Talk Mogadishu

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A decade after the disastrous US humanitarian intervention in Somalia, HornAfrik, the first independent TV and radio station in war-ravaged Mogadishu, was established by three brave Somali-Canadians in the face of chaos and devastation. Their vision was to forge a path to peace through freedom of expression, impartial news, and debate. The station's talk shows have become incredibly popular, providing a unique way for Mogadishu's marginalized residents, including women's groups and human rights advocates, to speak out without being silenced.

It is a venture not without danger; HornAfrik has been attacked more than once by angry warlords displeased with the station's content. Despite the perils, the founders of HornAfrik continue their broadcasts, creating a blueprint for the role of the media in times of conflict.

'Talk Mogadishu is a fascinating account of running a radio and television station, HornAfrik, in a dangerous city and a failed state...it provides a close and inside look at the rigors of providing balanced and sometimes controversial coverage of events in an environment where there is always some group that will take offense. Talk Mogasishu is historically accurate and contains useful visual material on the largely destroyed capital city of Somalia. It also demonstrates how the Somali diaspora can make a positive contribution to its country of origin.' Professor David Shinn, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University (State Department Coordinator for Somalia during UNITAF and UNISOM)

'Demonstrates the resourcefulness, courage and essential family values that are part of every Somali that I have known. The film deserves wide distribution, and it shows why the world should not abandon Somalia.' Walter S. Clarke, retired US diplomat, co-editor Learning from Somalia: Lessons of Armed Humanitarian Intervention, consultant on civil-military and failed state issues

'Highly recommended...HornAfrik continues its effort to rebuild Somalia by encouraging the free exchange of ideas and national reconciliation. It has become a model for using media to promote peace in a society actively involved in civil war... [Talk Mogadishu] is well paced and engaging.' Thomas J. Beck, University of Colorado, Denver, Educational Media Reviews Online

'Inspirational...A welcome addition to public library DVD shelves, ideal for showing in high school and college classrooms, Talk Mogadishu deserves the highest possible recommendation for its spotlight on how media has the potential to bring light to the most troubled of times and places.' The Midwest Book Review

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Main credits

Jackson, Judy (film producer)
Jackson, Judy (film director)
Parks, Deborah (film producer)
Barua, Stan (narrator)

Other credits

Director of photography, Stan Barua; editor, Greg Hopen; music composed by Mark Korven.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

HornAfrik, Somalia, US humanitarian intervention, Mogadishu,; "Talk Mogadishu"; Bullfrog Films,doc; sociss

TALK MOGADISHU - MEDIA UNDER FIRE

10:00:00

On January 10, 2003 Somalia’s first independent tv and radio station, HornAfrik was attacked by Mogadishu militia.

It’s not the first time the warlords have tried to shut down the station, and put an end to freedom of expression and impartial reporting.

But the intimidation didn’t work. HornAfrik is back on the air.

This is the story of HornAfrik, and its three Canadian Somali founders.

10:00:30

10.00.39

10.00.46

10.01.08

V/O

Mogadishu – the former capital of Somalia is now a destroyed city in a collapsed state.

The people here have been abandoned to survive as best they can following a failed attempt at an international humanitarian intervention in 1992

Since then, rival warlords have battled for control

Thousands have been killed in recent years. A million more have fled to seek asylum in other countries.

Mohamed Elmi was an engineering professor in Mogadishu before the country fell apart. After he settled his family in the refuge of Ottawa, he retrained as a social worker. But he still dreamed of helping restore peace in a Somalia the world had forgotten.

00:01:23

Mohamed Sync.

We have to go back and contribute to it. But how we have to go back. Do we have to go back and take the guns? Do we have to go back and take our minds in order to solve the problem over there? I think that’s the choice we put to ourselves, and we took that challenge.

00:01:42

Knowing that Truth is often the first casualty of conflict, he and two partners, one of whom is Ahmed Abdisalem, opened a TV and radio station three years ago. HornAfrik promotes peace through impartial news and debate.

10.02.04

10.02.11

10.02.27

10.02.49

10.03.01

10.03.06

10.03.12

Ahmed sync

In order for Somalia to ever get back on its feet, we have to look at the system. I’ve lived in Canada for 12 years and it’s not because I built up this country, or built up the system, but I can live. And that’s where Somali’s need to get to.

