Mintid Farayar

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  1. Posted

    Rays of Economic Hope in the South....

     

    From today's New York Times.

    ______________________________________________

     

     

     

     

     

     

    AFRICA

     

    After Barren Years in Somalia, Signs of Growth by the Bunch

    By ISMA’IL KUSHKUSHDEC. 13, 2014

    Photo

     

    In June, workers harvested bananas in Afgooye, Somalia, where the industry is being revived. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

    Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyShare This Page

     

    AFGOOYE, Somalia — Armed with machetes, the men push their way through the densely packed rows of trees, emerging every few minutes with large bundles of green bananas over their shoulders.

     

    A guard, his chest crossed with bullet belts, his hands cradling a Russian-made rifle, scans the tree line for intruders as the men throw the bananas on a trailer before dashing back into the plantation for another load.

     

    When the trailer is piled high with bananas, it is pulled by tractor to a nearby warehouse, where the fruit is sorted and boxed for transport to destinations across Somalia and as far away as the Middle East.

     

    After years of warfare that decimated an industry that was once the largest in Africa, the banana is making a tentative comeback in Somalia. Farms are stepping up production and eyeing overseas markets that have been dormant for years.

     

    “Last April we exported to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 23 years,” said Kamal Haji Nasir, 30, whose father, owns this plantation in Afgooye, a town on the Shebelle River, about 45 minutes’ drive from Mogadishu. “We are excited and hopeful.”

     

     

    For more than two decades, Somalia was the epitome of a failed state — a country rife with war, anarchy, famine, piracy and terrorism. Many of those problems persist — there has been a recent surge in attacks by Shabab militants, the government is riven with infighting and the United Nations has been warning of a growing risk of famine — but the country has nonetheless made some progress in the past few years.

     

    Somalia elected a new president and adopted a constitution in 2012, bringing some stability, and attracting pledges of aid from international donors. Somali pirates, who once threatened international shipping in the Indian Ocean, have largely been contained and the Shabab have lost their grip over many towns.

     

    “By any measure, Somalia today is in a better situation than it has been for the past 23 years,” said Nicholas Kay, the United Nations’ special representative for Somalia.

     

    That stability has allowed farmers like Mr. Nasir, who studied agriculture at Mogadishu University, to return to a business that has been in his family for four generations.

     

    Banana farming was brought to the fertile Shebelle and Juba river basins in the southern part of the country by Italian colonists in the 1920s. Soon, bananas became a major staple of Somali cuisine, consumed with rice or pasta, or just as a fruit, and farmers began exporting to Italy and the Middle East. With investment by Italian and American fruit companies, the banana trade reached its peak in the 1980s, led by the brand Somalita, which was partly owned by De Nadai, an Italian company. In 1990, Somalia’s banana exports were worth $96 million, according to Mohamood Abdi Noor, a former World Bank agricultural expert.

     

    “The industry was doing very well and moving forward,” said Hasan Haji Osman, an agricultural consultant, who previously worked for Italian and Somali fruit companies.

     

    That all came to a halt when civil war broke out in 1991. The government collapsed, and Somalia became a battleground in which warlords and Islamic extremists vied for control and pirates became the scourge of the surrounding seas. In what became known as “the banana wars,” rival warlords fought to control exports of the fruit as a source of hard currency. The once-thriving banana industry fell apart. Irrigation systems were damaged, plantations were abandoned, farmers were displaced, and storage facilities and ports were destroyed.

     

    Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story

    Mr. Osman shook his head sadly as he recalled farms lying damaged and unattended.

     

    “What was in my head were the banana farms with no workers” and with destroyed irrigation systems, he said. “I was thinking about that more than my family.”

     

    For those who continued to farm, the breakdown of supply chains and transport links proved to be disastrous. “There were no markets for our bananas,” said Abu Bakr Hirabe, 70, who has been farming bananas in Afgooye for decades. “We lost a lot of money.”

     

    As the security situation began improving a few years ago, Mr. Hirabe, along with other banana farmers, set about trying to rebuild the industry. They repaired irrigation systems, hired workers and security guards and set their sights on markets overseas. In 2011 they established a company, FruitSome, to market and export their bananas.

