COKE SOON TO BE BANNED IN MOGADISHO WHAT IS NEXT?

[Somaliman%]

Mogadishu Journal


MOGADISHU, Somalia — When a Coca-Cola bottling plant opened here two years ago, the 400-plus investors invited to finance the project were carefully chosen by clan.

There were Abgal investors and Habar Gedir investors, and representatives of other clans around Somalia as well. All kicked in a minimum of $300 to help start the United Bottling Company, SomaliaÂ’s only Coca-Cola maker. It was a deliberate effort to create a feeling of communal ownership for the factory in a place where clan-based conflict has long been the rule.

It was a bold business venture, building a sparkling, $8.3 million facility in such a tumultuous capital. The thinking was that Somalia had huge business potential and that the anarchy that erupted after its last government collapsed in 1991 would give way to economic recovery.

But Somalia is a difficult place to read, and now, two years after the plant went up, the Coke brand faces a much changed business environment, one with both opportunity and peril. Islamic militias took over the capital in June and brought stability to the city, so much so that the Coke bottler here predicts its sky-high security costs will soon plummet.

“Before, we had gunmen accompanying our distributors,” Mohammed Hassan Awale, the sales manager and acting general manager of the plant, said in an interview. “Now, no guns are needed.”

There is another benefit to peace, he said. “If there is peace, there is opportunity for work, for business, and people will have money to buy Coke,” he said.

The new political reality in Mogadishu has also taken a bite out of business, as some imams have begun railing against Coke, calling it an un-Islamic beverage that should not go down a proper MuslimÂ’s throat.

Nur Barud Gurhan, a hard-line sheik in Mogadishu, raised the issue in January during a protest against cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that were published first in Denmark and then in other countries. He declared that Westerners were enemies of Islam and that their products, anything from milk that originates in Denmark to AtlantaÂ’s most famous carbonated export, should not be consumed by Somalis.

The anti-Coke campaign was picked up by members of the Islamic courts who took over Mogadishu. They defeated the secular warlords who long controlled the country, and who received American financial support in recent years for their efforts to root out terrorists.

Using WashingtonÂ’s support for the warlords as a rallying cry, the Islamic militias have also railed against Coke, spreading a message in mosques that has already prompted many to abstain.

“I was selling Coca-Cola before the U.S. government formed the devil’s alliance with the warlords,” said Hilowle Yarow Hassan, a restaurant owner. He has since stopped selling Coke.

Omar Hussein Omar, who owns a tea shop in the capital, used to sell Coke as well but was persuaded by religious leaders to give it up. “Out of ignorance, I was selling and drinking Coca-Cola, but now I hate it so much,” he said, indicating that he has no desire to help his enemies in the West profit, even if some of his countrymen are involved in the local Coke enterprise.

“If I had the power, I would destroy the Coke plant in Mogadishu because they are generating hard currency for our worst enemy,” said another Coke detractor, Talha Kheyr Abdulla, an English teacher.

The Coke plant was quiet on a recent morning. Mr. Awale offered a bottle of ice-cold Coke to a visitor, but acknowledged that production, which can exceed 30,000 bottles an hour, had been temporarily suspended. He blamed not anti-Americanism but the relatively cool weather last month, which had reduced sales and prompted a slowdown in the production of Coke, as well as that of Fanta and Sprite.

In his view, most Somalis are not anti-American and enjoy Coke as much as others around the world, though he conceded that Washington’s alliance with the warlords had provoked much anti-American sentiment. “The people do not hate the U.S.,” he said. “They hate what the U.S. did.”

Coke was bottled in Mogadishu in the 1980Â’s, when Somalia was still one country, but that plant has long been in ruins. The ramshackle walls are still painted a faded red, but inside, where all the machinery used to be, are now thousands of squatters, most too poor to afford a luxury like Coke.

Before the new plant went up in July 2004, Coke still found its way into Somalia, by ship from the United Arab Emirates. It cost about 8,000 Somali shillings a bottle back then, or about 60 cents, a significant sum in a place where jobs are scarce and most struggle to eke out a living. The modern production facility has reduced the price to about a third of that, company officials here say.

That is good news for Coke drinkers like Abdulahi Adan Abdurahman, 31, who ignores religious leaders’ calls for him to stay away from it. “I love Coca-Cola,” he said. “I drink it all the time. It’s my favorite drink.”

Hussein Moalim Ali, 22, a student, agrees, advocating a philosophy not unlike the one put forward by CokeÂ’s many investors.

“I don’t have suspicions about it,” he said of his favorite beverage. “I don’t think hostility can work in business. Business must be free from political or religious affairs.”

[AbdiWahab252]

I own shares in that bottling plant

[PH.D.]

I really dont believe that. Enemies of the Court will say and do anything to spin lies.

[Kamal35]

I insist: When to ban qat????????????????

The day the Court ban the use of qat, will be the last day of the Court.

[RED STAR]

GOOOD LET IT GET BANNED!!

it SHIT.......LET THEM DRINK WATER INSTEAD ITS MORE HEALTHY.

[Alluring]

lmfao@that

Why don't the ban those that green leave substance? Making people lazy and muderous. These people disgust me!

[Sir-Luggoyo]

I totally support the Coke ban. First, it has no heath benefit and number two, you are fattening your enemy and the enemy of your religion, this is a very good and timely economical boycott.


Check out these facts and tell me if you still wanna have a bottle of coke:


1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4days.

2. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

3. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

4. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!


But what does a Moryan know what health benefit is.

[COSTA]

Well they are right me too i prefer mecca-cola

http://www.mecca-cola.com

[eyes-only]

It has not been banned and they are not interested in banning private businesses. Some of the local business people and consumers decided to boycott it as they see it as a symbol of the enemy that was funding the warlords that made their life difficult. It is also very unhealthy. There are campaigns in the west for healthy eating yet they propagate stories like this. Silly or what? There are people dying, many internally displaced living is squalid condition and what do you do? Talk about Coka Cola

[AbdiWahab252]

[quote="Sir-Luggoyo"]I totally support the Coke ban. First, it has no heath benefit and number two, you are fattening your enemy and the enemy of your religion, this is a very good and timely economical boycott.


Check out these facts and tell me if you still wanna have a bottle of coke:


1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4days.

2. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

3. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

4. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!


But what does a Moryan know what health benefit is.[/quote]

Jareer Lug.... Why not ban Khat which is more dangerous ? Why not ban HORMUUD Telecom for using MCI to route its calls in and out of Somalia ?

[Steeler [Crawler2]]

I still don't buy this and have yet to see a single newspaper article verifying it. Why would they ban Coke? Come on. There are lots of things that are not good for you. Tea, Coffee to name a few. Are they going to ban them too?

[Cheroke]

[quote="PH.D."]I really dont believe that. Enemies of the Court will say and do anything to spin lies.[/quote]

Exactly

Not everything we ear should be taken lightly, Keep in mind their are those will fabricate every little details and tilt the truth. And those are the adversaries of the wadaads.

[FarhanYare]

[miskeen86]

we need Mecca Cola.