Somali Refugees should be able to go home: Ban Ki-moon

Somaliland: Ethiopia Deports Warlord Ali Khalif Galayd

Somaliland: Ethiopia Deports Warlord Ali Khalif Galayd

Thursday, 23 October 2014 22:35

Warlord from America Ali K Galaydh ponders his next move By: Yusuf M Hasan ADIS ABABA (Somalilandsun) – The self made president of a nonexistent state dubbed Khatumo, Prof Ali khalif Galayd has been deported from Ethiopia. The American citizen who has been waging war against the republic of Somaliland in pursuit of curving out a state dubbed Khatumo purportedly to be hived off parts of Sool region and specifically for his Dhulbahante clan is currently reported to be stranded in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Prof Galayd who was attending a meeting on enhancing and expanding the Somalia Federal Government is in his current displaced status after the Ethiopian Government termed him persona non grata as a result of complains by the Government of Somaliland. The deportation of the Warlord from America is related to an official complain lodge by Hargeisa with the Addis Ababa last month after Galayd sought refuge in Ethiopia following the disruption by the Somaliland army of his alleged swearing-in ceremony as the president of Khatumo in SaahDheer town in Sool region last month. During the army's final putsch against the Khatumoist secessionists in which the clan warlord escaped arrest narrowly thus subsequently entering Ethiopia where he was reportedly attempting to reorganize his militias a number oflawmakers from Somalia and other notables were captured and awaiting arraignment in court for subversive activities. Following his escape to Ethiopia which is known to have been facilitated by the president of the zone five Somalia Administrative regions Abdi Mahmud Illeye the Somaliland government lodged an official complaint with the Addis Ababa authorities during an expedited visit by foreign affairs minister Mohamed Behi Younis and Interior minister Ali Mohamed Waran'ade. For Somaliland the deportation of Warlord Ali Khalif Galayd is a big diplomatic coup facilitated by the friendly government of Ethiopia and is expected to have a huge impact within international Community circles that have not only remained persistently remained silent on the insecurity posed by the Khatumo secession within Somaliland and the wider Horn region but are known to be overt sympathizers of the Professor Warlord and covert funders of his clan militias as well. Hopefully Nairobi shall have the gumption of denying Galayd any form of legitimacy in Kenya thence deport him to the USA his country of citizenship where Somalilanders in the Diaspora are awaiting him for a legal case in court as pertains his war activities in Somaliland. Though the IC has caught up with the lies fed it by Galayd over the years, the irony and salient at that, of the whole Secession movement in Sool region is that the territory claimed as encompassing the mythical Khatumo state is exactly the one in which CONOCO an American energy company has Oil concessions granted by former Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre before collapse of the union between Somaliland and Somalia. Meanwhile Somalilandsun which received the news of the impactful deportation in the morning section could not publish it awaiting official confirmation from at least one of the four governments involved namely Kenya, Somaliland, Ethiopia or Somalia of which none has been forthcoming by the time of publishing.

Somalia:In response to Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea | Mareeg Media

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Warsame in English with 0 Comments

Mareeg.com- by Muse Haji Mohamed “Ganjab”Friday, October 24, 2014

My name is Musa Haji Mohamed “Ganjab”.  I am a Somali businessman and an active member of the Somali Diaspora community.  I have spent all of my adult life working tirelessly to help Somalis prosper and succeed.  Since 2001, I have been actively engaged as a concerned private citizen to help organize and rebuild a functioning central government in Somalia, as well as the related political and civic institutions that are vital to bringing our country out of its prolonged period of anarchy.

I have a long and proud track record of supporting charitable organizations within Somalia and throughout the Diaspora.  I have personally organized and funded the construction of schools, water systems, and places of worship.  I have always lent a helping hand when underprivileged Somalis approached me with concerns about meeting their daily needs for food, clothing, housing, medicine or other critical items.  I have also actively supported the creation of jobs and economic vitality in Somalia through a variety of important business ventures.

Underlying all of my activities involving Somalia has been a focus on peace, security, stability, and economic prosperity for all Somalis, without regard for clan affiliation or geographic location.  All of my charitable work and my efforts to support constructive dialogue among Somalis have been conducted without any expectation on my part of financial return or reward.  While I have profound respect and admiration for the people and governments around the world who have embraced Somalis in the Diaspora, I am a strong Somali nationalist, and my greatest wish is for Somalia to reemerge as one of the leading countries of Africa and the world, a model to others for peace and stability.

