"Fixed exchange rate + inflation = re-pression. The equation may seem banal, but it reflects the absurd situation in which banking operators and Somaliland’s population find themselves. Although a free market is enshrined in the constitution, on Jan. 24 a cabinet meeting fixed an exchange rate of 6,800 shillings to the US dollar, a decision that was published in a presidential decree. On Jan. 21 and 22 two huge demonstrations were held in two of Hargeisa’s biggest marketplaces to protest hyperinflation – at the time a dollar bought 9,000 shillings. Traders ended up refusing to conduct any transactions in shillings. Amid all this palaver, on Jan. 26 the police killed the detained chairman of the Money Exchangers Association, Abdilahi Ali Barre, who had been arrested for refusing to apply the fixed exchange rate. It was in this context, aggravated by two years of drought, that the head of state proclaimed the establishment of the National Commission on Inflation.On Feb. 1, on a trip to Berbera, this body had the local director of the Somali financial services and money transfer company Dahabshiil, Saleban Abdillahi Adib, thrown into jail on the grounds that he had refused to deposit shillings stored in his agency’s safes with the central bank. In addition, the presidential decree imposed limits on transfers exceeding $100 and banned some other transfers altogether. It also ordered operators like Dahabshiil, Telesom, Omar, Deero, and Premier, to stop speculating on the shilling-dollar exchange rate. The panic is such that Telesom customers – some 80 percent of Somalilanders have a sim card and an electronic dollar account with this company – have withdrawn their deposits en masse, obliging Telesom to charter two cargo ships containing dollars from Djibouti. Discontent is growing every day and the decision to postpone the presidential election scheduled for late March until October has just made matters worse."

"Moreover, the war in Yemen now threatens Somaliland. Iran has supplied – via Bossaso in Puntland – Yemen’s Houthi rebels with Russian SCUD missiles that put Somaliland within reach of the fighting in Yemen. Hargeisa is concerned that the Emirati troops stationed on its territory might be targeted by the belligerents on the other side of the Red Sea. But they are even more afraid of alienating the Houthis because Yemen is Somaliland’s second biggest trading partner after Ethiopia. It is even the primary source of dollars in Somaliland’s economy: Yemen buys 90 percent of Somaliland’s cattle, which it re-exports it to the Gulf states."

10/02/2017 Successively struck by a financial crisis, a drought and the effects of the regional machines of its neighbours and the Gulf states, Somaliland, long an island of stability in a very troubled region, is struggling to maintain that status. And as he makes every effort to stay in office as long as possible, President Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud , aka Silanyo, is only making matters worse in a country on the brink of breakdown. Fixed exchange rate + inflation = re-pression. The equation may seem banal, but it reflects the absurd situation in which banking operators and Somaliland’s population find themselves. Although a free market is enshrined in the constitution, on Jan. 24 a cabinet meeting fixed an exchange rate of 6,800 shillings to the US dollar, a decision that was published in a presidential decree. On Jan. 21 and 22 two huge demonstrations were held in two of Hargeisa’s biggest marketplaces to protest hyperinflation – at the time a dollar bought 9,000 shillings. Traders ended up refusing to conduct any transactions in shillings. Amid all this palaver, on Jan. 26 the police killed the detained chairman of the Money Exchangers Association, Abdilahi Ali Barre, who had been arrested for refusing to apply the fixed exchange rate. It was in this context, aggravated by two years of drought, that the head of state proclaimed the establishment of the National Commission on Inflation.On Feb. 1, on a trip to Berbera, this body had the local director of the Somali financial services and money transfer company Dahabshiil, Saleban Abdillahi Adib, thrown into jail on the grounds that he had refused to deposit shillings stored in his agency’s safes with the central bank. In addition, the presidential decree imposed limits on transfers exceeding $100 and banned some other transfers altogether. It also ordered operators like Dahabshiil, Telesom, Omar, Deero, and Premier, to stop speculating on the shilling-dollar exchange rate. The panic is such that Telesom customers – some 80 percent of Somalilanders have a sim card and an electronic dollar account with this company – have withdrawn their deposits en masse, obliging Telesom to charter two cargo ships containing dollars from Djibouti. Discontent is growing every day and the decision to postpone the presidential election scheduled for late March until October has just made matters worse. UAE base + Egyptian soldiers = Ethiopian intimidation. Diplomatically, the situation in Somaliland resembles an equation with many unknowns. Since a UAE team visited Berbera in early January to set up a military base , Silanyo has failed to assuage Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who is worried about the UAE’s plans to hand the base over to an Egyptian military contingent. Addis Ababa and Cairo are at loggerheads over the sharing of the River Nile’s waters in relation to Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam . Moreover, the war in Yemen now threatens Somaliland. Iran has supplied – via Bossaso in Puntland – Yemen’s Houthi rebels with Russian SCUD missiles that put Somaliland within reach of the fighting in Yemen. Hargeisa is concerned that the Emirati troops stationed on its territory might be targeted by the belligerents on the other side of the Red Sea. But they are even more afraid of alienating the Houthis because Yemen is Somaliland’s second biggest trading partner after Ethiopia. It is even the primary source of dollars in Somaliland’s economy: Yemen buys 90 percent of Somaliland’s cattle, which it re-exports it to the Gulf states. Africa Intelligence https://www.africaintelligence.com/ION/politics--power/2017/02/10/how-an-oasis-of-stability-became-a-powder-keg,108211301-EVE http://www.somalilandinformer.com/somaliland/somaliland-how-an-oasis-of-stability-became-a-powder-keg/

Interesting. Reer NFD seem more pro Somalinimo than those in the Somali region , is there celebrations from Jigjiga as well?

