Africa 2000

Federal Somalia

A Phoenix Arising

The east African nation of Somalia is in cartographic terms, one of the most clearly defined entities on the continent. Somalia straddles the Gulf of Aden and Western waters of the India ocean for 2736 kilometers. All of its neighbors are to its west. This geographic location has made Somalia attain the characteristics of the two continents it ‘connects’ by dint of socio-economic interaction.
It is quite difficult to obtain authoritative research on the early history of the area as the few available sources only begin from the 19th century – when the colonialists eyed the strategic land. However, the area now called Somalia (which by the way refers to the whole of pre-1991 Somalia) has been inhabited for thousands of years. Capital would welcome any information our Somali readership could furnish in this respect.
The first colonial administration were established by the British in the north (the present day self proclaimed Republic of Somali land and by Italy’s Italian Somaliland. (south and central Somalia).
Italy, having miscalculated on the side of defeated Nazi Germany, was stripped of all her colonies including Italian Somaliland. The UN continued to administer the Italian Somaliland. The British granted independence to British Somaliland on June 26, 1960 and according to a previously formulated procedure, combined the two parts into one independent administration on July 1,1960. The nation was officially recognized as the Somali Republic.
Independence and unity came with huge rifts and political tension among the various clans of an otherwise homogeneous people. The first president of Somalia, Abdi Rashid Shirmarke, was killed by an assassin on October 16, 1969. The president had become unpopular after he waged a disastrous war against Ethiopia only months before he was assassinated.
Five days later, General Mohammed Siad Barre, took over in a military coup. A Marxist at first, Barre almost immediately declared the country the Somali Democratic Republic. Overjoyed the prospect of a client state with a grudge against an American backed empire, the Soviets began to equip the Somali army, navy and air forces with advanced weaponry. In 1977, confident that Ethiopia was wracked with political turmoil and with an its army fielding WWII surplus M-40’s against Somalia’sT-55 tanks and BM-40 ‘Stalin Organ’ Katyusha launchers, Siad Baerre made the same mistake of his predecessor and attacked Ethiopia. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward 16 plus years of untold suffering as tens, possibly hundreds of thousands died in conflict and famine. In 2004, a historic break through was achieved by the formation of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) with a respected elder, Abdulahi Yusuf Amed, becoming the first elected president of all Somalis. The TFG, however, couldn’t claim Mogadishu as its capital yet because the city and southern Somali in general, were under the control of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) – a group with proven links to international terror networks. The ICU, seeking to pre-empt the solidification of the TFG, struck out at Ethiopia, which had up to them provided only diplomatic support to the TFG.
The ICU declared a ‘Jihad’ (holy war) on Ethiopia and vowed to soon march triumphantly into Addis Ababa. It also gathered its strength for a final assault the TFG which was then based in Baida.
The Ethiopian Defense Forces were then obliged to rush to the aid of the fledging TFG as well as to nip the jihad threat in the bud.
The TFG is currently, albeit with great difficulty and considerable sacrifice, striving to recreate the Somali state. Africa 2000 wishes Somalia all the best and may 2008 witness Somalia well established, on the road to reconstruction and above all, at peace with itself and its neighbors.

Facts and Figures

Location- Horn of east Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia ad Kenya on West, Indian Ocean on east
Area-637,657 sq km
Topography-2736 km coastline, hills in north, center and south are flat, generally arid climate
Population-8,863,338
Distribution – 35 % urban
Ethnic Make-up-Somali, Bantu and others
Languages – Somalia, Arabi (both official), Italian, English
Religions –Muslim
Capital City – Mogadishu, pop – 1,320,000
Government Type –Federal Republic in transition
Head of State – President Abdulahi Yusuf, since 2004
Currency – Shilling (SOS) 1376.05= $ 1 US
Gross Domestic Product (est)- $ 4.8 bln
Per Capita GDP – $ 800
Economy –Diamonds, light industry, oil refining, coffee, ice, cocoa, peanuts,banana
Electricity Production – 240 mln kwh
Literacy – 38%
Life Expectancy – 46.7 male, 50.3 female
AIDS Rate – 0.9%
Ports – Mogadishu, Berbera, Merca
Airports – 7
Vehicles –30,000 units
Telephones – 100,000 lines
Radios – 53 per 1000 people
TV sets – 14 per 1000 people
Internet –100,000 users

Facts and figures are the latest available at time of publication and may not necessarily be the most accurate.