     

    Mr. Hirabe said FruitSome had contacted Del Monte, Dole and fruit companies in the Middle East, but the response so far has been mixed.

     

    Photo

     

    The bananas harvested in Afgooye are sent to destinations as far away as the Middle East. Credit Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times

    Dole, which has in the past invested there, said it was cautious about committing to Somalia.

     

    “The Somali banana industry has potential,” Xavier Roussel, the marketing and communication director at Dole Fresh Fruit Europe in Hamburg, Germany, said in an email. But, he added, “right now it seems difficult to develop any agriculture program in Somalia because of the local situation.”

     

    The banana farmers, however, have had some success connecting with regional buyers, with some help from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

     

    The F.A.O. helped organize a conference in Dubai this year at which Somali businesses exhibited their goods to an international audience for the first time in years. FruitSome had its bananas on display.

     

    “We let them taste them and they were surprised,” said Omar Farah, a FruitSome representative. “Some asked us, ‘How can we order this?’ ”

     

    Since then, FruitSome has exported five containers to the Middle East and hopes that some of the contacts forged at the conference will yield further gains.

     

    Somali bananas, experts say, have several advantages that make them marketable, including easy and short access to seaports from farms and proximity to markets in the Middle East.

     

    And, aficionados say, they taste great.

     

    “Sweet, slightly sour, creamy vanilla,” is how Edward Baars, an agricultural engineer with Cgiar, a group of research organizations, described their taste. “The quality of Somali bananas is near unmatched in taste and texture, which is due to the unique growing conditions.”

     

    Despite that, experts say that considerable issues need to be addressed before Somalia can once again become a leading banana exporter. Mr. Noor said that irrigation and drainage systems, roads and storage facilities all needed to be improved, as did quality control and packaging. And, he added, security was still an issue.

     

    Jose Lopez of the Food and Agriculture Organization said the country needed to attract more private investment to rebuild the industry.

     

    Mr. Farah of FruitSome, however, said he was optimistic about the future.

     

    “When you try a Somali banana,” he said, “you can tell the difference.”

     

    A version of this article appears in print on December 14, 2014, on page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: After Barren Years in Somalia, Signs of Growth by the Bunch

  2. Posted

    Interesting news. Below in the Gulf News article, you can see how even the Emirates is attempting to make the differentiation that Hargeisa is in Somaliland, not 'Somalia' to keep their insurance rates low.

     

    http://gulfnews.com/business/aviation/flydubai-announces-three-new-routes-1.1425004

     

     

    Just goes to show you how business trumps 'political wishes' in the end, even for the 'Somalia unity'-obsessed Khaleejis.

     

    And it's 4 flights a week to Hargeisa by the way, not 3.

  3. Posted

    <cite>
    said:</cite>

    Saalax and Galbeedi,

     

    Saaxiibayaal, this local difficulty will be resolved with Somaliland tried and tested way of resolving political differences. Hence I doubt that things will get to a point of open warfare as some media is talking up.

     

    Similarly the saving grace in all of these is that there is a presidential election in the offing whereby the prognosis is that the current government will get a bloody thumping on the nose for her mismanagement of the social peace of the land.

     

    And that is why for next six to seven months in which at the end of it the election should he held will be crucial and all communities will be politically posturing and endlessly huffing in the meantime so that they will get a lion's share of the future government political spoils or portfolios. This is the internal game that is going on, folks.

     

    PS:

     

    Saalax, saaxiib, Somaliland is bigger than here-today-gone-tomorrow politician, like Silanyo, Rayale or even late Egal, who was giant in the midst of teeming political midgets. Hence if you see things in that way, you may appreciate the need not to throw out the baby that is Somaliland with a dirty bathwater that is a ruling political party or a failed politician. I hope you take this as a friendly advice.

     

    That's why he was named 'The Guru' many years ago ;-)

    Well said!

  4. Posted

    Futurenow,

     

    Here I was thinking you were a sober-minded analyst and you prove me wrong. Do you honestly think any minister in Hargeisa can claim Somaliland is part of Somalia and survive another day in office?

    Think on that question!

     

    Even Southern politicians when visiting Somaliland feel compelled to pay lip service to the Somaliland cause, even though they might feel differently. That's just the political reality when you are in Somaliland.

