Somaliland: Why the Country Craves Recognition as an Independent Sovereign State

Somaliland: Why the Country Craves Recognition as an Independent Sovereign State

Sunday, 23 November 2014 16:44

Somalilandsun: It has been twenty three years plus since when Somaliland Withdrawn its Independence from Somalia. The case was denied by the International Community to consent this self-determined, democratic, stable country as a Nation State. The elected government of Somaliland led by the incumbent President Silanyo officially declared again to keep this self-governing State a self-regulating free, liberated country, even if that takes 100 years plus. But the one million question is why Somaliland wants to be an Independent Sovereign State? To elucidate the main reasons behind why Somaliland wants to be an Independent Sovereign State are three simple whys and wherefores; Firstly, the citizens of Somaliland are truly peace loving people who designated to have good relations with the neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia, Djibouti, Yemen as well as other nation states of the world. Collaboration and regional group effort towards political stability, economic development and social integration are the key political raised area of the Somaliland National Policy. Unfortunately, the Southern part of Somalia known as the Federal Republic of Somalia be injurious to this, as the elites of that ferocious country still insisting the unrealistic failed notion of future unity of the five Somali territories as a one nation state, including the self-determined nation Somaliland, Independent Djibouti, as well as the two other Sovereign Republics of Ethiopia (the Reserve Area) and Kenya (the NFD region). Secondly, the people of Somaliland and their government will never consent to irrigate their blood to the farms of Egypt. This allusion back to the proxy war in Somalia between Egypt and Ethiopia, which concomitant to the Nile River. Somaliland President Egal unequivocally brought up his first diplomatic visit to Ethiopia and avowed that his country stands for regional peace and stability, promotion of democracy and the admiration of the international recognized borders. On the contrary, Somalia sees Ethiopia its biggest enemy and retaliation to conquer Ogadenia is an ongoing hidden agenda within the context of Mogadishu politics. The third factor, which I revealed in my previous Article, was the interminable tribal politics between Darod and Hawiye. The most attention-grabbing phenomenon is, if the people of Somaliland join in matrimony with them, the discrepancy and power struggle will vanish. From there, these tribes have two different enemies, the internal one will be Isaak for the reason of in favouring Ethiopia. Whilst, the other one is very clear ''Ethiopia''. This is to laminate the underlying tribal philosophy of Darodism and Hawiyism, where if Somaliland stays independently the power struggle and proxy war on the Nile River remains in the south. The unity will never prosper but only disturb the regional peace and stability of the region, either by tribal civil war that spreads in the region or another attempt of neighbouring aggressive war, most properly a radicalised faith war. The universally recognized government of Somalia in Mogadishu failed to resolve the routine conflict cases of the Presidents and the Prime Ministers for the last 23 years. The artificial government again nosedived to defend and preserve its own premises let alone to restore peace and stability in the country as a whole. For instance, the offices of the President, the Speaker of the House, the Chairman of the Supreme Court and the Prime Minister have been attacked and invaded several times. These incidents disappointed the International Community as America and Britain express their concerns about the internal power struggle within the hand-made government of Somalia. It was the government of Qatar that compelled Britain and the US to stretch recognition to Mogadishu, so that the Regional State Administrations of Somalia come to be heartbroken and then follow suit or straightforwardly, fade away and evaporate. The political and the social nature of Somaliland and Somalia, to a certain extent, is divergent. The citizens of Somaliland are peace loving people, respect the rule of law through means of legitimised government system. The nation believes skirmishes and political crisis can only be solved through conciliation, consensus and a vital compromise. Somaliland sustained healthy Political Accommodation and in the context of Somaliland culture these ideas is designed to help political groups and other stakeholders the means of a technical approach to develop a governance arrangement that supports to construct peace and social democracy. Any competing interests have already been set into conceptual tools, which are: Equity of representation; which is not only to give different actors a seat, but a fair say and participation that always helps to improve the quality of the options developed. Equity of political decision making influence as well as the degree of public participation and mutual conciliation. Somaliland deserves to be recognised as an Independent Sovereign State. Because the nation fulfilled the qualification of statehood and the indigenous democratic pillars of their way of life. Where politics do not determine culture, but culture determines the political and economic life of Somaliland. Those are the political structure, the electoral system, the executive, the legislative, public participation, traditional and customary arrangements. Whereby people of Somalia are less civilized, arrogant and corruptive. The International Community sent more troops to stabilize Somalia, the procedure of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration ''known as DDR'' and provides technical and financial assistance as well as institutional and the government formation. The sustenance seems that the Mogadishu administration has not yet applied, that is why the US government changed the political perception, the White House is now more sceptical about the status quo on how this fluctuating situation be addressed. Current action for Copenhagen Summit is one good example. The reiteration of Somaliland Special Arrangement and the Somalia/Somaliland talks enshrined in the UN charter in New York shows a good hope and political enthusiasm that the world has no choice but to acknowledge the case of Somaliland. Mohamed Hagi Mohamoud. The Department of Political Science. The University of Warwick. Email: M.Hagi-Mohamoud@warwick.ac.uk;mohamedomar1@hotmail.com Originally published by Qarannews under the title "Why Somaliland wants to be an Independent Sovereign State"

