Somaliland Identity, Conspiracy Theories and Clan minded Analysts

For the last 14 years Somaliland has been beset by host of identity crises. Some of these crises have had to do with the Somali National Movement’s role in declaring Somaliland an independent state, and the subsequent volte-face on the part of the late Adurahmaan Tur, the first president of Somaliland who dealt a blow when he argued that Somaliland’s lot would be better in a Federal Somalia.
Another identity crisis has resulted from the fact that a very large number of ardent Somalilanders’ views about Somaliland are shaped more by a clan identity than an inclusive polity or non tribal political system. Egal’s (the late Somaliland president) greatest contribution was preparing areas ruled by the Somaliland government the process of a tradition based (clannish) multi- party system.
When it comes to analysing causes of Somaliland stagnation, many analysts look for a snake in the grass. This is a classic clannish witch-hunt that is beginning to resurface in Somaliland, a popular policy choice that may unravel all that has been achieved in Somaliland.
Why is Somalland finding hard to grow up?
Reading Somaliland websites, I was struck by sense of despair at the attempts to pin on Riyale what he had inherited from his predecessor. A recent article in Jamhuriya website on how Qeybe, Riyale, Adami and Cawil are conspiring to destroy Somaliland has shed some light on frustration of ardent Somalilanders in Europe and North America.. The article, by a certain Ahmed Dharaar Salan, has implicated the troika ( Riyale, Qaybe and Adami, the election commissioner ) in a sabotage and a destructive policies that benefit Puntland. Criticism levelled at Awil, the finance minister, is based on jealousy. He is career diplomat, a writer and pragmatist.
For some analysts it is always easy to look at issues through clan lenses. Does this produce a sober analysis? No, it does not. It produces an analysis that is born of a sentimentality and oversimplification. Do Somalilanders livings abroad (Europe and North America) do not think the same way as Somalilanders in Somaliland? Despite their exposure to liberal democracy, some Somalilanders living in the West are prone to be emotional and non-pragmatic when analysing issues that face people of Somaliland.
In the run up to the elections, Kulmiye bloggers seem to have been given the green light to start a character assassination campaign in Somaliland websites. Udub, the governing party in Somaliland, is not performing well. This does not give anyone the licence to preach the policy a clanizing the process of electioneering. Those who visit Somaliland are shocked by the fact that Somalilanders in Eurpe and North America are out of touch with their people. They prefer rhetoric and clannish mentality to an inclusive, broad based polity.
It is sad to say that Somaliland is now being undermined by a set of attitudes that confine the Somaliland identity to certain peoples. It is not far the day when ‘snakes in the grass’ will be court-martialled in one of the Somaliland websites. Bookmakers are pondering to increase their bets, as there is a possibility that few people will get right the fate of ‘inside enemies’.
Ahmed Keyse Ali, London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

JUSTICE SHOULD NOT BE SELECTIVE!

While it is important to bring to book all those who had a role in the human rights violations against our people, it is equally important to avoid making justice a selective one. The well argued editorial published in Alternative view and posted on several websites regarding General Mohamed Ali Samatar’s alleged involvement in past atrocities in our land raise some basic questions about our notions of justice, notions that have grown out of misconception about justice. The fact that some of the people who had visible roles in human rights abuses in Somalia still remain al large is due, in part, to our insistence that only non Somaliland people deserve to pay price for what they have done! It was 1990s when many members of the military government were unjustly evicted from North American cities on the basis of their past involvement in the military dictatorship, we made a deliberate decision to turn a blind eye and let so many people with a direct role in human rights violations against our people off the hook simply because they belong to our clans and sub clans! Can we go lower than level to dishonour thousands of our people, children women, elderly, innocent men and women, who were at the receiving end of a brutal dictatorship’s campaign to subjugate our people?
General Mohamed Ali Samatar was a member of the Supreme Revolutionary Council that assumed power in a bloodless coup in 1969. He was a big shot right at the end of the military regime in Somalia, so was Mohamed Hawadle Madar and Ahmed Mohamed Adan Qeybe, the current speaker of Somaliland Parliament.In 1990 in an interview with Yusuf Hassan, formerly head Africa Features of the BBC World Service and broadcaster with BBC Somali section before he left to work with UNHCR, Mr Qeybe, who was then a foreign minister for Somali government of 1990, refuted human rights violations against our people! The position he has now in Somaliland clearly demonstrates our belief in selective justice, the very justice outlook the toppled dictatorial regime adopted to alienate people who abhor dictatorship.
In 1990s Somaliland was on upper moral ground, a situation that was exploited believers in selective justice to discredit Somaliland. How can we expect a legal system to bring to book someone who, in cahoots with many Somalilanders, committed crimes against humanity, when I don’t want anyone to fingerpoint my our compatriots who had a role in the crimes?
“This was a crime of such severity and proportion that it qualifies as a crime against humanity, and to defend the leadership who issued such orders is truly appalling and shameful beyond shame. One would hope there is a limit to how low the Somali sense of justice will sink before one can tell the tree from the forest,” editorialised Alternative View (www.alternativeview.net). Who does the editorial writer has in mind when he/she berates some people for misconceiving the role of justice?
It is said that our enlightened people continue to practice a double standard approach to justice whenever the case may bring to light violations committed by Somalilanders who were members in the dictatorial regime. People will rally around anyone who is picked upon simply he belongs to minority clan or he is defenseless. It is the selectiveness in our thinking that makes issues about human rights violations against people a tricky one for it is pursued by people who regard crimes by our clansmen as forgivable!
Omar Arteh Qalib is believed to have condoned the human rights violations against many people in Mogadishu when the United Somali Congress made him a prime minister in 1991. The fact the he never spoke up against human rights wrongs made by USC forces renders the statesman perception a laughable one. So many examples of this nature are abound. In the eyes of many Somalianders he is a statesman! Some Somaliland politicians have used hate language that led to brutalities against innocent people. Is there a way to deal with people whose actions, words or visible roles led to human rights violations against our people without injecting an element of tribal thinking into our reasoning? Is it fair to talk about injustice by some people while ignoring injustice by people in our midst?
We need to avoid tunnel vision when dealing with human rights crimes committed during the military dictatorship in Somalia
Ahmed Keyse Ali,
London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Challenging Mujahidist Myths

