THE FORMATION OF THE SOMALI NATIONAL MOVEMENT SNM By ANIIS ABDILLAHI ESSA

TARIIKH LAMA ILAWAAN DHEH :
THE FORMATION OF THE SOMALI NATIONAL MOVEMENT
S N M

---

The formation of the Somali National Movement ( SNM ) was sparked by that general mass discontent with Siad Barre's Regime. The initiative was made by members of the Isaac Communities outside the country particularly in the United Kingdom and the Middle East, who were free from the intimidation and repression of the regime. In late 1978 and early 1979 mobilizations intended to upgrade the consciousness of the Somali people started within the country. Committees comprising of elders or community leaders, officers, intellectuals, business people, students, youth and civil servants started underground campaigns in an effort to educate the people against the evils of the Siad Barre's regime.

At this stage in the SNM history Siyad has openly engaged in divisive and sectarian clan politics to discredit and lobby for caesura of that internal mobilization. He has created bandits who were armed by the government and were in the military payroll to destroy total communities to instill harassment and intimidation in those communities. During 1979 to 1980 hundreds of people, mostly women and children were massacred around Gabiley, Wajale, and Allay Baday areas.

The opposition from within and from without the country had contacts and a smooth follow of communication for quite a considerable time. On April 6, 1981 the Somali National Movement ( SNM ) was officially proclaimed as an opposition organization in London, UK. In November 1981 the residents of hargeyisa initiated self-help programs intended to upgrade the educational and health facilities of their community. 38 young professionals, intellectuals, and businessmen who were the leading organizers of the community project were imprisoned, some of them tortured. In February 1982 they received sentences ranging from two years to life. As a result, the first anti-government riots broke out in Hargiesa and Burao, and Sheikh Secondary Students in Sheikh. This marked the first head-on confrontation between the public and the regime. Barre who had never experienced open public unrest was caught by surprise. Consequently, he started a Hitler-like repression comprising of detentions, tortures, and execution.

Almost a year after the formation of SNM in London the internal wing of the SNM took a historic and daring move. A decision was made to establish the movement in Ethiopia. In February 1982 prominent high-ranking military officers and other government officials started deserting the regime. A week after the execution of Colonel Abdillahi Haji Saeed in Howad Near Burao by the regime's man (Gani " one day he will pay the price on the hard way), the first such officers crossed the border. Among them were Colonel Adan Sheikh Mohamed ( shiine ) "PBOH", Colonel Ahmed Dahir ( Dhagax ) " PBOH", and Colonel Mohamed Kahin Ahmed.

With the acceptance of the Ethiopia government the SNM Executive Committee, therefore moved from London to the Somali populated areas in Ethiopia in order to keep the movement close to home. They started setting up offices and training camps. within very short period of time groups of military officers, soldiers, intellectuals, businessmen, and students crossed the border and joined the movement. Area nomads and villagers also joined and signed up for their training programs. Surprisingly the SNM started attacks against the regime almost immediately. In those attacks the SNM has inflicted great damages on Faqashi's troops. They also confiscated combat as well as transport vehicles, arms ammunition and communication equipments.

Following those successful attacks the SNM established more then 10 bases in the North, Central and southern border areas within a year. The SNM, therefore, got engaged in highly sophisticated operations of national and international significance. In January 1983 the SNM forces fulfilled a major operation at Mandhera Maximum Security Prison. In the operation the SNM liberated hundreds of political prisoners. They also killed more than 130 soldiers from the Mandhera and Adadley garrisons. In a retaliatory move the regime executed 55 civilians in Adadley, Mandhera, and Go'a area. More then one thousand were detained by the regime's military and NSS.

On April 12, 1983, in a spectacular rescue mission, the SNM forces freed Colonel Abdillahi Askar from the highly fortified prison of the 26th sector of the Somali army. He was caught in Hargeisa by the security forces while fulfilling a secret mission with the SNM internal wing. Colonel Abdillahi Askar who was savagely tortured with candles and cigarettes was to be executed the day following the evening he was rescued. When Siad Barre realized the threat that the SNM poses to his dictatorial regime and the popular support it enjoys both in and outside the country, he " Afweyne" started to fight with the SNM and its supporters ferociously. Those who lived under his jurisdiction were those who were hit hard. They have suffered:

Indiscriminate detentions, imprisonment, and massacres. Looting and constant confiscations of private properties. Total blockade of food and fuel supplies. Denial of access to water supplies during the dry seasons. Destruction or poisoning of water reservoirs and watering wells Burning down of entire villages and communities Children killed and women raped.

