Dedicated to Md. Aaden Cadde

[Jacaylbaro]

ALLAH HA U NAXARIISTO ,,,,,,,,,, HE WAS A GREAT MAN AND A TRUE NATIONALIST

[Jabhad]

 

[Jabhad]

Aden Abdulle Osman

First President of Somalia

Published: 11 June 2007

 

Aden Abdulle Osman, politician: born Belet Weyne, Italian Somaliland 1908; President of Somalia 1960-67; married (eight children); died Nairobi 8 June 2007.

 

Aden Abdulle Osman will be remembered not only as Somalia's first president; he was also the first African leader to hand over power to a democratically elected successor. Elected in 1960, when the former British and Italian Somali colonies united to form the Republic of Somalia, Osman lost the 1967 presidential election and, unlike so many African leaders before and since, accepted his defeat graciously and gave up power.

 

Sadly, his successor, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, did not have the opportunity to do the same. Shermarke was assassinated in 1969 and Mohamed Siad Barre led a coup that ushered in 22 years of military rule. Worse was to follow for Somalia as Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 and the country fell apart, torn to pieces by warlords and clan militias. In the 16 years that have followed, Somalia has become a byword for anarchy with no functioning central government.

 

Somalia's descent into chaos greatly saddened Osman who had devoted his life to securing his homeland's independence. Born in 1908 in the town of Belet Weyne, near the border with Ethiopia, Osman joined the Somali Youth League (SYL) in 1944, a nationalist party which campaigned for the end of British and Italian rule. He quickly rose up the ranks, becoming secretary of the Belet Weyne branch in 1946, chairman of the national legislative assembly in 1956, and chairman of the SYL itself in 1958.

 

By the time Somalia won its independence, Osman was a popular national figure and was duly elected the new country's first head of state, leading the democratic government from 1960 to 1967.

 

Said Barre's regime, which had been propped up by US aid during the Cold War, began to teeter in 1990. Civil war had broken out, a precursor to the brutal clan wars that would later turn Somalia into a failed state. Along with around 100 other prominent Somali politicians, Osman signed a manifesto condemning the violence and calling for reconciliation. He was duly arrested, and remained imprisoned until the 1991 coup.

 

Following his release Osman moved back to his family farm in Janale in southern Somalia. During the numerous attempts at restoring government to the country, Osman played an increasingly peripheral role as illness and old age limited his involvement.

 

He died in a Kenyan hospital at the age of 99. The current crisis in Somalia, which has seen some of the worst fighting since 1991, had deeply saddened him, his family said. Somalia's fragile interim government, the 14th attempt at central rule since 1991, announced on Saturday that it would rename Mogadishu's international airport after Osman.

 

Steve Bloomfield

 

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2643065.ece

[Castro]

Somalia's descent into chaos greatly saddened Osman who had devoted his life to securing his homeland's independence.

He died in a Kenyan hospital at the age of 99. The current crisis in Somalia, which has seen some of the worst fighting since 1991, had deeply saddened him, his family said.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Thanks for the historical pictures, Jabhad.

 

Castro, of course it really saddens anyone who had seen and lived in the glorious years of '60s of what had befallen to our nation in the last 20 years.

 

It is not even saddening, it is depressing. I have a father who witnessed that era who quit long ago listening BBC Soomaali, other Soomaali media and reading about Soomaali pollitics because it deeply dispirits him.

 

It is extra depressing to those who witnessed seeing some even risking their lives to save their fellow Soomaali leaders. One such heroic common episodes being the men who swallowed secret papers that were anti-colonial. And there there was that brave man who took the immunization shot intended for Cabdullaahi Ciise [Eebba ha u naxariistee], who was going to United Nation's headquarters in New York, but his fellow Soomaalis feared he would be poisoned by the colonial rulers who did not exactly liked him and other independence-seekers, so a brave Soomaali claimed to be Cabdullaahi Ciise and risked his life by taking that shot [talaal].

 

Damiir iyo isjeceyl Soomaalinimo indeed maxee ku jirtay dadkaas aabaheena wada ahaa.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

 

It is even more now depressing seeing this image taken today of Aaden Cadde's funeral. Look at the right back side, that is what is left -- the ruined parliament tower being the most visible remains -- the old baarlamaan, the baarlamaan that Aaden Cadde's body is passing, the one he put the flag on the top on that unforgetful midnight of July 1st, 1960, with thousands cheering.

 

Look at that lonely monument too, next to old parliament, the Daljirka Dahsoon, dedicated to Soomaali soldiers who fought defending their land.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Dhageyso wareysigii Barfasoor Axmed Ismaaciil Samatar ay Biibiisii Soomaali kala yeelatay marxuumka taariiq nololeedkiisa. Axmed Ismaaciil Samatar, along with his brother, Cabdi I. Samatar, buug ayee ka qorayaan Marxuum Aaden Cadde and his legacy. I for one eagerly await that book, Eebba ha idmee.

 

Also dhageyso another interview BBC Soomaali kala yeelatay C/risaaq Xaaji Xuseen kuna saabsan marxuumka intuu madaxweynaha ahaa.

 

Wareysi uu Marxuum Aaden Cadde siiye Biibiisii Soomaali sanadkii 1967 markuu xilka madaxtinimo si cadaalad ah ugu dagay, kuna wareejiye Marxuum C/rashiid Cali Sharmaarke. Inta ka dhageyso.