Ciddu Yey Didin – Maanso xisaabtan ah
From a Poet’s Pen:
By Bashir Goth

It may seem unbecoming for a poet to take pains to elucidate his work for the general reader. And I may absolutely agree with Robert Penn Warren who said: “The poet is in the end probably more afraid of the dogmatist who wants to extract the message from the poem and throw the poem away than he is of the sentimentalist who says, “Oh, just let me enjoy the poem.”

The poet, however, may be obliged to play the role of a critic in the absence of literary critics and in the presence of younger Somali immigrant population for whom the language of Somali poetry may look like gibberish and the imagery archaic.

This is unfortunately the plight of immigrant poets who write for a younger Somali speaking generation who find themselves so distant from their language and rich culture. Although art in general seems to be as endangered as Somali dugongs in today’s technology driven world, the high art of Somali poetry seems to have suffered a devastating blow as a result of the mass migration of the Somali people to the West.

Poetry is about the beauty of language and no matter whether one understands the words or the meaning the music alone always exudes beauty. As Carl Sandburg noted “poetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess what is seen during a moment”. I find it unfair to poetry to be left covered in a mist. I prefer to raise the curtain just enough to entice the readers to explore more by themselves. Therefore, unlocking the poem’s meaning will follow the text:

CIDDU YAY DIDIN
Hadduu canbar iyo

Illaa calankii

Taallo caaniyo

Caaqil weyn iyo

Uu ciiltire iyo

Ceeleeye ahaa

Sidii culaygii

Cidaad marsadoo

Aan ceebiba qaban

*

Gol cammiranuu
Ku caweeyiyo
Caadilku xareed
Firdowsa cawa leh
Ha ka cabbiyee
Cigaal dhimayoo...

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Hadh Qaboobidaayey, Hooyo

I wrote the following song as a tribute to my mother on the occasion of the Mother's Day, 9th May 2010. My mother, Sheikha Rahma Egeh Dirir, was also my first teacher who taught me reading and writing and imbibed me on the beauty of the Somali literature and culture through her stories, lyrics and poetry that she used to tell me during my childhood. The song is also a tribute to all mothers and particularly Somali speaking mothers who can understand the meaning of the lyrics.

Waddamada adduunka intooda badan ayaa bisha May laga xusaa maalinta hooyada. Dhab ahaantii haddii Hooyada wanaageeda lagu xuso ammin kasta iyo arad kasta oo la joogaba lama gudi karo xaqeeda, hase yeeshee waxa lagama maarmaan noqotay in ay yeelato maalin gaar ah oo lagu xusuusto.

Haddaba heestan soo socota oo la yidhaahdo HOOYO waxan ku xusayaa hooyaday Sheekha Raxma Cige Dirir oo hooyonnimada ka sokow ah macallinkaygii ii bilowday Alif-Ba’da ee i bartay akhriska iyo qoraalka Quraanka iyo Afka-Carabiga, indhahayga u furtay nuurka aqoonta. Waana ababiyahaygii igu anqarisay jacaylka suugaanta iyo dhaqanka ee aan sheekooyinkeedii, halaanhalkeedii iyo tixihii ay ii dareerin jirtay yaraantii ay ii noqotay ceel wahdi ah oo aan iga maaxdumin iyo sahay aan madhanayn oo aan kaga gudbo suudiga waayaha, kana qadhaabto midhaha aan suugaanta ku curiyo.

Heesta aniga oo munaasabadda maalinta hooyada u hibaynaya hooyaday waxa la wadaaga hooyo kasta oo adduunka joogta, gaar ahaan kuwa ku hadla af-Soomaliga ee fahmaya afka ay heestu ku qoran tahay. In kasta oo ay habboonayd in heesta la dhegeysto iyada oo muusig wadata, xilliga ayaa igu simi waayey, muusiguna goortiisa ayuu iman doonaa isaga oo sida heestu u qorantahay uun u dhici doona.

Hadh Qaboobidaa, Hooyo

Dunidoo holcaysoo
Hooyo
Halasuhu wax leefay
Hooyo
Halkaad adigu joogtiyo
Hooyo
Hadh qaboobidaayey
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo.
***
Jiilaal hawaarsaday
Hooyo
Hamaddigu wax laayay
Hooyo
Goshaad igu habaysiyo
Hooyo
Hugaagii dugsoonaa
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo
***
Colaad la isku hiifiyo
Hooyo
Meel balo ka hoortay
Hooyo
Hoobeeyadaadaan
Hooyo
Hurdo nabad ku seexdaa
hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo
***
Anoo kaa hulleelaad
Hooyo
Hareertayda joogtaa
Hooyo
Dhagixii i hantaaqaba
Hooyo
Hobo' baad i leedahay
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo
***
Anoo kuba hilmaamaad
Hooyo
Laabta igu haysaa
Hooyo
Habaar iima quudhide
Hooyo
Ducaad igu hagoogtaaa
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo
***
Halyeey iyo haldhaa iyo
Hooyo
Hoodo iyo Hibaaq dhala
Hooyo
Hadba kii hafeef qaba
Hooyo
Hurdadawga saakuma
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo
***
Waan arkaa humaaggii
Hooyo
Adoo igu hadraayee
Hooyo
Hadhka iyo habeenkii
Hooyo
Waan kugu hadaaqaa
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo
***
Eebbeheen ku hanayoo
Hooyo
Wadka maalmo kaa hay
Hooyo
Oo jannooyin hooda leh
Hooyo
Ku waar hoyga aakhiro
Hooyo
Hooyo, hooyo, hooyo
Hooooooooyo

