Somaliland on the War Path in SSC Regions, a Rejoinder

February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

By Ali A. Fatah

In a recent article, subject as above, lambasting Somaliland’s criminal attack on the Ballicad village in the Buuhuudle District, long-time Khaatumo spokesman, Osman Hassan, made several outlandish pronouncements to buttress his otherwise solid argument; it’s those repeated misstatements that should not go unchallenged. For these kinds of unhelpful pronouncements have gone on far too long at the expense of the people of Sanaag/Maakhir and efforts to have them corrected discreetly have simply not worked.

The most flagrant of those assertions concerns Mr. Osman’s categorical but incorrect statement relating the purported reason behind Somaliland’s unwarranted attach on Ballicad village. He wrote: “The immediate aim of their offensive was to forcefully end a consultative meeting taking place in the village of Ballicad among delegates from Khaatumo and Maakhir States with view to establishing a single, unified state member of federal Somalia”.

This is not true, as far as Sanaag (the historical Maakhir territory) is concerned. Not only that, there is no known, credible political connection between the Sanaag/Maakhir community at large and the Khaatumo State, contrary to the claims of the leaders of that State Government (which to the best of my knowledge controls no territory in Somalia). Furthermore, SSC was always viewed by the people of Sanaag/Maakhir as a spurious claim on their territory but they ignored in the same way combatants do not retaliate against friendly fire!

Another mitigating factor is the fact the people Sanaag/Maakhir and the citizens of Sool and the Buuhoodle District share strong, multi-dimensional connection that binds their respective communities. For these are brotherly communities are united by not only kinship and shared cultural heritage; they also share common future shaped by the hysterical geopolitical considerations that are prevailing in Somalia at this moment in history.

To wit, based on these shared values the citizens of aforementioned regions are now mobilizing their communities throughout the towns, hamlets and pastoral settlements in Somalia’s north as well as from the vast Diaspora in far flung corners of the world to achieve precisely the federal member state to which Mr. Hassan alluded. And they are determined to reclaiming their political rights that were usurped by the self-styled one clan administration in Hargeisa that goes by the sobriquet, Somaliland. It is bamboozling setup that strangely enough lasted all these many years due in part to Puntland’ winking and nodding to Somaliland’s illegal occupation of much of sool and parts of Sanaag and the Buuhoodle District, including periodic violent incursions into those communities that often target civilians. Never mind that the aforementioned communities co-founded and pledged allegiance to that same apathetic Puntland State some 14 years ago.

Equally perplexing is role adopted by the central government in Mogadishu. Based on mysterious, uniquely Somali clan-stacking calculation the ever so fledgling central government gives Somaliland tacit support to continue its oppressive occupation and bogus claims of those northern regions that belong to certain clans.

In fairness though the aggrieved communities themselves need to look closely in the mirror to be able to see reality at is and deal with it head-on without any filter or blinkers, as it were. Here, the Somali proverb in which the tree plaintively laments how the axe manages to cut into it: “If part of me was not used as handle, you [axe] would never be able to harm me” is apt. So the community itself should stop being ‘a house divided’ to borrow a phrase Abraham Lincoln. And frankly that is where the rubber hits the road!

Fortunately, the call for unity of purpose for the people Sanaag/Maakhir, Sool and the Buuhoodle District has gone forth and it is finding receptive ears and energetic activists willing to step forward and assume responsibility for the uplift of their respective communities in a unified manner, at every turn. Whether they be committed campaigners in Nairobi, field organizers in the various communities throughout the regions or enthusiastic Diaspora supporters in Europe, North America, Australia and other parts of the world, the campaign for political rights of these regions is joined in a serious manner that heretofore seemed lack luster and disjointed.

The time for gimmickry and political jujutsu has ended. Now is the time for commitment and principle-based campaign to end the era of shame and cruel oppression of the noble people of Sanaag/Maakhir, Sool and the Buuhoodle District by the regime in Hargeisa and its ameen corner! To this end, the citizens of these regions are united and together resolved to assert their legitimate political rights of forming the federal member state that they deserve. In this regard, the support of all those that value freedom, basic political rights of communities and equal justice under the law, from all quarters, is welcome.