It goes without saying that the problems afflicting Somalia are complex and quite difficult to solve.  Unfortunately, the task of addressing these problems is made exponentially more difficult by spoilers both inside and outside of Somalia who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo which cripples us as a nation.  In my opinion, one such spoiler is Jarat Chopra of the United Nations Monitoring Group.  Chopra leads a cabal of international meddlers in Somalia, a powerful force that seeks to keep Somalia and Somalis dependent on the financial largesse of the international community, much of which passes directly into the hands of Chopra, his compatriots, and their organizations and never reaches the intended recipients in Somalia.

Chopra has made it his occupation to fight against the development of a stable central government in Somalia.  His chief weapon is the platform given to him by the United Nations to destroy the reputations of Somalia’s leaders and those who take the initiative, at great personal risk, to assist with efforts to strengthen the Somali government and the country at large.  Posing as a roving forensic investigator (although he lacks meaningful credentials in this field), Chopra digs up rumor and innuendo and passes it off as actionable evidence of wrongdoing.  He eschews burdens of proof, ignores generally accepted best practices of investigation and evidence gathering, and he overlooks subtlety or the complexity of the issues confronting Somalia.  Chopra transforms suspicion, based on half-baked theories that he is too lazy to confirm with actual on-the-ground research, into definitive “factual findings.”

Chopra regularly resorts to character assassination to achieve his purpose of undermining the Somali government.  Regrettably, because he purports to represent an institution that most around the world consider to be venerable, he succeeds in fooling many in the media and the lower echelon of the foreign service that the problems in Somalia, as serious as they may be, are far worse than they are.  Those who accept his reports do so blindly because they are either too busy, too lazy, or too disinterested to probe beneath the sound bites and conclusory allegations to try to figure out what is really going on.  And there are media organizations that act as his partner in crime, regurgitating the headlines that Chopra feeds them through back-door leaks, granting them what they pass off to the general public as a sensational “scoop.”

For every step forward made in Somalia by Somalis and well-meaning internationals, Chopra is hard at work to pull the country two steps backwards through his pseudo-investigations and unsubstantiated claims of corruption and all manner of other wrongdoing.  In the course of his work, he deliberately tries to turn Somalis against one another, using the power of his office as a tool to divide and conquer weak Somali officials and, as some speculate, to personally enrich himself and his team.  He creates a corrosive atmosphere wherein Somali government officials feel that they cannot take decisive or controversial action to move the country forward, even when they deem such action best for the country, because if they do, they will be fingered in Chopra’s next report.  They become paralyzed by fear of what Chopra will write about them, based on rumor, spin and distortions of reality.

In short, my firm belief is that Chopra is a toxic force for Somalia, an enemy of the state.

As you likely know by now, Chopra recently released two reports, one in July and the other last week, that make extremely serious accusations against me in the form of definitive “findings” that Chopra claims to have reached.  Chopra states that I have “past connections to Al-Shabaab and was involved in the diversion of official army weapons stocks.”  (October Report, ¶ 68.)  He contends that he “obtained evidence implicating [me] in the leakage of weaponry to Al-Shabaab and other forces beyond the army.”  (October Report, ¶ 79.)  He further asserts that I have “in the past acted as a logistical facilitator for Al-Shabaab.”  (October Report, ¶ 79.)  He adds that I was “responsible for setting up an armed security company operating in Mogadishu.”  (October Report, ¶ 79.)  He concludes that there has been at least one “arms transfer to Al-Shabaab involving Musa Ganjab.”  (July Report, at 1.)  He states that there is an “association between Al-Shabaab and Musa Ganjab.”  (July Report, at 2.)  He asserts that I have “historical and current links with Al-Shabaab.”

Let me be crystal clear and direct.  Each and every one of these allegations is completely and categorically false.  These claims are reckless, malicious, and grossly defamatory.  I have never assisted Al-Shabaab in any way, shape, or form.  I have never had any dealings whatsoever in the arms trade.  I have never set up or operated an armed security company in Mogadishu or anywhere else.

