Ethiopian troops to withdraw Somalia

Ethiopian troops have threatened to withdraw from all major towns in Somalia where their troops have been stationed for the last few years. Only last weekend, they started withdrawing from the frontline town of Hudur. The insurgent group Al-Shabab immediately took over the town. This has caused a big debate within the Somali government and parliament such as why the Ethiopians are intending to leave, and why the Somali army did not stay put in Hudur?

Security has been the biggest flaw in the Somali transitional governments. They have had to rely heavily on foreign troops from the African Union and Ethiopia, which was controlling south western and central parts of Somalia.

A delegation from parliament has visited the strategic town of Baidoa in the southwest to try to convince the Ethiopians to stay longer and allow more AMISOM troops to be deployed there. There are currently one thousand AMISOM troops from Burundi in the town. Sheik Adan Madobe, an MP representing the Bay region, is part of the delegation:

“They told us it is not only Hudur – but that they intended to withdraw from places all over the country (Somalia). They said it was not their plan to stay for ever. They had always planned to hand over security to AMISOM and Somali government troops. They said they did not get any funding from the international community and no longer felt it necessary to stay.” Sheik Adan Madobe.

There are several other reasons why Ethiopian troops may be leaving Somalia.  Some believe Addis Ababa has been angered by the government in Mogadishu replacing its most senior military commanders in Somalia without consulting them.  Others point the finger at poor communication between the two governments.  Abdirashid Hiddig, who is a member of the parliamentarian subcommittee on security, is critical of the government’s approach to security and blames it for the Ethiopian withdrawal:

“If there was a proper diplomatic or political channel to communicate with them, I think they would have waited until the troops that would take over from them are ready. It is not a secret that there was some communication problem.” Abdirashid Hiddig.

Somalia’s transitional period ended last October with the election of a new president, speaker, parliament and cabinet. In this short time Somalis have expected a lot from their government – at the very least to take control of the security situation. But, this is believed to be a long way off. With thousands of troops trained outside the country, Somalis are not yet confident that their army can take responsibility on its own.           

Although the Somali government insists it is trying to pay soldiers’ salaries, critics say a lack of remuneration is damaging the army’s competency. Although they have given the current government credit for securing the capital with the help of African Union troops, they blame it for not extending its control outside Mogadishu.

The United Nations lifted the two decades old weapons embargo for a year in order to let the current government arm itself and have greater control over security. This has given Somalis some hope and many believe with the right armaments and permanent wages, the Somali military will be up to the job.

Kenya goes to the Polls

Today, Monday the 4^th of March, Kenya decides who is to lead the country the next five years.

This will be the first election to be held under the new constitution that devolved the central power to regional states.

Five years ago, on December 2007, the election result was disputed right from the start in fact even as the polling stations closed.

On the 11^th of January 2013, I visited Nairobi for the first time since 2007 when I was covering the election for BBC Somali. I left early January 2008. Everyone was concerned if could reach the airport safely as there were still some pockets of political violence involving rioters, rival factions and also the police.

It was later confirmed that thousands had died in clashes across Kenya and the election results dispute turned violent and gradually worsened.

As the riots erupted we were confined in our offices and hotels. Some of us could not go to their homes in Eastleigh and South C Neighborhoods of Nairobi for few days for fear of being caught in the violence. The only colleagues to leave the office were those assigned to cover the violence in different areas of Kenya including outside the capital, Nairobi.

After five years, that grim picture of violence receded and in turn was replaced for me at least in the short time, in the space of just 3 days, I was in Nairobi I had seen some development.

This was mainly visible on Nairobi Roads. New roads were built; some old narrow roads were expanded into 4 or more lane roads. Some of them, I could not recognize them. Few years back I was driving through the streets of London unaccompanied, but this time I thought I definitely could not do that because the transformation of Nairobi road with several fly overs built.

However, if the purpose of road buildings and transformation was to avert or minimize traffic jams, I can argue that this was not achieved and more work will definitely be needed. This is because I had experienced the traffic jams myself during the three days I have been in Nairobi.

