The father of independence

                                                   Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane, the father of independence

This year, we commemorate the 30^th anniversary of the death of the father of the Comorian independence. Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane was born on June 12, 1919 in Domoni, on the island of Anjouan. He was the son of a vanilla and cloves merchant. After his primary and middle school studies, he began participating in the government in the 1940s, while the archipelagos of Comoros and Madagascar were still part of France. He was the President of the General Council from 1949 until 1953 and represented Comoros in France. After the independence of Madagascar on June 26, 1960, the Comoros earned its internal autonomy under the presidency of Said Mohamed Cheikh. After the death of Said Mohamed Cheikh on 16 March 1970, Abdallah became the chairman of the local Assembly during the 1970s when prince Said Ibrahim was dismissed by his political opponents.   

First presidency

Abdallah founded in 1972 his political party, the Comoros Democratic Union (UDC). He became president of the Comorian local government under the French administration. He served in that position until 6 July 1975, when the four islands became independent from France after a vote in the local Parliament. Nevertheless, the members who represented the island of Mayotte in the local Assembly decided to vote against the independence. And the French authorities in Paris seized the opportunity offered by the representatives of Mayotte to consider the island as part of France. Abdallah became the first president of the independent islands, but was overthrown by a young political socialist leader named Ali Soilih in a coup d’Etat on August 3, 1975.

Second presidency

Abdallah had been living in exile in Paris, during the revolutionary period of President Ali Soilih. He staged a coup against Soilih on 13 May, 1978 with the help of the French mercenary Bob Denard. “The government of Ali Soilih has fallen” said on a radio broadcast, Said Athoumani who had served as "Chairman of the Politico-Military Directorate" for ten days.  Abdallah and Mohamed Ahmed, both from Anjouan assumed the titles of "Co-Chairmen of the Politico-Military Directorate." After the assassination of Soilih on 29 May 1978, their titles were changed to "Co-Chairmen of the Directorate". After the new constitution of 1^st October 1978 that created the Islamic and Federal Republic of Comoros, Abdallah became the lone chair.  

On 25 October, Abdallah was elected president and remained in office for two terms, despite three separate coup attempts against him. In 1982, Abdallah had the UDC and all other parties abolished, and a new party, the Comorian Union for Progress (UCP) known as UDZIMA in Comorian language, was set up. The country became a one-party state, with the UDZIMA being the only legal party.   

Political achievements

Abdallah has founded the Fishing Technical School in Anjouan, the Agricultural School in Moheli and the National School of Higher Education and the Medical School in Grande Comore to train the cadres the country and its administration needed for its development. He also sent many students abroad to study in the best schools and universities of Africa, Europe, America and the Middle East. All the Comorian students were granted and had got scholarships. Abdallah has never ceased to reclaim the island of Mayotte as part of Comoros. 

Abdallah was re-elected unopposed in 1984. On 26 November 1989, he was shot dead in his Itsandra office during a coup led by Bob Denard who took control of the country the next day until December 15^th, 1989. The French mercenaries were obliged to leave the country after a student’s demonstration in Moroni followed by the military intervention of France.  

Chami Mouzawar 

Contributing writer

The CNDRS 40th anniversary

From left to right: UNESCO advisor, ministers of education and culture, and CNDRS director

To celebrate its 40^th anniversary, the national center for documentation and scientific research known as CNDRS in French, organized an international colloquium from 19 to 21 November 2019 at the conference hall of Retaj hotel in Moroni. The opening ceremony was honored by Azali Assoumani, the president of the Union of Comoros. Cultural heritage and scientific research as a fine vehicle for the economic emergence in Comoros was the topic to be discussed and enriched during two days by international, regional and national scholars.

The first day of the conference was focused on two themes: ‘‘how to cooperate in order to safeguard and enrich our national heritage’’ and ‘‘challenges and prospects in scientific research’’. Each researcher had to give a 10 minutes presentation. The first presentation about the social, cultural and historic links between Madagascar and the Comoros was given by professor RAFOLO Andrianaivoarivony from the State University of Antananarivo. He took the opportunity to correct people who think that Madagascar is an island. “Madagascar is an archipelago composed of many islands and isles,” he said.

ELHADJI Mohamed is a teacher researcher and former director at the Technical Institute from the University of Comoros.  His theme was focused on the Comorian diaspora of Madagascar who settled in Comoros after the massacre of Comorians in the city of Mahajanga in 1976. They were nicknamed ‘‘Sabena’’ because they took the Belgian aircraft Sabena airways to come back home after the sad event. Once in Comoros, they have set up their own businesses in order to survive.