The political discourses on Somaliland seem to have been thrown into an abyss of darkness under the cloak of pretentious opposition and candour. There are few things that remain an invisible danger to Somaliland. One is the hidden authoritarian desire of some Somali Landers that resurfaces in the writings of few Somaliland cyber analysts (don’t mistake cyber for seeking online pleasure!).
What forces a prolific writer like Ali Gualid to engage in a despicable smear campaign that gravitates towards selective reading of the recent history of Somaliland is beyond my understanding. In the past his articles touched on relevant issues such as the budget of Somaliland and efficient use of resources. There was no reason to conclude that he was motivated by a desire to drive a wedge among the people of Somaliland.
Last week when I read the Awdalnews Network editorial that had accused Ali Gulaid of sowing seeds of disunity among Somaliland websites, I wished I could read a reply from Ali Gulaid in this or any other website. So far he has not challenged the conclusions of Awdalnews Network. He has chosen the more “influential” role of distributing opposition badges. I don’t want to incur his wrath lest I may fail to get one.
These are clear evidence that Ali Gulaid has thrown reason and maturity to the wind. His latest contribution to the website www.somaliland.org ( Plea To the New Converts) posted on August 1, has switched from hard hitting, relevant commentaries on the socio economic well being of our people to one that glorifies questionable attributes. What begins as a critical assessment of president Riyaale’s administration becomes partisan (read tribal) ranting!
Ali Gulaid is susceptible to the gravitational pull of tribal sentiments. As an ardent believer in the right of Somali Landers to avoid being dragged into deceptive UNION with Southern Somalia, I believe that Ali Gulaid use of words such as Mujaahid is based on goofkeyga (insular) mentality. The late president Mohamed H. I. Egal had an enviable grasp of the challenges facing people who have suffered under dictatorship. Left alone to govern the country The SNM would metamorphose into a brutal dictatorship that, after taking a leaf from USC’ book, would Transform the country into muzzled souls. Where in Africa can you read editorials that rationally analyse the government policy? Answer: Somaliland. Which country has saved the Somali race from being labelled ungovernable? Answer: Somaliland.
The fact that ex top SNM officials are out to destroy the hard won independence of Somali Land speaks volumes about the sagacity of the e late president when he embarked on implementing multi party system initiatives . He knew that some SNM officials are as criminals as the late dictator’s hench men (those with the properly documented human rights violations). Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying SNM was wrong to resist a brutal dictatorship. Has our leading human rights expert, Raqiya Oomaar, documented human rights violations of the SNM? It is likely that there may be skeletons in the closet.
Ahmed Keyse Ali
London, UK.

Awdalnews Network versus Ali Gulaid

Coexisting Peacefully On Cyber land is as an important priority for Somali Landers as promoting cohesion among the people living in all parts of what many people regard as Somaliland. The Awdalnews editorial “Awadalnews Network is not Florida and Ali Gulaid is not Michael Moore” posted on Awdalnews on July 23 has been a candid defence of the journalistic values that the Editorial Board of Awdalnews strive to uphold.
From time to time I read Ali Gulaid’s pieces on, among other issues, the budget and political development in Somaliland. His writings exemplify the boundless energy he makes use of to share his ideas with many readers including me. This is not a defence of Ali Gulaid for I don’t know him from Adam.
In the editorial I could not establish the relationship between Ali Gulaid and Somaliland Forum. Is he an agent representing the Forum? Is he communication officer for the Forum? It was very unfortunate to read emotionally charged sentences in Ali Gulaid’s letter “SL websites Ignore Forum’s Press Releases” posted on Awdalnews on July21. His use of words such as “anti government” smacks of authoritarian verbiage. Could he not rephrase his point to avoid reading like an Orwellian tract?
Having said this, Awadalnews has made a bold formulation of the identity of Somali Landers: “We see ourselves as Somalis by race and Somali Landers by nationality.” This may generate a debate. A thoughtful friend of mine has the habit of emphasising that there is no language barrier among Somalis. Yours is a logical and timely extension of that point.
Although I am offended by sentences like “The Italian South” in reference to Southern Somalia, or when you describe the Sufism based resistance of Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan (aka Mad Mullah) as “an alien Jihadist and a tyrant of modern style Talibanist with a slant of Wahhabism in his doctrine” (Correction Mutual Mistakes, 12 march), I never fail to visit Awdalnews website. (Sayid Mohamed A. Hassan was not a saint).
I regard Awdalnews website as the most engaging and interesting website. The fact that you allow readers the right to respond makes this website non tribal or non political. The charges made against Ali Gulaid (“… cynic intention of dividing Somali Landers into warring factions and creating a cyber war among Somaliland websites” are serious ones. Unless Ali Gulaid sets the record straight many people will stick with how Awdalnews editorialized about his letter. This is not an invitation to pen fight. It is about promoting useful exchange of ideas without resorting to smear campaign. Reputations may lie in ruins. How can readers trust the judgment of prolific writers if they don’t apologize about a mistake or clarify their point?
Ahmed Keyse Ali
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com
London, UK.

