BELETWEIN, Somalia May 3 (Garowe Online) – The Ethiopian Woyanne army is collecting taxes in frontier districts along the country’s shared border with Somalia, a former district official has said.
Abdirahman Buruki, a former deputy mayor in Beletwein, the capital of Hiran region, told journalists Saturday that Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers along the Kala-Beyr border crossing are causing “a lot of problems” for civilian and commercial traffic traveling between Somalia and Ethiopia.
Mr. Buruki, who resigned from his post a month ago, indicated that the Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers are accompanied by former Hiran regional government officials.
He stated that tens of trucks are filed in a line near the Kala-Beyr crossing, adding that the Kala-Beyr mayor informed him personally that the soldiers are collecting “illegal” taxes while accusing the Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers of “torture” in some cases.
According to Mr. Buruki, former Hiran Governor Yusuf Daboged is “no longer a government official,” although he is in Kala-Beyr alongside the Ethiopian Woyanne army commanders running the illegal operation.
Somali Prime Minister Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein has recently appointed a new administration for Hiran region, but many of the newly appointed officials have publicly rejected their posts.
PM Hassan Grilled in Parliament
The interim Prime Minister of Somalia, Nur “Adde” Hassan Hussein, was grilled with questions on the parliament floor Thursday, where he tried to defend the credibility of his administration.
Prime Minister Nur Adde, who returned to the south-central city of Baidoa yesterday, told lawmakers that his four-month-old administration is continuing to pursue national reconciliation to end Somalia’s 18-year civil war.
“My administration is trying hard to stop all the raging conflicts, to help Somalis understand each other and to establish a consensus government,” Prime Minister Nur Adde said.
He admitted that there is general insecurity across the country, citing the lack of resources as a primary factor crippling the transitional government’s ability to secure the country.
“After research, we have found that the security forces are not paid and do not receive food [on the regular],” the Prime Minister said, adding that the government will train security forces with a national character to help restore order in Somalia.
The Prime Minister was asked several questions by the MPs, but his responses were concise and at times vague, according to parliamentary insiders.
It was later decided that the parliament would continue questioning Prime Minister Nur Adde at a later date.
Officials reject government posts
Yesterday, a decree issued from the Office of the Prime Minister appointed a new administration for the central Hiran region after former Governor Yusuf Daboged was chased out of the provincial capital Beletwein by Islamist guerrillas last month.
Prime Minister Nur Adde appointed 15 officials to hold various government posts in Hiran, including the governor, the mayor of Beletwein, and commanders of the military and police.
But at least seven officials named by the Prime Minister for Hiran region have publicly rejected their posts.
The two deputy governors, three deputy district commissioners and the regional military commander have all refused to accept their posts.
Col. Ahmed Elmi Guute told Garowe Online that he is “not ready” to hold the post of Hiran regional army commander, especially in light of the recent assassination of the last man to hold the post.
Beletwein has lacked an effective regional government for the past two weeks.
2 thoughts on “Woyanne soldiers collect illegal tax along Somalia border”
It should not be a big surprise for most of us if the hungry and poorly paid Woyanne soldiers are collecting illegal taxes from other hungry Somalis of Beletwein, the capital city of Hiran region. The Woyanne soldiers are doing what their Master Meles Seitanawi has been doing for almost twenty years – collecting illegal taxes from the people of Ethiopia who have never been represented by a democratically elected oficals. Both the Somalis and the Ethiopian people have no choices except to pay legal or illegal taxes to their illegal government; if not, they will be persecuted and finally killed mercilessly.
Of course, people pay taxes for their government because the government uses the tax money for building roads, bridges, paying salaries for the police and for so many other public services. For such good services, people are forced to pay taxes according to their incomes; however, some government officials collect illegal taxes out of greed and malice and for such evil government officials, the people have the right not to pay taxes unless the government officials who collect taxes use the tax payers’ money for public services.
For a just or unjust government paying taxes is every person’s duty, and the Holy Bible tells us that we must pay taxes to the authorities and respect them. To the people of Rome, St. Paul says: “This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor” (Romans 13:6-7).
When Jesus was on this earth for few years, he had no income, had no home, had no property or money in a bank; however, not to offend the tax collectors, he ordered Peter to bring coins out of the mouth of a fish and pay those coins to the tax collectors in which Peter did just that even though Jesus and Peter were free not to pay taxes.
We pay taxes to have good services from those who take our money, but what kind of services the Woyanne soldiers are offering to the people of Somalis by collecting the Somali’s money illegally? Have they built bridges, roads, schools, hospitals, and water well for people of Somalis? I’m sure, the money they are collecting illegally will bring upon them an eternal curse – a curse that fell upon Gehazi, the servant of Elisha by taking the gifts illegally from Naaman of Aram (2Kings 5:1-27).
they don’t want to build schools, health centers or any other public services in the somali region of ethiopia, but yet they want to collect tax??????????? lol, ethiopia is truely in the hands of thugs .