During this time, I could also feel the election fever that gripped the nation. Election campaigns continued with messages relayed through loudspeakers attached to vehicles. Photos of candidates were everywhere, one could not be spared without seeing the photos, banners or campaign vehicles of candidates during any visit to Nairobi this time and remember the election was still two months away.

The most inspiring of all was the extent of information available and alternative campaign to get people ready to vote peacefully and avoid any political violence. I also saw one particular protest that was against parliament salary increases.

This year’s election is different from the one five years ago in many ways:

The election comes at the back the last one in which more than a thousand was killed when the results were disputed.

President Kibaki whose reelection five years ago sparked the political violence is no longer a candidate and he warned Kenyans to keep away from violence and called on free, fair and peaceful election.

International Criminal Court charged some of the presidential candidates and their allies of war crimes for their roles in the political violence that followed 2007 elections results. Charged candidates deny the charges.

The central power of government is decreased with the new constitution allowing power devolution to provisional states. Some say this was aimed at national power and resource sharing and above all to avoid any further political violence after the election.

According to news reports and sources in Kenya, there is still fear that political violence is a possibility during and after the election but many think lessons have been learnt and that possibility is very remote.

Last day of election campaigns on Saturday, the two leading candidate Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta spoke to thousands of their supporters at rallies in Nairobi.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said that he will accept the result if he is defeated in a free and fair election.

Deputy Prime Minister, Uhuru Kenyatta seemed to be sure he would win by asking Raila Odinga to accept the election when he is defeated and retire.

Mr. Odinga is son of Kenya’s first Vice-President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. It is the third time he stands for the presidency and hopes this may be his time.

Mr. Kenyatta is also the son of the first of president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and if elected he will become the youngest president of Kenya, and also the 2^nd African president indicted by the International Criminal Court.

On this election day, the eyes of the world will be on Kenya. Will there be free, fair and peaceful election? Have the Kenyans learnt from their mistakes? It will be seen soon.

Oscar Nominated Short Film ‘ASAD’

The Oscar Nominated ‘ASAD’ Short Film

ASAD

A Somali speaking film is in this year’s list of Oscar nominated live action in the short film category.

The 18 minute long short film  ‘ASAD’ shot in Cape Town, South Africa in 2012, is about a young boy’s choice of life between piracy and a fishing.

The film had been successful being voted best short film in at least 5 festivals. It is the first film acted by Somalis with English Subtitles that ever made to the Oscars.

ASAD is a young boy that has to choose between a life of a pirate or a fisherman at a small pirate invested village in Somalia. A twelve year old Harun Mohamed is playing ASAD. His ten year old brother, Ali Mohamed is also his friend in this short film.

In real life Harun and Ali, did not have any proper primary education anywhere prior to this film. But this did not prevent Harun to memorized 19 page script to perform on camera.

Harun and Ali told me what they thought about the film and if they are now inspired to be future film actors?

“ I was feeling very happy because this is my first time to make a movie. When I was watching before the movies, I was thinking how they make these people movies? I think (it) was real, SO when I make the movie then I know how they make the movies.)” Young actor Harun Mohamed.

“I am feeling happy. You know I was not thinking it is gone be real or something” Harun’s brother ALI Mohamed.

Harun Mohamed, ASAD’s main actor with Bianca

QUESTION: “DO you think you gone be ending up as actors?”

 “Yes, I think because everyone is happy. The Somalians, lot of Somalians saying yeah yeah!  Here is the actor who made the movie and the movie is in the internet.” Young actor Harun.

Bryan Buckley who had written and directed this Oscar nominated short film talked about what made him to shoot this film. He said he was inspired to make this film after a visit to Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya in 2010, where he and his team did documentary style interviews with new refugee arrivals from Somalia.

“You know we don’t traditionally get those types of interviews and the spirit and there is humor, people in a survival instinct, that is just like, I can’t tell how strong the people we talked to, so I felt determined that I would make a film that somehow would tick this and that is what I did.” Bryan Buckley, US Film Director.