Omar Arteh Ghalib Has Got to Answer Some Human Rights Questions

Two days before the 26th of June, the day the ex British Somaliland became an independent state, a Somaliland Convention is slated to take place in Los Angeles. A roll call of invited dignitaries will be there to show support for Somaliland, an unrecognised, self-declared state in the Northeast Africa. It is a Convention that one expects to be star studded one without becoming a rogue’s gallery of failed politicians and demagogues.
A quick glance of the Convention programme gave me the impression that the organisers have got something wrong in the planning stage. The decision to invite Somali politicians responsible for what Somaliland Times called “ Somaliland self-inflicted wounds” on one hand and politicians who have yet to come clean about past human rights violations committed by past administration they served on the other, underscores how selective the Convention organisers are when it comes promoting Somaliland in North America.
One of invited dignitaries, Omar Arteh Ghalib, former foreign minister under the Siyad Barre regime and a prime minter under Ali Mahdi Mohamed, is fast disappearing from the collective memory of our people as a politician with a superb past. With the bloody 1990s over, people are becoming more sober and less worried the ruthlessly selective campaign that Raqiya Omar launched against former officials of the toppled military regime of Somalia.
Raqiya Omar, an indefatigable human rights activist, is to be remembered for her admirable role in “Somalia, a government at war with its own people: testimonies about the killings and the conflict in the North”, the report that highlighted the heart-rending human rights violations that the former Somali dictatorial regime’s army committed against the civilians in the North. However, Raqiya, has rarely focused her attention on human rights violations in other parts of Somalia.
Omar Arteh Ghalib is an old hand in Somali politics. He helped Somalia become a member of the Arab League but fell out with Siyad Barre, the late Somali dictatorship, ended up in a jail for almost six years. He was pardoned on grounds that he had done wonderful job during under the Revolution When Siyad Barre regime was about to bite the dust, mar Arteh Ghalib was appointed a prime minister to appease the United Somali congress forces that were already fighting in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu.
It is well-known fact that the USC forces have persecuted people who started clan affinity with the Siyad Bare. Professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar called the ethnic cleansing
“harrowing pogrom.” Omar Arteh Ghalib was a premier when the USC forces resorted to one of the most shocking clan organised genocide in the history of Somalia.
Omar Arteh Ghalib downplayed the genocide in Mogadishu in 1991 and remain a premier only to be reappointed a premier when Djibouti reconciliation conference for Somalis gave Ali Mahdi another chance to become a president despite his silence about the virulent killings of innocents in Mogadishu.
Almost a year ago the campaign against the former officials of the didtartroial regime was revived. Former prime minister of Somalia, Lieutenant General Mohamed Ali Samatar is known to have been legally targeted by people who want to right human rights wrongs. That is not bad as long as the people of similar stature and role are ready to handle the heat if human rights charges are pressed. Omar Arteh Ghalib could have prevented or spoken out against human rights violations during his tenure as a foreign minister and premier from 1969-1993.
Human rights organisations and people with non-selective conscience have a role to play in setting the human rights activists’ record straight. Dignitaries like Omar Arteh Ghalib have a tremendous ability to take advantage of our people’s forgetfulness and vulnerability to sycophancy and sentimentality. He should not be surprised if victims or relatives of victims of the Mogadishu persecutions in 1990s seek help from the USA law.
Ahmed Keyse Ali,
London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Somalilandcenter.com: A harbinger of hate news

Amos Oz, the Israeli novelist has always called for the Israeli government to stop slaying intellectuals and people of ideas in Palestine. His magnanimity towards people some Israelis view as enemies bent on destruction of Israel is based a careful reading of history: Hitler did not acquire his genocidal powers before he executed people he thought of as free thinkers in the night of long swords. Pol Pot started to execute people he believed to have been a little bit enlightened so he could bring his bloody enterprise to fruition.
Having said this, I don’t discount the existence of intellectuals whose actions have led to brutal campaigns against innocents but to be selective or muzzle men and women of ideas is, to misquote Michel Foucault, be“a judge of abnormality”.
I have read an unsigned article on the somalilandcenter.com—I presume it is an editorial—on a book, Awdal Phenomenon, that Bashir Goth purportedly edited many years ago at the height of the civil war in Northern Somali cities of Burao and Hargeisa. Bashir Goth is the editor of a pro-Somaliland website, awdalnews.com. An article from the book that was skilfully scanned on to the website to share with the somalilandcenter.com readers is controversial in tone. It may sound as purely anti Isaaq piece if one adopts the hypocritical approach of 1970s revolutionary Somalia that demanded us to pretend that clans and clannism had been buried alive.
In that article the author—Goth?-- addresses issues in a tribal nature, calling a spade a spade when reflecting on events by a group who belong to a clan He generalises. In the unwritten methodology of Somali clannism, pinning the action of one person on the clan is not absurd. The assertion that is Isaaq clan was pro-British is debatable. The poetry of Sayid Mohamed Adulle Hassan can’t be cited as an evidence to prove that the British co-opted the Isaaq clan to fight the Sayid because the Isaaq were the target of the Sayid’s vitriol.
The somalilandcenter.com editorial has judged Bashir Goth to be an anti Isaaq chap solely on the basis of the article it attributed to him. As a writer Bashir has the privilege to interpret events provocatively. Events about the formation of NUF to forestall the impending independence in 1960 in the ex British Somaliland, formation of USP to counterbalance Isaaq dominated Somali National League can be subjected to various interpretations. One is bound to stick with Goth’s interpretations unless someone shows they are implausible. Somalilandcenter.com editorial fails to do so.
If Somalilandcentre.com is serious about the rights of Somaliland people, why didn’t launch a campaign on behalf of the oppressed Gaboye in Hargeisa? Fasial Ali Warabe, the chairman of UCID who recently met the Gaboye chief in Europe is on the record for displaying his contempt for minorities. In an interview with Josep Warungu of the BBC Focus on Africa, shortly after Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf was declared the president of the Somalia, argued that the president can not rule Somalia “ because he is from a minority clan.”. True, Abdullahi Yusuf is from minority reer Mahad clan. Instead of pointing out the colonel’s past foibles Faisal reinforced what many people believe about the natural supporters of the Somali National Movement: that they are very segregationist and intolerant of other clans with whom they don’t share blood ties.
Mine is no an article in defence of Mr Bashir Goth. He is able to defend himself eloquently and persuasively. It is to stimulate a healthy debate about what Somaliland centre.com believes to be the work of Bashir Goth and what is going on in Somaliland. I wonder why it is easy for some pro-Somaliland websites to wallow in an exaggerated victimhood.
They make the Somaliland project a vengeful enterprise through which many people aim to settle historical scores. If Somalilancentre.com and its ilk are impatient with alternative viewpoints, then it is time to stop pretending Somaliland has an inclusive system.
Ahmed Keyse Ali,
London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

