Dry cleaning in Mogadishu

For the first time in a quarter of a century, Mogadishu has a dry cleaners. It was opened on 8 June 2012 by Mohamed Mohamoud Sheik, who celebrated his twenty-fourth birthday on the day he launched his new business. 

Suits are de rigeur for Somali politicians, businessmen and others, and until now, they had to be flown out to be dry cleaned in Nairobi, Kenya or other nearby countries.


I was recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where lots of Somalis were meeting (if you click on the link you will see many of them are wearing suits). I was chatting to a friend as large delegations of Somalis strolled past, all in suits. My friend was explaining how people had to fly their suits out of Somalia to be dry cleaned (and sure enough, one Somali politician walked past with a big bag of freshly dry cleaned suits), and how someone could make a lot of money (and help a lot of politicians, businessmen and other suit fans) by opening a dry cleaners in Mogadishu. Little did we know that a couple of weeks later, someone would do just that.


Here is a piece I wrote for BBC Online: Dry cleaning in Mogadishu

And here is an interview I recorded with Mohamed for the BBC: Mohamed talks to the BBC about his business

Happy Birthday Mohamed Mohamoud Sheik


This is a story I recorded for the BBC about the laundry: Somalia Premium Laundry

Here are some photos of the launch party

Mohamed Mohamoud Sheik and guests

 

Joyce Banda at Claridge's

I was invited by the Royal African Society to attend a breakfast meeting this morning with the new president of Malawi, Joyce Banda, at the posh London hotel, Claridge's.


I arrived a bit early which was lucky because I got distracted by the pretty tiles and odd flushing mechanism in the ladies' loos.

I also liked the 'rocking zebra' in the hall.

The main theme of the meeting was business so there were lots of busy and important businesspeople there. We sat around a big table and waited. And waited. And waited.


Although lots of presidents make people wait, I had expected Joyce Banda to be different. Since coming to power following the death in office on 5 April 2012 of President Bingu wa Mutharika, Mrs Banda has been a no-nonsense head of state. She has devalued the currency by more than thirty per cent, sacked the police chief, asked parliament to repeal the law banning homosexuality and put the presidential jet up for sale. I thought to myself this is a lady who seems to lack the usual presidential airs and graces, who should be here bang on time.


The important people around the table started to get agitated. Some of them left.

Eventually Mrs Banda arrived, looking quite splendid in matching brown and apricot colours.

She started off by doing something quite unpresidential. She apologised for being late. And instead of inventing some grand sounding excuse, she said that she had simply been having breakfast as she was under the impression her first meeting of the day started at 1030, not 0900. There had, she said, been a communication gap. 


Then she got down to business. She said she thanked God Malawians were standing by her because the decisions she had made during her first six weeks in power were so bold and radical that they could have ruined her political career. She said Malawians up and down the country had sung her praises when she went on tour, but warned "those songs could very well turn to stones in six months time".


She told us she had decided to sell the presidential jet: "In any case it was second hand," she joked, "and we have no need for such a thing".

Mrs Banda with the Director of the Royal African Society, Richard Dowden.

We were told she wants Malawi to be known as a mining nation, and that a mining faculty will be opened at one of the country's universities. Her special advisor on policy and strategy, Shyley Kondowe, listed some of Malawi's mineral resources. I was sitting next to him so got a good peek of the entire list. It went something like this: bauxite, uranium, rare earth minerals (11 million tonnes), corundum (the internet says it's a crystalline form of aluminium oxide), graphite, limestone, titanium, coal (5 billion tonnes), phosphate, gemstones, oil and gas (not really minerals), gold, plus a few more.

The Malawian army officer needed a rest after standing up for so long waiting for Mrs Banda.

Mrs Banda ended by apologising again for being late and saying that, as the first African woman president in the Southern African Development Community (and the second woman president in Africa), she would fail all African women if she failed. She said she was nothing special, saying "there are lots of Joyce Banda's where I come from". I'm not so sure.

US book tour

I am in the USA for a book tour. I will be speaking about Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State at the following venues. Please come if you can.

Tuesday, September 25 from 5-6.30pm

The Fletcher School, Tufts University, Boston, MA

* 5-5.30pm: Book signing in the Hall of Flags, Fletcher Building, 16o Packard Avenue, Medford, MA 02155-5815

* 5.30-6.30pm: Talk about my book, followed by question and answer session at the Fletcher Building, Cabot Intercultural Center, Room C206, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA 02155-5815

Wednesday, 26 September at 4pm
Room 202, Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Avenue, Yale University, New Haven, CA

Monday, 1 October at 2pm

United States Institute of Peace, 2301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20037
More details available via this link: Book event at USIP: Whither Somalia?

Tuesday, 2 October 

Private event hosted by the Centre on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, New York, NY

Wednesday, 3 October 

Private event at United Nations Headquarters hosted by the Social Science Research Council, New York, NY

Wednesday, 3 October from 1-3pm (a light lunch will be served)

Book launch with Professor Ken Menkhaus as the discussant at Quaker House, 247 East 48th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, New York, NY
This event is by invitation so if you want to come please send your email address to maryharper44@gmail.com and I will send you an invite.

The book will be available at the events. You can also buy it from Amazon and other outlets, and as an e-book. For more details click this link: Where to buy Getting Somalia Wrong?

