By Ahmed Yussuf, London - UK

As those of us who follow events back home on a regular basis may have noticed by now, several articles concerning a company called TDI have been posted on various websites.

Allegedly, the government of Somaliland has signed an agreement with this company recently and my understanding is that TDI will procure and install a new telecommunications system which will enable the current Somaliland telecoms systems to talk to each other. This sounds good, doesn’t it? As we all know, a Telesom’s customer cannot ring his next door neighbour if the latter is Soltelco or STC customer. So why this big fuss if this new system is going to solve that problem?

By Bashir Goth, Abu Dhabi , UAE

Hajj or journey to the holy places is the fifth pillar of Islam. It comes after the other obligatory rituals on the Muslim including the proclamation of faith, five-prayers a day, Zakat (giving alms to the poor) and fasting the holy month of Ramadan.

By Dr. Abdi Elmi Obsiiye, Borama General Hospital

The child had stuck on the deepest part of the mud and could not move his feet. If he could move his body more, it won’t be like this ‘’ said one of those swimmers who came to rescue the child .The Governor and the mayor had requested the huge crowd who gathered there at the banks of the ‘’balley’’ to give assistance the parents who had lost their child .An hour later the mayor had brought a machine which can throw the water out from the balley but after 3 hours, the balley was still full of water. This time the governor of the region had ordered to break the balley in one side so that water may go leaking more swiftly. I think the Governor and the mayor did very well in terms of their capacity while experience like this event will make the 21 mayors better managers in the future..

By Yussuf Abdillahi Mohamed,

Anybody who was following the news in Somaliland during the last month must have noticed the dispute that was brewing between the minister of posts and telecommunications in Somaliland and the private telecommunications companies in Somaliland. The dispute related to an alleged contract that the minister gave to an American telecommunication company known as Transcom Digital Inc (TDI). As per the contract, TDI was supposed to set up a center for interconnecting the several private telecommunication companies operating in Somaliland and for providing Somaliland with a ‘country code’.

By Ahmed Hashi Dhimbill

In a recent piece published widely, Dr. Tani suggested to Somali Landers that the two chairmen of the opposition parties ought to go home and exit our political environment simply because they hold no elected positions in the country and thusly, their status is questionable and, to quote a cynical harangue from the piece, “anyone else who tries to speak from a position of authority, without having an elected mandate from the people is a spoiler, a pretender, an impostor and someone who is just a leader in his own dreams”.

By Ahmed Ali Ibrahim [Sabeyse], Scarborough Canada.

The final dismemberment of the Somali Republic was a rendezvous with fait accompli- a self-inflicted mortal blow that finally consumed the vestiges of any shared values of our society, if there was any to begin with. The paradox is that periodically, some modern day crusaders of that long lost cause, in pursuit of self-gratification or personal aggrandizement, release ill-timed comparative and often biased analysis of the qualities of the current and past leadership of the ideal Somali state.

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Jan 11, 2006

They no longer sail in captured English frigates nor do they fly the dreaded skull-and-crossbones, but seagoing pirates in the 21st century are just as terrifying and every bit as dangerous as the sword-wielding dandies who prowled the Spanish Main in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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