'Rer hebel' syndrome – Somalia’s clan cancer.

If there is any single invention that might be a national hit in Somalia it would probably be an anti-clan pill which once ingested automatically reduces the level of adrenaline released into the blood of a Somali to reduce the clan madness, affinity and allegiance beyond reason in the name of equally defending his clan rights or wrongdoing.

And If you really want to know how we Somalis react to any negative connotations against our clan just check the comments section of the tens of thousands of Somali websites available online. Social media has not been spared either as Facebook and twitter lead in that front. Almost all articles, opinions and news carry a comment section where ordinary readers most of who are Somalis themselves express their views.

Let me state clearly here that this article is never intended to ridicule or negatively impact the quoted websites, writers or contributors but rather to simply justify my point that clan interests often blind us and surpass national interest pulling us down into the abyss of clan chauvinism.

For the record the worst offenders and supporters of this backward reasoning are the elite and the most learned amongst us Somalis. Yes, I have said it and its the damn truth. It is so sad that those of us who are learned and who ought to led the ignorant majority are the worst offenders and misusers of the clan card?

Really? No wonder Somalia is taking too long to heal and settle because of this double faced clan card the learned folks keeping pulling.

Can the real Somali in us stand up?

With the above self explanatory personal plea not to turn this observation into one-big-clan-ball, sample the following links I randomly picked from several Somali websites. This does not endorse or implicate the said sites but rather is intended to be viewed as an example. I must also admit apart from some of the hate filled responses, I found some remarks rib-crackingly funny!


1. http://www.hiiraan.com/op4/2014/jan/52852/clan_federalism_poison_injected_in_the_somali_mind.aspx

Check out some of the comments:


Jama fartaag· Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Honestly this person is clueless go and see whether Mogadishu is one clan city or not before you jump to wrong fake conclusion.

The only way out Somali problem is federalism with democracy. When implement good federal system 95% Somalis will feel more comfortable where they live within Somali territory.


Yixisqil Xababaaq · Top Commenter · Works at Self-Employed

OH MY GOD WHEN I SEE YOUR NAME IS CULUSOW THEN I UNDERSTAND THAT WATEVER YOU WRITE OR SAY WILL BE USELESS BECAUSE YOU ARE SIMBLY CULUSOW AND CULOW HAVE NO BRAIN AT ALL WHERE HAVE U BEEN IN 1991 OR DID YOU BORN AFTER THAT. GO TO HELL WITH YOUR "CAQLI XUMO NACASYOW TOOGAA" - Useless brainless thief


Janno Gale · Top Commenter · Iska waran secondary school

Kuwaan daaroodka sheegtaa waxay ku oran lahaayeen sidaan Mr Culusoowoow.

These people who claim to be Darood (Clan) should have said the following to Mr. Ulusow

He goes ahead to post a Somali poem that starts like this:

Mar haddaad Hawiye tahay - As a Hawiye (Clan)
Aniguna Daarood ahay - And am a Darod (Clan)


ashekow (signed in using yahoo)

Ahmed Said; Dr. Ulusow has never been against federalism. He is only against the clan based federalism. The system itself has no problem. Today's Somali federalism is neither good for Somalis in general nor make anything to the clans orchestrating today. It is misguided and badly designed federal system. What kind of federal system can call the defection of its federal government? It is a joke bro!


Tanadeh Tanaad · Top Commenter · Stanley, Falkland Islands

This guy must be getting social welfare. He has all the time in the world to author this puerile articles every now and then.

PM Sharmarke should appoint this guy for a post in the local government of GURICEEL so he can shut up for good.


Usama Farah · Top Commenter · Perth, Western Australia

Puerile? I wonder what makes you say that. They guy seems to have legitimate talking points.


2. http://hiiraan.com/news4/2015/Feb/98139/djiboutian_in_fight_for_fortune.aspx - This is a story about a Djiboutian opposition tycoon accused of links to terrorism.

Check out some of the comments:

sigmasoma1 (signed in using AOL)

Well, there were one dictator and one thief. The thief was the right hand man of the dictator but the thief put his hand deep into the dictator's pocket. The dictator felt it and tried to grab the thief's hand but he skipped and disappeared into the bush. Now the dictator has to catch the thief so this damn ass is worse then the dictator.

gedigedow (signed in using yahoo)

who is this arab man mothers fuckers this is somali land


Ali Abdi · Top Commenter

SOMALI-Aamaanadii buu labaxsade, markii horeeba soo isagu xoolihii shacabka lagadhace nin carab ah gacanta umagalinin?

ENGLIS-He fled with whatever he was entrusted with, in the first place isn't he who handed over the public wealth to an An Arab?