How Clannish reasoning weakens the analytic ability

The last thing Somali websites readers need is a prolonged pen fight between contributors. But if rebuttals don’t come to a logical end , readers have a duty to step in to the arena and make judgements on the basis of what each contributor said. This is a challenge that has been thrown by Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Boh, who in his article The Pitiful Conspiracy to rewrite History and the Role of Somali National Movement” posted on Awdalnews on April 30.
Seasoned contributors like Ahmed M. I. Egal ( The SNM Debate- http://www.awdalnews.com/wmview.php?ArtID=5234e) has put SNM’s role in pre and post liberation period: “The political ambitions of the SNM as a movement were not really crystallized beyond the expulsion of the Afweyne [ Mohamed Siyad Barre ] regime from Somaliland and the creation of self government in the territory.” These statements shed some light on the moral basis for setting up a guerrilla outfit that resisted a brutal dictatorship that practised collective punishment to prolong the reign of oppressive regime.
Unlike Mr Ahmed Egal whose cogent piece teaches us a lesson in moderation when debating potentially divisive Somali issues, Mr Boh resorts to vengefulness to the point of misinterpreting exchanges on the SNM issue triggered by Awdalnews editorial few weeks ago. He calls the Hawiye an “ungrateful” clan while justifying the USC massacres on the basis of Siyad Barre’s regime brutlisation of Hawiye. Siyad Barre’s regime committed human rights crimes against innocent people in a non tribal context. What made it possible for him and his ilk to commit horrible crimes was the State apparatus. We can’t blame the Darods for those crimes of Siyad Barre regime any more than we can blame Hawiye for USC massacres in 1991. Has it ever occurred to Mr Boh that the Somaliland statesman Omar Arteh Qalib was Prime Minster in Mogadishu when Darod members were subjected to what p[professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar called “ harrowing pogrom”? Ali Mahdi Mohamed was quoted once as saying that, following Omar Arteh’s disengagement from Southern politics, “premier Arteh has not felt any obligation towards people being massacred.”
Does his silence about heart rending atrocities lead someone to blame the Isaaq clan for masterminding the post Siyad Barre atrocities against Darod civilians in Mogadishu?
It is not fair to interpret misdeeds of desperate military regime is interpreted as extermination plan hatched by another clan. No clan can agree on extermination another clan. If that were the case Rwanda style massacres would take place in Somalia. The toppled military dictatorship has not spared any of the clans who organised armed groups with the aim of toppling the late dictator , Mohamed Siyad Barre. Let us remember the scorched earth policy against Somalis who were believed to have Somali Democratic Action Front (SODAF) sympathisers. Somali are said to be good at reading history backwards nor rewriting it.
Ahmed Keyse Ali, London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Neither Union nor Secession Matters in Somalia and Somaliland

These days it is difficult to be in the business of prophesy. Few people can predict political developments in Somalia with certainty. To be in that business all one is required to do is to peddle irrational, exclusive thoughts. When discussing Somaliland recognitions the tone rarely becomes convincing as the whole issue is an emotive one. I take issue with Mr Mohsin Mahad whose article Somaliland Recognition: Why it won’t happen, http://www.awdalnews.com/wmview.php?ArtID=5343 despite being well written, fails to contribute to healthy debate about administrations that came into existence when the Somali state collapsed in 1991.
His starting point is: the Isaaq clan has declared Somaliland an independent state without consulting other clans in ‘Northern Somalia.’ As Somali website readers are aware of, clannish paradigms make discussions more woolly. The only message that comes out of the pen of someone who looks at Somali issues with clan lenses is hatred. Who doubts that tribalism closes the mind of those practising it?
Somaliland has become an enviable example of self rule in Somalia. The institutions that Somaliland administration has put in place made a signifcvat contribution to peace in Somalia. Puntland is believed to have taken a leave from the Somaliland book.
Somaliland supporters have the same right as the Somalia supporters in what many people call Somaliland: the right to be consulted on the political future of region.
The only common characteristic that Somalia and Somaliland leaders share is their willingness to seek recognition from the world rather that from their people.
Somali leaders think that no one can secede from Somalia since the union between the northern and southern regions is inviolable. This approach has shown the world that the challenges for Somalis in Somalia and Somaliland are not to secure recognition from other countries but to build durable institutions that are not undermined by tribalism. “You give priority to the clan rather state”, we are told time and again.
Somalia has yet to recover from the fall from the grace when it became the first country in Africa where the disintegration of the state led to a clan based fiefdom seeking legitimacy from the world. Somaliland administration’s mistake is basing its case on the historical fact that people in what was once Ex-British Somaliland are legally and historically empowered to be a separate state from Somalia. No world recognised referendum has taken place in Somaliland to determine the percentage of the population in the ex British Somaliland is in favour of a separate Somaliland state.
So far no Somaliland leader has come up with creative approach to solving the problem of people who pledge allegiance to Puntland rather than Somaliland.
In 2002 Ali Guled argued that recognition will be not be “panacea for Soamliland problems” without judiciary reforms and strong emphasis on the rule of law. It is a strong point. Although president Riyale of Somaliland finds hard to disentangle Somaliland from the clan tethers, he presidency has generated a heated debate on the future of Somaliland. Under Egal, the late president, people wore rosy spectacles; trust in his political experience and leadership was a major factor out which the peaceful Somaliland emerged following the intra SNM wars in 1990s.
Ahmed Mohamed Aden Qeybe, the experienced Somaliland politician and former diplomat, is on the record for saying that “Unity is better when it is based on justice.” The same can be said about secession.
Ahmed Keyse Ali,
London

