The Freedom Wire

Photo: TRT World By: Mohamed Garad The notion that Somalis should identify themselves “Ethiopians” Hebesha or Abyssinians which are all interchangeable, in essence, is severe fallacious and a serious misleading. As a historical fact, the Ethiopia we know today had not existed until the expansion of Abyssinians, who identify themselves Habesha, dismantled indigenous states which vanished from the face of the earth along with their history and then proudly styled themselves the Ethiopians with their vast empire. Thus, in order one to judge whether one should identify himself, Ethiopian, Habesha, or Abyssinian, s/he must first elucidate the meaning of “Ethiopians”, “Abyssinians,” “Habesha” both before and after the creation of the empire.  In the words of John Markakis, a leading political historian in the horn of Africa, the Christian empire of  “Aksumite that flourished on the northmost part of the plateau in the classical times” but letter faded after Islam spread northwards “...

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on the wining stage February 8, 2017   “Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the national debt” said Herbert Hoover. In my case, blessed are the young, for they inherited the divided nation.  On February 08, 2017 Somalia’s 275 members of parliament and 54 senators elected a new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo). It was a surprise election result that very few, if not none, expected. With the presence of serious corruption allegations which have been made against the election process and the lack of universal suffrage, no one could dare to speculate that a pure result will come out of the election process. However, when Farmajo was declared as the winner, his election victory, his clean record from any corruption scandals and his high-level popularity couldn’t add up in Somalia’s last 25 and more years known political culture. This is what made the election result surprise one and many could ask why the election of a...