I think Somalis must prepare to transfer power to the legitimate movements like ONLF who have nationalist agenda. Recently, the leader of the ONLF said that he will never renounce self determination for the Somalis in the region. I think place holders like Mustafe Cagjar must hold fair elections and transfer the power to the people. He must understand that he is appointed not elected.

This man has been in power only for few months , yet he is already preparing to ride the false war on terror that never ends. Last week an American ambassador in Addis visited Jigjiga and was taken to tour Jeel Ogadeen, a huge jail where Cabdi Illey and his Tigray masters used to torture and imprison thousands of innocent people. While touring the jail, he told the American diplomat that those who jailed people here had escaped to Somaliland, Puntland and Jubbaland, and are organizing a campaign of bombing with the coordination of Al-Shabaab. A week after that statement, the Somali regional media showed off of captured bombs and weapons within Jigjiga city. Is that just a coincidence, a real threat from the Illey camp, or a calculated move to extort money from the Americans. The Americans can help his administration in development and other issues without invoking Al-Shabaab or others. Is the so called war on terror the only way to cash from the Americans?, or this guy is trying to militarize the zone again and oppress the poor people of the region?. Only time will tell. https://youtu.be/isBMFHM79d8?t=45

Finally, Mr. OO, you really showed your colors. Times and again , despite my political observation, I become gullible like the average person. I thought lately , you were somehow one of those from Jigjigs. My bad, as our kids say these days. Albania is a vibrant country that rising economically and Kosovo is doing fine. Yet, for the AXumite Tigray , their best hope for the Albanians are found only in Orthodox run Macedonia. The Balkan Muslims had always done well. Sarajevo, Tuzla, Tirana and many cities between them had always thrived and will do well. TIlamook was right .

France is burning almost every week end. French polls show that about 70% of the people support the Yellow vest apprising that is targeted to overthrow Macron using riots. A demonstration that started against rising fuel costs had transformed as leaderless movement that is demanding the resignation of the president and his government. Yet, I do not see CNN or other western media covering the riots or the burning of the cities, especially Paris. When a small protest against the development of Gesi park in stanbul took place circa 2013, CNN was covering live. Soon it was labeled as leaderless uprising that want to overthrow Erdogan and his party who were democratically elected. The diminutive Macron is hiding and shocked about the scale of the protest. Sultan Erdogan commented and condemned the riots and disproportionate use of the police force, He said, "Those who provoke hostility against refugees and Islamophobia have been caught in their own trap," and added, "The walls of security and welfare they cherish so much are being shaken by their own citizens, not by refugees or Muslims," He is correct. Many western leaders including TRump and others have used the threat of non existent Muslim terrorism to further their political agenda. The so called ISIS had come and gone to the dustbin of evil part of world history of that group, yet the peaceful and law abiding MUslim community are intact despite the backlash and the constant Islamophobia threat they are facing. As Erdogan said, there will not be anymore Refugee or Muslim escape goat to blame for these problems.

Albania and Kosovo are two Albanian states in the Balkans today. they also have significant minority in Macedonia.

They went too far with the Sharon thing, but i understand their logic of every thing American. With help of America, the Kosovo Albanians became independent state after that province was carved out from Serbia. 90% of the population was ethnic Albanians, and when they rose up against former war criminal Milosevic, he massacred them by hundreds. They were saved by the Clinton and NATO intervention of 1998. Also, it was Clinton and America who helped stop the Bosnian genocide while Europe watched. With the Russians allied with Serbia, the Albanians need an ally. In those years, Turkey didn't have the geopolitical power to protect them or even help them to fend off the Serbs and their former Yugoslav army. For those reasons , Albania joined NATO and became strong allies of America. They still have good relations with Turkey, but in order to survive in the Balkans they are allying with America. I perfectly understand that.

Regional governments and Somaliland were denied to visit Ethiopia , or Farmsajo was shown a red carpet will not distract us from the real problems he needs to fix in Mogadishu. Bragging how close Farmaajo is to Ethiopia is a useless propaganda to prop a failing presidency. Maxay kuugu taalaa inta aad dibedaha roog cas laguu dhigo marka aad soo noqotana askari Uganda ahi kugu soo dhaweeyo dalkaaga . Neither Ethiopia, nor America or any foreign army will help Farmaajo succeed. Can you imagine someone expecting others to pacify and fight for his own country and then act like he is doing something. The way to measure things are simple: did he pacify the capital, can he travel to Afgooye without the Ugandan army or does he have a national army? All these answers are negative. Slogans and false propaganda are an outdated communist era strategy that will not work in 2019. Fix your house before you start entering agreements with others. He doesn’t not even have a basic foreign policy to follow.

OOdweyne, It is true that Somaliland has started from the scratch. A friend told me that in 1992, he couldn't find a restaurant or a coffee shop to but a tea. In that contest, they achieved the impossible especially the combinations of the traditional order and modern constitution. Yet, on the government side, I see a lot of weakness and incompetence in terms of building public service institutions like, hospitals, water wells, public transportation projects and others. Just look at Hargeisa water project with over hundred million spent. These kind of projects could be done with less than $50 million dollars.

Suldaanka, You are partially correct that at the end Siyaad Barre watched the country disintegrate in a chaos while he had an opportunity to leave peacefully or transfer power before the implosion.On the other hand Mengistu was air lifted and Ethiopia was saved by the west and others. Yet, major Eritrean cities were never invaded or taken over by insurgents. Mengistu killed more than 60 generals and murdered thousands in cold blooded purging . He murdered two presidents, and burred King Haile Selassie in his office after he starved him to death. Siyaad Barre was small time tyrant compared the real dictator Mengistu. Imagine the second largest city of the country taken over by rebels. in that era Every leader would have used any means necessary to dislodge and bring authority. Even Cigaal bombed Burco to fight the 1994 rebels. Since the people of the North eventually rebelled and became a poplar uprising, no force or dictator could have controlled them. In history , the public in general are correct if they rise because of oppression, despite the consequences. On the issue at hand of building things, in Somaliland , it is the people who achieved impossible and built things. Even when they celebrate the national day, 18 May, no one forces them to wear the colors but themselves. This love of the land in Somaliland is definitely much different than the rest of Somalis.

The education system was okay until late eighties. What I am referring wasn’t about quality of the education which still produced good students, but the extend of the corruption of the elite to send their kids and others while knowing full well none of their people were up to the standards. Until the end , the quality of the Somali students and people in general were high caliber compared to today or later years. Imagine a BBC or Radio Mogadishu broadcaster reading an English text with Somali language on air before the Somali language was written. Today, most of the Somali journalists couldn’t even read Somali texts on the air properly. Thiose generations were proud and deep down they thought they could compete with anyone around the world. Still even today, the desire to learn and excel exists among Somali youth everywhere, but are hindered by corrupt officials who take bribes and keep out the bright ones from succeeding. Some people were thinking that the only dictatorship in the region was Siyad Barre. Military, communist and authoritarian regimes around the world take their time and disappear when things change either by events or history. Opposition is not allowed and talking the gun against them was impossible. Other than from inside, does anyone ever thought of changing the Soviet Union with an army or insurgency? No it was impossible. Mubaarak of Egypt came 1981 and left 30 years after the Arab spring, Daniel Moi of Kenya came1978 and left 25 years after elections and wind of change touched the country. The whole region was run by one man rule. No one have ever though of replacing Mubaarak , Qadaafi or Arab Moi with armed insurgency in the seventies or early eighties. Only a Somali “ Madax Faluuq” who never thinks about time and space would indulge those kind of thoughts. Replacing Siyad Barre or regime change in Somali in 1985 meant destroying all of Somalia from Zaylac to Kismaayo. Tthere were no other ways. The angry tribes put aside of everything and were hell bent of destroying the country for good and let the chips fall where they may. Reer miyigu warsabaha Marla at rabaan in ay qabtaan waxa ay dibeda ugu xidhaan Waxar yar gebtina ( trap) way ku xidhaan marku waxarta qaado yidhaahdana way ku soo dhacda. Mengistu, sida waxarta ayuu ku yidhi jabhadihii orda I Siyaadw soo qabta, Markay qabteena gurigii baa ku kor dumay. In those days, the system was designed as whole. In order to change the regime you must destroy all of Somalia, and despite the dire consequences, they went ahead. Sodon sano ayaa Kay soo wareegtay welina sidii diinkii dhaanka loo diray ee la sugayey in uu reerka soo waraabiyo, ee yidhi hadda ayaan albaaka ka sii baxaya.

Judgment means comparing those who followed. While those who came before him were founding fathers and democrats who paved the way for him, those who came after him were weak in terms of leadership. From Cali Mahdi to Farmaajo, what we got were not presidents but pretenders who are satisfied being supervisors in their own land.