Ali A. Fatah
Email:amakhiri@aol.com

—————–
Ali A. Fatah is the former Puntland Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and a Contributor to WardheerNews.

No Comments

Ali,
I completely agree with you except for one thing: your allusion that Dhulbahante are somehow falsely claiming that they inhabit part of Sanaag. You know as much as anyone else who is familiar with Sanaag that Dhulbahante are well represented in the district of Ceerigaabo and even in the last democratic government they had an MP (at the time Sanaag was not a separate region). Are there more Warsangeli than Dhulbahante in Sanaag? Yes, since Warsangeli almost exclusively inhabit in Sanaag, but you can’t wish away and pretend that Dhulbahantes who live in the region and have been there for centuries don’t exist. Otherwise, I am fully supportive of forming a region of our own; however, we need to convince our older sibling to the south and east that it is in their best interest to support the formation of a neighboring Dhulbahante-Warsangeli regional administration. This is particularly important for them at a time when Ahmed Madoobe, whom they invested so much political capital, has defected to the enemy. They desperately need an ally, and that reliable ally is us if they are willing to remove their blinders.
February 5, 2016 Ahmed Baasto
- It’s sickening to read Ahmed Basto, a cab driver in Washington, DC talking about the affairs and political aspirations of the Warsangeli and Dhulbaanti people. Baasto we don’t need your pathetic analysis. For those of you who don’t know Ahmed Basto, he was among those who were rejoicing the massacre of Darood civilians in Moqdisu by his uncle Aideed. Please spare us your nonsense pronouncements.
  February 6, 2016 Gamal Jama
  - Jamaalow,
    Ma tafiirtii Udbo-Lacageed baad tahay? caqli badnidaa, isma lahayn cid baa ku garanaysa’e!
    February 6, 2016 Ahmed Baasto
  - Jamaalow,
    Ma tafiirtii Udbo-Lacageed baad tahay? caqli badnidaa, isma lahayn cid baa ku garanaysa’e!
    February 6, 2016 Ahmed Baasto
- It’s sickening to read Ahmed Basto, a cab driver in Washington, DC talking about the affairs and political aspirations of the Warsangeli and Dhulbaanti people. Baasto we don’t need your pathetic analysis. For those of you who don’t know Ahmed Basto, he was among those who were rejoicing the massacre of Darood civilians in Moqdisu by his uncle Aideed. Please spare us your nonsense pronouncements.
  February 6, 2016 Gamal Jama
Brother Ali Fatah.
For years now, you and Osman Hassan have been the voice for the voiceless in the SSC
lands. Others like the late Abdalla Hirad (AHN), Gamal Hassan (of NSU) and many
more, have been educating the public on the aspirations of the SSC people in general. I have worked in both Erigabo and LasAnod (though for a short period) and that could be my first attraction to the region and its people. But more importantly, I came to respect and value your presentations of the genesis you guys put forth as to why SSC people should have their own decision to unite under one banner, as you stated in here:
“To wit, based on these shared values the citizens of aforementioned regions are now mobilizing their communities throughout the towns, hamlets and pastoral settlements in Somalia’s north as well as from the vast Diaspora in far flung corners of the world to achieve precisely the federal member state to which Mr. Hassan alluded. And they are determined to reclaiming their political rights that were usurped by the self-styled one clan administration in Hargeisa that goes by the sobriquet, Somaliland.”
However, reading your current article, I am trying to see what was that Osman Hassan did wrong in his earlier article that triggered your angry response. I must be missing something, and am sure I am. However, to me, both of you are fighting for the same people, and both your analysis are in agreement (at least in principle); that SSC people need one another. The methodology may vary, but both of you agree that SSC needs to face their enemies and decide their future in Unisom. That is that bottom line, isn’t it?
You guys need to unite yourselves, first, before you attempt to venture into the long and
arduous road to liberating SSC.
Thanks, as always.