It is Time to Defaqash the Somaliland Discourse

Political discourse in Somaliland has entered a crucial stage. It is not a new stage save the time and rubric under which the discourse is taking place. As the Awdalnews editorial identified Somaliland accomplishments are constantly undermined by people who are left uneasy by the diplomatic and political developments in Somaliland. Meeriski la Tolaba Maxaa loo fur-furaa? http://www.awdalnews.com/wmview.php?ArtID=5367)
It is no surprising that the frequent use of of the word Faqash by some Somaliland cyber analysts point to the need to ‘defaqash’ the discourse, that is to debate issues without finding ourselves in a time warp. We are not under Faqash. Somaliland aims to be recognized state in Africa.
To get an insight into the extent to which perceptions about the vanquished Faqash (soldiers of the former military dictatorship) colour the judgements of cyber analysts one can read Yusuf Dirir Ali’s article ‘A Band-Aid on a Bleeding Heart’ (http://www.awdalnews.com/wmview.php?ArtID=5365).
It is clear in Mr Dirir’s article that the Faqash are not the soldiers of the former military regime but Dahir Riyale Kahin, the president of Somaliland, and leads the reader to conclude the remnants of the Faqash are non Isaaq clans who were not the target of the former military dictatorship’s brutal army and secret police. Worse enough, Mr Dirir sounds like a post-Barre child when he writes: “The Faqash war against Somaliland civilians can only be compared in its viciousness to the Rwandan and the Bosnian wars.” Such descriptions of the painful and dehumanizing treatment our people suffered at the hands of the former military dictatorship in the then Somali Democratic republic under the late dictatorship Mohamed Siyad Barre is misleading given the fact that Somaliland was not in existence when Siyad Barre was in power. It has let so many criminals off the hook; it afforded them their most sight-after opportunity to hide behind a clan façade for the victims or relatives of their victims target the clans to whom criminals allegedly belong!!
The difficulty to agree on who wronged whom during the era of the military dictatorship constitutes the major hurdle over which many Somali Landers find hard to surmount. The late Somali diplomat and folklorist, Mohamed Said Samatar (aka Gacaliye) commented on the challenges facing the armed opposition groups who waged a war against the toppled military regime. “The issue of liberating Somalis is a matter for all Somalis. Before liberation Somalis should agree on the meaning of liberation, who is liberating whom?” argued Gacaliye.
The task that lies ahead of Somali Landers is to discuss issues in an unemotional manner and agree on who the Faqash are: merciless soldiers of former military regime or the regime’s functionaries or non Isaaq clans in Somaliland? This multifaceted question will, I presume, deliver us from the pain of getting locked up a vicious clannish tug-of-war on Somali websites.
Ahmed Keyse Ali' London,
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Is Kulmiye party a credible alternative in Somaliland?

The main opposition party in Somaliland, Kulmiye, has long been blamed for failing to capitalise on the democratic and ‘leadership’ deficit of the ruling UDUB party.
This is a fact that has not been taken into account by Kulmiye bloggers who have launched a campaign to discredit the ruling party and president Dahir Riyale Kahin who is believed to have injected an element of pragmatism into the Somaliland politics.
As Somaliland is at cross roads, it is quite important to pose the pressing question: Can Kulmye party take the country out of the doldrums? Unlike UDUB which is made up of politics hardened opportunists, Kulmiye party is dominated by SNM veterans who deride Egal’s (the late Somali president) demobilisation initiatives that made impossible for SNM veterans to bask in the afterglow of post-liberation euphoria that entitled them to become rulers, and the people unquestioning servants.
“Kulmiye has the history on its side,” wrote one commentator who suggested that Kulmiye form a government of national unity with the ruling party it has failed to rein in should elections fail to take place on the 29th of March 2005. Other than glorification of the party leader’s past role in forming and leading the now defunct Somali National Movement, Kulmiye seems to be bereft of political ideas that can inspire people’s trust.
The history that is on the side of the party is, I presume, a history of repeating Mujihadist mistakes that undone the legacy of Abdirahmaan Tuur, the late first president of Somaliland who was the first luminary to advocate the need for a reunion with Somalia when he was voted out of office!. By this I don’t mean Kulmiye will make a similar mistake but the same I-am-entitled-to- rule syndrome that provided the basis for making political misjudgement on the part of late president and his acolytes may steer Kulmiye towards such an option.
There is a mysterious role-reversal at play in Somaliland. Abdirahman Tuur loyalists have become bold and imaginative by throwing their weight behind the ruling UDUB in addition to making UCID into a shamelessly vassal party led by an experienced, gaffe-prone politician. How the vanquished changed their fortunes in the space of a few years to become policy makers in the very administration they had sought to destroy might become a subject of inquiry for the present or future Somalists.
Unlike the ruthlessly opportunist UDUB leaders Kulmiye’s leadership seeks to elicit the support of the party leader’s clan only. This strategy has played into the hands of the UDUB policy makers. The Somaliland finance minister, Mr Awil, is on the record for saying that his clan “would not vote for the leaders who had a role in the war that was waged against (sic) my people.” Apart from Kulmiye there is another opposition party, UCID. The leader of UCID, Feysal Ali Waraabe, was in Finland when the civil war was raging in Somaliland. He is from the same clan as the finance minister’s. The leader minister Awil is referring to is none other than Ahmed Mohamed Siilaanyo, the leader of Kulmiye party. So far Siilaanyo has not come out clean about his role in the intra-clan fighting that broke out in Somaliland in 1990s. Forgiving politicians is good but people find it hard to trust a leader who instigated clan warfare or who had not made his stance clear when clans had been embroiled in war of kith and kin.
There is a streak of clannish pussyfooting in the way Kulmiye conducts politics. When it comes to the task of striving to make Somaliland an “inclusive polity”, UDUB some marks. Why? Because it has got the highest ratio of experienced politicians and diplomats compared to Kulmiye.
Kulmiye had better take the advice of its seasoned supporters, and review its domestic and foreign policies. Rather than relying on populist policies, it should, like UDUB, show a spine and imagination to deliver itself from the state of being beholden to segmentary politics.
It has never been vocal critic of the government’s decision to outlaw forums such as Caawa Caqli Keen. Such silence about the government’s policies makes Kulmiye a partner in misrule. People of Somaliland deserve wise, honest and accountable leaders.
Ahmed Keyse Al, London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

