Cheap mobile calls help more young Somalis elope

[nuune]

Abdi Sheikh is the same guy who published the Reuter's article about Alshabaab checking women's bras.

 

Here is his previous article about the Alshabaab

 

Alshabaab checking in on bras

 

The same journalist today is here again on another article.

 

 

Nov 03, 2009, REUTERS

 

 

By Abdi Sheikh

 

 

 

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali courtship was different in Hassan Aden's day. When he was a teenager, you gave the girl's parents 11 camels and an AK-47 assault rifle as bride price and then waited respectfully.

 

 

 

Now, the 55-year-old said, a mobile phone service that seems to be the only thing working in the failed Horn of Africa state is helping drive a rise in elopements, pregnancies out of marriage and a steady erosion of Somalia's conservative values.

 

 

 

"The youth of today enjoy modern technology, fast transportation and free-of-charge marriages," Aden, a store owner, told Reuters at a coffee shop in the capital Mogadishu.

 

 

 

"Today, even reasonable boys pay just $50 bride price and a copy of the holy Koran after making the girl pregnant or seeing her secretly for months."

 

 

 

In a drought-ravaged land where rebels are trying to topple a fragile government, gun battles break out almost daily and nearly 20,000 civilians have been killed since the start of 2007, cheap mobile communications are one happy diversion.

 

 

 

The entrepreneurial spirit of Somalis, born out of two decades of anarchy, as well as an absence of taxes, have helped domestic mobile companies thrive despite the chaos.

 

 

 

Many older residents say the prevalence of handsets and such cheap tariffs -- among the lowest in the world -- is making the lives of youngsters unrecognisable. A month of local calls costs about $10. International calls can go for $0.30 a minute.

 

 

 

The cheap calls and extended mobile network in the Horn of Africa nation make it easier for Somalis to get in touch with willing partners and arrange quick assignations.

 

 

"ONLY LIFE WE HAVE"

 

 

 

Traditional Somali marriages used to be long-planned, intricately arranged affairs normally determined by clan and sub-clan elders. But some now prefer a less formal kind of marriage, which is essentially elopement, because they do not have the economic means to face a prospective father-in-law.

 

 

 

Bile Farah, 25, said marriages nowadays have become more of an "entertainment".

 

 

 

"I don't think I'd be sane if it were not for the 'Qudbasiro', free-of-charge secret marriages," the unemployed secondary school graduate told Reuters, sitting cross-legged on a ragged mattress and sending a text message with his phone.

 

 

 

"I've divorced nine women already. Voluntary brides and cheap phone services -- it is the only life we have."

 

 

 

Unsurprisingly, such behaviour is frowned upon by hardline Islamist al Shabaab insurgents who rule over much of central and southern Somalia and want to impose their own austere version of Sharia law on the whole country.

 

 

 

They have banned elopement in the areas under their control. But for Halima Osman, a Mogadishu mother-of-three, the mobile phone helped her run away with the love of her life.

 

 

 

"I am very proud. I would not have these three kids if it were not for the cheap calls and elopement," the 20-year-old told Reuters, covering her face with a scarf.

 

 

 

She said her sister lived a "dog's life" being beaten for seven years after being married to an old man against her will. She suffered. But you can just dial a number or pick up a ringing phone. You make an appointment then elope. Life is so easy if you are lucky."

 

Aden, the shop owner, said he was shocked when his own daughter eloped and gave birth to a child with a young man he had never met. But he also had a confession.

 

 

 

"I enjoy this lifestyle myself, to some extent," he said.

 

 

Apart from an older wife in a "far away" region, he said he had three younger spouses in the capital: one through an arranged marriage and the other two "secretly".

 

 

 

"I call them day wives, because we usually have to meet discreetly during the daytime -- the other one will take it out on the children if I'm missing from her nightly roll call," he said.

 

 

 

"But the recent insecurity has favoured us. You hear gunfire -- and you have an excuse to be absent."

 

 

Reuters

[Paragon]

What? Hahahaha. Weey noolaadeen.

[Che -Guevara]

I was listening to the most horrifying report on the plight of young girls that get "married" yesterday-God help them!

[Allamagan]

I am not fan of this group, but most of these stories we read here and there are nothing but complete fabrications and smear campaign

[Ibtisam]

Can you blame the young kids, all they've known is war and pain and choas. Of course as always the women/ girls will suffere the most.

[ElPunto]

War ninkaan Abdi Shiek yaa naga qabta?

[Cara.]

What the heck? How is this even news?

[STOIC]

^ Perhaps Slow news day from Somalia?

[Cawaale]

^ Nuune, this kid waxaan u maleynaa wuxu ka gadooday Waaga Cusub ama Puntland Post or maybe Dayniile.

[Som@li]

with all the killing, and famine, population replenishment is essential.

[nuune]

He never reports anything worth of news.

 

Some of his earlier articles:

 

Alshabaab pulling out gold teeth with pincers

 

 

The name Abdi Sheikh is a fake name used by Reuters and journalists in kenya.

 

Another fake name goes by the name:

 

Sahra Abdi with her new article published by Reuters yesterday:

 

Rebels ban musical ringtones on phones

[Abu-Salman]

Agenda setting by the Media is the root of much evil though when it comes to anti-Islamic/Somali propaganda, subtlety is not necessarily present; very few of us are not victim in one way or another, look no further than SOl and its cohorts of mentally colonised and Westernised fellow Somalis (not only in terms of Politics but their whole outlook, priorities and ways of thinking)...

[nuune]

^^ Spot on Mr Abu-Salman.

[ElPunto]

^Nuune - the teeth pulling has been verified - don't go all overboard on this.