Could Canada be the Missing Voice of Reason in Brokering Peace in Somalia?

Embassy, the Canadina Foreign Policy Magazine

October 25th, 2006
by Brian Adeba

The window of opportunity for Canada to engage both the Somali government and the Union of Islamic Courts is closing, say two Liberal MPs

As Islamists in Somalia continue to grow in strength, two Liberal MPs and the president of a Somali organization in Canada are calling for the government to get involved in order to avert a potential disaster in the Horn of Africa country.

Four months ago, fighters from the Union of Islamic Courts forced warlords controlling the Somali capital of Mogadishu to flee. After gaining control of the city, the Islamic Courts rapidly expanded their hold on southern Somalia. They brought law and order to a country that has not seen a central government for 16 years. But they also imposed a strict adherence to Sharia law. They have closed down cinema halls, forced women to wear the hijab and executed criminals in public.

"We should be worried," says Liberal foreign affairs critic Keith Martin.

"Ignoring them could produce a situation that could be much worse for the West," he says, elaborating that he fears extremist elements within the Islamic Courts will one day take over. If that happens, Mr. Martin says nothing will prevent Somalia from becoming a training ground for terrorists.

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a Liberal MP who visited Somalia last year, says Canada and the West should engage the Islamic Courts while there's still a window of opportunity, which he fears is rapidly closing. He notes that there are extremist elements within the Islamic Courts, but adds that the protagonists in Somalia see Canada as a neutral country, and this factor should be used to engage in dialogue.

Initial contact could be established through Canadian citizens in the transitional government of Somalia and the lslamic Courts. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj says there are two cabinet ministers in the transitional government who hold Canadian citizenship. Last week, the Toronto Star reported that Canadian citizen Abdullahi Afrah, a former Toronto resident, is one of the leaders of the Islamic Courts.

Creation of a Greater Somalia

Farah Aw-Osman, president and co-founder of the Canadian Friends of Somalia, says that without help from the international community, the quagmire in Somalia will continue. Mr. Aw-Osman says the creation of a fundamentalist government in Somalia has serious implications for stability in the Horn of Africa.

He says the Islamic Courts have expressed a desire of creating a greater Somalia. Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya all have ethnic Somali populations. Grant Dawson, a professor of political science at Carleton University, says that Somali politicians have entertained the idea of a greater Somalia since the country gained independence in 1960.

In a couple of weeks, the transitional government of Somalia, which was created in 2004, is set to meet the Union of Islamic Courts in Sudan for talks. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj says Canada should send an observer team to the talks and organize an international donors conference to help Somalia.

While it is important that talks be initiated between the Islamic Courts and the transitional government, it is crucial to involve Ethiopia and Eritrea as well to scale down the chances of a proxy war in Somalia, says Mr. Martin.

The Islamic Courts accuse Ethiopia of meddling in the internal affairs of Somalia after the government in Addis Ababa sent troops to prop up the transitional Somali government, currently holed up in Baidoa, the only city it controls in the whole country.

For its part, the transitional government accuses Eritrea of supporting the Islamic Courts. But while this scenario has all the makings of a proxy war, Robert Rotberg, director of the Program on Instrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University, says there's no full-scale proxy war in Somalia, "but it is one developing between Ethiopia and Eritrea."

Canada and the international community should also take steps to ensure that the next government in Somalia should be representative of all the clans in the country, says Mr. Aw-Osman. He says the Islamic Courts draw their support from the Hawiya clan.

"Other clans like the Darod, the Rahawein and Issaq are not accepting the Islamists," he says.

"The Islamists are not going to succeed because there will be another civil war."

Mr. Dawson says the reach of the Islamic Courts goes beyond clan loyalties because of religion.

"My impression is that they have connections with other clans but Islam is the unifying factor," he says.

brian@embassymag.ca

Source: Embassy Magazine, Oct. 25, 2006

One on One with Somalia's Islamists Leader

Interview with Leader of the Islamic Courts in Somalia Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys
By Khaled Mahmoud in Cairo

Asharq Al-Awsat: How did Kismayu fall?