Bryan Buckley- Director USA 1

The short film ASAD has already given hope to the family of the Mohamed Mahdi, a member of the Somali refugee in South Africa is the father of sixteen children including the boys who acted in this film Harun and Ali, he trades on the streets of Cape Town to provide the bread of his large family. He told me the director guaranteed to support the children until they graduate from university.  He believes his dream has come true.

“Honestly, I am extremely happy, at young age I myself loved films. I dreamt of becoming a movie actor myself of my sons to be actors. I think my dream is coming true, god willing.” Mohamed Mahdi, Harun and Ali’s father.

All the actors in this film had not previously acted. Some of them talked about their feeling

“This is amazing. it is a perfect movie. We are feeling happy and we are really happy to act in this movie. That is perfect. My future is …I want to be an actor, I want to be a model.” Abdi-aziz Hajow.

It took a long process of recruitment that had been applied by hundreds of Somali refugees in Cape Town.

“Once I made my selection about who I thought I could work with in a performance orientated roles, having given them scripts and taken their contact details. We then followed up with them the following day got them back in and started working with them either individually or in smaller groups and tried to do workshops basically Helping them to understand what we needed from them. Big cultural step to come suddenly to the world of film making apart from anything else.” Casting Director Jeanne Wegner.

Main actor ‘ASAD’, family and Cape Town producer.

With the help the United Nations High Commission for Refugee, the boys may be able to be on the stage at the awards. The director Bryan Buckley says it would be great opportunity for the boys, for Somalia and global refugees to be represented at the award by the two boys.

“my hope is that they can get up on that stage and speak for a few moments  and show how bright they are what they represent, representing Somalia, representing refugees around the world, that would be a very powerful moment. That is my hope.” Film director, Bryan Buckley.

On the facebook of ASAD film this message has been posted after few days when Bryan gave me an interview some of which is quoted above.

“It is with our absolute pleasure to announce that the stars of ASAD, Somalian refugee turned actors Harun and Ali have been granted permission to walk the red carpet at the Oscars this Sunday. In a statement from Nobel Peace Prize Winner/ Social Activist Desmond Tutu, “They deserve two Oscars: One for creative endeavour, and the other for contributing to our collective understanding of our dependence on one another.” We’re all extremely ecstatic for Bryan, the boys and for the future of South Africa.It is on the 24^th February when the film will find out it fate if it wins best live action short film at 85^th Academy Awards in 2013.”

The 18 minutes film has already attracted worldwide fans including Somalis all over the world who are already very excited to see an adaptation of one of their own stories to have made to the Oscar this year 2013 if the film wins the Oscar Award or not and it has already benefited the actors in particular the teenage boys Harun and Ali.

Was my bag lost or misplaced?

It is usually frustrating and inconvenient to lose your bag during your trip abroad and even worse when you lose it on transit.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

My problems started with the Ethiopian airline’s check in desk at Jomo Kenyata airport in Nairobi, Kenya.  The agent demanded I pay for 37 kilograms of excess luggage, the same luggage that BA from London to Nairobi did not charge me a penny rather I was allowed four bags of at least thirty kg for my journey.

I did attempt to contest this but the agent advised that I speak to a senior member of Ethiopia airlines who wasted my time by answering every call on her personal mobile while I risked missing my flight due to her longer than necessary processes of making and answering calls. It took more than an hour to decide wether I have extra allowance and in the end I had to pay two hundred ninety-six dollar that 37 kg X $8= $296.

To make matters worse with most of my time wasted with this agent, I demanded a receipt and rather than being given the receipt by the same agent, she told me I need to go the next door office, where her supervisor was serving other customers. I went to where I was sent to collect the receipt, but upon telling the supervisor that I came for my excess luggage payment receipt, he checked through a pile of receipts those were printed in the form of tickets and said yours is still coming.

