Family Members

Friends,

Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

You cannot imagine, nor can I express in words how pleased I am to have finally come to Seychelles to meet my immediate family members. My late father, brothers, sisters and I have been talking about Seychelles branch of the family for generations and their story often seemed, to many of us like a fairy tale.

Amb. Mohamed M. Garad

Today, I have touched the reality of their existence. Fate has stood between the two branches of the family for too long, but I believe we were always united in our hearts and I dreamed often of an opportunity like this which affords us to meet and converse with each other face to face, to embrace and to know each other. It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I might add that coming together like this puts the trials and tribulations of the hearts to rest.

Back home – I realized we have two homes now- In Somalia the family was indeed a very large one, consisting of a first uncle, 22 brothers, 15 sisters, 16 aunts and few cousins (all of them only from the father side) and countless nephews and nieces. My father, like his forefathers, always maintained a large family which befits, in our culture, a great Sultan.

I trust it will be in order if I give you a brief touch of the history of the Warsengeli Sultanate which has been in existence for the last six hundred years. My father was the 24 th Sultan and one o his grandsons my nephew- is now the Sultan. He was pre-eminent among the Sultans of the Somaliland Protectorate and such pre-eminence was recognized, not only by the other clans but also by the British Authorities.

It is not surprising therefore that he alone of the entire country of Somaliland was exiled to the Seychelles . That must be mark of distinction for he was in the company of exiles of such distinguished persons as King Nana Agyiman Prempeh 1 of Ashanti, King Kabarenga of Bunyoro, and Saad Zaghloul Pasha (premier of Egypt ).

Even imprisonment for the cause of liberation was considered an honour; otherwise people like Gandhi would have lost face; on the contrary, in fact imprisonment exalted their status so much so that in Ghana those who were put behind bars because of their fight for freedom used to put the abbreviation P.G . (Prison Graduate) after their names and their degrees as an honorific title.

The Warsengeli inhabit a large area extending Bossaso in the East to Erigavo in the West and bordered in the North by the Gulf of Aden . But my father's influence extended far beyond the boundaries of his Sultanate and was no doubt felt in government circles in Hargeisa- the far off capital of Somaliland Protectorate.

My father was fiercely independent and detested foreign presence in his country although British rule in Somaliland was most indirect. That was why my father was exiled to this beautiful country. But if people back home knew that exile was to such a beautiful place many of my countrymen would have greater trouble for the British. As you see today my father's exile to these heavenly islands was a blessing in disguise; for it enabled him to establish a root here for our family.

The influence of Sultans and other traditional leaders has waned with the advent of independence and the establishment of a central government who was to exercise national sovereignty. My father, however, did not live long enough to see how badly that sovereignty was exercised for he died an octogenarian a few months after independence in 1960.

Finally, let me reiterate how deeply grateful I am to Mr. Jean Claude Mahoune, Mr. Juliene Durup, Mrs.Stella d'Oway and the archives personnel, Mrs. Anne Dorasamy and the Management of the Coral Strand Hotel. Aspecial thanks goes to all my immediate Desir relatives, specially Amia and Dejan Jovanovic for providing me opportunity to come here to be amongst them, and to be feel as one of them. I am deeply touched by their hospitality, by the love they have shown me and by turning our fairy tale into real life story.

I pray that visits of this kind will take place again and again wherever we are; judging from how we are scattered, we are now a family of the world.

May the almighty bless you all.

Mahe

Seychelles

             Biyo Kulule

         Togga Laag

            Buur-gaaban

         Geed Xiji ah(Maydi)

        Geed Xiji ah (Beeyo)

President Abdillahi Yusuf

Prime Minister Dr. Ali  Geddi

   The Yibir Of las Burgabo :
    By Mohmood Gaidon