and the nation as a whole. It’s our view that the region’s intellectuals and highly educated elites are missing from the debate if there are any of them.
It’s in this spirit that we thank former SRS president Abdullahi Hassan Mohamed for his commentary in the geo-politics and about matters that are important to the Somali Regional State. Given the amount of criticism the president gets from the analysis of this website, it takes courage, dynamism and frankly leadership to not personalize our criticism because it’s never personal with us. It’s just our analysis right or wrong-- It’s journalism. Never the less, it’s the kind of modern leadership we want to see emerge from the region. The region’s citizens need, and are demanding, a pragmatic, and serious minded leaders-- leaders who are serious about the business of governing, instead of indulging themselves, the political witch-hunting of their opponents.
But it’s also equally true that, our citizens need to support their leaders, as our leaders are only as good as we make them. Without our support, the region’s leaders cannot solve the mountain of problems that our region faces today. The time is now for us to learn from the mistakes of our brothers across the border and the issues that have reduced them to the misery and the shameful sorry state they find themselves in today. We can’t allow the few in our midst to pursue the culture of destruction and recklessness unchecked. We can't allow the few extremist in our midst to determine our future for us. We can’t allow the clan ideologues to use the cancer of clanism to pursue the power they so desire without regard to our well being.
Op-Ed.
The push by multinational corporations and foreign governments in recent years to obtain fertile land in African countries such as Ethiopia, Madagascar and Tanzania has spurred debate over whether the move will lead to development or is simply a “land grab†that further threatens the continent's food security.
Land rush
There has been growing interest by foreign investors to buy or lease large areas of arable land in sub-Saharan Africa, either to grow food for their own countries or to export it for profit. The land rush has been triggered, says an article in South Africa's Mail & Guardian, by worldwide food shortages and food security concerns that followed oil price rises in 2008, water shortages and the European Union’s insistence that 10 percent of all transport fuel come from plant-based biofuels by 2015. Others say population growth is also a factor.
Investors say these acquisitions will fuel development, but opponents call the move a “land grab†that will threaten Africa's own food security and livelihood. Stacy Feldman, writing for Solve Climate News, elaborates on the situation:
Researchers revealed that foreign companies are buying or leasing vast chunks of land in Africa and elsewhere for their own use. In fact, up to 50 million acres have been sold off or soon will be. That's equivalent to about 25 percent of all the farmland in Europe. Much of that land is being bought by emerging nations to raise crops for their growing populations. These countries – China, India, South Korea and oil-rich Gulf states – have land and water constraints at home. They got burned by [the 2008] global food crisis and are turning to Africa as a food security blanket.
In Ethiopia, farmland is being bought or leased on an immense scale. The country has approved 815 foreign-financed agricultural projects since 2007 and land is being leased for approximately one dollar per year for one hectare, according to the Mail & Guardian. The country gave out 600,000 hectares to foreign entities between 2004 and early 2009, according to a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Meanwhile, Ethiopia remains one of the hungriest countries in the world. Earlier this year the Ethiopian government said some 2.8 million people are in need of emergency food aid in 2011. Forty-one percent of the population is undernourished. This paradox has angered some Ethiopians.
i-tech stimulus?
But proponents of these land deals, including the Ethiopian government, say it will bring capital, technology, agricultural knowledge, infrastructure and lots of jobs to impoverished rural areas where subsistence farmers use low-tech tools. One government official, reported Fred de Sam Lazaro in a piece for PBS News Hour that was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, says that Ethiopia has an abundance of land and barely five percent of it is being cultivated by the country's farmers.
Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, said last month in The Guardian that the country must significantly develop mechanized agriculture to reach the development goals unveiled in Ethiopia's latest development plan, which aims for an average economic growth of 14.9 percent over a five-year period. A doubling of agricultural output, the plan says, will fuel that growth, and so the government has put aside three million hectares of land to be leased. The government says the country may not even need food aid within five years.
The blog Govindan Online, written by a former Indian diplomat, calls these land investments a welcome development:
Bringing in large areas of land under cultivation and building infrastructure will generate large scale employment even if these sectors are completely mechanized. Since land utilization in these continents is very low, compared to other continents, there is not going to be any ecological problems. It is also to be remembered that some European countries including Russia have sold/leased out land to foreigners with a view to increase local food grain production.
Speaking out against “land grabsâ€
Many farmers, land rights advocates, various reports and non-governmental organizations disagree. They call the situation a “land grab†that may lead to environmental destruction, displacement of small, local landholders, worker and resource exploitation, loss of livelihoods and food insecurity. Some say it's a new form of colonialism.
Many bloggers have also spoken out against the land grabs. Devinder Sharma, an Indian food and trade policy analyst blogging on Ground Reality, calls these foreign investors “food pirates.†Woldegb, commenting on Kebede's piece in The Guardian, says it is very unrealistic to believe that foreign investors can improve food security, and Nyikaw Ochalla, posting on Anyuak Media, refutes many of Kebede's claims.
Blog The Africanist says the deals will likely lead to violence and questions the logic of providing food aid to countries that are exporting food. Nabeeha Kazi Hutchins, blogging on The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, points out that little has been mandated to protect the land and the interests of local communitiesand Ellen Albritton, blogging on CMH 365: Public Health and Social Justice, questions the ethics of benefiting from food grown in Ethiopia while Ethiopians starve.
RAH, commenting on a post on the blog Brown Condor, says there are four questions that should first be answered:
Number One: Will this adversely affect Ethiopian farmers in any major way?
Number Two: Will these foreign countries/companies abuse and or harm the land in any way?
Number Three: Will this drastically cut the water supply to downstream nations that depend on water from the Nile?
Number Four: Will all of this NEW REVENUE truly benefit the people of Ethiopia or just mainly the government?
The FAO says little is still understood about the impact of these international land deals. In response, the organization is drawing up a code of conduct to bring equitable shares for all parties in these deals. Perhaps such a code will help offset what the blog Yene Ethiopia believes is the government's short sightedness in approving such land deals:
The Ethiopian government makes it seem as if 50 or 100 years from now everything will be as it were before the lease. After producing under highly mechanized, intensive farming, the land will no longer be productive. The sizes being given away are not benign. Is there a plan beyond selling the land that will ensure a generation from now these farmers’ children will not be landless laborers?…Why not empower these people? Help them build cooperatives? Give them favorable loans? Help them get mechanized? No, that would require actually governing and would be hard work.
Ed’s Note: This post was commissioned as part of a Pulitzer Center/Global Voices Online series on Food Insecurity. These reports draw on multimedia reporting featured on the Pulitzer Gateway to Food Insecurity and bloggers discussing the issues worldwide.
.“Officials, who say you are serving the Ethiopian people in accordance with the law, honestly, fearlessly, diligently, please raise your hands!â€
If a political party that wins an election genuinely believes that the electorate has given it the mandate to govern, it should acknowledge that this mandate entails the responsibility of serving the public in accordance with the constitution and the law as well as honestly, faithfully, fearlessly and diligently.
This is what the government, the ruling party and public officials need to believe in with conviction and the perspective from which they have to evaluate themselves. It’s not out of a simple desire that we asked public officials to raise their hands; it’s because we want them to ask themselves honestly whether they are serving the public or being served by it.
What prompted us to ask the officials to raise their hands? The answer is simple. It is getting difficult for the public to find a mechanism that can serve as a sounding board to express its grievance and find solutions for same. Good governance is becoming a scarce commodity. Justice organs are becoming increasingly inaccessible; institutions which claim to have an open-door policy are becoming opaque. And on the rare occasions when justice is seen to be done, it happens at the time of autopsy rather than in an attempt to save lives.
We are not saying that there are no officials who serve the public with honesty and integrity. However, the sad truth is that they are in the minority.
Citizens have to be able to have the confidence that the government is committed to and capable of protecting their rights. Of course, any measure that the government takes in this regard has to be lawful and should be based on evidence.
The government executes all these tasks entrusted to it and monitors their implementation through its officials. Are these officials ready to discharge their duties duly?
If the EPRDF were asked what drove its 17-year struggle against the Derg regime, it would undoubtedly say that it was motivated by the desire to serve the public lawfully, honestly, faithfully, fearlessly and diligently as well as to realize peace, democracy, justice and development for the people of Ethiopia.
When it comes to whether all EPRDF officials still believe and work towards the attainment of these ideals, the party would be pressed hard to argue that they do. There is no denying the fact that there are EPRDF/ government officials who are mired in corruption, who openly discriminate between citizens, who choose to keep silent about wrongdoings they have knowledge of for fear of reprisals and who exhibit more diligence and vigor in pursuing entertainment and recreational activities than in serving the public honestly.
In as much as there are honest, courageous and diligent EPRDF officials, there also exist within the ranks of the officials those who are dishonest, cowardly and indolent.
It’s this lack of uniformity that makes it obligatory for the officials to engage in critical self-assessment and soul-searching.
The government has the obligation to scrutinize the performance and conduct of its officials. It also has to reward good performers and get rid of those who fail to execute their tasks properly. Otherwise, it will lose credibility in the eyes of the public.
The public too has the duty to monitor closely government officials. It is incumbent upon it to fight and expose corruption, injustice, discrimination, repression and government lethargy on all fronts. It is indefensible for the rich, well-connected and smooth talkers to be afforded government protection while honest and innocent citizens go without it.
However, it is primarily up to the officials to clean up their acts and serve the public properly without being forced into doing so by other parties.
They also have to ask themselves what they should derive happiness from. If they think that it is from having money, cars and houses or from the perks that come with their jobs, they are dead wrong. The ‘happiness’ they get is false and will be short-lived.
A person who delivers a service that is to the satisfaction of the public is bound to be emotionally satisfied and lead a peaceful life. Though the likes of Mubarak, Gaddafi and Saleh may have amassed wealth while in power, they are not a happy lot. To make matters worse, they have become the subject of a travel and their money/assets have been frozen; they have ended up empty-handed.
Frankly speaking, EPRDF officials were happier while fighting in the bushes than they are now. Then there was no money, wealth, corruption, fear or lethargy; everyone was prepared to pay whatever sacrifice was necessary and imbued with a sense of happiness and moral satisfaction. But now they have lost sight of the goals they set out to achieve and are more concerned about fulfilling their materials needs.
It is morally right to derive happiness and material benefits by doing one’s job properly. Any wealth that is amassed at the expense of the public interest will inevitably be lost.
Public officials are duty-bound to serve the public lawfully, faithfully, fearlessly and diligently. This is the minimum that the public expects from them.
02/16/2011
Yuusuf Ebrahim
Hadii aynu qaran doonayno, aynu marno wada loo maro, hadii aynu qabiil doonaynana, Wadadii qabiil waynu saaranahay hada, been yaynaan iska dhaadhicin oon qabiil qaran laga dhigin ama qaran qabiil loobadalin.
Hadii aanan laxalinin maamulka aanan isu dheeli tirnayn ee ka jira gobolka Soomaalida Ethiopia, hadii aanan laxalin khilaafaadka jira iyo cadaalad la’aanta ay dad badan oo deegaanka ah ay dareemayaan, hadii aanan laxalinin hantida dawlada ee la musuqmaasuqayo, nin jeclaysiga iyo naas nuujinta ; waxaa hubaal ah inay sii kordhayaan loolanka hoose ee udhaxeeyay beelaha, islamarkaana ay bulshada Soomaaliyeed ee deegaanka ku nool aad usiikala fogaan doonto.
Dhamaanteen madax, iyo shacab, qurbajoog iyo gurijoogba, culimo iyo caamo, odayaal iyo dhalinyaro, rag iyo dumar, aqoonyahan iyo ganacsato intaba waxaan u baahannahay inaan is waydiino: Ma waxaan doonaynaa qaran mise qabiil? Hadii aan qaran doonayno, waxaa jirta wado loo maro qarannimo ee aan marno. Hadii aan qabiil doonayno waxaa iyadana jirta wado loo maro qabiil, umana baanin in aan wada qabiil loo maro isutilmaanno, oo way iska caddahay.
Si loo helo qaran, qabiilkana looga gudbo, waxaa lagamamaarmaan ah in lahelo:
• Maamul isu dheeli tiran, oo loo dhanyahay, qaybaha bulshadana matalaya.
• In aynan beelina dareemin in laga tagay, maamulka laga qadiyay
• In lahelo nidaam suuban oo musuqmaasuq ka fog.
• In waxa dadka lagu dhaqayo uu noqdo shariciga, qofnana uunan ka sareyn karin sharciga.
• In xilka loo dhiibo dad qaban kara, kasoo bixi kara, danaynaya hormarka bulshada.
• In lahelo hay’ad madax banaan oo la xisaabtami karta mas’uuliyiinta dawladda, qofkii xilkiisa kasoo bixi waayana xilka ka qaadi karta.
• In shaqaalaha dawladda lagu soo xulo xirfadooda, aqoontooda, hufnaantooda iyo kartidooda ee aanan lagu soo xulin beesha ay kasoo jeedaan iyo madaxda ay saaxiibka iyo xigtada layihiin, iyada oo islamarkaana isha lagu haynayo deegaanada kala duwan ee deegaanku ka koobanyahay.
• Waa in aan kala baranaa waxa udhexeeya hantida guud ee dadka ka dhaxaysa iyo hantida goonida looleeyahay: Wax kasta oo xafiis dawladeed yaala waa hanti guud, qofi gooni umalaha, kooxi gooni umalaha, beelina gooni umalaha. Hantida guud cidna gooni iyo sida ay doonto uma adeegsan karto, umana isticmaali karto. Wax kasta oo qof gooni uleeyahay, waa hanti gooni looleeyahay, qofkaasaana iskala leh, qofkuu doono isagu hasiiyo, hadii uu doono xigtadiisa hakadhargiyo.
• In lakala saaro qabiilka iyo qaranka iskumaran ee aan lakala saari karin. Qofka madaxda ah ee dawladda ushaqeeya, qaran buu ushaqeeyaaye, qabiil uma shaqeeyo. Waxaana waajib ku ah qofkaas dawlada ushaqeeya in uu dadka oo dhan si sinaan ah ugu adeego, si sinaan ah wax ugu wada qabto, iyaga oo aanan qabiil eegaynin.
• Waa inay madaxdu joojiyaan naas nuujinta iyo nin jeclaysiga ay xigtadooda iyo saaxiibadood usameynnayaan, iyaga oo ku naas nuujinaya hantida qaranka ee bulshada kawada dhaxaysa iyo iyaga oo magac qaran wata inay qabiil, iyo jilibeysi kushaqeeyaan.
• Waa in ay madaxda dawladdu qaadaan ol’ole kusaabsan baridda dadka wax udhexeeya qaran iyo qabiil. Waana in dadka dawladda ushaqeeya loo sheego, lana baro in aynan hantida qaranka ku naas nuujin karin qaraabo iyo saaxiibo, iyo nafsadooda midna.
• Waa in ay adeegga dawladdu bixiso ay bulshadu uwada sinaato, ee aynan adeeg helin oo kaliya kuwa qaraabadoodu xafiisyada dawladda kashaqeeyaan, saaxiibadood xafiisyada dawladda kashaqeeyaan ama kuwa lacag musuqmaasuq ah bixiya si ay uhelaan waxa ay uga baahanyihiin xafiisyada dawladda. Marka uu qofka dawladda ushaqeeya xafiiska joogo, waa in uunan dadka xafiiska wax uga soo baahda ukala eexanin. Qof kasta waa inuu helaa waxa uu xafiiska ka doonayo, hadii uu yahay wax sharcigu ogolyahay in labixiyo, qofkuna uu soo buuxiyay shuruudihii lagu siin lahaa.
Madaxda iyo dadka dawladda iyo hay’adaha ushaqeeya hadii aynan joojinin hantida qaranka ee qofka qaraabada ah ay ku naas nuujinnayaan marka ay xilka qabtaan, waxaa hubaal ah in aynaan qaran noqonaynin, waxayna arintani abuuraysaa inay bulshadu u aragto dawladu inay tahay meel qofku qaraabadii ka nooleeyo oo lacag bilaash ah laga helo. Waxaa kale oo ay dawladda u arkayaan inaytahay: HOOYGA EEXDA, MUSUQA IYO CADAALAD DARRADA. Waxaana sii badan doona loolanka siyaasadeed ee beelaha iyo shaqsiyaadka ka dhaxeeya, maxaa yeelay sida kaliya ee qofku uu wax ku heli karo waa in qof isaga ay qaraabo yihiin uu xil qabto. Loolanka hoose wuxuu sii abuuri isnacayb, kala shaki, kala fogaansho iyo inay beel kasta ama koox kasta u aragto inay kooxda kale halis ku tahay danaheeda. Maxaa yeelay, hadii ay beel ama kooxi waydo awoodii iyo saameyntii siyaasadda, waxay waynaysaa dhacdhacii soo gali jiray ee ay ka heli jireen wiilkooda wasiirka ah iyo waxyaabihii sida dhibka yar ay xafiisyada dawladda uga heli jireen. Arinta noocan oo kale ah, waxay abuuraysaa sicir barar qabiil “clan inflationâ€. Beelihii ayaa sii badan doona, oo mid walba sodon iyo laba laamood ayay yeelan doontaa. Marka sida kaliya ee looga badbaadi karo kala shaki iyo inay dadwaynuhu eedeeyaan hadba beesha madaxweynaha talada haya, isqabqabsiga, waxaa in ay xarumada ama xafiisyada dawladda iyo madaxda ka shaqeeyaaba ay dadwaynaha udhexeeyaan, si sinaan ahna ugu adeegaan, iskana ilaaliyaan nin jeclaysiga, naas nuujinta iyo musuqmaasuqa.
Waa dhib wayn hadii lakala garan waayo qofka madaxweynaha ah ama wasiirka ah inuu kaabo qabiil yahay iyo inuu yahay madaxwayne ama wasiir qaran oo qabiilo badan ka kooban. Hadii uu madaxwayne kasta isku hareereeyo, inta udhaw dhaw, ilmo adeero, iyo inta unacam laysa, sidee baynu qaran horumar iyo nidaam suuban noo horseeda ku yeelanaynaa?noqonaa ma noqonayno. Maxaa keenay kalsooni la'aanta ninkasta oo xafiis loodhiibo isku agdhoobayo xigtadiisa dhowdhow? Bal ufiirsada,madaxwayne Cabdi Maxamud Cumar markii madaxwaynenimada loo magacaabay waxaa ku yaacay xukuumadiisa xigtadiisa dhowdhow waxaana garab yaacaya oo lataliyayaal madaxwaynaha u ah baa lagu leeyahay kuwo aanan dugsi sare xitaa ka bixin. Sidee kalsooni u siinaysaa shacabka ileen dadku way isyaqaanaaye, marka la arko madaxwaynihii dawlada oo lataliyaayiishu yihiin dad aan aqoon iyo khibrad dawladnimo lahayn.