Other communities who live in the areas where the SNM activities are prevalent have experienced a similar but a different kind of warfare. Afweyne Barre disguised some of his regular troops as marauding bandits licensed to plunder and exterminate both human lives and their livestock. The concerned communities with the assistance of the SNM responded to Afweyne's barbarous raids by not only defending themselves but by also making counter attacks against the combined Afweyne forces. In these counter attacks Afweyne's Troops suffered a severe damage. The following is an estimated damage that was inflicted on the Afweyne Troops:

In Mahollin area, south of Gashamo, the regime lost more than 450 soldiers in 1982 and 1984. The area residents captured military documents, communication equipments, small arms and ammunition. In Xaye and Qararo area it lost more than 350 including 3 officers. The area residents seized two jeeps, and armored personnel carrier ( APC ) and three army trucks. IN Aware area Afweyne troops suffered 250 casualties in 1984 they also left behind various military equipments.

It is extremely important to mention here that the SNM has prevented a genocide that was in the making. If the regime and its organization bandits were not checked by the forces of the area communities supported by the SNM, It is a historical fact that large portions of the Somali people would have been eliminated from the face of the earth. The capability of the Barre troops was greatly severed in the above-mentioned operations. The SNM on its part continued to wage constant attacks on Afweyne's troops inside the country and forced them to opt for a defensive strategy. A Foreign correspondent describing the situation of the Afweyne armed forces in March 1984 wrote, " The Somali army did not perform to any standard. The inefficiency of the Somali armed forces is legendary among foreign military experts. Last month Somalia shot down one of its own nine functioning aircrafts. Military officials in Somalia have grown disgusted with the performance of the Somali army and its inability to keep anything working".

On the other hand SNM has been growing a gaining momentum day after day. At this stage in the struggle of the SNM to liberate the country, Afweyne Barre has desperately pulled some embarrassing tricks in an attempt to weekend the position of the SNM. The following will be the different political games played by Afweyne Barre to strengthen his position against the MUJAAHIDIIN SNM.

More will be updated soon Insha'Allah......

ANIIS ABDILLAHI ESSA
WASHINGTON DC USA
ANIIS@YAHOO.COM

SIRAG ARCHIVE

THE COLONEL’S BLUFF By Jamal Madar,England

THE COLONEL’S BLUFF
February 17, 2004 - 23:48

A hard-line approach without sound military hardware is a dangerous bluff. Thus, Colonel Abdillahi Youssef’s shrill cry of joy (mashxarad) over the occupation of Las Anod may soon turn into rivers of tears that could be irrigated in the drought stricken areas of Sool.

In December 2003, a group of armed militiamen acting under the command of Colonel Abdillahi Yousef- the absolute ruler of the autonomous provincial administration of Majertenia (now calls itself Puntland)- crossed the border into Somaliland Republic and occupied Las Anod- the regional capital of Sool region. Since Puntland was formed in 1998, the Colonel had always claimed Sool and eastern Sanaag regions that are largely but not exclusively populated by Dhulbahante and Warsangali clans, as his own territories. It is not clear how the Colonel would manage to redraw the century-old colonial boundaries or rewrite the history of these people but what is clear is that the basis of his claims are at best ludicrous and at worst infantile. The basis of the Colonel’s argument is that these people are, by blood or descent, related to the people of Puntland and are together known as Harti. Thus, in his figment of imagination, the Colonel believes that this gives him the automatic right to claim these territories as part and parcel of his own little fiefdom- Puntland. However, the unpalatable truth is that, geographically the people in these territories had, for nearly a century, belonged to Somaliland (the former British Protectorate), which broke away from Somalia in 1991.

In the past, it was not uncommon to see the Colonel’s militia sneaking across the border into Somaliland under the cover of darkness and returning back to their bases in Puntland after a short spell of stay without causing any mischief in the disputed territories. Successive Somaliland governments had a policy of turning a blind eye to these flagrant violations of its territorial integrity ostensibly to avoid an unnecessary military show down with its troublemaker neighbour- Puntland- even though Somaliland had always maintained the military capability to decapitate the Colonel’s ruling apparatus. The idea behind this was that, so long as the local people did not mind the surprise visits paid to their towns by their cousins from Putland and so long as these sneaky visitors were not upsetting the local sensibilities, the Somaliland government didn’t mind to forget about these border violations. However, this approach apparently sent a wrong signal to the Colonel, for he saw this as a weakness on the part of successive Somaliland administrations.