MUDUG INTRANSIGENCE MAY LAY POST- MBAGATHI TFG OF SOMALIA TO REST

It is not surprising if some of the most influential Somali websites began to write the obituary of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. The newly elected head of Somalia’s Federal Government, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf, seems to be pulled towards the best option he knows well: Mudug intransigence. For the uninitiated, Mudug is a region in central Somalia; Gaalkacyo is its capital. The president comes from that region, so was his deceased friend-cum-warlord, General Mohamed Farah Aideed who was gunned down in one of Mogadishu’s streets in 1996.
Some people have concluded that since the colonel has accepted a peace deal worked out by Boqor Buur Madow et al, and has successfully undertaken a lobbying campaign to secure the Somali presidency while at Mbagathi, the colonel has become mellower in temperament. It is a time for a rethink.
The colonel has always boasted about his role in starting the armed rebellion against the former Somali dictatorship and his knowledge of Somali clans. He is true on both counts. It has never been secret that President Abduilahi Yusuf has been supported by the current Ethiopian administration. He insisted on the inclusion front line states’ troops in the peace keeping forces to be deployed in Southern Somalia.
Although this is a risky and unwise decision, it has become a chance to turn tables on the unthinking president who struggles to master a new language to address war battered Somalis. His war lord colleagues who benefited from the Ethiopian support to undermine the then Transitional National Government of Somalia have now succeeded to brand him as a puppet of Ethiopia who has no interest of Somalis at heart.
It was difficult to understand how sincere the anti Ethiopia war lords are about their position on the deployment of Ethiopian troops as part of African peacekeeping forces until Wardheer news pointed to glaring geopolitical ignorance of the part of the president. “The Ethiopian factor has become a pretext for any group or warlord that wants to derail the TFG move back to [Mogadishu]. Knowing how Ethiopian troops deployment could be sensitive and the fact that the Somali National State under Ethiopian rule is currently subject to an unprecedented land grabbing policy (where Somalis are poised to loose one third of their land to the Oromos in a well orchestrated, yet sham plebiscite), the president and his prime Minister must have modified their position on the issue of frontline [Ethiopian] troops right away,” editorialized the Wardheer news.
It is quite important for the Somali president to learn few lessons in history. “The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false ” wrote Paul Johnson, the conservative historian. There are two most important lessons that are relevant to the president. The first lesson draws attention to General Aideed’s failure to temper his dictatorial desire to replace the clanist dictartorship of Siyad Bare with a triumphant Hawiye one. The General forgot that people were collectively smarting from the wounds of 20 plus years of a brutal dictatorship. Though he was a military genius General Aideed “could not perceive the subtle complexity and clumsiness and maddening craziness of human existence; he tried to solve political obstacles requiring political solutions with a hammer, “wrote the Somali historian, Professor Said Samatar. It was his misreading of history that sealed the fate of the General.
The second lesson of history is a more recent one about President Abdullahi Yusuf’s predecessor, Abdulqasim Salat Hassan, the former president of the Transitional National Government of Somalia. The Djibouti sponsored reconciliation out of which the TNG emerged was, despite its flaws, a civil society -empowering exercise through which Abdulqasim could chalk up several in-country reconciliation successes had he not become subservient to clan interests. The former president had placed unaccountability and obstinacy on high pedestal. He never articulated a vision for reconciling with Mogadishu war lords who viewed him as a member of the clique whose policies led to the collapse of the Somali state. It was Mudug intransigence that kicked in and influenced the decision Abdulqasim Salat Hassan thereby making the ARTA process an exercise in futility.
The failure of both General Aideed and president Salat Hassan who both hailed from the Mudug region is due to the emphasis they placed on fulfilling the clan obligations rather than national obligations. Their burden on their shoulders was myths and desire to go down in the collective clan psyche as leaders who acknowledged their clans’ role in their ascendancy.
President Abdullahi Yusuf seems to be taking a similar line. He surrounded himself with loyalists who think in terms of “us versus them”. If he does not get the right advice it is likely that his tendency to read history backwards will be exploited by people who will not be better leaders but who will be remembered for defanging a tyrant before he mutated into a cannibal.
Ahmed Keyse Ali,London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

SNM back in Vogue !