Madaxda dunida horumartay waxay xushaan muwaadiniin isku darsaday ama isku soosaaray aqoon,karti iyo maamul wanaag iyaga oo aaminsan in waxqabadkoodu ku xidhanyahay kartida iyo aqoonta lataliyayaashooda iyo xubnaha ay u magacaabayaan wasiirada iyo xafiisyada sarsare ee dawlada.Waana sida ay xaqiiqdu tahay.Ma kulatahay lataliye xirfadiisu tahay Taksiile inuu madaxwaynaha siinayo talo xanbaarsan aragti dheer (vision) oo dhaqaale,horumar,siyaasad,iyo xirfad shaqo? Maxaase Kukalifaya mas'uuliyiinta inay isku hareereeyaan shaqsiyaad qabyaalad iyo nidaam burburin mooyee waxkale aan kusoobiirinaynin? soo ma'aha shinbirba shinbirkiisa ayuu laduulaa? (birds of same feather flock together).
Waa in aynan dawladda iyo madaxda dawladdu aynan noqonin labo dubleyaal: Waa in aynan noqonin dad korka ama muuqaalka guud wax ka ah, hoosna wax kale ka ah. Waa in aynan dawladdu noqonin kor ka dawlad, hoos ka qabiil. Waa in uunan madaxweynuhu noqonin kor ka madaxweyne hoos ka qabiil. Waa in uunan wasiirku noqonin kor ka wasiir, hoos ka oday beeleed.
Waxaan ognahay in ay bulshada deegaanku wada baahantahay, wada tabaalaysantahay, dawladuna aynan haynin wax ku filan oo baahidooda dabooli kara. Waxaa kale oo aynu ognahay in xitaa dawladaha ugu hantida badan aduunka aynan dabooli karin baahida dadkooda. Hasayeeshee, waxaa lagama maarmaan ah in bulshada deegaanka gurijoog iyo qurbajoogba, madax iyo shacabba ay fahmaan saddex arimood oo dulucda qoraalkan ku saabsanyahay:
1. Xafiisyada iyo madaxda dawladda ee xafiisyadaas ka shaqeeya waa inay si siman ugu adeegaan bulshada, oo aynan ku jirin nin jeclaysi, oo aynan ku jirin kanna soodhawee, kanna fogee, qofkan bilaash wax ugu qabo, qofkanna lacag ka qaad, qofkanna lugoo oo udiid waxa uu xafiiska dawladda uga baahnaa ee uu xaq ulahaa, qofkanna wax kasta ufududee.
2. Hantida dadwaynaha waa hanti uunan qof gooni ulahayn, sidaa darteed waa in aynan madaxdu musuqmaasuqin, waa in aynan madaxdu ku naas nuujinin xigtadooda iyo saaxiibadooda.
3. Waa in ay madaxdu iska daayaan qaraabada iyo xigtada ay isku hareeraynayaan markii ay xil qabtaan. Hadii ay madaxdu noqdaan kuwo aanan la arki karin, oo markaad istidhaahdo arag aad sii marayso 30 nin oo xigtadiisa ah oo kasoo sokeeya, si aad ugaadho ninkii madaxda ahaa ee aad doonaysay, waa dhibaato inteeda le’eg qaranna waligeen ma noqondoonno, qabyaaladuna waxay sii saddex jibaarmi.
4. Madaxdu hantida ay iyagu gooni uleeyihiin ee aynan dawladdu lahayn, ee ay iyagu iskood ushaqaysteen, ee aynan ka dhicin dawladda, cidii ay doonaan hasiiyaan. Waa in ay madaxdu kala saaraan hantida dowladda/dadwaynaha iyo midda goonida ay iyagu uleeyihiin.
Si aan unoqono bulsho qabiil ka korta, hadii aynaan ka kornina, uunan qabiilku diloonin, waa in nin kasta oo madax ah oo xafiis dawladeeda ama xafiis guud oo dadka kawada dhexeeya qabta uu si siman bushlada ugu adeego. Hantida dadwaynaha ee ay madaxdu boobaysana la joojiyo. Hantida dadwaynaha ee ay madaxdu qaraabadood iyo saaxiibadood ay ku naas nuujinayaana la joojiyo. Shaqadana lasiiyo qofkii aqoon uleh, khibrad uleh, hufnaan iyo musuqmaasuq la’aan lagu ogyahay. Madaxduna aynan isku hareereynin xigtadooda iyo ilma adeeradood.
Yusuf Ebrahim
Kilil5 Contributor
Dalsan100@yahoo.com
Arbaco, Janaayo 12, 2011 (KOL)--- Qormadan, waa qormo aannu ku falanqeynayno sida ay dawladdu u daneynayso qurbajoogta, una duudsiyayso gurijoogta, sida ay waqti iyo lacag badan ugu bixinayso qurbajoogta, indhahana ugu laabanayso gurijoogta iyo dhibaatooyinka haysta. Sida loo buunbuuninayo qurbajoogta, loogana dhigayo khadar yimid, dhibaatooyinka iyo dhabta deegaanka taallana loo dado, loogana dhigo inuu deegaanku yahay meel uu kajiro isbadal dhab ah oo dhinac kasta leh. In uu kajiro isbadallo leh: mid siyaasadeed, mid dhaqaale, mid nabadgalyo iyo mid maalmul suuban oo musuqa la dagaalama, maamul dadka uu xukumo udhago nugul, utura, mas’uuliyadna iska saara dadka uu xukumo.
Dhawrkii bilood ee lasoo dhaafay, waxaa deegaanka imaanayay dad kala duwan oo meelo kala duwan oo aduunka ah kasoo kicitimay, dhamaantoodna wadaaga hal magac: Qurbajoog. Dadkan qurbajoogta ah, ayaa dhamaantood ah dad deegaanka udhashay, xaqna uleh inay deegaankoodii aynan arag sanooyinka badan soo arkaan, soona ogaadaan dhabta taalla deegaanka iyo sida ay dadku unoolyihiin iyo xaaladda ay dadku ku sugan yihiin.
Dadkan yimid, qaarkood koox bay kuyimideen, qaarkoodna kalikali ayay ahaayeen. Hasayeeshee, markii ay deegaanka yimideen, ayay koox ahaan usameysmeen. Dadka kooxda usocday, dawladda deegaanka ayaa kharashka kabixisay, waxayna qayb ka ahaayeen mashruuca dawladda ee ah: Qurbajoog Kasbashada. Inta ay qurbajoogtani deegaanka joogeen, waxaa uxilsaaraa meelo geyntooda iyo wixii kale ee ay ubaahanyihiin madaxa Xafiiska Qurbajoogta. Waxaana lageeyay ama ay booqdeen meelaha ay dawladdu doonayso inay booqdaan, ee maynan ahayn dad iskood umadax banaan oo meeshii ay doonaan booqan kara, shirkay doonaanna abaabuli kara oo bulshada sidii ay doonaan ula hadli kara, waydiin karana dhabta taalla deegaanka.
Qurbajoogtan ay dawladdu ka dhigayso inay yihiin khadar lasugayay oo yimid, ayaa booqasho lagu geeyay dagmada Awbare, dagmada Bambaas/Gursum, Dhagaxbuur, Godey iyo meelo kamid ah magaalada Jigjiga. Meelahan lageeyay qurbajoogta, waxay dawladdu uga gol lahayd inay tusto qurbajoogta hormarka deegaanka kajira. Waxaa kale oo ay ujeedada laga lahaa ahayd in qurbajoogta latuso in deegaanku nabad yahay, dawladduna ay dadkeeda dibad jooga ah sida ugu sareysa usoo dhaweynayso.
Isla waqtigan xaadirka ah ee ay dawladdu koolkoolinayso qurbajoogta, waxaa deegaanka kajira abaaro halis kuhaya dadka deegaanka, gaar ahaan xoolo dhaqatada, waxay iskudhacyo udhexeeya Oromada iyo Soomaalida ay kajiraan gobollada Afdheer iyo Fiiq, waxaa jira dad lagu afduubtay dagmada Bambaas, walina afduubkii ku maqan iyo kuwo kale oo magaalada qoxooti kujooga kadib markii xoolohoodii ladhacay. Waxaa intaas sii dheer, xadhiga iyo hagar daamada joogta ah ee lagu eedeeyo ciidamada dawladda ee lagula kaco dadka rayadka ah. Dhamaan arimahan oo dhan dawladdu kama hadasho. Hal qoraalla warbaahinta afka dawladda ku hadasha ee CakaaraNews maynan ka qorin. Hasayeeshee, waxay CakaaraNews qurbajoogta kaqortay inkabadan 15 maqaal inta udhexeeysa bishii Deseembar iyo bishan Janaayo. Arintani waxay inna tusinaysaa, in DDS ay daneynayso dadka saameynta leh, dadka ladan ee codka leh, codkoodana aduunka gaadhsiin kara ee qurbajoogta ah.
Hadaba, maxay tahay sababta ay dawladdu aadka ugu daneynayso, qurbajoogta, una dhinac marayso dadka deegaanka? Jawaabtu waxay tahay, madaxda DDS waxay ogyihiin dadka qurbajoogtu inay cod leeyihiin, inay gaadhsiin karaan codkooda aaduun waynaha, tusi karaanna dhibaatada kajirta DDS. Waa hadii ay sifiican isu abaabulaan. Waxay awoodi karaan inay qaadacaan shirarka ay madaxda sarsare ee dawladda deegaanku soo qabanqaabiso marka ay dibadda iyo dalalka reer Galbeedka usoo safraan. Waxay awoodi karaan inay ku banaan baxaan, madaxda deegaanka ka timaadda, codsadaanna in laxidho. Waxay awoodaan inay cabsi la’aan iyo cabudhis la’aan kunoolaadaan, inay cambaareeyaan falalka xad gudubka ah ee ay dawladdu geysato. Hasayeeshee, intaa oo dhan dadka deegaanku ma awoodaan, sidaa darteed waxay dawladdu u aragtaa dadka deegaanka kunool inay yihiin, “xoolo xiro ugu jira†oo sidii la doono laga yeelo.
Waxa ay dawladdu dadkan qurbajoogta udanaynayso ma’aha inay doonayso isbadal dhab ah, ee waxay doonaysaa magaceeda wasakhoobay ee ay gudaafaddu kabuuxdo in loo nadiifiyo, qurbajoogta saameynta kuleh dadka deegaankuna unadiifiyaan, kadibna qurbajoogta oo wasakhaysan la xooro, meel cidla ahna lagu xooro iyada oo aan wax isbadal ah oo dhab ah kadhicin deegaanka, dadkana sidii hore loo xidhxidhayo, loo dulminayo, sharaftoodana meel lagaga dhacayo, musuqmaasuquna uu sidii hore usocdo.
Hadii ay dawladdu doonayso inay qorbajoogta kasbato, in uu magaceedu nadiif u ahaado, in dhamaan dadka oo dhan ay ku dabo faylaan, in ONLF laga soo kasbado taageerayaasheeda, jabhadduna ay taageero la'aan kusoo dhacdo, waa in ay dadka cadaadiska, gabood falka, xadhiga la iska xidhayo dadka iyo cabsi galinta dadka joojisaa, dadkeedana udhago nuglaataa, lacagta yar ee deegaanku helana sida ugu haboon danaha dadka deegaanka ugu adeegtaa. Waxay dawladdu ubaahantahay inay ogaado in qurbajoogtu aynan qado iyo qureec toona ubaahnayn, ee ay qadada iyo qureecda ay ubaahanyihiin macalimiinta Garbo wax ka dhiga, Gunadagdo wax ka dhiga, Bookh iyo Wardheer wax ka dhiga, Feerfeer iyo Dhooboweyn wax ka dhiga, Fiilatu, Hargeelle, Ayshica, Dembal, Fiiq, Dhuxun, Gaashaamo, Jarratti iyo Raaso wax ka dhiga. Kolkii ay dawladdu macalimiintaas iyo kuwa lamidka ah uroonaato, baahidooda wax ka qabato, xadhiga iyo sida xun ee dadka loola dhaqmana ay joojiso, ayada oo aanan lacag iyo laaloosh midna ku bixinin qurbajoogtu dawladda way kudabo fayli, deegaankana iyaga oo aan loo yeedhin ayay imaan doonaan. Hadii kale, waxaa dhamaan doonta fursaddan hadda joogta, iyada oo aynan dawladdu isbadal dhab ah sameynin, qurbajoogtuna waxay kuwada laaban doonaan dalalkii ay ka yimideen iyaga lacnadaya maamul xumada iyo qaab dhaqanka madaxda DDS.
Waxay dawladdu ubaahantahay inay garato, in qof qureec haysta, qado loogu daro aynan qiil ahayn, ee waxaa qiil ah, qof aan qureec iyo qado midna haysanin oo qatan, in qureec ama qado lasiiyo. Dadka qatan ee aan qado iyo qureec midna haysanin majoogaan Ingiriiska, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Kanada, Dubai, iyo Maraykanka midna, ee waxay joogaan tuulo kasta oo kamid ah DDS. Sidaa darteed, iyaga ayaa mudnaanta leh in qado iyo qureec lasiiyo, iyaga ayaa haboon in la abaabulo, lala shiro, la wacigaliyo, lasoo dhaweeyo, iyada oo aanan la fogeynaynin qurbajoogta, isla markaana soo dhaweynayo.
Hadii aynan DDS qaadannaynin talooyinka wax ku oolka ah ee qurbajoogta, maxay ugu yeedhannaysaa? Ma kaalaya musuqmaasuqa nagala qaybqaataa? Ma kaalaya musuqmaasuqa iyo maamul xumada noo xalaaleeyaa? Ma kaalaya gabood falka iyo gafafka shacabka laga galo nagu amaana, oo nagu garab istaagaa? Waxay qurbajoogtu ubaahantahay inay noqdaan codkii u hadlayay dadka aan codka lahayn, dadkii uraadinnayay waxa shacabka kamaqan ee ah maamul suuban, musuq la’aan, cadaalad iyo cabsi la’aan, ee ma’aha inay noqdaan kuwo sii kordhiya musuqmaasuqa, maamul xumada, cadaalad darrada iyo isdaba wareegga kajira deegaanka.
Faallada iyo Falanqeynta Kilil5,
Talaado, Diseembar 14, 2010 (KOL)---Qormadani waa qormo aanu ku eegayno qaababka kale duwan ee hantida dadweynaha ee DDS lagu musuqmaasuqo. Musuqmaasuqa iyo boobka cad ee lagula kaco ama lagu qaato hantida guud ee dadweynaha ka dhaxeysa ayaa guud ahaan dalal badan oo aduunka kamid ah ka dhacda, gaar ahaanna dawladaha aanan lahayn nidaam madax banaan oo xakameyn kara musuqmaasuqa, kana ilaalin kara in boob cad oo badheedh ah oo balaadhan lagu qaado hantida dadweynaha. Dawladda aduunka hadda ugu awoodda badan ee Maraykanka oo leh dhaqaale xoog leh, ayuu xitaa kajiraa musuqmaasuq, lakiin markii la ogaado in uu qofku musuqmaasuq sameeyay shirciga ayaa la horkeenaa, talaabo sharciga ku haboonna waa laga qaadaa, mana baxsan karo. Dawladaha hodanka ah hadii uu musuqmaasuq ka dhaco, waxay haystaan dhaqaale soo kala hadhi kara, dadkooduna waa dad ladan oo hanti haysta, sida bulshadeenna deegaankana aanan ka walwalin helitaanka waxyaabaha aasaaska nolosha ah: sida biyo nadiif ah, adeeg caafimaad, waxbarasho, nabad galyo iyo cunto ku filan.
Deegaankeenna, dadka intooda badan waa sabool oo ma haystaan waxyaabaha aasaaska noloshu ka bilaabmo, hormar horana deegaanka muunan kajirin, oo dawladihii hore oo dhan way dayaceen. Intii aynan EPRDF xukunka qabsanin, dad fara ku tiris ah oo Soomaali ah ayaa ka shaqeyn jiray deegaanka Soomaalida, ama guud ahaanba ushaqeyn jiray xukuumadii hore ee Itoobiya, miisaaniyad iyo maamul ugaar ahna hadal koodaba daa. Waxaa la odhan karaa deegaanku muunan ahayn deegaan ay dawladihii hore daneynnayeen hormarkiisa iyo daryeelka dadkiisa. Deegaanku wuxuu ahaa aag nabadgalyada Itoobiya lagu sugo (security buffer zone).
Hadaba siddeed iyo tobankii sano ee lasoo dhaafay, deegaanku wuxuu lahaa maamul hoosaad, wuxuuna heli jiray miisaaniyad. Miisaaniyadda uu gobolku heli jiray ayaanan sidii la rabay loo wada adeegsanin, wax qabadkii loo baahnaana aanan lagu wada sameynin, sababo la xidhiidha maamul xumo iyo musuqmaasuq. Deegaankeenna markii horaba dhaqaale iyo hanti lasheego maynan oolin, khayraadkii uu lahaana lagama faa’iidaysanin, oo lama hormarinin. Meel markii horaba aynan hanti buuran oolin, inta yar ee loogu talogalay in deegaanka lagu hormariyo hadii dad yar oo waliba ay dhici karto inay yihiin kuwa bulshadeenna ugu ladan ay boobaan kawarama?
Nin dawladda deegaanka ushaqeeya, oo aanan doonaynin in lasheego magaciisa, cabsi uu ka qabo inuu shaqadiisa waayo, ama ay naftiisu halis gasho ayaa iisheegay in musuqmaasuqa ka jira ama kajiri jiray dawladda, aanan lagu tilmaami karin musuqmaasuq, ee uu yahay boob cad oo hantida dadweynaha la boobayo, siyaabo kala duwanna loo qaato ama loo dhaco hantida dadweynaha.
Waxaa jira qaabab badan oo wax lagu musuqmaasuqo, hantida deegaankana lagu dhunsado. Qaababka ay madaxda deegaanku hantida dadweynaha ku dhacdo, ayaa ah dhawr siyaabood. Midi waa boob cad, waa hadii uunan ninka madaxda ahi ka cabsannaynin in lagaga daba yimaado falka uu sameeyay.
Midda labaadna waxaa weeye inta uu qofka madaxda ah ama meel muhiim ah ka shaqeeya uu lacagta dawladda dhaco, ayuu kadibna guriyo iyo ganacsi ku sameystaa, isla markaana uu ku qoraa saaxiibkii ama qof xigto ah oo hantiile ah ama waxogaa lacag ah haysta, si uu uraad gato. Arintan oo kale waxaa sameeya qofkii hanti badan ka dhacay DDS, wuxuuna sidan usameeyaa si uu indhaha bulashada iyo hadal haynta uga baxsado.