Mohamed Othman works at CNDRS. He is the head of the Arabic and Islamic Civilization Department, but his speech was in Comorian language. He talked about the peaceful relationships between East Africa and the sultanate of Oman. “Anjouan Island was a business hub which exported many agricultural products to the East India,” he said.  He emphasizes on the marriage links between noble Comorians and Arabs. “The sweet cake called halwa, the Arabic coffee, the turban of the sultan with the djembe, to name but a few, are some examples of the Arabic influence and heritage in the Comorian society’’ he said. He also reminded the audience that Djumbe Fatima, the female sultan of Moheli, was married to an Arab of Oman called Said Muhammad Nasser Makadara and that the Frenches came in Comoros for the first time in the middle of the 19^th century to colonize the four islands.

Karalyn Monteil is the UNESCO Culture Unit advisor for East Africa. She focused on UNESCO culture conventions that may be tools for sustainable development. She also recalled the UNESCO conventions of 1954, 1964 and 1999 which prohibit the import and export of cultural property in the event of conflict.  She said that the Comoros have signed the 2003 convention on the safeguarding of the cultural and immaterial heritage, the 2005 convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, but did not sign the 2001 convention on underwater cultural protection. The last convention concerns wrecks at sea.

Dr. Ouled, former Dean, teacher and researcher at the University of Comoros, chaired the question/answers session and summarized the dozen interventions of the day.  

Cultural heritage, community and economic emergence were the topic discussed on Wednesday 20^th during the whole day.  Mohamed Mboreha Selemane is a national expert and heritage manager. His presentation was about conservation issues and prospects for enhancing military architecture in Ngazidja. He is a little bit disappointed that he has not had any questions.

Raafatil-KALBI is the chief of Archives at CNDRS in Anjouan. Her subject was about challenges and prospects of archives for development.  She was complaining of archiving problems in her department. However, she admits having the help of her colleagues of the museum of Mayotte. 

 Comorian craftsmanship exhibited at CNDRS

Chami presentation was about languages and development in Comoros. He said that the national language (shikomori) consists of four dialects and each island has its own dialect. In addition, Mayotte has a second dialect which is called shibushi close to the languages spoken in Madagascar.  “Many African scholars think that there is no real development without the development of our own African languages,” he said. He also gave the examples of the Arabic language under the reign of Muhammad Ali in Egypt in the 19^th century and the Turkish language under the presidency of Mustapha Kemal in the 20^th century. He concluded that Arabic and Turkish have become major languages thanks to their political leaders.

Rahamatou Goulam is the director of the National Center of Crafts in Comoros. Her contribution was focused on the role and place of Crafts for the emergence of the country.  Aboubacar Said Salim closed the 2-day session of the symposium on behalf of the CNDRS director and waited for everyone’s contributions and proposals to make the Comoros an emerging country by 2030. The closing ceremony of the 40 years of the CNDRS took place on Thursday, November 21 under the high patronage of the ministers of culture and education. It was followed by traditional dances, public speaking (shiduantsi) and a free visit of the CNDRS museum.  

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer

The first digital economy show in Comoros

The digital show at Retaj hotel, Moroni. credit photo: Antoisse Ezidine. 

The first digital economy show was held at the Retaj Hotel in Moroni from 15 to 17 October 2019 under the supervision of the ministry of telecommunications, information and communication technology. The event was sponsored by Comores Telecom and Telma, the two leading telecommunications companies in Comoros. Many organizations attended the show. Girls in Tech Comores is an association whose aim is to empower young girls and women in the ICT sector and help them to be politically and socially aware of the opportunities and the dangers of the digital world.  Asmine Said Ahmed, Girls in Tech president says that her NGO fights for gender equality and is open to everyone at the national and international level.

Chabane Mohamed Abdou works for ANRTIC, the governmental body in charge of the ICT regulation in the country. ‘’ Our organization has judicial, economic and technical missions in the ICT sector in Comoros. Technically speaking, we are both the manager and supervisor of all the frequencies used in the country in the aeronautic, maritime and telecommunications fields ’’ he said.   