Zami @ 2/14/2015 12:36 PM EST


Top Three Somali Traitors

1) Abdullahi Yusuf
2) Hassan Sheikh
3) Omar Guelleh



wiifgarow @ 2/14/2015 9:19 AM EST


This Arab is an Isse (A CLAN). Only his actions make an Arab. All Mankind are Issas and All are Equl. I suppose you are not familiar with either of those declarations mr Bashir


bashir326 @ 2/13/2015 6:05 AM EST

Woow
Is this a joke or a bad dream?
This onion chewing ARAB wanted to become the president of Djibouti.
This is not Yemen my friend.

---------

This is now me speaking! Surely, the above conversations are just but a tip of the iceberg!


Back to my point about the clan madness amongst Somalis, I sometimes wonder what can Somalia really do to undo the chest thumping and superiority complex around the myriads of clans which people continue to kill for, steal for or even shamelessly defend it with their own blood and pride.

I wish I knew a way out of this complex and sensitive issue that touches on our own very existence.
You meet a Somali man anywhere, after the normal greetings the next question he would most likely throw at you is always this:

Warya adigu yad tahay?

Hey, what clan are you?

You are expected to say your clan, sub clan, sub-sub clan down to your family.
I used to try to avoid answering this question but over the years my resistance has somehow faded largely due to the numerous arguments my resistant has led to.

So what makes us so intertwined with our clans? why is the clan issue so important in Somalia?
The answer to that lies in how our forefathers used the clan for personal gain and protection. During those old days, the clan protected you and your precious herd of camels from robbed by other rival clansmen, which was the order of the day then as riches amongst Somalis then so measured on how much camels you had. The more camels a man had the richer and nobler he was!

Times have changed my fellow Somalis, we no longer keep camels or live in those old days. Can we sober up please and stop being so trivial.

A simple Somali man in the streets working so hard to earn a decent life is simply Mohamed, Ali, Warsame or Guled. But as soon as he becomes rich or famous then he becomes Abgal, Marehan or Habar gidir.
What is this nonsense?

As Muslims this is actually contrary to the teachings of Islam. Allah says in the Holly Qur’an in Surah al-Hujurat Chapter 49, Verse 13: "O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of God is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And God has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things".

Even with this clear verse that is well known by many Somalis, we continue to look at each other along clan and tribal lines and segregate against each other or look down on one another.

I sincerely hope we will learn from our mistakes and stop making a fool out of ourselves. This madness must stop and we have not love each other and stop the bloody war that continues to rob us of our sons, daughters, mothers and fathers.

If we don't stop, we might end up having no more Somalis because at this rate we are killing each other on flimsy grounds of tribal or sectarian beliefs, then God forbid, we might as well as disappear on the face of the planet.

Peace, salam, nadab!

Somalia independence week celebrations kick off in Mogadishu

Mogadishu, June 26, 2015 - Today is 26 June the day when the Somalia flag was hoisted for the first ahead of full independence 4 days later on the 1st of July 1960

In the capital Mogadishu, celebrations to kick off the independence week started have started in earnest as hundreds of people, politicians, security officials and members of the diplomatic community converged at the Mogadishu mayors official residence for a Somali flag hoisting event in commemoration of the 26 June when the sky blue flag with a 5 pointed star was first hoisted in Mogadishu 55 years ago at the same venue.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud led the nation in the celebrations which was also attended by the Prime Minister, ministers and other leaders.

President Hassan wished all Somalis a happy birthday and urged them to desist from being used to break or cause havoc in the country reminding the people that Somalia is on course to reclaim its place among world nations and called upon the Somali people to redouble their efforts and to work and support the government ongoing efforts at reviving the Somalia sovereignty with the help of the world.

Celebrations to mark the Somalia independence week is expected to continue culminating with actual Independence Day celebration on the 1st July.

Luis Suarez, the best and yet bad-boy of world football.

Its 2:26am Mogadishu time and am glued on my TV set watching the mouth watering quarter final clash between hosts Chile and cup holders Uruguay in the first game of the knock out stage of this years Copa America in Santiago, Chile, South America.

While looking at the Uruguay line up, I overhead the English commentator describe the Uruguayan national team as the "Cup holders who have struggled to score".

This statement forced me look at the Uruguay line up and its only then that I realized why the cup holders have struggled to score. The answer is Luis Suarez.

The 28 year old Suarez might still been infamously remembered for the wrong reasons like biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini or his racist chant against former Manchester United black French player Patrice Evra by calling him a monkey.

Suarez was banned in both occasions and is actually conspicuously missing from this years Copa America finals for his lengthy FIFA ban for biting Chiellini.

Love or hate him, Suarez is wonderfully gifted player and simply one of the best strikers in the world at the moment. He has just helped his club Barcelona from winning the coveted UEFA Champions League after beating Italian powerhouse Juventus in the 2014-14 finals played in Berlin, Germany .

Two things made me remember Suarez that are both interconnected and which I believe could easily summarize why I highly rate the Uruguayan striker.

When the shot tempered Suarez left Liverpool following his lengthy FIFA ban, the Merseyside club struggled to find his replacement as his goals, his runs and his constant menace and terror on defenders was solely missed by Liverpool prompting the Merseyside club to finish a lowly 6th position and 25 points adrift of champions Chelsea.