The Queen and the 'Hyena'

I interviewed Somaliland's chief of chiefs, Haji Warabe, for a special BBC Newshour programme to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. He spoke about his long career as a nomad (100 years) and a chief (70 years), and the secrets of longevity. He also explained how he got the name 'Warabe' which means 'Hyena' in Somali.

Haji Warabe

You can listen to the audio by clicking on the link below:

Haji Warabe speaks

And you can read Chief Warabe's story via this link:

BBC Online story on The Chief and the Queen

I bet he remembers this stamp

Still going strong at '115'

The BBC correspondent in Somaliland, Ahmed Said Egeh, helped record the interview

The Fifth Hargeisa International Book Fair - my Somaliland book launch.

FIFTH HARGEISA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

The Red Sea Cultural Foundation and its partners are pleased to announce that the Fifth Hargeysa International Book Fair (HIBF) will take place between 13^th and 18^th July 2012.

Jama Musse Jama, Director of the Hargeysa International Book Fair, says “The Hargeysa International Book Fair has grown exponentially over the past five years, both in size and significance. It not only represents the main platform for arts in Somaliland, but it is now one of the largest public celebrations of literature in East Africa”.

HIBF is proud to host and present the work of internationally based writers, journalists, scholars, independent thinkers and artists. We are excited to welcome to this year’s Book Fair Sheikh Maxamuud Sheekh Dalmar and Said Salah Ahmed. Said Salah Ahmed is a highly-esteemed playwright, poet and teacher who currently lives in Minnesota. Sheikh Mahamoud Sheikh Dalmar is a public intellectual, Islamic scholar and Radio and TV producer, who lives in the UK.

Last year, we were honoured to welcome to HIBF Yasmeen Maxamuud, author of Nomad Diaries. She delighted our many visitors with her talent for language and encouraged lively discussions around social taboos, which were featured in her book. This year’s programme will see a return of the critically acclaimed author of Black Mamba Boy, Nadifa Mohamed discussing her new book. We are also delighted to be hosting the Somaliland launch of the hard-hitting book Getting Somalia Wrong by BBC journalist Mary Harper, and welcome Dr Georgi Kapchits linguist and noted scholar on the Somali language together with many more other guests.

As visitors of the HIBF have come to expect, the week long discussions and events are centred around a theme. This year is no different - the book fair will explore the role of arts and culture in shaping our future. 

HIBF has, since its inception, been a creative space for visiting artists from neighbouring countries and this year we again see many prominent authors and artists from Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia present their work and contribute to critical thinking and artistic dialogue in the region.

The book fair consists of many exciting components including a return of the highly successful moving library tour which provides eager and engaged fans in the six regions of Somaliland with the unique chance to meet and access the visiting artists and books in their own cities and towns.

Because HIBF is committed to contributing to a culture of reading and writing in Somaliland, as part of its programming, we believe it is imperative to increase the skills and capacity of the many young and aspiring artists of Somaliland. In 2011 the book fair piloted a creative writing short course in order to increase the technical skills of participants and the outcome of the short course was such as resounding success that we are excited to provide it again to 18 young writers and journalist. We will undertake the second creative writing course to continue that spirit.

We are also pleased to announce that for the first time the book fair will be joined by Penguin Publishers who will contribute to the delivery of the creative writing course and provide aspiring authors with expert advice on publishing and the contemporary literary world.

Join us for a six day-long artistic production with book presentations, poetry recitals, plays and other performances of artistic expression.


For further information, please write to info@hargeysabookfair.com

(This is a press release from The Red Sea Cultural Foundation)

Puntland and Galmudug boycott Istanbul Conference on Somalia

President Alim of Galmudug and President Farole of Puntland

The Presidents of the semi-autonomous Somali regions of Puntland and Galmudug say they are not going to the forthcoming Istanbul conference on Somalia. I have just received a statement signed by both of them saying they are not going because, they say, "the Turkish role in Somalia is a) misbalanced, b) objects to consulting the Somali people, c) politically motivated in cohort with the foreign policy of some countries, and d) not transparent enough for the people to make a sound judgement."

The Somali Six (plus one)

Here are some photos of the six Somali leaders who are signatories of the process to end the seemingly endless political transition in the country. I met them in Addis Ababa where, with the 'help' of the UN, US, UK and AU, they agreed on a very tight and challenging diary to ensure the political transition will end on the deadline of 20 August 2012.

The President of Somalia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed

Me with the Somali president (but will he be after the August 20 deadline for the transition to end?)

Prime minister of Somalia, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali

Me with the Somali PM who assured me the transition would end on time and wouldn't say whether he wants to run for president.

The Speaker of the (now defunct) Somali parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan

I asked the Speaker whether he still had a job now that parliament was officially declared defunct. He told me he did have a job because he was still a 'signatory'.

The President of Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Abdirahman Mohamud Farole

Foreign companies are prospecting for oil in Puntland, President Farole told me he would be happy to share potential oil revenues with the rest of Somalia.

The President of Galmudug another semi-autonomous region. His name is Mohamed Ahmed Alin.

The Galmudug President told me he was very happy with the agreement.

The leader of the Mogadishu wing of the Sufi militia, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a, 'Khalif' Abdulkadir Moalin Nur

The 'Khalif' is very tall and I am quite short.

Flt Lt (Rtd) Jerry John Rawlings, former President of Ghana, now African Union High Representative for Somalia

Flt Lt (Rtd) JJ Rawlings looked much more relaxed when I met him the day after the meeting was ended. He told me he hoped none of the Somali politicians would take advantage of the situation and spoil it for everyone else.