Somali NOC Holds Luncheon for Newly-Appointed Deputy Sports Minister

By Shafi'i Mohyaddin Abokar

The president of the Somali National Olympic committee Aden Hajji Yeberow on Tuesday held a luncheon ceremony for the country's newly-appointed deputy spots minister Ali Afgoye. The ceremony was also intended to discuss on how to strengthen the cooperative relations between Somali National Olympic committee and the ministry for youth and sports.

Somali NOC first vice president and head of the international relations Duran Ahmed Farah who first addressed the luncheon meeting said that his NOC has long in the past been working in the chaotic country without a functioning government, but the reformation of the sports ministry was a great chance that could help the NOC redouble its activities. "If we and the Sports ministry establish a joint work, I am sure that more things can be achieved and we are very hopeful that our ministry will give us a great hand" Duran said adding that Somali NOC has for the first time in history drawn a four-year strategic plan.

Mr. Duran who is in charge of the Somali NOC for international relations said that despite wars and other difficulties his organization had done its utmost to survive Somali sports from destruction for the past two decades of unrest in the horn of African country.

For his part the Somali NOC president Aden Hajji Yeberow popularly known as Wiish said the National Olympic committee of Somalia was very jubilant at holding such welcome ceremony for the newly-appointed deputy sports minister whom he termed as a 'sports-loving' individual.

"Mr. Deputy Minister I would like to tell you that these face in front of you are those who devoted their lives to rescue Somali sport and they have been the flag carriers since the country fell into anarchy in 1991" the president said referring back to the past historical events including the 1992 RESTORE HOPE FOOTBALL CUP which destroyed the green-line that once divided the Somali capital into two parts each controlled a hostile warlord before the green-line was wiped out by sports events late in that year.

"We were doing this job in a very critical period when there was no even sports ministry in Somalia-what about this time when Somalia has a government and the sports ministry is in place, we have high hopes and I am confident that jointly we can do allot" the Somali NOC president stated before handing over the microphone to the Somali deputy sports minister Ali Afgoye.

The deputy minister thanked Somali NOC and its member federations for their past efforts to keep Somali sport alive, saying that although he is new to this filed he knows more about what had been done. "I am very lucky because Somali NOC and its federations had already been on duty-Somalia is a country where everything is to start from ground zero after all constitutional institutions were completely destroyed, but the sports ministry is different and that is why I am lucky" the deputy minister said.

"On behalf of my minister I tell you that we will take our turn and will stand beside Somali NOC so that you can succeed in your attempts toward competing with other countries in the world who were speedily going on the way to higher development while Somalia was instead going down on the way to destruction" Mr. Afgoye stated.

Today's meeting was the first of its kind between Somali NOC and top level officials from the sports ministry since Ali Afgoye was transferred to the sports ministry in a cabinet reshuffle last month.

Shafi'i Mohyaddin Abokar is the NewsBlaze Somalia reporter. Contact him through NewsBlaze.