Unopposed and undeterred, the Colonel got emboldened to the extent that he hatched a plot to assassinate the president of Somaliland, Dahir Rayale, who paid a visit to Las Anod at the end of 2002. Escaped by a narrow margin, president Rayale was whisked to Aynabo where a division of combat ready troops waited by, in case something went wrong. But something went terribly wrong yet president Rayale chose, much to the anger and dismay of many Somalilanders, not to order the army to take swift retaliatory measures against his assailants for fear that a lot of innocent people might die in the cross fire between the government troops and its opponents. Friends and foes alike were astonished by the compassion and sense of responsibility displayed by Rayale in restraining his troops not to fire the big guns in anger.

On his return to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, the parliament gave the president the green light to deal a mortal blow to the shaky regime of the strongman of Majertenia. However, Rayale opted instead to impose a state of emergency on the entire region and continued to maintain a policy of non-engagement with the Sool people although critics on both sides of the broader political divide were somewhat divided over the wisdom of that policy. Apart from the state of emergency, both local and presidential elections were also barred from taking place in Sool, thus adding to the woes and isolation of these people.

This latest incursion into Somaliland by Puntland however completely changed the rule of the game. The Colonel’s militias came in from the wilderness with all guns blazing, killing at least three people and kicking all Somaliland government personnel out of their residences and offices. Such callous disregard of Somaliland’s eastern border, which is porous and often unguarded, coupled with the Colonel’s bravado, angered the Hargeisa administration.

This was further compounded by the Colonel’s spur-of-the-moment proclamation in the international media that his militia captured the city of Las Anod by force. Up until now, the Colonel who is famous for his beastliness and intransigence, dismissed calls from friends and lately his benefactor, Ethiopia, to show respect for Somaliland’s boundaries drawn up by British Colonial administration- boundaries considered by the AU as sacrosanct.

Whilst it is true that the people of Sool and eastern Sanaag and the people of Puntland are of the same lineage, it is also true that twice the same number of Issaq and Gadabursi people are living in Ethiopian territories. But, that is not to say, this will give Somaliland the right to claim these territories as its own.

The Colonel’s burning ambition to become the leader of a future government in Somalia is totally incompatible with his ardent but parochial and myopic tribalist posture of promoting the doctrine of Darodism. Neither his ludicrously lineage-based territorial claims is acceptable to any African country where people of the same blood or tribe are divided by artificial boundaries.

Since the inception of Somaliland, the people of Sool were torn between their brethren in Puntland who have nothing to offer to them other than empty avowals of fraternity and a Somaliland government that cannot give them of what they describe as ‘ironclad guarantee of our rights and privileges’ before committing themselves fully to the Somaliland ship of state.

At the moment, Dhulbahante and Warsangali have more than their fair share of representatives in both houses (35 members in total) on top of the administrative and ministerial portfolios.

Many believe that Somaliland can still guarantee to provide Sool people for their fair share of the national cake in terms of financial resources and development projects if they are equally prepared to show their allegiance to Somaliland. It is an open secret that the Garads, religious men and their politicians had participated in all major Somaliland Conferences held in Balligubadleh, Berbera, Burao and Borama and put their signatures to all these agreements. But they dishonoured each and every covenant they have undertaken and callously disregarded all the agreements they have entered into with the rest of clans in Somaliland.

Disintegrated, divided and disorientated, Dhulbahante cannot decide for thirteen years where their interest truly lays. They do not seem to agree on anything other than one thing: that they shouldn’t subscribe to, no matter what, the Issaq dominated state of Somaliland. But that line of argument does not hold water any longer since it became evident that Harti and Gadabursi head all the three major powers of the government namely the Executive, the Supreme Court and the Parliament. The Issaq are no longer in the driving seat of the Somaliland state.

The Colonel’s occupation of Las Anod was facilitated by anti-Somaliland segment of Dhulbahante who are loyal to Puntland. This encouraged the bloodthirsty Colonel to adopt an increasingly belligerent and war-mongering attitude, which is viewed by many throughout Somaliland and the Diaspora as provocative designs calculated to further disrupt and create chaos and confusion in Somaliland at a time the country’s security situation remains precariously on a knife’s edge following the recent spate of gruesome murders committed against western humanitarian relief workers. Others see the Colonel’s outrageous and ludicrous claims to Sool and Sanaag as nothing more than a cynical ploy to effect disturbances in Somaliland, hoping to trigger a heavy handed government response thus spoiling Somaliland’s chances of recognition from the international community. The latter view was reinforced when a cross-party delegation from Britain paid a two-day visit to Somaliland and a subsequent Commons debate regarding Somaliland’s recognition was held in Westminster Hall on 4th February.

Colonel Abdillahi Yusuf had always been a ‘pain in the neck’ in this cross-border issue between Puntland and Somaliland. His militia visited Las Anod before under the pretext of mediating warring sub-clans amongst Dhulbahante. But on each occasion they returned to their bases on their own accord.