Ali Bahar
February 5, 2016 Ali Bahar
Good bless Dr Ali Bahar, he said it all in his post.
On reading the first lines of Ali Fatah’s article, in which he accuses me of making ” several outlandish pronouncements”, my immediate reaction was that he was opposed to much of the substance of my article. Yet, happily, as one goes on reading, the commonality of our views are all too obvious as Dr Bahar has aptly pointed out. Indeed, I am very happy about this.
Otherwise, Ali Fatah’s main complaint is my statement that “delegates from Khaatumo and Maakhir States met at Ballicad with a view to establishing a single, unified state member of federal Somalia”. In rebutting this, he says there is “no known, credible political connection between the Sanaag/Maakhir community at large and the Khaatumo State, contrary to the claims of the leaders of that State Government”.
It all depends by what he means by “political connection”, which is somewhat vague. If it means political contacts and dialogue in pursuit of common aims, then surely such is the case with those meetings between representatives of Khatumo and those from Maakhir (including former ministers in Puntlad and federal government), which took place in Ballicad but also Mogadishu, Nairobi and among the diaspora. The bottom line is that it is the wish of the people, expressed through credible channels, which ultimately decides the formation of the shared State we are seeking.
Ali Fatah’s other complaint is one directed not at my article per se but a general one at Khatumo. It regards the use of the acronyms “SSC”, which he says is “viewed by the people of Sanaag/Maakhir as a spurious claim on their territory…” . It is true that in the past, Khatumo, while mindful of the fact that the SSC territory is multi-ethnic, has not sufficiently articulated the Maakhir dimension. Khatumo would not have made all these on-going overtures to Maakhir if it considered otherwise.
Finally, I would like to correct Ali Fatah that I am not the Spokesman for Khatumo. Like him, I merely defend the right of the unionist people in northern Somalia to be free from the hegemony and occupation of the one-clan secessionist enclave calling itself Somaliland.
February 5, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
- Osman,
  The statements that go beyond the pale include the term “SSC” itself and Khatumo’s claim that a meeting between the organs of its government and Makhir State (which is not an extant political entity now) were in a meeting to form a federal member state in Ballicad. On the first, while no one I know denies that Sanaag, especially the Ceerigaabo District, has heterogeneous populace, the community that forms that overwhelming majority of the State’s population, namely Makhir, was not party to the coinage of the much publicized SSC nor nor was it consulted regarding the political agenda behind the term. In fact, I brought that up to you attention, when you were Khatumo’s Foreign Minister / Spokesman few years ago, but you chose not to respond to my query.
  As for the Ballicad, once again, for reasons that are known only to the Khatumo leadership, it was falsely claimed that a meeting between that State and Makhir State representatives was underway at the time of the Somaliland cruel attack on the village. Inexplicably, you repeated that patently untrue statement in your article.
  None of the above mentioned missteps and misstatements however negate the bond that connects the the communities Sanaag/Makhir, Sool and the Buuhoodle District. And its on this real live, people to people connection that is the basis upon which the current campaign for a unified federal member state is being organized on various fronts, and upon which insha Allah success will achieved!
  February 6, 2016 Ali A. Fatah
  - Ali
    I have never been, nor am I now, the spokesman or foreign minister of Khatumo as you keep repeating. I think you owe an apology to those who held or now hold these functions.
    As for what clan constitutes the majority in Sanaag, as you keep repeating, no responsible Khatumo person I know has said anything that would either deny or support what you are claiming. And for good reason: it does not serve any purpose. Though I have no reliable statistics, your claim sounds the more plausible. What is important now, though, is not numbers but unity between our peoples. Any other consideration right now is a distraction, a side show.
