By Star Staff Writer
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said some countries, organizations and individuals feel “hurt” by Somalia’s ongoing progress after decades of internal challenges, a scathing statement that was on Sunday amplified by the country’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Although the president didn’t offer any specific names, it’s widely believed that he was referring to Ethiopia that has recently signed a deal with the leader of a Somali region to set up a naval base along the Red Sea coastland in exchange for recognizing that area as an independent country.
“The growth and emergence from the dark hurt some people,” President Hassan said in a speech in the capital, Mogadishu, last week. “A Somalia that has emerged from the darkness and problem and reached a place where its goodness appears hurts some people. It hurts individuals, It hurts organizations. It hurts countries.”
The president said some individuals have been profiteering from the suffering of the Somali people, the insecurity and chaos in the country and the flight of citizens to foreign countries. He said a stable Somalia meant a loss of interests for those individuals, whom he didn’t disclose their identities.
A functioning Somali government institutions would hurt organizations that used to tell the world that they support Somalia, said the president, quoting Abu al-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbi’s words: “Some people’s disasters are other’s benefits.”
“An advanced Somalia will hurt them,” the president said, noting that some countries have for decades claimed that they represent and support Somalia.
“So what will those types of people, organizations and countries do? They will tarnish every good thing of ours,” the president said. “They will deny any progress we make. Sometimes, they will say [to themselves] these people [Somalis] have emerged [from their chaos] … so cut something from their land, grab something from them.”
The president said the “wisdom” behind Ethiopia’s deal with the Hargeisa entity in the northwestern region was a ploy to annex a part of Somalia.
“The country is ours,” the president said of Somalia.
On Sunday, Somalia’s ministry of foreign affairs expressed dissatisfaction with the African Union and the United Nations and called them to “take a principled position on the illegal MOU [memorandum of understanding] and denounce Ethiopia’s unwarranted aggression against Somalia’s sacrosanct sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.”
“Ethiopia’s unprovoked action is a dangerous breach of international law and the norms of cooperation between sisterly countries,” said the ministry said in a two-page statement
The US, the European Union, the AU, and China, among others, have expressed their support for Somalia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but didn’t expressly condemn Ethiopia’s action, a decision that angered the Somali government.
“Ethiopia’s dangerous action also poses an existential threat to the foundation of the AU,” the ministry of foreign affairs said.
The “illegal MOU was designed to undermine our recent progress, which was recognized and applauded by the international community,” said the ministry, threatening that Somalia would take “all necessary measures to deny the implementation of the illegal agreement.”
According to Somalia’s Constitution, “no regional administration in Somalia, including Somaliland [the northwestern region], has the autonomous jurisdiction to enter into an agreement with another country,” said the ministry, declaring the MOU, which was already nullified by Somalia’s parliament, “null and void.”
On Jan. 1, Ethiopia signed a deal with the leader of Somalia’s northwestern region, Muse Bihi, to establish a naval base along a 20-kilometer coastland on the Red Sea. Addis Ababa offered a share of the Ethiopian Airlines in exchange for the purported 50-year lease, which Somalis saw as an attempt to annex a part of their country.
Ethiopia also said it would make “an in-depth assessment towards taking a position regarding the efforts of Somaliland to gain recognition,” a statement that both the Somali government and the public termed as an attack on the country’s unity.
Despite the furor over the MOU, the Ethiopian government has so far remained adamant, saying “No party or country will be affected by this MOU,” according to a Jan. 3 statement by the Ethiopian Government Communication Service.
In the statement, Ethiopia said the “official position of the government,” which it communicated to the Ethiopians and the international community, was to find “ways” to get a permanent and reliable port and sea access, arguing that it had lost its sea access “through both a historical and legal mistake” — a reference to Eritrea’s independence.
Addis Ababa dismissed Somalia’s objection as mere “murmur and complaint.”
“We’ve made our great effort to explain our position to all who are able and willing to listen,” said the Ethiopian government statement.
In what appears to be a response to President Hassan’s accusation, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said: “Ethiopia, being a friend, does not wish any harm to come upon Somalia.”
Abiy said his country doesn’t want war against any country, but claimed that “some forces are trying to incite conflict between the two nations” and “that should not happen.”