The Somali National Movement, the armed front that spearheaded the struggle in the north against the military dictatorship of Siyad Barre, is once again the topic of discussion. The Awdal News editorial on the issue of facing SNM’s role in heart rending atrocities that we currently assume to have been solely from the oppressive forces that toppled military dictaroship triggered a timely debate.
The editorial has been distinctive in its treatment of the SNM and its role in the declaration of Somaliland a separate state that is no longer in union with the rest of Somalia, and the rationale behind the formation of SNM. Why is the SNM again moot point more than eight years after the late Somaliland president Mohamed Ibrahin Egal demobilised the SNM fighters and persuaded their leaders to play a new role in Somaliland without a romantic attachment to the rebel days.
The late president ha faced antagonism for his pragmatic approach to instilling civil society values in battle hardened SNM fighters. Few People debate moral basis for SNM resistance but what most people agree on is the fact that SNM forces committed atrocities that the triumphant SNM whitewashed after assuming power in what was known in the North West region of Somalia.
Egal’s genius lay in his early recognition of the over-rated saintliness of the SNM and the SNM leaders’ lack of spine to face up to actions of their fighters and their future role in a liberated Somaliland. The late president did a service for the SNM but its leaders have never acknowledged it. Their starting point was tribal; his was national. As a politician he knew that political projects depend on coalitions of people from different parties or social groups.
What the late president did was to start of process of genuine reconciliation that the subsequent leaders would refine and expand. Under massive pressure to pander to people’s selective reading of our recent turbulent history, the late president gave Awil Elmi Abdalla, former mayor of Hargeisa, the green-light to “put up the hulk of a soviet-manufactured MiG-17 that… participated in bomb-and-strafe missions against civilians in the same city whose runways it took off from.” The late president also led the campaign to exhume graves of people who—we had been told—were the victims of a sate genocide. It is so far a mystery how the late president managed he emotions of people who might have vented their anger at non-Isaaq members of the Somaliland government whose clans are wrongly associated with evil deeds of a dictatorship regime.
A recent article in which Ahmed Arwo, a prominent Somalilander in Cardiff, gave perspective into assiduous beginning of the SNM but lamented the fate of SNM “people” whom, he thinks, have been pitted against one another! One has not to look for further evidence to determine how clannish SNM was in theory and practice. Another well written piece in reaction to Awdal News editorial appeared in Soomaliland.org website. Entitled Who forgave Who? Samad Sheikh writes in response to the editorial’s suggestion to set a Truth and Reconciliation Committee in Somaliland: “… the mission of the Committee would not be what you might think. The mission of the Committee would be to determine if the SNM needs to be forgiven by the Faqash!!!”
It is not clear whom Samad Sheikh regards as the Faqash but if one tries to have a modest go at trying to figure out who the Faqash is, it turns out to be the soldiers and bureaucrats of the former regime who are no longer in power in Somaliland. Samad goes on to pose a shamelessly provocative question: “Can you imagine the subordinates of Hitler miraculously coming back to power in Germany in 1950 and asking their victims 'who should forgive who’?!!” The urge to compare the victims of despicable dictator with the intention to turn his people into unquestioning sheep and victims of personification of evil- Hitler- is frantic search for a place in the hall of exaggerated victimhood.
For many years the SNM’s chapter in atrocities in our land has been ignored by top human rights people like Raqiya Omaar. The 1992 intra SNM fighting in Somaliland is enough to warrant a disinterred investigation into human rights violations of the organisation, let alone the 1980s actions of the front when so many of its armed members committed crimes against people who were not members of the dictator’s army.
The task ahead of the past SNM leaders is to complete the reaming chapter of reconciliation in a spirit devoid of victimhood and popular cowardice. Putting people on an emotional roller coaster on past issues should be the last thing they opt for doing.
Ahmed Keyse Ali, London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Thinking is allowed on the Information Super High Way

There are two hypothetical question that recur to my mind whenever I see effloresce of Somali websites. How could the former Somali dictatorship regime cope with the Internet where control of information is impossible? Would the late dictator lay off his censors and devise other methods—such as not introducing Internet Service Providers—to avoid seeing politically aware people?
These two questions are relevant today given the reaction to Awdalnews editorial on past SNM misdeeds. The editorial “SNM in balance: The need for a Truth and Reconciliation Committee in Somaliland” has generated a heated debate on The Somali National Movement, one of the armed outfits that fought the former dictatorial regime.
The timing of editorial was good despite the outpouring from certain Farah Ali Jama (Taking Awdalnews to Task ) who is eager to see Awdalnews answering a list of questions he formulated—“Why it [ Awdalnews ) thinks that “it is time that Somaliland establishes a Truth and Reconciliation Committee in the style of the famous South African one and bring those who committed crimes in the name of the SNM and those of other clans who committed crimes in the name of defending tribal pride to face rule of law[?]” This is a legitimate question if one has not digested the virtual substance of the editorial, but there is no reason to assume that the writer who posed the above-quoted question has not perused the Awdalnews s editorial on SNM as he deems the editorial to be “a deliberate act of treachery and disloyalty to the cause of Somaliland then.”
What is striking about the piece (Taking Awdalnews to Task) is the author’s use of words (treachery and disloyalty) that remind one of the dreaded former Somali National Security Court that legitimated summary executions and mid-night knock on the doors of citizens by government agents. Why does the same horrible dictatorship language continue to overhang our heads like sword of Damocles?
Rather that posing questions on a set of suggestions that Awdalnews editorial put forward could not Farah Ali Jama try to look for inadequacies ( if there are any ) in the editorial writer’s reasoning? His reasoning plays second fiddle to his mastery of the English that is full display in any of his writings.
The failure to develop a language suited to a discourse that can bring up human rights violations or lead to slaughtering of sacred tribal cows constitutes a major stumbling block to the endeavours of many Somali commentators. But that same failure does not have to make us blind to the fact that the Internet is a medium through which people can express views. The fact that editorial is attributable to Awdalnews makes a mature discussion of issues a more palatable one.
Very few Somalis have a vivid memory of a time when people expressed political views without fearing consequences. The Internet has afforded yet another opportunity in which we can revive our candid dissuasions without being admonished for broaching a topic. It is said the rigidity in most Muslim countries is due to a theology that has La Tas’al (Don’t question) as a starting point. It is not good idea to use that same methodology when discussing past or present issues.
Ahmed Keyse Ali London
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Mr Boh, you got it wrong not only once but twice!