Al-Shabaab and every kind of illegal arms trader are criminals of the highest order.  They destroy lives and work against everything that I have stood for my entire life.  Far from being a supporter of Al-Shabaab, I am an enemy of this despicable group.  I have received dozens of death threats from Shabaab operatives over the past few years.  Many of my close friends and family members have been killed or seriously injured at their hands.  I was personally present in Villa Somalia in February of this year on the day when seven Shabaab terrorists entered the compound looking to kill our President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.  On this horrific day, they succeeded in killing two government officials who were very close friends of mine—General Nur Shirbo and the Prime Minister’s advisor Indha Cadde.

These two individuals were great patriots of Somalia.  The only reason they died that day is because they were praying in the Villa Somalia mosque on a Friday morning.  They were in the right place, but at a very wrong time.  I personally carried their dead bodies to a military vehicle waiting to prepare them for their funerals, which I later attended.  I personally witnessed the other horrors of that day—the serious injuries suffered by those in proximity to the attackers, and the maimed, lifeless bodies of the attackers themselves, all of whom were just kids.

The notion that I would help the brutal killers of my family and friends by giving those killers the means to kill—guns and ammunition—is absurd and outrageous.  But this is what Chopra accuses me of with his characteristic recklessness and irresponsibility.  I have never, would never, and will never assist Shabaab or engage in any form of arms trade.  Period.

The sole basis for Chopra’s claims that I have a “past association” with Shabaab, and that in the past I “acted as a logistical facilitator for Al-Shabaab,” are emails from October 8, 2010 that purport to reference a meeting I attended in Malaysia prior to October 8, 2010 in which, it is alleged, I promised to help provide medical equipment or supplies to Al Shabaab.  Mr. Chopra, if you cared about discovering the truth, you would have checked your facts before reaching the absurd and illogical conclusion that you draw.  I never set foot in Malaysia on or before October 8, 2010, and therefore never attended any such meeting as described in this email.  It would have been very easy for you to check this fact with immigration officials in Malaysia.  Had you done so, as any competent investigator would have, you would have learned that what I am saying is true.  I invite you to go now to Malaysia and stay there until you find evidence linking me to supporting Al-Shabaab.

The fact of the matter is that I never attended the meeting that Chopra claims I attended, I never assisted or offered to assist anyone connected to Al-Shabaab with medical supplies or equipment or weapons or anything else.

The sole basis for Chopra’s claims that I have a current association with Al-Shabaab is two purported emails that Chopra asserts discuss a weapons shipment last October.  Put simply, these emails are not real.  They have been fabricated by Chopra or whomever he has helping him.  Last fall, the contents of the in-box of my Hotmail email account were published on several Somali websites, after an illegal hack of my account was made by an agent in Mogadishu.  According to my investigation, this agent passed the contents of my email account to Chopra, who passed them to the media.  Significantly, while many of my genuine emails were printed on the Somali websites last October, the “emails” that purportedly implicate me in a Shabaab arms deal were not printed, even though these would have been, by far, more interesting than anything else in my email account.  The reason that the Shabaab “emails” were not printed on the Somali websites at the time of the hack is because they did not exist then—they had not yet been fabricated by Chopra or those helping him.

A simple check of the email accounts of those who purport to have been part of the Shabaab “emails” discloses that these individuals never sent or received any such emails, further confirmation of their falsification.  Moreover, if I really were involved in a major weapons transfer to Al-Shabaab, there would have to be substantial evidence of the transaction other than simply two emails.  There would be other emails, phone calls, meetings, contacts with arms dealers, Shabaab operatives, evidence of financial movements and the like.  None of this evidence exists, and Chopra does not cite any, because, as I have said, I have had no involvement in any arms deal.

I call on Microsoft and United States law enforcement to investigate Chopra’s “evidence” gathering methods, including, in particular, the hack of my Microsoft email account, which assisted Chopra in creating his false narrative about me.  I call on the United Nations to launch an investigation of Chopra as well.  He is an embarrassment to that institution, and he undermines the good work that other branches of the institution do in Somalia and elsewhere around the world.