To my further amazement, I was fortunate enough that a lady customer whom he was serving, spotted the surname Aden which I told him earlier to search for and she was right it was right in front of him but only that he did not look at it attentively and seemed just like the other agent who seemed completely distracted.

I was left London on 11th January for three days stay in Nairobi, two nights in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and final destination to Johannesburg, South Africa before my return on 11th February to London.

My luggage contained three bags, two of which I intended to leave in Addis Ababa, as they contained gifts for family and friend’s family in Ethiopia. But to my further astonishment, the three bags were transferred to my final destination Johannesburg. I noticed this upon arrival at Bole airport in Addis.

I waited at the baggage reclaim lounge for almost two hours when I finally thought they may have possibly sent it to my final destination J’Burg, I went to ask an airport staff who said that I should wait a little bit more as there may be ‘more luggage on the way’. But this was based on his personal imagination so I decided to approach an Ethiopian airline staff member who was sifting through a pile of bags possibly unclaimed or may have been sorted to be delivered to other destinations. This agent confirmed my suspicion after checking the luggage stickers on my passport. He added that I may have to wait at least one hour and half to get my luggage which he said is still in Bole airport being prepared to be flown to South Africa.

This could not have happened if the first agent was attentive and asked me where I wanted my bags to be. The bags were dispatched as I was away paying for the excess baggage, where the lady attending me confirmed if my bags are going to Addis Ababa. The first agent based her decision on pure personal assumption by sending the bags to Johannesburg without properly finding out from me.

After six hours of waiting At Bole airport, I was told two of my bags were found and the third could not be located. That is when they told me I should come back in the morning two hours before the next day J’Burg flight. As the flight time was 9:00am local time, I came back to the airport by 7:00am to go through the same process of waiting for hours.

Unfortunately, the Ethiopian airline staff member on duty in the morning was unfriendly. When I told him the missing bag should not go to Johannesburg and be retrieved as soon as possible, his reaction was why didn’t you tell us this before, only that he didn’t know the inconvenience and the sleeplessness caused by his colleagues on night duty. He made only one call and asked  those sorting the luggage to search for my bag.  After every 30 minutes, I asked for any update and  his answer was always the same ‘you have to wait’.

The next midnight, I am again in the Ethiopian airline’s baggage office still waiting for information about the location of my bag. I am given conflicting information that only prolongs my wait. Being despair of my bag to be ever found I had to leave their office because I should be in the airport again for my J’burg flight by six o’clock in the next morning and had only few hours to sleep. A Temporary property irregularity report letter given to me the first night was not even properly filled.

I arrived at the airport and the airplane for my flight was to leave at 8:50 am. I asked again the check in counter to tell me if there was any information about my bag. But, the ET agent attending the counter said “probably it is in Johannesburg.” and she was not sure.

I left Addis Ababa without any assurance that my bag is definitely at J’Burg. As I arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) in Johannesburg, I checked again the baggage reclaim zone, my missing bag was nowhere to be seen.

South Africa

However, there was some good news at last. A young lady at ET baggage reclaim counter in  the arrivals sections said she could not locate the bag in the system but fortunately she remembered seen my surname somewhere. After a few seconds her mind located where she saw the bag and handed me a note with the name Menzes Baggage Services which she pointed where it is located, that was just outside the arrivals zone of the airport.

I went there and She was proved right as I recognized my bag lying in a pile of other unclaimed bags with Menzes Baggage Services store at the airport. I told them the bag needs to go back to Addis Ababa and they told me we have a message that It should be returned to Addis Ababa. It was an instruction I gave while still in Addis Ababa when I told them the bag was not supposed to be in Johannesburg as it contained gifts to my family, but I was not given any assurance.

I did tell them to return the bag to Addis Ababa and told my family there to collect the bag from the airport the next day. When they went to collect it, they were told the bag is back in Addis Ababa but that they needed to contact me and that I send an email to that particular agent, which I did. But he told me after 1 hour that he did not receive my email.

