bravo bbc service

[North brother]

I’m a Dutch national who worked and extensively traveled throughout Somalia, South to North, between 1994 and 1998. During my residence, I made many good friends, some of whom I still maintain regular contacts through the Internet. I have developed a hobby and nostalgia to browse Somali websites to update myself of the progresses made in the towns and villages I once worked.

At that time, I realized how vital the BBC Somali Service was to the lives of the Somali people. I observed men throng at teashops around 5:30 p.m. to catch their daily dose of local and world news, from their favorite and, of course, only reliable source. Somalis recognize the significance of keeping this important service and had previously appealed against a decision to close the Service.

However, I’m baffled by the continued attack, somewhat personal in nature, on the BBC Somali Service team and particularly its chief editor by few Somali websites, most notably Allpuntland, Wardheernews, Allwadani, and Idamaale. It is hard to digest the daily slanders heavily rained on its editor, a man I personally met and have a great respect for; a man who is genuine and sincere and has taken the Service into a commendable level appreciated by those who really depend on their daily world news. I have met Mr. Garad in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2003 and we had a very good conversation. There are things he talked about which included improving the Service even higher to make one of the best African programmes in the BBC World Service.

I was stunned to read statements like: “close the BBC relay antennas in Puntland”, and begging others to follow suit to close down all BBC relay centers in that country. I asked myself the question of who will lose if the antennas are brought down. I understand that the webmasters of the afore-mentioned websites reside in Europe or North America. I also recognize that these webmasters have the luxury to choose from hundreds of radios and television stations anytime of the day or night and that they don’t need the thirty minute news time that the masses in Somalia cherish to listen. The losers in this case will be the millions living in remote villages and towns in a country that doesn’t have proper mass media such as radios and television.

Then I took the trouble to investigate why these websites where so critical of this marvelous man and his team? My findings of the reason behind the continuous insults, some dehumanizing in nature, against the chief editor and his team is beyond belief.

First, I established the fact that ALL the above-mentioned websites are either edited or owned by people from Puntland. Secondly, I also found out that ALL these websites are pro-Abdullahi Yusuf government. Here is then where the problem lies:

These webmasters wished the BBC to be the mouth piece of the interim president’s government and promote his policies. Unfortunately, when the chief editor asserted the neutrality and independence of the Service from the Somali politics, they decided to destroy his character and dedicated team that work so hard in the most difficult of circumstances. Their motive is to tarnish Mr. Garad’s character in order to persuade the World Service programme editors to dismiss him or demote him. Their means are to continually publish articles, interviews and lies against this good man and his team. And their objective is to get away with murder by knowingly lying and discrediting this highly professional individual and seeking his head. The World Service understands their motives and may not replace Mr. Garad with one of your kin. At least in the West, it doesn’t work that way.

It is worth mentioning that this act is not part of Somali culture or puritan Islamic code of conduct. It is as I understand, after research and years of experience in Somalia, based purely on clan allegiance and hatred. These are accusations intended to cause maximum damage not only to character assassinate the chief editor but the good men and women who so tirelessly provide unbiased first hand news from the world’s leading news agency, The World Service.

Behold! Clan loyalty in Somali is so sacred that one will not hesitate to kill or hurt fellow citizen in its name without giving a second thought. The clan is the Satan that the Somalis worship and where Satan rules, humans are subjugated to perform every undignified act without asking questions. No amount of reason will explain why these websites are so obsessed to dehumanize a fellow human being. Clan fanaticism is the lowest point a human being can reach.

A piece of advice to these websites, please don’t attack, insult or humiliate someone or some people who are so dedicated to serving your community. Please stop seeking the destruction of the Somali Service, because millions depend on it. Please understand that the Service is an independent entity and no one can influence how it works. Please stop acting as INTERNET WARLORDS who terrorize their victims in every home and internet café. Please stop the continual character assassination of the highly qualified chief editor, who as many Somalis put it, is considered the best ever editor the Somali Service has ever had.