Aweys: We entered Kismayu as peacemakers, not as fighters. We were afraid the city might become a landing point for the African peacekeeping forces that the transitional authority is trying to bring to Somalia with support from Ethiopia. We had to move and deal a preemptive blow in order to deprive all parties from the opportunity to use Kismayu as an advanced base for dropping and deploying any African forces. This is our natural right since we categorically oppose the authority's position in this regard.

Asharq Al-Awsat: The Somali Government accused you of breaching the peace treaty and the agreements reached in Sudan; how would you respond to that?

Aweys: The government has nothing to do with what happened in Kismayu and it is none of its business because the city was never under its control. The government can only speak about its headquarters in Bidawah because it is currently the only city in Somalia where the government has a presence and is in control. Our presence in Kismayu is extremely normal and is not surprising.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Why did you not go to the city and personally oversee its handover as was planned?

Aweys: I had an urgent medical crisis that prevented me from heading there, but I will visit the city when God blesses me with good health. There is nothing to stop me from going there, for it is a Somali city and its residents are our brothers, some of them fought alongside our forces against the warlords and the armed militia commanders we expelled from the capital Mogadishu.

Asharq Al-Awsat: What will become of Defense Minister Adan Shir? Do you plan on tracking him down?

Aweys: All I know is that he fled the city before our forces entered it. This man knew we were coming but he went against us and eventually claimed that we were extremists and criticized us. He knew that his guards were part of our organization. This is not what we expected of him; it seems Transitional President Abdullah Yusuf succeeded in luring him with power and its fake prestige, and convinced him to work with him and assume the defense portfolio, but he is not fully aware of the requirements of this post. At the end of the day, the defense minister fled Kimsayu after he was sure that our forces had the upper hand there.

Asharq Al-Awsat: You now control nearly 70 percent of Somalia, do you feel that you are in reality the strongest man in the country?

Aweys: I know very well what you are getting at, and the answer is no, I do not think that way. On the contrary, I always see myself as the poorest, weakest, and simplest of all Somalis had it not been for the grace of God. My political platform will not change and I will not think of myself as a leader or president. I am serving my people from my position and I am not at all interested in power nor do I like it.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Even though the city was (peacefully) handed over, your militia killed at least two people on its first day there.

Aweys: I have not heard of this, but what I do know is that our forces were forced to fire in the air to disperse some angry protestors whom we had deprived of Qat (a narcotic drug) after the plane transporting it failed to land in the city as usual.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Do you plan on assaulting Baidoa, the transitional authority's stronghold?

Aweys: No, there is a treaty between us, one that we reached under the sponsorship of the Arab League and Sudanese Government. We will honor this treaty, which forbids each party from attacking the other, and we will not be the ones to initiate an attack on the city under any circumstance. Besides, why would we attack it so long as there is security, stability, and a government there? We entered Kismayu without fighting and upon the invitation of its residents. We were never invaders and we never sought to occupy lands here or there. All we care about is how to achieve security.

Asharq Al-Awsat: But you had said earlier that you would not attack Kismayu.

Aweys: Yes, that is true, and we kept our word, but the reality is that this city was not safe enough and its residents asked us to come help them. When our forces moved, everyone there knew what we were going to do. We did not fight and we did not take off from Mogadishu with the aim of occupying the city -- we only wanted to help the residents contain matters and avoid a state of lawlessness.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Does this mean that you would do the same if asked by the residents of Baidoa?

Aweys: No, this is not how it is. Matters were on the verge of anarchy in Kismayu and we had to intervene quickly and resolve matters there for the sake of the residents. As for Baidoa, there is a government and an authority there that can guarantee security and that have an interest in doing so. We will not, therefore, go there.

Asharq Al-Awsat: But you just said that you will fight the Ethiopian forces there.

Aweys: Yes, we will do so because they are invading forces that came without the Somali people's consent. We will confront them. We do not seek war, but if the Ethiopians force our hand, we will fight and we will not hesitate to defend our lands and our country's sovereignty.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Excuse me, but these forces came primarily to protect the transitional authority?

Aweys: Transitional President Abdullah Yusuf would be mistaken to think that these invading forces can guarantee his security and that of his government. We believe he no longer capable of an independent political decision in light of the presence of these forces, in other words, the transitional authority in Baidoa has entirely transformed into a toy in the hands of Ethiopian authorities, which have imposed their control on it.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Okay, and the solution is?