Liverpool definitely missed Suarez's services and more importantly his goals.

Now that he is missing for Uruguay, its no wonder they have struggled to score in the Copa America, which they won thanks to Suarez's magic. He scored four goals then and was voted the player of the tournament for helping his country win the fourth Copa America cup. He is also his country's all time goal scorer with 40 goals.

So what makes Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz special?

well, he is a fighter, a goal poacher and a workaholic striker who makes life very difficult for defenders. When he is not busy biting, abusing or hitting defenders, he is happy scoring from all angles whether its by scraping a goal from no where, or dancing his way through defenses or simply by scoring from a dead ball situation or free kick for those who are not familiar with some of weirdest of football terminologies which beats common knowledge like dead ball!

By Guled Mohamed.

When Guled is not thinking, watching or writing about football he is busy writing about Somalia in his capacity as a journalist, blogger and or public relations /strategic communication expert. Follow Guled on twitter: @guledke

Kenyan public find themselves between a hard place and a rock

Al-Shabaab has attacked again, but at least this time round they decided to be men enough and attacked a Kenyan military base in Lamu and of course they were not only repelled but were killed like insects dying from a deadline insect repellent or spray losing 10 of their fighters as well as a cache of weapons and ammunition including rocket propelled grenades and automatic rifles.
This does not mean that I condone this barbaric groups attack whatsoever but we know in the past they had gone for soft targets and killings of innocent unarmed people so now that they have at least tried their luck in vain at a military target it’s a positive move even though generally committing such heinous attacks anywhere is simply against the true teachings of Islam which the group has continuously maligned.

My biggest worry however is the effects of such Al-Shabaab attacks on ordinary people. Whenever you speak to residents of any site of a terror attack anywhere in Kenya their story of grief is always the same, that they find themselves between these vagabond attackers who have no regards for life whatsoever as well as our own trigger happy security personnel who instead of going for the real culprits simply round off any Dick and Harry, beat them up and lock them in the name of a security crackdown.
We all know what unfortunately happened in Garissa when unknown gunmen killed military personnel sometimes last year. A military unit descended on the town of Garissa, rounded up locals, beat them up and did not only stop there but went ahead and burnt “Suuq mugdi” market which is the main source of livelihood for many Garissa residents.

This was not only uncalled for but counterproductive because you simply loose trust of the people you swore to protect as well as destroy the same country you also swore to protect because as far as I know Garissa is in Kenya. Some people have even compared the governments reaction to the Garissa attack and the cold blood murder of so many police officers in Kapedo which the government never retaliated like in Garissa when in reality more security personnel were unfortunately killed in Kapedo than Garissa.

This double standard should stop because no life is sacred than the other and the government must treat all Kenyans equal because true justice knows no tribe or region. Unless of course.

I believe the government has a plan to fight off or prevent such terror attacks which I do not want to know because it is prerogative of the government of the day to provide security, but what disturbs me is the security agent’s reaction whenever they are deployed to scenes of such attacks.

Assuming everyone is a suspect, rounding innocent people, beating them and locking them up is not how to respond to such heinous terror attacks. If this is indeed in the government plan then it is wrong and must be stopped otherwise we might not see any difference between terrorist and professional soldiers or police who are trained with the tax payers money and are supposed to protect people and the country. This jungle rule must stop and security agencies should be the first ones to uphold the rule of law and protect human rights of suspects because at the end of the someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

It is therefore unfortunate that many Kenyans who are victims of these terror attacks often find themselves between a hard place and a rock, because Al-Shabaab is out to kill them and the government which is meant to protect them comes round to harass, beat them up and destroy their property. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that turning against your own people is wrong and am sure this is not a directive from President Uhuru Kenya because our President is a gentleman.

If that is the case, who then has the balls to order hits and public harassment and intimidation like what happened in Garissa.



Guled Mohamed is a strategic communications consultant. The views expressed here are his own.

Will this be Argentina's year to end their cup drought?

Blessed with perhaps the most talented of footballers in the world with the likes of the worlds best player Lionel Messi and other top players like Aguero, Di Maria, Pastore and Mascherano just to name but a few, Argentina is again considered by book makers as the favorite to lift this year Copa America cup to end their drought spell.

But will this be the year for Argentina to end their cup drought?

The South American football powerhouse comes into the Copa America tournament straight from reaching the finals of the last World Cup which is likely to spur them to do better by trying to win.

Messi has just helped Barcelona win a treble of cups including the much more coveted UEFA Champions League which will go along way to encourage the little football wizard to power his country into glory to cement his place among the best Argentina has produced like Maradona.

Argentina's opening match of the Copa America against Paraguay ended in disapointingly 2-2 draw.

This tournament couldnt have come at a better time for Argentina who now enjoys a good form.

Will they ever rise up to their potential? Time will tell.