©Bashir Goth, 09 May 2010
Email: bsogoth@yahoo.com

Somali music between Maryan Ali’s refined taste and Al Shabab’s philistine manners

By Bashir Goth

Never have I felt so much hope and gloom at the same time for Somali music; that wonderful aesthetic product by default of the otherwise harsh Somali pastoral life. Onboard a plane from Minneapolis to Washington DC, I read an interview that Professor Ahmed I. Samater conducted with Maryam Omar Ali, commonly known as Aryette, a woman with a passion for Somali music and literature.
The lengthy interview which ran over 20 pages was published in Bildhaan, an International Journal of Somali Studies, which I picked up while attending a Tol Convention in Minneapolis in early April.

With an ear for music since childhood, Maryan explained how she managed to possess a collection of about 9000 songs of solo music and from Somali plays. Among her collection are the original and finest songs of the celebrated singers such as Magool, Mohamed Suleiman, Omar Dhuule, Zahra Ahmed, Maandeeq, Baxsan, Fadumo Qasim and others as well as some of the memorable plays of the sixties and seventies. They include Shabeel Nagood and Gaarabildhaan, the two great works of the legendary Hassan Sheikh Muumin. She has also in her possession Galbeed waa la xoreeyey by Hassan Abdillaahi Ganay, Kariye’s Jacaylkii Waalaye Aynu Weeraka aadno and Osman Adan Askari’s Wadhafkiyo Shimbirihii War Iskuma Hayaan of which Maryan herself has authored the script and some of the songs.
Mentioning her leaning towards the patriotic songs of the early sixties which Professor Samatar calls the “honeymoon years of the 1960s”, Maryan’s talked about the memorable lyrics of the time such as Mohamed Suleiman’s “Dharaartaan Waxyeeladii dhaqdhaqay” and Osman Mohamed and Nooleya’s “Naa Kaalayo bal kaalay aan gelin soconee”.

Citing Magool as Somali singer par excellence, Maryan describes the singer’s rendition of “Kii Dhaba Jayaclkuna” as occupying a special place in her “aesthetic taste.”

At one point, Maryan has even raised Professor Samatar’s interest by emphatically insisting on the artists being better observers of the society’s ills and foreseeing the future than the scholars.

“Somali scholars often think of themselves, perhaps pretentiously, as the brains, eyes, and ears of the nation. Are you saying that the artists are equal to them?” asked Dr. Samatar.

“Yes, and, I believe, they are even better than you scholars!,” Maryan said,” Fannaanin live closer to durable myths, yet they are unafraid to peek into the future.”

Still amused by the idea, Dr. Samatar asked Maryan to elaborate more, to which she responded: “First, at the general level, I believe that a Fannaanin and Abwaan usually demonstrate a courageous allegiance to a vision of truth and delicate sensibilities that, together, define their sense of being in the world.” She also cited that the Abwaans and Fannaanin as “creators and keepers of the best of the Somali tradition. They were a major element in the rise of collective consciousness and the efforts towards decolonization. With the dawn of independence, they kept a flickering vision of national unity and purpose among the people and warned of the gravity of the gathering menace that was to envelop them.”
She however got my unequivocal admiration with her concluding testimony about what arts (fann) mean for her.

“There are, in my opinion, two perspectives of this topic,” she said in the interview. “One sees Fann as a source of passing time or fleeting entertainment (madadaalo). Thus, there is neither such attention paid to nor appreciation of the hard creative labor that lies behind the composition and the event. The second understands Fann as a precious marrow in the making of strong bones of a culture and national identity. Among the lasting indicators of the dignity of a society is the degree of excellence of its Fann production.”
With these powerful words lingering in mind I couldn’t help comparing Maryan’s admirable 35 year long passion, as she explained to me in a telephone conversation later, in preserving the Somali musical heritage to that of Rose Valland who saved the French art treasure from being stolen and looted during the Nazi occupation of Paris. What makes Maryan’s collection unique, however, is that she does not only collect songs as anyone of us would, but she indexes them, classifies and categorizes them according to their themes and genres, digitalizes them, labels them with the names of singers , lyric writers and music composers and eventually archives them. She undertakes this tremendous work which consumes both her energy and resources while fighting off a breast cancer that may have weakened her body but never her zeal and devotion for saving Somali music for posterity.

Somali music and literary heritage in my view are the only monuments that Somali people truly share and commonly admire, and Maryan’s passion for collection has made them a paradise regained of what would otherwise have been lost forever. As Maryan’s words took me back to “the honeymoon years of the 1960s”, I spent the rest of the two-hour flight reminiscing about the glorious past, the great music and the iconic poetry of the Somali people. I even hoped that the day would come when Maryan and probably other anonymous curators of Somali music and Somali artifacts would be honored just like Valland for saving the nation’s cultural heritage during these trying years of the Somali history.

