THE BIASED BBC: AN OPEN LETTER

[SOO MAAL]

THE BIASED BBC: AN OPEN LETTER

by Mahamud M. Yahye, Ph.D.

- Friday, June 03, 2005 at 15:00

 

The Head,

Africa & Middle East Region

BBC, Bush House

London, UK

 

Dear Sir,

 

At the outset, I would to like to express, in the name of your faithful Somali listeners, our deep gratitude to the BBC World Service for airing its very popular Somali Service for so long. In my opinion, and I think many Somali speaking people in the vast Horn of Africa Region share this with me, your efforts in this regard have been very commendable and greatly appreciated. I also personally believe that the most valuable and effective assistance that Great Britain has ever offered to the Somali people is its sponsorship – through the British taxpayer’s money – of broadcasting the Somali Service for almost the past five decades. I also know that in the recent past, and particularly after the end of the cold war, several foreign language programmes were discontinued by the BBC due to budgetary constraints. However, the Somali Service was exempted from this elimination in recognition of the current tragic situation in our homeland.

 

Myself, I started listening to your Somali Service in 1957, right after it was started, when I was doing my elementary schooling in Galcaio, Somalia (even, perhaps, before its current Head, Mr. Yusuf-Garaad Ahmed was born), and I liked it very much. Since then I’ve a made a point to make this Service part of my daily living and to listen to it almost every day wherever I am, and I think this is typical of all Somalis – educated or otherwise – of my generation. (Here in Saudi Arabia, we hear this programme very clearly three times a day - mainly through short waves. But even when I’m traveling and I’m in, say, Europe, North America or elsewhere, I listen to it regularly through the internet).

 

Why do we love the BBC Somali Service? I love it simply because of its neutrality, objectivity, its relentless search for the truth and its continuous endeavors to present the two sides of any major issue. This programme is the main, I dare say the only, source from which the overwhelming majority of Somalis – most of whom illiterate who speak only their native tongue – get the most up-to-date, factual and unbiased news about the world, in general, and their respective countries (in Somalia, self-declared Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya), in particular. This is especially vital, in the case of Somalia, at this very critical juncture in its history when we have no functioning central government, we have been going through a devastating civil war for almost 15 years, and the local radios broadcast only the news and programmes favoring the particular warlords who own them (and which I make a point never to listen to, because I know beforehand the lies and partisan propaganda they will dish out). Above all, Somalis will never forget the vital and unique role that the BBC Somali Service has been playing in the past 15 years for conveying information or re-uniting family members who have lost loved ones (or informing them about those who died unbeknownst to them) because of this terrible and seemingly never-ending civil war, by means of its daily announcements on missing persons. In short, devotion to this Service is arguably the only thing that unites all Somalis today.

 

However, I am sorry to say that, in my view and in the view of many Somali listeners, the BBC Somali Service has, in the last few years, been deviating from its well-known and time-honoured tradition of impartiality, objectivity and professionalism. Simply stated, the programme often tries not to present both sides of an important story and is gradually becoming like the local radios in Somalia or another Horn Afrique. The point I’m making is that the Head of that Service, Mr. Yusuf-Garaad Ahmed, may be an excellent journalist, but he is often biased and he strives mightily to suppress any story or dissenting voice that he does not endorse. And he behaves as if the BBC Somali Service belongs to him personally or to his wider clan. As a matter of fact, some Somali listeners accuse him of doing his level best to push the political agendas of some Somali warlords, particularly those in Mogadishu, the ruined capital of Somalia. Moreover, some of his appointed reporters in that lawless city, namely, Hassan Barise and Farhiya Ali Qajo, often try to paint a false, rosy picture about its security and how its “wonderful, peace-loving leaders†are going to restore peace and stability to it. But as you may be aware, just last week, a bomb was thrown into a rally in Mogadishu where the new Prime Minister of Somali, Mr. Ali Ghedi was giving a speech – and which in the opinion of the experts had targeted Ghedi himself, despite his understandable denial - causing the death of at least 14 innocent inhabitants of that unlucky city. (Others also accuse him of very serious tribal favoritism in his recruitment of staff for the Somali Service. I personally cannot prove this charge, although people who know the situation very well confirm that the overwhelming majority of the employees who have been recruited for the Service since Yusuf-Garaad assumed office actually belong to one of the major Somali clans which happens to be his own).

 

That way the Head of the Somali Service helps, intentionally or unintentionally, those selfish men who, for the past 14 years, have been perpetuating the civil war in Somalia, have been thwarting all genuine peace and reconciliation efforts, and who constantly impede, despite their disingenuous protestations to the contrary, the formation and the functioning of any viable, stable central government in that destroyed country which, together with its unfortunate people, they have been holding as hostages for so long. This is so, because they gain enormous economic benefits from the continuation of the current anarchy and lawlessness and, as even Somali children know by now, they do not have the greater interest of Somalia at heart. Thus, Yusuf-Garaad enables these evil, tribal-minded men to use the BBC Somali Service as a regular and free outlet for airing their cheap, pernicious and very misleading propaganda, as well as their naked lies.