They managed to borrow start-up money from other concerned Somalis

HornAfrik survives by selling commercials – it’s a business with a mission.

Ahmed is going to joint their third partner who is holding down the fort in Mogadishu. Because of the danger they take shifts there. Mohamed will stay in Ottawa and look after all the families.

“Goodbye Daddy, goodbye Daddy”

Mohamed V/0

“Going back to Somalia - the hottest spot on earth? Especially to go with the media. Hot conflict issue. Thin line to walk on all the time.

TALK MOGADISHU

Media Under Fire

10.03.30

10.03.45

10.03.56

10.04.13

In Mogadishu they are on their own. No government or embassy to turn to in an emergency. Ahmed is planning to stay for a year at the HornAfrik station, which now employs 35 journalists and 15 technicians.

The station must be protected at all times because of the ever present danger.

Ali Sharmarke is the third partner. Since he’s been coping on his own, there’s a lot for Ahmed to catch up on about business and programming.

V/O

Their vision is to foster peace in conflict and so prove that the word is more powerful than the gun. Their programmes aim to provide a voice for Mogadishu’s voiceless citizens..

10.04.23

Ali sync and V/O

The most important are the weaker ones.

Everyday you realize that another segment of the society that was marginalized. Mogadishu is a city of two million where there is no law and order. It’s a perfect example of survival of the fittest”

10.04.49

V/O

Each day, HornAfrik’s TV crews head out to cover Mogadishu’s news. Always accompanied by the station’s hired militia. The reports they bring back contain information that allow the people here to make up their minds about what’s really going on in their conflict-ridden city.

10.05.06

AHMED

Ten years of devastation created a situation where no one is sure about their neighbours, about their family, about their community. This was an opportunity to create that environment where, we know about each other. We know what’s happening in every part of Mogadishu.

00:05:22

V/O

These crews – trained by the BBC to report impartially in the midst of conflict – daily cover torture, killing and kidnapping. But their emphasis is always on the dispossessed, who are endlessly caught in the crossfire

Ahmed V/0

10:05:35

10.05.49

You don’t have government to create employment. You don’t have social agencies to take care of the vulnerable. You don’t have

International organizations to deal with those who fell through the cracks.

V/O

All attempts to form a government over the last decade have failed, as the warlords fight for control

It’s dangerous work, but HornAFrik’s journalists are committed.

10:06:07

AHMED V/O and Sync

Our reporters are continually harassed. And they’re always caught up in the middle because they will be in the wrong place. Especially in a... in a situation that’s developing. And a number of times their cameras were taken from by... by somebody who didn’t want to see what they were filming.

00:06:28

10.06.51

Mogadishu has 400,000 displaced people with no services, no adequate housing, no running water for them, no health facilties. It’s a very very difficult situation for them, so many many, on a daily basis, fall through the cracks.

V/O

HornAfrik crews report that 75% of the children here have no school to go to.

They report about a city where there are no police or courts to turn to if you have a dispute with your neighbour. So family feuds can end in massacres.

They report about a city where the reality is frighteningly simple. Those with guns will eat, those without face starvation.

10:07:25

10.07.43

10.07.56

ALI

That’s the gunfire. That’s the gunfire now. What we heard now is a gunfight. This just reminds you, all the time it reminds you, the situation. You don’t need to forget. It reminds you... the bullets.

HornAfrik Journalist. Sync

I am a HornAfrik journalist. Every day we face risk. This is Mogadishu, its’ the worst capital of the world.

V/O

From Ottawa, Mohamed remembers one dreadful day on these streets.

MOHAMED

Nobody has immunity to be safe. I went one morning to work and I came back without my driver. He was killed on the job. They opened fire to the car and my driver was killed there. A nice young man with a family.

10:08:39

FEMALE TALK SHOW HOST

Hello? Hello.

10.08.52

10.09.05

V/O

The three founders started with the phone in talk show. They’d become used to the format in Canada, but it was totally new to Mogadishu. It electrified the city.