The economic decline and inflation had started with IMF in 1982, and decimated the economy and brought huge corruption. I am not fan of those marches in the "Trabuunka" because , as one of those who marched there more than three or four times, it was always forced on the people. The Somalia of 1980 was proud and rising. A French anthropologist said in 1980 that Somalia would join the middle income developed nations in the year 2000, or it will disappear due to internal problems that could explode. Yet, with new technologies and know how, and after almost thirty years, the peaceful Somali administrations of today including Somaliland couldn't build one single major hospital, one major high school with hundreds of students or any significant life changing project. They couldn't build 25% of what the Kacaan did. Leaders are usually judged after time lapses of thirty or forty years. Both their misdeeds and national achievements take shape. The October revolution had touched Somalis socially, culturally and economically like no any other administration. We might never get back the prestige of the nation we destroyed. As a young teenage boy in the middle of eighties , I have never feared or ever thought of foreign military taking over Somalia. We were proud while others feared from us taking them over. I have never thought Somali clans taking the ownership of major centers like the national capital. Weligay kama fakirin Muqdishu cid baa kaa xigta, waxaan ahaa Muwaadin jooga caasimidiisi. The worst legacy of the late years of the Kacaan was the destruction of institutions, meritocracy and standards. I went for government scholarship in late eighties and only three of us among the twenty were able to sit in the class, the rest were unqualified students sent through nepotism, and today, that culture is alive and well throughout the Somali administered regions including Djibouti. More than half of the students sent for scholarship in Turkey had left for " Tahriib" to Europe because they couldn't get in to thre classes even though the Turkish state paid their four year tuitions.

It is one of the prices Trump and Mohamed Bin Salman has to pay for the Khasoggi killing. The Turkish have one more card: the audio tape. Trump and company must play ball. At the moment MBS might survive , but he has to do few things that is valuable for the Turkish alliance. As I said before, the Turkish could be among the major players of the world within five years. Without Turkey, nothing will be done in the middle east, former Soviet republics , the Red Sea region or even east Africa. Rising nations can't be stopped except wars or internal quarrel. The Chinese were a communist backwaters in 1990, yet within 25 years, they became the second largest economy in the world. Since 1990, the Americans were marauding in the middle east one major war after another , losing both blood and treasures, and the smart Chinese abstained and encouraged the misadventure of trhe Americans. According to Steve Bannon either America or China will be the next super hegemony of the world, and they want to stop the Chinese now. Well, it is too late. now. Erdogan visited Venezuela which is facing American sanctions and huge economic problems. Turkey is buying gold produced in Venezuela by hundreds of millions. Trump is wounded, he is contradicted by his own CIA, and couldn't help MBS in Argentina. Canada, Germany and Turkey and others are after MBS. As Trump goes down , so does UAE and even Farmaajo who is playing fools gold.

Somalia was destroyed by Ethiopia by bringing the war inside Somalia. This is a good explanation fromFarmaajo, yet these issues must be addressed in a serious and foreign policy speech. . Asking Ethiopia not deal with the regional governments is a simple demand that Ethiopia could implement in the short term until they fix their internal mess. The real problems will start when when theAmhara and Abiy consolidate power. Abiy had welcomed Mengistu Hailemarium and the former Derg government that had destroyed Somalia. In1991, when he left office, Mengistu said,” I have achieved something no one in Ethiopia ever dreamed, there will not any more Somalis that will threaten Ethiopia. These and many others will be soon the foreign policy leaders of Ethiopia. Ethiopia was a mess for the last three years since 2015, yet nothing had changed in terms of security. At the end it going to be what you have done, not what others has done for you.

MMA, that is the answers we were looking for a long time and please show us he paper work. The only problem is the corrupt deputy parliament speaker Mahad Cawad had fired the finance committee today. furthermore, we are not undermining the minister or the government, we are just looking after our money.

Samafal, correct me if I am wrong, but I heard the real Reer Bari from Qandalla are the largest community. in Puntland, and also the richest in terms of business in Boosaaso. unlike others they probably earned their money through hard work and business acumen and do not want to throw money to the lazy elders and others who didn’t earn them. When the NGO and foreign money dries up they will be the real winners.

I see the same cycle at the election level. Next time it might even take $100 million or more to win. It is out of the for most. By the way, I am getting messages people saying that I am becoming the bearer of bad news these days. I will take a break any see what Farmaajo does for the next few months. See you guys in the new year.

