You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time
 Abraham Lincoln

Ronald Reagan was a great communicator and I would like to borrow his famous words in a debate with Jimmy Carter ““There you go again”.   Peter Pham and his Ansari Center at the Atlantic Council are at it again lobbying for dismembering Somalia.  Peter Pham is a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, who has successfully presented himself as an expert on Africa when in fact he has no formal training at all in African Affairs. He lobbies for Somaliland recognition in return for a hefty fee that could have been put to better use in the poverty-ridden secessionist enclave. An old article of mine describes the man and his true motives.

After signing a 7 point agreement with the president of Somalia in Ankara, Silanyo embarked on a tour of the UK and the US to capitalize on an agreement that clearly undermines the Sovereignty of the Somali State. Many Somali Unionists have reason to worry about the agreement which in the worst case scenario paves the road for an independent Somaliland, and in it best case scenario implements Silanyo’s 1991 vision for a power-sharing formula between two of the victorious rebel movements that ousted the Somali government of late Mohamed Siad Barre – Somali National Movement (SNM) and United Somali Congress (USC).

The Ankara agreement ignores Puntland and the nascent administrations in North Central and North Western Somalia such as Khatumo State and Awdal State. In a recent speech in Dubai, President Hassan focused his attention on creating regional administrations for the South Central and confining development projects to 72 districts located in areas south of Mudug. It seems that he is paving the way for two Federal States, one in the North and one in the South, the North being former British Somaliland including all the regions that do not subscribe to the secessionist agenda of Silanyo and his Administration. The vision for two Federal states that appears to have been adopted by the President of Somalia abandons Somali Unionists to the devil and ignores their historic role of standing up against the disintegration of Somalia. Nevertheless, even the two Federal States formula may not satisfy Silanyo and his hard core secessionist former SNM rebels. What President Hassan Sheikh wants and what Somaliland wants may not be in sync.  Both formulas are a disaster for Somali Unity and sovereignty.

In violation of point 7 in the Ankara Agreement, that Both sides are to deter from hate filled speeches that might negatively impinge on the Ankara accords, Silanyo gave a long speech in which he openly lobbied for the recognition of his secessionist enclave.  The speech was given on 22 April 2013 at the Atlantic Council and hosted by the former priest and paid lobbyist Peter Pham. Silanyo portrayed Somaliland as a nation that defends its borders, protects its citizens and mints its own currency. We all know that this statement is far from the truth. For example, although Somaliland occupies Las Anod, the capital of Khatumo State with the help of some local mercenaries, it has no presence in 90% of Khatumo territories.  Therefore, one should question the actual existence  of these borders which Silanyo tried to sell to his largely western audience in the Atlantic Council. As a matter of fact, Khatumo State is currently paving the way for evicting Silanyo’s militia from all Khatumo territories in the near future and that is all it takes to finally put an end to Silanyo’s false claims of ruling over a country with well-defined borders.

Silanyo asserted that Somaliland withdrew from the Union and re-asserted its sovereignty and independence in full compliance with international law

This must be a law that we have not heard of before, and  it must be a figment of  his own imagination. The United Nations Security Council fully recognizes Somalia as a sovereign State with well-defined international borders, and the people that live in the former British Somaliland do not all subscribe to the secession agenda. Even in North Western Somalia, where the secession sentiment is the strongest, there are  dissidents who openly voice their desire to remain within the fold of the Somali Republic. Well-known Somaliland personalities who oppose the secession include the current Minster of Foreign Affairs for Somalia, Lady Fosiya Haji Adan.  Boqor Rabi, a traditional leader who participated in the ratification of the new Somali Constitution and the election of a new parliament in Mogadishu is now serving a jail term of 2 years after he returned to Hargeisa.  This action clearly contravenes Silanyo’s claims of ruling over a democratic country where dissent is tolerated.

In his speech, Silanyo tried to portray the recent clashes between his secessionist forces and the Khatumo State forces as being clashes between government forces and certain militia groups – groups that were seeking to destabilize and sow discord amongst the Somaliland population. He also asserted that the conflict was over after he managed to include the leaders of the militia groups fighting against his government in his cabinet and earmarking $1.2 million for developing the area.

It seems that the old rebel leader suffered from a short-lived amnesia that was ended by two Khatumo activists in the audience whose presence he never anticipated. They both reminded him of the atrocities he committed in Khatumo territories where more than 15,000 people lost their lives and thousands were displaced from their homes. With the aid of graphic pictures of the conflict, they challenged the rosy picture he tried to paint of Somaliland. He was reminded of the recent rape and murder of a teenager in Hudun where the Somaliland militia maintain a military base whose aim is to  protect the staff of an oil company that intends to prospect for oil and minerals in the Nugal Valley in 2014. The company is known as Genel Energy and is a joint venture between a Turkish company and Tony Hayward, a former British Petroleum executive who lost his job over the Gulf of Mexico disaster. It is also strange that Silanyo boasted of earmarking $1.2 million, out of a declared budget of $180 million, for the population of a vast area that he falsely claims. Just before the current seasonal rains started in Sool, Las Anod suffered from a severe drought coupled with chronic water shortages.   One of the SSC defectors that Silanyo incorporated into his cabinet ran away from Hargeisa after  he realized that he was of no more use to Silanyo’s Administration.

Silanyo’s delegation was drawn this time from one single clan in Somaliland, a fact that negates his argument that Somaliland is a democratic country that was established willingly by all of its clans. Silanyo’s delegations are normally accompanied by one or two faces from the other clans as a form of window-dressing. This time however, they did not even bother much with the window-dressing to their detriment. This gave enough ammunition to the Khatumo activists to discredit his assertions.

Besides helping Silanyo promote his secessionist agenda, the Atlantic Council is also guilty of censorship after it removed the video of the event from its site, probably at the behest of Silanyo and his group. As I watched half of the clip, it suddenly disappeared and it took me a while to realize that this was not a technical problem but a deliberate action on the part of the Council. Luckily, Saxafi Media and others  posted the video on Youtube and it can be watched there.

The Somali people will never forget Silanyo’s atrocities against Somali Unionists and he will eventually face justice under international law for crimes committed against humanity. He should realize that his days of unhindered travel outside his enclave are numbered. He once boasted that he was the one who gave the order to the SNM rebels to storm cities crowded with civilians. He gave a similar order to his militia when they stormed the city of Buhodle after the creation of Khatumo State in Taleh in January 2012. The people of Buhodle defended their city valiantly and evicted his forces within a few hours although but the invading forces left in their wake death and destruction, looting, and grieving mothers. It seems that Silanyo’s thirst for bloodletting cannot be quenched easily. Hopefully, the International Community can put an end to his atrocities.

Ali H. Abdulla
Email:aliegeh@gmail.com
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