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Problems in the
VOA-Somali Service
(Washington, January
13,
2008 Ceegaag Online)
At the
beginning of the Voice Of America-Somali program, Somalis
in the Diaspora and back home were very enthusiastic about
the radio service. From the start expectations were very
high, particularly as US foreign policy toward Africa has
taken a new course in the last few years, following
suspected al-Qaeda efforts to establish itself in East and
Central Africa.
But
now it appears that this media institution has been
diverted from its original purpose. Regular listeners are
not surprised to hear news dominated by events in
Mogadishu, but are routinely frustrated by the evident
bias and selectiveness of the news coverage. VOA-Somali
Service reporters inside Mogadishu report new explosions
and violence in the city, yet, considering the casualty
figures reported by other independent news media, the
sources seem to be inventing unfounded stories that seem
intended to destabilize the UN and US-backed Transitional
Federal Government (TFG) and lead to increased tensions.
Most recently, the official spokesman for the TFG Ministry
of Information appeared on the broadcast, angrily accusing
VOA reporters in Mogadishu of such misconduct. In the
interview, the minister described how the Mogadishu
militia deployed fireworks to mimic mortar explosions, and
criticized the role the media is playing under these
circumstances.
The
deposed Islamists in Somalia, the Union of Islamic Courts
(UIC), are once again starting to re-organize with the
help of local clan sympathizers, and are succeeding in
twisting the media, misleading the Somali people. Like
Al-Qaeda, a principal component of UIC's strength has been
the use of media organizations, such as the BBC-Somali
Service, Horn-Afrik, Capital Voice, STN TV, Shabelle, and
different Somali websites, to promote their terror
campaign and spread disinformation.
The VOA-Somali Service, an establishment created to serve
the interests of the Somali public with news and
information, and presumably to promote US foreign policy
in the region (since it is funded by US taxpayers), has
been turned into an in -house propaganda tool against the
TFG and now advances the interests of the al-Qaeda-backed
UIC.
Like
its predecessor, BBC-Somali, the VOA Somali Service is
dominated by UIC supporters. Individuals such as Abdi
Yabarow, Mohamed Haydara, Mohamed Hussein Shiine, and Asha
Ibrahim Uud, are well known hardcore supporters of the UIC,
and their presence in the service is only serving the
Islamic terrorist cause in Somalia.
For
instance, on June 13, 2007, the US Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs, Ms. Jendayi Frazer, was
interviewed by Mohamed Shiine of VOA-Somali. Ms. Frazer
was very bold and straightforward articulating the US
foreign policy toward the Horn of Africa. However, since
the interview was conducted in the English language,
translation into Somali was necessary, and that task was
carried out by Mr. Shiine and Asha Ibrahim themselves. The
interview aired next day with some responses to Jendayi's
comments.
However, the interview was totally mistranslated. For
example, when Ms. Jendayi said, "the leadership of the TFG
has to make changes," her statement was mistranslated as,
in the Somali version, "the top leadership of the TFG has
to go." As a result, many Somalis in the community were
outraged by the deliberately misleading acts of these
individuals; and although the VOA issued apology a few
days later, after receiving multiple complaints,
appropriate action was never taken against these
perpetrators. Another problem is that VOA administrators
have seemed to ignore EEOC principles as they have hired
members of only one clan (Hawiye) closely allied with the
UIC to the service. This must be corrected.
Echoing these concerns about the preferential treatment
afforded to a particular Somali clan with extensive ties
to the UIC, one leader of the Washington DC-area Somali
community, Mohamed Jama, recently wrote to Ato Nagussie,
the VOA Somali Program Director, stating,
Though created most recently, the VOA Somali Service is
following the footsteps of the BBC Somali Service. For a
period close to one year, the VOA Somali has been in the
air waves -- broadcasting unbalanced, selective, and
exaggerated field-reports. There are many similarities
with the BBC-Somali -- almost all the Somali staff
employed at the VOA, namely "Somali Evening Edition,"
had originally worked for the BBC Somali Service. Some
famous names include: Mohamed Haydara, Cabdiraxmaan
Yabarow, Cabdisalaan Harari, Ahmed Awke, and few other
BBC expatriate junior staff members. The daily VOA
Somali Broadcast is predominantly about Mogadishu
conflict, and its news terminology always flow the same
pattern as the BBC Somali: explosions, UIC vs. TFG,
Ethiopian intervention, selected interviews with
terrorists, and other distasteful pre-recorded
interviews. The recent removal of Mr. Abdullah, the only
neutral and non-BBC former employee also raised our
suspicion even further.
On the face of it, it does appear that recruits for VOA
Somali service are coming predominantly from one
clan. There is suspicion that they are receiving unfair
advantage through masterful networking and other
techniques. The case of the stringers in the field is
particularly telling. It is alleged that highly
qualified applicants were somehow eliminated, while
others with limited aptitude have been selected.
Nobody I know believes that you, Mr. Negussie, would
stoop to the level of seeking recruits from one Somali
clan at the expense of another. However, clan-oriented,
Somali insiders who do not play by the rules have other
ways of gaming the system, especially when is at least
one willing cooperator, as is widely believed, at the
supervisory and management levels.
In the
following picture by the famous Somali artist Amin Amir,
we see illustrated the widely-held sentiment against the
biased information the VOA Somali is providing. This
picture shows Mr. Yusuf Indhacadde, one of the most wanted
terrorist suspects in Somalia, speaking to the VOA Somali
Service in Washington, saying, "Yeah! Yeah! This is
Indhacadde, I am in Somalia, I am talking to you from my
Mogadishu residence." The little boy walking by asks his
father, "Look! There is Sheikh in the container, what is
he doing in there?" The father replies, "No! That is not
Sheikh; that is the big satin ‘Indhacadde,' who was behind
the suffering of many Somalis, talking to the VOA in an
interview. Oh! Now-a-days, the VOA has become a
meaningless broadcast."
Conclusion
Media
involvement in the Somalia clan politics is very
dangerous, and the recent assassinations of nine
journalists indicate the level of violence directed at the
independent Somali media. These killings were not random,
and the blood bath continues unprovoked, including the
more than fifteen Western journalists gunned down inside
Somalia.
Clearly, the VOA-Somali daily broadcast serves as a moral
high ground for the al-Qaeda-backed terrorist insurgency
in Mogadishu, with or without the knowledge of the VOA
administration. Irrespective of the VOA's complicity, this
situation demands immediate correction. Eventually, this
kind of coverage favorable to the defeated Islamic
terrorists will further escalate the instability in the
country. Therefore, Somali-Americans are calling upon the
VOA authority to use US taxpayer dollars in a better way,
if the program objectives are to succeed and US foreign
policy objectives in the Horn of Africa are to be promoted
in the region.
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