The Voice Of Somaliland: The Ethiopian Flag is Flying Over Hargeisa, Cries TFG MP

Sunday, May 07, 2006

The Ethiopian Flag is Flying Over Hargeisa, Cries TFG MP

BAIDOA, May 6, 2006 (Somaliland Today)- There was uproar from the parliamentarians of the Embaghati-formed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) on Friday after they have learnt Ethiopia had sent an ambassador to Somaliland.The parliamentary business of the day was overshadowed by angry MPs who wanted the prime minister, Mohamed Ali Gedi, and his foreign secretary to clarify the special diplomatic status conferred upon Somaliland by Ethiopia. Neither the prime minister nor his foreign minister was available to answer these questions at the time.

At least three MPs reacted angrily to this new development. One of them, Mohamed Abdi Yusuf, a former communist and confidant of the ousted Somali dictator, Mohamed Siyad Barre, said, “We took an oath to preserve the inviolability of Somalia’s unity and territorial integrity and therefore cannot accept Ethiopia to divide the Somali state. This is absolutely a violation of the international law and contrary to the norms between nations”.

“The flag of Ethiopia is flying above Hargeisa today,” cries Abdullah Boos Ahmed, a renegade MP who hails from Erigavo, Somaliland. “The diplomatic representative that Ethiopia has sent to Hargeisa is a veteran diplomat. He was a former ambassador to Finland. We need a clarification from the Prime Minister and foreign minister on this matter”.

Prime Minister Gedi read a statement in the parliament on Monday, saying Ethiopia did not send an ambassador to Somaliland. Gedi attributed the statement to the Ethiopian government but a spokesperson for the Ethiopian foreign office swiftly denied issuing any such statement.
The Ethiopian ambassador, Wubeshet Demmise, was received by Somaliland president Dahir Riyale Kahin on April 29. His arrival in Hargeisa was hugely welcomed but contrastingly triggered a political commotion in Baidoa- the temporary seat of the TFG where authorities there interpreted the sending of an ambassador to Somaliland as a step closer to recognition. Ethiopia does not however officially recognise Somaliland but the relationship between the two countries has been steadily improving ever since the Berbera corridor was opened- a major catalyst for trade and economic development between the two countries.

The TFG has no country to rule and has no permanent base from which to function, yet it is recognised by the international community. Conversely, Somaliland enjoys a relative peace, stability and a functioning administration throughout much of the country. Nevertheless, at fifteen years old Somaliland remains unrecognised.

“I cannot possibly understand why our brothers [the TFG officials] are so sickened to death by our relationship with Ethiopia,” said Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud, the Chairman of KULMIYE, the leading Somaliland opposition party.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in May 1991 and declared independence from Mogadishu. The overwhelming majority of people there no longer desire to have any association with Somalia.

An AU fact-finding mission to Somaliland between April 30 and May 4, 2005 concluded its report, "The fact that the union [Somalia and Somaliland] was never ratified and also did not work to satisfaction while it lasted from 1960 to 1990 makes Somaliland's search for recognition historically unique and self-justified in African political history. As such, the AU should find a special method of dealing with this outstanding case”.

Somaliland has introduced democratisation process in its quest for statehood. In May 2001, a new constitution establishing a multi-partly electoral system and the independence of Somaliland was approved by referendum. Municipal elections followed in December 2002 and a fiercely contested presidential election was held in April 2003.

In September 2005, Somaliland’s transition to multiparty democracy was formally completed when elections were held to an 82 member Parliament. Since then, international interest in Somaliland has grown noticeably.

Adam Ismael

Somaliland Today

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The New Somaliland Press & Publications Bill 2007

The Somaliland Government has recently sent to the House of Representatives a new Bill on press and publications. The provisions of this bill (based almost entirely on the Yemen Law No: 25 of 1990 on the Press & Publications) run contrary to international norms relating to freedom of expression and the independence of the press and are not in line with the Somaliland constitution.
The considerable powers given to the Minister of Information (and other ministers) include even deciding on appeals from anyone whose writings have been turned down for publication by a newspaper’s editor (Article 46). These ministerial powers over the press and publishers/printers/distributors etc, the compulsory registration of all press and publication activities, including the practice of the profession of journalism, and the extensive criminal sanctions which add to the existing array of criminal offences in the 1962 Somali Penal Code contrast sharply with the current Somaliland Press Law (2004), which contains no criminal sanctions and is based on codes of conduct. Unfortunately the Somaliland Government has repeatedly made clear its dissatisfaction with the current press Law and has used the Penal Code and extra-judicial powers to detain and imprison journalists. It is no surprise, therefore, that the Somaliland Government is not putting forward amendments of the current Press Law, but is now proposing its wholesale replacement by this new Bill which introduces considerable criminal sanctions, such as fines and imprisonment (Article 99) for the infringement of its numerous provisions, as well as prohibition of continued practice of journalism or publication or even circulation of printed materials; confiscation of property, including printing presses (Article 101) and seizure of printed materials (Article 102)..........Full Text

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The "Letter-of-Death" by General "Morgan" January 23, 1987

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The report is addressed to the President of the SDR, the Minister of Defence, and the Minister of Interior. The latter, Major-General Ahmed Suleiman Abdalla, is also a son-in-law of the President, and Third Deputy Prime Minister. Since President Barre is also the Minister of Defence -- the previous holder of that portfolio, General Mohamed Ali Samatar, having been promoted Prime Minister on January 30, 1987 -- the report is seemingly confined to family members. This would explain its extreme frankness in specifying certain clans as targets for implemented and recommended punitive action.
The target is the Isaaq Clan Family. The term "clan family" was first coined by Professor I.M. Lewis, Professor Social Anthropology at the London School Economics, to describe the collective name for each of the several major divisions to which Somali clans traditionally divide themselves. The Isaaq clan family sub-divides into four main clans.
Top Secret.......Read the rest