Midda saddexaad ee hantida yar ee deegaanka soo gasha lagu musuqmaasuqo waxaa weeye; sameynta magac mashruuc oo magac uyaal ah. Waxaa dhacda in dadi ay qoraallo soo qortaan iyaga oo sheegaya inay doonayaan inay qandaraas ku qaataan mashruuc xarun caafimaad lagu dhisayo ama ceelal lagu qodayo, ugu dambeyntiina aanan wax hawl ah la qabanin ama mashruucii isaga oo qabyo ah laga tago, kadib markii ay dawladdu lacag ku bixisay. Waxaa kale oo dhacda, in mashruuc dhab ahaan ay ugu baxday lacag gaadhaysa 50 kun oo dooladh tusaale ahaan, lakiin uu qofka mashruuca loo dhiibay ama qandaraaska ku qaatay mashruuca, uu qaato ama uu soo dalacdo lacag 100 kun oo dooladh ah ama ka badan. Mashaariicda deegaanku mawada aha kuwo lacag lagu dhaco, ee waxaa jira mashaariic si hufan oo sax ah loo bilaabo, loona dhameystiro, madaxda deegaankuna dhamaantood musuqmaasuq mawada aha. Waxaa kale oo kamid ah qaabka wax loo dhunsado in marka horaba anaan hantida dawladda ee taalla laamaha ama xafiisyada kala duwan aanan si dhab ama siday tahay loo qorin, loona diiwaan galinin.
Waxaa dhacda in qofka madaxda ahi uunan lagacta xafiiskiisa soo gashay sidaytahay u diiwaan galinin oo uu qayb diiwaan galiyo, si uu uqaato inta kale ee soo hadhay. Waxaa kale oo dhacda inay madaxda qaarkood iyo ganacsatadu heshiiyaan, si qofka ganacsadaha ah looga dhaafo canshuurta, ama uu ubixiyo canshuur aad uyar, qofka madaxda ahna, waxogaa lacag ah hoosta looga dhiibo, maamaada uu qayb kaqaatay canshuurta ladhaafay. Arinta kale ee muhiimka ah ee hantida deegaanka lagu dhunsado waxaa weeye; dad sheegta inay ganacsato yihiin, una baahanyihiin dhul ay maal galiyaan, kadibna ay dawladdu siiso dhul balaadhan oo bilaasha ah, kadibna uu qofkii dhulkii dib u gato, inuu maalgaliyo oo uu dhiso iska daaye.
Dadka hantida DDS musuqmaasuqa, madax, ganacsato iyo shaqaale dawladeed intaba, ayaanan dan ka lahayn hormar uu gaadho deegaanku, kuna fikirraynin inuu magac wanaagsan kahadho, wax dhaxal gal ahna bulshada uga tago, kana doorbida inay dhargaan iyada ooy jiraan malaayiin baahan oo deegaanka ku nool. Sheekada caadiga ka ah deegaanka waxaa weeye: hebal muxuu inta uu meesha haystay ka qabsaday? Imisa guri buu ka dhistay? Imisa gaadhi buu ka gatay? Waxaa caadi noqotay in qofka aanan wax boobin loo arko nacas aanan dantiisa garannaynin, fursad soo martayna lumiyay. Sidaa daraadeed, ayay madaxda deegaanku sidii qof baahan oo cunto lasiiyay, ama xoolo ooman oo biyo lagu soo daayay, ay si miyir la’aan ah ugu sii jeedaan, ugana fikiraan sida ay xoolo usameyn lahaayeen inta ay xilka hayaan. Waxaad moodaa inay is leeyihiin ka gaadhsii inta aad xilka hayso, dharag inta aanan dhagta lagu soo qabanin.
Maxaa Keenay Boobka Hantida Guud?
Waxa keenay boobka hantida guud: waxaan jirin nidaam madax banaan oo xakameeya, dabagal iyo la xisaabtan dhab ahna kusameeya dhamaan hay’adaha kala duwan ee dawladda, taasi waa ta koobaad. Tan labaad, waxaa jira dareen ay madaxda iyo shaqaalaha dawladdu ay qabaan oo ah: xilka waa lagaa qaadi doonaaye, ee hadda ka fara qabso.
Tan saddexaad ee keentay in hantida dadweynaha la dhaco waxaa weeye; madaxda dawladda deegaanka oo aad moodid in aynan kala aqoonin, hantida guud ee dadka ka dhaxeysa iyo tan gaarka ah ee qofku isagu leeyahay. Sidaa daraadeed, hadii nin madax ah qof qaraabo ah ama saaxiib ah uu wax usoo doonto, inta uu odhan lahaa waxba mahayo, ama uu biilkiisa wax kasiin lahaa, waxaa dhici karta inuu waxogaa cantoobo ah uga soo qaado akoonka dawladda. Hantida guud ee sida gaarka ah loo adeegsannayo, waxay keentay, in qofka madaxda ah loo arko inuu meesha ujoogo naftiisa iyo qaraabadiisa, hadii uunan hanti kasameynin inta uu meesha joogana uu yahay nacas aanan dantiisa aqoonin. Waa kale oo ay keentay in dadka caadiga ah ay umaleeyaan in uunan qof madax ahi wax ama lacag wayn karin. Sidaa darteed, waxaa abuurmay dhaqan ah in ninka madaxda ah qaraabadiisa iyo saaxiibadiisa baahan ay ka fishaan madaama uu madax yahay inuu dawladda lacag uga keeno, taas oo ka dhigan, hantida dadweynaha noo soo dhac.
Bulshadeennu waxay ubaahantahay: madax u adeega, oo aanan dhargin, kuna fikirin inay dhargaan inta ay bulshadu baahantahay, saboolkana tahay. Uma baahnin qof madax ah oo doonaya, ujeedadiisuna tahay oo kaliya inuu xilka loo dhiibay xoolo kasameeysato. Waxaynu ubaahannahay madax dhibabka haysta bulshadeenna ay dhibayaan, doonayana inuu wax ka qabto. Waxay bulshadu ubaahantay qof dareen wadaninimo ay kurjito, qof doonayo inuu katago wax wanaagsan oo jiilasha dambe ay ku xusuustaan, qof doonaya inuu katago wax ay bulshadu barito ubaxsato. Bulshadeennu uma baahna qof leh: aan ka faa’iidaysto inta aynan fariini iisoo gaadhin, inta aanan shaqada katag la igu odhanin. Madaxtinimadu ma’aha meel loo soo aado in hodan lagu noqdo ama maalmo lagu taajiro, ee waa meel loo soo aado in bulshada si hufan oo daacadnimo iyo xilkasnimo wadata loogu adeego.
Hantida yar ee aynu haysanno, sida ugu haboon aynu u adeegsanno. Dadka reer guuraaga ah ee dhulka oomanaha ah degan had iyo goor baahi biyo ayay qabaan. Marka waxa ugu muhiimsan ee qofka lasiiyo waa biyo, biyaha yar ee lahelo, si siman ayaa qoyska iyo martidiisaba loo gaadhsiiyaa, waxayna u adeegsadaan sida ugu haboon, oo ah cabitaan iyo cunto karsi. Dhar dhaqasho maya, maydhasho maya. Maxaa yeelay; biyo la cabo iyo kuwo cuntada lagu karsado ayaa ciriiri kujira, ee kuwo lagu maydho ama dhar lagu dhaqdo xagee laga keeni. Odayga reer mas’uulka ka ah ee dhaanka meel fog ka keenay, ma odhannayo anigaa mas'uul ah oo reer madax u'ah, oo biyaha soo dhaamiyay oo habeen usii dhaxay, ee wixii aniga iga soo hadha caruurta iyo xaasku ha cabaan. Tusaalahan waxaan uga golleeyahay, hantida deegaanka taalla way yartahay, dadku waa sabool, khayraadka deegaanka yaallana ma buurra, sidaa darteed qofka madaxda ah ee katirsan Dawladda Deegaanka Soomaalida waxaa looga baahanyahay in uunan odhanin markaan anigu dhargo wixii iga soo dhaha dadku ha cunaan, markaan anigu dhawr gaadhi oo qaali ah iyo dhawr guri oo waaweyn gato wixii iga soo hadhay dadka wax la loogu sameeyo.
Faallo iyo Warbixin
Kilil5 Online (KOL)
Op-Ed By Merga Yonas
The 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit is going to be held from September 20-22 in New York, United States. On the side of Ethiopia, the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) in Ethiopia in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has finalized the report for the review on September 9, Girma Hailu UNDPs’ MDGs advisor with UNDP told The Reporter. With just five years left to achieve the MDGs, the summit is an opportunity to re-energize the global MDG effort and agree on a concrete action plan to accelerate progress towards meeting the Goals by their target date of 2015.
“We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right development a reality for everyone and freeing the entire human race from want.â€
This was the promise that 189 heads of state made to their people ten years ago. Since then, progress has been made in the fight against extreme poverty. However, some analysts Believe that even this is not enough. According to them, currently 50,000 people continue to die every day as a result of poverty. A woman dies every minute in pregnancy and child birth and 72 million children still do not go to school round the globe.
The MDG Review Summit, officially called the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly is to be hosted by the Secretary-General. The objective is to take stock of proven initiatives that made progress on the Goals and for governments to commit to a concrete action agenda to achieve the MDGs, as well as other internationally agreed development goals. The Summit will comprise six plenary meetings and six closed round table sessions over the course of three days.
According to UNDP data, three million more children are in school in Ethiopia today and in Tanzania. Since education is nearly universal, as the result of both governments’ increased expenditures on education and concerted efforts to increase school enrollment. In Ethiopia, the government constructed schools in rural areas, distributed textbooks in local languages, reformed curriculums, decentralized administration and increased the education budget from 3.6 percent of GDP to 6 percent. As a result, the country’s school enrollment rate grew to 72.3 percent by 2007 – up from just 38.5 percent seven years before.
Some of the world’s very poorest countries have achieved significant decreases in child mortality, which is one among the eight goals. The ratio of deaths of children under five has dropped by at least 40 percent over the past twenty years in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique and Niger – countries which all have an annual gross national income per capita under 350 dollars.
In Ethiopia, sanitation coverage has increased significantly as the result of a scheme to educate communities on the links between sanitation and health and through the implementation of new, affordable technologies. While the government previously provided subsidies for sanitation, families educated on its importance are now willing to pay for such services when they are affordable.The country has also tripled the net primary school enrollment ratio since 1990. Although more children are in primary school than ever before, the present rate of progress on the health of mothers and children is insufficient to reach the MDGs.
According to a source from UNDP, a successful summit should generate a renewed political commitment to achieve the MDGs and lead to a global action agenda for accelerating progress towards the Goals. UNDP is creating a country-level evidence base of progress made towards each Goal and what steps can be taken for accelerating MDG efforts.
Specifically, UNDP is assisting some 30 governments to prepare national MDG reports, including analysis of constraints to achievement, success factors and the impact of climate change and other global crises, Girma told The Reporter.
Significant challenges remain, but UNDP has the knowledge and experience to accelerate progress towards the MDGs. For instance, the economic crisis has deepened the challenge. Estimates suggest that progress in reducing poverty has slowed last year and that progress on the hunger target may have reversed.
Accountable and transparent institutions, local level support, investment in women and addressing climate change challenges should be at the centre of development efforts. The right policies and interventions will differ from country to country. While resource constraints are more binding for low-income countries, middle-income countries need to emphasize on mobilizing and redirecting their fiscal resources towards the MDGs, according to reliable source from UNDP.
“This is not a time for idle talk or more empty promises. We as citizens must use the time to tell our leaders in no uncertain terms that we expect them to deliver concrete, breakthrough plans at the summit, outlining exactly what they will do in order to deliver on their promises by the 2015 deadline,†a law student at Addis Ababa University, who requested to remain anonymous told The Reporter. “We are the generation that can end poverty and we will no longer stay silent in the face of poverty and broken promises to end it.â€
Some countries are on track to meet certain Goals, often in the face of extreme poverty, war, natural disasters and other major challenges. The people of Ethiopia expect them to implement the policies and plans that serve the needs of people, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable. Their plan must include clear mechanisms for accountability to their citizens, he added.
Op-Ed
Following the announcement of provisional results for the national and regional elections held a fortnight ago, various opposition parties have revealed their take on the result and the election process.
They attributed their defeat to a host of reasons ranging from the harassment, intimidation, jailing and even killing of their members to expulsion of their election observers from polling stations to ballot box stuffing and the like.
We do not wish to dwell on all these allegations. However, one should be singled out because it is completely off the mark and could have damaging consequences for the opposition. What we are speaking of is blaming the public for one's defeat in the elections.
Claims that the electorate were paid off to vote for the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and came out in droves for its rallies, that the public is weak in terms of financing opposition parties, that voters were intimidated by rumours that the EPRDF will know who they voted for through a surveillance camera etc have been rife since the elections.
Blaming the public, we believe, is utterly wrong.
More than ninety percent of the thirty-two million people registered to vote turned up on election day and cast their ballots. If there is any truth to the claim that the EPRDF bought the votes of the electorate, does it not mean that it bribed some thirty million people to vote for it? Does it not imply that people cannot decide by themselves which party to vote for unless they are bought off?
As entities which have set out to rule the public and vie for its vote, political parties should educate it if they deem it lacks experience in and knowledge of politics rather than hold it responsible for their loss.
In the 2005 elections the residents of Addis Ababa handed the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) a clean sweep of all parliamentary and city council seats. Opposition parties then said that the residents "punished" the EPRDF. That indeed was true, so, how come an electorate that was lauded for displaying wisdom when they elected all opposition candidates are now be charged with offering their votes for money when they do the same thing for EPRDF candidates?
Opposition parties were able to raise a significant amount of money from Ethiopians both at home and in the Diaspora in the 2005 elections. Why couldn't this be achieved this time round? Rather than criticizing the public for lacking experience in the possibility that it declined to finance them because it did not believe in them be entertained? And is it the parties or the public which should be criticized for inexperience and weakness for the parties' inability to secure financial contributions from the public?
Let alone undertake a long-term and dedicated fund-raising campaign, opposition parties have done practically nothing to sensitize and reach the public a part from participating in the few debates on the election over the media. Did they have to blame the public for being "weak" to cover up their own shortcomings to sensitize it?
The people of Ethiopia are poor, some three-quarters of them are uneducated. It is the responsibility of political parties to sensitize and organize them, to make them politically active, to enable them to identify what is in their interest and what is not.
Hence, it is ironical and indeed quite disappointing for opposition parties to shift the blame unto the public and accuse it of selling its vote and not funding them.
There is a very important reason why we are concerned by how political parties handle the public.
Elections are an important means of expressing the sovereignty and will of the people. The right to vote and to be elected is a vital human right. Elections are not one-off affairs; they are a continuous exercise. Parties which win one election can lose another; they are not destined to stay in office forever. The nature of the activities of political parties to hang on to power or to oust the incumbent - and of the playing field - is determined by the public.
As the driving force behind the actions of political parties is the public, handling the public properly is a critical "investment" for them. Blaming the public is a wrong investment; it's a dangerous gamble.
That is why opposition parties must not invest wrongly in the public and pay the price for it.
At a time when the EPRDF has wised up and is saying that the public is its "master and employer", opposition parties are exposing themselves to further public censure by accusing it of selling its vote for money. Such disrespect for the public is bound to cost them their popular base and as such should be eschewed.
The art of politics begins with according due respect to and making a political investment in the public.
The strategy pursued by some opposition parties, however, is a bankrupting political investment and an unnecessary gamble.
Opposition parties should think through the consequences before blaming the public for their dismal showing. Otherwise, they will be making a bad political investment that will cost them dearly.
This Op-Ed is published with permission from The Reporter.Kilil5 invites academics and other professionals to participitate our editorials with Op-Ed pieces of opinion.
Op-ED by The Reporter.
The Ethiopian government is not a mafia government; however, mafia groups which are intent on using the government as an instrument to further their agenda, dream and greedy self - interest are popping up.
The courts and law enforcement agencies are not appendages of the mafia; however, mafia groups which stop at nothing to subvert the course of justice are emerging.
Government organs at all levels - federal, regional, local - are not mafia institutions; however, mafia groups which know well that they cannot have their way unless they control these institutions are trying hard to put them under their thumbs.
Our culture, traditions and experience are not suited to the ways of the mafia. But these vermins are slowly changing this; they are bent on changing the very fabric of our society so they it advances their selfish interest. If things continue like this, it will spell danger for all. God save Ethiopia!
Though the mafia have not managed to buy off and control the government and government apparatus across the board, they can do pretty much whatever they want as they have some government officials in their pocket. They arrange for documents in the custody of government offices to be illegally removed, stolen or destroyed; they cause criminal charges to be instituted or dropped, speeded up or dragged, or decided in their favour. Money is the chief instrument they use to buy off someone. If money does not work, they resort to intimidation and assault.
Their victims may think that they are unable to get justice on account of their gender, ethnic background or religion. But they are wrong. The mafia can "buy" justice. For them the question is, "How much?" The currency can be in Ethiopia birr, the US dollar, euro.
Apart from using their financial clout to intimidate, buy off, cajole and organize people, they have become so emboldened as to "proudly" claim that they are powerful as well as to hire and deploy "publicists" who sing their praise. They are acting as if government institutions, which are run by taxpayers' money, should actually serve them and them only.
The public is not happy with how things are proceeding and being handled. It is expressing amazement that the persons whom it knows or suspects to be mafias are being undeservedly feted. It is grumbling that a separate set of procedures and privileges apply to them. It is fearful that Ethiopia is becoming the playground of the mafia.
The government should reassure the public that its fear will not come true and that it stands by its side. It needs to back up this with practical steps.
In the state the world currently is in, it is proving difficult to overcome challenges even if one is strong and not tainted by the mafia leave alone where they pose an impediment to development and have infiltrated every sphere of life.
Presently, it is common to see hanging at or posted on visible places in all government institutions a typed up reminder or placard listing "principles of ethics." These principles are: transparency, confidentiality, integrity, serving the public interest, legitimate exercise of authority, impartiality, respecting the law, leading by example, honesty and loyalty.
But what is being witnessed is the opposite of these lofty principles - serving one's own interest and that of the mafia rather than the public's; abusing power and neglecting one's duty rather than exercising legitimate authority; transgress the law rather than respect it; set a bad example rather lead by example; resort to corruption, betrayal and dishonesty rather than demonstrate honesty, loyalty and integrity; intimidating and assaulting persons who expose wrong doings rather than ensure accountability; sell or hand over confidential documents rather than keep them in confidence, etc.
These mafia groups should be nipped in the bud if they are not to become as dangerous as those in Italy, Mexico, Russia. If the government does not take decisive measures to rein them in, they will feel that they can go as far as trying to topple it or bring down its officials through whatever means necessary.
Therefore, we call on the government to do whatever is in its power to stop the mafia in their track before they wreak havoc on the country. The sooner the better. God save Ethiopia from the mafia!!
This editorial is reprinted with permission from the Reporter.