Somalia : Will Somalia Survive the Ordeal of IGAD ?

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Ethiopia's IGAD abdication

We think an inward grief help none of us, when these two evils are enveloping us all , as " the arrow that has left the bow never returns ."

We, Somalis, share language, culture, religion, and ethnicity and we cannot accept the federal system which is our enemies' work to force us . Somalia Democratic Republic's best bet is not federalism and must be stopped immediately as it will weaken our regional role and will threaten our existence as a nation .  

IGAD , U.S , EU and UK are working tirelessly to keep Somalia in a position that it could not able to stand its feet again and they have already managed to achieve 50 % of their goals . Somalia is not different from the other countries that civil wars erupted but lacks a friendly nation that stands up with her. 

For instance, Turkey, Somalia's historical friend and ally abandoned its role to save Somalia from plots of the Ethiopia and Kenya . 

According to international law, when a government institutions ceased its existences and a country ended up a failed state as the case of Somalia , a friendly nation comes to rescue her but unfortunately, Turkey's expected assistance merely limited to giving scholarship and food aid at the time of the famine and it delayed its role to be implemented with no apparent reasons since Somalia's descent into civil war in the early 1990s . 

Even though, Somalis need any assistance regardless big or small  from any partner at this critical time;  Turkey 's failure to fulfill its obligations towards Somalia is unquestionable .   

To understand hypocritical U.S foreign Policies towards Somalis and Somalia recall for the last sixty decades . During the cold world , United states of America promised to ally Somalia against the Soviet Union but U.S found it too easy to renege on its pledges when Somalis and Somalia desperately needed an ally against the Ethiopian allies :The Powerful Russian, Cubans, and et al . 

U.S blindly ignored the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa and historical enmity between us and our big, bad neighbor of Ethiopia that is why it always helps the Ethiopian colonial troops in Somalia . U.S also props Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) up with millions of dollars annually in favor of  Ethiopia's willing to eliminate Somalis from the Horn of of Africa .

We all know how United States of America portrayed Somalis for its unjustifiable movie titled,   "Black Hawk Down " purportedly its incesteous John Grimes , Mr Goddamn shit, Dennis,  also known as Somalis in Djibouti as  fly-killer "Dakhsi-laaye"  in Somali and the likes as superheroes and Somalis as cartoon villains . 

The Western Countries proposed an " ugly clan federalism "  based on tribal territory ownership in bid to create dozens of  mini-states solely intended to weaken Somalia's power of balance in the Horn of Africa and to kill the feeling of Somali nationalism . 

The West, mainly United States and UK , pours more money into the pockets of the corrupted leadership of Dammul Jadiid that does not represent us and it take sides in Somalia politics whenever disagreement emerges among Somali politicians as well .