    February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
  - Ali
    I have never been, nor am I now, the spokesman or foreign minister of Khatumo as you keep repeating. I think you owe an apology to those who held or now hold these functions.
    As for what clan constitutes the majority in Sanaag, as you keep repeating, no responsible Khatumo person I know has said anything that would either deny or support what you are claiming. And for good reason: it does not serve any purpose. Though I have no reliable statistics, your claim sounds the more plausible. What is important now, though, is not numbers but unity between our peoples. Any other consideration right now is a distraction, a side show.
    February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
  - Ali Khalif brought with him from Nairobi two riff-raffs and wants to claim that there is a conference underway between Khaatumo and Makhir in Balicad. That is a blatant misrepresentation as a whole the will and the political aspirations of Reer Makhir. As for Dr. Ali Bahar and what he is missing, that is exactly what you’re missing here.
    Xaajadu ma gashaanti aamuskaa lagu meheriyaa baa?
    February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
    - Adeer Abdirahim
      Even making allowances for your deep-seated aversion to Dr Ali Khalif, you have all the same gone over the top in calling riff-raffs those delegates hailing from Maakhir accompanying him from Nairobi to Buuhoodleh. Even critics from Maakhir not happy with this set-up have not mentioned them let alone use derogatory terms to refer to them as you did. In doing this, you only shoot yourself on the foot.
      February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
      - Dear adeer Osman,
        In today’s dog-eat-dog politics in Somalia one doesn’t have the luxury to be always politically correct, it is imperative to call a spade a spade. Besides, FYI according to a reliable sources one of those so called delegates is currently in Ceerigaabo waiting presidential pardon from Siilaanyo. Again, FYI here is the official stance of Maakhir communities in regards to Ali Khalif’s sham meetings:
        https://youtu.be/-ykHyhgfUV0
        February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
      - Dear adeer Osman,
        In today’s dog-eat-dog politics in Somalia one doesn’t have the luxury to be always politically correct, it is imperative to call a spade a spade. Besides, FYI according to a reliable sources one of those so called delegates is currently in Ceerigaabo waiting presidential pardon from Siilaanyo. Again, FYI here is the official stance of Maakhir communities in regards to Ali Khalif’s sham meetings:
        https://youtu.be/-ykHyhgfUV0
        February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
      - Adeer
        It is one thing to speak your mind. It is another thing to be insulting as you did when there is no need for it.
        February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
      - Adeer Osman,
        For that, you have a point. Well taken.
        February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
      - Adeer Osman,
        For that, you have a point. Well taken.
        February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
      - Adeer
        It is one thing to speak your mind. It is another thing to be insulting as you did when there is no need for it.
        February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
    - Adeer Abdirahim
      Even making allowances for your deep-seated aversion to Dr Ali Khalif, you have all the same gone over the top in calling riff-raffs those delegates hailing from Maakhir accompanying him from Nairobi to Buuhoodleh. Even critics from Maakhir not happy with this set-up have not mentioned them let alone use derogatory terms to refer to them as you did. In doing this, you only shoot yourself on the foot.
      February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