I totally agree with you that the time is with Somalis if we get good captains to lead us. Even here is the diaspora the bleeding of the young people might stop for the next few years. The Somali youth of future building blocks is taking shape. Last week I went to the local university for the graduation of my son as a chemical engineer. As I sit with my family in the gallery while people were cheering when the names of the students were called, I was on assignment as usual to observe and look any anomalies. In almost every category there was a young Somali boy or girl. The engineering class started with hundreds of students , and as years go by at the end only six had graduated this fall while the rest might finish in the spring or later. Among those six there were two Somalis. My son who was Somali student association president for a couple of years told me that he had the emails and contacts of about 400 Somali student from the freshmen to the seniors. Folks, that is huge. Among the nursing classes a quarter of the students are Somali girls. As I said, I was looking uncharacteristic anomalies and found them at this graduation ceremony. First, among the graduates , there were probably zero Eritreans and one or two Ethiopians. There is a large Ethiopian and Eritrean community in this town and the province , yet very small number , one or two are graduating. Folks, it is all about ambition and drive of the Somali parent to some extent and self confidence of our youth. Since we Somalis represent many labels such as Africans, east Africans, Arabs and Muslims, it seems that, other than few Nigerians , we dominated each of these categories. Second, there is this group who are overrated by the media and powers that be who are constantly telling people how smart and studious these people are yet, despite their large population which is ten times bigger than the Somalis in this area, very small number of them were graduating mostly from liberal art schools. Can anyone guess who these people are? They are the East Indians who are depicted as smart and educated. They are promoted in board rooms and other places, yet I do not see them excelling in these education halls in Alberta. Maybe they are educated back home in Indian and bring those degrees here and start from the top. Anyway, it was strange compared with the Chinese. The largest number of the graduates, by far, were Chinese or Chinese origin. In fact, I could say among the graduates of technologies and other sciences they could haven been four or five out of very ten students called to receive. Finally, the old stock Canadians of French and English Origin, were concentrating on sectors like environmental studies, forestry management, food and agriculture management, phycology, social studies and other liberal art studies that might give them government jobs and other service industry management positions. Less than 10% were in geology, chemical. electrical, and engineering sectors. The technical sectors were dominated by the Chinese , Hispanic, Arab and other ethnic groups. In fact these ceremonies show how this country is becoming a multicultural place with diverse population that is mostly immigrant and children of immigrant. Any way, to make the story short, the Somali youth are rising and people will notice their strength soon. We already lost a large number of adult young men from 28-38 age bracket who came this country as a small boys with large family that struggled to adapt and succeed in the new environment. In any big community like ours, there will be small loses and collateral damages, but the picture and the future id bright. The poet laurates of this town is a Somali man and others are following. We are not a nation of static and dormant people. We are nomads who want to make history for good or bad, yet we have been led by inward looking cowards who count pennies and afraid of making the big changes needed to reach the next level. We need someone to crush the entrenched business community of Mogadishu and Hargeisa who pay taxes to militants and get rich of the misery of the people. We should not accept mediocre leaders who want to be praised before they dug a well for the people. We want people who want to work for their people and make the tough decisions needed for our problems.

Cajiiib, The Dayniile boy is teaching people bad manners. This fool hasn't done anything so far, yet he he is acting like big shot. He should have given the money to the local police station and ask for security. He is probably from diaspora who are scared to death before they even reach the land. Mr. Jabiye, the self made millionaire had dispatched a $100,000 bullet proof car before he landed in Garoowe. If these are the characters challenging C/weli Gaas, me might as well win easily because he looks like an adult in the room.

Do we have to finish our days months, years and decades hiding in hotels making few dollars while others are manage our country? Worse of all , if you are a businessman with a lot money, yet you can't enjoy it in your own country . Some times, things should be broken in order to be fixed for good. I ask my self, Are we better than Farmajo, Hassan Sheikh and many other Somalis who are educated , with hundreds of counselors and advising them and helping them to succeed,? No. If you think you are better them these guys, you must be dreaming. The main issue is the system is designed to fail. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Boris Yelsin changed prime ministers almost every year, sometimes every few months with no avail. Finally, a man called Vladimir Putin showed up and changed the system. When a despot from Burundi decided to help Somalis and prolong his term in office, I knew we were doomed. Dadkii Afrikada uGu liitay ayaa amaankeeni gacanta loo geliyey.

They asked him , Why you did not print the nations currency? He answered that they could not find $41 million dollars for the cost of printing. Folks, this must show the incompetence of the Facebook boys. If the cost of having a national currency is just 40 million, I would have done what ever it took and print that money. 50 million from the Saudis should have covered. It is the typical African thinking of avoiding to spend money on infrastructure and public needs. Everyone is talking about public service salary. What kind of services these ministries are providing foe Somalis?, nothing. Did they ever build any sleeping quarters for the army ?I heard that they got 5200 public servants in Mogadishu alone. Tolow ayey u shaqeeyaan dadkaasi?

