An Open Letter to Ms Edna Aden – A Symbol of Somali Paradox

July 1st and 26th June, are somber occasions that I pay due tribute to Somali independency and subsequent unification in 1960. Similarly I share the endless pains of current day Somali people.

This article is addressed to one great Somali person Ms Edna Aden who herself is a product of Somali independence and unity, but who lately and sadly chose to fight for the wrong cause of breaking up the Somali people with her unparalleled vigour and energy in the international arena. The great Edna has now become one of the most ardent and high profile advocates for the secession of breakaway Somaliland at whatever cost.

Edna and Egal with President Johnson

In this shocking videorecorded in Belgium during June 2012, Edna Aden is using unprecedented language of hate to justify the recognition of Somaliland as the great beacon of all things good and great . She is doing so by brutally demonizing the rest of Somalia as lands of terrorists, pirates and murderers.

Who is Edna Aden?

Those of you who know or heard about Edna Aden’s story would agree with me that she is a great Somali woman who deserves the highest respect and admiration. Above all, Edna has proved to be one of the hardest working Somali women alive; a very successful career woman who worked in prestigious positions in the United Nations and who proudly represented the State of Somalia in high level international meetings around the world.

She was the First Lady of the Somali state in the 60s when she was married to the late Honourable Mohammed Ibrahim Egal who was one of the best and the brightest Prime Ministers Somalia has ever produced. Ms. Edna Aden got the best possible education any Somali woman could get in the 60s and 70s at the expanse of the Somali government.

It is admirable that when she retired from the United Nations she decided to spend her pension money and donations she collected from the Somali people of all clans and regions around the world on a cause that remains urgent for all Somalis and she managed to build the maternity hospital in

Hargeysa. She also became the first Somali female foreign minister of Somaliland. Clearly these are achievements of a feisty and strong Somali woman. In sum, Ms Edna represents a success story of what Somali woman can accomplish if given the opportunity.

Unfortunately, Ms Edna’s place in Somali history has become tainted by a recentvideo recorded in Belgium in June 2012 where she engages in uncharacteristically hostile speech on behalf of her obsessive crusade for Somaliland recognition. The video illustrates how extreme the great Edna has become in her advocacy for the secession of breakaway Somaliland. For anyone who knows about British colonialism in Africa, it is embarrassing to listen to the video where Ms Edna Aden is praising a distorted and divisive map on an old British postage stamp. This last humiliation follows an earlier speech that she made in 2005 at the British House of Lords saying that “Somaliland is an orphan and Britain is her Godfather.” 

My reaction to that speech in London was; Oh! Please Edna, you do not have to do this, British are not stupid and they will not believe you. They still carry the wounds of Somali freedom wars and they have even built a statue in the centre of London for Richard Corfield. Besides, you could surely find much more worthy fathers and grandfathers among the many fallen heroes of Somali freedom struggles in the graveyards around you in Hargeisa, Burco, Erigavo, Las Anod etc. 

Similarly, my reaction today to Edna’s latest outburst in Brussels is exactly the same; Dear Edna, you really do not have to go this low to justify recognition for Somaliland. Europeans will not buy it; if they wanted they would have done so during the last 20 years when people like you were tirelessly telling them day in and day out to recognize Somaliland. How about change of tactics and sitting down with other fellow Somalis under the acacia tree?

In many of her speeches, Ms. Aden gives the impression that people in Somaliland are the only Somalis on the face of this earth who deserve to be respected and recognised. For her, Somaliland is holier than holy, and the rest of the Somalia emerge as trash lands occupied by sub-humans. She strives at any cost to prove that Somalilanders are made of different cloth than their southern brothers and sisters, that though they share a name, they are of different species. In Edna’s worldview, those Somalis on the North-western part of Somalia are decent, democratic, and innately righteous while those from the ‘South’ and other parts are terrorists, pirates, and murderers who shamefully exist on the face of the earth, who are tainting the name of those noble people in the North.

It is fair to ask the question of why Ms Edna Aden decided to act so viciously towards her Somali brothers and sisters, who regardless of their regional origin, espouse the highest respect for her? And why is such a great woman opting to undermine her legacy in Somali history? Why would anyone of Edna’s stature engage in such a mindless tribalistic politics when she could be a national hero for all Somalis? It remains mind-boggling as to why the wise and respectable Edna would choose a small platform in Belgium to insult millions of decent Somalis (non-Somalilanders). Doesn’t she realize that by putting down and criminalizing other Somalis, she is humiliating herself in front of the world! Doesn’t she realize that she is committing a crime against our history, the Somali heroes, men and women who sacrificed their lives to free Somalis from the chains of colonialism? By choosing the Month of June, when the first Somali-inhabited land was granted independence, she is choosing to smear Cabdillahi Sultan Timacade’s painful and joyful poetry depicting Somalis’ exaltation in gaining their freedom, their soveirgnity, their dignity., What would the other great Northern Somali heroes (i.e. Barkhadcas, Sheikh Bashiir, Farax Oomaar, Afqallooc etc.) make out of this unfortunate and untimely speech by their smart and highly educated granddaughter in 2012?

What happened to the bright mind of the great Edna who has conquered the world with talent, wisdom and knowledge?  Why is she choosing to trash all other Somalis and trash herself along the way in order to promote the secession of Somaliland? Does she really believe that the only way to achieve Somaliland recognition is to paint such a horrible picture about the other ‘species’ that she calls Somalia’aaa?

I am sure that I am not the only one who is grossly disappointed and appalled by the poor judgement of the great Edna Aden. Maybe, this is just a reflection of how Somalis nowadays have become so paradoxical that nothing makes sense anymore, one of these paradoxes is that things change, may be slowly but surely, yesterday’s enemies can quickly become today’s friends. Latest news is that the President of Somaliland Mr Siilaanyo has finally shaken hands with President Hassan of the Somali Federal government . This happened coincidently on April 2013. Nobody knows for sure what will be the real significance and implications of this meeting in Istanbuul for the future of Somalia and the Somali people. What is clear however is the fact that those who do good deeds and those who do bad deeds will be recorded in our history books for posterity.

Dear Edna, unimaginably horrible things have happened in the lands of Somalia. Millions of innocent people have suffered in all parts of Somalia. Major atrocities were committed in the North of the country by the previous military regime. However, you cannot blame all Somalis on the wrongs committed by a military government 20-30 years ago, and you cannot use this as the ONLY justification to seek recognition for Somaliland.

Dear Edna, you personally cannot claim that you were denied any possible opportunities from the former state of Somalia. You got the best education possible and if you look back at your photo albums you have graciously walked on many red carpets spread for you as honourable and respected representative of the Somali people. You are one of the few people alive today who enjoyed the glory and greatness of one unified Somalia. Therefore, don’t you really think it would be a good idea to show some respect to the people of Somalia who have given you lot of respect and admiration?

Dear Edna, you only can make a choice and judgement as to how you want to be remembered hundred years from now. That is hopefully when Somali people will grow out of their current madness and realise what is really good for them is UNITY in the face of the many adversities they face.

Dear Aunt Edna, people do make mistakes in life and it is never too late for anyone to repent. You still have time to apologize to the Somali people everywhere before your name goes down to history books and you become epitomized as one synonymous with self-hating, colonial-loving and narrow-minded tribalist who spent her last years on destroying Somaalinimo and Somali unity.