After three days of meetings - by day at the African Union headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, by night in the sumptuous Sheraton Hotel - three Somali presidents (from Mogadishu, Puntland and Galmudug), one Somali prime minister (from Mogadishu), one speaker of one Somali parliament (Mogadishu) and the head of one Islamic militia (the Sufi one, Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jama'a) have agreed on the latest way forward for the tortuous transition process.
After much debate, argument, shouting and hugging, they have agreed that on August 20 a New Somali President will be elected by a New Federal Parliament (which itself will be sworn in on July 20). In other words, they say they will meet the deadline (just).
The 'international community' (basically the Americans, the British and the United Nations) have spent a lot of time in the lobby of The Sheraton, either waiting for the six Somali delegations to arrive or huddling with different groups of Somalis, trying to get them to agree.
The member of one of the Somali delegations told me that the 'international community' told them they had a choice - meet the August 20 deadline or have the money supply stopped.
Before anything can happen, a couple of 'committees' or 'boards' have to be agreed and set up....
May 26 - Advisory Board of the Traditional Leaders who are supposed to select the constituent assembly (which will adopt the new constitution, itself a source of huge disagreement) and select the New Federal Parliament.
June 1 - Technical Selection Committee made up of 27 Somalis, 2 members of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) and 7 international observers.
Then the real business begins:
June 20 - Final list of delegates of National Constituent Assembly who will be given copies of the draft constitution.
July 2 - Opening ceremony of National Constituent Assembly.
July 15 - Technical Selection Committee to publish list of members of New Federal Parliament.
July 20 - Swearing in of New Federal Parliament.
August 4 - New Federal Parliament elects Speaker and Deputy Speakers.
August 20 - New Federal Parliament elects New Somali President (I wonder if the 'new' one will be the 'old' one Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed or a new one. At least 20 Somalis have told me they are running for President, and I have heard rumours about dozens of other potential candidates, including at least 2 women.)
I will end by quoting Point 13 of the Agreement:
The 6 Somali delegations have agreed "to emphasise that no delay or obstruction will be accepted by the Somali people or the International Community, and spoilers will be identified and named, and appropriate joint action by Somali and international stakeholders will be taken against them".
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Sunday, 20 May 2012
The Golden Bentley
Here's a piece I did for From Our Own Correspondent on BBC radio and for BBC Online. It's about my ride in a $500,000 car with a Somali millionaire in Dubai. Here's the car:
You can listen to the BBC radio piece here: The Golden Bentley
You can read the BBC Online story here: The Golden Bentley online
Somali merchants at the port
Paint waiting to be taken by dhow to Mogadishu
Somali women's clothes for sale in Dubai souk
T-shirt for sale in Dubai souk
Entrance to the gold souk
The interview with the Bentley owner
The Bentley
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
The Somali port of Berbera
This is a BBC report I did on the port of Berbera in Somaliland. More live animals are exported from Somali ports than anywhere else in the world. As you can see from the photos, the main animal exports are sheep, goats and camels. Getting camels onto a ship is quite a task; they have to be winched up on ropes. The sheep and goats are more obedient, even though they are going to certain death, as their meat is much loved by people in the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia.
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Somali women at work and play
Hodan - a Somali superwoman
The last time I visited Somaliland, I did a piece on women for the BBC World Service. You can listen to it here: http://soundcloud.com/maryharper-1/somali-women
Here is the online piece: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17728348
Edna Adan Ismail at home in the Edna Hospital
Hargeisa's first art gallery, started by a woman
Editor of The Bridge magazine, Amal Ismail
Women's gym in Hargeisa
Monday, 7 May 2012
Mogadishu then and now
.jpg)
These pictures of Mogadishu through the ages will be on display in Turkey later this month and in Nairobi next month. The exhibition is the dreamchild of the Kenyan writer and photojournalist, Rasna Warah, who gives more details below.
MOGADISHU THEN AND NOW
A
pictorial tribute to Africa’s most wounded city
4th
to 24th June 2012
Alliance
Française, Nairobi
For
the last two decades, Somalia’s capital city Mogadishu has been portrayed as a
war-torn no-go zone devoid of any history or culture. However, the city has a long history
that dates back to the 10th century when Arab and Persian traders
began settling there. Historical documents indicate that the city was a
traditional centre for Islam and an important hub for trade with communities
along the Indian Ocean coastline for centuries. From the early part of the 20th
century to the late 1980s, Mogadishu was known as one of the prettiest and most
cosmopolitan cities in Africa.
Mogadishu,
or Xamar, as it is known locally, literally means “The Seat of the Shah” (from
the Arabic Maq’adul Shah). When the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Batuta arrived
in Mogadishu in 1331, he described it as “an exceedingly large city” where
prosperous merchants sold the finest cloth, silver and gold jewellery. In 1871,
Mogadishu came under control of the Omani Sultan of Zanzibar, and twenty years
later, was leased to Italy, when it became the headquarters of Italian
Somaliland until independence in 1960. Development of Mogadishu to a modern metropolitan
city continued under successive post-independence governments until the advent
of the civil war in 1991, which saw various clans and factions fighting for
control of the city. For the next two decades, bloody battles were fought on
Mogadishu’s wide boulevards and in its historical quarters. Wars destroy
cities, and Mogadishu is no exception. Everywhere, there are shells of once
magnificent buildings that used to house government offices, museums, cinemas,
hotels, mosques, cathedrals and libraries.
Mogadishu
Then and Now is a photo exhibition that
showcases Somalia’s capital city in all its splendour prior to the civil war in
1991 and contrasts this with some of the devastation and destruction that can
be seen in the city today. The main aim of the exhibition is to allow present
and future generations of Somalis to learn about their rich heritage so that
they can work towards restoring and preserving it. It is hoped that the
exhibition will also inform future urban planning and design initiatives,
especially now that the international community is renewing and strengthening
its efforts to restore peace and stability in Somalia.
Mogadishu
Then and Now was conceived by Ms. Rasna Warah, a
Kenyan writer and photojournalist, who teamed up with Mohammud Diriye, the
former curator of the Mogadishu Museum, and Ismail Osman, a US-based activist
and telecommunications engineer, who helped organize and curate the exhibition.
It was first shown in Istanbul during the Conference on Somalia organized by the
Turkish Government from 31 May to 1 June 2012. Most of the photos in this
exhibition are from the collection of Mr. Diriye, who has carefully and
meticulously preserved them for years, while others are from Ms. Warah’s visit
to Mogadishu in November 2011. The exhibition will culminate in a book that
will be published in English, Somali and Turkish.
The
Mogadishu
Then and Now exhibition will be held at the Alliance Française in
Nairobi from 4th to 24th June 2012. It is dedicated to
Mogadishu’s children and youth, who have never known lasting peace, and is
sponsored by Yildiz Holding, a group of companies based in Turkey.
For further information, contact:
Rasna
Warah
|
|
Sunday, 6 May 2012
My book as an e-book
Getting Somalia Wrong is available for Kindle and other readers.
You can get it via these links:
Kindle version
http://www.ebooks.com/867037/getting-somalia-wrong/harper-mary/
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/mary+harper/getting+somalia+wrong3f+28ebook29/9077628/
It is also available as in PDF format:
http://www.hive.co.uk/ebook/getting-somalia-wrong/13642373/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)