But as soon as I landed at Dulles airport I woke up from my dream world to Washington’s warm spring weather and the gloomy news of Somali Al Shabab and Hizbul Islam extremists banning Somali radios and TV stations in the areas they control from playing Somali music. It is on reading about this barbaric drive of cultural genocide that I decided to give a call to Maryan and thank her for being a Godsend cultural custodian who would be getting the recognition she deserves for her priceless efforts from future generations and would be rewarded for her good deeds to humanity in the world hereafter. There is no doubt that once the terror reign of Al Shabab and Hizbul Islam with their philistine treatment of art and music and their hatred for cultural beauty are long forgotten in the dustbin of history, Maryan Ali’s name will resonate with generations of lovers and scholars of Somali music and literary treasures.

Somaliland: America’s underestimated friend
By Bashir Goth
Think about Somalia and all that jumps to mind is the image of a lawless country where extremist forces have turned it into killing fields, where people are butchered, maimed and their dignities and human rights are trampled on in the name of a mangled Islam, where piracy is a lucrative business that brings brides and undreamed of wealth and luxuries to hapless maritime scarecrows. It is a place where the President of the internationally-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) hides in a foxhole called Villa Somalia with the protection of African Forces but gets red-carpet treatment in western countries. A place where corruption is so rife that government officials as well as clan militias and unscrupulous local contractors get hefty bribes in order to allow world donated food supplies to reach the displaced and the needy sheltered in make-shift camps. A place where the TFG’s western trained military sells its weapons to their sworn enemies due to an intricate mix of clan loyalty and endemic indifference to military values and patriotic feelings.

Somalia is a place where each of the fighting groups is so fragmented that any hope of one group coming on top as dominant force to bring stability remains a distant dream. A place where internationally-concocted peace conferences have become a profitable industry that no sooner one is held to satiate the greed of some groups, another one is demanded by groups who feel left out of the spoils of the first by starting another horrendous conflict. Topping the list of these surrealistic images is the picture of the suicidal group Al Shabab that allures disillusioned youth of Somali origin from North America and Europe to be part of what they claim to be a legendary Islamic revolution of equal status to Prophet Mohammed’s conquest of Mecca from the pagan Quraishites or to die for the fantasy of wedding virgin girls in the life after death.

Compare this to another people of Somali stock who managed to avoid all the above vices and vagaries; people who are like your next door neighbors and have worked to restore peace and stability in their territory; people who opted to consult the fine products of their culture and human mind in running their own affairs and kept Islam in God’s turf and in its dignified place of being in the hearts of people to meet the individual’s spiritual needs. It is a place where its people distanced themselves from the lawlessness and butchering taking place in former Somalia. A place where pirates are captured as criminals and put on trial, where suicidal ideologies are shunned and not adorned with grand titles and noms de guerre that are alien to the Somali psyche and culture.

This latter place is Somaliland, a country that gained its independence from Britain in 1960 and has become a full member of the United Nations before it joined the Italian colonized South in a union that brought them only destruction and misery. Almost 30 years after the union, the former British Protectorate of Somaliland walked away from the union with their towns destroyed, their infrastructure in tatters and their whole population in refugee camps. But within two decades and after several inter-clan conferences under their acacia trees, they consolidated peace and established government institutions through a unique blend of customary laws and a multi-party democratic system. Today, while world favored Italian Somalia is still in mayhem, Somaliland has an elected president, an elected parliament, a free judicial body and a vigorous free media. It also has its national flag, national currency as well as a military and a police force. A score of universities and colleges and hundreds of public and private schools sprang up in various parts of the country. Now as I write this piece, Somaliland National Election Commission is issuing voting registration cards for the upcoming second presidential elections due to take place sometime this year. This makes Somaliland one of the first countries in Africa to apply an electronic voter registration. The three political parties in the country have lined up their candidates and are on the campaign trail to sell their agenda to the people.

The people of Somaliland have achieved this without UN-sponsored conferences and with limited international assistance. But while Somaliland finds it hard to sell its success story of peace, progress and democratization to the international community, the world pours money to the bottomless vortex of lawless Somalia; money that doesn’t feed the needy and shelter the poor but lines the pockets of irredeemably corrupt diaspora carpetbaggers and terrorist groups.

It is amazing, however, how Somaliland people sustain such a strong belief that their resilience and determination would pay at the end, if not by gaining political recognition at least by getting the financial assistance they need for building their capacity in contributing to the safety of the maritime routes against piracy and for bolstering the security of the strategic Horn of African region against the threat of terrorism. Given the significant role Somaliland plays in safeguarding its coastal waters and checking the spread of Islamism with its meager resources, it is clear that Somaliland can be a vital geopolitical partner for the United States and the EU. The fact that a high profile Somaliland delegation is currently in Washington DC at the invitation of the State Department, is a good indication that the Obama administration is quickly learning that Somalis might not be the same people after all and that spending American tax payers’ money on the good people in Somaliland might put the horse before the cart in dealing with the intricate situation of that Horn of African country and might win America grateful friends who see it as beacon of hope and freedom and not as infidels worth killing.

