Blatant Somalia apologist, Bashir Goth, wrong choice for Somaliland’s representative in Washington DC

This week, President Bihi has  issued a directive appointing a Blatant Somalia apologist, a denier  of the war crimes that had been committed against the Somaliland people by the murderous and corrupt Said Barre regime, Bashir Goth, as Somaliland’s  new Representative in Washington DC.

Foreign Minister, Dr Saad Shire, has recommended Goth for the position. Last month,after President Bihi had a three hour meeting with Goth, he offered him the job. This is a done deal.

But why did  our Foreign Minister  recommend Goth for the position?

Is he the best qualified person for the job? Is he a man who will fight for Somaliland’s interest given his malign writings on Somaliland in the past?

Goth is a blogger, and a paid consultant to the Prime Minister of the dysfunctional, corrupt Somali government in Mogadishu,Somalia’s capital, but he is the wrong  choice  for Washington DC post.

Goth is a blatant Somalia apologist and a part of the blame Somaliland first crowd. In his writings, he blames Somaliland, especially the Isaaq clan, for everything that went wrong on the Somali peninsula for the last three centuries. He started blaming the Isaaq clan for the defeat of the Dervish movement against the British Empire in Northern Somalia, led by the first Somali freedom fighter, Sayid Abdulle, during the early 20th century. He blames Isaaq for the disunity of the Somali people. Goth did not blame the Somali despot and the warlords who destroyed the Somali state. Instead, he blamed the Somali National Movement (SNM) for waging war against the vile and corrupt regime of Siad Barre. He blames Somaliland on the clan driven violence, corruption and the culture of predation that have prevailed in Mogadishu. He even now complains about Somaliland’s military campaign to secure its borders and to keep its people safe.

It is wrong for Goth to blame Somaliland people for horrible problems that they did not cause or are not responsible for.Goth should also know that the Somaliland people are not responsible for the factional fighting and the mayhem that have characterized Somalia for the last three decades.

While promoting pro Mogadishu propaganda, in most of his writings, he used to bad mouth Somaliland’s achievement and its challenges.

Foreign Minister, Dr Saad, has a lot of explaining to do on why he recommended Goth for the post, given his record on Somaliland  in the first place.

I believe Goth’s appointment will do significant damage to Somaliland’s quest for diplomatic recognition, because he is against everything Somaliland and its people stand for.And he has already pledged allegiance to Somalia. Therefore he has been compromised, and he can’t become an effective Somaliland representative in Washington DC.

His appointment would make Somaliland a laughing stock, and would give comfort to Somaliland’s haters and give them ammunition to use against us.

Dr Saad  who has been  a member of the previous corrupt Silanyo administration, has done a terrible job since he took over the Foreign Ministry. In fact, during his tenure as Foreign Minister, he was a disaster, and the damage  he did to Somaliland’s diplomacy is too great to ignore. A lot of people who support President Bihi, including myself, do not understand why Dr Saad is still in the cabinet.

Without reservation, Gubanmedia  has come to the conclusion that Dr Saad, who has no military or diplomatic experience, whose chief credential was running a money transfer office in London, for the sake of the country, must go.

The problem for Somaliland, which has lots of valid reasons for being considered a sovereign state, has to do with the fact that we do not have an effective Foreign Minister who can articulate to the world why a peaceful and democratic Somaliland should be a member of the world community.

The diaspora is also fixated with the events back home and decating online with Somaliland haters, which are not making a difference for Somaliland’s fight  for diplomatic recognition. We should rather put our energy on challenging the false narrative being spewed by the United Nations and the African Union, and lobby for Somaliland’s cause at a grassroots level.

Moreover, given the state of affairs of the office representing Somaliland in Washington DC, we have a lot of work to do in terms of making our case to the current US administration and Congress. But by appointing our representative to Washington DC, to an individual whose loyalty lies with Somalia, is not only reckless and dangerous, but would not advance our interest or cause.

Somaliland has a lot of talented individuals with experience, and it deserves better than the “Blame Somaliland first crowd” like Goth from our elected President. Bihi should do the right thing and should rescind Goth’s appointment for Somaliland’s representative to the United States

Ali Mohamed is the founder and editor of Gubanmedia.com, an independent online source of news and commentary covering the Horn of Africa region. He can be reached at aliadm18 at gmail dot com.

 Lewis Center, Ohio