Soros does a lot of good things around the world supporting open societies and help immigrants .It is wrong to blame every thing on him. Yet, it is true that Gesi park incident begun as simple protest of people opposed to development to a revolution targeting Erdogan. Even the CNN carried live for hours to make it a public apprising. Unlike what the media says everyone in Turkey is free to express their freedom of speech . Those targeted by the state were the terrorist Fethullah Gullen people who operated as a criminal elements within the state undermining the Turkish state. Imagine if a group of American officers, judges and media people tried to overthrow the constitution from inside openly. No America journalist will publish the movements of America army or the intelligence officers under operation. Those who are imbedded with army must clear their dispatches with army and not produce any state secrets. Let the Caravan of of the great Suldaan Erdogan reach it's destination in 2023, the centenary of the Turkish Republic.

Overall it is a good article . This quote sums up the intensions of Ethiopia. A restored Somali will be a giant that will dominate the region in many ways. Nations are by nature rivals until many things change for decades. After the second world war France had maintained it's military presence in Germany until nineteen seventies. It took 50 years before the single currency and unbroken trade relationship. We can't even cross their border or sell any thing to them, yet people are talking about economic union. The Arab League is older than the EU, yet since 1945 up today, it remains a tribal counsel that disagrees on everything. There are no trade, cultural, or security arrangements among them. Restore your sovereignty then talk to others to trade first on basic cross border issues. "AMISOM has been the bedrock of Somali stability for over a decade, playing a crucial role in fighting militants, providing executive protection and training local forces. The Somali National Army, on the other hand, has not proven itself up to the task of defending, let alone capturing, territory from al Shabaab, which remains resilient. Consequently, AMISOM will remain crucial to maintaining stability as long as international powers such as the United States stand to gain, although the mission could evolve and other states could emerge to make a contribution in time". Since the Somali army is ineffective according to everyone involved, Amisom will remain for a long time. he mentions that the role of Amisom is "to fight Al-Shabaab, protecting the executive (the president and his cabinet) and train Somali army. At the moment, they are hiding in their barracks let alone fight militants, and are not training no one. So, their main job is controlling the green zone, protect the leaders and draw their salary.Who is protecting the Somali people. He also concludes that if America doesn't pay Amisom others could emerge and contribute. In the Somali issue no one is discussing what the nations leaders and its citizens are supposed to do to rebuild and restore their nation. It is all about others: Amisom, Ethiopia, donors and the world.

Samafal, Taladaas waan kaa qaatay. Warkani Addis ayuu toos uga yimid in aan hoosta geliyana way ila xumaatay maadaama halkan wax la isku dhaafsado. Hase ahaatee , on second thought it is unfair to publicize these news without concrete evidence.

Indeed these are the real questions. Former deputy finance minister Mahad Salaad had opened an account in Dubai to deposit the Somali asset recovered from other foreign banks. Then governor Yusur Abraar had refused to activate and co-sign that account for fear of the money being used for nefarious reason which forced her to resign. I saw in the news clips a poor looking Somali lady that happen to be the deputy governor of the bank explain how the ministry of fiancé had accessed to the account and withdrawn from the bank around $35 million of the 50 million. They do not need to read papers on the podium with microphone. They need to release real documentations explaining when the account was opened , who authorized it and how those money were spent. Did the money went to the operating budget of the government?, did they accessed to cover the budget deficit or was used as slash fund to bribe people and other issues. These are simple questions. There is no need to mobilize the Kheyre faction of the parliament and cry foul. Askaribaa boqol doolar qaatay oo saxaafada iyo Facebook ayaa la soo geliyey waa war cusub. Why not just stop the double dipping and move on . If you want to avoid these problems why not pay these poor soldiers a living wage. Furthermore, why would a Somali soldier protect and die for a guy making ten grand while he is making $100 dollars. Give him at least $700 or 10% of the salaries of those he is giving his life for. Markaas bay waxay ku odhanayaan askarigii baa qorigiisi gatay. Askarta waxay u haystaan dadkii reer miyiga ahaa ee dan yarta ahaa ee waxii la siiyaba iska qaadanayey. Waar askariga manta joogaa I phone buu haystaa oo dunida waxa ka socda ayuu la socdaa.