In the absence of any real evidence to support his conclusions that I have associations with Shabaab, medical supplies, and arms deals, it is wrong for Chopra to draw such conclusions and present them in his public writings and “private” reports that he makes public by leaking to the media.  It is obvious that Chopra has targeted me because of the assistance that I provided last year to the investigative team hired by the Somali government to review the allegations in Chopra’s 2013 report.  This investigative team, with my support, concluded that Chopra conducted an incompetent and unprofessional investigation of Somalia’s Central Bank and Ministry of Finance in 2013, and that his findings of corruption were deeply flawed and entirely unreliable.

Chopra is also targeting me because of other efforts that I have made as a Somali businessman and private citizen to help the Somali government develop and to grow the economy of Somalia.  By attacking me, Chopra attacks President Hassan Sheikh, the Somali government as a whole, and everyone like me who is trying to take an active role in rebuilding Somalia from within.  Who would want to undertake these sorts of efforts, at great personal risk and expense, knowing that Chopra is lurking behind every corner trying to stop you?

I, for one, will not be discouraged by this unfortunate episode.  I will continue to fight for what I know is right.  I will stay engaged with Somalia to help my brothers and sisters prosper and succeed on their own terms.  I will continue, as I have done in the past, to help Somalis charitably, to help strengthen central government institutions, and to help grow the business community

Somali government as corrupt, Shebab as deadly as ever: UN experts | Zee News

Last Updated: Monday, October 13, 2014 - 15:51

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Somali: War-torn Somalia`s government remains riddled with corruption while Shebab Islamists are as deadly as ever, United Nations investigators warned in a damming report seen by AFP Monday.

The report also documents that weapons sent to the national army and supposed to be used to defend the country`s internationally-backed government have instead been seen on open sale in at least one market where Shebab agents bought arms.

"Underlying corruption as a system of governance has not yet fundamentally changed and, in some cases, arguably has worsened," the new report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea read.

The UN Security Council last year allowed a partial lifting of an arms embargo on the country to allow the national army to rearm, but "some of the weapons and ammunition have been diverted to arms markets in Mogadishu," the report read.

Financially, the UN experts said they had "consistently found patterns of misappropriation with diversion rates of between 70 and 80 percent."

"The indications are that diverted funds are used for partisan agendas that constitute threats to peace and security," said the 482-page confidential report, which was provided by a UN source.

Around a third of revenues from the capital`s busy seaport, a key source of income totalling millions of dollars for the internationally funded government, cannot be accounted for.

Meanwhile the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab have shifted tactics in the face of sustained military assaults by the 22,000-strong African Union force and repeated air strikes, including last month`s assassination of insurgent commander Ahmed Abdi Godane.But air and drone strikes are doing little to damage the force in the long term.

"Strategic strikes have in general resulted in short term gains but significantly failed to diminish Al-Shebab`s operation capacity," the report read.

"There is no current evidence that they have the potential to `degrade and destroy` Al-Shebab."

At home, the Shehab have increased their use of bombs including the "noticable" introduction of magnetic vehicle bombs, a tactic previously more commonly used in Afghanistan and Iraq, and which "may represent a transfer of battlefield knowledge to Somalia," it added.

The report also says the Shehab, who carried out the September 2013 massacre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi`s Westgate mall, continue to pose a regional threat.

Indeed, pressure on the fighters have forced them to "become more operationally audacious by placing greater emphasis on exporting its violence beyond the borders of Somalia" and across the Horn of Africa.

"The Al-Shehab core can coordinate and conduct successful attacks throughout the Horn, in addition to retaining the operational capability to specifically target Westerners in Djibouti and Kenya, among other countries."

The Shebab have lost a series of key towns and ports to the AU force and government army, heralded as advances that will stem the militants` multi-million dollar trade of charcoal to Gulf countries.

Total charcoal exports in 2013-14 topped $250 million.

But UN experts cautioned that while key ports were in control of AU and government troops, the trade continues unabated and the Islamists continue to profit, including through their control of production sites and truck checkpoints, as well as their extortion of businessmen.

AFP 

Al-Shabab : Setback or strategic retreat?