Diary of the king

Tilahun Gessesse commissions biography

Abiy Demilew

The Honorable Dr Tilahun Gesesse, pioneer of Ethiopian popular music, signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Writers’ Association / EWA to write and publish his biography.
Getachew Belete, President of Ethiopian Writers’ Association, signed the agreement with Tilahun Gesesse, exclusive to write and publish a biography of the living legend.
“We feel very honored to write the biography of Tilahun and his 50 years of history in modern Ethiopian music”, Getachew said at the ceremony.
The book will be finalized and delivered to the artist in 12 months, according to the agreement signed.
Getachew told Capital that even though their office recently has published “Yezemen Kelemat”, a special edition profile of 53 Ethiopian writers, this is the first time their office has taken steps towards writing a biography of an individual.
According to Getachew, the initiative came from Tilahun himself and the costs will be covered by the artist.
“We are not out for a profit ” said Getachew, “and this is only to record and preserve the history of Tilahun, which counts more than half a century.”
On the occasion, Tilahun and wife Roman Bezu asked the Ethiopian public to forward them with pictures and any available documents to support the writing process.
Getachew told Capital that the challenge of writing the book will be locating, organizing and researching different sources of information. “This includes any written document and audio-visual material.”
Tilahun Gesesse, the prominent figure of the Golden Age of Ethiopian Music (1960-75), has released scores of songs and albums which have enabled him to enjoy tremendous respect from the public as well as from countless media outlets here and abroad.
Himself challenged by poor health, including being a diabetic, the artist established a Diabetics Society a year ago to support others with the disease.
According to Tilahun and Getachew, a documentary on the life of the artist might follow the completion of the biography.

Hanny isn’t like honey

By Kirubel Tadesse

· Directed by: Mehiretab Habte
· Written by: Mehiretab Habte
· Type : Romantic Suspense
· Duration: 100 minutes

Everyone has something to worry about; while Yonas fears that his ex-prostitute mother would push his girlfriend away, his girl friend, Hanna too is afraid of her father, who probably will never permit the couple to get married once he found out that his son-in-law to be is just a college graduate.
The story of these characters in the new Amharic film, Hanny, reveals the problem of many fathers who are only interested to know the bank account details of their future son-in-laws. When both Yonas and Hanna decide to confront their fears and introduce each other to their families, as expected, Hanna’s father starts creating chaos for the couple even if Yonas’ only known family, his mother, gets along with Hanna well. When another powerful and young, most importantly in the father’s view, the ‘perfect husband’ comes into the picture; Hanny forces you to suffer along side with the characters.
The actors who participated in Hanny are all new, except Cherotaw Kelekay, who has acted in numerous films, theatres and TV dramas. Cinema always loves new faces and these beautiful faces show that Hanny’s director has discovered new talents for the Ethiopian film industry which can really use all it can get since most actors we see in many films are the same. Too bad we can’t say the same for the director about his theme. The story line has been a theme of too many radio and TV dramas, and even in the brief history of Ethiopian film production, one can come up with a short list of films that have similar themes.
Hanny’s directing also seems to face challenges as the lighting, and sound editing doesn’t seem to help it tell the story. Even if the scenes are appropriate for the selected sound track, it isn’t usually wise to bore viewers by making them hear the same music in many scenes. In one where the main character rushes back to her father’s office because he was late, she found out some secret at the gates of her father’s office. The scene completely shows that the time is in the middle of the day, which doesn’t go with the time Hanna left home. Even if that scene was important to twist the story to its end, it should have been more presentable and convincing. People are enjoying Hanny in many theatres in Addis and you will too once you take its journey.

Highlights

Art and Culture 2007

The entire 2007 arts and entertainment scene was stolen, in just two hours, by a sublimely sculpted, bronze, part woman – part goddess by the name of Beyoncé Knowles. Her post Millennium concert – “The Beyoncé Experience, was an unqualified success. So much that Ludacris, a star himself, was outshined by the beautiful songstress. The singer was overwhelmed by the welcome she received – even meeting the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as honored with a Presidential audience. The Beyoncé Experience is to date the best concert of the many sponsored by philanthropic Sheikh Mohamed Al-amoudi, who also drew internationally acclaimed Black Eyed Peas for new Millennium eve.
Among local artist, it was yet another Teddy ‘Afro’ year as his “Gize Lekulum” dominated the airwaves and dance halls.