In a stark revelation of a video posted on X, Congresswoman, Rep. Ilhan Omer of Minnesota, was caught on camera delivering a speech that raised eyebrows in the US, to an audience of Somali Americans in her home state of Minnesota. Rep. Omer, a second-term serving Congresswoman, gave a surprise remarks while commenting on a recent MoU signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia regarding Somaliland leasing Ethiopia an access to the Red Sea, where she openly announced her primary allegiance to Somalia, her country of origin, saying that she has always worked for the interest of the Somalians and that she would never allow Somalia to lose its territories to Ethiopia.
According to credible translation of the speech which was delivered in Somali, Mrs. Omer went on vowing that she will force the US to stand in solidarity with the Somalis, that the US Government cannot entertain a policy that serves disadvantage to Somalian interest, clarifying whose priority comes first in her book.
After the subtitled video going viral, many prominent American politicians have responded shockingly, questioning the Congresswoman’s loyalty to the US despite the constitutional oath she underwent. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has lambasted Rep. Ilhan on X, saying that “she (Ilhan) flaunts using her position as congresswoman to protect Somalia’s border while our border is invaded by MILLIONS of illegals who are a danger to America.” Mrs. Greene continued with a request to patriotic Americans “Get out and vote in 2024. Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring every like-minded Patriot you know to the polls.”, implying the need for Mrs. Ilhan getting voted out in November.
Former Ambassador of the US to Guinea & Ethiopia, Amb. Tibor Naggy, has also spoken on the matter in a post on X where he astonishingly questioned the irredentist remarks of Rep. Ilhan, secondig the need for her de-seat in the coing polls “So Democrat US Congresswoman Omar says as long as she is in Congress no one else will take the “Somali Sea”. I didn’t know that’s what the Red Sea was called – and maybe voters can make her an ex- member of Congress this November.”
Officials of Somaliland Government have also expressed their views on Mrs. Omer’s statement, where she attacked Somaliland and its people on part of it, accusing them of “claiming to be Somalis” in an attempt to discredit their ethnicity. Somaliland’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Rhodda Elmi, has labelled the remarks of the Congresswomen, indicating that the language she employed was regrettably unbecoming of both the office she holds and the constituents she represents.
Hon. Ali Marehan, Somaliland’s Minister of Information, has openly stated that Rep. Omer has a history of animosity toward Somaliland, accusing her of masterminding the insurgency in Lasanod, Somaliland’s eastern city, that led to violent uprising against government troops. “This is not the first time that Ilhan Omar created animosity between Somalis. She was heavily involved in the conflict that took place in Las-anod. In December 2022, she visited Garowe, where she leaked information to some of the Somali leaders pertaining a meeting between the President of Somaliland and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress, which she was a member by that time. She was very persistent and urged the Somalian leaders to take proactive actions against Somaliland as soon as possible. A month after this, the Las-anod conflict broke out.” said Minister Ali in a post on X.
Rep. Ilhan’s remarks are expected to further polarize the anti-migrant campaign that gears up to close the southern border and build a wall there. Moreover, her claims of going after missing Somali lands in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somaliland could jeopardize the interest of the American Government in the wake of looming Chinese competition over Africa. Her rhetoric, if go unnoticed by the Congress Ethics Committee, could ignite tensions in the Horn with possible revival of old enmity based on the ethno-expansionism ideology that led to great regional wars that costed Africans thousands of human lives.