Op-Ed By IPS Correspondent.
The Gilgel Gibe III dam will hold back 14.7 million cubic metres of water. Its 1,870 MW generating capacity will be a significant boost for the Ethiopian Electric Power Company (EEPCO) which has plans to extend electricity supply within the country and export power to other countries in East Africa. A 1.7 billion dollar contract to build the dam has been awarded to Italian multinational Salini Costruttori SPA. But the project's critics have assembled a damning dossier of problems with it.
Two environmental organisations, Friends of Lake Turkana and International Rivers, are challenging the ecological soundness of the project. They say it threatens biodiversity in the Omo River and Lake Turkana which it feeds. The basin has large populations of Nile crocodiles, hippopotamus, and over 40 different species of fish.
IR and FoLT say changes in the river's flow will also put the livelihoods of up to 200,000 people who depend on the lake for fishing, herding and irrigation at risk.
The groups have raised questions over the quality of the environmental and social impact studies completed for the project.
Gilgel Gibe III's opponents also point out that the contract to build the dam was not awarded through a competitive international tender; it was negotiated directly with Salini, in violation of Ethiopia's procurement guidelines.
Procurement
EEPCO argues that both Ethiopian and international procurement guidelines allowed Gibe III's contract to be reached without a tender process due to its size and huge financial requirements. EEPCO CEO Miheret Debebe says the project's opponents are using false allegations to try to stop the project.
However Ken Ohashi, World Bank country director for Ethiopia and Sudan, confirmed that the omission of a competitive tender means the Bank cannot loan the Ethiopian government money for the project. This does not rule out World Bank involvement entirely.
'In a situation like this, there is a possibility for us, in line with our guidelines, to help mobilise financing from the private market to finance the project by providing a guarantee to those interested in financing it,' Ohashi told IPS.
'If decided, we will provide guarantee against certain types of risk of non-repayment to commercial financiers - basically 'political' rather than 'commercial' risk of repayment,' he said.
Construction on Gibe III is already more than a third complete, but more money will be needed. The Ethiopian government's task of addressing concerns - environmental, social, technical and financial - in order to secure a World Bank credit guarantee has now been complicated by problems facing an earlier phase of the massive hydroelectric project.
A cautionary tale
Barely two weeks after it was formally opened on Jan. 14, the Gilgel Gibe II hydroelectric power station suffered a collapse in its main tunnel, forcing closure of the new facility while it is repaired.
Gibe II, also built by Salini, has - or had - a generating capacity of 420MW; it relied on water released from the Gilgel Gibe I dam channeled through a 26 kilometre tunnel into the Omo River valley. The terms for this project too were negotiated between the Ethiopian government and Salini without competitive bidding.
According to Italian World Bank watchdog group Campagna per la Riforma per la Banca Mondiale (CRBM), the 490 million euro contract for Gibe II (today equivalent to 670 million dollars) violated Italian and Ethiopian regulations. Italy's Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS) nonetheless approved the largest single aid credit it had ever granted.
This was against the advice of both Italy's finance ministry and DGCS's own internal evaluation unit. Reviewing that advice, CRBM lists the flaws: a no-bid contract, an inadequate feasibility study, the absence of funds for environmental mitigation, and an unrealistic projection for servicing the loan.
The European Investment Bank also loaned the project 50 million euros ($69 million at today's exchange rate); according to the CRBM accepting Ethiopia's argument that it faced an emergency electrical shortage in lieu of more complete preparation and procedure.
Construction ran into severe difficulties as the tunneling engineers encountered unexpected mud, sand and aquifers; the project was finally completed two years behind schedule, with the Ethiopian government - and taxpayers - picking up the cost overrun as the contract held Salini liable for any delays due to engineering failures, while these problems were due to an inadequate geological survey.
Returning to Gibe III
In 2009, a group of eight academics and consultants collaborating as the Africa Resources Working Group (ARWG) published a sharp critique of the studies done for Gibe III. The ARWG says that contrary to the findings of the environmental and social impact assessments provided by Salini and EEPCO, the downstream impacts of the dam will likely be devastating.
They predict radical reduction of water flowing into Lake Turkana; the loss of cultivation of seasonally-flooded land in the Omo River delta, and of riverine forest and woodland the length of the river, damaging biodiversity and livelihoods.
'Altogether, more than 200,000 indigenous peoples of the lowermost Omo Basin are dependent on riverside and delta recessional cultivation... This population would face massive economic losses, with widespread severe hunger, disease and loss of life occurring on a regional scale, if the Gibe III dam is completed.'
The authors reject the official studies' claims that lake water levels are already dropping due to evaporation from uncontrolled flooding, or that using the dam to deliberately increase water flow in the river during the dry season will alleviate drought.
Instead, they explain their view that extensive leakage through fissures in the walls of the eventual reservoir behind the dam, as well as the planned abstraction of water for new commercial agriculture and industrial development just downstream will see water levels in Lake Turkana fall by as much as 10 metres. The ARWG also expresses concern that clay rich soil around the dam could become prone to landslides as it fills up - and to top it off: the dam site is on an active earthquake fault line.
'An accurate assessment of environmental and social processes within the lower Omo Basin indicates that completion of the Gibe III dam would produce a broad range of negative effects, some of which would be catastrophic in the tri-country region where Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya intersect.'
As the World Bank's review board meets on Mar. 5th, it will have much to consider. At stake is the life of a river, the fate of 200,000 people along its banks, and the commitments to transparent and effective aid made by governments and multilateral institutions alike.
Op-Ed by Habib Ali Matan.
The Somali regional State with the blessing of the federal government of Ethiopia has been trying to reach out to the large Somali Ethiopian Diaspora community in Europe and North America but without clarity. Ethiopia as a whole has tapped into the potential of the Diaspora community and with a measurable success. The Tigray, Afar, Amhara and Oromia States have reaped the benefits of the Diaspora community. Diaspora communities from these regional states have contributed immensely in the local economies of these states in their investment in both micro- and macro businesses start-ups, real state development and recall of highly skilled individuals and professionals with sought after skills and specialty. However, the Somali regional States attempt to tap into the potential of the Diaspora community lacks clarity, and appears purely political.
Genuine or Political.
It appears on the surface, the SRG main goal in reaching out to the Diaspora community isn’t genuine and is being done to dilute the perceived support, the Ogaden National Liberation Front gets from the Diaspora community. Going with the lack of clear policy, or given the lack of strength of the current policy, both governments efforts to reach out to the Diaspora communities appears to stem out from their desire to win the hearts and minds of ONLF supporters and sympathizers rather than from their realization of the potential and value of the Diaspora community to the country and the Somali regional State. If both levels of government genuinely want to tap to the potential economic and political contribution of the Diaspora community to the region and country, then, they have done a poor job of defining the role of the Diaspora in the country and region. Both levels of government have not defined clearly the type and size of investment they are encouraging and in what sectors of the economy, the skill levels they are looking for and whether highly skilled individuals with advanced education and experience will be allowed to participate fully in the region’s affairs. Without clear definition of the role of the Diaspora and without clarity of the skills and education level the Somali regional government is looking for and without a better marketing, the highly skilled, and individuals with advanced degrees, whose return are highly desirable and should be the focus of the regional government, will not bother considering a return to the region or the country. Instead, the half hearted measures taken by the regional government will attract the return of uneducated, unskilled men and women of the Diaspora who are on welfare in their host countries and who will not bring any meaningful contribution to the region or the country. In fact, the Somali regional government’s efforts will attract the corrupt individuals in the Diaspora whose only goal will be to make a quick looting of the region’s coffins and who will make a quick exit back to their host countries with their lootings as it happened so many times before.
The Importance of Clarity from The Somali Regional State .
Let’s be honest with ourselves. The majority of the Diaspora communities are either day laborers with few skills and with no money for meaningful investment, and are in fact,on welfare in their host states and a great many of them illegally milk the welfare system of their countries. On top of that, there are a large number in the Diaspora who are engaged in corruption and systematically loot the tax payers of the host nations through dupious schemes. The majority will have very little to contribute to the region and will not have the skill nor the advanced education desirable to the Somali regional State or the Country. Secondly, the Somali regional State had a bad experience with the Diaspora community so far. Many in the Diaspora who have been given investment opportunities have abused it. Both federal and regional governments have given away vast areas of land and money to supposed Diaspora investors who promised to invest their part of capital investment to build business and factories only to sell the vast lands given for huge profits. The Somali regional government has also given away large pieces of land for business start-ups and real estate developments to individuals from the Diaspora who failed to develop the land given or use the land for the specific reason issued to them. The region has also experimental giving senior positions and cabinet level positions to individuals from the Diaspora who didn’t have the skill level or the advanced degrees desirable with predictable failure. Most of these individuals from the Diaspora were Taxi drivers in their host countries who had nothing to offer.
I’m not trashing the Diaspora community nor against the government’s effort to reach out and tap to the potential of the Diaspora community but I’m against a government’s effort and plan that appears done purely political. There is a large number of highly educated, highly skilled individuals in the Diaspora and it’s these individuals that will make a difference in the region and will contribute immensely if they are recalled and their skill sub-sets are tapped. Both the Somali regional State and the federal government should be doing every thing in their power to convince the highly skilled professionals and individuals with wealth of management and experience, to return to the region. Both levels of Governments should do every thing in their power to reassure these individuals they will have the freedom to exercise their skills. The regional Somali State have set up an investment office but this office should be changed to a full Bureau with the responsibility to clearly define the rules of investment, define and market the sectors for investment, regulate and enforce all investment, investigate investment fraud and account for all government investment incentives and market properly the region’s investment potential to domestic and foreign investment. This Bureau should also have an internal office or department in-charge of recruiting the highly skilled individuals and professionals that will be difference makers in every aspect of the region’s socio-economic administration and management.
This is not to say that the government shouldn't reach out to the rest of the Diaspora, no, the government should still encourage the larger Diaspora community and those who can afford,to make individual investment such as building their own houses in their home provinces and the regional state should provide the land for building individual homes. There are also a number of individuals in the Diaspora who can afford to invest and start small business and the regional State should be supportive by doing away with all the prohibitive business restriction that currently discourage small business start-ups and should provide incentives such as free taxation for a number of years and free land depending on the value of the business and its prospect to create jobs. Government incentives and generous tax exempts should be based on the number of news jobs the investment will create. The regional government should also encourage investment to be spread throughout the region by encouraging all 9 provinces and the Raaso region, to set up their own investment offices with their own unique investment incentives. The goal should be to encourage even development throughout the region. Right now, almost all new investment is in Jijiga Province and if the regional government doesn't come up with new policies to discourage investment in just one province,then, we are going to have a population explosion in Jijiga province and de-population will continue in the rest of the provinces.
Reaching out and tapping the potential of the Diaspora community is a great idea and can pay dividends in the short and long term. It can change the socio-economics foundation of the region and usher in new dynamics that can lift off the Somali region from its current primitive socio-economics culture and into a more competitive socio-economic foundation that can compete with Tigray, Amhara and Oromia regional States. However, it appears that the desire to reach out to the Diaspora community is done for political reason and at best, it’s ill conceived or poorly planned. If the two governments are not careful in their attempts to reach out to the Diaspora community and if they are not open and genuine with their attempts, the Diaspora community can easily be turn off and will have the opposite desired effect. I also have my doubts whether the Somali regional State leadership is ready for the influx of new talents and whether they will be comfortable with the new competition that will result from the influx of new talents. The new talent I’m talking about will not be just competing for the region’s top leadership; it will be in the form of new business and social entrepreneurs who will change the foundation and dynamics of the region’s current structure. I also believe that the region’s current political environment will be an obstacle for the return and attraction of the highly skilled and educated individuals, and would be the talented and legitimate business entrepreneurs. These are the difference makers and the desired talents from the Diaspora community, but, can the Somali regional government attract them or convince them to return, or, is the regional government’s investment marketing just public relation ploy or ill conceived strategy to undermine perceived ONLF support in the Diaspora?
Habib Ali Matan is a kilil5 Contributor and can be reached at Matan@kilil5.com
Dagaalo dhowr ah oo dhexmaray Ciidanka dawlada Ismaamulka Soomaliyeed ee looyaqaano Liyuu Booliska iyo Jabhada Mucaaradka ee ONLF ayaa waxaa jab wayn loogeystay jabhada mucaaradka halkaas oo dhaawac iyo dhimasho badan loogaystay kooxda mucaaradka.Shabakada dawlada Ismaamulka Somalida ee Cakaaranews ayaa waxay duubtay cajalad muuqaal iyo maqal ah oo cadaynaya dhimashada tirada kooxda mucaaradka iyo maxaabiista laga qabtay.Maxumo in dawladu soo bandhigto sawirka maydka si ay cudayso sheegashadeeda tirada ciidan ay ka laysay kooxda mucaaradka oo markasta beenisa in ciidan laga laayay ama laga qabtay basle waxaan marna la ogolaan karin dhinac dhaqan iyo dhinac diimeed,waxa ku cad cajalada cakaaranews;in dad dhintay ama mayd ah koorkooda lagu dhaanteeysto ama falalka fooshaxun ee ah in qof dhintay lagu dul dunto ama lagu istaago.
Qofka dhintay haduu islaam yahay iyo haduu diinkale haystaba,waxuu mudanyahay sharaf iyo ixtiraam sida ay diinta islaam inoo sheegayso.Sidoo kale dhaqanka Soomaliyeed ayaan taariikhiyan ogolaan jirin faraxumayn iyo ku xadgudubka qofka dhintay maydkiisa.Sidoo kale,xeer caalamiga ee militari iyo midka xuquuqda insaanka ee caalamiga ayaa waxay xaarantimaynayaan ku xadgudubka qofka dhintay iyo falalka ku cad muqaalka cakaaranews.
Su'aasha iswaydiinta mudan ayaa waxay tahay,sideebay kalsooni u siinkartaa shacabka gobolka in ciidankooda nabadgalyo ay u dhaqmaan sida cajalada ku xusun? Ciidanka Liyuu Boolisku ma ciidan dawli ahbaa oo dhisibiliin,tababar iyo hogaan amarqaadasho leh mise waa maleeshiyo sida kooxda mucaaradka ee ONLF ay ladagalamayaan? Haduusan dhinac dhisibiliin iyo hogaan uusan u dhexeeynin ciidanka dawlada ee Liyuu Booliska iyo kooxda mucaaradka,sidee buu shacabka deegaanku kalsooni iyo rago ciidan dhisibiliin leh, iyo aaminaad loogu qabi karaa? Cakaaranews oo ah shabakada dawlada ismaamulka Soomalida soobandhigeeda cajalka muuqaal oonan ahayn markii ugu horaysay balse shabakadan ay caado iyo dhaqan ka dhigatay,waa wax laga yaxyaxo,laga xumaado,iyo in lacanbaareeyo falalkan ku xadgudbaya dhaqanka bulshada Soomaliyeed,dastuurka deegaanka Ismaamulka Soomaliyeed,dastuurka wadanka Itoobiya iyo dastuurka caalamiga ee Geneva.
Waxaa kale oo iyaduna canbaarayn mudan maamulka shabakada Cakaaranews iyo mas'uuliyiinta sarsare ee maalgaliya shabakada Cakaaranews.Waxaan marnaba la ogolaan karin in shabakad lagu bixiyo lacagta shacabka deegaanka iyo dhaqaalaha loogu talagalay horumarinta gobolka ay ku dhaqanto talaabooyin ceeb ku ah shacabka iyo mas'uuliyiinta sarsare ee hogaanka gobolka haya.Waxaan baaq degdeg ah u gudbinaynaa madaxwaynaha DDS Mudane Da'ud Maxamed iyo hogaanka nabadgalyada Cabdi Mohamed Omar inay amar ku bixiyaan in cajalada muqaalka ah ee dhaanta ciidanka Liyuu booliska ku dultumanhayaan laga saaro shabakada, maamulka shabakada Cakaaranews lakala diro sida ugu dhaqsaha badan.Cajalada Cakaaranews kujirta waxay ceeb kutahay maamulka DDS iy shacabk deegaanka Soomaliyeed, waana waxaan la ogolaan karin oo aan meela kagajirin dhaqanka,diinta,sharafta shacabka iyo ilbaxnimada caalamiga iyo qaraarada aduunka u yaala.
Waxaan markale ku celinaynaa in dawlada ay si sharaf leh u soo dayn karto maxaabiista ay dagaal ciidanka liyuu booliska ku qabtaan iyo maydadka kooxda mucaaradka,waase in loosameeyaa si qaabilsan sharciga wadanka,dawlada DDS iyo qaraarada militari ee caalamiga.Waxaan marnaba la ogolaan karin waxa ku cad cajalada Cakaaranews iy dhaqankan jaahiliga ee lagula dhaqmayo dadka dhintay maydadkooda.
Farhan Maxamud
Kilil5 assistant Editor.
Op-Ed by Prof. Ahmed S Liibaan
We have watched with dismay the absurd behavior of ONLF supporters and horrified by the violence carried out against an innocent man, Mohamed Sahal in Stockholm , Sweden . What is more shocking and makes this act of violence unacceptable, is that, the people who carried out this act of violence, live in the most tolerant societies where free speech and free association is enshrined in these societies constitutions. The obvious contradiction was that the ONLF and its supporters were supposedly protesting the human rights violations and extrajudicial killings done by the DDS police and Ethiopian defense forces against the Somali region's civilian population. The ONLF and its supporters were committing acts of terror and violence against any body attending the DDS-Diaspora community meetings irrespective of whether they support the government or not and any body perceived to be supporting the regional government or welcoming the DDS senior officials.Let me make it clear here; people have the right to protest freely, its protected under the freedom of speech in the societies these supporters of ONLF live. But, it was absurd to observe that they failed to recognize the same freedom of speech and freedom of association is afforded to the participants they were out to harm and terrorize.
As always, it is ONLF and its followers who have engaged in violence against those whom they consider to be the enemy "race traitors" and “Tabaqodhis†(supporters of the Somali regional state and the federal system of Ethiopia ). The ONLF and its supporters have this culture of impassioned condemnations of people opposed to their political thinking as a grave enemy, a clan traitor, someone who threatens all that is good in the world. Mohamed Sahal’s attack is a result of these sorts of demonetization campaigns. The ONLF and its members even go as far to find the home address and telephone numbers of people in the Ogaden clan opposed to their views and other prominent individuals Somalis. It has happened in the past that those who were the target of these sorts of demonetization campaigns that included publication of their home address were attacked and even killed. There is no sugar coating, these actions are pure terrorism. And the people who encourage,condone,and carry these violent actions are terrorist.Pure and simple. How are they different from other terrorist organizations who will not hesitate to kill for their ideology and will kill anyone perceived to oppose them. They will not prove your innocence, if they perceive, even if you are innocent, they will just kill you. Human life doesn't mean anything to them unless you are in their camp or espouse their ideology.
