Djibouti's IOG has bitten off more than he can swallow. This is going to be a very interesting play.

Farmaajo is a man who is in a hostile city, a city which can't wait to kick him out the day after AMISOM leaves town. What can a man in such situation possibly offer to another hopeless man? Anyway, it is refreshing to read Duqa Osman Badawi's changed mood these days. I remeber when he used to come to these forums under the screen name @Sophist. That was a different time and a different man. By the way this is an article Osman Badawi wrote when he used to hide under the pseudo name Mahad Muhsin. How times have changed... If 10 years ago, Badawi's assessments of Somaliland's recognition was next to "nil" and 10 years later "enhance the credentials of the enclave as separate country ". That is a huge change.

The dictator made his calculations wrong. it will backfire spectacularly at the dictator's face. Lawyers salivate for these kind of disputes. Any other foreign operator be it those from China or erswhere will not legally take over something that has been illegally obtained unless there is a settlement between the two disputing parties. A break contract could make Djibouti broke for generations.

Djibouti Gov't failed in its bid to resolve this through the court system. The day after the Court ruled against Djibouti, Dictator IOG now takes uniletral strongman to resolve the dispute.

Just because Donald Trump had success in utilizing Fakenews as part of his campaign, it seems a lot of Somalis are trying their luck too. But they do not know the difference between gullible self-centered Americans and the Somalis. The Somalis are well known for their investigative instinct and news gathering skills. Fakenews has little chance. The grand dad for all these fakenews sites, Dahir Alasaw went as far as registering a fake website "Kenya Media" to spew his venom and make it legit. It was exposed within minutes that the site was registered by him no more than 3 months earlier and hence since then that site went mute or even disappeared completely.

You are really giving a lot of slack to the useless phantom gov't in Villa Somalia. Maxay wax ogolataa ayadii aya ogolaansho cid kale u dabo fadhida. The thing with Passports.. it is an individual decision. Besides, we all know it is a Somali nature to collect all kinds of papers or passports including useless ones like the one from Mogadishu. The Qatar Airline ban is a symbolic gesture. We have nothing against Qatar or the Qataris. In fact, Qatar hosts one of the oldest Somaliland diaspora community in the Gulf.

Indeed. Berbera is the jewel of the Red Sea. A lot of countries would love to have a piece of that action.

I remember @Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaarin another post was alluding Hargeisa youth going to Mogadishu. Like always, MMA and his other like minded folks pull things from their own back side. It is no surprise at all.

They are now back to their civilian life and they are as anyone able to go anywhere they want. The issue is not who goes to Mogadishu or not, it is about those who work against the interest of the people of Somaliland.

Very harsh sentence for them. I am thinking this is done in order to send a clear and strong signal to the wider community and in particular anyone thinking of pouching wild life. Any other way and people will get a wrong message. Well done to the Court.

Generally speaking, Somalis will claim the ultimate violations and end of worlds scenarios. When in fact the issue at hand is not as big of a deal as it is being made out of. I am still waiting for official reports from Waddani Party. Has anyone seen it?

Like I said, there were issues like there are issues in any election anywhere in the world including here in Australia where they have one of the best systems. The full report by the 60 foreign election observers will be coming out in next few weeks. It will reinforce, the issues seen, including under age voters, was not one that was affecting the overall elections results.

I am sure it bothers some folks but what Maryoolay (A southern term I am starting to use recently :D) say doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day, Maryoolay says is less than 5% true and more than 95% spiced up sheeko. What the outside world thinks and in particular those who are engaged in other election processes in similar countries elswhere, is what counts. There were definitely issues but to not to the scale that it would have changed the overall outcome. I know folks like yourself would rather believe what you wished for but that is not how the world works. You are only telling that to the simplistic reasoning department between your ears.

Voter education, ID cards, and polling equipment contribute to credible election “We expect you to reach out to the world and show everyone what we have accomplished.” February 2018—On Nov. 13, 2017, ruling party candidate Muse Bihi Abdi won the presidential election in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. Some 565,000 Somalilanders cast their ballot in a well-organized and relatively trusted election—many for the first time. Somaliland’s National Election Commission (NEC) succeeded in opening all 1,642 polling stations on time, and despite long morning lines of voters eager to cast their ballot, the polls closed punctually and peacefully. The task of pulling together such a vast operation in a single day is a notable achievement. This young self-declared country of approximately 3.5 million struggles with recurrent devastating drought, a large population of internally displaced people, a 40 percent literacy rate, and few resources. Past elections were positive steps in Somaliland’s democratic development, but they experienced many problems, including multiple registration of voters and claims of fraud. Beginning in 2016, USAID partnered with the NEC to support the preparation of the elections. First, voter ID cards needed to be printed and distributed to the population. Through a USAID activity, Bringing Unity, Integrity and Legitimacy to Democracy (BUILD), new printers and training on voter ID card production were provided to the NEC. Then, 4.5 tons of ballots and related forms were procured and delivered along with cardboard polling booths and polling kits. Armed with anti-counterfeit printing and serial numbers on the ballots, tamper-evident envelopes, seals and personalized stamps, the NEC ensured that all materials were authentic, chain of custody was meticulously followed, and all election materials could be traced to the specific polling station where they were used. This election was therefore auditable end to end. In the countdown to the elections, USAID, through implementing partner Creative Associates International, trained 6,000 party poll watchers to help promote transparency. Several civil society organizations were also trained to help the NEC provide voter education. Through community meetings and events, social media, loudspeakers and billboards, Somalilanders learned that their vote counted, and were proud to be part of Somaliland’s democracy in the making. NEC Chairman Abdiqadir Iman Warsame confidently addressed the media on election day: “We expect you to reach out to the world and show everyone what we have accomplished.” USAID’s BUILD project is currently focusing on preparations for Somalia’s 2020 federal elections. The Government of Somalia has committed to its first “one person, one vote” elections; in the past, officials were elected by a 14,000-member electoral college. The success of Somaliland’s presidential election can serve as a positive example as Somalia prepares for its own polls. LINKS