Top management members, led by Dahabshiil Group Deputy Chairman, Abdirahman Ali Abdi, held a sumptuous, dignitary-studded luncheon in honor of a delegation that recently arrived from Mogadishu to lend a hand in the relief of drought effects on vast parts of Somaliland.
The event was attended on the Mogadishu part by the Chairman of the Somalia Chamber of Commerce, Mohamoud Abdikarim Gabayrre, Chairman of the Traditional Council of the Hawiye communities, Mohamed Hassan Haad, Sheikh Nur Barud Gurhan, Chairman of the Somalia Drought Relief Committee, Anab Hassan Awale, the the Deputy Chairwomen of Somalia Women Organizations umbrella, and Zahra Mohamoud representing Non-State Actors of Somalia.
The Republic of Somaliland National Drought Relief Committee was also well represented. Present were Sheikh Mohamed Adan, Sheikh Khalil, Sultan Mohamoud Haj Hussein, Sultan Saeed Yussuf, Mohamed Ahmed (Oomaar), Director General of the Presidency, Khadra Haji Gaydh and the Director of Relief Efforts for the Presidency Amina Mohamoud Derie.
The Government of Somaliland was represented by the Minister of Justice Ahmed Adarre and the Minister for Religious Affairs, Sheikh Khalil Abdullahi.
Speaking on behalf of Dahabshiil Group, Abdirahman Ali Abdi, stated that the luncheon was held solely to mark the gratitude everybody held for the humane gesture that the delegation offered their drought-afflicted brethren here.
“It is a Somali tradition that we show each other hospitality as we also, by custom, come to the aid of one another in times of diversity,” Abdirahman said.
He wished everybody bon appetit and the visiting delegation a safe return.
Sheikh Mohamed Adan, the treasurer of the Somaliland Relief Committee, thanked the Mogadishu delegation for the million US Dollars that they contributed to the drought relief efforts presently underway in Somaliland.
“This gesture is not only well-noted here but an offer that will be remembered for what it is – a brother’s helping hand to another,” the Sheikh said.
Chairman of the Mogadishu Chamber of Commerce, Mohamoud Abdikarim, sincerely thanked Somaliland for the ‘heartwarming’ reception his delegation was shown right from arrival up to this moment that they were wrapping up their tour.
“I concede we have been a little late but it is better to be late than ever,” he said.
He stated that theirs was a reciprocal gesture that the people and government of Somaliland offered their southern brethren in 2011 in similar circumstances for same amount.
“These signs of the kind of cooperation and kinship that brothers should have for one another,” he said.
The Justice Minister, the Minister for Religious Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Haad, sultans, and members of the Somaliland business community all underlined the importance of timely intervention in alarming situations such as that posed by the prolonged drought in parts of the Republic of Somaliland.
(Photos by courtesy of baadiya.com)