-END-

Ha Iga Ooyine Aamu(Waa hees ay cod qiiro leh inagu soo gaadhsiinayso Ubax-Fahmo)
By Bashir Goth

Curashadii sannadkii 2008 markii caalamku u damaashaadayey soo dhaweynta sannadka cusub, waxan anigu xusuustay dadka Soomaaliyeedna ku booriyey in marka ay carruurtooda la dabaaldegayaan xusuustaan waxa dhib, dhiilo iyo ciil haysta carruurta iyo hooyooyinka dalkeenii, gaar ahaana magaalada Muqdisho, anigoo sannadkaa ku salaamay hees aan ku curiyey afka Ingiriisida oo la yidhaahdo “Spare A Moment”. Haddaba maanta oo la soo dhaweynaayo sannadka cusub ee 2010-ka waxan ognahay hoogga iyo dhiilada haysata dadkeena, gaar ahaan hooyooyinka iyo ubadkooda. Waxaa murgo leh in aanu xilliguba dhaqaaqin oo aad mooddo in uu meel tuban yahay sida aan gabay hore ugu idhi: “Afrikaay dhagax dixeed, miyaad sidii dheri jajabay, duleedka u dhooban tahay, waqtigu ku dul dhereran yahay…” Waxaana cad in Afrika, gaar ahaana dadka Soomaaliyeed, aanay u kala sokeyn gu’s curtay iyo mid gabbalsaday, oo ay ka indho saabtay dhibta abiidada ah ee dul dhereran. Waxa la yaab leh in hoogga iyo hiisha aan ku sheegay gabaygaygii “Sooyaal” oo aan tiriyey muddo hadda laga joogo 27 sanadood oo aan ku salaamay sannadkii 1983 uu weli run yahay oo ay saxariirtu Afrika la ehelowdayn. Erayada gabayga ku jiray waxa ka mid ahaa:

“…Nin madoobi samirkiyo ,

Silicuu ku noolyahay,

Mar haddaanu suulayn

New Yearka sannadkee

Loo sacab tumaayiyo

Kii suulayee tegay

Uma kala sokeeyaan

Dhammaan waa u saxariir

Adduunkana sadkiisii

Rag baa uga sarreeyoo

Mawdkuun buu ku sugayaa…” (Sooyaal, Jan. 1, 1983)

Haddaba heestan soo socta oo iyadna aan ku suntayo curashada 2010 waxan ku xusayaa ba’a iyo balanbalka haysta hooyooyinka dalkeena, gaar ahaana meelaha dagaalka indho la’aanta iyo naxariis darrada ahi ka socodo ee ay kow ka tahay magaalada Muqdisho. Tixdu waa hees carruureed ay hooyo ku abaabaynayso wiilkeeda yar ee ay gosha ku hayso, uguna werinayso wixii hoog dhacay, isla markaana ugu ducaynayso uguna halaanhalayso himilada ay u filayso oo ah in xilligu isbedeli doono oo uu waxbarasho heli doono kuwa dembiyada galayna isagu maxkamad uu xeer ilaaliye ka yahay uu soo taagi doono dabadeedna gabadh qurux badan uu aroosan doono oo aqal weyn ku ladi doono. Waxan soo dhaweynayaa ciddii jeclaysata in heestan muusig la raaciyo oo video-clip laga sameeyo.

Ha iga ooyine aamu

Arli baynu lahayn

Shanta maalal adduun

Rabbi noogu alkumay

Ummad baynu ahayn

Amran oo la yaqaan

Abtirsiimo islaam

Iyo reer Afrikaan

Ku adduun jiratoo

Adyad la’aan dhaqantoo

Ashahaada taqaan



Kaan dalkeenii idlaa

Ehelkeenii dhammaan

Aan ka eeganayee

Uunka iigu hadhow

Ha iga ooyine aamu

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Qasim Sh. Yusuf Ibrahim as I remember him

By Bashir Goth

“…Xiddigihii Dilaadee

Daadanaayay waayadan

Maantana qod baa dumay

Dabayshaygu soo furay…”

These words were part of a poem I wrote on hearing the death of Haji Hersi Awale on January 16, 1982 but they stand true for the death of any important person anywhere. And they stand truer today for the death of my friend Qasim Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim.

It was on December 26, 1979 the day I graduated from Lafole College of Education when I ran into Qasim somewhere in Hodan. He was on a short trip from Galkayo where he was working as a high school teacher. “How is the school,” he asked me. “Oh, good, I graduated today,” I told him.

“Well, great,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling 500 shillings note from his wallet. “Take this and go party,” he told me. I was flabbergasted. “500 shillings…this is too much,” I said and refused to take it. But he insisted that I took it. “This is a big day for you and you have friends to party with, so go ahead,” he said shuffling the money into my shirt pocket. This was the first time that anyone other than my father gave me this amount of money. I didn’t know how to thank him but then he did not even wait for any thanks, he moved away quickly and left me in a state of bewilderment and of course of great excitement.



With his generosity still lingering in my memory, I had the first serious conversation with Qasim in 1985. Before this day our encounters were just a passing hello as I was an impressionable young student and he was one of the proverbial first class of Dilla Elementary School of 1958 that we looked to as role models. They were the class that carried the dream of making the great change that people aspired to; the class that symbolized the people’s hope of “Ninkii ilmihiisa iskuul ku daraa, inuu aflaxaayo miyaanu ogeyn,”; the class that was taught by the three legendary teachers: Abdi Jama Elmi (Carandis), Abdi Omar Lugweyne and Muse Yusuf who have become household names among the Dilla people and the generations of students who graduated from Dilla Elementary School for many years.

As the younger generation we were always reminded to follow the footsteps of the first class that were upheld by the elders as exemplary for their educational achievement and their good character. Educational achievement was measured by how much you score in the exam results and good character was defined as absconding from all kinds of bad habits such as sigaarya cab (smoking), gabdho roorsi ama qooq (womanizing), indulging in dirty language such as diin cay (insulting religion or some may call it blasphemy) and suuq meer (loitering around in the village like a vagabond) . At the end of every scholastic year, we were assembled in front of the school and all the parents and village notables were invited to hear the final exam results. The elders of Dilla used to preach to us in their speeches about the educational and cultural virtues of the first class. Names like Noah Amin, Muse Ismail, Muse Cawleed, Ahmed Daud, Abdi Omar, Ahmed Bogorreh and Ahmed Omane among others were mentioned as torch bearers. That first class was held hanging over our heads like the sword of Damocles. Either we lived up to their example or each one of us was doomed to “ in uu hooyadii fuudka la cabno…” “… eat the broth with his mother.” as Dilla Chief Aqil Abdi Bade loved to repeat in every speech. And true to Pascal’s words: “Things are always at their best in their beginning.” We, the later generations, envisioned these guys as proverbial figures whose shoes we would never be able to fill.

Looking at him through this prism, it was a great moment for me on that fateful day to meet Qasim as an equal, discuss issues with him as an equal and gauge the thinking and philosophy of the man who was among the class that represented for me as the epitome of educational and cultural refinement.

At the time, Qasim was the Deputy Governor of the then newly created region of Awdal and I was on my second trip back home from Abu Dhabi to visit my ailing father. Qasim had just arrived from Borama when we met at the main road that cuts through the village in the middle. Following the usual Somali greeting of“Iska Warran, goormaad timid, ma nabad timid.” He asked me about my father’s health and on his request we both headed back to my father’s home where we sat with him for a while and Qasim enquired about his health and exchanged views with him on current issues. It was the way he approached my father and the way he listened to him that impressed me the most and shed light for me on the character of Qasim and the class he represented. It was through him that I learned that no matter how high you go in education and rank, you should always know your position in regards to your elders and behave with them as the Somalis say: “Qoori madax ma dhaafto.” (the neck never goes higher than the head).

After he said goodbye to my father and wished him good health, I noticed Qasim stealthily wiping tears from his eyes. Explaining that later to me he said: “Sheikh Cumar Good la’aantii waxba maynaan ahaaneen…without Sheikh Omer Goth we would have been nothing…” He then related to me the story of how Sheikh Omer was instrumental in building the Dilla Elementary School in 1958 and how he was ahead of the people in fighting to enroll girls in the school in the second year to make Dilla the first co-educational school in the then Somaliland Protectorate in 1959. He did not fail to mention Hamud Sheikh Muhumad who stood shoulder to shoulder with Sheikh Omer in establishing the school and donated his house to accommodate the first class while the school structure was under construction.

Qasim was telling me this story as we headed to the big Garbi trees in Dilla valley and we could see the school standing alone and proudly from the other side of the valley with the sun slowly setting behind it and throwing its crimson glow along the horizon. Momentarily, we both glanced at the school as the sun dipped behind it and the school building stood tall as an eternal witness to the legacy and gift of our elders to the new generation.

Standing under the Garbi tree, Qasim started talking to me about the goals he wanted to fulfill for the people and how he was faced with a wall of resistance on the basis of selfishness, clanism and other societal ills.

“Your father has built this school to produce a generation that dismantles the walls of tribalism and ignorance and bring change to our people,” he said while again fighting back tears. “We are the generation of change. Today we have enough educated people but what we need is honest people who can put the wellbeing of the society above their personal interest.”

Qasim worked as a high school teacher of mathematics after his graduation from Lafole College of Education. But he was soon disillusioned with the system and left the public service for business. After working several years as a businessman in Hargeisa, he realized that he was betraying the aspirations of the Dilla elders who sent him and others to school to make a change in the society and not to get rich. He thought the only way he could make an impact on the people’s life was to run for a political office. He did and had become the first deputy governor of Awdal region.

Subsequently, what he was trying to tell me on that very day was his first bitter experience in running the people’s affairs. The impression I got was that here was as a man, who with all the ambitions and aspirations of a political novice and the dreams of an educated idealist who took on his shoulders the task of being the first of his class to affect a change in the area, hitting the walls of reality. One of the incidents he told me was how he tried to stop some people from taking the land that belonged to the school including the playground for their personal use.

I tried to calm him by telling that it was a text book example of African village people fighting for dwindling resources and gave him several examples that happened before him in our village.

“This is not the point,” he said, “the point is the people who advocate this land grabbing from the school property are the educated ones who went to this same school with me.” It was with this in mind that Qasim responded to me rather angrily when he called me from Cairo in 1992 while accompanying Abdirahman Tuur as Somaliland’s Minister of Education.