For a week I was being asked to send and resend email detailing who I wanted to collect the bag but I finally despaired and decided to stop contacting them because there was no point in making calls and sending emails when at the end it is claimed it is not received and the emails were correct, I am sure my emails should have been received unless there is a long process of checking emails before they are released into inbox-es.

After ten days when I called my family and asked if they received the bag, I was told the bag has only been received yesterday.

After that long story of unnecessary and preventable inconvenience my bag was in the hands of my family. It was nearly lost but was surely unnecessarily misplaced.

Ethiopia’s preparations and prospects in AFCON 2013

After 31 years of failing to qualify to the Final Africa Cup of Nations, Ethiopia is now participating this year’s tournament in South Africa.

It had been one of the founders of the tournament and won the cup in 1962 when only three teams competed. Although the team hopes to qualify from the group stages, it is not in a simple group. It will play against Zambia, the defending champions, plus Nigeria and Burkina Faso in Group C.

 

Football has been regarded as the second most popular sports in Ethiopia based on the country’s performances in athletics especially the successes of its greatest long distance runner Haile Gabrselassie who inspired many youth into his games.

This has been due to the fact that Ethiopia’s national football team has not achieved much over the years, until last October when it all changed.

This came in the form of a 2-0 win against Sudan in Addis Ababa, a win that prompted huge celebrations across Ethiopia and that ensured a place for this year Africa cup.

I asked the Ethiopian Football Federation vice president Berhanu Kebede what this means to them:

“our goal is to qualify from our group It would be a good lesson for us for the future to continue because 31 years, after long years we will be there but honestly we will do some amazing things. We will try to qualify from our group.” Vice president of Ethiopia Football Federation, Berhanu Kebede.

The team has been engaged in excessive training and friendly matches in order to be successful. It is seen to be one of the under dogs in the tournament, but will it be able to cause huge shocks and surprise us all?

The head coach of Ethiopian National Team, Sewnet Bishaw believes the rigorous training they had been involved since qualifying will improve the team’s performance and spirit.

“We are going to South Africa to play football…we want to surprise everybody there. Sometimes you need chances to train and motivate the players to go through. So now this group of players are very young and talented, they need to play now in Africa and in the world.” National Head Coach, Sewnet Bishaw.

 Ethiopian squad has only three foreign based players. One of whom is swedish born former AIK club midfielder Yusuf Saleh who believes Ethiopia has a good chance in the tournament.

“I have high expectations. We’d been doing good in practice, we’d been playing some friendly games, we were good at them as well. The team is very good (Well) prepared. I was positively surprised when I came here.” Ethiopia Midfield player, Yusuf Saleh.

Ethiopian Forward and Midfield players, Fuad Ibrahim and Yusuf Saleh

The fans also think Ethiopia is in the tournament for a big surprise and may at least qualify from the group stages and go as far as the semifinal. Here are some who told me what they think:

“It is a very big opportunity for all Ethiopians who like or who want to play football. As you know this team played 11 friendly games, we lost only one game. The remaining ten games we did not lose. We have big opportunity to qualify in the semifinal or quarter final from our group.” Fiseha Negaju.

“I am so happy for them, I know they can do it. I know they can do better than this and we qualify for the world cup, we are going to Brazil. We will represent Africa, we will…I won’t miss any game, If I miss that I miss my life.” Sieble Estha.

“I am thinking Ethiopians (will cause) a surprise. You know many people say now; the Ethiopians participate after 31 years that is why they don’t have experience. But I say Ethiopia is surprise.” Afawerke Addis.

Ethiopians have high hopes for the tournament even though it has to  prove its worth in a difficult group that includes the defending champions, Zambia and the troubled giants Nigeria who may want to re-establish its weakened confidence after failing to qualify for the last tournament.

The Horn of Africa

1)     WHAT IS THE HORN OF AFRICA?

Geo-political background

Horn of Africa is the furthest eastern part of Africa that is shaped like a Horn by looking at the map of continent.

Horn of Africa geographically covers nearly 2 million km2 or 770, 000 sq m.

The Horn of Africa comprises of mainly Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. These countries share a common border with one another, the longest of which is shared by Somalia and Ethiopia.