Aweys: We advise the president and the members of parliament and government to leave Baidoa because it is no longer safe for them and to come to us in the capital Mogadishu unaccompanied by any forces. We will protect them and relinquish power to them provided they establish an Islamic state.

Asharq Al-Awsat: But the transitional president rejects your Islamic project and will not agree to this.

Aweys: How can he refuse to be the president of an Islamic state that rules by God's law and His prophet's tradition? How can he agree to be a hostage in the hands of the Ethiopians, who we think have become the real decision makers in Baidoa after the transitional authority was completely marginalized?

Asharq Al-Awsat: Will the president be safe in Mogadishu?

Aweys: Yes he will. We publicly and officially vow that they will not be harmed. He is our president and we have the right to advise him because the decision is no longer his, and it unfortunate that he would allow himself to play this role, which contradicts with the interests of the Somali people.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Will there not be attempts on his life in the capital?

Aweys: No there will not, and we believe that we can, with the help of God, guarantee his personal security and that of all those currently serving in the authority, government agencies, and parliament. The attempt on his life was made in Baidoa, his stronghold, and not in Mogadishu.

Asharq Al-Awsat: You have been unofficially accused of involvement in that attempt?

Aweys: This is not true, we had nothing to do with it, and we expressed our sorrow over this deterioration in security. We believe the president should be wise and understand that we are not Somalia's enemies, but only did our duty to protect the people's lives and property in light of the central government's absence. What we are doing is basically the government's job and part of its duties, but because it is absent, we must fill in for it temporarily and take matters into our own hands. The government's continued presence in Baidoa will not solve the problem, but will further complicate it.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Are you still committed to the peace negotiations despite this all?

Aweys: Yes we are, and we will attend the third round as scheduled. We feel it is important that dialogue between the Courts and the authority continue because the alternative will not be in the interest of our people. Again, we do not seek military confrontation with anyone, but if we have to, we will do so without hesitation.

Asharq Al-Awsat: I understand you are in the process of restructuring the Islamic Courts?

Aweys: Who told you this? We are still preparing for this organizational process because we believe it would be wrong for the Islamic Courts' structure to continue to be based on tribal considerations. This has to be changed. We need to have special frameworks that rise above the nature of Somalia's problems - problems in which tribalism has played a dangerous and unfortunate role. We want to establish a sort of government body without having to endure bureaucracy and routine, and want the circle of Shura (consultation in Islam) to widen and for the people to be asked their opinion in all matters concerning them. We must have a different and better system that rises to the level of future challenges, and we must work on forming a local government in the capital Mogadishu to run its affairs. We have not finished discussing these matters.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Will you retain your post as leader of the Islamic Courts, or will you turn into a spiritual mentor and stay clear of executive matters?

Aweys: I have never considered this - it depends on what the Courts' leaders decide in their deliberations.

Asharq Al-Awsat: You talk as if you will be leaving your position soon.

Aweys: Laughing, I do not know, I am in the service of the Courts, and as you know, I was appointed in absentia and they went to lengths in convincing me to assume this post.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Are you planning an early retirement, before the Courts seize control of all of Somalia?

Aweys: I do not wish to go into these details or to comment on them; the only thing I want to emphasize is that I am here to serve my people and the Islamic Courts regardless of any other considerations.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Is there anything new regarding your indirect contacts with the US Administration?

Aweys: No, we hope the Americans treat us justly, stop trying to interfere in our affairs, and understand that we did what we did simply for the sake of our people's interests and not for the sake of seizing power.

Asharq Al-Awsat: They met with your deputy Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad in Kenya and called him a reformist and you an extremist, do you not fear attempts to drive a wedge between you two?

Aweys: Laughing, I know what you are getting at, but Sheikh Sharif is not the man America thinks he is. I have complete trust in him, and he has informed me of what has happened. We are aware of this American game - this is a wrong tactic that will not work with us at all.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Have there been any breakthroughs in your Arab relations?

Aweys: We hope there will be. As you know, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmad recently met with the amir of Qatar, and we were in Djibouti not long ago. We hope the sisterly Arab countries give themselves a chance to hear us out. We ask all Arabs not to deal with us or with Somalia at a political level, but to look towards the areas in which they can help the Somali people, areas like education and health, and to implement projects that can link Somalis to their large Arab nation. We believe Somalia will remain a strongpoint for Arabs and their impenetrable dam in east Africa and the African Horn area. The member countries of the Arab League should open their eyes to this truth and deal with us accordingly.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Did you issue a fatwa ordering the Vatican Pope's murder for what he said about Islam?