The ONLF is desperately trying to hijack the debate but the Ethiopian Embassies have done an excellent job of not allowing this small group to hijack the debate.There are serious issues and concerns that the Diaspora Community wants to share and engage with the DDS officials.This is an opportunity to have a positive engagement from both sides.But, of course the ONLF is not interested in a civil discussion of the regions Socio-economics.The ONLF has made it clear,they don't want to see any non-violent discussion of the region's socio-politics.But, there is another serious questions that needs to be asked; if the ONLF is ready to use violence in the midst of a free society, and is ready to carry this violence against innocent people like Sahal, what can we expect from the ONLF in the Somali region? Does the ONLF has any shred of credibility when it accuses regional and federal governments of committing violence against civilians when it encourages and commits the same crimes it alleges non-discriminatoley against civilians and people opposed to its ideology?
What happened in Stockholm proves that ONLF is no different from other terrorist groups.They are ready to kill and use violence against anybody,including innocent civilians.The actions of Stockholm also discredits the claims of the ONLF that Ethiopian defense forces and Somali region police forces are the ones killing innocent civilians. In Fact, It supports both government's argument that they are fighting a ruthless terrorist group, that is killing the civilian population,that is using the civilian population as a shield but is blaming on the governments for its killings.And the ONLF has acknowledged just that when its chief, Admiral Mohamed Omar admitted last week in an interview with VOA Somali Service,that its militia disperse within the population as a tactic. In other words, the ONLF uses the civilian population as a shield. My point here is, the shear force of intimidation and violence deployed by ONLF and its supporters in free societies is an example of the level of violence and killings carried by ONLF in the Somali region and should give all of us a window to take a peak into the ONLF itself.
These intimidation practices are also carried out in the Somali regional administration by the ONLF militia in the form of violence. The real objective is the same one shared by all terrorists -- to place the person in paralyzing fear. The goal is to force the individual, to be preoccupied with worry that they will be harmed or killed. The goal of the ONLF intimidation is to stop and discourage people openly opposing the ONLF. The ONLF in my view has continued to do this because it has worked for it so far. People opposed to the ONLF have continued to keep their opposition of this organization to themselves for fear of retaliation.
The Mohamed Sahal attack by ONLF and its followers, are merely a natural outgrowth of the hate-mongering which have become the staple of ONLF websites and ONLF activist NGOs. One of the most constant features of these hate fests is the singling out of some Ogaden Clan individuals who are opposed to the ONLF, accused of committing some grave crime or identified as a subversive and an enemy, and then held out as the daily target of unbridled contempt, a symbol of all that is Evil. The rhetoric of treason -- accusing individuals and organizations of supporting the Somali regional administration and the federal government of Ethiopia-- is a lit match. After all, the widely accepted penalty for traitors is execution.
The action of ONLF in Stockholm has undoubtedly made many of us sensitive to the challenge faced by the regional Somali government and the federal government combating the threat of insecurity posed by ONLF while preserving the sanctity of the law. The threat posed by armed groups who threaten the existence of the state and the safety of its citizens more often overrides the individual rights of the citizens. The protection of individual rights is not a simple task and no country has been able to do this in a fashion that has not occasioned criticism. Everyone has certainly read about the gross violations of human rights in the Somali region. But who bears the responsibility?. The violence committed against an innocent man in the halls of a free and tolerant society should give all of us a clue as to who is responsible.
I believe in having a civil dialogue, and firmly support talking to the ONLF so that the Somali region can move forward in union. But after the brutal attack of an innocent man whose crime was merely to participate the Diaspora meeting, attended by DDS officials and hear their presentation about the Somali region, I'm not sure any more whether its a good idea to talk to the ONLF. You don’t talk to a terrorist group, you fight back, and you fight back hard. In my view, the ONLF and its supporters who are fomenting and openly advocating violence merit nothing but disrespect; mockery; and, where appropriate, prosecution for inciting to kill innocent people. The Stockholm incidence explains the thinking of the ONLF and its supporters; it’s OK when their side does , wrong when the other side does.
Solving the regions many problems require the engagement of the Diaspora community and a civil discussion of the problems as well as the solution to these problems. The regional administrations attempt to engage the Diaspora community and seek their support by investing their know-how and their capital in the region, can't be hijacked by small vocal and outspoken groups. The Diaspora community has serious concerns about both the ineffectiveness of regional government and the inability of its leaders to govern. To find solution to the region's many problems, we have a responsibility to be willing to listen to one another (both regional leaders and the Diaspora concerned citizens) as well as to voice our concern and suggestions for solutions, both sides. This is not about reaching agreement of all parties, instead it is constructive engagement and building a better, prosperous future for the next generation. The regional government's efforts to engage the Diaspora community and ask the Diaspora community to play, both a constructive and productive role in the Somali region, needs to be applauded and welcomed by all of us who love the region.
The use of abusive language and violent metaphors by ONLF officials and its followers alike is unacceptable.The Diaspora Communities must confront the ONLF and must make it clear the ONLF will not force down our throat whatever their goals are. Likewise, we must make it clear that we condemn all form of language that are inflammatory, derogatory, degrading, insulting, demeaning, or advocating violence in any form or shape.
Professor Ahmed Liibaan is a kilil5.com contributor and can be reached at Ahmedsheikh64@yahoo.com.
Op-Ed by Nimco Rage kilil5 contributor.
The just concluded end of year regional budget assessment and accountability has revealed only one thing, and one thing only-nothing has changed in the Somali regional administration. The administration might have changed, but, nothing else has changed. The regions core problems: insecurity, poor governance, widespread corruption, and disregard for the law are as prevalent as ever. It appears the federal governments recycling of corrupt and incapable leaders in the Somali regional state is just not working and will not work in the future.
President Da’ud came to office last October promising to deliver on four core problems; improved security, fighting corruption, improved governance and accountability of his administration. The president has failed to deliver on any of them nine months into his administration.
The Somali regional administration has been an oasis of lawlessness ever since the ONLF insurgency found itself in the laps of the Eritrea dictator who is waging a proxy war against Ethiopia in the Somali regional administration. Since 2007, ONLF has been growing in efficiency, strength and expansion of its insurgency throughout the Somali regional administration despite the efforts of both the federal government and the regional administration to end the insurgency. The president has made improving security the top of his agenda. He promised the elimination of ONLF insurgency. Nine months into his presidency, it appears ONLF has only gotten stronger, bolder, and has expanded its reach and spheres of operation beyond its traditional areas into provinces it has never operated before. Despite the creation of a new paramilitary force to fight the ONLF insurgency and despite the huge budget spent on security, the region is still an oasis of lawlessness. Despite the enormous sacrifice shouldered by the region’s citizens in the name of improving security and fighting the ONLF, the president’s promise of improving security and ending the ONLF insurgency is for now, just a mirage in the horizon.
If you can’t blame the president entirely for not improving security and ending the ONLF insurgency in the Somali region (the federal government has also failed in its campaign against the insurgency), you can squarely blame the president for not improving governance and ending corruption in his administration. Slogans and empty promises are what define the Somali regional administration leaders, and Mr. Da’ud’s promise of improving governance and ending corruption, appears up to this point in time, nothing more than slogans. Corruption is still systemic and widespread. Regional Bureaus budget expenditure books are still cooked. State contracts are awarded to those who will give the most kickbacks, projects are not finished by private contractors, and those finished are not finished on time or finished satisfactory. A big chunk of the region's budget is annually returned back to the federal coffers inexucsebly because of the incompetence of the top leadership.Just think of this, the region returns part of its budget every year because they couldn't use the budgeted money or excute budgeted projects. How can this be forgiven given the region's huge developmental need and where 85% of the population live in an abject poverty?
Improving governance and accountability was also on top of the president agenda early in his administration. The administration has organized and held numerous professional development assemblies and conferences for the region’s civil service, bureaus, and senior employees for the past six months. However, it’s debatable whether these expensive assemblies have any value or improved the region’s governance. There are allegation that these assemblies of the region’ civil service, these so-called professional development seminars, is just another avenue of misappropriating the region’s budget. Access to government service has minimally improved in Jigjiga and a few other towns while government service is non existent in the majority of smaller towns and villages despite the bloated number of the region’s civil service. Is this as a result of insecurity, poor governance, corruption or just incompetence by the administration? We don’t have the answer but it may be a combination of all of the above.
We (intellecuals) are concerned and worried the relegation of the rule of law to an element of convenience by the president and other senior officials in his administration. To be blunt, the president has become the law, and above the law. The president and top officials in his administration continue to disregard the law and without any restraint overstep the instrument of the law- the judiciary. Citizens of the region are jailed on a daily basis in the name of fighting the ONLF insurgency without due process, and more than 3000 individuals are sitting in jails without being brought to the courts and proven guilty in a court of law, in direct violation of both regional and federal constitutions. The president and his security minister are the judges and the courts, condemning whoever they wish to jail and sparing those they deem repentant. Fighting the ONLF insurgency shouldn’t and can’t be used as tool to violate both the regional and federal constitutions. Both levels of government can effectively fight the insurgency while upholding the supremacy of the law and without violating the citizens’ constitutional rights.
How to Fight the ONLF Insurgency.
The government’s response to the insurgent group has been predictably militarily but the government military response has been a failure no matter what angle you look at. The regional government has also tried different measures from arming and deploying clan militias to creating the paramilitary police and none of these measures have proven effective. The reason the military option has not been effective and will not work in the future is because of the dire socio-economics of the region’s population. To undermine the legitimacy of the ONLF insurgency the federal government needs to deploy a number of measures and sustain it religiously until these measure bear fruit. These measures should be deployed simultaneously in a sustained manner or they will not be effective. What are these measures?
1-The government with the help of international NGOs and Donor countries must invest in the economic improvement of the region’s population. The economic investment must include increased rationing of Food Aid, and ensuring that food Aid is not diverted and reaches the targeted recipients ,establishment of new irrigation centers and resettling pastoralist in these centers, increased emphasis in agriculture and food production in the region. In order to ease trade from and to the region while also denying entry points to the insurgency, the government must establish dry ports in Jigjiga and Godey. The dry ports will promote trade and export/import to and from the region which can significantly increase the per capita income of the region’s population. Restriction of trade within the region during government operation against the insurgent group is counter-productive, hurts the population and creates resentment which only helps the insurgent group and provides it with propaganda tools. The government should help the pastoralist form cooperatives to market their animals and fetch better prices in outside markets. The cooperatives can also provide loans and other member benefits to the pastoralist and potentially become launching pads for other economic advancements and investment tools. Improving the economic well-being of the region’s population will be the most effective tool of both denying recruits and undermining the viability of the insurgency group long term.
2- The lack of good governance and the regional governments’ chronic incompetence to provide service to the region’s population has created a significant dissatisfaction with the region’s political elites and provided the insurgency an environment of anger it has easily exploited and allows itself to present as the champion of their rights. I’m sure the region has decent, capable, well educated leaders that can solve the region’s problems but the federal government must first stop its bad habit of appointing and recycling incompetent leaders who often are perceived as loyalist to the ruling party. The region’s entire system of government requires revision and fundamental change. It’s a failed system. It’s the source of the region’s problems and it has failed the entire region. It encourages tribalism, tribal competition, encourages incompetence, discourages emergence of strong, independent minded leaders, and creates a culture of loyalist, nepotism and lawlessness. Without fixing the region’s political structure and system of government, an environment of resentment and anger will exist which will be exploited not only by the ONLF insurgent group but future potential Islamist groups that will emerge and exploit the anger and frustration of the region’s population. The new system of government must encourage and enable the emergency of capable leaders with the talent and education to lead. It must be merit based rather than clan based and should limit the influence of the federal government and the country’s ruling party to pick, a candidate of their choice, instead of region’s choice.
3-Ethiopia must learn from Kenya on how to integrate the region’s population fully into the fold and fabric of the country. Kenya was having difficulty in North Eastern Kenya which is inhabited by ethnic Somalis until 1980s when Kenya made a fundamental change to integrate the province to the rest of the country. Since then, Kenya has never looked back. North Eastern Kenya is now fully integrated into the country; the province’s ethnic Somalis now fully see themselves as Kenyans instead of Somalis. Kenya’s integration of its ethnic Somalis was possible only when the Kenya government changed its policies toward the province which treated the province’s population as half-citizens. It can be argued that Ethiopia’s policies and attitude toward the Somali regional State is similar to Kenya’s pre-1980 policies and attitude in North Eastern province. Even though Ethiopia is a federal State and the Somali region has its own autonomy, the federal government still wields enormous powers and influence in the region and some of its policies are discriminative and unhealthy. The methods employed by the federal government to fight the insurgent group are harsh, indiscriminate, and carries the second class treatment and half-citizen message to the population.
Finally, it’s too early to declare a failure the Da’ud administration, but, if this administration early going and poor execution of policy is an indication of their future success rate, I'm convinced that Da'ud's administration will not be different than the past administrations. This president lacks vision, lacks deep policy knowledge and skills to marshal resources, is overwhelmed by events easily, gets easily distracted and lacks the organization skills to solve the region’s long standing systemic problems. I'm now convinced that without federal intervention, the Somali regional administration is hopeless at best. I'm convinced that the time has come to dissolve the region’s current structure of incompetence and the invasive corruption, and start a new. This region will not move forward with its current foundation and system of governance. Changing the administration will not solve anything. The system needs to be changed. I believe the interest of the region will be best served if the federal government takes over for a period of time. The federal constitutional allows it and it’s in the best interest of the Somali regional state. Without fundamental reform to the regions institution structures, and political system, without significantly improvement to the socio-economic conditions of the population, without change of federal attitude and policies toward the region, the Somali regional State will disintegrate further into lawlessness and will be a hub for instability in the foreseeable future.
Nimco Rage works for the United Nation and is periodic contributor to kilil5 Online. I can be reached at Nimcorage1@hotmail.com
Op-Ed.
The Recent Statement by the Communication’s Minister Bereket Simon about the Somali Regional State’s security and development situation couldn’t be further from the truth. Speaking to reporters in a press conference, the minister reiterated a common phrase of the federal government popular upbeat assessment of the region by declaring that, “The situation in Ogaden has developed in such a way that when the ONLF has lost too much ground. And at this point we can say the ONLF is very weakened and in a state of crisis,". This declaration is both misleading and unfortunately the source of the Somali region’s systemic problems. The federal government has for political reasons refused to acknowledge the fundamental problems facing the region, and as a result, condemned the region to fall into its current state of political and economic chaos. There are a number of very serious questions that needs to be raised here and that is what I intend to discuss here in the hope that it will facilitate honest discussion or change the current strategy or policy of the federal government.
Leadership Crisis.
The fundamental problem facing the Somali regional State is leadership. The region for some reason can’t find the right leader who has the honesty, intellect, attitude, integrity, vision and the substance to formulate the right policy to cure the region’s fundamental problems. The current crops of leaders in the Somali region have many of the same attributes that plague the Somali ethnicity throughout the Horn of Africa. They are a failure. They are short of vision, and possess no political intellect or political pragmatism. They don't have the personal quality, nor the personal integrity you would like to see in your leader. They lack the desire and drive to rise above petty clanism and work for the common good. The personal wisdom, and maturity that is an integral part of capable leaders are missing from all of them. President after president, it has been a disappointments, and abject failure. The sources of this failure can be attributed to three sources: Somali clan culture, Ethiopia’s policy toward the region, and the education system. All three have failed to produce a leader with the right tangibles, someone who can inspire the confidence and earn the trust of the feuding clans. The majority of past presidents and the current president have been nothing but petty clan politicians. You couldn’t name a single president that will inspire your confidence. The leadership failure has to be the by-product of the Somali clan culture, Ethiopia’s policy of cherry picking their choice of leadership, and the country’s education system, which obviously isn’t producing quality leaders.
But the biggest blame must go to the federal government’s policy of cherry picking the region’s leadership. This policy of choosing the region’s leadership has produced a new crop of leaders with no quality of leadership, and with the slightest interest to attend to the region’s core systemic problems. Even if they had the interest, the federal government’s choice of leadership in the Somali region lack the leadership intellect, leadership drive, or the level of education competence that will allow them to have the organization skills, creativity, and problem solving skills necessary. The Federal government appears to choose the Somali region’s leaders not on their leadership quality, but on a false perceived political loyalty and clan quota. As a result, every president appears to be worse than his predecessor and the region’s problems continue to get out of hand because they are unattended. In the end, the Somali regional State is the only regional State that has declined in all phases of measuring indexes for development in the past 10 years compared to other regional states.The federal government’s lack of acknowledgement of the serious political and economic problems resulting from its own policies and the quality of leadership, calls into question the integrity and viability of its current and future policies toward the region.
Simmering Anger.
The Somali region in my honest assessment has entered a very dangerous phase both politically and economically and it has never been in a worse shape in all measuring indexes in the past 10 years contrary to the minister’s assessment which was just a political spin. Contrary to what the minister said, the security gains in the past two years of fighting the ONLF has been marginal and the ONLF is not getting weaker by any measure. The government might have neutralized the ONLF campaign, but the underlying systemic problems that give the ONLF its recruitment- the abject economic misery and lack of basic government services have only gotten worse. The worsening poverty of the population is directly related to the government's campaign against the ONLF which has restricted movement of goods and services throughout the region, the failure of both governments to provide the most basic services, and the continuous looting of the region’s budget. The deliberate open violation of citizens constitutional rights in the name of security sanctioned by even the region’s president and security minister, has created a volatile environment for future dissent, and in my view, will fill the ranks of the ONLF or similar organizations that will sprout up in the near future if this violations do not come to an end. There is a genuine simmering anger by the region’s citizens directed toward the federal government perceived to be the chief architect of the region’s failed leadership. There is an air of anger and a feeling of hopelessness concerning the worsening economic well-being of the population and the lack of concern from both level of governments.Citizens are also seeing the fortunes accumulated by the region's politicians and their relatives. In other words, people are seeing politicians and their relatives getting richer while their situation only gets worser.Politicians and their relatives are driving expensive luxury cars, building bigger expensive houses and starting megga businesses while they can't even get government distributed food.Even worse, regions leaders are so disconnected from their poverty striken citizens that they are selling the Food Aid intended to be distributed to the suffering citizens. There are major population centers where Food Aid has not being distributed for a year now even though that Aid was already allocated to these people.Selling Food Aid by the region's leaders and politician has now become part of their trade mark.
All major infrastructure development projects that would have laid the region’s future economic foundations and perhaps ignited the economic activities that would have contributed to the economic well being of the region’s population has been at complete stop for the past 3 years. Government Services that has been slowly improving prior to the government campaign against the ONLF has dried up despite increases in the region’s budget every year for the past 3 years. Corruption which has always being the hallmark of the region has gotten out of control to the point where government services falsely exist, development projects within the region are fraudently declared completed, while the region's accounting books are routinely cooked. Despite the enormous cost sheltered by the region’s citizens since the start of the government campaign against the ONLF, they have nothing to show for their sacrifice in security, and economic well being. So, when the information minister declares that “The situation in Ogaden is improving by the day… People are interested in developmental activities and taking matters into their own hands. The government assessment is that the ONLF will find itself in a very difficult situation." The minister is either misinformed, ignorant of the facts in the region or the government is deliberately engaged in misinformation and propaganda which only masks the worsening state of the Somali regional government which is not in the best interest of the region or the country for that matter.