Said Hachim said Ibrahim has just graduated from SUP’MANAGEMENT- COMORES, a school of accounting, computer management, international trade and tourism located in Moroni Coulée. He was accompanied by his classmates, Soiwami Ali and Moussa Ahamada Ali Mohamed to represent their school at the show. Said Ibrahim capstone is about ‘‘how to fight money laundering in Comoros”.  His school is a branch of the Université intercontinentale libre and SUP’MANAGEMENT group specialized in administration, engineering and tourism. The group is located in many countries in northern and southern America, Africa and Europe.

Many conferences were also held during the three days show. Ahmed Abdulatuf, PhD, is the computer engineering department head at the University of Comoros. He was holding a conference on ‘‘Training in the digital era’’.  According to Abdulatuf, knowledge is linked to the digital era in today’s world. ‘‘ As many new jobs are emerging in the digital sector such as computer engineer, developer, web designer, web master, to name but a few, businesses are to  follow the trend in order to grow. Thus, in-service training is a must,’’ he said. In order to evaluate the show for the next edition, a questionnaire sponsored by the Comorian chamber of commerce and industry was given to each visitor to fill in.    

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer 

24 Hours to Set up your Business in Comoros

Coach Djamil  Boinali in blue T- shirt with the winners of 'Banana' project group

OIA (Omar Ibn Abdullah) Group was organizing from 26 to 27 January 2019, the first edition of ‘24 hours to set up your company’. The event was held at the Technical Institute (IUT) of the University of Comoros in Hamramba campus in the south of Moroni. It was mainly sponsored by the BDC (Bank for the Development of Comoros) and Telco (Telma in Comoros).  Different OIA groups took part at the event. Ahmed Bacar, the Technical Institute’s Director was so sorry for not having seeing many students of his institution among the OIA groups.   

Ali Soulé, 33 years old, is an IUT alumnus in Commerce Department. He is graduated in 2008. He is currently working as textbooks ‘manager at the Ministry of Education of Ngazidja. His project ‘Commercialization and Marketing of Sea Food’ has been selected. He thinks that his project can create many job opportunities for the youth.  

Soilihi Ben Ali, 26, is also from the University of Comoros. He got his diploma in 2012 at the Management Department known as GEA (Gestion des  Entreprises et des Administrations).  He works as an intern in a private small enterprise called Ider-Elec located in Moroni. He wants to set up a foreign exchange counter, but his idea did not convince the public. So he decided to join the group that focuses on a ‘Tourist Center’ plan.  As he comes from Mbashile, a touristic, historic and attractive village in the south west of Moroni, he thinks he can contribute by brainstorming many new ideas in that sector.

There were about 40 projects in competition presented by the participants. The participants were also the promoters of their own projects. They were dressed in red T-shirts and the coaches in blue. Only 7 projects, which got the majority of the vote, have been selected. The participants whose proposals have not been chosen have to join a group of their choice. Each OIA group was directed by a coach.

       Oirdati Avoucat with her team members

Djamil Boinali, 30, is from Itsandra Mdjini city. He is a public policy consultant and President of Young Self-Promoters Crossroads Association. He is coaching the ‘Banana’ project. The question is: how to increase the production of this crop in the country in terms of quality and quantity. Oirdati Avoucat, 28, is a student at the Horticultural National Center located in Nvouni campus. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Science from the University of Comoros. She plans with her partners to promote the banana crop in the country.

Moufidat Mohamed Abdoulhalik, 35, is the founder and Manager of a cosmetics products business made from coconut. She is the facilitator of the ‘Counselling Service’ project group whose aim is to offer guidance or advice to those who wish to launch their own concerns. ‘‘Any project that shows you the better way to succeed within the community is welcome’’ she said. 

Mohamed Mroivili, 28, is conducting the ‘Cattle Breeding’ group. His project is focusing in the production of beef and milk. He is the Human Resources Director of Sultan Group Corporation based in Moroni. In 24 hours, the 3 best drafts have to be selected by a jury and backed by the sponsors. Coach Boinali was happy that Sunday afternoon. The ‘Banana’ project won the first price.  ‘‘We have a bank account opened at BDC with 3,000€ and one year Wi-Fi access point box with super-fast connection offered by Telma,’’ he proudly said. The two other winners are the ‘Cattle Breeding’ Group and a Super market Project on farm produce.  

OIA Group is currently in 5 countries: USA, Madagascar, Benin, Nigeria and South Africa. It has five years of existence and aims to support development economic actors to achieve the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) by training and coaching across Africa and the world.    

Moroni, 28 January 2019  

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer