Somalia (the former Italian colony) has disintegrated into small tribal enclaves under Hassan’s watch. Those tribal enclaves are faultily called “states of Somalia federation” and each enclave has multiple presidents and administrations.
By: Yusuf Dirir Ali
Somalilandsun: Mr. Hassan Sheikh, the recently clannishly selected President of Somalia is committing an offense under United Nation’s Humanitarian law. He gravely impinges on the self-determination of the Somaliland people by relentlessly and erroneously claiming that Somaliland is a province of Somalia.
Claiming the territory of the Republic of Somaliland is also a blatant aggression against a democratic and a sovereign country, which fulfils the Montevideo international charter of December 26, 1933. At the same time, Mr. Hassan’s argument is quite similar to the familiar illegal Saddam Hussein declaration of renaming the State of Kuwait as a province of Iraq.
On July 1st, 1960 Somaliland formed a union with Somalia that union was officially named “the Somali Republic” and not “Somalia”. By continuously referring to Somaliland as a province of Somalia shows Mr. Hassan’s unfortunate and poor familiarity with the Somali Republic’s civics. Based on his claims of statesmanship, a university professorship and a PhD degree under his belt, the man should know better – he should minimally be able to correctly name and understand the history of the long gone union he illusively claims to rule.
Somaliland conducted a popular national referendum in 1991 to withdraw from the 30 year-old union with Somalia – for more than two decades and counting, Somaliland had zilch to do with Somalia. For that reason, Mr. Hassan should understand that Somaliland has never been a province of Somalia; Somaliland is not a province of Somalia and will never part of his exceedingly embarrassing and erroneous so-called Federation of Somalia. Somaliland is a different country Mr. Hassan and that is why the international community is encouraging a dialogue between the two equal entities – Somaliland and Somalia.
Mr. Hassan came into power in Mogadishu through a Stone Age style, corrupt and clannish selection system. He often forgets that he can not manage Mogadishu city let alone the whole of Somalia (former Italian colony), which he ostensibly alleges to be “under his jurisdiction”, even more pathetically the man claims the ownership of a democratic, peaceful and stabile country to the North of Somalia – Somaliland. This is a good indication that President Hassan is burying his head in the sand and is chewing something he is unable to swallow.
As a matter of fact, Somalia (the former Italian colony) has disintegrated into small tribal enclaves under Hassan’s watch. Those tribal enclaves are faultily called “states of Somalia federation” and each enclave has multiple presidents and administrations. These multiple presidents and administrations of each state maintain to have been selected democratically. Who are we to have a dispute with the self-imposed multiple state leaders, since Mr. Hassan and his team were not elected democratically but were selected in the same undemocratic way as the state leaders?
The democratically elected government of Somaliland is the only party that can legally negotiate on behalf of Somalilanders in regard to relationships with other countries. Despite Mr. Hassan and his cohort false claims, Somaliland government had nothing to do with Somalia selected- government. For that reason, Mr. Hassan with all the valour of his unrealistic, dictatorial and fascist instincts can not, out of nowhere, exhume and impose his ill-will on Somalilanders.
Mr. Hassan is preposterously following the footsteps of his predecessors including Siad Barre. He is inconsiderately trying to deceive the international community with the fake claims of being the democratically elected president of Somalia and Somaliland, while he has got no genuine authority over either Somalia or Somaliland.
Instead of trying to annex a neighboring democratic country– the Republic of Somaliland, Mr. Hassan must stick with the collection of his Air mile points, which I think is the only thing he is capable of doing with the generous international donations destined for the improvement of the lives of his impoverished Somalia citizens. Somalia’s impoverished citizens live in makeshift huts made of dirty paper boxes and no more than a stone throw away from President Hassan’s luxurious Villa Somalia. What a disparity of life styles?
Mr. Hassan is ignorant of the fact that the international community is well aware and weary of his fabrications. With his accustomed tale, his phony wide smile and with all the glitter of his white two sets of teeth, Mr. Hassan intends to fool the international community, but he can not deceive Somalilanders, because they know , in this case, Mr. Hassan is not giving them a friendly smile but is trying to bite them. Somalilanders saw too many wolf-teeth during their union with Somalia and they have the scars to proof the consequences of believing Somalia’s misleading smiles- too late Mr. Hassan, a deceptive Somalia smile is no longer in style in Somaliland.
Yusuf Dirir Ali