Strangely enough, the Colonel began a propaganda campaign by activating all the media resources at his disposal and has blown the issue out of proportions even though he is the aggressor in the eyes of all those who are familiar with the politics of that region. He began to engage in Intifada on the airwaves, emblazoned headlines on the local papers, gave regular interviews to international news agencies, issued press releases and plastered articles staring out of every page and screen on the Net.

If the Colonel’s tactics were to scare off Somaliland government not to come to the aid of Sool people, it certainly produced the opposite results of what he desired. Massive troops have already been deployed in the vicinity of Las Anod and others are being mobilised throughout much of Somaliland for a potential show down with the Colonel’s motley collection of rag tag militia holed up in Las Anod. The Colonel is beginning to see that his megaphone diplomacy is proving counterproductive and self-defeating. As a military man whose tactics was simply confined to shooting from the hip to anyone who stands in his way, he knows this time round that the odds are heavily stacked against him, for he is not militarily up to scratch vis-à-vis Somaliland. His ragtag militia hasn’t got the slightest chance to stand up to the overwhelming military superiority of Somaliland unless of course they are prepared to commit mass suicide.

In a country where its people are more often divided than united, the arrival of the Colonel’s militia in Las Anod was a godsend that miraculously united the Somaliland people- friends and foes alike – firmly behind the President in defending the motherland from the external enemy.

Rayale whose recent controversial visit to Djibouti created furore in Somaliland took advantage of the situation and swiftly tabled a motion before the two Houses in a bid to evict the Colonel’s rag-tag militia out of Sool and teach him as UCID opposition leader, Faisal Ali Warabe put it ‘an unforgettable lesson’ that would serve as an example for those who try in future to infringe the country’s territorial integrity.

The fact that the motion was overwhelmingly passed by both the Parliament and House of Elders sent an unmistakable signal to Puntland and gave President Rayale a free hand to aim for the Colonel’s jugular, if need be, and decapitate his ruling apparatus in Garowe, if deemed necessary.

Apart from the troops that have already been deployed on the eastern front, most of Somaliland’s heavy weaponry including an array of artillery pieces, tanks and multiple rocket launchers have been kept out of sight but are ready to be deployed if the Colonel refuses to budge. Major government buildings in surrounding towns and villages have been evacuated and are being readied for casualties in case of break up of hostilities. Huge consignments of food and medicine are being poured into the eastern front. Columns of commercial tankers carrying fuel are heading for Sool.

These war preparations robbed the Colonel of many nights’ good sleep. It is believed that he sent emissaries to Wardheer and Goday and propagated the message that Majertenia is about to face a devastating attack from her powerful neighbour- Somaliland. According to Somaliland Times, the Ogaden sent some ONLF fighters to Las Anod to reinforce Puntland’s poorly armed ragtag militia holed up in Las Anod as they brace for a hugely devastating attack that might seal the fate of their little fiefdom.

For so long, Somalilander’s intimate knowledge of war and its painful consequences have always been to avert the break up of any hostilities between Puntland and Somaliland but the die seem to be cast now, for the Colonel had crossed a Rubicon.

With the assassination attempt on his life weighing heavily on his mind and enjoying the unstinting support of the whole nation, Rayale is unlikely to flinch from his hard-line approach. His muscle flexing tactics seems to be having an effect on the Colonel as the local people whom the Colonel considered to be their saviour scramble for the Puntland militia to pull out of their territories. Las Anod is in the grip of fear as the Somaliland army dug in its heels within a striking distance, getting ready to flush out the Colonel’s militia.

In a recent BBC interview, the Colonel spoke undiplomatically and hurled toxic rhetorical salvos at Rayale by describing him as a “tool”. The Colonel claimed himself to be a battle hardened man while accusing Rayaale of being a man with NSS background who did not understand much about politics. But the Colonel seems to forget that he is a megalomaniac who ruled his clan-based fiefdom of Majertenia by the barrel of the gun since 1977- a rule punctuated by cold-blooded murders and mysterious disappearances of his own kin and kith. Unlike Rayale, who is a democratically elected president, the Colonel is no more than a chieftain of Harti.

The Colonel who initially appeared to have taken leave of his senses when he undertook this dangerous adventure is slowly but steadily beginning to tone down the frequency of his rhetoric and sabre-rattling that characterised his occupation of Las Anod in the early days. Panic and fear permeated in the file and rank of his militia. Some of them have already fled for fear of their lives and others are pondering their next move as the black cloud of war began looming menacingly on the horizon. Whatever, the situation of those who remain in the town, they are left with no option but to cut and run. At least a senior Puntland militiaman defected to Somaliland recently with several along with ‘technicals’.