The recent dispute between Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh and his Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed coming prior to 2016 vision, made U.S and its allies very upset and reportedly 

threatened cutting its aid to Dammul Jaddiid if the party does not compromise for the interest of 

the U.S, EU and UK goals falsely-named Somalia's constitutional referendum , a goal being used as a pretext to execute another agenda, which means another five years under UN peace-keeper's rule or giving a green light for Kenya and Ethiopia to rule - a would be incompetent Somalia .

The Somalia president's telling to Nicholas Kay  to " respect Somalia's sovereign right to determine its own future" is interpreted to many Somalis " a good take but merely defending his own party of Dammul Jadiid " as his words coincided with a time his party is challenged by his PM Abdiweli . 

One can understand why Ethiopia and Kenya, whom their ill-intentions differ yet collaborate each other, under the auspice of the so-called IGAD, when it comes to meddling in Somalia's internal affairs because both of them have already annexed Somali territories . 

Over the last two decades, Ethiopian-dominated criminal bloc of IGAD has been serving no purpose other than to destroy and degrade Somalis and Somalia.

We know Ethiopia and Kenya add fuel to the fire whenever two fraternal clans are fighting each other by arming one of the warring tribes or both for their own profit of further aggravating the conflict .

Ethiopia occupied the vast territory of the Ogaden region and Kenya took what later became the Northern Frontier District (NFD). Despite illegal occupying Somali territories, the two neighboring countries yet want to conquest all Somalia with expansionist ambitions. 

In the wake of the  two regional states' secret  proposing to join Ethiopia ,Somaliland and Puntland's possible unification with Abyssinia (Ethiopia) widely reported in the local media . 

We ,Somalis, will not wake up until the news of the Ethiopia's real unification of the entire Somalia appears in the media reports any time soon and the existence of Somalia on the map totally disappears, we think an inward grief help none of us, when these two evils are enveloping us all , as " the arrow that has left the bow never returns ."

By Ahmed Abdi and Abdullahi Nur Colombo

H&M says seeks to ensure cotton does not come from disputed land

REUTERS, 11/11 23:39 CET

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Hennes & Mauritz <HMb.ST>, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Tuesday that it made every effort to ensure its cotton did not come from appropriated land but could not provide an absolute guarantee.

Swedish TV4 said H&M was using cotton from areas in Ethiopia that are vulnerable to land grabbing — the buying or leasing of land in developing countries, often by foreign companies, without the consent of affected local communities.

“According to (TV4’s) investigation, cotton used for the production of H&M’s clothes in Ethiopia comes from areas subject to land grabbing,” TV4 said in an emailed statement.

H&M said it did not accept such practices.

It began small-scale buying of clothes from suppliers in Ethiopia in 2013, its first sourcing from an African country.

Its operations are widely seen as part of the Ethiopian government’s plans to build up a garment production industry.

“H&M does not accept appropriation of land, so-called land-grabbing,” the company said in a statement.

“Because of that we demand that our suppliers ensure that they do not use cotton from the Omo Valley region where there is a higher risk for land-grabbing.”

However, H&M said it could not guarantee that cotton in its clothes does not come from areas subject to land-grabbing.

The company said it had undertaken an analysis that showed land-grabbing did not occur in the area where its direct suppliers are located. It was not possible to trace any land-grabbing further down its cotton delivery chain, it said.

The Ethiopian government has leased large swathes of land, mainly in its western Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions, to large companies such as Indian firm Karuturi Global, hoping to boost agricultural productivity.

Critics, however, say many people — poor farmers in particular — have been forced off their land under the scheme.

H&M sources mainly from Asia and is sensitive about its supply chain.

A Bangladeshi factory collapse last year killed more than 1,100 people, heaping pressure on big fashion firms to improve working conditions at suppliers.

