Guban View: The U.S. must stand up for democracy in Djibouti
Djibouti, an impoverished, Muslim country in the Horn of Africa with less than a million inhabitants, on Monday, June 27 “celebrated” the 45th anniversary of its independence from France.
But many Djiboutians have nothing to celebrate in the face of the deprivation of political and civil liberties and press freedom.
The regime of President Ismail Omar Geulleh (IOG) suppresses press freedom and internet access and cracks down on journalists. La Voix de Djibouti, an independent internet radio station run by Djiboutians in the diaspora, has been blocked and the website’s editor, Maydanah Abdallah Okeih, detained several times.
In 2016, IOG who had ruled Djibouti since 1999, changed the constitution to allow him to run for a fifth time. In 2021 presidential election, He won by 98 per cent after the opposition boycotted the election. He is planning to stay in power for life.
The foreign aid and income that Djibouti receives from the leasing of foreign bases, has not improved the living conditions of its citizens. In 2020, the UN placed Djibouti at position 170 among the 187 countries surveyed in its human development index. Half of Djiboutians live in poverty and lack essentials such as water and healthcare.
Djibouti lies on the western shore of Bab-el-Mandeb, a strategic strait 18 miles wide joining the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea. It serves as a regional port. Landlocked Ethiopia’s imports and exports go through this port.
Djibouti hosts several foreign military bases, including the only American military base in Africa, Camp Lemonnier, a 500-acre, former French Foreign Legion post. Djibouti also hosts the first Chinese overseas military. China invested Djibouti ports and the train linking it to Ethiopia. The Djibouti regime is heavily indebted to ch
Camp Lemonnier base, which hosts 5,000 personnel, is the hub of the US counter-terrorism efforts against Al-Shabaab in Somalia and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and elsewhere in Africa. The United States pays the Djibouti government $700 million to lease the site for 10 years.
We know that it is difficult for the Americans to take any action against Djibouti’s despotic regime because of these interests.
Djibouti also hosts the first Chinese overseas military base. China invested Djibouti’s ports and the train linking it to Ethiopia. The Djibouti regime is heavily indebted to china. And it might fall into china debt diplomacy trap.
IOG is sucking the blood of the poor people of Djibouti, instead of up lifting the standard living of countrymen and women. He created poverty, hopelessness, injustice, and dictatorship.
For 45 years, Djiboutians have suffered under one-party misrule and despotism. They deserve free and fair elections to choose their own leader and government without fear of repression. America, the European Union, and Africa have a duty to support human rights, democracy, and the rule of law everywhere in the world, including in Djibouti.
The consequences of not doing so are serious — political instability, uprising, expansion of China’s predatory policy in the region and extremism. That would be dangerous for Bab-el-Mandeb, one of the world’ busiest maritime routes.
Ali-Guban Mohamed
Founder and Editor, Gubanmedia.com, an online source of news and commentary about the Horn of Africa
aliadm18@gmail.com