     

    It would have been more 'believable' if you had started this thread with an argument for why it might be helpful for Somaliland to participate in the Somalia-rebuilding project which you allude to in your last posting above.

  5. Posted

    Norf,

     

    Trusteeship is already here. What does the Federal Gov't control? Very little. It doesn't pay even its own forces, which are payed directly by the donors and irregularly at that(for which the Fed Gov gets blamed by the soldiers). But this takes away control and disciplinary powers away from the Mogadishu gov't. The only power the Fed gov has is thru the funding it receives through the corrupt Mogadishu port proceeds and the few millions thrown to its leaders in their endless trips to the Arabian Gulf.

     

    It has no control over the newly liberated regions(from Al Shabaab) which are effectively managed by whatever AMISOM contigent has recently liberated that area. So the political tussles within the Executive branch and the Parliament are the only 2 things the Mogadishu gov't has any power of influence over (basically the happenings within 2 buildings in the space of the former Somalia).

     

    To me, that sounds like trusteeship!

  6. Posted

    There are currently 3 candidates: Xalane is one of them. The other two hail from the Sool and Puntland communities.

     

    The list was drawn up a few days before the first Parliamentary attempt to impeach the current PM.

  7. Posted

    Well, it seems 'FutureNow' was correct all along in predicting the PM was in a losing position. As for money changing hands, what else is new when it comes to the pseudo-parliament?!?

     

    I think what the FutureNow was trying to teach Nomads on this Board was how to think analytically instead of with their desires when it comes to predicting the daily political happenings within Somalia.

     

    I see many have changed their tunes once this vote was over and have moved the goal posts to lamenting how damaged the President and his Dam Jadid clique are. There might be some truth to that, but unfortunately the Western donors went so deeply into bed with Hassan Sheikh from the beginning in a desperate hope for a 'new day' in Somalia that it's too late to pull out now. The only option is to see him to the end of his Presidential term and hope a few of the milestones of the 'Vision 2016' get accomplished in the remaining period.

  8. Posted

    Thefuturenow,

     

    Interesting to read your posts. Where do you think this disagreement between the Prez and PM will eventually lead? Hassan Sheikh seems to possess the plurality to fire the PM in Parliament, yet supporters of the PM have been effective in blocking that vote via parliamentary disturbances. The Speaker also seems quick to close the session in both instances, hinting he might not want the vote to go ahead. This is a possibility given the rise of his Bay&Bakool political nemesis, Sharif Hassan, in winning the Presidency of the new South-Western regional state. Not to mention the Western donor pressure on the Speaker to assist in mediating the dispute between the President and the Speaker.

     

    As for your prognosis on the leading candidates Hassan Sheikh has in mind to replace the current PM, you are correct in Xalane as one of them(according to my humble sources), but the other individual is currently not in contention. Xalane who hails from the ONLF community is one of 3 candidates on the President's shortlist of replacement PMs. The other two are from the Sool and Puntland communities. It seems the Gedo community will be sidelined once again in the usual Somalia musical chairs unless the current PM remains in office. The PM, by the way, has made attempts to reconcile in the past 10 days but the President is adamant that he must go.

     

  9. Posted

    Galbeedi,

    What's with this Ottawa community of Awdalites that's tirelessly working for the demise of Somaliland for 20 years now? Don't you guys ever give up the ghost? Is it the usual Somali clan-ego in the 'qurba-coffee shop' where the rival clan member insulted you to the point of no-return?

     

    This current surfaced its head with the inauguration of Awdal University in the early 1999-2000 era but the university was slowly integrated into the Somaliland fabric over time. Recently we saw the drums beat for the Awdal-Land project with its absentee President(currently missing in action like so many diaspora projects before it).

     

    Isn't the real problem with this dream the Awdalites on the ground in Somaliland who are far too vested in the Somaliland project to pull back now? Or is it the never-ending competition between Awdal sub-clans and prominent personalities that forever hobbles this dream?

     

    Thus far, the people on the ground in Awdal have made their peace with the Somaliland reality and share the ups &downs of Somaliland. Are there clan grievances? Of course! But how is it any different from the sub-clan grievances of the Habros when another wing is holding power?

