Xisbiga Somaliland People’s Party
Waxaa uu waraaq furan ( An Open letter u dirayaa beesha caalamka dawlada U.K. USA , GERMANY. EU , U.N
Waxa Xisbiga Somaliland people’s party Ugu baaqaya beesha caalmaka In aay Diirigaliyaan demoqradiyadda islamarkasina joojiyaan qarshayasha aanay ka fiirsan ee siddaa bilaa xisaabta ah aay u maalgalinayaan Somalia/ Somaliland.
On behalf of my party, I address the international community, in particular the US President, Donald Trump, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, as well as the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and the French President, Emanuel Macron.
I urge them to support our call for reform of the foreign aid given to Somalia/Somaliland and request that the above countries cease giving uncritical support and funding to the current administrations of both Somalia and Somaliland. Our main areas of concern are: the lack of democracy in Somaliland; the high level of corruption which results in the theft of international aid; the increasing lawlessness which results in crime perpetrated by terrorist groups and protection rackets; and the need for international protection of our reserves of uranium.
Although no local and parliamentary elections have taken place since 2005, those elected 15 years ago in one term still sit in parliament in Somaliland, where they have delayed time and time again any election that should have taken place. Sitting illegally for nearly two decades, we don’t see how these putative representatives serve the interests of either the tax payers of the international community or the people of both Somalia and Somaliland.
In southern Somalia, the so-called Somali federal government in Mogadishu has been telling the world they were going to hold One Man One Vote (OMOV) elections for many years and saying the international community supported their efforts. However, this initiative of OMOV is apparently now no longer on the agenda or likely to happen, although the president of the federal government is still saying they will hold OMOV elections. Instead, they uphold a highly corrupt system whereby only the parliament is entitled to elect the president, a system that they admitted several years ago is open to corruption and is highly undemocratic.
Reports have emerged that $18m in aid from the EU, Saudi Arabia and the UN has disappeared. The government received the funding but it did not pass through the Treasury’s account at the Central Bank. Although a small sum in comparison to the more than $50bn received by Somalia between 1991 and 2011, it is not the only money that has disappeared. Transparency International has listed Somalia as the world’s most corrupt country for 16 successive years. There was a chain of custody for the money, so it should not be difficult to ascertain to whom it passed and who lives beyond their means. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee should make it a condition of further aid that President Farmajo and PM Khaire account for the missing money.
In terms of the economies of both Somalia and Somaliland, we know － as it has been reported by several high level officials in Somalia and members of opposition parties, as well as by former presidents of Somalia － that most of the companies dealing in financial telecommunications are run by Islamic terrorist groups connected to Al-Shabaab. We know also that the groups have links to major businesses in Somalia and that some government departments such as ports and markets are forced to pay protection money to Al- Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab and pro-Islamic State militants in Somalia are engaged in an economic war, and it is the country’s business sector that is being caught in the crossfire. Somali businessmen and analysts say the rival Islamic groups are targeting companies to an unprecedented degree with demands for so-called ‘taxes’.
Al-Shabaab has strong-armed business owners for years to finance its war against the Somali government and the African peacekeepers who protect it. Now, Al-Shabaab is stepping up its demands, and pro-IS groups are apparently trying to fund their own activities by copying Shabaab’s tactics of pay up or pay the consequences. The groups are leaving a trail of corpses as a warning to those who don’t cooperate.
Hormuud Telecom, Somalia’s largest telecom, is believed to be behind the recent surge in attacks on Kenyan communication masts. The company, which aims to create a monopoly along the Kenyan border with Somalia, is alleged to be paying Al-Shabaab up to US$3m to destroy the masts, which enables the terrorist group to finance its operations.
Many other telecom companies have also been forced into extortion, according to a report from think-tank International Policy Group. The report claims that random attacks on people and property are supported by Hormuud technology, which enables terrorists to be paid through mobile money, or connectivity to be disrupted so that Somali security agents cannot track the movement of attackers.
With regard to the protection of Somalia’s uranium deposits, news outlets based in the USA say they have confirmed the authenticity of a letter, dated August 11, from the Somali government, appealing urgently for US military assistance to prevent a resurgent Al-Shabaab from mining uranium and sending it to Iran. Al-Shabaab forces have captured critical surface-exposed uranium deposits in the Galmudug region and are strip-mining triuranium octoxide for delivery to Iran.
Somalia’s sizeable reserves, the second largest in Africa, have been known about since the 1980s, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEG) documents that map surface-level deposits in and around the Galmudug region, and are, therefore, of interest to countries such as China, Turkey, Taiwan, the UAE, Qatar and Russia. Without proper security in place, our valuable reserves are vulnerable to theft.
Most, if not all, of the proceeds of internationally funded projects find their way to Al-Shabaab by one means or another.
Therefore, we are adamant that this must be stopped.The international community, in particular the UK, USA and some European countries, are not doing enough to stop the high level corruption and terrorist business activities.
In summary, we urge the heads of government in France, Germany, the UK and USA to change the method of donating international aid to Somaliland so that the money does not end up in the hands of corrupt politicians and terrorist groups. We also require urgent assistance from the IAEG to protect our uranium and ensure it is not sold to undemocratic governments and terrorist groups.
Dr Saciid.H.Diiriye
Chairman: Somaliland People’s party
Contact: 00447405030025
London U.K.