  - Ali Khalif brought with him from Nairobi two riff-raffs and wants to claim that there is a conference underway between Khaatumo and Makhir in Balicad. That is a blatant misrepresentation as a whole the will and the political aspirations of Reer Makhir. As for Dr. Ali Bahar and what he is missing, that is exactly what you’re missing here.
    Xaajadu ma gashaanti aamuskaa lagu meheriyaa baa?
    February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
- Osman,
  The statements that go beyond the pale include the term “SSC” itself and Khatumo’s claim that a meeting between the organs of its government and Makhir State (which is not an extant political entity now) were in a meeting to form a federal member state in Ballicad. On the first, while no one I know denies that Sanaag, especially the Ceerigaabo District, has heterogeneous populace, the community that forms that overwhelming majority of the State’s population, namely Makhir, was not party to the coinage of the much publicized SSC nor nor was it consulted regarding the political agenda behind the term. In fact, I brought that up to you attention, when you were Khatumo’s Foreign Minister / Spokesman few years ago, but you chose not to respond to my query.
  As for the Ballicad, once again, for reasons that are known only to the Khatumo leadership, it was falsely claimed that a meeting between that State and Makhir State representatives was underway at the time of the Somaliland cruel attack on the village. Inexplicably, you repeated that patently untrue statement in your article.
  None of the above mentioned missteps and misstatements however negate the bond that connects the the communities Sanaag/Makhir, Sool and the Buuhoodle District. And its on this real live, people to people connection that is the basis upon which the current campaign for a unified federal member state is being organized on various fronts, and upon which insha Allah success will achieved!
  February 6, 2016 Ali A. Fatah
Ali Bahar people like you who are full of envy and jealousy have reduced the people of Maakhir and Khatumo to be modern day Kurds amongst Somalis. Intaan isximinenyey ayaa dadkeenii la gumeeyey oo la gumeestey. What a pity, be prepared for my rejoinder.
February 5, 2016 Hirsi Fow
- Hirsi Fow,
  Hubsiimo hal baa la siistaa. Ali Bahar waa nin Reer Awdal ah oo unionist ah, Soomaalinimaduna ku dheer tahay. Fadlan raalli gelin sii, aflagaadadaana meesha ka saar.
  February 6, 2016 Ahmed Baasto
- Hirsi Fow,
  Hubsiimo hal baa la siistaa. Ali Bahar waa nin Reer Awdal ah oo unionist ah, Soomaalinimaduna ku dheer tahay. Fadlan raalli gelin sii, aflagaadadaana meesha ka saar.
  February 6, 2016 Ahmed Baasto
Ali Bahar people like you who are full of envy and jealousy have reduced the people of Maakhir and Khatumo to be modern day Kurds amongst Somalis. Intaan isximinenyey ayaa dadkeenii la gumeeyey oo la gumeestey. What a pity, be prepared for my rejoinder.
February 5, 2016 Hirsi Fow
Sorry guys I meant Ali A Fatah and not Bahar
February 6, 2016 Hirsi Fow
- FYI, you can simply make the necessary correction.
  February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
- FYI, you can simply make the necessary correction.
  February 6, 2016 Abdiraheem Omar
Sorry guys I meant Ali A Fatah and not Bahar
February 6, 2016 Hirsi Fow
Osman Hassan
Osman, , Dhulbahante waxu degaa Togdheer. Sool iyo sanaag, Adiguna waxa ka so jeeda degmada Buhoodle oo ka tirsan Togdheer . Su,aashu waxay tahay maxa loo odhan waayey TOGDHEER, SOOL IYO SANAAG TSS oo loo qaaatay SSCdabcam C waxay u taagan tahay Cayn oo aan gobol ahayn lakin loo sameeyey xil qaris maadama aan Togdheer la sheegan karin NIN badhxay baq.
Hadaan si kale u idhaahdo Togdheer oo dhulbahante la wadaago isaaq Degmo Buuxdana Buuhoodle ay ku leeyihiin xaqiisii waa kala baxay xaqqodiina waa uga tegay
Sanaag oo anay Degmo Gaara ku lahayn lakin ay wax ka degaan degmada Ceerigaabo lana wadaago reer Maakhir sadexda degmo oo kalena ay reer maakhir gaar u leeyihiin waa sheegtay tuutadna u xirateen dagaal adin iyo af ahna wa u gasheen..
miyaanay muuqan in arinku meel ka qaloocan yahay oo dhulkii ay ahayd in la sheegto ama cidii mudnayd in lala xafiiltano ama xiniinyo loo yeesho in in la nabad geliyey. kii xigtada ahaa oo xurmada mudann in la xasaradaynaya oo xaqiisii aan loo sugayn oo waliba xaqiraad loogu dara