The Colonel is beginning to get a sense that a hard-line approach without military sound military hardware is a dangerous bluff that could be called. His shrill cry of joy (mashxarad) might soon turn into rivers of tears that could be irrigated in the drought stricken areas of Sool.

Somaliland will win back what was rightfully its territory, without in the meantime, depriving others from their rights. The Colonel’s reluctance to withdraw all his militia is merely an attempt to avoid ordering his militia back to Garowe- the capital of Puntland- with their heads down in shame as well as saving himself from becoming at the butt of a joke in his fiefdom. But Rayale must take the moral high ground and give the Colonel a face saving exit even though the tyrant of Majertenia had just got ‘too big for his boot’ as Sudi Yalaxow put it and had to be taught an unforgettable lesson.

Jamal Madar

England

adammadar@yahoo.com

SIRAG ARCHIVE

“The Butchers of Majertenia, Hargeisa Politically isolated” By O .M. Nur

“The Butchers of Majertenia, Hargeisa Politically isolated”
By O .M. Nur {OJ}, Toronto, Canada

---

On January 29 the Somalian leaders reached what is described as the best agreement on Somalia’s reconciliation so far, in Nairobi, Kenya, but The Butchers of Majertenia and Hargeisa, Abdullahi Yusuf and Morgan, are isolated in the process. They have a common enemy to teach a lesson to. Both disregarded the agreement after they have agreed to it. The reason is not based on Somalian interest. It is the personal ambition of Abdullahi Yusuf and of Morgan to seek revenge through the top offices of Somalia.
.
According to article 30 of the already signed Charter, the faction leaders are to nominate the transitional members of Parliament from their clans. The traditional leaders are to ratify the selected to make sure that each sub clan gets its fair representation.

However, Abdullahi is looking forward to his position in the new government. He doesn’t intend to allow any one other than him to nominate the” Darod” parliamentarians. His aim is to make sure that he gets the position of a president or a Prime minister before any vote for the positions for these take place. He is a hardheaded dictator who doesn’t believe in democracy, so he doesn’t trust voting. His law is the law of jungle where the mighty rules.

Bihi of Gedo, Barre Hirale and Jees of the Lower Juppa, Jama Ali Jama of the North Eastern Region, Hassan Abshir of Garowe Region, Mohamed Yusuf and Abdullahi Yusuf of Mudug Region are all in the new leaders committee and all belong to the same Darod clan of Somalia who will nominate their portion of parliamentarians. Normally, every one should be able to nominate his share from his sub-sub-clan and seek ratification from his sub-sub clan’s traditional leaders. Abdullahi doesn’t want things to happen that way that and lose his bid for the eagerly awaited positions. He believes to have politically barred the above-mentioned Darod leaders from the leader’s committee and defeated them in the battlefiel. “There must not be a comeback through the TNG and The National Salvation Group and must not share power with him.” He believes.

Both Abdullahi and Morgan are seeking revenge for what Siyad Barre and later Barre Hiiraale have done to them. Abdullahi says, “The real war in Somalia is not between Hawiye and Darod, but between Marehan and Majertens. It is true and Marehan leaders are well aware of his position. It is why Barre Hirale allied himself with USC and why there is no Marehan member in the SRRC, which is dominated by Abdullahi Yusuf and Morgan. They chose to be in alliance with the Arta Group (The TNG) and with the National Salvation Group. The Marehan, through their allieis are trying hard to deter any attempt by Abdullahi Yusuf or Morgan to get a position of leadership in Somalia. On the other hand Abdullahi and Morgan are trying to whisk away the other Darod members in the leaders committee by all means. The Marehan now believe that tribal extermination is not for them and would prefer a more logical moderate Majertens leader instead, if they should get one of the top two leadership positions. They maintain that Marehan is not at war with the Majertens and are working hard for the protection of their lives from Abdullahi and Morgan. Hawiye are striving to get Somalia’s leadership. When they get it, they will forget whatever Siyad has done to anyone. Marehans called the Isaqs “ Gob jabtay” in return they will be called “Gob ay la rogmatey.” When Isaqs get away with the assertion of the annexed independence of Somaliland, they will forgive Somalia and extend a brotherly hand to the Marehans. In return Marehan, of all Somalis, will distinguish themselves as the staunchest supporters of Somaliland, of course after an inclusive government is formed in Somalia and the dust settles. That is safe and a small price to pay! The Hawiye can rule Somalia without the Isaqs and in cooperation with other moderate clans. They must not let their faithful friends, the Marehans, down!