  10. Posted

    If you take out the spin by the respective supporters of the FG President and PM, the US finds itself in a difficult situation. The US surprised the world by fully vesting itself in the still embroyic Hassan Sheik FG by granting immediate 'State-to-State' recognition shortly after the formation of this administration, an unprecedented step denied to all previous Somali political constructs. This was done without any signs of forward movement on 'State-Building'. It was simply based on a hope that the prestige of U.S. legitimacy would help a broken system work better this time.

     

    One must remember that 'State-policy' is formed and executed by individual human beings, both in Somalia and the US. Many professional reputations are on the line within Western capitals, especially in Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC (if the Hassan Sheikh FG follows the footsteps of the A. Yusuf and Sheikh Sharif administrations in the road to failure).

     

    There's also a Western annoyance with the role of certain regional States in the Muslim world in using their overflowing cash coffers to influence Somali politics for their own regional interests. This at a time when Western treasuries are squeezed tight by the aftermath of 'The Great Recession' and budget cuts. Hence, the Western hysteria over parliamentary MP vote-buying, as if this is something new to Mogadishu parliaments.

     

    Ultimately, U.S. and Western interests are concerned with Somalia primarily from a security/extremist prevention strategy so Somalia doesn't continue to play its recent role as a great destabilizer of far-greater Western interests in the Greater East African region

  11. Posted

    If you take out the spin by the respective supporters of the FG President and PM, the US finds itself in a difficult situation. The US surprised the world by fully vesting itself in the still embroyic Hassan Sheik FG by granting immediate 'State-to-State' recognition shortly after the formation of this administration, an unprecedented step denied to all previous Somali political constructs. This was done without any signs of forward movement on 'State-Building'. It was simply based on a hope that the prestige of U.S. legitimacy would help a broken system work better this time.

     

    One must remember that 'State-policy' is formed and executed by individual human beings, both in Somalia and the US. Many professional reputations are on the line within Western capitals, especially in Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC (if the Hassan Sheikh FG follows the footsteps of the A. Yusuf and Sheikh Sharif administrations in the road to failure).

     

    There's also a Western annoyance with the role of certain regional States in the Muslim world in using their overflowing cash coffers to influence Somali politics for their own regional interests. This at a time when Western treasuries are squeezed tight by the aftermath of 'The Great Recession' and budget cuts. Hence, the Western hysteria over parliamentary MP vote-buying, as if this is something new to Mogadishu parliaments.

     

    Ultimately, U.S. and Western interests are concerned with Somalia primarily from a security/extremist prevention strategy so Somalia doesn't continue to play its recent role as a great destabilizer of far-greater Western interests in the Greater East African region

  12. Posted

    Mr. Future,

     

    Regardless of who you support in this latest Somali political tussle, your analysis is far more clear-sighted than many on this Board who are unable to separate their 'wishes' from 'the reality'.

     

    You predicted that Hassan Sheikh would put the Parliamentary motion into play and be able to muster the votes to unseat his PM. Many on this Board said that would be an impossibility this time for the FG President since the Western donors expressed discomfort with that route.

     

    We'll see in the next few days which prediction is proven accurate.

  13. Posted

    Actually, both photos are extremely doctored/modified to score cheap points. On one, the young man's face who married the 2 ladies has been changed to a far older man's face. On the second one, the Somaliland flag has been photoshopped in the rear upper left corner to drive home a point for the poster.

     

    The difference in the 2 cases of North and South is that: Somaliland on its own dealt with the issue of the European man's sexual actions within Hargeisa. He was outed and deported from the country without any external, non-Somali involvement. Yet in the South, human rights violations such as the rape of young women are primarily brought to light by external Western NGOs and are treated as annoying distractions by the political elite in Mogadishu (getting in the way of their larger power-games).

     

    That's the 'real' difference between the two situations.

  14. Posted

    Kenyatta keeps position on border issue

    19 September 2014

    The Indian Ocean Newsletter

    Copyrights 2014 Indigo Publications All Rights Reserved

    Uhuru Kenyatta is intransigent on the dispute with Somalia over the demarcation of the maritime boundary.