The total population is estimated around a 100 million, of which Ethiopia has the largest of all with nearly 85 million populations.

Geopolitically, Somalia also shares a border with Kenya while Sudan is adjacent to Ethiopia, so both Kenya and Sudan are sometimes included in the reference of the horn of Africa peninsula with some even included Uganda as part of Horn of Africa.

2)      WHY IS HORN OF AFRICA A VOLATILE PLACE?

Years of violence, cultural clashes.

The horn of Africa is one of the poorest parts of Africa. Droughts and famine have hit the sub region hardly and let hundreds of thousands to the starvation to death in different periods. Over the years millions of the horn of Africa population took refuge externally in Africa, Europe and America or internally in their home countries.

Piracy in the Gulf of Aden has also been one of the troubles of the region with Somali pirates causing international concern after disrupting global flows of global trade-off the coast of Somalia.

Horn of Africa is also one of the most conflict-ridden parts of the continent. These conflicts are mainly over border disputes like the one between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Eritrea annexed by Ethiopia in 1962 voted in a referendum in 1993 to secede Ethiopia after taking part in the struggle to oust the military rule in Ethiopia led by Mingistu Haile Mariam in 1991. As, the border was not clearly marked, it became a source of conflict between the two which led to 1998 and 2000 wars. Hundreds of thousands were killed.

On other hand, Somalia laid claim on the land inhabited by Somalis in both Ethiopia and Kenya and argued that they were illegally annexed by Ethiopia and Kenya with the help of the colony before Somalia’s independence in 1960. Because of this, Somalia and Ethiopia went to war in 1970s.

Somalia later collapsed due to internal fighting and civil war which resulted in the overthrow of the 21 year military rule led by Mohamed Siad Barre. Somalia dis-integrated on clan bases and fiefdoms and war lords ruled parts of the country. This led the neighbouring countries to take measures of interference in order to influence the internal politics or at least contain the violence within Somali borders.

In recent years Ethiopia and Eritrea turned their conflict into a proxy war in Somalia, each supporting the other side of the conflict.

In 2006, a Union of Islamic Courts captured and stabilized parts of Southern Somalia including the capital, Mogadishu, but this immediately caused a high level concern in the region with Ethiopia sending thousands of troops to oust the Islamists.

A more extremist group, al-Shabab emerged in the fight against Ethiopian troops. Al-Shabab later declared allegiance to al-Qaeda. A UN resolution accused Eritrea of supporting the ‘terrorist’ group in Somalia.

Eritrea was also involved in conflicts with Yemen and Djibouti over border dispute.

Ethiopia officially left Somalia in 2009, however its troops re-entered parts of Somalia where they still support local militias.

Armed opposition groups also operate in Ethiopia. Most known are Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a separatist group fighting since 1994 in the Ethiopian Somali region to separate from Ethiopia. The group killed 65 Ethiopian troops and 9 Chinese workers at an oilfield in Ethiopia in 2007.

2)     WHO WAS MELES ZENAWI  AND WHAT IMPACT DID HE HAVE ON THE REGION

Who was he?  How did he change/alter things?

Meles Zenawi was the Ethiopian president and later prime minister from 1991-2012.

He died at a hospital in Europe. Before his death he was a crucial supporter of the war against Islamists in the Horn of Africa, sending thousands of Ethiopian troops into Somalia to fight the Somali Islamist extremists Al-Shabab.

Before rising to power, Meles Zenawi joined the rebels at the age of twenty after abandoning his university education.

He rose through the ranks to become one of the prominent figures of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which toppled the military junta led by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. He forged an alliance with other parties to become a coalition party (EPRDF) that is until now ruling Ethiopia.

He became Ethiopia Prime Minster in 1995. A post he occupied until his death. There were democratic elections in Ethiopia during his leadership. But the one in 2005, in which Opposition claimed victory but the government disagreed, triggered mass demonstrations in the streets of Addis Ababa, resulting the death of almost 200 protesters and police. Protesters were arrested in their masses. They included students and opposition members.