Reported By: Omar Japan Toronto,Canada
Email: omarn692@sympatico.ca

SIRAG ARCHIVE

Abdillahi Yusuf Allies Himself With Abdiqasim Salad Hasan

Abdillahi Yusuf Allies Himself With Abdiqasim Salad Hasan

---

Somaliland Times, Issue 106 Feb.2-8, 2004

NAIROBI--(SL Times) In the ever shifting alliances between the various southern warlords, Puntlands Abdillahi Yusuf has now allied himself with Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, former president of the transitional government, better known as the Arta Faction, sources close to the Nairobi peace talks on Somalia said.

The new alliance between the two faction leaders was reportedly forged earlier this month following Abdiqasim Salad Hasan's return to the peace talks. Since the peace negotiations began in Oct 2002, each of the two faction leaders has tried hard to steer the course of the talks in a way that would be favorable to his own political agenda. The two men competed against each other to wield as much support as possible from the delegates, with each wanting to boost his chances for winning Somalia's presidency. However, neither of the two men succeeded in emerging as a winner.

The sign of rapprochement between Abdillahi Yusuf and Abdiqasim Salad Hasan first emerged after the two held a series of extensive face-to-face talks at Nairobi in the last 2 weeks, it was reported. According to sources close to the meetings, Abdillahi Yusuf surprised Abdiqasim Salad by showering him with highly conciliatory gestures and offering support for the Arta Faction leaders re-election as Somalia's president.

Abdiqasim Salad Hasan has reportedly pledged to appoint Abdillahi Yusuf as his premier provided the latter distances himself from Ethiopia. The anti-Ethiopian propaganda emanating from Puntland controlled media, particularly the Las-Anod FM radio station, since last week, has been cited by observers as an indication of Abdillahi Yusuf's compliance with Salad's demand. In addition to Abdiilahi Yusuf's lust for power in a future government for Italian Somalia, he is also displeased by Ethiopia's opposition to his invasion of Somaliland's Sool region. Abdillahi Yusuf's associates in Bosaso have recently castigated the Ethiopians for not being cognizant of the real situation in the region. These comments were issued on the heels of an Ethiopian delegation's visit to Majerteenya (Puntland).

The Ethiopian delegation was headed by the commander of Harargey, Gen. Gabre Makanan. Warlord Abdillahi Yusuf's spokesman, Mr. Ismaaciil X. Xasan said in an interview that they were upset with the stand that the Ethiopians took with regard to the conflict between Puntland and Somaliland. The spokesman said the Ethiopians insisted that colonial boundaries should be respected.

To return the favor, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan has accepted to support Abdillahi Yusuf's claims on Sool and Sanag. In a BBC interview broadcast yesterday, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan suggested that the number one priority of the future government of Somalia will be the disarmament and demobilization of armed militia men all over Somalia. Abdiqasim Salad Hasan made it clear that Somaliland should be included in any disarmament effort to be initiated by the government to emerge from the Nairobi talks.

SIRAG ARCHIVE

Masquerading successful Somaliland as failed Somalia by Bashir Goth

Masquerading successful Somaliland as failed Somalia, Bashir Goth

Reading the opinion piece “Somalia’s warlords: Feeding on a failed state” published by the International Herald Tribune on 20 Jan 2004, one doesn’t have to go any further to understand why a place like Somaliland, a peaceful, democratic and by the testimony of many foreign diplomats, writers and academics a model for homegrown African reconciliation and building of state institutions, has been ignored for so long by the world community.

It is such selective half-truths touted by people like Abdulqawi A. Yusuf, the writer of the article, taking advantage of his position as editor of the African Year Book of International Law and assumed knowledgeable background, that places blinders on the eyes of the international community, narrowing their vision to the darkness and ugliness that prevail in Mogadishu and most of the regions in the Former Italian Somalia. This kind of sweeping generalizations and regurgitating of clichés favored by foreign media such as anarchy, violence, and chaos, is what dampens and trivializes the great achievements accomplished by the people of Somaliland, former British Somaliland Protectorate, against the apocalyptic situation in the Italian South.

One would have expected from the writer, a man of law and an academic who shoulders the awesome task of editing a document, considered to be a genuine reference for African legal affairs, to have exercised some degree of fairness and objectivity in his analysis. Though right in his condemnation and exposure of the Southern-based warlords as a pack of blood suckers who thrive on the misery of the ordinary people, he utterly failed to see the light in the case of Somaliland which has managed to escape the mayhem and the anarchy of the South due to their traditional wisdom and time-worn African methods of resolving conflicts and making peace under the neem tree without any help from the international community. It is here where I would like to pick up and piece together the success story of Somaliland that Abdulqawi tried to weave it into the apocalyptic kaleidoscope of failure, thievery, violence and mayhem that prevail in Italian Somalia.