     

    The Kenyan diplomats are desperately trying to persuade their President Uhuru Kenyatta, to accept to have a meeting with his Somalian opposite number Hassan Sheikh Mahamud while they are both in New York for the 69th United Nations General Assembly. But Kenyatta will only contemplate having such a meeting in Nairobi; he considers New York would not be a suitable place to discuss their disagreement on the maritime boundary and oil exploration in the corresponding offshore zone. Moreover, he is in a huff because he did not appreciate Mogadishu taking the matter to the International Court of Fustice (ICJ) in The Hague (ION 1386). He has placed the condition that Somalia withdraw its complaint with the ICJ before resuming discussions.

     

    Meanwhile, the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Amina Mohamed, is lobbying Vice President William Ruto, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Joseph Kinyua and the heads of the defence and security services to bring the president round to a more flexible position. The president tends to believe that the dispute could be settled merely by holding discussions between technical teams from the two countries.

  15. Posted

    Oodka,

    I understand the point you make regarding the 'educational system'. But an educational system in a 'colony' is structured differently from the educational system of the 'mother country'. The former is designed to perpetuate the supremacy of the colonialist in regards to the colonized. In other words, 'to know your place'. Hence, why most former colonies drastically change their curriculum after independence. One can argue that when you've been trained to follow and work in a system unquestioningly, you'll seek a replacement system to continue that work after the departure of the former system.

     

    While only Allah knows the full truth, one can(in hindsight) surmise that Northern educated elites were ill-prepared to make that move to 'policy-making' and 'strategic maneuvering' after independence.

     

    ......I'm extremely simplifying the situation by leaving out the perennial Somali problem of clan competition out of the equation.

     

    Galbeedi,

    As Oodweyne wrote earlier, we are awaiting your continued analysis. It would also be helpful to read a parallel study of what went wrong in the South, something I have yet to see in all my years on this Forum.

  16. Posted

    <cite>
    said:</cite>

    Minted I really don't care about the media or even religions, the bible has a lot of crazy stuff as well. But to counter Islamaphobes, we need to been able to distinguish between these crazy jihadists and the mainstream. Polls conducted in over 30 countries make this harder if not impossible in that views held by clear majority of people are no different then the jihadist. Should apostates or gays be killed? Should women be equal to men?

     

     

    Were women equal to men in Western societies before equal educational opportunities for girls vis-a-vis boys? No, they weren't. Are women equal in China, Russia, India etc.? Are not gays hounded and harassed in Putin's Russia? Or Christian-led Uganda? Are there not mass killings of Muslims in Myanmar/Burma, Sri Lanka, India(where the current Prime Minister was denied a US Visa in the past for his role in the killings of Muslims) etc.? Education, equal opportunity and development encourage humanistic practices in societies regardless of belief-systems.

     

    I do agree that more needs to be done by our communities in the West to shame and silence the extremists within our growing immigrant communities.

  17. Posted

    Could we throw in there that educated 'Northerners' were trained under a British colonial system that was designed to train low-level civil servants so the system runs efficiently? This was in contrast to being trained to be 'policy-makers'.

     

    While the educational system the Italians ran in the South was designed to only allow the indigenous Somalis to reach 'intermediate-school' levels, Southern politicians were far more concerned with grabbing the top-seat immediately regardless of ideology (whether Socialist or Capitalist). They were far quicker to understand the 'power-game' than the Northerners (with the departure of the colonialists).

  18. Posted

    <cite>
    said:</cite>

    I am one of those people who use to say that most Muslims are peaceful blah blah blah. But how do you are argue against facts? Polls do show that most Muslims hold similar views to these extremest.

     

     

     

     

    You're conflating several issues here. Just yesterday, an Australian man was found to have dismembered and then cooked his Indonesian girlfriend (http://news.sky.com/story/1348040/australian-chef-kills-and-cooks-girlfriend). I'm assuming the Indonesian was Muslim... Now, the media never brings his 'Christian' religion into the equation when dissecting his actions. His profession as a 'chef' is seen as more pertinent to the news story than his religion. However, if the situation was reversed the headline would read 'Muslim slaughters Australian'.

     

    The issues of the diverse Muslim world have far more to do with sub-par political and economic development than religion. Having said that, Muslims have been woefully inadequate in their image management in the Western world. Hopefully, newer generations born and raised in the West will do a better job at public relations than their parents generation.

