Somaliland spends $524m a year - 30% of GDP - on khat

[CaliQase]

Aniga waxaan arkay in ambalaastu ay ka istaagto markay baabuurta qaadku yimaadaan. Yaabka yaabkiis!

[CasualFarah]

lool

We spend a lot of money on khat, but nowhere near 524 million.

[ramzy2277]

This might look crazy but we can at least minimize the damage since the government is not keen to put a ban on the khat or even control its usage, and the money drains out of the country, why don't the government make a local competitive market by growing the khat in some remote and confined farms( so the locals won't farm qat instead of other products).
524 m$ is indeed a lot of country for a country. I read somewhere that khat imports is Ehiopia's third largest export after Coffee and cement, as the saying '' if you can't beat them join them''.

[srsbsns]

Guys the khat income revenue is what's keeping SL afloat. You can only begin to tackle khat once investment and trade is linked with the world community and that means recognition. Only when the economy is diversified with other industries can you begin to talk about tackling social problems.

You want to ban khat now? You're running before you can walk.

[Thuganomics]

Aisha,what's with the numbers horta.I could never work that one out

[Methylamine]

- High taxes on khat- at least 300%. Raise it by 50% every year
- Curfew hrs for sale of qat - between 5pm and 8pm. Anyone who ignores the curfew will be inprisoned and fined. Any qat-sellers who abuse the curfew will be put to death.
- Education and non stop propaganda. Start in primary schools. Anyone who buys or sells it should be demonised and considered a social pariah. Get Islamic scholars to condemn it's use.
- Border patrols. Qat smugglers get automatic death sentence if convicted - no reprieves or reduction in sentence.
- Gradually phase it our over a 5-10 year period
- Ban it after 10 years. Death for smugglers/importers. Life sentence for buyers.

Rest are solid points

Bro, if the Islamic Courts managed to successfully ban khat in 2006, what makes you think it can't be done again??

I agree with banning it completely after 10 years, just found giving life sentences to khat buyers and death to smugglers to be a little extreme

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Methyl, In countries like Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, China etc. they have strict and heavy sentences for drug use and trafficking ranging from life-inprisonment to death sentences. As a result, those countries have some of the lowest drug-use in the world. Would you rather live in a country like Taiwan with high productivity, low crime and drug-use or Somaliland with almost zero-productivity, high drug use and high crime rate.Also, which one of them is meant to be a muslim country?

[GAMES]

Hydro I think u got ur math (Xisaab) wrong. Umm, were u chewing (Khat) when u made this? $524 kulahaa. Is that what passes for math now?

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Hydro I think u got ur math (Xisaab) wrong. Umm, were u chewing (Khat) when u made this? $524 kulahaa. Is that what passes for math now?

I said $524m as in $524 million. Put your reading glasses on you old drunk cadcad.

[GAMES]

Again, I am still confused. Is it $524 million of the total GDP spent on Khat, or 30% of $524 million spent on Khat?

Which one is't sxb? But don't worry, I'd go chew some Khat, and maybe it would all make sense to me also.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

$524 million is 30% of Somaliland's GDP according to this article. Which would mean that Somaliland's total GDP is about $1.746 Billion. Simple maths man.

Put down the bottle, then it'll make sense.

It would mean that Somaliland has the same GDP per capita as Ethiopia and Eritrea (give or take a few dollars).

[GAMES]

$1.7 billion GDP?

Walle iyo Bille, weey duushaay. Thats even more than Ethiopia's GDP, let alone Somalia's. Qaw, Naw Jaw.

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Ethiopia's GDP is about $40 Billion. Are you trolling or are you that out of it?

[ramzy2277]

According to the official estimate of Somaliland's first GDP in 2012 done by the World Bank, SL's GDP for the year 2012 was 1.4 Billion Dollar

Source:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press- ... somaliland

[LiquidHYDROGEN]

Imagine where we'd be if we had a proper government and stopped wasting money and time of qaat and qabyaalad. We'd overtake the amxaara.