I asked him whether he was representing his people in the Tuur government or whether he was on his own. “What do you think?” he asked me. “I think you represent yourself,” I said. He immediately disconnected the line and I had to call him back to apologize and listen to his view of Somaliland and the reconciliation process that was being convened in Borama at the time. Honestly, I was not only a skeptic but against the Somaliland issue at the time and I give credit to Qasim for enlightening me about a lot of issues that contributed to my later conviction and support for Somaliland’s reclaim of its independence.

Being an active participant in all the political reconciliation meetings particularly the first clan meeting held in Burao in April 1991, Qasim was among the first members of the Awdal elite who supported Somaliland’s secession. Whether this was a tactical measure by Qasim and other Awdalites to spare the people of Awdal from isolation and an inevitably long-drawn and devastating civil war, or whether they wholeheartedly believed in the Somaliland secession will be an open debate for historians to decide in the years to come, but in the case of Qasim it is his record as the second longest serving cabinet minister in Somaliland after Abdillahi Duale that vouches for his loyalty to the country. As a low profile technocrat and a man who believed in action rather than media sound bites, Qasim was short on statements and was rarely involved in media controversy. Other than his loyalty, his longevity in the various governments could be attributed to his secretive nature. People who met him during his many tours abroad always complained about Qasim’s stinginess in giving out information. Unlike many politicians he was more comfortable to listen to the people he visited than lecture to them about his achievements or push government propaganda. He was a man cut for leadership. From his student days until now, he was always in a leadership position and he knew more than anyone else that leadership demands certain qualities and being trustworthy was probably one of his highest virtues. A quality that I am sure Qasim has inherited from his father Sheikh Yusuf Ibrahim, a man who commanded respect because of his integrity, religious status and community leadership.

In a meeting with him during his last visit to Dubai in 2007, when we couldn’t get clear answers to our questions from Qasim, we tried to prod him by telling him as the Awdalites abroad we would encourage our people back home to support the opposition Kulmiye party. He was definitely astounded by the revelation but never stopped hiding behind his opaque language.

A down-to-earth friend of everyone, Qasim had the habit of giving equal attention to all people. Although he had a great respect for the elders in line with the Somali culture, he had good friendships with the younger generation as well. Hamza Goth, my younger brother, who is many years younger than me was one of Qasim’s best friends. I remember when my son, who was about 12 years old at the time, met him in Abu Dhabi, and protested to Qasim about the article in Somaliland’s constitution that states that anyone who wants to run for the country’s presidency should be born of Somalilander father and mother. Qasim sat with him and discussed the article with him face to face. Later on, we three have agreed that the article needed revising given to the changing identity of Somalilanders around the globe.

A staunch lover of poetry and wisdom, Qasim’s mantra in life were few lines of a poem by his grandfather Tani Gaboobe in which he expressed his feelings towards the different roles played by his relatives and friends while he was serving a sentence in Zeila during the British administration:

“Nin i luray , Nin igu laagsadiyo, nin i lammaaneeyey
Iyo nin aan lurkayga jeclayn, libina ii diidan
Iyo nin uu lihiin dhigay halkii, rag isku laacaayey
Intaas buu isugu laaqan yahay, loolkii ii xigaye
Nin walbaan laftaad igu lahayd, waa hadhaw lulo e.”

As a man who believed that he was working for the common good, Qasim was very sensitive when anyone accused him of working for his own interest. This is why he chastised me for misinterpreting his political role in a poem I wrote in 1995 under the name Damaqsi:

“…Qaasim Faraskii deercadka ahaa
Wuu ka soo degey dheh
Markii la wada dooyeystayee
Hunguri soo duubtay
Ee malagsuhu dadkii soo horkacay
Garay dantiisii dheh…”

He vehemently rejected what he thought was an accusation of branding him as self-serving. Being a literary connoisseur and an early fan and admirer of my poetry, I had to relent to his argument.
Qasim was always philosophical in his conversation. Even in personal emails, he never deviated from his secretive nature and he liked to pepper his conversation with philosophical statements and deep spiritual insights. He had the inclination of looking at every action as having an enduring effect on the future and had measured his actions and statements accordingly. I take the following excerpts from emails we exchanged in November 2005 as an example to shed light on Qasim’s aptitude for ambiguity and deep philosophical thought:

“Bashir
Wacan oo wannaagsan. Adeer waxan kugu amaanaa mar kasta
Dareen foojigan iyo sida ad wax kasta oo kuu muuqda ama u aragto
In u wax ka qabad u baahan yahay,mid shakhsi ama guud ma kala saarin,
Ugu dadaasho in ad ka gun gaadho,hagar la aanta , geesinimadda iyo kalsoonidda
Ah in ad ku guulaysanayso. Waxay ugu horaysaa nimcooyinka illaahay ugu
Manna sheeganayo mahkluuqa aadamaha maalinta xisaabtanka.

Adeer kuma waaninayo waxna u sheeg isma lihi, waxanse xusuustay nimcadda
Eebbe ee ballaadhan oo ay ka mid tahay alaabtan iyo sidan an u wada sheekaysanayno hadda iyo inta innoo dhexaysa.

