SHASNA MediaWatch

Nairobi, Kenya
[August 14, 2002]

UN: Wayne Long Blames Innocent Somalis for Own Suffering!
His Unexpected Racist Comments and Condescending Attitudes
Is Condescension and Racism the Rule or Rather the Exception in UN Offices in Nairobi?

William Shakespeare (1564–1616): Truth is Truth to the End of Reckoning

On our yesterday's SHASNA issue, we commented on UN humanitarian, Development, political and peace efforts. As always, we have given a brief recent history of Somali political developments. We have compared the pre-Arta Somalia and the UN-sponsored post-Arta period. We have concluded, as did by most Somali and non-Somali historians, that there is really no comparison. The post-Arta period has been the most unstable period Somalis have experienced. There has been, as never before, a widespread death and debilitation in all of Somalia. Unfortunately, our highly reliable comments did not go well with Mr. Wayne Long, Chief of UN Security Office based in Nairobi. He responded with rather unremarkable remarks!

We will not go into detail about some alleged recent illegal activities of Mr. Wayne Long in Somalia, but will look into some recent policies of certain UN offices. In addition to our prior comments and questions (new and old) to UN officials, including Mr. Wayne Long, as any responsible stakeholder or, for that matter, a responsible corporate executive would, we have asked some of the following questions: Did the UN participate, assist and/or strengthen any private Somali enterprises? Has the UN undertaken and or improved any existing infrastructure or help create new ones? What tangible achievements, ever, can the UN's UNPOS recall and state as successful? With the full knowledge of the Chief Security Officer, what in the world did the UN's Security Zone Officers (SZO) were up to recently in Puntland, in Somaliland and in Mogadishu? Does Mr. Wayne Long recognize that he is not and will be neither Somalia's Defense Secretary nor its Police Chief, but merely will remain a foreign worker and a welcome guest? Why in the world would a UN Security Chief want to respond to questions and comments regarding developmental projects? By any chance, are the recent developments in Puntland having any lingering effects on Mr. Long's serenity? Any finally, we have kindly requested from UN officials to undertake and increase specific assistance to some vital economic areas. As of yet, we don't know what we or the Somali people have done to receive such a dire, condescending and disgraceful response from the UN Security official.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, we can only assume that the Masters of Africa and of Poor and desperate Somalia are not yet ready to be told what to do! Mr. Wayne Long is too good to hear the complaints of fly invested faces of poor and hungry mothers of Somalia. Mr. Wayne Long is too perfect to make mistakes! As the old white racist adage holds, Mr. Wayne Long deeply believes in his racist remarks of "you people," in which he, in his racist mind, mentally refers to the Somali people as just like “dogs walking on their hind legs” and soon liable “to fall down on all four!”

The racist Wayne Long comments are just a continuation of what his now departed bosses believed in. Let us remind you about an old friend of his, Mr. Randolph Kent, after the closure of Osama bin Laden's al-Barakaat, contrary to Somali advice, as having “…warned that the country was on the verge of an economic collapse unparalleled in modern history,” and that “Somalia was standing on the threshold of ruin.” Well, Mr. Kent, Mr. Long, "truth is generally the best vindication against slander": Somalia is not going to fall on all four; Somalia is not going to vanish from the face of the earth; Somalia is not and will not be on the "threshold of ruin."

As for SHASNA, Sometimes, we might be hard on certain UN officials. Sometimes, we might step on someone's toes. Sometimes, we might make an unintentional mistake. Sometimes we might be misinformed. But we mean well for UN operations and the brave and full of kindness UN officials and staff members. Contrary to the UN Chief Security Official, our concern is for the Somali people, and not the after-hour remarks of some western media outlets. We hope you have the same concerns too! We appreciate the work, transparency, and unheard of ready access to Mr. Maxwell Gaylard, UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. We hope he keeps up the good job. We would like to hear more from the recently appointed head of UNPOS, Mr. Winston Tubman. We wish luck to all UN officials and UN staff members. Keep up the good job, and please protect your operations and people from racist influences and "know it all" attitudes!

SHASNA* Editorial Board
cc: SHASNA Members
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In a message dated 8/13/02 1:00:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time, wayne.long@undp.org writes:
    
you people should all buy mirrors, and

start to blame your woes on the person you see in that mirror. Your paper is sheer drivel, and everyone in the West knows it.

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*SHASNA is a worldwide advocacy group. It stands for the unity and peaceful coexistence of Somali people. It supports the creation of a federal system of governance to safeguard the emerging free markets of the Recovery Zones and all other safe zones. It supports the promotion of good governance and democracy. SHASNA encourages corporate and individual investments in the Recovery Zones in areas of health, education, information technology and media. It has presences in both Puntland (Boosaaso, Garoowe, Buurtinle, Ba'aadweyn and Galkayo) and Somaliland (Hargeysa, Berbera and Burco).

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PL Press Release: UN allegations on Puntland insecurity unfounded
"Inaction on the part of the international organizations in delivering humanitarian, rehabilitation and developmental projects here in a transparent, accountable and politically neutral fashion is to be blamed at least in the case of Puntland."