Al Shabab: A Menace to World Peace, Not Only Somalia

By Bashir Goth

The latest terrorist attack on Somalia’s presidential palace comes less than 10 days from another daylight suicide attack on a UN convoy near Mogadishu’s airport. 

Somalia’s government may call it a “media spectacular” by a “dying animal”  but any honest observer can tell that the threat of this Al-Qaeda offshoot group is not limited to Somalia but can destabilize the whole East African region and the world at large.

Any victory for Al-Shabab in Somalia will be a victory against the will and resolve of the African Union and the international community to prevent Somalia from slipping back into being a hub for international terrorism, piracy and lawlessness. 

Known for their internationalist agenda of bringing the region and the whole world under their banner, Al-Shabab will not stop in Mogadishu if they get the upper hand. Their eyes are on Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Djibouti, Kampala, and beyond.

Their attacks in Mogadishu and before that in the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi in Sept 2013 will only be a precursor for their grand plans of delivering death, destruction and fear to the streets of world capitals.

Defeating Al Shabab, therefore, demands a concerted effort on international and domestic fronts. On the international front, it is obvious until now that despite their sacrifices and tangible victories, AMISOM forces are not capable of defeating Al Shabab alone. They need western support for better military intelligence, surveillance aircraft, and fighter planes. 

As Al Shabab is a mobile militia group using non-conventional shock attacks, it is mainly through sophisticated intelligence that their movements and plans can be intercepted and aborted. It is not of sheer coincidence that whenever the British and American governments warn their citizens against travelling to Somalia, Al Shabab’s attacks follow almost immediately. This is proof that western countries possess accurate intelligence of Al Shabab’s plans. How much of that intelligence information, however, is shared with AMISOM or the Somali government is beyond my knowledge. But the fact that the Somali government and AMISOM come under surprise attacks by Al Shabab soon after London and Washington’s travel warnings, one can only guess that maybe western governments trust neither AMISOM nor the Somali government. But trust or no trust, the end goal should be to defeat Al Shabab, otherwise everyone would suffer in the end if a united front of both military assistance and intelligence sharing is not put in place.

On the domestic front, it is required of the Somali government to demonstrate that it is a trustworthy partner by establishing a system of rigorous scrutiny of security personnel to prevent Al Shabab’s infiltration in their ranks and using them as a Trojan horse to target government installations as well as UN and AMISOM personnel. The government also needs to improve the professionalism of its security forces and to guarantee their economic welfare. Engaging the local community in the war against Al Shabab through media campaigns led by prominent figures, women, youth, and religious people will also be highly beneficial in countering Al-Shabab’s false religious and nationalistic propaganda.

Somali regional administrations should also join hands with the federal government in fighting the menace of Al Shabab, the common enemy of the Somali people. It is not rocket science to know that if Mogadishu falls, no regional administration will survive. Those who decide to live in denial will only do that at their own peril. It is therefore imperative on everyone to recognize that the assassination attempt on the Somali president and the attack on the presidential palace is an attack on the sovereignty and identity of the Somali nation. There is only one choice for the Somali people, to fight back and defeat Al Shabab with the help of the international community or to sit back and watch the Somali nation and its history sink into oblivion.

Tragedy of a Music Icon and the Shame of a Nation by Bashir Goth

ADDUUNYADA NIN DHOOFIYO

 

Adduunyada nin dhoofiyo

Ninkii deggan dhulkii hooyo

Nin dhergiyo nin dhawr qaday

Aan dheef hayan

Dheddig iyo laboodbaa

Hawli kama dhammaatee

Qof waliba wixii dhibay

Dhafoorkay ku taallaa

            ***

(Whether you be a migrant

Or you stay back at home

Whether you live in affluence

Or you sleep on empty stomach for days

Whether you are a male or a female

The world never spares anyone of suffering

And everyone’s own misery and hardship

Can be noticed easily on one’s temples…

Widely known as the Somali King of Melody, Maxamad Saleeban Tubeec’s unique, modulate and soaring voice spoke prophetically of the fate that would befall the Somali nation and with it Somali culture of which music is its crown jewel.

