Addis Ababa, 24 February 2015 (WIC) - President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti started a 48-hour official visit to Somalia on Saturday (February 21) and along with his host, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, laid foundation stones for a new academy aiming to enhance the Somali language.
The academy will be named "The East African Somali-speaking Regional Academy'' and the two leaders affirmed the importance of the academy which they said would strengthen the Somali language. The Academy's mission is to strengthen the promotion of the Somali language, and it will be primarily responsible for setting up a standard based on technical and linguistic rules that may reconcile all communities that use that language. President Guelleh, who has long been a campaigner for enhancing Somali literacy, strongly welcomed the initiative which, he said, would fully restore the image of Somali on the regional scene.
President Mohamud noted that President Guelleh had regularly chaired meetings of intellectuals, writers and other linguistic professionals to provide a platform and encourage collaboration between users of the Somali language. During President Guelleh’s visit, the two presidents also visited the capital of Hiiraan region, Betel Weyne, where the Djibouti troops serving with AMISOM are based. AMISOM commanders, traditional leaders and Hiiraan region administration officials received the two leaders at the airport. Their visit followed a visit by Djibouti Defense Force commander-in-chief, Zakariye Sheikh Ibrahim last week. President Guelleh met with the Djibouti forces and praised their brave work to restore peace and order in Somalia. Djibouti currently has a thousand troops serving with AMISOM and has pledged to provide another thousand.