     

    Remember, people, we are now part of these societies and must participate in all aspects of civic life. Acceptance and trust are earned, not readily given..... Human nature.

  20. Posted

    <cite>
    said:</cite>

    no where does the report or the Djiboutian authorities say they only said they crossed from Somaliland and Ethiopia that proves little we only have their names not the cities they hail or clan they hail from.

     

    Xaaji,

     

    Why do you even bother responding? Iska daa. This is simply the latest story told in 'Cafe Calaacal' to make another long day in exile bearable!

     

    The younger Somalilanders should refrain from insulting whole communities of the South, given many posters misrepresent what community they come from.

  21. Posted

    Xaaji Xunjuf;984244 wrote:
    Xaglatoosiye said what i said before hal qawmiyad baynu nahay telling the world that we are one Ethnic Nation. Second he also said 26 June 1960 is essential i believe those few days that Somaliland was an independent state were crucial. And thats when we became an independent state, and its 18 may is not Somalilands independence day its when Somaliland reclaimed its statehood. So Xaglo is right on this. I think Xaglatoosiye reads SOL.

     

     

    Xaglatoosiye needs to earn that salary and preach that 'speech' in the disgruntled gatherings of his 'qurbaawi kin' whether in Nairobi, Europe, Canada, or the U.S.

     

     

    P.S. Xaaji, welcome back ;)

  22. Posted

    *Ibtisam;984235 wrote:
    Horta- why do people thinking that if they add "lol" at the end of the sentence it makes it funny or less... well silly! lol

     

    Police uniforms are generically similarly globally and mostly designed to suit regional weather conditions- there is nothign unique about them. How often do you see purple, yellow or pink uniforms.

     

    P.s.s.
    Also the uniform existed before Siad Barre- I have seen pictures before his little dictatorship.
    :)
    lets not pretend Somali history started with him.

     

    Will cusb: Thanks for posting them

     

     

    Ibtisam,

     

    What you don't understand is that 'for some people, their family history started with M. Siyad Barre!'

  23. Posted

    malistar2012;983547 wrote:
    Governor Yussur Abrar is in Mogadishu this is today

     

    saacid-kormeeroska_3.jpg

     

    Ra’iisul Wasaaraha ayaa ugu horeyntii kormeerkiisan ku tegay xarunta Bankiga dhexe ee Soomaaliyeed, halkaasoo uu kula kulmay madaxda Bankiga, isaga oo ka dhegeystay warbixin Maaliyadeedka dawladda iyo horumarka ay hiigsanayaan.

     

     

     

     

    Mintid Farayar;983553 wrote:
    I've not yet confirmed the 'resignation' story....
    However, I'm sure of one thing: the lady in the above picture is most certainly not Yussur Abrar. Try again.....

    Marksman;983557 wrote:
    You can tell that from her nose?

     

     

    Dalmar1;983563 wrote:
    Gov%252520Abrar_imf4.jpg

     

    Compare the two pictures above by looking at her nose and the gold band on her right wrist !

     

     

     

     

    Some argue for the sake of arguing only. A terrible habit among some of our people! We've told you several times during the day the resignation rumors surfaced that the lady in the pic with the PM was not Yussur. Yet to cover a gov't they blindly support(Mog. regime), some insist on posting misleading news stories from Hiiraan Online with a lady sitting with the PM. To confuse the gullible diaspora Somalis that Yussur is still there.

     

    Well, the story in now out in public straight from the pages of the international media. So the Mog. media has no choice but to report on it with their own spin.

  24. Posted

    Baashi;983571 wrote:
    ^
    :)

     

    Charcoal might not banned due to decertification but it has nothing to do with the emergence of JL. You are not out of the woods yet bud
    :)
    That said, I relied on recollection there.

    LOL...

     

    Since you brought up the old 'charcoal' thread, let me rub some friendly salt in the wound ;)

     

    Here's the main editorial this week from the lips of the influential Bloomberg Financial News Service.

    After reading it, return to our old 'charcoal' thread and see if it now makes sense to you.

     

    Aaaah, if I could only get paid for this free education I provide to certain corners......

     

     

     

    ______________________________________________________________________

    To Fight al-Shabaab, Clean Up Somalia

    By the Editors Oct 28, 2013 2:00 AM GMT+0400

     

    In the wake of the barbarous attack on Kenya’s Westgate shopping mall last month, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wants decisive action against the group responsible for at least 67 deaths, the Somalia-based al-Shabaab.