After more than half a century of fame during which Tubeec has entertained, mesmerized, and moved the passions of the Somali people with his magical and inimitable voice in defiance of the ugly tyranny of the Somali people against his rights as a human being and a native citizen, he is now lying in a hospital bed far from home.  He said the doctors in Germany where has been taken for treatment confirmed to him that he needs a surgical operation, an operation that he cannot financially afford. The painful news came through a desperate appeal he made through a Somali TV channel, asking Somali people and the Somali government to assist him in meeting the hospital expenses so he can undergo this life giving surgery.

In any world, other than this surrealistic situation of Somalia, Tubeec would have been not only a source of national pride for his contribution to Somalia’s music heritage but also a wealthy man from the copyright and sales of his works. But is it no wonder that within the Somali context where there is no copyright and no respect for intellectual property that artists, no matter how significantly they contribute to the collective national memory of the people, would remain on the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

As a person who grew up in the heyday of Somali music and literature in the 1960s and 70s when music rocked people’s passions with its magical melody, its powerful poetry, and its appeal to the ambitions and dreams of the young Somali nation, I could never have envisioned the day when the whole nation would collapse and Somali musical icons would suffer and die of negligence and anonymity in their old age.  

Hearing Tubeec’s pathetic condition, I travelled down memory lane and with the help of like minded people who preserved his music on YouTube, tried to relive the golden age of his music when he breathed the beauty of life into the hearts and souls of people who loved his music but wouldn’t otherwise treat him as an equal human being due to his clan. The days when his melodies symbolized everything beautiful in life and through it we all felt to be immortal. 

It was ironic that I encountered his famous lyrics which Somalis have through decades sang and may continue to sing even centuries to come to ring in every New Year. As we stand at the beginning of a New Year, 2014, it is painful and somewhat apocalyptic to hear Tubeec singing the powerful words of Hussein Aw Farah:

KII NOO HAGAAGEE NOQO LOO HANWEYNYAHAY

Waan heesayaayee

Sannad waliba hoodiyo

Hawl iyo dhibaatiyo

Wuxu hadimo leeyahay

Waa laga helaayoo

Hadhaw lagu xusuustaa

Kii noo hagaagee

Noqo loo hanweynyahay…

            ***

(I am going to sing

That every year

Brings with it what  

It has to offer

In affluence and in misery

And it is remembered

In what it gives

O New Year

Be one that brings us

Good tidings

To earn our admiration…

One couldn’t miss, however, and might even remember it with a nostalgic feeling how Tubeec spoke to our hearts and made us live life to the full with his song Waqti (Time) in which he admonished Time to stay away from him and let him enjoy his youthful days.

WAQTI

Hawshiyo dhibaatada

Dhallinyaro intaan ahay

Ha ii soo dhaweynine

Waxan ii dhammaynayn

Sharaftayda dhawrooo…

***

(While I enjoy my youthful days

O Time

Spare me  

From your miseries and sufferings

Let me enjoy my youthfulness to the full

Dare you not harm my dignity...)

Well indeed, Tubeec had a productive and beautiful youth as one of the most loved singers of his generation and a man crowned by the Somali people as the King of Melody. Tubeec was a born singer in every genre he under took. But there is no doubt that he first captured the heart and minds of the Somali people all over the Somali peninsula with his patriotic songs at the time of independence. It was Tubeec’s lyrics that dominated the airwaves during the celebrations for Independence anniversaries. I can recall how the feeling of the people soared with the hearing of Tubeec’s “Dharaartaan waxyeeladay Dhaqdhaqeen” (The Day I Cleansed Myself of Shame) which had become one of the indelible symbols of Somali independence:

DHARAARTAAN WAXYEELADII DHAQDHAQAY         

                    

Dhaaxaan gunimiyo

Dhibaato mutoo

Dhomaha la iga saaray

Dhinacyada ee

Dharaartaan waxyeeladii

Dhaqdhaqnee

Calanka dhidbay

Sow ma soo dhicin…”

***

The Day I Cleansed Myself of Shame Day

(“Many a time, I had suffered

Ignominy and harshness

And have been loaded

On both sides

Like a beast of burden

O hasn’t the day

Has come

When I cleansed myself of shame

And I hoisted the flag…”)

I can only imagine how much the words of this song rang bells in Tubeec’s inner soul for while he was passionately singing about the removal of the yoke of colonialism and oppression, he knew in the deepest parts of his heart that he and his family were still carrying the yoke of centuries old societal heinous discrimination and oppression that his voice couldn’t erase. But he still sang for the promise of the day with a great degree of patriotism and optimism. 