The Political Culture Fundamentally Flawed.
The current administration of president Da’ud Mohamed has only added to the widespread simmering anger of the region’s population and might be the final catalysts of widespread discontent, and anger toward what is perceived to be the policies of the federal government and seen as the source of the region’s political turmoil and leadership problems.Its now becoming a common held believe by the majority of the population that the federal government chooses for them the worst possible leaders whose desire are to loot their meagre resources and enrich themselves instead of governing and solving their problems. The culture of lawlessness in the Somali region is also so prevalent and frankly out of whack. Any citizen can be accused of supporting the ONLF and can be thrown into jail without any due process, any civil servant can be fired from his/her job with the allegation of supporting the ONLF without due process or proven through the country’s judiciary. Thousands of individuals are sitting for years, months in the region’s jail without ever being brought in front of any court and often against the country’s Courts orders. Hundreds of individuals are sitting in jails because the president and the security minister have overstepped the country’s judiciary and have refused to release people set free for lack of evidence of the crimes they are accused. The region’s civil service has become the last victims of the lawlessness and chaotic environment prevalent now in the region. They have been stripped the freedom to adjudicate their skills and services to the region’s population freely and have been made a mere political bonds-they can’t make the simplest of decision without passing it through the president and the security minister, without fear of being tagged with accusation or fear of retaliation. When skilled professionals tell you that they can’t honestly do their job or they can’t do a good job because they will loose their job. The current culture rewards laziness, corruption and punishes hard work, integrity and just doing the right thing. There are many cases where civil servants were fired from their jobs because their bureau chiefs were scared of them- the punishment was doing their job.
Don’t look any further than the recent resignation of the vice president Mr. Hassan Abdullahi who has accused the president of micro-managing the region’s affairs, dictatorial intimidation and outright paranoia behavior. The current president Mr. Da’ud Mohamed symbolizes the leadership mess and the inferior leadership product that is in place. This is a guy that if he continues in his current course of political paranoia, contempt for the law, misuse of the office of the presidency, political witch-hunting of everyone that disagrees with him, and the disparaging of civil servants might be the final launching pad of a massive civil disobedience and uprising that will make ONLF engagement in the region, a minor distraction. The primitive culture of never ending civil servant meetings and bureau assessments every 3 and 6 months as nothing more than covering up the incompetence of the region’s leaders. It’s also another venue of covering the rampant culture of corruption practiced by senior leaders and their lieutenants. More than 30 million birr has been used in the last two such meetings. What does this tell you what is going on in the Somali regional State? I don’t need to emphasize the level of anger and frustration with the state of the Somali region. The federal government needs to move past the political spins of the state of the Somali region and move quickly to solve the fundamental problems facing the region. The Somali region is a volcano that is violently simmering underneath and will erupt in a matter of time. It’s a matter of when not if. The federal government needs to formulate new policies to tackle the worsening poverty of the population, and the improvement of basic services.The culture of leadership incompetence needs to come to an end.
Finally, the federal government must bring to an end the abusive human rights violation of the region's citizens sanctioned by both the regional leadership and federal officials . The top leaders who have become the law must be held to account.The region's leaders have simply failed to govern . The time for plan B is now and that plan B will have to begin discarding (throwing out) most of the current crop of leaders in the region and putting in-charge quality people choosen for their integrity, intellectual quality, education, organization skills competence and experience.The search for long lasting solutions to the region's problems must begin today. The search for able leadership must begin now.
Farhan Mohamud
Assistant kilil5 Editor.
Kilil5 Editorial.
This website on a daily basis gets a lot of criticism from its readers. Criticism, deserved or undeserved, are welcomed by us. It’s our reader’s criticism that makes us want improve, informs us of our deficiencies and the things we need to improve and honestly informs us of what we are doing right or wrong. We are absolutely sure that a polarized society as ours and a region like ours, with formidable challenges for gathering news and information, that you can never satisfy all sides of the political spectrum and that our news can never be full prove correct. However, I think the time has come to explain ourselves to our readers. We want to be honest and forthcoming with our readers. We admit there have been times when we were biased toward the government and frankly acted as the government mouthpiece, but, there is a reason for this which is in line with our philosophy and believes. It’s not a secret and we don’t hide the fact that we believe in the current federal system of Ethiopia and the autonomous self-governing the constitution of Ethiopia affords the Somali region. This is why we support the Somali regional State fully irrespective of who the leader is. We want to make it clear that we are absolutely against the ideologies advocated by the ONLF and similar opposition groups. However, this doesn’t mean that we condone the deficiencies or excesses of both governments; neither do we refrain from criticizing their policies that adversely affect the citizens of the region. It’s our role, it’s our job.
We admit that we have our lapses of judgment or that at one point, we reported a news story that turned out inaccurate, but, I will assure our readers that, this website has never purposely or intentionally put a false news story. This website has similarly strived to improve the accuracy of its news stories and makes a concerted effort to accommodate all opinions. Over the years since our inception, we have evolved. And evolved toward the middle in our news reporting, to accommodate plural views, and to hold accountable both the federal and the regional governments. It should be very reassuring to our readers that, as a principle, and to protect the integrity of our news gathering, we have never asked the clan identity or the political views of our reporters. We have demanded only one thing, and that is to be neutral and factual with their reporting. We have demanded from our reporters to separate the actual news story from their opinion or believe. And they have done it, not all the time, but, majority of times.Being objective,and neutral, has earned this website the trust of senior officials and security officers in both level of government, and the opposition groups,which in turn,improves our ability to verify news leaks and stories on a daily basis.
The role of the news media in society springs from the right of people to learn about matters of public concern. The citizens of the Somali region should have the right, and freedom to speak about the workings of their government, should be entitled to debate their government conduct, and have the right to demand that their leaders defend their decisions, and the policies they are pursuing. People can play a useful role in a society and hold their government accountable only if informed well enough to do so. In this context, kilil5 Online strives to act as both a conduit and a watchdog. It’s our belief that free expression also encourages a government to be answerable to its people. Indeed, because of advances in internet communications, at no time in history have governments been better able to answer directly to those who elect them.
This website believes access to information is essential to the health of the Somali region for at least two reasons. First, it ensures that citizens are informed about matters that affect their daily lives within their boundaries and the outside world. Second, information serves a “checking function†by ensuring that elected Officials and people put in position of power,uphold their oaths of office and carry out the wishes of those who have entrusted them in their positions. Throughout the world, it has been proven that, in most cases, an antagonistic relationship between media and government represents a vital and healthy element for the full functioning of society and the supremacy of the rule of law. Our role is not to become cheerleaders for the regional or the federal government but to disseminate information as away of mediating between the state and all facets of civil society in ethnically homogenous Somali society with many, differing, and often competing special interest groups and clans. Our role is to inform the public, and hold government accountable. In return, this eventually yields good citizens and better government. The rule of law may be further institutionalized if we play our role independently.
Within the context of supporting and encouraging a democratic society and the rule of law in the Somali region, our goal has been to move, to a more open role, from one that isn’t directed or overtly controlled by the government and private interest groups, and to a position which has a degree of editorial independence that serves the public interest and the region’s citizens. We strongly believe that, if we are to have any meaningful role in the Somali region, and the country as a whole, then our goal should be to welcome, nurture, promote, and encourage a diverse range of opinion, and voices that are credible even if we don’t agree or share the same ideology. We believe this because we realize the region’s interest is better served by having plural voice and diversity of opinions.
We will take the “propaganda†criticism of Minister Abdi Iley with stride. We want to remind him that if any, this website might be deservedly criticized for overly cheerleading him, and often undeservedly praising him.The president and the minister should know that we want them to do well and we are here to support them. They have frankly a very difficulty job trying to raise the region from a deep unhappy history and out of its misery. They are dealing with an insurgent group that takes orders and is funded by foreign countries. This insurgent group undermines the hard work of the region leaders, and all development endeavors the region would undertake. The ONLF and other insurgent groups are holding hostage the Somali region from moving forward. They are doing everything they can, destroying the basic fabrics that hold the society together. It has been very evident from the beginning that these groups are hell bent in creating a climate of utter chaos and lawlessness to further their objective and narrowly defined ideology. Despite the magnitude of problems the region’s leaders face and deal with on a daily basis, they have been their own enemies more often than not. Instead of getting seriously with the business of governing, they have immersed themselves and pursued a short sighted, and frankly childish political chicken chasing game. The citizen of the region need, and are demanding, a pragmatic, and serious minded leaders. Leaders who are serious about the business of governing, instead of indulging themselves, the political witch-hunting of their opponents.
Finally, our citizens need to support their leaders, as our leaders are only as good as we make them. Without our support, the region’s leaders cannot solve the mountain of problems that our region faces today. The time has come for us to learn from the mistakes of our brothers across the border and the issues that have reduced them to the misery and the shameful sorry state they find themselves today. We can’t allow the few in our midst to pursue the culture of destruction and wrecklessness unchecked. We can't allow the few extremist in our midst to determine our future for us.We can’t allow the ideologues and the tribalist to use the cancer of clanism to pursue their blind ideology or reach the power they so desire without regard to our well being.
Kilil5 Editorial.
The Somali regional State continues to be a casualty of its chronic leadership problem. The region, even with the election of a new president, faces serious short and long term challenges: insecurity, deteriorating economic outlook, rising prices of basic commodities, and recurring clan conflicts or tensions. The region’s horizon appears potmarked with a lot of uncertaintly, but all is not doom and gloom. The appointment of President Da’ud appears to have afforded the region an opportunity to right its ship. We are encouraged by the president’s effort so far, and the federal government’s renewed involvement- to cure some of the region’s self-inflicted wounds and its inability to run its business effectively and manage its resources wisely.
We believe, the president efforts to rein on the runaway corruption culture that currently exists in all phases and levels of the region government is the right course. The just concluded training workshop for finance officers, districts and provincial administrators, Bureau of finance/revenue officials and all officials who are involved in the region’s budget setting and how that budget is spent is the first right step. However, we believe the federal government must continue with its effort of training and providing support to the region’s resource managers and finance officials, until the region establishes a level of proficiency in resource and budget management. This effort of professionalizing the region’s resource and budget managers at all levels of government must be coupled with a clear pyramid of authority, where the region’s resources and budgets at all levels of government can be easily tracked, and verified with documentation. The regional administration and the federal government must move one step further by establishing a structure of resource management that utilizes modern tools of resource management, technology, checks and balances similar to the advanced regional states in the federation and that of Addis Ababa city administration. The region’s bureau of revenue and finance should be staffed by highly qualified professionals outside the Somali regional state until the region establishes a firm structure of budgetary, audit management and attains a level of proficiency and professionalism in managing its finances.
It’s very reassuring that the president has an agenda of change for the region. We are encouraged by the president efforts so far, his understanding of the region’s systemic problems and his desire to plant a lasting culture of good governance and accountability, at all levels of the regional government. The region can’t afford to continue at its current course of doing business. The region has backtracked in every phase while other regional governments in the federation have taken significant leaps forward and achieved measurable economic and good governance indexes. Just the past four months, the neighboring Oromia regional state has attracted and licensed 17 billion private investment compared to just over 34 million for the Somali regional state. Other Regional states had similar huge private investment. These huge private investment advance the economies of these regional governments, create a variety of jobs for the regional population, attract government capital investment, and create economic opportunity for the local people. The disparity in investment is a reflection of the region's failed leadership, absence of long term planning and vision.The Somali region can’t afford to be a bystander in development and attracting private investment whether local or foreign capital which Ethiopia has been attracting for the past two years compared to other East African Countries. The country is finally getting the attention of capital markets and investors in developed countries after the federal government loosened some of the regulations dealing with the private investment. The federal government still influences the nature, the size, and the location of the investment and we believe the region is overlooked. However, the Somali regional state can’t attract any investment foreign or local in the current instability and insecurity. The foundation of investment whether it’s by the government or private sector is long term stability, sound regional government management and availability of educated workforce. This is why we believe, president Da’ud’s administration has to devise new ways of stabilizing the region.
The region’s security challenges are multifaceted and will need a sustained political efforts and economic investment by the federal government compared to the current military option, to achieve a long lasting stability. First step is the current effort by President Da’ud to establish an accountable government that does the people’s business, manages the regions resources efficiently, and responds to the needs of the people. In other words, the people have to trust the government and have to believe in it. The people have to see the government solving their problems, responding to their problems, and needs. The people have to believe in their leaders, and the leaders have to be seen discharging their duties in a fair and impartial manner. This means, leaders from the district level to the president have to rise above the petty clannish culture and inclination. Instead, the leaders must show a commitment to serve all citizens with impartiality and dedication to duty. Until the citizens of the region trust the provision of their government’s services and until the government delivers basic services at both federal and regional level without discrimination, the current disconnect, suspicion, lack of confidence, and in some provinces outright hostility toward the regional administration, will continue.
The Second step in the realization of a lasting stability for the region is the expansion of economic opportunities and job creation throughout the region. The current military campaigns against militant groups have compounded the already limited economic opportunity of this region’s population. Both federal and regional governments need to rethink their current strategy of fighting these groups. The past two years have seen the regions commerce come to a standstill. This has led to declining house hold incomes and rising prices for all consumable goods and services. In fact, the only source of income has now become government jobs and unreliable food Aid from government and NGOs. Expanding economic opportunities and lifting the region population out of poverty, is an effective and proven measures to fight insecurity and meet long term stability for the region. The federal and regional administration must expand commerce in the region not limit it, the federal government and the regional administration should allow the free movement of people, goods and services throughout the region freely. If the federal government and the regional administration are concerned about neighboring Somalia’s instability being exported into the region, then, they should establish a dry port in Jigjiga. This will allow the exportation and importation of goods and services in and out of the region. The regional government must think creatively to balance the security and development needs of the region, and must act in the best interest of the region’s population. Restricting movement of people and commerce is a colonial method of fighting an insurgency, and has been proven to be ineffective. In fact, these measures of collectively punishing the civilian population only turn the population against the government and aid the insurgency. As long as majority of the region’s population are mired in poverty, and illiteracy, they are easily manipulated by rogue groups like the ONLF. The government must win the hearts and minds of the population by the delivery of an effective, responsive government and by expanding economic opportunities through the creation of jobs and freedom to commerce. The current measures of fighting separist groups are only punishing the region population and having the unintended consequence of recruiting more support for these groups.
Finally, President Da’ud’s administration must take seriously the recurring clan conflicts and institute new policies of dealing with simmering clan conflicts over land resources and grievances of marginalization by minority clans. Ignoring the early phases of clan conflicts or covering up legitimate grievances by some minority clans will only undermine the administration’s efforts moving the region forward. The administration should consider establishing a clan conflict resolution office that will report directly to the president. This conflict resolution office should consist not more than 5 to 10 people with the highest integrity, and from all clans. They should be employed full time with the responsibility of finding permanent solution to these recurring clan conflicts and advising the president and his administration accordingly. There is absolutely no justification for these clan conflicts. They are unnecessary, destructive and divisive. They are a result of the regional government’s failures of preventing these clan conflicts, and acting decisively ending them when they occur. A good example is the current conflict going on in Gabal village Godey province where the regional government has failed to act quickly and decisively to end what appeared to be a small quarrel over land, and has since escalated into a major clan conflict. The region deserves a government that works, and leaders who can rise above petty clan interest and work for the good of all. The region deserves leaders who can unite not divide, leaders who can inspire confidence they will tackle the regions problems, and act- not just talk.
Kilil5 Editorial.
The citizens of the Somali regional State of Ethiopia whether living in the Diaspora or in the country are putting high hopes on the appointment of President Da’ud. The new president is faced with a daunting task; the task of confronting the region’s defining political forces today: a deep rooted primitive political culture defined by tribalism and clanism, a worsening insecurity defined by a resurgent ONLF guerilla movement and other small factions, and a population submerged by 90% poverty rate. We have little doubt that,Mr. Da’ud’s presidency will be defined, his success measured, and the region’s future shaped by how he deals with the fraught alliance between the Ogaden clan’s Ogadenia movement and ONLF insurgence on one hand, and the region’s desire to move forward politically and economically in a unity on the other hand. The tangled nexus between the Ogadenia movement and ONLF insurgency, and the anxious but impatient needs of the majority of the region’s citizens to move forward, has been complicating the region’s politics ever since the region was given its current autonomy in the country’s federal system.
President Da’ud has a mountain of challenges to deal with; ONLF insurgency, a web of clan conflicts and competition, crippling corruption, a culture of political indifference, ineffective and inefficient civil service, and contradictory and often intruding federal government policies in the region and illiterate citizens who might not fully co-operate with his policies. He is now the executive head of a region whose adult literacy rate is a mere 15% and is plagued by centuries of tribal animosity and clan conflict over meager resources. But, we have this hope that President Da’ud will be different from his predecessors; presidents who were either spineless or unscrupulous, and sometimes both. Presidents who led the region without eyes and without brains, presidents who were motivated by greed and zeal for the people’s money, presidents who were conveniently used like a broomstick by federal officials to the detriment of the region’s needs and interest. We are not fully convinced but hopeful that Mr. Da’ud will be the first of a new breed of educated leaders which the region’s citizens have been yearning for. Because of lack of leadership, a conspicuous alliance between a tribalist Ogadenia movement and an ONLF insurgence led by power hungry, greedy politicians, and a contradictory federal policies, our region is still in the ditch, stuck but hopeful. President Da’ud is Smart and educated. His leadership style is no panacea. In its long and painful history,this region has seen nothing but ignorant, spineless, old guard tribal leaders, who used fear instead of competency, to convince us their leadership. Mr. Da’ud may be the first intellectual leader, someone who is interested in ideas, and comfortable with his own complexity, while his predecessors were too rigid. It’s not a small measure that many of us are wondering whether Mr. Da’ud may be too, intoxicated with tribalism, or may fall victim to his Ogaden clan’s never ending, and messy power struggles, Or get distracted by the region self destructing clan politics.