Aweys: No, none of the Islamic Courts' leaders said anything of the sort, and we are not about to sanction his killing, but I feel that the Pope did not speak well about Islam and was wrong. We are however optimistic about what he said, because in the days of the first Muslims, when people spoke ill of the prophet (may God's peace and prayers be upon him), it was a sign that the Muslims would defeat them and conquer their lands.

Asharq Al-Awsat: Does this mean that Muslims will invade the Vatican for example?

Aweys: Laughing, no, it is not like that, but I am optimistic Muslims will triumph, and you will soon see that I am right.

Source: Hiiraan.com 18 October, 2006

Wanjiru Kihoro is Dead

RENOWNED Kenyan democrat and human rights activist, Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro is dead.

Wanjiru who is the wife of a leading land lawyer and former Nyeri Town Member of Parliament Wanyiri Kihoro succumbed to death after hanging on to a life saving machine for a record three years and nine months.

Wanjiru, 50, was at the forefront of the fight for democracy for the better part of her life. But the painful part of her story of great courage is that a hospital bill running to a whooping Kshs40 million stands at the doorstep of the family’s house following her long stay at Nairobi and Kenyatta Hospitals.

According to her husband, who wept uncontrollably and thus struggled to communicate the sad news of his wifes departure, Wanjiru died on Thursday night at 10 pm as doctors tried to resuscitate her.

"I had visited my wife and talked to her, although she could not respond but she blinked at me. I did not know it was the last time to see her alive. Wanjiru has left us,” said Kihoro from Kenyatta National Hospital.

Wanjiru was transferred to Kenyatta from Nairobi Hospital last year where she has been in a coma from January 2003 after being involved in a plane crash in Busia that claimed the life of Mohammed Ahmed Khalif, then Labour minister in President Mwai Kibaki-led National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) government and two pilots.

Also on the fateful flight were Vice-President Moody Awori, Foreign Affairs minister Raphael Tuju, former immigration minister Linah Jebii Kilimo, Transport assistant minister Robinson Njeri Githae, Hamisi Mp George Khaniri and Lady Justice Martha Koome.

By the time, President Kibaki, was also in hospital for treatment relating to a car crash during the 2002 election campaign that occurred at the Machakos-Mombasa road junction.

Among those who sent their condolences included, President Kibaki, Nominated Mp Njoki Ndungu and Justice and Constitutional affairs minister Martha Karua and Nairobi Catholic Archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwana’a Nzeki.

Kibaki termed Wanjiru’s death a “great blow” to the nation and prayed to God to give strength to the larger Kihoro family during the time of grief.

Ms. Ndungu who worked closely with the late before the mishap eulogized her as a great Kenyan who set a lasting example to women and Kenyans at large.

Justice minister Ms Martha Karua who was with her at the time of the tragic air accident expressed shock on receiving the news of her death. With Karua, Wanjiru was among the gallant women who courageously took to the streets in mid 1980’s to oppose the cruel Kanu regime in Kenya with a view to force former President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi to allow multi-party democracy in the country.

Indeed, the two were comrades at arms during the time as Kihoro was arrested, tortured and detained at the infamous “Nyayo torture chambers” that were purposely built to silence government critics. Kihoro was eventually forced to take refuge in London where he remained until the 1997 electioneering year when Kibaki, then Democratic Party (DP) Chairman personally requested him to return back home and vie for a seat in Nyeri Town that he went on to win by a landslide margin.

Ends…

GMO Debate Rages in Kenya

THE question about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) is one that has stirred great debate among world governments. Currently, the query on whether or not GMO are humanly acceptable has taken center stage to such high levels that politicians, scientists , farmers, civil rights activists, and opinion leaders have taken positions with varying points of argument.

Jeremy Rifkin writing for The Washington Post choed the same belief by pro-GMO teams stating that “genetically modified food is the next great scientific and technological revolution in agriculture and the only efficient and cheap way to feed a growing population in a shrinking world.”