AHMED

With this medium, we were able to facilitate someone, from anywhere in the city, to be able to talk to each other about what is happening in Mogadishu that day. Who’s killing what and what is the basis for that.

V/o

Finally the voiceless residents had a chance to speak.

MALE CALLER

10.09.16

AHMED

Here, you have now, the civil society, the educated, the lawyers, the doctors, the businessmen, all talking about peace. People feel for each other. These are brothers and sisters. These are cousins. People who are killing each other.

These people have no respect for human beings or the law of Islam.

MALE CALLER

V/0 To-day it’s a program about kidnapping for ransom which has reached epidemic levels here. The subjects are usually human rights issues.

Somali>

10.09.42

FEMALE TALK SHOW HOST

Hello?

They used to kidnap foreigners but they all left so...

Now they kidnap defenseless Somalis.

MALE CALLER

FEMALE TALK SHOW HOST

Hello?

10:10:09

AHMED

The mistrust that continued and fuelled the conflict in Somalia was based on misinformation and miscommunication. People were able to say what was wrong. Why things were happening. How can it be helped. And propose their ideas. So they took over, from the warlords, in some ways.

MALE CALLER

10:10:30

10.10.44

V/O

But the warlords, who each have their own radio stations broadcasting propaganda and hatred to devide the people - were not amused. As soon as HornAfrik opened, they attacked.

AHMED

We were shot at as... as we started the radio, by some of the warlords that, definitely they were not very happy with what we were trying to do.

10.10.56

V/O

One of those warlords was Mohamed Kanare.

KANARE

I control the area... that area. So I have to know what is going on. Because if we don’t control, everybody get the right to... to infiltrate and do what they want. There’s a lot of gunman moving in Mogadishu ruthlessly. And they are... nobody knows what they do. They kill here, there, every now and then, what we call the freelancing militia. Nobody rules. But, I have the militia. I’m not saying I am 100% perfect, but I control them.

00:11:32

ALI

At that time was when Mogadishu population freely supported us... big time. They were saying, “this is our chance, our security and our liberty. Our chance and opportunity to speak out and express our opinion. This is the first chance we ever had in Somalia and these guys are trying to stop it” So, the city come to us and rescued us from that struggle.

10.12.06

V/O

The day at HornAfrik starts with its journalists at the phones...

MAN

Hi...

10:12:14

V/O

...collecting information from around the city about the night’s events to feed into the day’s first broadcast.

MAN

10.12.24

V/O

These journalists come from different clans, which often fight each other outside this compound. It’s an experiment. HornAfrik’s three founders wanted to challenge the clan structure, which have paralysed Mogadishu. Nobody thought it could work.

10:12:40

AHMED

Everything we did or we want to do, was a... was a message. How we hired people. How we bring them together. But, media belongs to all. It doesn’t belong to a particular group. We were actual trying to set up something beyond the clan mentality of Mogadishu and, also, Somalis.

AHMED

10.13.14

AHMED

We built our business based on people talking to each other. And not as telling them what was right or wrong. Learning from each other. Getting the news information from each other. That was what we thought was the most fair way for people to know that it’s real.

FEMALE REPORTER

10.13.36

V/O

Once the radio was up and running, they started the television. Using exactly the same approach. Ordinary people talking to each other. Exploring ways to solve the conflict.

V/O

It caught on like wildfire. Bit by bit, the warlords realized that it was becoming very popular. And if they wanted to get their voices out there, they had to get in on the act.

10.14.02

ATTO

V/O

This is one of them. Mogadishu warlord Osman Ali Ato, famously portrayed as General Aidid’s financier in the Hollywood film Blackhawk Down. They had a strict editorial policy for dealing with the warlords.

10.14.20

AHMED

Don’t try to silence us. You have a position, we will be prepared to give you an interview. But, you also sit at the table and you accept the calls from the people. It is very important that people will have the capacity to challenge you, as well. We’re not a propaganda machine for any particular person or group.

10.14.39

ATTO

MALE TALK SHOW HOST

Hello?

We have been killing each other. We are starving. We have no schools. We have no system at all.

Because you leaders can’t agree, I beg god, please stop the war!