President Da’ud has to develop quickly a big-bang strategy of pressing aggressively on multiple fronts the Somali region’s multiple pressing problems in a pragmatic, but wholesome change approach. The region can’t afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities of ending corruption, improving security without government engaging witch-hunting of innocent civilians, improving governance and the rule of law, streamlining and improving all regional government departments and bureaus, accountability of every department and civil service employees, extending government services to rural and small towns, bold expansion and investment in infrastructure, education and health services, expansion of rural electrification and moving toward achieving the national millennium goals. We are making an argument for an aggressive approach in the mold of PM Zenawi’s initiatives and rule of this country. Nothing short of bold and transforming initiatives that will change the current political, security, economic, and cultural structure of the Somali region as we know it today. The list of demands on the table is going to be staggering, absolutely staggering. But we are convinced contrary to many nay Sayers from the region that, if there is one person who can husband the Somali region to a transformative, historic, once in a generation time, its president Da’ud. We believe that if president Da’ud can husband his time, energy and political capital on the most pressing three dominant priorities; that the region’s current structural deficiencies and underlying, undermining, dooming, political, economic, and cultural cultures can be transformed once and for all.
To be a transformative president, President Da’ud must explicitly move beyond the psychodrama of the current clanism and tribalism based politics — a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on old tribal enmity, and conflict long ago. The region’s citizens want to see Government under President Da’ud to value personal disclosure and transparency, accountability in every office, fairness and justice in all its officials, and embracing competency by hiring the best and brightest citizens. We are calling the president to shelf once and for all the culture of rewarding incompetence by hiring people for their clan identity instead of their education, competence, professionalism, and dedication to serve. We want to see the president surround himself and utilize the region’s growing young professionals who have the education, the knowledge of their communities and their region, the motivation to serve their country and communities, and who are the least infected with the cancer of tribalism. The president must also transform communication between the president and the people. The president must also change the culture of the office of the region’s presidency by reaching out and recruiting the region’s highly educated professionals in the Diaspora irrespective of their clan for policy advice. These professionals must meet the criteria of being highly skilled, highly trained with little or no political interest or believe, and their advice must be sought purely on harnessing their skill, and technical know-how.
It’s the aspiration, and hope of the region’s citizens that Mr. Da’ud will not be pigeonholed, and that he will be free to make healthy decision for the region’s future.
Mr. Da’ud has a fertile mind, is a no nonsense leader, has vision compared to his predecessors, and is not driven by greed or money. We are hopeful that his fertile mind will set a new tone for our region. We are hopeful that he will fight tribalism and reduce its influence in the region’s politics. We are hopeful that he will discharge his responsibility and duty without nepotism and with a fair mind and an eye for justice. We are hopeful that he will find equilibrium between individual liberty, freedom and rule of law. Maybe, he will usher in a new era of accountability in the region and a sense of common purpose and an elusive unity between our people. Maybe, someday soon our leaders no longer will have to shuffle in shame and our citizens won’t be ashamed of their shuffling. Maybe soon, we might begin to be proud of our leaders, and maybe, and just maybe, they might soon become household names and part of a proud history in the near future.
Have your say and send your comments to admin@kilil5.com or comment directly on our comment links below.
N.B: Kilil5 is looking for new contributers, new additions to our editorial staff, and objective people to contribute through Op-Eds.We are also encouraging well educated citizens of the region and political leaders to become weekly columnists in this website and take part in the social,political and economic advancement of our region by educating our citizens about their region and the global world.
Op-ED
by Farhan S Mohamud.
Shall we say good riddance, or does it matter the dismissal of former president Abdullahi Hassan Lugbur?
Under the former President, the Somali regional administration was mired in acrimony, and mayhem. Ethnic violence and rebirth of ONLF insurgency appears to have nullified the political and developmental gains of the last 15 years. The renewed ONLF insurgency and its military strengthening have potentially set the region on the dangerous road to anarchy and collapse of its autonomy. While other states under the Ethiopian federation continue to take promising steps toward good governance, capacity building, development, and the provision of services to their citizens, the Somali region declined under Abdullahi Hassan Lugbur. Such trepidations stem from the lack of capable leaders, leadership styles, and primitive loyalty to clan, and agonizing corruption.
The Somali region is the only regional state in the Ethiopian federation with the dubious distinction of having more than 18 presidents since the establishment of the federal system in Ethiopia. Abdullah Hassan Lugbur, with his 3 plus years, was the second longest serving president of the region. The primary reason of the region’s political restlessness; leaders are valued at the expense of leadership, while individuals are celebrated at the expense of institutions.
While I don’t believe the departure of Abdullahi Hassan Lugbur will change the current political landscape or bring a new air of freshness in leadership quality, or bring to an end the endemic paralyzing corruption, I still welcome his departure for the simple reassuring fact that he got what he deserved and the notion of holding him accountable. To be fair, the region’s problems are not all his fault-there are many parties, including the federal government that share part of the blame.
The two important questions are; who is the likely to be next president? Who is the best qualified person to lead the region from the current mismanagement and lawlessness?
There are three front runners to become the next presidents even though there may be surprises. But in all likeliness, the front runners right now are Abdifatah Sheikh Abdullahi, Da'ud Diriye, and Abdi Mohamed Omar “Ileyâ€.
Abdifatah Sheikh Abdullahi is the head of the governing party SPDP and has been a long time minister of education in the region. Abdifatah is the most likely candidate and best qualified to be the next president in the current crop of leaders. Not only is he well educated with a masters degree from London, he also possesses a much needed missing commodity in the current crop of leaders in the region; vision, pragmatism and leadership. How is this important? Well, Leaders are men and women who furnish visions and directions in all social contexts. Visions are the grand schemes that frame the path to the future in light of present constraints and opportunities. Leaders need to have imagination, perspective, and drive. Talking to people who have worked with Abdifatah for a long time and people who know him well say that he may be the best suited in mobilizing broad constituencies and uniting them around a common purpose, but, also the best visionary and most adaptive in translating grand ideas into manageable policy options.
Another most likely candidate is Da’ud diriye, who has been the de-facto president of the region for some time now. Mr. Da’ud Dirie is the most powerful individual at the moment in the region- has been primarily behind the downfall and demise of Abdullahi Hassan Lugbur. There has been a power struggle for the past 18 months between two factions; one led by Da’ud and his lieutenant Abdi Iley and the other one by the former president Lugbur and Abdifatah Sheikh. Most likely, the power struggle between the two factions will continue despite the departure of Lugbur. Da’ud Diriye is well educated, possesses strong leadership qualities and arguably is the most decisive and capable leader among the current crop of leaders, but is also plagued by clan prejudice, is divisive, fashions his own rules, creates his own decrepit rules to centralize power to himself, fosters ethnic exclusiveness, and is well known for his ethnic mobilization and elite aggrandizement. More troubling is Mr. Da’ud’s tendencies to narrow decision-making to a coterie of presidential courtiers.
It’s the observation and conclusion of everyone I talked that, though Da’ud possesses some strong leadership qualities that are much needed at the moment; he lacks the realist, pragmatic and consensus building leadership qualities that is needed in a region plagued by ethnic fault lines, mistrust and clan, sub-clan polarization. Therefore, he is not the ideal leader that the region needs at the moment. Worse yet, Mr. Da’ud is one of the key Ogaden Politicians blocking the much needed debate on how to resolve the lingering clan animosities, particularly between the Sheekhaal sub-clans and Ogaden sub-clans in the Raaso region. The Sheekhal sub-clans have been blocked and denied political participation and representation in the region and Mr. Da’ud has been a big participant and a lead advocate in the Ogaden sub-clans effort to deny the Sheekhal sub-clans any political representation or participation both federal and regional level. There needs to be a permanent compromise between these groups, predicated not on political politeness and procrastination, but a frontal approach to the multiple, but surmountable, schisms that rend them apart. A lasting compromise is important not only between these feuding Sheekhal and Ogaden sub-clans but between all the competing Somali clans who call the region their home, to recreate a modern Somali regional government, that is comfortable with itself. Sturdy nations are built through shared institutions and symbols, but more crucially, through the purposive cultivation of common visions for the future
The third most likely candidate is Mr. Abdi Mohamed Omar known as “Abdi Ileyâ€. Abdi Mohamed Omar has been in charge of the region’s department of security bureau for the past two years. According to many, he has been the “yes man†of Mr. Da’ud Dirie and lacks the vision, independence, and creative mind needed to be a successful leader to unite the many feuding and often conflicting interest parties in the region. Many academicians and political observers of the region believe that he often makes hasty decisions and acts on them without any thoughtfulness or deliberations. His hasty decision making and sometimes impulsive decisions, have resulted disastrous consequences in the region in the past two years, he has been in charge of the region’s security and justice department. Many believe that he is easily manipulated and influenced by others in his decision making and areas of responsibility. Others accuse him of often dovetailing into ethnic polarization and political opponents’ witch-hunting. There are numerous and well documented cases where he abused his position of power, displayed an amateur disregard for the law and acted in away detrimental to the rule of law. He therefore lacks the required personal connection between the president and the people, the political art and professionalism of a president, proficient leadership and capacity to organize-such as the ability to formulate policy and mobilize broad constituencies and government departments around his policies while respecting divergent opinions and options. I will be very surprised if he is appointed to be the region’s next president. I also believe it will have a very severe and devastating consequence for the region if he were to become the next president.
From the surface, the Somali region has got competing,divisive clan blocks that seem to present a picture of ethnic polarization, and competition. There needs to be a debate on how to resolve the lingering clan, Sub-clan animosities, and discussion for the need to have permanent compromise between the many Somali sub-clans. In my humble view, the problem is not the organization of politics along clan lines, but more accurately, lack of capable leaders and leadership. The Somali region unfortunately never had leaders, men and women who will rise above the amateur, evil clan politics and into leaders who will furnish visions, and directions in all social contexts- leaders with imagination, perspective, and drive. The region is desperate for a leader with the ability to mobilize broad constituencies, a leader who can unite all competing and often antagonistic clans and sub-clans into a common purpose, a leader who can respect the rule of law and divergent opinions and options and finally a leader who truly believes in his heart, his primary responsibility is to serve all with equality, fairness an impartiality without regard to ones clan, sub-clan and a leader who has and will always look only after the interest of the region and its citizens. I believe, with the above individuals who are most likely candidates at the moment, Abdifatah Sheikh Abdullahi is the best candidate. I hope there are better choices out there and I’m willing and curious to hear kilil5 reader’s choices and their suggestion as to who might be the most likely candidate and or best candidate for the region going forward.
Farhan S Mohamud
kilil5 contributor.
Post your comments who might be the best candidate,who do you think will be the likely candidate, who is the best qualified to be next president. ONly good comments will be posted and shared with the readers.
Op/Ed: The Nation
Presidential nominating conventions are little more than political theater these days. Nonetheless, two very different modes of drama were on display in St. Paul and Denver. The Democrats used their meeting to tell a richer, more expansive national story, one more or less in tune with the party's platform and aspirations. In contrast, as we go to press, the Republicans are staging an elaborate fraud, the purpose of which is to divert the public's attention from their disastrous mismanagement of government and to deceive voters about their agenda. Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, admitted as much when he said, "This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."
And just what is the take-away from the RNC? The GOP would have Americans believe that McCain is a postpartisan "country first" maverick. But its attempt at stagecraft--never mind statecraft--runs afoul of inconvenient truths. By picking first-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain exposed the cynical pandering that is his campaign's prevailing electoral strategy as well as the far-right ideology to which the controlling base of his party is fiercely committed.
In her debut speech in Dayton, Palin sought to appeal to women voters, many of whom supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. But for all the talk about Palin representing a feminist crack in the glass ceiling, her true value to the party lies in her identity as a cultural reactionary--committed to abstinence-only sex education and creationism in schools and opposed to abortion in all circumstances except to save a woman's life (no exceptions for rape, incest or for a woman's health). The first piece of legislation she signed as governor launched a referendum that would strip health benefits from same-sex partners of Alaska state employees. If these positions are not shared by the vast majority of Americans--or by McCain--they are plainly endorsed by the Republican Party's platform, which calls for constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage and abortion. It now appears that the same right-wingers who pushed these measures--Phyllis Schlafly, James Dobson, Tony Perkins and their ilk--are the ones who really "vetted" McCain's vice presidential choice, and it is abundantly clear that these extremists dictate the agenda of the Republican Party, the party of Palin as much or more than the party of McCain.
Likewise, the fundraisers and phone-a-thons the GOP hastily choreographed as Hurricane Gustav struck the Gulf Coast painted a self-serving veneer of charity on top of decades of neglect. The starve-the-beast mentality that made New Orleans so vulnerable to Hurricane Katrina is amply reflected in McCain's record after that storm (see Michael Tisserand, "Revisiting New Orleans," page 5).
The Republicans put on a happy face as the party of change while embracing an agenda to thwart it; the Democrats, inspired by the historic nomination of Barack Obama, stamped themselves as the party of multiculturalism--and backed up the symbolism with a robust populist politics. There were more women delegates than men, and 44 percent represented minority communities. The party platform was the strongest it has ever been on gay, lesbian and women's issues--including a new section on women's economic opportunity that urges passage of the Fair Pay Act--which McCain opposes. It's a platform that represents much-maligned "identity politics" at its best--it's not just about images but about those pesky "issues" Republicans don't want to discuss.
OP/ED by Abdullahi Dool.
The mistreatment of a Somali is a matter which concerns not only the individual but all Somalis! The deportation of Somalis on Somali soil is illegal and unacceptable. Somalis have been deported to Ethiopia by both Somaliland and Puntland. A Somali should feel at home on home turf. It will amount to violation of human rights to deny a Somali to live in any Somali territory. Puntland and Somaliland are Somali regions and every Somali has God-given right to be there. It is an irony if Somalis are rounded up and treated as aliens on Somali territories. Our communities are in almost every country and Somalis live in peace and security in those nations. Somalis too should be able to make a home in any Somali territory without persecution.
Owing to a consuming civil war which went on for 18 years, Somalis have not been caring for one another as they should. The world was wondering for too long why Somalis who belong to one nation care less for one another. It wasn’t missed on Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia either. In an interview he gave to Newsweek on 12 April 2008, when questioned whether Ethiopia’s involvement in Somalia will spark nationalism, Meles Zenawi responded, “An oversupply of national sentiment is not the problem in Somalia. The problem is a lack of it. The problem is an oversupply of sub-sub-clannish attitude.â€
Puntland has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The administration there is increasingly showing signs of malfunction, be it printing forged Somali bank notes or rounding up and deporting Somalis. Fortunately, all is not lost in Puntland. The Somali people everywhere are aware of the courage and wisdom of elders and intellectuals in Puntland who stood up to their administration to deport Somalis to Ethiopia. The nation owes a wealth of gratitude for their foresight and courage in the face of an administration which has lost its marbles.
For a nation whose offsprings are being born from Canada to New Zealand and from Cape Town to Cardiff, only a broad-based vision encompassing all Somalis will meet the need to build a new and vibrant nation. Owing mainly to mass exodus brought about by misrule and civil war, Somalia is destined as a nation of Diaspora and Native population. Do we need Somalis born back home to discriminate against Somalis born overseas? To make a point where the individual was born is to lack vision: it will obstruct the emergence of new Somalia. Such myopia will deny the millions who are being born overseas to benefit as well as rebuild and populate our tiny nation. That is why, in 2009 we need the establishment of a government which has the necessary vision and the right leadership to inspire and unleash the potential of all our people.
There is no doubt division has cost us dearly. Our national media should lead opinion and not pander to hatred and division. Such pettiness has been responsible for the predicament of the nation. The beauty of a nation is in its unity and harmony. We need to work harder to see the day when our nation too is united and stable. That day can only come when our people focus on the many things we share. Only then will our nation succeed and catch up with the rest of mankind.
I am not bothered what Mohamed Warsame Nur (Darwiish) did to survive life in exile, but I am very much bothered what he is doing back home. The channel 4 program aired on 26 May 2008 was graphic and explicit on the toil and suffering of our people in the capital. The Somali people need to focus on how we can end this dark era by having a better government in 2009. To change the course of the nation we need to focus on how the nation can pick itself up post the TFG in 2009. The violence is not helping but aiding the continuation of the reign of the TFG. The more the violence goes the more the international community which invested in the establishment of the transitional government in Somalia will come to the aid of the TFG.
Somalia is big enough to house not only all Somalis but many millions more. If we are to build a lasting and vibrant society, we need to bolster a strong sense of common belonging. The need for national belonging has never been greater. It is high time we Somalis have acted as a nation rather than clans! We are Somalis not by choice but by the will of His Majesty, the Almighty. It is incumbent on all Somalis to care for one another. If we Somalis did not care for one another no-one will! It is high time all Somalis care for and support for one another.
Abdullahi Dool
Hornheritage@aol.com
Ed/Op-
From the president of the region Abdullahi Hassan Lugbur, to his cabinet members, to region politicians, to academicians, all the way down to the average person in the region, no one and I mean no one is spared from pervasive fear that has gripped everyone living in the Somali regional state. Whether this fear is perceived or real, people living in this region are scared out of their wits and seem to be acting out of fear paranoia. The fear and the negativity hanging over everyone from leaders to regular citizens these days is so high that it makes it hard for anyone to a risk of any kind or speak the truth or even answer your questions. As a reporter, I have the first hand experience of being able to talk to leaders, security officers, regular regional bureaucrats and regular people. The level of fear and the fear-producing culture of the region are making me to question whether this level of fear is real or perceived.
The existing culture of fear and paranoia is not confined only to those living in the Somali regional State but also exists in the Diaspora community where natives from the region will not carry a normal conversation or express their personal political opinion with you openly and freely. I have had the experience of people looking at you suspiciously even the people you have known for a long time and won’t be forthcoming with their honest views and opinion all the while feeling restless and uncomfortable. Leaders from the region including the President Abdullahi Hassan lugbur and his cabinet members, the people you will expect to be the least fearful, do have the same level of fear and paranoia to the point where they are not willing to answer even non-political questions and will ask you, I guess, without knowing, several fearful questions about your encounter with them, even, social encounters. This culture of fear does exist equally in the ONLF leadership and their supporters, and their patterns of fear and paranoia are expressed in similar fashions. And this brings me to my questions.
So how does this general climate of fear affect political discussions? What about the effects of our collective thoughts on our collective health as a society? Does this culture of fear stem from Ethiopia’s crack down on the ONLF organization and opposition parties? Why does it affect equally even those living in open and free societies such as the U.S and Europe? What can we do to stop this oppressive fear that seeks refuge in a false conformity? Does this cloud of negativity and fear hanging over our society these days make it especially hard for anyone to speak the truth?
As Einstein so wisely said, we can’t solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created the problem in the first place. If we are acting out of this deep paranoia, and deep fear, what makes us believe that the region’s leaders from the president to the lowest level, will be exercising their own judgment while discharging their duties? Does the constant firing of regional officials and cabinet ministers in any way connected to this culture of fear and back stabbing? How are people expected to think freely out of clouded and fearful minds to solve problems or find a common ground in a polarized political views and ideologies? How can we break through the clouds of fear and suppression, so we can think more clearly and discover the deeper causes of the anger and hopelessness that we find our selves today whether we are living in the region or in the Diaspora?