Ali qoraalkiisa waxan u arkaa inuu saxayo arinkaa bani aadankuna hadlku isku af gartaa hadaan luuqadu saxmina siyaasadu ma saxmayso markaa ninki taariikhda khaatumo la socdaa iyo sida loo sameeyey iyo Map dhulka ay sheeganaysay iyo sheegashadeeda inay maamul u samaysay goboka sanaag wa garan karaa dulucda iyo xigmada qoraalka.
Sida Ali fatah qoraalkiisa ku sheegay Ali baharna ku raacay dadkani waa gacal, walaalo, xigto gees walbana waa isku mid iyo dan w= wana in laga shaqeeya wixi isku soo dhowaynay lagana ilaaliyaa wxii kala gaynay inta ay ku jiraan ururinta talada, turxaan bixinta iyo qodax saarka
February 6, 2016 caalin Shirre
Osman Hassan
Osman, , Dhulbahante waxu degaa Togdheer. Sool iyo sanaag, Adiguna waxa ka so jeeda degmada Buhoodle oo ka tirsan Togdheer . Su,aashu waxay tahay maxa loo odhan waayey TOGDHEER, SOOL IYO SANAAG TSS oo loo qaaatay SSCdabcam C waxay u taagan tahay Cayn oo aan gobol ahayn lakin loo sameeyey xil qaris maadama aan Togdheer la sheegan karin NIN badhxay baq.
Hadaan si kale u idhaahdo Togdheer oo dhulbahante la wadaago isaaq Degmo Buuxdana Buuhoodle ay ku leeyihiin xaqiisii waa kala baxay xaqqodiina waa uga tegay
Sanaag oo anay Degmo Gaara ku lahayn lakin ay wax ka degaan degmada Ceerigaabo lana wadaago reer Maakhir sadexda degmo oo kalena ay reer maakhir gaar u leeyihiin waa sheegtay tuutadna u xirateen dagaal adin iyo af ahna wa u gasheen..
miyaanay muuqan in arinku meel ka qaloocan yahay oo dhulkii ay ahayd in la sheegto ama cidii mudnayd in lala xafiiltano ama xiniinyo loo yeesho in in la nabad geliyey. kii xigtada ahaa oo xurmada mudann in la xasaradaynaya oo xaqiisii aan loo sugayn oo waliba xaqiraad loogu dara
Ali qoraalkiisa waxan u arkaa inuu saxayo arinkaa bani aadankuna hadlku isku af gartaa hadaan luuqadu saxmina siyaasadu ma saxmayso markaa ninki taariikhda khaatumo la socdaa iyo sida loo sameeyey iyo Map dhulka ay sheeganaysay iyo sheegashadeeda inay maamul u samaysay goboka sanaag wa garan karaa dulucda iyo xigmada qoraalka.
Sida Ali fatah qoraalkiisa ku sheegay Ali baharna ku raacay dadkani waa gacal, walaalo, xigto gees walbana waa isku mid iyo dan w= wana in laga shaqeeya wixi isku soo dhowaynay lagana ilaaliyaa wxii kala gaynay inta ay ku jiraan ururinta talada, turxaan bixinta iyo qodax saarka
February 6, 2016 caalin Shirre
Interesting discussion, guys. I just hope your arguments in regards to who rules where and on what basis, should have been more in tune with the reality in the ground in Somaliland, instead of forever indulging a delusional piffle.
But, then, I suppose, the architects of Khatumo state, who are the sort of people Somaliland has been chasing them from pillars to post and back again, particularly in the form of keeping them on the run from Las-Anod, to Taleex, to Saax-dheer, and then to Bali-cadde, and, eventually perhaps to God knows where, are not the sort of people who can tell whether its a day or night, much less of anything else.
Or to put it another way, there are not the sort of folks one could reliably expect them to know as to what on earth they have done to deserve to be on the run always, particularly in a “speedy manner” that befits the sight and the spectacle of seeing the legendary Cabdi Bille running towards his Gold Medal.
Hence, I would not hold against them when it comes for them claiming a “ruler-ship” of a state from thin air. Or for that matter, I would not begrudge them when they tell themselves the seductive fiction that they run a place call Khatumo without the need for them to show to the rest of the world as to where this benighted place is located at in the God’s green earth.
Similarly, this Maakhir state malarkey, is also one of those silly arguments grown up men ought not to touch it with a barge-pole. After all, the bulk of Sanaag (including its capital in Erigavo) is also locked under the ruler-ship of Somaliland. And, even the eastern part, such as Badhan, Dhahar, and Las-Qorey, are by all intend and purposes a Somaliland’s de-facto territories. And that is so, particularly since the locals there are (shall we say) easily “persuade-able” folks when hard-cash is at hand in exchange for their passing “political loyalty”.