Another of his unforgettable independence songs was “Way Ahaataye Maaanta” (Yes, today we have done it”, a song with lyrics talking about the need for collaboration and cohesiveness in decision making between the leaders and the people, a message that has lost its way to the heart of the Somali people.

WAY AHAATAYE MAANTA

Hadba kii arrin keena

Ka kale aqbalaayaa

Ilaahii ina siiyey

Isagaa ku abaale

Way ahaataye maanta

Si wanaagsan u iida

***

YES, TODAY WE HAVE DONE IT

He, whoever initiates an idea

And the one who listens and supports it

O Thanks to Almighty

Who bestowed on us such harmony

And unity of purpose

Yes, today we have done it

And we must celebrate it

With peace and gracefulness…”

Apart from his patriotic songs, Tubeec’s fame came from his dignified and serene voice, coupled with the pure classical Somali music that represented the era before Somali music was adulterated with foreign styles which is adopted wholesale by modern singers. 

Among the most famous of his plethora of love songs was “Dhool Da’ay La Moodyeey” ( O You whose beauty resembles that of a day after rain”

DHOOL DA’AY LA MOODYEEY

Dhool da’ay la moodeeyey

Waan kugu dhadhabayaayey

Dharaartaynu kullanaa

Dhulku ila wareegeey

Dhimasho iyo nolol

Ayaan kala dhex joogaa

***

“O You whose beauty resembles that of a day after rain

Since the day I met you

The earth seems to be spinning around me  

And I stand between death and life…”

Yet another one of his memorable love songs is “Nayruus” (Nowruz) which he performs with Magool, known also as the Queen of Melody, thus making them a heaven-made duet, and arguably the best two voices of Somali music of all time.

NAYRUUS

Weligay kumaan nicin

Naagana kuma ag dhigin

Ka nixina ismaan odhan naruuroy

Ka nixina ismaan odhan nasteexooy…

***

“I never have ceased to love you

I never have compared you with other women

Never have it occurred to me to let you down

O my gracious deliverance

Never have it occurred to me to let you down

 O my precious darling.

It was in Lagos in 1977 that Tubeec and Magool mesmerized the African audience with their magical, authentic Somali voices. And one of the highlights of the night was“ “MINANKAYGII HADDAAD TIMI’  which I recommend every reader of this piece to watch and enjoy these two artists’ stellar music and regal performance.

The precious archives of Tubeec’s music is priceless and deserve more than a book to cover it, but to throw a couple of more lines into the memory trove, I cannot miss to recall “Hanqaaro” (Urge)

NAFTAYDA ADAA HANQAAROO

Naftaydaa adaa hanqaaroo

Hablihii kale waan ka hadhayee

Anigu kaa helay hubaalee

Adigu mayla haysaa…

***

“O you have caused the urge in me

And I let go of all other women

My admiration for you is absolute

I wonder if have yours in return ..”

Definitely the list continues and includes Cimrigiiba Jacayl, AMAANADA ILAAHAY, Malyuun Hibo, and of course the great song of Hooyo (mother).

This is not a eulogy as Tubeec is very much alive and I wish him quick recovery but it is an attempt to remind the Somali people and the Somali government that our cultural icons and music legends like Tubeec and Cabdi Tahliil who is also ill and in need of treatment should never have been allowed to meet this fate. 

It is almost a crime that we had the music of Tubeec and Tahliil to enjoy and took pride in the legacy they left for us and then let them suffer and face life alone in their twilight years. Undeniably the tragedy that befell Tubeec and other artists like him reflects the tragedy of a nation whose country, heritage, and collective memory are all in ruins, but the Somali governments, no matter what, are duty bound to give these artists the status and financial pension that they rightly deserve. 

Finally, I would like to urge the Somali people and particularly the Somali government to extend their support and welfare to Tubeec and Tahliil who unlike other artists cannot seek clan support and who despite historical injustices always count the Somali people as a whole as their Tol.

It will only be befitting to end this peace with Tubeec’s following heart-wrenching song:

AMAANADA ILAAHAY

Ma ogtahay ayaantii

Ilmadu kaa da’aysee

Indhahaaga qoysaan

Inan yahay xasuustoo

Uurkaan ka ooyoo

Waan kaa ashahaatee

***

“O darling, don’t you know the day

When tears rolled down

And soaked your eyes

O darling, I do remember it well

As I cried my heart out

And felt great empathy for you…”

Somalia & Somaliland : The Year 2013 in Review

By Bashir Goth

The most heartwarming initiative that happened in Mogadishu in 2013 was the start of an inspirational reconstruction momentum thanks to the city’s energetic and ambitious mayor Mohamud Ahmed Nur Tarsan.  If he continuous with this vigor and commitment aimed at restoring the beauty and glory of Mogadishu, Tarsan will be the person to watch in 2014.

It is encouraging also to see the vital role played by the diaspora returnees who are investing heavily in rebuilding the city not only in the form of pouring money into business but also in bringing back creative ideas and breathing a new life into the morale of the people. There is no doubt that the Somalis with their renowned entrepreneurial skills that created lucrative businesses in many parts of Africa as well as in Minnesota, London, Dubai and elsewhere can and should make Mogadishu the pearl and commercial hub of the Horn of Africa. After more than 20 years of ruin, misery and lawlessness, one can see the undefeatable spirit of the Somali people who despite the forces of darkness like Al Shabab who wants to keep the people under their destructive and backward ideology, surge ahead in a promising effort to make the country stand again on its feet.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES 

Having said that, it was disheartening to watch how the government of Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud squandered a lot of opportunities. The year 2013 began on a high note for the Somali Federal Government (SFG) led by Mohamoud as the U.S recognized Somalia’s government for the first time since 1991 when the country slipped into chaos and eventually became a byword for a failed state. This was followed by the UN Security Council’s decision on the partial lifting of the decades-old embargo on selling arms to Somalia for a year. In a quick response to this, President Obama decided to allow the provision of US military assistance to Somalia.

But instead of capitalizing on the good-will of the international community and taking measures to bolster domestic security, Mahmoud’s government started globetrotting with photo shoots with world leaders as their biggest achievement. Back home, Al Shabab continued to dominate the security situation despite their diminished visibility on the streets of Mogadishu. To prove their tenacity and to expose the vulnerability of Mahmoud’s AMISOM-propped government, Al Shabab struck Mogadishu’s main court complex in April killing about 30 people, while launching daring daylight attacks on the Presidential Palace and the UNDP compound in the capital. Their attack on the Westgate Mall of Nairobi was also to remind the world that no matter how much assistance the International Community provided to Mogadishu, the key to the region’s security still remained in their hands.

The government even mishandled the impromptu arrival of Hassan Dahir Aweys who fell in the government hands as a windfall from Al Shabab’s infighting. Aweys deserves to be sharing the same fate and cell with Charles Taylor for the crimes he committed against the Somali people and for keeping the whole country in cyclic violence for more than two decades. But the failure of the government to yet bring him to court is sign of its unwillingness or weakness to serve justice to the victims of this brutal terrorist and his affiliates. 

EMBROILED IN CLAN POLITICS

In another apparent misplaced priority, Mahmoud’s government was embroiled in clan politics which allowed neighboring countries to have a greater leverage in resolving domestic issues. The agreement between Mahmoud’s government and Ahmed Madoobe in Addis Ababa on the creation of the Juba region administration showed the government’s inability to rise above clan politics.

The government also squandered the generous hand extended to it by the international community in the form of a three year “New Deal” cemented with a pledge of 2.4 billion dollars aid to boost the country’s economy and security.

The resignation of Yussur Abrar as the Central Bank Governor due to what she called the government’s double-dealing behavior had damaged the international community’s trust with the government and had put the fulfillment of the New Deal into jeopardy.

The replay of the previous government’s dueling between the President and Prime Minister and the unceremonious sacking of the PM by the President-bought parliament had also thrown whatever hopes the people had in President Mahmoud’s government being any different from its precedents.

It was again the appointment of the new Prime Minister that proved beyond doubt that not every Somali child can dream to rise to the country’s leadership unless she/he belongs to certain clans. Looking back at the succeeding Somali administrations from independence until now with the exception of the short-lived tenure of Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, one can see that the practiced formula was always and still remains to be: “Kolla Rashiid, Kollar Rasaaq, Inta kale, Ma rooti baa?” Weary of war and lawlessness, the Somali people hoped for a new dawn with Mahmoud’s government but it seems Professor Ahmed Samatar’s disconcerting observation of duopoly in Mogadishu is indeed carved in stone.

