Somaliland Sun- “If we were recognized, which we deserved, we’d be able to access international credit, to get development aid, to attract foreign investors. Now we can’t do any of that, simply because we are not recognized.”
States the Somaliland Foreign minister Saad Ali Shire adding that lack of international recognition is “absolutely unfair” during commemorations to mark the country’s 25th anniversary of independence in Hargeisa on 18th May.
According to a report by times live reporting from the capital Hargeisa this sentiments in different words were the order.
“We are not Somalia. Our name is Somaliland! We need to be recognised,” said Ashira, a young woman standing close to where a war memorial is topped with a Soviet-era MiG fighter jet to remind residents of the bombing of Hargeisa by Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1988.
“I don’t even want to go to Mogadishu. When I listen to the news, I see bombings, al-Shebab, I’m scared. Here we have peace,” said Mohamed Fawzi, an employee of Dahabshiil, a Somaliland-based money transfer company.
“If we were recognized, which we deserved, we’d be able to access international credit, to get development aid, to attract foreign investors. Now we can’t do any of that, simply because we are not recognized.”
Despite this determination for independence Neither the forest of red, white and green flags, nor the ululating women nor the presidential fanfare could mask the bitterness of Somaliland’s 25th independence celebrations on Wednesday. 
Continue reading No silver lining for Somaliland’s 25 years of Independence