Somali troops capture key port town from al-Shabab -BBC News -

African Union troops have helped government forces retake several towns across Somalia in recent weeks

Continue reading the main story

Somalia: Failed State

• Poet jihadist
• ‘Mosquito militants’
• Al-Shabab profile
• Who are al-Shabab?Watch

Somali government troops backed by African Union forces have captured a key stronghold of al-Shabab Islamists, local officials say.

The regional governor told the BBC that he was in the centre of Barawe, about 200km (125 miles) south of Mogadishu.

The AU says al-Shabab, who had held the town for six years, used it as a base to launch attacks on the capital.

Residents said many of the al-Qaeda-aligned militants had begun withdrawing from the key port town on Friday.

"The situation is calm, the militiamen had fled before the forces reached the town," regional governor Abdukadir Mohamed Nur said.

Al-Shabab has lost control of several towns in the past month, but still controls large swathes of territory in rural areas.

The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza says the news is a significant blow to al-Shabab because they had used Barawe as a supply route for weapons and food and as a base for a lucrative charcoal business.

The loss of Barawe comes a month after al-Shabab's leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, was killed by a US air strike near the town. US strikes have also targeted other senior militants in and around Barawe.

The group, which is estimated to have at least 5,000 fighters, wants to overthrow the UN-backed Somali government and has imposed a strict version of Sharia in areas under its control.

Last week, a woman was stoned to death in Barawe for alleged adultery.

Correspondents say al-Shabab tends to tactically withdraw from areas when faced with a large offensive, but leaves some fighters within the civilian population to launch attacks later.

Clan Federalism: The Worst option for Statebuiling in Somalia | Mareeg Media

Mareeg.com-The debate among Somalis over clan federalism (clan segregation) hasn’t produced common understanding and consensus for final bargain because it takes place in vacuum, outside formal democratic process. The federal government has shirked from its leadership responsibility to organize and lead national debate on federalism for legislation as set forth in the provisional constitution. 

For the iniquitous role of clan state units in the Somali politics and development, tensions are growing everywhere. Somaliland is in military offensive; Puntland and Galmudug states are in high alert for war over Galkaio airports; Sub clan Wa-esle (Wacaysle) of Abgal came out strongly against Mudug and Galgudud State; Kismaio and Baidoa reconciliation conferences collapsed on the eve of Marehan clan conference in Garbaharey (Gedo).

Statebuilding process is meant to restore Somali sovereignty by fusing the political, military, and economic powers dispersed in different clans. The Somali Constitution prescribes that Somali territory and sovereignty is inviolable and indivisible. It prohibits the claim of sovereignty by a person or group of public for self-interests. National power should be exercised in accordance with rule of law and through institutions, the foundation for human progress. Many renowned former Somali political leaders, religious leaders, traditional leaders, and intellectuals have explained the inherent danger of clan federalism in Somalia.

Clan federalism is far worse than the current 4.5 clans’ power-sharing, former military dictatorship, former clan-based rebel movements and the rule of militant group, Al Shabab. It devalues patriotism and citizenship, venerates clan identity, and multiplies number of minorities and human rights violations in every district. It emboldens neighboring countries with territorial ambition. Cartoonist Amin Amir highlights this point in the Cartoon. This threat could inspire popular support for nationalistic movements including Islamic rule in Somalia.

Somalia is blessed with all qualities – common language, religion, culture – for democratic decentralized unitary system of governance. The challenge is to demonstrate that common goods from Somali identity outweigh clan identity’s benefits and how to deal with the misuse of clan identity for violence, punishment, discrimination, injustices, division, and abuse of political power. Like any crime, these offenses and sins could be confronted with legitimate means.

In contrast, many Scholars have identified and documented complex problems and conflicts associated with clan based federalism. These problems include (a) the impossibility of making clan and administrative boundaries congruent, (b) tension between majorities and minorities clans in districts, (c) exacerbation of the plight of minorities, (d) solidification of clan cleavages on political, institutional and territorial basis, and reproducible permanent clan identity for creating differences in society (e) Revenge for the abuse of a kin by others, (f) impossibility to develop countrywide civic citizenship, (g) clan mobilization for secession after successful formation of group identity and cohesion, leadership, government, parliament, and armed forces, and external support, (h) difficulty of countrywide mobility of citizens, (i) turning constitutional conflicts into clan conflicts. These problems and others like contest between big and small states, handling of foreign affairs, regulation of domestic and foreign trade, are good indicators for the failure of clan federalism.