Emerging from a devastating war that killed tens of thousands, maimed other tens of thousands, grazed whole towns and villages to rubble and drove the whole population into forced exile, the people of Somaliland convened a national reconciliation conference in Buroa in 1991 immediately after the collapse of the military regime. In a traditional conflict resolving and crisis management atmosphere, representatives of all clans and all sectors of the society including elders, religious men, western educated intellectuals, militia commanders, women and youth laid down their arms, decided to put the misery of the past behind them and build a future and a state for themselves. The people of Somaliland, a former British Protectorate, which gained its independence on 26th June 1960, five days before it formed a union with the Italian colonized South, which received its independence on 1st July 1960, made a unanimous decision on that fateful morning of 18 May 1991 to restore their sovereignty and vowed to build a state on the basis of democracy, traditional wisdom and the rule of law.

Rising to the urgency of returning to normalcy and allowing the people to start the arduous task of rebuilding, the conference elected a President, a Vice President and a National Consultative Council for two years on an agreed quota basis. Soon after a cabinet was formed and the government started setting up all local government institutions and infrastructure from scratch, while traditional elders, intellectuals, religious men, businessmen and prominent personalities embarked on the painstaking and Herculean task of confidence building between the various clans, explaining the fruits of peace and consolidating stability and harmony.

Once government institutions were partly revived and returning refugees began to feel the dividends of peace and stability, the people of Somaliland convened their second conference in the town of Borama in 1993. After three months of lengthy and sometimes difficult discussions, a new president, vice president and two-tier national parliament were elected. Mohammed Ibrahim Egal, the first Prime Minister of Somaliland at the time of Independence and a veteran African statesman, had defeated the then incumbent President Abdirahman Ahmed Ali, the former head of the Somali National Movement (SNM) that fought against Siyad Barre’s regime. Contrary to the behaviour of traditional African militia commanders who believe that the chair belongs to them by default, Abdirahman, a veteran civil servant and former Ambassador, congratulated his successor and transferred the rule democratically and peacefully. Comparatively this was when the civil war and tribal mayhem was at its height in the Italian south with Baidoa symbolizing the epicenter of death and misery that moved the international community and prompted former U.S. President Bush to launch Operation Restore Hope which eventually ended up in the disastrous Black Hawk Down and the shameful flight of Americans and later UN forces from Mogadishu.

A charismatic leader, a shrewd strategist and an expert on Somali tribal politics, Egal has within a short time managed to put all government institutions in place. At the time of his next election in 1997, barely four years after, the country had functioning executive and judicial bodies namely Cabinet of Ministers, a bicameral parliament, a police force, a military force, courts and local councils. The health and school sectors were back on track, and thousands of refugees had returned home. In 1997 Egal defeated his opponents for the parliament-voted presidential elections and won a second term of office. With all government institutions firm on the ground and the infrastructure partly restored, Egal and his government turned their attention to establish the constitutional base for the existence of Somaliland. Relying mainly on customary laws, traditional wisdom and with the assistance of international legal experts, the first Somaliland Constitution was drafted and tabled for debate by the parliament. After long, vigorous and arduous debates checkered by numerous rejections and revisions, like any vibrant democracy; the Somaliland parliament endorsed the constitution and slated it for national referendum. When finally put on referendum in free and fair elections on 15 December 2002, 98% of the voters gave a resounding yes to the new constitution that laid the legal foundation for Somaliland’s proclamation of independence.

In another manifestation of its maturity and seriousness in adhering to the rule of law, Somaliland parliament showed the world one of the rare episodes of African civility and respect for democratic norms, when it made possible a smooth and peaceful transfer of power when President Egal died in a hospital in South Africa, where he was taken for treatment for a prolonged illness. With astonishing speed, the Parliament resorted to the constitution and sworn in the Vice President, Dahir Riyale Kahin, as the country’s President, thus proving wrong both African political pundits and skeptics who predicted that Egal’s death would usher in a period of chaos and tribal civil war, particularly as Riyale who was to succeed Egal was not from the majority clan, a text book recipe for tribal genocides in many parts of Africa including Italian Somalia.

Since then, the country has conducted two successfully monitored elections, local council elections in December 2002 and free and fair presidential elections on 14th April 2003 in which the Udub ruling party led by then incumbent President Riyale won by only 217 votes. However, in unprecedented democratic action that recalled the U.S. presidential contention in 2000, the opposition party Kulmiye challenged the tally but has, as Jeffry Herts wrote in the Washington Post, “in a moment of extraordinary responsibility given Somalia’s history of having weapons resolve almost every conflict, eventually accepted the results,” after the country’s Higher Court supported the Election Commission’s tally. Somaliland is also planning parliamentary elections by the end of 2004. “At that point,” writes Herts, “Somaliland will have a more impressive democracy than most African countries. One would think the natural responses of the outside world to the extra-ordinary accomplishments of the Somalilanders would be respect and recognition. The Somalilanders, almost unanimously ask what more they can do when the international community continues to recognize Liberia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and anarchic, violent places as sovereign units. It is time to give them an answer.”