WOMAN

00:15:00

MALE TALK SHOW HOST

WOMAN

MALE TALK SHOW HOST

I’m expecting God to help. If he can’t, no one can.

ATTO

AHMED

You will be asked tough questions, but, more importantly there will be others who will present the other side of that story. So, if you can accept that, then, HornAfrik’s for you.

WOMAN

10:15:013

V/O

But their passion is to help the dispossessed of Mogadishu who have plenty of important questions that must be addressed.

WOMAN

V/O

It’s a conviction that runs deep. They’ve already taken in a couple of Mogadishu’s many street kids. These two, Fu’ad and Mohamed, now live here, go to school and are learning to be technicians. Ahmed found Mohamed outside the gate, selling cigarettes to survive.

10:15:55

YOUNG MOHAMED

When I sell cigarettes, I’m young man when I... when I sell cigarette.

Ahmed said to forget selling cigarettes and learn to become a technician.

And just Ahmed says forget this cigarette. Please learn technician, if you like. And just I say, “Good. Just I like to train... take training.”

I’m glad I have food now and somewhere to sleep.

BOY

10:16:17

AHMED

Fu’ad is his name. That’s his official name.

ALI

Right.

AHMED

This one has been surviving in the streets of Mogadishu for the last five years without... family. I said, “Look, if you stay here at HornAfrik, we will be your family here and we’ll take care of you and you’ll have a larger family. Not just myself.”

BOY

ALI

10:16:40

AHMED

He said, “Now I am here. And I am beginning to learn to go to school but, how are you guys?” He’s asking you... how do... how are you?

YOUNG MOHAMED

10.17.00

AHMED

In this vulnerable situation, a very large majority of them end up on the streets, they fend for themselves, and it’s a very difficult life for them.

10:17:18

V/O

For the evening programme, they’ve invited three street children to come to the studio,and talk about their lives.

If you ask me to be a neutral between a dying child...

And the warlord that is killing... count me out.

ALI

If you asking me to be a neutral between the dying child and the warlord that is killing him, count me out.

Here is a means to help.

Here is a means to help.

10:17:42

Ahmed

Well, that’s our whole goal is to say that, who is responsible, who can respond.

You cannot just be silent..

10:18:04

Children are the most affected by war.

Some lost their parents.

MALE TALK SHOW HOST

I was with my mother when she was killed, and some of my friends were also killed.

Often the local kids will chase us off or beat us.

They have beaten us for our money.

BOY

00:18:48

AHMED

Many many children fall through the cracks. They tend to develop different skills. Some do menial services.

Others actually are lured into the warlord business. And so they become child soldiers. They start helping the militia – roadblocks, doing things for them. And so, in the end, they become part of the militia. The worrisome part is that thousands of these children will grow up abandoned, with guns, on the street and they become adults tomorrow. And they become the future of this society. And I don’t know what will happen to them.

10.19.46

MALE TALK SHOW HOST

Hello? Hello? Hello?

AHMED

We receive emotional calls. People calling us, first, thanking us for giving the opportunity to know these issues. They want to do something.

10:19:58

I am ready to adopt one of them.

And take care of school, religious education and living arrangements.

MALE CALLER

MALE TALK SHOW HOST

10:20:27

ALI

Yeah. The last caller said you will take care of one of them. It was a beautiful program. I loved it...

10:20:48

ALI

Hello?

LUL

V/O

Back in Ottawa, there’s an emergency.Ali’s wife Lu has had an accident.She fell downstairs and broke her leg. She and the children are alone.

LUL

You want to talk to daddy You want to talk to dad? Okay, Nora is first.

NORA

Hello?

`10:21.20

ALI

Hi... how are you doing?

NORA

Fine.

ALI

What about mummy? How her leg became broke?

NORA

Nora

She fell. And then Shumarke was crying...

ALI

Okay. And daddy loves you.

LUL

Shumarke too...

LUL

Okay. Talk to your daddy. Okay...

SHUMARKE

Daddy... daddy...

ALI

I miss you, all of you. I miss you. I miss you. So you start a new year? New class? Now you are big boy in the Second Grade.

10:21:49

SHUMARKE

I’m in Grade Two and Grade Three.

ALI

Okay. I love you. Give to me mummy. Hi, honey. Okay. I love you.