(Reporting by Helena Soderpalm and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Editing by Simon Johnson/Ruth Pitchford)

Chaos in Somalia's Parliament

Chaos in Somalia's Parliament

Abdi Said Abdi Ismail book “The Rule of Apostasy In Islam: Is it True?” became "Salman Rushdie' - Religion News Service

Fredrick Nzwili | November 7, 2014 | 10 Comments

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(RNS) Somali author Abdisaid Abdi Ismail has been threatened with death and labeled an infidel for his book, “The Rule of Apostasy in Islam: Is it True?” Religion News Service photo by Fredrick Nzwili

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 This image is available for Web and printpublication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) A Somali scholar is stoking Muslim anger after he published a book questioning the concept of the death penalty for apostasy in Islam.

Now, he is being branded as “Somalia’s Salman Rushdie” a reference to the British–Indian novelist whose book, “The Satanic Verses,” provoked worldwide Muslims protests and a fatwa from Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.

Abdisaid Abdi Ismail’s book, “The Rule of Apostasy In Islam: Is it True?” was published in Kenya in September.

Ismail was following the Meriam Yahya Ibrahim case before starting work on the book. She is the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for converting to Christianity, but later freed. Her case outraged the world and drew attention to the growing abuse of apostasy in Islam. (Ibrahim said she has always been a Christian.)

The book, written in the Somali language, is being read in Western cities such as London, Toronto and Minneapolis, where there are large populations of ethnic Somalis.

Ismail said the book furthers the growing voice of Muslim scholars, intellectuals and prominent clerics worldwide who are increasingly rejecting the abuse of Islam by extremist groups such as the Islamic State, Nigeria’s Boko Haram and Somalia’s Al-Shabab.

“What we need are secular states where there is democracy, justice and equality for all,” he said. “Not theocratic ones where leaders rule by the name of God.”

Ismail’s concern is that Somali Islamic militants, clerics and other extremist groups in Muslim-majority countries are applying apostasy as a political tool, branding those with contrary opinions as apostates who need to be killed. He has watched Al-Shabab justify the deaths of those who oppose their hard-line interpretation of the Quran by branding them apostates. Somali civil servants, national army officers, local or international nongovernmental organization officials, are considered devil’s spies who deserve death, he added.

“I wanted to explain to my people the true meaning of apostasy in Islam,” he said.

A graduate of the Umm Al-Qura University in Saudi Arabia, Ismail, 50,  has written four other books on globalization and economics.

But he appears to have struck a raw nerve with the latest book, which he had hoped would stimulate a debate on religious freedom in Islam. The book also touches on other issues, such as gender equality and stoning adulterers to death in Islam.

“Apostasy is crime in Islam,” said Sheikh Abdallar Kheir, a religious scholar at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. “It is mentioned in the Quran and the traditions of the prophet. It is like treason.

“But there conditions and situations in which the rule is applied,” Kheir added. “It must be in an Islamic state, there must be dialogue and reasoning before it is applied, and it is applied if the person in the new faith causes disturbance to Muslims or the Islamic faith.”

Since the book’s launch, Ismail says he has received death threats, and warnings not to return to Somalia where his wife and three children still live. He has also been branded a devil and infidel on social media, with radical clerics calling for the banning and burning of his book.

He had traveled to Kenya to publish the book, since he could not find a willing publisher in Somalia. He was kicked out of hotels in Nairobi and Kampala, Uganda.

“Every day, I fear fanatical supporters of Somali extremists here in Kenya and Somalia may harm me,” he said. “I have been warned they may even try to kill me.”

But Ismail is defiant, saying the threats will not stop him from expressing his opinion on crucial religious debates. He views this as a way of reforming Islamic thought in Somalia, and rehabilitating and reconstructing his war-torn country.

But Ismail admits the subject is controversial and he only began researching and writing about it after it became clear that there was nobody brave enough to confront it.

Ismail’s book is selling secretly in Kenya and Somalia, after booksellers removed it from their shelves in the wake of Muslim clergy protests. It is available in the Somali language on Amazon.

YS/AMB END NZWILI