Si kastaba ha ahaatee Nolashu waa dugsi maalinba cashar cusub oo horle ku bilaabanta.wixii soo marayna waxay kayd ku yihiin xusuusta dhaqaajisa waxa cusub.

Waxan kaga baxayaa ,hadaad igu raacdo,MAALIN iyo LABA TOONA, nolosha laguma dhamayn karo, qofkana sidaas baan looga goan qaadan wax u sameeyay

Hal maalin. Ama fikir u qabay maalin hore an lagu qiimayn.

IGU SALAAN ASXAABTA IYO ODAYADABA

QASIM SH YUSUF..”

Qasim expressed in this email about his admiration for the power of communication and the Internet through which we were communicating. He described it as God’s bounty for man; a bounty that man will have to account for its use on the day of judgement. He also described life as a school which opens a new page every day, while history is the motivator and inspirer of the future. He concluded it by saying that life cannot be judged by one or two days and accordingly man cannot be judged by one action or ideas he embraced at a particular time of his life.

Most of the time, Qasim was reconciliatory and not confrontational, firm on his stands but not afraid to explore other possibilities as can be seen from the following exchange:

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Qasim,

… Furitaankii baarlamaanka iyo doorashadii shirguddoonku sowkuwa togdheer idinla xulay. Allow idinka sabato bixi. Waxa fiican in aad mucaaridka u oggolaataan shirguddoonka idinkuna aad dawladda fulinta ku hadhaan. Haddii baarlamaanku arrimaha la seexdo waxa idinku filan inaad dadka u sheegtaan in mucaaridku la arrimihii la seexday. Eedda ha la idinla wadaago inta idinka uun la idin soo eegayo.

Sidaa iyo Tu san,

Bashir Goth.

Qasim’s reply:

Bashir

Wacan oo wanaangsan,

Marbuu dagaalku gondahaaga ka abuurmaa adoon ka warqabin,lagana yaabo in u togdheer kula xullo. Doorashada shir gudoonku way ka fogtahay mucaarid iyo masuuliyada hogaaminta golaha.waxa laga yaabaa in ay kuugu muuqato keliya eed cid la saarayo iyo hawl la kala riixanayo.waa qorshe ku talagal ah oo mudaba soo socday oo halkanna in badani kala socotay,.Haday fursad u muuqatay lama huraan ah oo ay ku guulaystaan la arki doone,hadii kale wax la isku ogolyahay ma jirtee, addigu xogogaal noqo si ad uga garsoorto dareen ahaan boqol sanno ka dib.

Idinku,hadaad u jeedo xukuumadda an ka tirsanahay ee u Dahir Madaxweynaha ka yahay wax culays ah naguma hayso sidaad soo jeedisay haday arrintu u dhacdo,.Hadaad u jeedo reer awdalna,cirka soo dhaca halka Faysal ka galo uun baanu ka geli.

Intaas iyo caawa

qasim sh yusuf

But again in response to following plain email, Qasim resorts to his deep thinking and philosophical rhetoric:

Friday, November 18, 2005 9:25 AM

Qaasim,
…..
Dhinca kale niman badan oo siyaasad u soo guntan baa jira oo dibedda jooga, aniguse kuma jiro umana soo jeedo. Adigana kollayba taageerayaashaada ayuun baan isku tiriyaa. Wixii intaa dhaafsan bal adiga ayaan kaa sugi iyo sida aad iigu soo furfurato.

Bashir.

Qasim’s reply:

Bashir
.
…ragii hore way tegeen ragga halkoodii ku jiraa in ay dareemaan dantaa keentay,waase la kala hor korayaa.
siyaasaduna waa dareenka maaraynta nolosha .qofba inta u ka dareensan yahay nolosha iyo goorta uu ku baraarugo ayuu wax ka qabadkeeda la yimaadaa. waa la sugayaa rag badan oo u heelan hawl siyaasadeed haday jiraan.runtiina way gaadhay xilligii ragu wada qooqayay, ee arooska aqaladda laba deryaalaha duleedka loogu dhisayay

Taageerada iyo mucaaradadu hadayna u dhalasho ahayn waa in ay dan iyo garasho daacad laga yahay ku fadhidaa,hadaad isku tiriso taageerayaasha qasim ha ka shakiyin in u qasim yahay mucaaradkaaga ,hadayse noqoto run sheeg waa ceeb sheeg,innaga inooma taalo,

Bashiir,adeer caawa halkaa ha inoo jooto,hadaad furfurasho kale iiga baahan tahay soo sheeg ina soo waydii.

qasim sh yusuf

Hargeisa Somaliland

As one can see in the last line of the above email, Qasim’s answer comes in guarded language “Taageerada iyo mucaaradadu hadayna u dhalasho ahayn waa in ay dan iyo garasho daacad laga yahay ku fadhidaa…” Always aware of his principles even during personal conversations, one can see how he conditions his support for any cause as based on common interest and honesty. Even on the personal level when I told him that I count myself as one of his supporters, he reciprocates my gesture with a similar one but has to caution me that our support for each other should stand or fall on adhering to the truth (…haddayse noqoto run sheeg was ceeb sheeg innaga inooma taalo…).

