Djibouti’s Accomplishments

David Lamb’s June 29 article, “Independence Brings Little Change in Djibouti,” sadly evidences his contempt and dislike of Africa.

Lamb ignores the extent of physical and infrastructure development which has taken place, from the fine network of roads and bridges, the regionally unequaled modern port, the state-of-the-art modern telecommunications system which makes Djibouti an important hub, and the explosive growth in schools. Most notable though, aside from the isolated foreign invasion discussed below, Djibouti has been calm and peaceful, providing extensive social services to its inhabitants, including its large refugee population.

Djibouti cannot be examined in isolation from the long-simmering surrounding turbulence in the Horn of Africa, where droughts, famines, civil wars and national disintegration have wreaked havoc among all of Djibouti’s neighbors! Fueled by this chaos, Djibouti has been choked with fleeing refugees, until today they represent some 15% of its total population.

Lamb is misleading in describing the fighting which began in 1991, attributed by him to the minority Afars of the north taking up arms. But this was in fact an invasion of foreign militia who fought on the side of the deposed head of Ethiopia during its recent civil war. Unprepared for this sudden invasion, Djibouti’s small army was no match, and a large area of the country was indeed held for a time. The effective and sustained mobilization most necessary to defeat these foreign invaders resulted in the serious drain on Djibouti’s meager resources.

Lamb slams Djibouti’s economy, cynically stating that its only exports are “goats and camels.” In actual fact, we do wish we had a large export population of goats and camels as an economic mainstay, but we do not. Djibouti depends on a service economy--transshipping, container handling, shipping, trading, banking, insurance and communications. And, of course, geared to services as Djibouti is, in an area of recent chaos and turmoil, has had its repercussions--the railroad between Djibouti and Ethiopia runs well below capacity, shipments to Somalia are virtually nil. Yet poor Djibouti still provided valuable services to the region during the last two decades, the Gulf War effort, and continues to assist Somalia and Yemen during their difficulties.

Lamb dismisses President Hassan Gouled Aptidon as “a former camel herder with a sixth-grade education.” But nearly 80 years ago in the Northeast African desert, that was an honorable, perhaps only, profession, and a sixth-grade education, the highest attainable in nearly all African countries. Yet this same “camel herder” served with distinction for years in the French Parliament, held virtually every Cabinet post in Djibouti and since independence has brought to our nation credibility and an enduring sense of stability.

ROBLE OLHAYE

U.N. Ambassador of Djibouti, New York