10:22:00

ALI

Every time they ask, “When you coming home?,” it’s a hammer hitting your head. And sometimes you cannot say, “I’m coming tomorrow.” You... I cry on the telephone more than once.

10:22:22

V/O

Lul was eventually released from hospital But it’ll be quite some weeks before her leg fully heals. It’s precisely for times like this, that one of the HornAfrik partners always stays in Ottawa.

MOHAMED

V/O

It’s Mohamed’s turn now. And he acts as father to all.

MOHAMED

We all try as much as we can to accommodate each other, as friends, as colleagues, as business partners. When one is here, he has to juggle between the families. And that person becomes the adopted father.

10:23:02

LUL

... Just leave it.

MOHAMED

That’s it. You are doing it. You are okay.

Now all of us, we have to chip in. Whether it is support for the kiddies or accommodating her psychologically.

Mummy’s coming. Okay. Mummy... mummy’s coming.

10:23:31

HANNAD

Mummy...

FARIA

Sorry, Hannad.

V/O

Like Lul, Ahmed’s wife, Faria, is also coping at home, here in Ottawa. Raising their two small children. She’s a social worker and is also completing a degree in psychology. Ahmed’s been away for a nine months now. A very long time in the eyes of a child.

HANNAD

Mama. Look there’s homework.

10:23:56

FARIA

Oh, you have homework today?

Faria

It’s difficult, of course, for me alone to... to juggle between the school and kids and... all the other activities. But it’s a choice I made. And I... and I... and I decided to do it.

10:23:13

It’s not easy for me, Ahmed being gone. But, also, I’m worried about his safety... what’s gonna happen?

My son will say, “Oh, when’s daddy coming? I missed him.” That’s sad, you know, to hear him say that. But I tell him his father is trying to do some good for other people that don’t have the things that you have.

10:24:45

AHMED

It’s hard to see your son just go to school. And it’s very hard to see your daughter as two-and-a-half years old now. When I left her she was one year. I didn’t have a lot of time with her before that. It’s hard to see your wife struggling to make the children work, on the one hand, and also, her own development.

10:25:11

So I think about my family and drawn to the absence of their father and all of that. Then I look back and then I see this whole community that, also, is part of me too. So, I’m caught up in this very difficult situation, where, the only winning formula is for the country to stabilize, where you have your extended family, you have your whole family, you can be a positive force for all.

10.25.23

We are reporters and look... we’re standing, eating from one plate.

MAN

V/O

Ahmed and his partners hope the sacrifice of time with their families will eventually pay off through their work at HornAfrik, encouraging peace and reconciling all those terrible memories of hatred and violence which are Somalia’s history.

10:26:11

After the fall of a brutal dictatorship in 1991 Somalia descended into chaos. Every attempt to bring peace has only brought more scars.

A famine in 1992 led to the arrival of the US marines ahead of a UN humanitarian mission to secure delivery of food aid amidst the fighting. But when the warlords blocked supply routes, demanding exorbitant payments, chaos descended.

10:26:43

AHMED

I don’t think Somalia needed 37,000 international troops to secure a road to bring food. I don’t think that thirty(?) different nations, that came to assist Somalia, had the right leadership. And most importantly, I don’t think they understood what were the issues.

V/O

At first, Somalis welcomed the international troops. But then things turned sour.

10:27:16

The Canadian Airborne contributed to the deterioration when a Somali teenager in their custody was tortured and killed in their custody.

When 23 Pakistani peacekeepers were killed by militia loyal to this man, warlord Mohamed Aideed, he was declared an enemy. But when 50 unarmed clan elders were killed in a failed attempt to assassinate him, Somalis reacted with anger

The mission ended in disaster. With two Blackhawks helicopters downed, eighteen Americans dead, and all troops withdrawn.

10:28:25

What was not reported was that untold numbers of Somalis also died. And thousands more have continued to die in the years since, as Somalia sank into an abyss of anarchy.

10:28:30

10.28.54

Ali Sync.

The international community, through the experience of UNISOM had enough of Somalia. To venture back to Somalia and try ambitious suggestions, like, “let’s save Somalia”, will not come that easy -- reluctance because of experience.