“Ethiopia has no intention of causing harm to Somalia,” he said on Feb. 6.
In his speech last week, President Hassan reiterated his position that he would not sit down with Abiy until Ethiopia apologizes to Somalia and walks back its MOU with Somalia’s northwestern region.
The president said Ethiopia’s demand for talks before it cancels the MOU was like holding a gun to Somalis’ heads.
“That is not based on a wisdom, and in their tradition, Somalis won’t accept that,” the president said. ” “It never happened before. It will not happen today. It will not happen in the future.”
Somali leaders, he said, won’t be “convinced” to give up “land, people and sea all together,” recalling Somalia’s rejection of any negotiation with Kenya over its maritime dispute, a case that was eventually decided by the International Court of Justice.
The Ethiopian government must know, he said, that the land it’s eying is “a Somali land, inhabited by Somali people.”
“Respect international laws, then we will respect you,” President Hassan said. “If you don’t respect international laws, we ourselves won’t respect you. You won’t deserve our respect [if you don’t].”
The president said: “If the Ethiopian government says tomorrow morning ‘you Somalis, we regret [our action] and are no longer interested in your land, just talk to us, we will talk with them the next morning.”
But, he said, Ethiopia is not looking for a commercial route but a land to annex.
“Ethiopia repeats a lot of times ‘we’ve to reach the sea and find a venue to reach it,’ the question is not Ethiopia reaching the sea, it’s how will it reach it,” President Hassan said. “Will it be through annexing a part of the Somali Republic to reach the sea. No. No.”
The president said other landlocked African countries “don’t eye” other countries’ territories and “say we will annex a part of their land.”
“We advise the Ethiopian government: give up your ambition of annexing a part of the Somali land,” he said. “When you do that, we will talk about everything else and we will reach an agreement. And we’re sure we will reach an agreement.”
He said Somalia has already had its grievances against Ethiopia, which Somalis believe “illegally” seized people and land from the Somali Republic.
The president said Somalia’s problem is not with the Ethiopian people, but with the current regime in Addis Ababa led by Prime Minister Abiy.
“We harbor no grudge against the Ethiopian people…… Their government is transgressing,” the president said. “Their government has relinquished the norms of government and good neighborliness.”
Somalia, he said, has not rejected doing business with Addis Ababa.
“We’re not a people who want to sanction their neighbors,” the president said. “We are a people who want they and their neighbors to prosper, grow and create an economy. We want to grow and become big and have an economy. We want Ethiopia to have an economy.”
He said Somalia has no objection to other countries using its waters for commercial purposes provided that they deal with the legitimate national government in Mogadishu. He equated Ethiopia’s action with someone trying to enter through the window.
“We want others to use our large sea,” the president said. “We want Ethiopia to use our sea, let Ethiopia, our neighbor, but also others in far off places.”
If Somalia and Ethiopia “work together,” they can succeed together, President Hassan said.
“But as things are now, we won’t have economy because the things we would have used to create economy, to educate our youth, to support our education and health, to build roads, ports and airports… to protect our environment will be allocated for buying gun, bullet, explosive, tanks and fighter jets — and we did that in the past, in the 60s, 70s and 80s.”
“Don’t return us to that era,” the president said, addressing Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy.
During those hostilities, he said, both Ethiopia and Somalia bought weapons until both administrations in Addis Ababa and Mogadishu collapsed in the early 1990s.
“We are telling the Ethiopian government, don’t blaze us that trail. Don’t turn us to that path. It’s not a good path for our people and our future,” said President Hassan.
The head of state said Somalia’s peace is not only “beneficial” for Somalia, but also for its neighbors and “those in our continent.”
“It’s beneficial for the whole world,” he said.
The president said the Somali government’s weapons are currently directed toward al Shabab, but could also be used to defend any aggression from Ethiopia.
“The only option we’ve is to be a good neighbor to each other…. but if the Ethiopian government says we don’t want you, we will say we don’t want you, too,” the President said.
He urged unity among Somalis.
“The solution is: My Somali brother not to run away from me and seek refugee in someone, in another individual whom he actually knows he’s an enemy to both of us, but who wants to use him,” the president said, adding that the enemy’s aim is for Somalis to “become weak, dependent on him and in need of him.”