xiinfaniin;932983 wrote: the pirates always breath on your neck---you consider them everything you do If that was the case than why are you constantly posting paranoid threads like this Xinny? It seems like you have a chronic case of "Somalilanditis" an acute mental condition that induces constant paranoia and fear about Somaliland...to the point where you would concern yourself with SLs affairs rather than solving the foreign occupation, violence, terror and poverty that plagues your country.

I find it remarkable how the "doom sayers" can transform a thread about ministerial structure in Somaliland and turn it into a rambling of Somaliland hate slogans...it's almost an art. Then again their paranoia and fixation with putting the "last nail in the coffin" for Somaliland is almost laughable, you would think that they would realize that their non-nonsensical chanting and blowing hot air hasn't gotten them closer to their goal, all the while their nation is being occupied by foreign powers who are carving out fiefdoms for their permanent influence. How sad.

So the aid industrial complex is moving closer to its cash cow. I see nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day direct bilateral aid that works with the institutions and frameworks of the recipients is a much better method than having a scattered group of NGOs try to justify their existence through uncoordinated projects.

1 - Qabiil: absolutely no qabiil talk. Not even a mention of any qabiil/Clan name. No qabiil discussion of any kind. Come on Xinny can you at least respect the rules of this place and leave your overt clannish compulsions at the door? I know you have a bone to pick with our friend Xaaji but there a million other disagreements you could have discussed besides clan

^What a great rebuttal. No addition to the discourse, no refuting his point with solid logic, just dumb hate remarks towards something you can't stand...actually half your posts fall into that category

I can almost see the hate seething across my screen lol. But seriously, if nations can repatriate their unknown soldiers from France, have their heritage pieces returned from foreign museums, why shouldn't Somaliland have it's sons and daughters given back and be given a proper Islamic burial. It seems that others are the ones who are truly politicizing the issue

Considering the importance of lobbying and advocacy in the realm of international affairs, having the services of a group such as this would be an advisable investment for the Somaliland government. At $22,000/month, it would amount to $264,000/year which is only 0.15% of SL's $174,000,000 USD budget. A good investment for advancing the interests of Somaliland, increasing it's visibility, and engaging with key influential nations.

How is this even remotely political? Utter nonsense

Even with numerous sources in his face Odey is still doubling down on his stance....man i bet he even thinks the moon landing was fake lol

Man Oba's got a lot time on his hands...if he'd devote his Somaliland hating to something productive just imagine what he could accomplish

Apophis;927142 wrote: these people When you derogatorily refer to your so called brothers as "these people" do ever stop to think maybe that's why they don't want to share a country with you? The sentiments of people like you only makes me even more certain that breaking the union was an excellent decision

Wise decision with a very logical reasoning. Why would Somaliland ever attend a meeting to discuss issues for another party that have no impact whatsoever for Somaliland? If further bilateral talks between SL and Somalia were being held in London then of course it would attend, but since that is not happening at this time there really is no reason to make the trip. Somalia's issues are it's own and Somaliland's issues are its own. And the distinction needs to be emphasized/ Also as a side note, if SIlyano decided to attend the conference, Xinny and Odey would be crying "See SL does listen to it's Federal masters! Their British masters ordered them to!" So really no matter the outcome the peanut gallery would have something to squawk about and say the SL "final nail in the coffin" was at hand lol

I don't really have any issues with people who are Jewish in general but I cannot tolerate Israelis and what their state stands for. I think SL should be wary of any gestures from Israel as anyone taken from them will undoubtely come at a price. The funny thing is that the Arab nations fare no better when it comes to the treatment of Somalis, which just goes to show you that finding true partners in the international community is a hollow notion indeed

Anyone sitting in a coffee shop with a laptop can issue a press statement pretending to represent anyone....why in fact I'm the Press Secretary for Papua New Guinea

NGONGE;916275 wrote: Meesho maqaaxi maaha, saaxib. It's not the Imam's silly tantrums about being Somali one day and wanting to breakaway the next. SL professes to be an independent, democratic and organised nation. It claims to be ahead of Somalia when it comes to political maturity and practice. Therefore, it has to act the part and show that it is willing to do anything and everything when it comes to working together. It needs to openly display its flexibility and wisdom. It needs to appease all observers by proving to them that this quest for independence is not born out of the whim of a few fickle characters and that there is no going back on SL's secession. You really need to stop panicking every time Somalia gets something positive going its way. You also have to remember that this is a nation being brought back from the dead and that only such positive actions will help it sustain itself on the road to recovery. But, none of that has much to do with the TALKS between the two sides nor does it change the SL stance. Only you and I can do that. I wholeheartedly agree. We need to realize that this is not a zero sum game and if we need to show our political maturity and advancement then we need to act as a trusted partner with whom nations can rely on in bilateral and multilateral relationships. Although our resident "Classical Realist" the guru may beg to differ, since he see's situations like the one presented as a threat rather than an opportunity to advance Somaliland's interests. I'm sure Bismarck would say the same as well.