END OF PART ONE.

10.29.12

V/O

12 years after that failed international attempt at a humanitarian intervention, Ali is on his way to join a HornAfrik crew who are covering a peace conference.

After a year of negotiations, many warlords and factions, along with representatives of civil society have agreed to sit at a table and negotiate peace – in the safety of nextdoor Kenya, where no guns will be allowed. Obviously it’s of high importance to HornAfrik.

10.29.44

Ali sync:

10.2

“what is going on to-day with the conference?

so there is still some disagreement?

So we can see both civil society and the warlords?

10.30.00

10.30.30

The HornAfrik crew Ali has joined have been reporting daily to keep Somalis back home informed.

ALI

We have to pray and ask God to bring peace to Somalia. Then we have to be realistic. We have to look the characters who are attending the conference. These characters are not characters of peace.

They’ve already reported that 22 factions, many led by warlords, have signed a ceasefire. But it didn’t hold, and serious fighting immediately broke out back in Somalia as different groups fought for territory to help their respective leaders ambitions to be appointed the new President.

10:30:52

V/O

HornAfrik has an interview with warlord Mohamed Aidid’s son, Hussein. A former marine, he even served with the US marines during the international intervention. But when his father died from war wounds, he was chosen by his clan to be the new leader.

HUSSEIN

I am committed to help my people to achieve reconciliation. If my people want to elect, I will contest president’s position. If that position doesn’t come, I will contest the prime minister. So, my role is very big in many levels.

10:31:28

V/O

Civil society representative and leaders of small clans who don’t have guns inform HornAfrik they’re being left out.

10:31:39

MAN

One can say I want to become a prime minister... I want to come... become prime... president of the republic. But there is accountability. If you deserve it. If you did nothing against the Somali people, he deserves to be prime minister or the president. But there’s accountability. Everyone knows what he did against the population.

It’s not that everybody’s desiring I... I have a gun. I have everything. I have weapons. I can become the president of the republic. The other says, “Since I’m the super-power that I can... I can kill hundreds per minute. I must be the president of the republic.” This will not work in Somalia.

Just to save the Somalis, it is my recommendation to give the chance to those who never associated with the warring factions. Who are peace-loving people.

10:32:21

V/O

The conference is in its third week and it’s increasingly chaotic. Foure] hundred delegates were invited, but, over one thousand have shown up. Some say just for a free holiday

HornAfrik has learnt that four million dollars of donor money has gone missing. And that the organizers – Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti – who all share borders with Somalia – are also quarrelling because they each have their own, conflicting interests in the country, and their own favourite factions. They are issuing contradictory edicts about whose delegates can stay, and whose must leave. The latest missive is not good news for Mohamed Kanare.

10:33:03

KANARE

They told us that the Somali people who participate in the conference are too many. Then, we ask, who called them? Who invite them? Why they are too many? Where is your plan? And they cannot answer. We are ready to leave even tomorrow. If God, Allah, and other wise people not save anything, the meeting is end up and closed. And failing... totally.

Osman Ali Atto is angry too.

10:33:31

ATTO

It seems now that things is moving to a disaster. And I think everybody’s leaving and I will be one of them.

10.33.44

10.33.53

V/O

In fact the conference is not ending, but it’s bogged down in endless arguments, and Ali’s decided to get back to Mogadishu.

Ali sync:

You can’t really comprehend the Somali peace conference. These are not characters of peace. They would not survive in a politically or economically competitive Somalia. They believe peace is their number one enemy.

They will fight to their death to prevent peace from coming to Somalia.

10:34:27

10.34.42

10.34.58

V/O

Back in Mogadishu HornAfrik broadcasts the news from the peace conference daily. They also report on the new international fears caused by September 11^th, which has made the world fear Somalia once again.

Al Quaeda has been active in nearby countries – most recently it claimed the bombing of Kenyan resort hotel. It also claimed the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

They report that the US fears that terrorists who commit such acts could hide out of reach in lawless Somalia. The new US strategy – called ‘Containment’ – is to isolate Somalia by policing its borders. Its army is stationed in nearby countries, and unmanned predator drones frequently fly over the country spying.