In his article, Rifkin, himself an anti-GMO activist also tried to pen down what could look like a conventional view by progressive scientists in the GMO school of thought. He said that “Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been cast as the villains in this unfolding agricultural drama and often categorized as modern versions of the English Luddites, accused of continually blocking scientific and technological progress because of our opposition to genetically modified food.”

Genetically modified crops are the key to eradicating poverty and hunger in the Third World, says a leading world biotechnology expert and Kenyan scientist Dr. Florence Wambugu.

On July 31 2006, 200 activists in southwestern France destroyed 18 acres of genetically modified corn field as part of their push for a national referendum on whether GM plants should be accepted in the country. The action was, however, heavily condemned by pro-GMO French government, which equated it to an act of "vandalism contrary to the rule of law and the respect of private property”.

In India, an anti-GMO mayor was recently slain by suspected death squad and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was forced to cancel a trip to visit cotton farmers’ homes in an Indian remote village following great show of resistance from local farmers’ leaders who are opposed to progressive global realities in the field of science.

The Kenyan government has continued to carry out GMO trials mainly through Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) under contained laboratory, greenhouse and field open quarantine conditions.

However, civil rights groups and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been rallying support against the introduction of GM crops in the country.

Civil rights groups and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been rallying support against the introduction of GM crops in the country by holding seminars and workshops perhaps to pass across a point as to why the technology should be trashed to the doldrums of history.

Indeed a coalition of farmers groups, environmentalists, and development NGOs last year called an international press conference in Nairobi to express their opposition to the draft Bill on National Biosafety which they claimed was “flawed” to the letter. Kenya is the leading nation within the Eastern and Central African region in terms of scientific technology.

But a recent debate on the floor of the National Assembly exposed the naivety on the side of the Members of Parliament as they showed unparalleled lack of knowledge on GMO technology. The lawmakers were contributing to the debate on the draft bill that they eventually shot on floor of the house.

The Bill and the proposed National Policy on Biotechnology and Biosafety (NPBB) are a brainchild of the National Council for Science and Technology (NCST). The council through the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) oversees the implementation of biosafety guidelines, and regulations that govern the conduct of institutions and individuals involved in Biotechnology research and development.

NBC is comprised of government regulators, academic scientists, ministry representatives, Office of the President (OP), scientists from research institutions, NGOs and agricultural organizations.

Currently, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), Department of Veterinary Medicine (DVS), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS), National Environment Management Authority NEMA) and Public Health Department are the main implementing arms.

The Bill was drafted following the need to give teeth to bite to the existing GMO guidelines that currently lack a legal backing. The proposed National Biosafety Authority (NBA) will be the implementing authority in the event the bill becomes law.

The Biosafety Bill would have provided the basis for clear policy guidelines and regulations. It will also cover issues such as trade, industry, health, environment and agriculture. It would have enabled the country to acquire the capacity to participate meaningfully in a rapidly changing world of science and technology, especially the biotechnology revolution that is beginning to generate new products and services including vaccines and drugs.

South Africa, the continent’s, most scientifically developed nation, for instance crafted its biosafety policy, regulation and guidelines in early 1990’s. Today, South African GM cotton and maize farmers are on the global map as beneficiaries of this new technology.

But what is Biotechnology? Experts say that the history of Biotechnology can be traced back thousands years. Early mankind used the technology in form of fermentation techniques in the production of cheese, bread, beer; as well as in traditional animal and plant breeding techniques to create better animals and crops.

However, modern scientists now can take a single gene from a plant or animal cell and insert it into another plant or animal cell to give a desired characteristic such as a plant that is resistant to a specific pest or disease. These are what are referred to us GMO, a technology that has now become common with modified crops such as maize, cotton and soybeans. A GM crop is, therefore, any living organism that possesses a combination of genetic materials obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

Trials are underway in Kenya on Greenhouse evaluation of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for resistance to stem borer. Bt is a common soil bacterium that produces a protein toxic to certain harmful insects including the cotton bollworm, the maize stem borers and the Colorado potato, all of which are common plant pests with devastating effects.

Other trials include: trials for Bt cotton to resist cotton bollworm, cassava to resist cassava mosaic virus and sweet potato to resist sweet potato mottle virus.

According to Prof. George King'oria, the Executive Secretary at NSCT, there are potential benefits of biotechnology and that all stakeholders and Kenyans at large should remain patient as the trails are carried out.