    He proposes adding 4,000 African Union troops to the 18,000 already in Somalia and providing the forces with attack helicopters and other advanced equipment so they can pursue al-Shabaab in its sanctuaries in the rural south.

    The idea sounds reasonable. In addition to attacking Kenya, al-Shabaab struck Uganda in 2010, killing more than 70 people, and this year it has repeatedly assaulted Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. The group controls parts of southern Somalia, including the port of Baraawe, from which U.S. commandos retreated under fire earlier this month, having failed to capture an al-Shabaab commander.

    Before the UN expands the role of the AU troops, however, it should first work to clean up the mission. One of its components, the 4,600-strong Kenyan contingent, has been a force for ill as much as good in the effort to stabilize Somalia; its corruption is even helping to enrich al-Shabaab.

    The Kenyan troops have been instrumental in ejecting al-Shabaab from its urban strongholds, notably the city of Kismayo in September 2012. The port had been key to al-Shabaab’s $25 million a year in earnings from the export of charcoal made from acacia trees. The razing of trees for this trade has turned lush areas of Somalia into deserts, which contributed to a famine in 2010 and 2011 that killed 260,000 people, according to the UN’s estimate. In 2012, the UN Security Council banned the import and export of Somali charcoal.

    One might have expected the Kenyans, once in control of Kismayo, to enforce the export ban. Instead, they collaborated with the Ras Kamboni militia led by a former al-Shabaab ally to increase violations. By July 2013, Somalia’s charcoal exports had risen 140 percent.

    The trade at Kismayo is divided between Kenyan business interests, Ras Kamboni and, astonishingly, al-Shabaab. People connected to the group control a third of the exports, and al-Shabaab continues to tax trucks heading to Kismayo. With the income from exports from Baraawe, the charcoal trade is earning al-Shabaab more than ever, the UN estimates.

    So before pushing to expand the AU force -- which the UN supports logistically -- Ban should first require that the Kenyan contingent respect the charcoal sanctions. The U.S., which has provided training and other assistance for the Kenyans, and the European Union, which pays their allowances, should second the demand.

    Ending the Kenyans’ corruption is essential to repairing the AU mission’s credibility, as well as the UN’s. Cutting off al-Shabaab’s charcoal profits would also make the group more vulnerable to Ban’s proposed assault on its remaining refuges.

     

     

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-27/combating-corruption-in-somalia.html

  25. Posted

    Baashi;983568 wrote:
    As Mintid often claims he passes himself of as an insider privy to top secret information and when he sensed folks in the forum have their doubts about his claims, he decided to make some of that inside information available to the forum. It was the charcoal issue
    discussed in the UN in the context of desertification of the region
    . As it turned out it was nothing of the sort and had nothing to do with imminent failure of the outing of the nascent JL state. It was the charcoal issue
    discussed in the UN in the context of desertification of the region
    . Nevertheless he tried to spin it out of proportion

     

     

    Speaking of parallel universes, it was because of desertification(according to our friends above) that Somali charcoal was banned by the Security Council, as well as the U.S. government.

     

    Here's an excerpt from Reuters:

    'The Security Council banned the export of charcoal from Somalia in February 2012 to cut off one of the main sources of income for al Shabaab, which has been fighting for control of Somalia for years and enforces a strict version of sharia law in the areas it occupies.'

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/14/us-somalia-charcoal-un-idUSBRE96D01A20130714

     

    Meanwhile, the U.S. government piled on with this:

    'President Barack Obama has targeted the export of charcoal from war-torn Somalia, the sales of which help finance an al Qaeda-affiliated group, the State Department said Friday.'

    http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/20/obama-moves-on-charcoal-ban-from-somalia/

     

    But good old Baashe would have us believe it's because of environmental concern that the world has become so concerned with Somalia's charcoal industry.

     

    I wonder who's spinning, or maybe smoking what ;)

     

     

    P.S. It's interesting to see some still nursing the 'wounds' from the forgotten (till now) charcoal debate. Stiffen that spine, gentlemen, ..... Tomorrow is a brand new day ;)