A Dahabshiil outlet in Nairobi's CBD on April 8, 2015. FILE PHOTO |
Money transfer service firm Dahabshiil has deleted the ‘Somaliland’ tag from its list of countries, complying with a directive from Mogadishu over the sovereignty of the breakaway region of Somalia.
The move was criticised in Hargeisa, the capital of the Somaliland region, but was meant to ensure the money transfer service continues to operate in wider Somalia which had threatened to suspend the firm’s licence.
Dahabshiil formally deleted the tag last week on Saturday but the directive had been in place for nearly six weeks.
Dahabshiil says it complied with a directive issued in August by the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) in Mogadishu, ordering companies to remove the name of Somaliland, the region that unilaterally declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991.
Back in August, Commerce and Industry Minister Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi referred to the country’s provisional constitution to order companies to slash the name of ‘Somaliland’ from their network information sites.
The directive was broad-based though focused on money transfer agencies such as Paysii, Dahabshiil, and Jubba Express. It was also meant to draw the attention of other remittance dealers and companies to stop using the name ‘Somaliland’ and instead apply to Somalia, giving a deadline.
“Use Somalia only in your systems as of 1st of September,” the communique stated.
Dahabshiil complied effective October 5, notifying its users of the changes including its nature of being a financial dealer with international reach.
It said it was not only obeying the directives by the federal government but was following trends by other companies including Ethiopian Airlines and Flydubai that had also removed ‘Somaliland’ from their information sites in the wake of the pressure.
It was Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) that issued the first directive in August, ordering airlines like Flydubai and Ethiopian Airlines to list their destinations such as Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, as being in Somalia.
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, initially asked for more time to comply, which SCAA refused. It complied immediately to avoid suspension of its operations in Somalia, one of its lucrative destinations.
Eventually, Ethiopian and Flydubai refrained from referring to Hargeisa and other landing sites in the region as Somaliland and applied to Somalia as instructed.
The case of Dahabshiil was significant because the firm started operations in Burao, in the Somaliland region, some three decades ago when Somalia fell among warlords. Somaliland had then declared independence from the rest of Somalia, arguing the union it had reached with the wider Somalia in 1960 had collapsed. No other country has ever recognised Somaliland as independent, however.
In a statement, the company stated, “Dahabshiil is a global company operating in more than 120 countries. We’re international, like flydubai, Ethiopian Airlines, and Turkish Airlines, operating under international rules.”
“Dahabshiil started in Burao, Somaliland, and went global from there. We'll continue to serve all,” it added.
Some users in Somaliland threatened to boycott the firm, others criticised the firm for abandoning its roots.
Yet others said they could understand the company’s predicament in following trends.
The issue involving the Somali government dispensing directives to companies was provoked by Somaliland and Ethiopia signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 1 this year. Although the document has never been published, officials from both sides claimed it granted Addis Ababa a 20 km coastal strip to build a naval base supposedly in return for recognising Somaliland as an independent country.
The pre-independence northern territory was known as the British Somaliland Protectorate and attained its liberty from the United Kingdom on June 26, 1960. It then voluntarily merged with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic on July 1, 1960.
Ever since, Somalia has considered Somaliland as part of its jurisdiction despite the Somaliland authority managing to establish a de facto administration led by democratically elected leaders and instituting its currency, central bank, and passport, despite not attracting international recognition. It is due to hold the next elections next month.