Hence, Ali Fatah, may fulminate at length, or even froth at the mouth. But the truth is that, most of his territories are under Somaliland’s legal and de-facto “ownership”. And for good measure, I can assure him, that, the in-coming Somaliland’s election of 2017 (for both the parliamentary and presidential election) will show as to who is indulging with bit of a fiction of the most tendentious kind.
So, all in all, guys, keep entertaining us with these sort of talks. But remember, and in particularly, chaps like Osman Badawi and Ali Fatah, should know that the fictions they warm themselves with in most night, particularly in their diaspora’s existence (and in specifically when it comes to as to where their respective clans rules) doesn’t cut much ice, back in Somaliland.
And, that is, as it ought to be, particularly if one is minded to be taking seriously by others who are in the know when it comes to the “political reality” that pertains to that part of the Somali’s world.
February 6, 2016 Dhako
- “So much froth and no substance”- Shakespeare
  February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
- “So much froth and no substance”- Shakespeare
  February 6, 2016 Osman Omar Hassan
- “Isn’t it the sweetest mockery to mock our enemies” — Sophocles
  February 7, 2016 Ali A. Fatah
- “Isn’t it the sweetest mockery to mock our enemies” — Sophocles
  February 7, 2016 Ali A. Fatah
Interesting discussion, guys. I just hope your arguments in regards to who rules where and on what basis, should have been more in tune with the reality in the ground in Somaliland, instead of forever indulging a delusional piffle.
But, then, I suppose, the architects of Khatumo state, who are the sort of people Somaliland has been chasing them from pillars to post and back again, particularly in the form of keeping them on the run from Las-Anod, to Taleex, to Saax-dheer, and then to Bali-cadde, and, eventually perhaps to God knows where, are not the sort of people who can tell whether its a day or night, much less of anything else.
Or to put it another way, there are not the sort of folks one could reliably expect them to know as to what on earth they have done to deserve to be on the run always, particularly in a “speedy manner” that befits the sight and the spectacle of seeing the legendary Cabdi Bille running towards his Gold Medal.
Hence, I would not hold against them when it comes for them claiming a “ruler-ship” of a state from thin air. Or for that matter, I would not begrudge them when they tell themselves the seductive fiction that they run a place call Khatumo without the need for them to show to the rest of the world as to where this benighted place is located at in the God’s green earth.
Similarly, this Maakhir state malarkey, is also one of those silly arguments grown up men ought not to touch it with a barge-pole. After all, the bulk of Sanaag (including its capital in Erigavo) is also locked under the ruler-ship of Somaliland. And, even the eastern part, such as Badhan, Dhahar, and Las-Qorey, are by all intend and purposes a Somaliland’s de-facto territories. And that is so, particularly since the locals there are (shall we say) easily “persuade-able” folks when hard-cash is at hand in exchange for their passing “political loyalty”.
Hence, Ali Fatah, may fulminate at length, or even froth at the mouth. But the truth is that, most of his territories are under Somaliland’s legal and de-facto “ownership”. And for good measure, I can assure him, that, the in-coming Somaliland’s election of 2017 (for both the parliamentary and presidential election) will show as to who is indulging with bit of a fiction of the most tendentious kind.
So, all in all, guys, keep entertaining us with these sort of talks. But remember, and in particularly, chaps like Osman Badawi and Ali Fatah, should know that the fictions they warm themselves with in most night, particularly in their diaspora’s existence (and in specifically when it comes to as to where their respective clans rules) doesn’t cut much ice, back in Somaliland.
And, that is, as it ought to be, particularly if one is minded to be taking seriously by others who are in the know when it comes to the “political reality” that pertains to that part of the Somali’s world.
February 6, 2016 Dhako