Ethiopia, the United Nations, and European Union have shaped the federal member states in South Central Somalia, while the Federal Parliamentary Committee and the Independent five members Commission on Constitutional Review are yet to start their tasks. An interview with VOA, Chairman of the Parliamentary committee Hon. Mariam Arif Qassim has appealed to the Somali people to effectively take ownership of the constitutional review process. But, the Federal Parliament and the Attorney General have yet to publish for public engagement the official final version of the Provisional Constitution after the postponement or amendment of certain articles.

The Chairman suggested that at least six issues need public debate and decision: 1. Definition of federalism; 2. The roles of the president and prime minister; 3. Taxation Power and National Resource Sharing; 4. Right to Citizenship; 5. Power allocation between federal government and federal member states; 6. The status of Mogadishu, the capital under federal system based on clan hegemony. The above undefined issues challenge the legitimacy of existing federal government and shaped regional states.

The absence of genuine inter-Somali negotiation on Statebuilding mission has prevented the opportunity to show how clan federalism cannot guarantee the realization of the Bill of Rights and the five constitutional principles for federalism under article 50. Among them include verification of public confidence and support to various levels of government, delivery of similar levels of services and support from the federal government to every part of the country, fair distribution of resources, allocation of powers and responsibilities to the most effective level of government.

Sometimes the Somali discourse over clan federalism veers to the assertion that clan X (region X) supports federalism while clan Y (region Y) opposes it. For example, one supporter argues that Hawiye clan opposes federalism while Darod clan supports it. Rationally, this perception must have triggered the imperative to halt the implementation of federation process until common consensus is forged. It didn’t happen. Without attempting to disprove the supporter’s argument, a general observation of the current social manifestations on the issue indicate the following tendencies:

1. The positions of majority of Ogaden (Darod), Gadabuursi (Gudabiirsi) and Isse (Dir), unclear;

2. Majority of Isaq (Dir) want secession from South Somalia (Ex Italian Somalia);

3. Majority of Digil and Mirifle (DM) want confederation between DM and the rest of Somalis but oppose clan federalism and secession of Isaq;

4. Majority of Minority groups (0.5) oppose clan federalism, confederation, and secession;

5. Majority of Hawiye oppose clan federalism, secession of Isaq (Dir), and DM confederation but support constitutionally decentralized unitary system;

6. Majority of Majerteen (Darod) support clan federalism but oppose secession of Isaq (Dir) and DM confederation;

7. Majority of Marehan (Darod) oppose clan federalism, confederation, and secession but support decentralized unitary system;

8. Majority of Dhulbahante and Warsangeli (Darod) oppose clan federalism, DM confederation, and secession of Isaq (Dir) and support 4.5 power sharing;

I hope others will investigate further this general observation. However, the truth is that Somalia deserves neither federal nor decentralized unitary system of government if the majority of citizens are not striving to make sure the quick rebuilding of Somalia in which patriotism, rule of law, social justice, fairness, and equality prevail.

The glaring contradictions in the provisional constitution have sullied federalism in Somalia. For example, article 142 legitimizes the existence and privileges of anonymous federal member states which are parallel to and independent from the federal government established on the basis of 4.5 clan formula. Then, articles 48 and 49 entrust the federal government to create Federal member states, and finally article 54 denies the existence of federal member states and establishes the exclusive powers of federal government. More unusual, the federal government has been constrained from raising necessary financial resources within its declared components (stakeholders) – Puntland and South Central Somalia- to fulfill its functions. The inclusion of these contradictions in the constitution was a deliberate plan to subvert Statebuilding in Somalia.

Clan federalism sows conflicts and disintegration. Somalia cannot stomach Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism implemented and maintained through security committees and technical controllers from the authoritarian central government. The Somali people yearn for individual liberty, responsibility, and solidarity. Somalia’s future lies in hierarchically decentralized unitary system of governance that upholds Somali identity and unity, and ensures rule of law, democratic political process, and respect of human rights, justice, fairness, and shared prosperity.

Mr. Mohamud M Uluso

mohamuduluso@gmail.com