“We commend the people of Somaliland on their peace and good accommodation of our people escaping mayhem in our country” Hawiye Clan Unity ad cutural Council
By: Yusuf M Hasan
MOGADISHU (Somalilandsun) – Somalia Traditional leaders have requested the president of Somaliland to release their kinsmen who are serving lengthily jail terms in the country.
The appeal was made at a meeting held in Mogadishu by the Hawiye Unity and cultural council in which the elders pleaded for the mercy of the president Silanyo thus clemency for their jailed kinsmen.
Speaking at a post meeting press conference in which he commended Somalilanders for having maintained a secure country the chairperson of the Hawiye Unity and cultural council Chief Mohamed Hasan Ha’ad said country Somalia needs to emulate its northern neighbours.
In acquiescence to the fact that the council’s appeal to president Silanyo was for persons jailed for heinous crimes, Chief Ha’ad said the culprits who renounced terrorism have suffered enough.
The Hawiye clan appeal for clemency pertains to three of the five person’s sentenced to over 20 year’s imprisonment for the murder of an expatriate working for GTZ in Somaliland.
On 22nd March 2004 two aid workers working for the German development agency (GTZ) , Ms. Cheriyote, presumably a Kenyan c
itizen, and a Somaliland national were killed while a German citizen Mr. Helken was wounded in an ambush by the five operatives of Al-shabaab, on the road between the capital Hargeisa, and the port town of Berbera.
The five culprits who are currently serving their sentences at Hargeisa pirate’s prison were apprehended by residents of the Dhokhoshey village some 430 km east of Hargeisa
Pleading for the release of the three Hawiye clansmen among the five jailed for the murder of the GTZ employees the elders said they are confident of the success of their clemency appeal since the Somaliland authorities and people are known for their kindness.
According to the spokesperson Hawiye Unity and cultural council Chief Ahmed Diriye Ali the Somaliland authorities who have treated his kinsmen nicely ever after their grisly act should consider releasing them.
Reminiscing the pious act of 2011 when Somalilanders from all walks of lives contributed over Somaliland do
nates about $700,000 towards Somalia’s then gripping famine, chief Ali urged similar kindness for his clansmen.
“We the elders of the Hawiye clan who appeal for the release of our youths jailed in Somaliland remain hopeful that our brothers in Hargeisa shall accept our request” ended the Hawiye Unity and cultural council
While this is the first appeal by the Hawiye clan for their imprisoned kinsmen it is not yet clear whether the appeal has officially been received by concerned authorities in Somaliland.
For further details on the Hawiye Unity and cultural council appeal visit
http://www.somalisan.com or contact Muuse Mahmud Jiisow at Somalisan@hotmail.com and Tel 0699907666, 0695576666 or 0615576666
The Hawiye clansmen subject of this appeal were imprisoned at the height of terrorism attacks that targeted expatriates in an effort to mar the safety record of foreigners then and now prevailing in the country.
Apart from the GTZ employees killed by the Al-Qaeda aligned Al-shabaab terrorists include Italian Ms. Analena Tonelli killed in Borama and the British Eyeington couple of Enid and Richard murder at the SOS school in Sheikh town on 21st October 2003.
Mr. Eyeington, 62, and his 61-year-old wife had been working in Africa for 32 years while Annalena, a 60-year-old Italian, could have garnered the celebrity of a Mother Teresa for Africa if she had tried. Instead she chose invisibility and an almost surreal humility: she wanted the fewest possible barriers between herself and those she lived and worked among.