 

Dear Sir,

 

To give you an example, there is currently a heated debate as to whether the newly formed Transitional Federal Government of Somalia - which is still based in exile in Kenya – should move to Mogadishu, the official capital of Somalia, or be re-located, at least temporarily, to a more peaceful city in the country, like Baidoa, Jowhar or Belet Weyn, until the security of Mogadishu could be assured. As expected, some of the local warlords, particularly those of this latter city, insist that the seat of the new government can never be anywhere else except Mogadishu – as if this is a divine ordinance (i.e., fatwa in Arabic) or something enshrined in the holy Koran or cast in stone. They are, of course pushing this political agenda not for the public good but for their own selfish interests and to make the government hostage to their whimsical, unpatriotic demands.

 

To counter this seriously flawed argument, I wrote the attached e-mail to Yusuf-Garaad, and I called him up a couple of times, to explain why the new Somali government cannot re-locate to Mogadishu for the time being. But he totally ignored my contribution and he did not allow me the courtesy of airing a summary of my views on his programme - or even acknowledge receipt of my e-mail - bearing in mind that he conducts long and expensive telephone interviews, almost on a daily basis, with the notorious Somali faction leaders who are well known for pushing their narrow tribal agendas, who initiated and have been perpetuating the ruinous civil strife in Somalia, and who are famous for being economical with the truth. (I even suggested to him that I could bear the cost of the phone call for my proposed interview, if he is trying to save some money for the BBC). A such, they always try to use the BBC for that dubious and illegitimate purpose. That is why I’ve lately been switching more often to BBC’s other programmes, such as BBC’s main World Service, its Arabic Programme, its Focus on Africa, BBC Afrique (in French), or even Voice of America, because they are now better, more informative, objective and more balanced than the current Somali Service.

 

Last but not least, I plead with you, Sir, to safeguard the kind of fairness, objectivity, balance and professionalism that we have always associated with the BBC which I consider as the best radio station in the world. Furthermore, I earnestly hope that the BBC Somali Service will be one of the instruments for restoring peace to our ruined homeland in addition to spreading the lofty ideals of freedom, democracy and modernity over there, and not an agent of partisanship and discord. I also wish that you will help give your audience or clients, especially Somali intellectuals, like me, who have neither political ambitions nor vested interests in the perpetuation of the present civil war in our failed-state, but who are genuinely and very deeply concerned about what is happening over there, to present their views from time to time through occasional debates or letters. (By the way, I have a very good job and I would not, honestly, accept today to be the President or the Prime Minister of a ruined country and a failed-state like Somalia, because I wouldn’t where to start from!). In this connection, I have a simple suggestion for you: Why doesn’t the management of the BBC set a term limit of, say, 5 to 7 years for the tenure of the Head of the BBC Somali Service or make a regular rotation among the present staff of the Service, some of whom may be as equally qualified for the job as Yusuf-Garaad, if not more? Or why don’t you restore the old tradition of appointing a neutral, non-Somali person as the Head of this service from time to time?

 

Please, Sir, don’t allow one single individual or Big Brother (as the famous British author, George Orwell, would have liked to call it) - in this case the Head of Somali Service - to determine, unilaterally, what we, your customers, i.e., the listeners, should or should not hear. Otherwise, many of your listeners in regions or cities other than Mogadishu will be turned off, will feel sidelined and betrayed and will be forced to switch to other alternative media or broadcasting stations. And this will, undoubtedly, be an enormous loss for your vast Somali audience, a very serious damage to the BBC’s well-earned credibility and a total waste of the British taxpayer’s money.

 

Very sincerely yours,

 

Mahamud Mohd. Yahye, Ph. D.

Islamic Development Bank

(and former Deputy Mayor of Mogadishu)

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

[Johnny B]

HornAfrik is biased so is Dayniile , Radio Banadir

so is yousuf Graad etc etc

 

NOW even the BBC is biased . why?

 

becouse , they all have one common denominator

 

i´ll let you guess twice !!

 

what a rubbish ,

 

The character assassination of Yousuf Graad has backfired looooong time ago .

[OLOL]

Yusuf Garaad is just having a blast on this!! whinning chickens ! what a desperation? a brother can't be successful? what a jeolousy and envy!

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Salaan...

 

BBC waagaan yaraa dadka waa weyn aan mar mar la dhageysan jiray, mar walbana wararka Soomaalida ee ku bilaabi jirtay, sidaan u xasuusto. Hadadaan, siiba sidii dowladaan loo dhisay ayaa markaan dowlad jirtayee dhageyso is dhahaa, laakiin maxee kugu taalaa. Waxaaba ku nacay first 15 minutes wararka dunida oo aan loo dirsan ee kugu madadaalinee. Yukreen ayaa kacdoon ka socdo, Simbabwe ayaa abaar balaaran ka jirto, Buluufiya ayaa mudaaharaadyo waa weyn ka dhacaayo. What the...! Wax aan loo dirsan. Almiina wararka Soomaalida maku hormariyaanoo. Shuud.

 

Madaama one hour loogu dhigay waxaan u maleynaa waa lagu qasbay in ee ku hormariyaan wararka caalamka from the central headquarter, meesha laga wada xukumo.

 

Maba dhageysan lahayn hortiiba haduu Cowke ku jiri lahayn dadka tabiyo. His Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawa iyo caalamka kills me.