My conclusion after talking to many leaders from the region and the region’s natives is that the culture of fear that is pervasive has its roots to the control of the state power by the federal government and Ethiopian security forces that deny the region’s leaders and citizens the space to think and act freely without any consequences. Most of these fears are actually real according to most. Federal government directives through the federal security forces in the region are directly responsible and are involved in both fomenting and escalating the current culture of fear in the region. There are evidences that show how surrogates working with security forces have used and continue to use the now common and dreaded “anti-semisitism†word, against few of the independent minded leaders of the region, to strip them of their positions or to put them in jail. There are also many instances where regular or ordinary citizens are terrorized by the use of the word.
The current climate of fear in the region isn’t only suffocating regular people and regional leaders but it’s now affecting Aid workers who complain of being monitored and all their movements followed and sometimes restricted. This is now affecting Aid distribution. Its not coincidence that the U.N is now warning a looming famine and shortage of Food and water to three quarters of the region’s population. And this has nothing to do with shortage of Aid but its delivery to the population that urgently needs it. It’s getting ridiculous. The current level of fear fostering by federal security forces in the region is reaching to a point that can’t be tolerated by people of good conscience and by people of free loving. The Ethiopian federal government has gone with its security concerns beyond its limitation. These security concerns are now suffocating and starving the region’s population both from their daily basic needs such as food and water and from their liberty and freedom. It has reached a point that can’t be tolerated anymore.
The constant scape-goating, and the ease with which the federal government blames the plight of the region’s population on the ONLF and its opponents is only meant to distract us from its war on the region’s civilians and from its inequality and injustice policies toward the region. The continuous control of the region’s power by the National Party regime allows it the space to deny and cover up the role of the regime, its surrogates, the state security forces and the police in fostering and fomenting a culture of fear and violence. There are now compelling evidence implicating senior federal officials and elements from the region’s administration and security organs in the orchestration of this culture of fearfulness. Its time the federal government takes responsibility for its policies and rolls back its harsh heavy handed policies toward the region’s civilians. Failure to do so will be disastrous for the Ethiopian government both for the short and long term.
The federal government will be much better off if it allows enough space for people to dissent and voice their displeasure with the federal government and allow a system of political governance whose decision-making power is subject to the controlling influence of citizens who should be considered political equals rather than political subjects. A democratic political system is inclusive, participatory, representative, accountable, transparent and responsive to citizen’s aspirations and expectations. Fundamentally, it means a government of, by and for the people. Free elections alone are not sufficient for a country to become a true democracy; the culture of the country's political institutions and civil service must also change. All forms of government depend on their political legitimacy, that is, their acceptance by the population. Without that, they are little more than a party in a civil war, since their decision and policies will be resisted, usually by force and the Somali region’s is at cross roads at the moment. The Somali region is headed for difficult periods unless the government reverts its harsh policies and allows some of the region’s citizens some political space to both vent and dissent
Farhan Mohamud
Kilil5, Minneapolis.
Disgruntled former elites of Ethiopia have in collaboration with American liberal groups, taken their opposition fight against the Ethiopian government to the streets, city halls and legislative branch of United States, the U.S Congress. Some U.S lawmakers are bent of punishing Ethiopia on the advice of Ethiopian opposition, whose majority consist of nothing less of former military officers, former elitist, and a majority of Amharas who can't let go of their lost elite status and the sole rulers of Ethiopia.
The U.S lawmakers are still obsessed on cutting U.S Aid to Ethiopia despite the significant political and economic milestone the country has achieved within a short time. These lawmakers are blind even to the most recent good will gesture and the government's effort to encourage and create an atmosphere of cooperation, good will, forgiveness and dialogue when President Girma Wolde-Giorgis pardoned 38 political leaders who were imprisoned during the violence that followed the May 2005 elections. This was an important step on Ethiopia’s path toward building a better country and stronger democracy. Most importantly, this act demonstrated that progress could be made when Ethiopia is able to address its own challenges without outside interference. Congressman Payne’s bill, while well intentioned, constitutes meddling in the internal affairs of Ethiopia and will have the unintended consequence of making democracy harder, not easier, to achieve.
The majority of Ethiopians are happy with both the economic and political progress Ethiopia has achieved the past 15 years. After years of military and monarchy rule, Ethiopia is now a constitutional democracy even though we still have miles to go. Ethiopia’s democracy isn’t perfect but we are like any other democracy including the United States. We will have our up and downs, but any changes needs to meet the country’s need rather than mandated by outside powers. I believe that the country is now closing in on a critical stage to nurture democracy and create an atmosphere of civilized dialogue and an environment of inclusiveness. The U.S lawmakers and the U.S Congress should continue to advocate dialogue and civilized debate on the countries future from both the sides instead of undermining the Ethiopian government’s recent good gesture and effort to encourage the opposition to conduct itself peacefully and within the country’s constitution.
U.S lawmakers and U.S Congress should be careful falling into opposition's claims of fighting and promoting democracy and the rule of law in Ethiopia, a claim which doesn't reach beyond the surface of their key objectives; grabbing power by all means and to bring back Ethnic domination. The U.S congress and U.S lawmakers, who are advancing H.R. 2003, must demand first that Ethiopia's opposition should embrace democratic ideals and shun violence before they can accuse the current administration of oppression. Any opposition group whether in the United States or in Ethiopia, that embraces and deploys violence as a means of achieving their goal, irrespective of their righteousness, will face the full machinery of the government, charged with the responsibility of preserving law and order, and the constitution of the country.
U.S Congress and lawmakers should know that Ethiopia’s opposition groups are engaged in the dangers of regional schism and linguistic-ethnic polarization highlighted by the inflammatory rhetoric of their leaders to stir ethnic tension and destabilize the country from its fragile democratic path. The marriage of millenarianism, nativist revivalism and politics is not new in Ethiopia. For a long time, it was the backbone of Amhara supremacy in this country. The emergence, now, of a self-claimed "democratic mob" led by self-appointed champions of the ethnic groups who claim to speak for the "common man" is itself the result of recent seismic shifts in the realm of the country’s political culture. If, historically, Amhara nativism has always been about racial supremacy and the defense of immoral privilege, Tigre and Somali nativism are a by-product of dispossession.
The U.S lawmakers need to pay attention to these groups rather than taking their lobby money and closing their eyes to what their real intentions are; the disintegration of the country into small pockets of ethnic nations. The opposition groups have also to understand that, because nativism is never attached to any concrete social or political programs of reform, it can never be a progressive force. In practice, it always tends to repeat the sorry history it pretends to redress. A real danger for all of us today is to allow these violent groups and their liberal sponsors to slide the country back into a situation where, once again, the language of racial destiny becomes so all encompassing as to render impossible other ways of connecting the various fragments of the nation.
Such is the context that has created these desperate groups who are eager to get back in their machine-gun trotting ways, at a time when other nations compete with their knowledge and technologies. The fact of the matter is Ethiopia is still a democracy. There is still time left to protest and stop this bad bill to ever be tabled in the United States Congress. Those who care the unity of Ethiopia, those who appreciate the current federal system, and the country’s constitutional democracy, have to stand up. They have to let their voices heard, get organized and lobby United States Congress. We should never allow few selfish statesals to speak on our behalf what is good for us and what is not.
The U.S Congress and lawmakers must respect the wishes of the majority of Ethiopians and shelf for good this bad bill which only undermines the recent gestures of good will and reconciliation by the government to the opposition groups. Ethiopia should be left to address its own challenges without outside interference. Congressman Payne’s bill, while well-intentioned, constitutes meddling in the internal affairs of Ethiopia and I'm afraid, will have the unintended consequence of making democracy harder, not easier, to achieve.
Therefore, please say no to the bill by writing, calling, E-mailing or faxing to Tom
Lantos who is Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs:
House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Tom Lantos, Chairman
2170 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Telephone:(202) 225-5021
FAX: 202-226-4183
Fatuma Dirir
Kilil5 Assistant Editor
Somalia has been let down by the African Union and the United Nations for failing to provide sufficent funds to fund large peace keeping force and re-constructing the country after decades of clan feuds and neglect. Somalia's Prime Minister traveled to Washington to urge the world body, the United Nation, which has been considering if the small AU peacekeeping force, mainly from Uganda, could be expanded by authorizing a hybrid of UN-AU force, was met with a mute response and indifference by the World body.
Declaring that Somalia is at "a critical crossroads," Gedi on Thursday urged the world body to start deploying U.N. peacekeepers to take over from the small African Union force in the country's capital to help restore security and help reconstruct the country. The response he got from the world body must have been very discouraging and disheartening. I'm sure the prime minister and many Somalis who have felt abandoned by the international community long time ago, must be feeling a mix of anger, hopelessness or a renewed focus and determination, to solve their differences, and find solution to their two decade long conflict.
The international community's demand that there be peace first before they can send peacekeepers are outrageous and stupid to say the least. Why will Somalia need UN-AU peacekeepers if they Somalis can establish peace in their country? Why are UN peacekeepers needed in a peaceful country? What is the definition of peacekeeping force? The idea that the world body will only deploy peacekeepers in a country of relative peace then makes the world body irrelevant. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, whose country takes the lead on Somalia in the council, said the UN must see "sufficient stability" and a political agreement resulting from national reconciliation talks starting July 15, then a U.N. peacekeeping force is possible. He added this.†It’s got to be done by the Somalis themselves to create the conditions for that force," he said. "You can't put peacekeeping troops in if there's no peace whatever to keep. That's the reality."
I don't get it. The world body has completely shunned the Somalia people for the past 15 years since its infamous intervention and unceremonious exit from that country, behaving un-worldly body. The current interim government is weak and on the verge of collapse for lack of funds for reconstruction and can't even pay for it's own employees, including daily targeted police officers and has been unable to rehabilitate government buildings and ministries. The current interim government is failing for lack of human expertise and know-how on administration, and reconstruction, which the world body is supposed capable off and spends billions of dollars for it's so-called expert expatriates, but, even that, there must be peace in the country before Somalia can access it.
The World body's attitude toward Somalia is a joke and disheartening to say the least frankly. Somalia's prime minister who is partly to blame his country's predicament is right is his response to the world body’s attitude to his country. Gedi said after meeting the UN and listening to their outrageous demands "Somalia needs peace and if we could do it alone, I wouldn't be here" He also right when he says this "it's not fair to say 'make peace and I will come and keep it".
I agree with you Mr. Prime Minister, it is outrageous, it is stupid, and it is racist. The United Nations is biased to the Somalia people and racist to blacks in Africa. It spends billions of dollars and a big chunk of its budget on so-called white expatriates who spend a bulk of their time fuelling more conflicts while sipping expensive coffee, champagne and dinning in the most expensive restaurants in New York and the big cities of the world.
Given the United Nations attitude and the African Unions ineptitude and inability to send the remaining AU peacekeepers, Somalis are left to hang up themselves. They have to do what they have been incapable of doing so long. The have to put country first before their clannish agenda. They have seen and proven that clan and country are incompatible. They have two choice in my view; allow their country to disintegrate further into small subtitles and continue the embarrassment they are now in the world or come together and safe their citizens of the suffering they have endured for so long, by coming together in a reconciliation of their own, say goodbye to goodbyes any hard feelings between themselves and genuinely construct a constitution that will be the foundation for a new State, a constitution that will be the foundation of a new Somalia society based on fairness, justice and fair play, a new constitution that will allow a fair power-sharing by all Somalis, a constitution that will allow a fair re-distribution of the country's scarce resources and a fair representation in its government by all clans, a constitution that will make it happen a clear separation of the three branches of government (Judiciary, executive, and parliament), so that previous abuse of the executive and crime against the civilian population doesn't happen again.
The United Nation and the African Union have declared that Somalia is not in their minds, in their agent agenda. The choice is clear for the Somalis; hang yourselves, perish in your own hands, and decide your fate. The two world bodies will have little to do with it.
Farhan Mohamud
Kilil5 Assistant Editor.
The ruthless, mindless, cowardly massacre that was carried by ONLF and its terrorist allies Eritrea on Ethiopian and Chinese workers in outskirts of Cobole, Dhagaxbur province has shocked the Somali State citizens. The ONLF has massacred innocent citizens of the Somali region over the years, but, this barbaric act has shocked the people of this region who have endured endless terrorist attacks in the hands of the ONLF, both because of its magnitude and horrific nature.
The ONLF and other terrorist organizations have become the coffin carriers of a desperate, dying regime in Eritrea. Frankly, the Eritrea regime has been acting more like a militia organization than a responsible nation since it was granted its independence by Ethiopia. Rather than focusing on development and lifting its citizens out of poverty, it has been focusing and spending its few dollars on destabilizing neighboring nations such as Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia. Eritrea is currently antagonizing every effort by the international community to bring normalcy to Somalia by arming factions opposed to peace and dialogue and harboring disgruntled, self-serving Somali politician, and every terrorist organization in the horn of Africa. Eritrea must know that arming and harboring terrorist organizations like the ONLF has a consequence and its poor citizens will eventually pay for its blunders and miscalculations.
It is very obvious that ONLF doesn’t have the capability, the military proficiency, the rank and file numbers, and the planning to stage an attack of this magnitude without the help and involvement of Eritrean military. This attack should be considered a declaration of war on the Ethiopian people and the government must protest to the African Union and United Nation. Eritrea’s pulling out of IGAD body clearly defines its intention in the region; becoming a nation that doesn’t abide by international and regional laws and becoming a safe haven for international terrorist organizations as was Afghanistan. IGAD and African Union must take notice because not only is Eritrea providing safe haven for terrorist organization, its also training these terrorist organizations, providing them with military logistics and supporting them financially, to destabilize IGAD member countries. The United Nation and United States must also take notice because Eritrea is also becoming a hub for international terrorist organizations.
Every citizen of the Somali State must now know the true intentions of the ONLF; keeping the Somali region economically handicapped and under-developed. By attacking the economic infrastructure of the region and threatening foreign investors and investment, the ONLF clearly doesn’t have the interest of the region in mind. ONLF has always been about self-serving, power seeking individuals rather than its declared goal of seeking independence for the region. The people of the State are experiencing for the first time in their history a real economic and political progress and ONLF doesn’t want to see that. If the ONLF terrorist leadership wants to create anarchy and chaos in this region similar to that of Somalia, then, they will never achieve. If their goal is to cause lawlessness, misery, poverty, death, destruction, in this region or hold back from seeing real economic and political progress, then they will have very few followers and many enemies among this region’s 5 million citizens. ONLF leadership can be happy and enjoy the anarchy in Somalia because they have one way or another contributed to it.
ONLF might have gained a couple of days of world-wide publicity out of this massacre and tragedy but it has miscalculated big time. The World has seen the mindless horrific terrorism that the people of the Somali region have been subjected to by this organization. The United States and United Kingdom who host the leadership of this organization must know now, the objectives of this organization is not what they say, and that should be treated for what they are; a terrorist organization.
Finally, the ONLF issue is purely for the Ogaden Clan. There is nothing the rest of Somali Clans can do about it. I’m no way saying that the Ogaden clan supports the ONLF. However, there is no denying the fact that ONLF has zero sympathy or support from the non-Ogaden Somalis. The Somali State leadership headed by President Abullahi Hassan Lugbur has tried everything including sending highly regarded elders of the region and Ogaden Clan to the United States and Britain to bring the ONLF leadership into the political process of the State and to show the Diaspora Ogaden Community that Ethiopia was willing to engage the ONLF leadership politically.
The government’s effort bore some fruit as there has been a lot of desertion both rank and file and top commanders of the organization lately. However, the federal government and state leadership must continue putting more pressure on the few Ogaden sub-clans on which the ONLF has some degree of sympathy and support. The government and State leaders must work with Clan elders to eliminate any support for the ONLF in the region. There must be consequences for supporting a terrorist organization that continues to undermine the forward progress of the Somali region and continues to pose a security threat to all meaningful foreign investment, future development t and Oil drilling.
The fact of the matter is, ONLF has been the biggest obstacle to real development, foreign investment and political stability in the region for the past twenty years and continues to undermine any future foreign investment in the region unless the Ogaden Clan do some serious soul searching and find solution to the ONLF issue. The rest of Somali Ethnic groups are held hostage for a problem of one of their own, to build a bright future for next generation and lift themselves out of poverty, and under-development. It is time other Somali Clans start asking the tough questions to their Ogaden brothers why they can’t solve the ONLF issue. Frankly, the ONLF problem has everything to do the division and misguided--unfortunate competition among the various Ogaden Sub-clans than genuine support from the people. Some Ogaden Sub-clans have used the ONLF as a political bargaining tool, but, this can’t be tolerated any more. The region can’t afford to be held hostage for one community’s problem.
The ONLF is an Ogaden Clan problem and it must solve now or the region will not achieve its real economic or political potential.
Fatuma Dirir
Assist Editor kilil5 online.
Op-Ed DAily Star Editorial.
Almost on cue, one more Arab land is defaced by intense fighting in its capital city, as hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced and thousands others are killed or wounded. This season, the venue for showcasing dysfunctional modern Arab statehood is Somalia, and not for its first time, either. The pattern is similar throughout the region: local warlords, tribal leaders, gangsters and militias compete for power, and ultimately fight it out on the streets; neighbors side with the various antagonists and foreign powers send in a regular flow of money, arms and diplomatic fuel.
The rekindled domestic warfare in Somalia is hard to blame on foreign powers, given the frequent legacy of dysfunctional national leadership and ample local fighters. Yet the great powers in the days of the Cold War and other foreign powers today continue to meddle in the affairs of Somalia, whether neighbors like Ethiopia or far-off powers like the United States that sees Somalia as one more battlefield where it must confront Islamist movements by all possible means, including total war by proxies.
It is difficult to determine if President Abdullahi Yusuf, assorted clan leaders, or the Union of Islamic Courts is most to blame for the current state of affairs. One thing is clear, though: Somalia does not function well as an independent state, and has not done so for decades. It is only the latest example of a string of Arab countries that have collapsed into shattered sovereignties and active domestic warfare, because they allowed their local feuds to converge with regional and global power contests. The end of the Cold War slowed down this process around the world - except for the Arab world, for some bizarre, cruel reason.
A new factor in the region is the assertion of non-Arab neighboring powers who flex their political muscles or send in their troops, whether to protect their national interests or to serve the interests of faraway global powers. Iran is one example at the eastern edge of the Arab region, and Ethiopia plays this role today in Somalia. Turkey is involved in issues in its Arab neighboring areas, as is Israel here and there.
All the tense or actively violent situations that emanate from such dynamics reflect a combination of local, regional and global tensions, but these require Arab leaders who are willing to play this ugly game. Leaders of states, tribes or militias who go down this route doom their countries to perpetual strife, certain poverty and ultimate marginalization. The fact that so many Arab leaders opt for this sort of mediocrity and criminality is a homegrown Arab problem that regional and foreign powers aggravate, but do not create.
VOA 13pm GMT
IslamOnline