And the answer comes from our next of kin who is green with envy for Somaliland’s achievements. It comes in Abdulqawi’s fleeting dismissal and counting of Somaliland’s democratically elected President among other warlords or as wannabe or anointed president among Puntland and Mogadisho warmongers.

However, refuting Abdulqawi’s deliberate attempt to conceal the truth in a malicious smoke screen comes not from me or any other Somalilander for that matter but from world renowned scholars and neutral foreign observers of the Somali political landscape. I feel obliged to quote some of them, at least for the benefit of IHT readers and the international media, whom Abdulqawi tried to lead, blindfolded into the abyss.

The contrast between chaotic Somalia and the stable Somaliland, explains Greg Mills, national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs, writing in the South African Sunday Independent ( 2nd Nov. 2003) is that donor countries frequently help sustain conflict and political strife by providing assistance.

He said that 14 peace conferences were held since 1991. The number of warlord factions increased from three in 1993, at the withdrawal of UN troops from Mogadishu, to about 50 a decade later. Based on a communications training facility outside Nairobi, the latest peace conference at Mbaghati had, by the end of 2003, drifted on for more than a year, at an estimated cost of $8 million, funded principally by the European Union.

Somaliland, by comparison, Mills wrote was left to its own devices and yet has successfully managed to emerge from decades of devastation on its own.

According to Kornegay, a programme co-ordinator, center for Africa’s International Relations, University of Witwatersrand, Kenyan scholar Prof. Ali Mazrui summed up the Somaliland/Mogadishu riddle by noting that “the situation in Somalia now is a culture of rules without rulers, and stateless society” while, on Somaliland :”there is order there, they have the potential to survive.”

Writing in the, Business Day 9 Jan 2004, Kornegay said Mazrui thus holds Somliland should be allowed to go its way as a prelude to eventual pan-Somali reintegration. The question is, though, is whether the AU will resist imposing unity and allowing such a process to unfold without continuing to penalise Somaliland?

The clearest testimony by an African official came from South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma by admitting publicly “It is undeniable that Somaliland does indeed qualify for statehood, and it is incumbent upon the international community to recognize it,” ( a report commissioned by SA Foreign Ministry).

In her article, Painful push for recognition, published in South African Business Day, Dianna Games, Director or Africa@Work, a company focusing on African issues, said “So is the fact it has held two successful elections a record many recognized governments in Africa cannot claim. Its nationhood is a grassroots initiative kept on track by a determination to succeed.

“Somaliland’s lack of international recognition leaves it bound to Somalia, the lawless country to its south of which it is officially still a part despite Somaliland’s 12 years of self-declared independence.”

The list of testimonies for Somaliland’s legitimacy for statehood is endless, while titles of such stories speak volumes of the political observers’ admiration for Somaliland’s achievements. “Federalism not a kiss of death for Africa” by Kornegay, World Ignores Somaliland’s Campaign for Independence, Raymond Thibodeaux, “In Africa What It Takes to Be a Country”, Jeffry Herts, “Somaliland has a case for Independence”, Mail and Guardian South Africa, “Somaliland- the little country that Could”, Shannon Field, “Somaliland Success, Africa’s Big Secret” by Iqbal Jhazbhay and others.

Thus the final cry from Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Edna Adan Ismail “We have shown that we can be democratic and that we can respect human rights. We are setting an example for the rest of Africa. Where is our peace dividend?” she said talking to Raymond Thibodeaux of the journal-Constitution 02Oct 2003.

Somaliland today has two universities, a vibrant and maturing free press and a thriving business despite the Arab ban on its livestock exports, the country’s economic backbone.

This is the stark truth of Somaliland, a country that has built all constitutional institutions, has fulfilled all democratic legalities to the letter and instilled the culture of peace and stability. It is such achievements of Somaliland that Southerner intellectuals like Abdulqawi try to hide by lumping it with Italian Somalia with its culture of chaos and warlordism. As a Somalilander who is proud of his people’s achievements, I advise Abdulqawi that when writing next time about Somalia he should not try to insult the intelligence of the international community by masquerading successful Somaliland as failed Somalia.

Bashir Goth
e-mail: bsogoth@yahoo.com

SIRAG ARCHIVE