Freedom of speech in the country was criticised and many say it was heavily curtailed or in its worst scenario repressed with convictions and long sentences.

Mr Zenawi was a charismatic leader that showed strong leadership and he was respected by other leaders in the region except the Eritrean president Isaisas Afewerki, a former ally in the armed struggle that brought both to power in the 1990s and whom they fought over border claims in late 1990s and 2000.

The former US president, Bill Clinton once described Meles Zenawi as one of a ‘new generation’ of African leaders. He was praised to have masterminded a clear strategy for economic growth which many say has worked considerably well, an economic growth that solidly sustained for years.

Current US president, Barack Obama also spoke highly of the late Ethiopia Prime Minister, he said “I am also grateful for Prime Minister Meles’ service for peace and security in Africa, his contributions to the African Union and his voice for Africa on the world stage,”

3)     WHAT IMPACT MIGHT HIS DEATH HAVE ON THE REGION AND O THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY?

Because, Meles Zenawi spent some time in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, as an Ethiopian rebel leader, many believe he knew Somalia’s political dynamics inside out.

Critics of his policies on Somalia say his departure signals an end to a two decade long Ethiopia’s policy of what seemed like ‘keep Somalia at its weak position of factional division’ on the basis of ethnic clans each controlling a swathe of Somalia. Meles controlled most of the faction leaders in Somalia until his death. Some say Meles Zenawi never wanted Somalia to re-emerge as the state it was in 1980s.

Somalia has for the first time selected a parliament inside its capital Mogadishu last month. This parliament elected a speaker and it is also going to elect a new president to lead the first non-transitional government since 1991.

Many believe it is the end the Somalia from 1991 with Meles Zenawi rule of Ethiopia from 1991.

The Ethiopian deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn will serve as acting prime minister until the next election in 2015. However, it is likely that power struggle could emerge within the ruling party; particularly formerly well-known politicians within the party who were sidelined by Meles Zenawi could try their luck.

America is concerned about the war he led for them by Meles Zenawi, the war on terror in the Horn of Africa.

The fight against Somalia’s Islamists al-Shabab may have lost a strong ally. The group al-Shabab welcomed the death of Meles Zenawi. But, it is strongly believed that Ethiopia’s involvement in the fight against al-Shabab will not change, but might take momentum with African Union troops defeating the group in many fronts.

Kenya’s prime minister Raila Odinga voiced his concern after the death of Meles Zenawi by saying that it is feared Ethiopia to become unstable because it is ‘fairly fragile and there is a lot of ethnic violence.”

Spain’s world football domination, thanks to Barcelona

Barcelona did not win this year, the European Champions League, but many could argue after their final game with Chelsea, the best team did not win.

Barcelona was the better side by far, but lack was not with them that night. And It was the goals by one of their national team players, Torres caused their misery.

However, with two goals from the players that denied them the European Champions League, Torres and Mata, Spain on Sunday night showed what it was made of.

With the master class football it showed on Sunday night, Spain dominates the world and the era of Brazil, as the world’s best footballers of the world has ended with the emmergence of players like Iniesta, Fabregas, Alba, Torres and many more.

Italy was reduced to mere chasers of the ball, although to give them some credit they were unlucky themselves to have been playing with 10-men in the last 30 so minutes, a mistake by Italy’s coach to use all his three substitutes so early.

Italy appeared earlier in the tournament a strong team by beating teams like England and also Germany which was one of the favourites to win the trophy.

But, in the final with Spain, Italy looked that they never played a major football tournament and they lost 4-0 in the end.

The lesson to draw from this is that Spain could destroy any team including Germany in the same way as it destroyed Italy.

Spain are the winners of Two consecutive European cups and the World Cup.

Should they be banned from football? or what should other teams do to be like Spain.

Spain will for sure dominate world football for years to come until nations succeed in matching the level set by Spanish football players.

The passion for European and World Football will disappear if football ceases to be competative.