As the year rolled to its end, it was somewhat amusing to see President Mahmoud rushing to Nairobi to join other IGAD leaders who were trying to bring an end to Africa’s latest civil war in Southern Sudan, while he left Al Shabab to make a name for itself in grappling with the devastating clashes in Lower Shabelle and Hiiran regions.

The autonomous region of Puntland welcomed 2013 with bombast as the region’s president Ahmed Faroole celebrated his 4th year in office but his chance for a second term and the hope for the region’s change from clan-based structure to a democratically elected administration hit a snag with the cancellation of the municipal elections in July.

Although the cancellation averted a civil war, it was the tropical cyclone that smashed Puntland’s coast in November and killed scores of people and had devastated the livelihoods of other hundreds that united the people again. 

The year ended with clan-nomination of Puntland’s new 65-member strong parliament which is due to elect a new President on 8th January. The system of clan nomination of representatives which took place in Mogadishu earlier and now in Puntland, falls short of Somaliland’s experiment of a direct elected parliament.

WOMEN’S CONTINUED PLIGHT 

Somalia still remained to be a black hole for women’s rights. Rape and violence against women continued unabated to the extent that Amnesty International described it as “ongoing epidemic”. The report cites that perpetrators of such heinous crimes against women included government security officials, armed groups and members of AMISOM. The government’s inability to halt the spiraling rate of rape and violence against women and its appalling actions sometimes of incarcerating the victim instead of the criminal makes a mockery of its otherwise commendable gesture of appointing women to high political and bureaucratic posts such as the deputy prime minister/foreign minister and the Central Bank governor as an apparent cosmetic action aimed at appeasing donor countries.

Press freedom also continued to bleed heavily in 2013 as Somalia retained its notorious position as one of the most dangerous places for media people to work. It remained in the rank of the five worst countries in the world for press freedom as per the 2013 report of the Reporters without Borders.

Going to 2014, it has become obvious that the Somali people have the resilience to rebuild the country but only if Mahmoud’s government liberates them from the grip and fear of Al Shabab and provides them with badly needed justice and a clean fiscal management.

SOMALILAND IN CRISIS 

If one attached a name to 2013 in Somaliland it could be called the Year of Roads. A number of initiatives were taken to mobilize the nation to rehabilitate its old roads and build new ones. Most of the projects were people-based although the government also contributed handsomely to them. The plan to build the Buora-Erigavo road, the longest road in the country with the most dangerous terrain, is indeed a highly ambitious and commendable endeavor.

The year 2013, however, started with the country reeling from the aftermath of badly handled municipal elections. Sporadic peaceful demonstrations, police brutality, and heavy handedness against the press have been the main spotlights.

Rape against women reached an unprecedented level as the Ministry of Health reported that 104 rape cases occurred during 2013. What made the situation even worse was that a number of the women were gang raped with impunity.

The political situation was dominated by the wrangling between the government and the opposition about the possibility of holding a national debate to evaluate the status of Somaliland after more 20 years since Hargeisa declared its unilateral secession from Somalia.

The government and the opposition may have different motives for either rejecting or accepting the debate, but one can feel that the unspoken agenda behind the debate is to discuss nothing but the viability of Somaliland’s secession. With thousands of youth graduating every year from the mushrooming universities in the country and the non-existence of employment opportunities for them, and with the majority of the population relying on remittances for their livelihood, there is a great economic crisis in the offing. And also with the improving situation in Mogadishu and the international community’s recognition of the federal government and the sovereignty of a united Somalia as a whole, Hargeisa found itself in the doldrums of a self-imposed political isolation.

The problems we saw on the surface in Somaliland in 2013 such as the deepening divide between the people on tribal lines, the water shortage in Hargeisa and elsewhere, the rampant unemployment, the government’s failure to attract foreign investment and its inability to provide relief assistance to victims of natural disasters such as droughts and rains in far-flung areas of the country, its lack of strategy and clarity of vision in dealing with Somalia as well as its erratic actions regarding the banning of United Nations flights at its airports and its prohibition of its citizens from using Somali passports without offering an alternative, all these problems are just obvious signs of a chronic economic, social, cultural, and political crisis that need an immediate remedy before it is too late. The much talked about debate is therefore not only necessary but timely to extricate Somaliland from its current untenable situation.