King'oria says that Genetic Engineering (GE) could catapult the country to new dimensions in the field of agriculture and medicine. Proponents of GE have time and again argued that the technology has the potential to increase food security, decrease pressure on land use and reduced use of water and agrochemicals in agriculture.

According to a piece in the Toronto Mail in July 2003, Dr. Wambugu was quoted saying that Genetically Modified sweet potato could increase yields from four tonnes per hectare to 10 tonnes compared with a natural crop that yields four tonnes per hectare.

The fear of the unknown could be reason behind the resistance by anti-GMO activists. Activists on the economical front point at the capital needed in carrying out Biotechnological activities saying that it were better if invested in other areas of social development.
Human rights groups on their part have been raising ethical concerns regarding altering the genetic make-up of organisms and patenting of life forms.

Globally, questions have been raised about potential health effects, environmental safety, agronomic and economic impacts, and about the power of multi-nationals to control “what we grow” and “what we eat”.

Due to these “deep uncertainties”, asserts Mr. King'oria the government has been carrying out public consultation with stakeholders and members of the public at large. These concerns among many others are what we are addressing through the biosafety measures, he adds.

Biosafety is defined as a set of measures used for assessing and managing any risks associated with GMOs and policies and procedures adopted to ensure safety to human and environment in application of biotechnology.

Ends...

Snow-Capped Mt. Kenya Loses Ice

THE world's famous mountain, Mt. Kenya has lost almost its entire ice mass and may soon lose its tourist status if attempts are not made to reverse the trend.

According to an official based at Kenya's leading environmental group - Green Belt Movement - the snow-capped mountain has lost 92 per cent of its ice within the last one century.

Mr. Fredrick Njau, the chief project coordinator at the movement, says the Lewis glacier on top of the mountain could disappear in just a few years time.

The Green Belt Movement is the brainchild of 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai who is also a Memebr of Parliament in Kenya's National Assembly representing her rural Tetu constituency.

In this respect, the movement has started a Kshs150 million project to save the Mt. Kenya.

The mountain is a major tourist attraction in the world and has seen dignitaries from as far as Britain, New Zealand, and Australia visit Kenya to give the beautiful mountain a look and perharps spend a night or two at the prestigious Mt. Kenya Safari Club which borrows its identity from the mountain.

Mt. Kenya is significant to the locals as it epitomizes the culture, traditions and roots of the Agikuyu, Ameru and Aembu tribes that live around the mountain. In the olden days before the dawn of civilization, the locals would wake up in the morning and offer prayers and supplications to God while facing it with belief and conviction that their supreme deity - Ngai - lived there.

The new project which is aimed at reducing the amount of carbon dioxide is set to be launched in two-water towers of Aberdare and Mount Kenya forests.

Funded by World Bank, the project will embark on deliberate plans to reduce the effects of pressure from firewood and charcoal which, Njau said had degraded the forest.

"The impacts of rising carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature are already visible," he said.

He said the glaciers at the scenic snow-covered mountain were shrinking fast, threatening water supply for millions of people. The movement plans to launch a fund, Biocarbon Fund, which will see trees planted in more than 4,000 hectares of the Aberdares and Mt Kenya forests.

The project is expected to have conserved about 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in the next 10 years covering Nyeri, Meru, Kiambu and Nyandarua districts.

Maathai and the Green Belt movement has for the last two decades brushed the shoulders with the powers that be over her frequent opposition to defforestation by politically-connected personalities who would grab public land in gazzetted forests with a view to put up palatial homes or state-of-the-art shopping malls. Though she has done her best to fight for the rights of Kenyans, she remains unpopular in her own political home-tuff and pundits have time and again said she could be one her way out of Parliament.

Let Democracy Prevail in Somalia

SOMALIA has dominated world headlines for the last 15 years for all wrong reasons. One, it is a failed State and has been without a Central government for the last 15 years. Its current Head of State and his government controls a tiny provincial town called Baidoa.

The horn of Africa nation degenerated to the abyss of misrule following the overthrow of the then marxist President Mohammed Siad Barre who had ruled the desert nation with an iron fist for decades.