I'm starting to think that this advisory is less politically motivated and more based on credible threats as well. We all know AS is on the run and trying to regroup, the question is where and the hinter regions/borderlands between SL and PL may seem likely. I'm sure Yankee drones are working over time in the Galgala mountains

Treason is treason no matter how you look at it and according the Somaliland constitution, it is a grave offense and the security forces are obligated to uphold it. Although I'm pretty sure the "MP" was really looking to make some quick money, he should know what the consequences are of betraying your countrymen

AfricaOwn;914338 wrote: What areas do they not do well in your opinions? I was going to list them but ngonge took the word right out of my mouth. The issue of corruption stands out in my mind but also the jailing of journalists is pretty troubling since it tarnishes our democratic credentials to the international community. I just really hope they run the elections smoothly in 2014/2015 or things are going to get crazy

I think in the national development plan the goal is to increase revenue to that number by 2016, so it's definitely doable

Turkey has dramatically increased it's activities in SL lately, especially in development projects http://thecitizen.co.tz/sunday-citizen/39-young-citizen/21129-turkey-extends-its-project-to-somaliland.html "Mr Torun, said that Turkey and Somaliland enjoyed good relations and the purpose of his visit was to strengthen existing relations and that his government was aiming at assisting the region by means of technical and social assistances"

Yeah I don't know how big of an impact this sin tax will have on consumption but I hope the cost will be passed on to the consumers from wholesalers and affect their purchasing habits....and the government will get more action on the revenue side

Exepert from State of the Union Speech Since my election, one of my top priorities was to focus on the economy and increase government revenue through increased efficiency measures. We have streamlined the tax rules and lowered tax on basic necessities which impact the lives of our people. We fought with and reduced the corruption and the theft of public property and assets. We provided development training for government employees, awareness programs to the public at large, we have had consultation meetings with private businesses, and with wealthy Importers. These activities allowed us to grow government revenue annually. We have instituted new tax collection processes in all the regions as of April 12, 2012. We have also appointed a new National Budget Committee which is responsible for drafting our national budget. We inherited a large deficit and debt from the previous administration and the 2010 budget presented to us was a mere 330,909,580,627 SL Shillings ($50 million dollars). The 2013 government budget is $174 million dollars (one trillion SL Shillings). This is the largest budget in the history of Somaliland and it is also a balanced budget. Mr. Chairman and Honourable members; "We have introduced new retirement pension accounts and implemented the collection of additional 1% tax on income which is a law this Chamber approved last year. This tax will pay for new established retirement pension for the Central Government employees who qualify for retirement. We have also implemented a new 5% tax on sales of Cigarette and Qad (Chat) at the wholesale level, we introduced new revenue sources to sectors of the economy that have not been paying their fair share of the taxes, such as new payroll income tax for teachers and administrators of private schools, and we established new rules for renting government houses. My government has increased payments to local governments in both 2011 and 2012 by approximately 20%. This allowed local governments to increase their services to the people in the last two years by implementing new projects such as roads, garbage collection, and other new projects. As required by law, we have submitted a full balanced budget report for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011; this has not been done since 2002. The government is required by law to provide accountability and issue a complete report on all the government budgeted expenses for the previous budget year." Other Developments: - Increased armed forces by 1800 soldiers and 3900 new police officers with new equipment, armored vehicles - 75 new police stations who are fully equipped and 95 police Centres - Military hospitals in Hargeisa and Burco - Armed forces training school in Dardarweyne - New Special Forces Unit in Army - New three floor office building with 40 offices for the Immigration Agency - 145 new primary and middle schools and rehabilitated 10 high schools with new classes in the regions, 24 new schools that are under construction now - 6,646 students who graduated from Somaliland Universities in 2012 - Training program for 2000 farmers within the last two years who received training in better farming techniques that would improve their farm output - Veterinary services including immunization to 500,000 heads of sheep and goats last year - New transmitters, for Radio Hargeisa, which has the capacity to reach all the regions of Somaliland and neighbouring countries - 42 new deep wells in the last two years compared to 89 wells in the previous 20 years - $21.3 million dollars to rehabilitate Hargeisa's water system - Eastern Development Stimulus Project in 2013: Sool Region ($500,000 to fund15 projects), Eastern Sanaag ($500, 00 to fund15 projects), and Buhodle Region ($300,000 to fund 10 projects) http://somalilandsun.com/index.php/politics/government/2210-somaliland-state-of-union-address-joint-meeting-of-guurti-and-parliament Pretty good for 2012, but I want 2013 to pick up the pace even more, still satisfied overall

Oodweyne, I think you're delving too deeply into what SHOULD be said versus what a state of the union speech is actually supposed to be about. A state of the union isn't supposed to make apologies, admit mistakes or announce radical new directions in policy. The key is to trumpet the achievements of the government, outline the progress made in the past year and announce the legislative agenda for the coming year. If he turned it into a speech about the new foreign policy paradigms he should adopt and show weakness in the shortcomings he's made it'll only undermine the strength of the state and weaken the authority he holds. Long story short there's a time a place for everything and this wasn't the right opportunity. Anyway, I see that you've been busy nitpicking the foreign policy shortcomings of the Silanyo administration but do you have anything constructive to say about the advances they've made on the domestic side? I mean exponentially increasing the budget from the UDUB years from $50 million in 2010 to $175 million today is no small feat, on top of that the improvements to the security apparatus (police, army), building of schools and hospitals etc. I feel that when it come to actually running a government and running bureaucracy Kulmiye is definitely better than their predecessors...although it's worse in other areas.

Seems like a natural progression in the relationship betwen S.Sudan and Somaliland to be upgraded to the offical representative level, I guess that would make another IGAD member with an SL office

xiinfaniin;913929 wrote: In fact there is an active Embassy in Mogadishu as we speak. Foreign Secretary has been to Mogadishu last year. British presence in Somalia has been increasing, not decreasing, Mintid. Same goes to Oodweyne. Yes I remember that visit. Sure does look like the British are REALLY confident about the security situation there