This was the man I knew; a man who was uncompromising in his principles, truthful, honest, compassionate, spiritual, deep thinker, a dedicated hard worker and above all a down-to-earth friend of everyone. With his death in Mecca, I personally lost a mentor and great friend who always put our friendship and our family ties above politics and who saw our disagreements as a way of learning from each other.

Rest in peace my friend; you live among us through your deeds. 

Puntland’s media poodles versus watchdog media
By Bashir Goth
Puntland’s media poodles versus watchdog media
With the recent decision to suspend the reporters of VOA and ban VOA affiliate FM relay stations from broadcasting in its domain, the Administration of Somalia’s autonomous region of Puntland has shown its preference for supine media poodles to objective media watchdog.
It seems Puntland leaders have found great contentment in taking the paternalistic path of feeding their people with government censored information in the fashion of socialist and dictatorial states rather than giving them the choice to make their own judgments through free and diversified media.
What astonishes me is that both the President Abdirahman Faroole and his interior Minister and former rival for the presidencey, General Abdillahi Ahmed Jama (Ilka-Jiir) spent quite some time in countries where freedom of speech is guaranteed and that they enjoyed the full privilege of speaking up their mind if they wanted to.
It is equally astounding how African politicians crave for media attention when they are on the road to elections yet make a dramatic turnaround once they get the power. It reminds me of the Somali anecdote of the woman whose camel has lost its balance due to the weight on its back. She made the camel sit down so she could adjust the load. But travelling alone with only her young son, she prayed to the soul of Sheikh Abdulqadir Jilani, the founder of the Qadiri sufi order to which most of Somalis adhere to for help, saying: “Jiilaniyow ii gurmo, O’ Jilani come to my rescue.” When she managed to adjust the load and the camel stood up again and moved around without any problem, her son asked her: “Hooyo, Jiilaani muxuu inoo yahay? Is Jilani related to us?” to which the mother retorted: “waxba inooma aha ee awrkeena uun baan ku kacsanaynay...He is not related to us but we were just using him to help us with our camel.”
I remember when Faroole and Ilka-jiir were running for election; they seemed to be champions for free speech, eager to talk to any media outlet and obviously would not have liked it if the media was banned from talking to them. I spoke to General Ilka-jiir when he was transiting in Dubai on his way to Puntland and he sounded to be a very intelligent and open-minded man; the kind of a man that you thought would bring freedom and hope to his people. It is disappointing, however, to see media freedom deteriorate during his reign as Minister of Interior and Faroole as President.
In less than a year of their coming to power, the government has silenced reporters, arrested them, beaten them in courts and even closed stations, the latest of which is the VOA.
To cite some of the known cases, the director of the Somali ETN television based in Bosasso was arrested in March 2009. It was reported that Abdiwali Sheik, the ETN Director, had been detained him from his office.
In Mid July, Puntland police attacked Aweys Sheikh Nur, a local reporter, during a court session, act described by the Committee to Protect Journalists as “utterly unjustified,” and called upon Puntland government to “…punish the guards and ensure that journalists can do their work without fear of being attacked.”
Aslo in June, Puntland’s Minister of Information Deputy Minister Abdishakur Mire Adan acting at the behest of the son of President, Mohamed Abdirahman Farole told Horseed Media to remove a story hinting to a link between Puntland officials and pirates. Horseed Media refused to take the article down as reported by CPJ.
Puntland Journalists Protection (PJP) also reported the detention, arrest and torture of a number of bloggers and conventional journalists.
Puntland officials usually cite these reports as reflecting negatively on Puntland and accuse the reporters of instigating instability in the region. But among the VOA reports that angered the authorities was an interview with a cleric, a member of the anti-Al Qaeda Sufi order known as Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’ah, who claimed that his group has a presence in Puntland and a report on August 25 of a former governor’s son who killed a man in broad daylight.
The CPJ and other international and local media organizations have denounced these rogue actions by Puntland authorities.
Looking at all these actions, one may wonder why the educated leaders of Puntland who lived in the west and experienced the benefits of media freedom are acting like militia warlords who have more skeletons to hide than truths to share with their people. One thing, however, that Puntland leaders have to know is that it is not only brutal and thuggish to beat arrest or even ban the media but it is also a bad PR for their image and reputation as a responsible government. The best way that any government can challenge any biased reporting if any is not to gag the media but to be honest and transparent with their people, to tell their side of the story and to invite more diversified media to report about truth on the ground. Banning the VOA or any other independent media and relying only on the government’s official media will only create suspicion about the government’s actions and will incite the real media watchdogs to sniff around the lies that the media poodles are trying to bury.
As I was concluding this piece I read that Puntland authorities have permitted VOA to resume its operations. According to statement by the Ministry of Information: “His Excellency, the President of Puntland State, granted the VOA Somali Service to resume its news broadcasting operations in Puntland today as a good gesture to U.S. Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Michael E. Renneberger’s participation at the Puntland Diaspora Forum Conference to be held in the U.S. State of Minnesota, 10 – 12 October 2009.” This is further evidence of the Somali woman’s Jilani story that I related earlier. Puntland Officials need to show a real change of attitude towards media freedom than just cosmetic and self-serving tactics.