But the recent happenings in Somalia are quite interesting. First, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) is now in command of almost the entire country and has a popular backing from the impoverished ordinary Somalis. Second, the President Abdullahi Ahmed Yusuf just recently survived an attempted assassination from hired gunmen in Baidoa after attending a Parliamentary session. Third, Ethiopia, a long-time enemy of Somalia has deployed hundrends of troops deep into the country apparently to protect the helpless government of Yusuf and his allies. Yusuf has a long running ties with Addis Ababa, a country that many Somalis loath with a passion.

On observing the scenario, many Western countries have been asking Somalias neighbouring States - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea, Djibout, Sudan to send a peacekeeping force with a view to protect the interests of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that was formed two years ago in Nairobi, Kenya following a two year Peace and Reconciliation Conference.

However, i must say as a media person who followed and reported on the Somalia issues like a personal pet project that there is more than meets the eye in the whole standoff betweeen the UIC commonly called Islamists and the TFG.

One, the TFG is very unpopular among ordinary Somalis. Majority of those who comprise the TFG Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Prof. Ali Mohammed Ghedi are former warlords who extorted poor citizens and deliberatly prolonged the crisis with a view to maintain status quo, by this they new they would continue to rake in huge sums of dollars without folding the sleeve of their shirts.

As in any democracy, large or otherwise, let the people decide! If the principles of democracy are universal, then the will of Somalis should be respected by all, including the International comunity and regional States that played a pivitol role in brokering the peace deal.

The UIC has managed what blood-thirsty warlords were unable to do for 14 years - bringing order, peace and stability in the capital Mogadishu, reputed to be among the most insecure cities in the world. They have also managed to accomplish what the fledgling TFG could not even attempt for the last two years - win the confidence of the people, restore order and enhance national security.

Those are the virtues that make UIC a darling of majority Somalis.

On the other hand, the Islamists should not allow the goodwill to spill away from their hands by engaging in hardline way of leadership reminiscent of the brutal Taliban regime in Afghanstan that was overthrown by United States of America (USA) shortly after the 9/11 bombing in New York, USA.

As exemplified in the Holy Quran which is the UIC'sr book of reference, religious tolerance should be upheld by all and individual rights respected. We have witnessed them shut video shops, and eve stone crime offenders to death. This is not right!

But there can be peace in Somalia if dialogue and diplomacy were given a chance by both sides of the political divide - TFG and the UIC.

Editor's Note

My names are Johnson Muthumbi from Nairobi, Kenya in East Africa.I am a stronger believer that racism and ethnicity are not virtues of humanity and that whoever propagates either is an enemy of progressive ideology, out of touch with reality, myopic and above all anti-GOD.Every person, i believe, has an innate potential to make it in life and that success is not a citizen of any nation.

That aside, i take this opportunity to invite all to this site for incisive coverage of news, features, in-depth analysis, commentaries, sports and businessnews that touch the very heart of humanity.On this site, censorship is still a foreign concept with no intention to embrace it in the near future.

Never again in the history of mankind has the thirst for uncensored truth been so intense. Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, comrades in life, this website is here to fill in this gap.

I thank all those that have inspired me along my glorious and challenging moments of my career/profession - Reginah Nyawira, my mother who brought me up under very contradicting circumstances, Paul Mugo of Tianshi Group International, Mukalo Kwayera alias Kabras who is a veteran Kenyan journalist of no mean repute, Kioko Ireri, Daniel Luseno alias Chairman of (www.newskenya.blogspot.com), Karl Dennis Itumbi of (www.abunuwasi.com), Mwai Kibaki alias kubaff' (the President of Kenya), Jamal Mutua of NMG, Steve Munga of Steve Munga Ministries among others.

I also acknowledge my life role models - Mahathir Mohammad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia who spearheaded the country to the status of a developed nation within a spun of just over a decade, Fidel Castro of Cuba for his determination and focus to the goal, Lord Austin who founded the Austin Automobile Industry in England in 18th century, Prophets Mohammed and Jesus Christ together with Osama bin Laden for their influence and charisma, Hugo Chavez the President of Venezuela, Ayatollah Khomenei the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Martin Luther who by courage challenged the status quo of the day at a time when the Roman Catholic Church's power and influence was beyond the challenge of any mortal man.

Friends, you are all welcome to post your comments on what appears on this site.

WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!