They have no ounce of shame. White haired men in their 50s acting like this, that is why I believe the youth of Somaliland are the future. No longer will we accept such a behaviour from those ladies of the night!

The African Union has announced it will end its peacekeeping mission in Somalia soon. A gradual exit strategy is planned. Many say the peaceful Somali power transition after this week's elections have motivated the AU to fully hand back security control of the nation to its people. CGTN's Girum Chala has more. Published on Feb 10, 2017

@Che -Guevara said: Does he have any influence? And can he sway others to abandon AS? AS needs to be destroyed from within and people like him can help that's if he still has any influence. Well he represents the AS in Bay and Bakool. So that is a big chunk.

Now you all understand why I lost respect for them. Grown men with kids acting like this.

Great news. Mukhtaar Roobow Oo la sheegay in wada-hadal la furay dawlada http://boramanews.com/index.php/somali-news/item/5283-daawo-mukhtaar-roobow-oo-la-sheegay-in-wada-hadal-la-furay-dawlada-iyo-maamulka-koonfur-galbeed-oo-video

Where are those who scream about the " Mogadishu bogeyman" and bacaac endlessly? As I have said the reality has dawned and many Somaliland youth themselves have seen sense. SHACABKA BOORAME IYO SOO DHOWAYNTA MADAXWAYNE FARMAAJO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTeaYceUDMo

Again your mistake is you believe disintegration will come from external forces were's to any sane person it is evident it will come from internal. Majority of Somalilanders even the youth no longer believe in the delusion of recognition. The reality is anybody that reads your ramblings of the " Mogadishu bogeyman" will laugh at you after watching this video. The internal disintegration of the Somaliland project will come from within, as many are disillusioned with 26 years of falsehood, no development, politicians stealing the money and building it with villas in Dubai while the average civilian starves. The communities that are made up of Somaliland can of course be self-governing (hence the Federal republic of Somalia) but there will be no recognition, so why was your time believing in imaginary recognition, doesn't make sense.

Oodweyne I am afraid you have nothing here but poor attempt at ad-hominems, I am a realistic Somalilander like Coldoon that sees the reality that no longer believes in the coming of a tooth-fairy recognition. Once you stop believing the falsehood of recognition ever coming then of course we can discuss in a sensible way what the interests of Somaliland are. Someone who supports a regime that can't even build toilets, roads or even provide clean water nor feed (1.5m on the brink of starvation as we speak ) for its residents can't tell me what the interests of Somalilanders are.

Oodweyne That is some valid points but at the end of the day nothing stays the same (apart from Somaliland never getting recognized). We will see how it goes, it is still early days with Farmaajo so far it is showing positive signs. Somaliland can have its development directly but as far as national military issues go it is not appropriate for a unrecognized state to give military bases to whoever they want despite clear signs that this can spill the Sunni vs Shia conflict into the Somali lands. The opposition politicians (WADANI and UCID) are against the base, we will work with the Farmaajo adminstration where our interests align and are appropriate. That is common sense. Xildhibbaan Waabeeye oo SI Adag uga Hadlay Saldhiga Milatari

@Barwaaqo said: Faan waynaa! Majority of Somalilanders are also against the illegal military base.

It is also notable that the opposition parties of Somaliland are also against giving the Emiratis a military base as they see the bigger picture.

That means highly disagreeable things that the states sign won't be valid. One good case is the attempt to give UAE a military base in Berbera so it can bomb Yemeni Houthis and this has the danger of making the area a prime target for Shia insurgents who can easily rain down rockets on Berbera. XOG: Madaxweyne Farmaajo oo Wakiilada Beesha Caalamka ku soo rogay Amar lama filaan ku noqday http://www.warqaad.org/xog-madaxweyne-farmaajo-oo-wakiilada-beesha-caalamka-ku-soo-rogay-amar-lama-filaan-ku-noqday/

@Che -Guevara said: Somalis are f'ed up. Surely, there are other ways to address this matter. I agree but it just shows us Somalilanders are no different than other Somalis, at the end of the day they worship the mighty clan. The whole basis of modern Somaliland is built on clan, so it was expected anyway. It is like a onion it can divide further.

Oodweyne I am being realistic. I support the party that I think is in the best interest of Somaliland in terms of development. As far as recognition goes though it is very unrealistic path, 26 years is a proof.

What a sore losers, just because a police officer was assasinated one year ago in Berbera. This proofs it is not possible for the Somaliland project to become a "country" the residents are too tribally divided within themselves and will just become another South Sudan if it is recognized.

@Maakhiri1 said: Thanks Saalax, I knew this guy for some reason, have a major support from most SOMALIS, and the Parliament first time rewarded the SOMALI people, I hope he uses this momentum and finally put SOMALIA on track. It is indeed interesting that he can get past the tribal walls of Somalia.

@Che -Guevara said: I under-estimated the level of support he has among the general public in particular Xamar. Xamar is going wild. Even places like Widhwidh. I hope he doesn't squander people's goodwill. True. He is properly the most popular Somali politician for a longtime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=jG46OApFrsM http://kalshaale.ca/2017/02/08/daawo-laascaanood-oo-dabaal-deg-balaadhan-loogu-qabtay-farmaajo-iyo-hub-culus-oo-muqdisho-laga-maqlay/

Garowe

Cadaado https://www.facebook.com/saadaq.sharif/videos/709496719211995/

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