From time to time one comes across a well written polemic on Somali websites. The difference between a well written polemic that sustain coherence to the end and those that falter is that the well written but irrationally concluded polemic shows the true colour of its writer. If such a writer does nothing but to put his enmity or vengefulness in display, one can ignore the urge to respond. But if the writer throws reason to the wind, one is bound to address the issue in a light-hearted manner.
The article “Great Idiocy or How Abdullahi Yusuf Single-handily Brought Down Mbagathi” by Ahmed Ibrahim Boh, and posted on Awdalnews has borne tribal contradictoriness. It is clear in his piece that he is against Colonel Abdudllahi Yusuf’s presidency but he still laments the colonel’s mishandling of the situation!
“He foolishly brought about the demise of his own fictitious government, not only to quote one of his clan mouthpiece did Yusuf not fail to “surround” himself with his kinsmen, he did, but he did it in all such a retarded way,” commented Mr Boh.
Mr Boh recounted how president Abdullahi Yusuf’s supporters celebrated the colonel’s ascendancy, and that they view this as an opportunity to take revenge on the Hawiye clan because of what Hawiye did to the Darod clan in 1990s. Mr Boh forgot that countless men, women children and elderly who belonged to the Darod were massacred in Mogadishu following the overthrow of the military dictatorship. The USC leadership who legitimated the massacre had turned the guns on each other, causing a similar mayhem to their people. The 1990s injustices in Somalis were not particular to any clan; it was a tragedy that befell all Somalis in Southern Somalia.
If Mr Boh can’t sympathise with the victims of injustice, I wonder how he sympathises with the victims of the military dictator’s army in Burao, Hargeisa, and Berbera in 1988-1991. He has made a moral mistake similar to the one made by professor Ali Jimale Ahmed who, in his The Invention of Somalia, argued that the Mooryans( armed gangs in Mogadishu ) were taking revenge on those who were on the green side of the fence, deliberately ignoring the fact that most victims of Mooryans belonged to the unarmed civilians and minority people.
“GIVE US OUR FREEDOM AND SAVE US THESE IDIOTS RECOGNIZE SOMALILAND END THE REIGN OF GREAT IDIOCY!” wrote Mr Boh, prompting one to ask if Somaliland is a colony. Nothing can make the Somali mind intoxicated the way clan hatred reduces it to that of a legally incompetent minor who can’t enter into contracts. I doubt Mr Boh wants to see Somaliland to become an independent state.
Ahmed Keyse Ali London ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

SomaliLand: Has Never Made a Sound Case for Secession

SomaliLand: Has Never Made a Sound Case for Secession
Ahmed Keyse Ali
May 31, 2005
The title of this article may sound way too controversial given the large amount of ink spilled on the idea of a free Somaliland that deserves to be a part and parcel of the “global community” as a recognised state. Recognition can be achieved; what matters most is if institutions that come into existence, will remain sustainable and be immune to seething contradictions that undermine Somali political projects. Another question about Somaliland is: Can citing the African Union principles on borders left behind by the colonial masters serve pro-secessionists or does it expose the weakness of the secession case? I have never thought about the above-mentioned questions before reading Mohamed Ali Ibrahim's article on awdalnews Recognition of Somaliland Versus the legitimacy of Somalia (http://www.awdalnews.com/wmview.php?ArtID=5528 ). Discussion on the issue of Somaliland recognition without being carried away by partisan considerations is a difficult task. To avoid a sentimental trap the following principles will guide my analysis:
I
I believe that people in what was once known as the British Somaliland can live under the same system of governance provided they approach issues in a an open minded manner
II
I believe that neither secession nor union can be panacea for our ills if we don't acquire a good understanding of citizenship
III
I believe that the our past turbulent history can help us to stand with our feet if we don't fail to open our eyes to all that give us shaky institutions vulnerable to personal or clan whims and desires
IV
Our people deserve a system of governance under which they can exercise their rights to hold incumbents accountable for what they do and how they behave
Somaliland existed for few days before the amalgamation of Ex-British and Italian Somali lands—the north and the south-- to form the Somali Republic . The Union had its flaws. To date no independent study on the legal ambiguities of the Somali union has been made partly because our politicians were not mature enough to get the best from the system of governance we opted for following the depature of our colonial masters. Nonetheless it was far better than a dictatorial regime or clanism infested political atmosphere that could not be the subject of local media scrutiny.
Conflicting Narratives
Post Union political system angered prominent northern Somali army officials who staged a failed coup. How dissatisfied many northerners were with the political situation in Somalia is captured by the pithy remarks (Dawldaddi dambiill baa lagu qaaday oo Muqdishaa la geeyey) (Literally meaning the government was taken in basket to Mogadishu). This was a genuine, non tribal reaction from people who felt marginalized as a result of an unforeseen union with Southern Somalia .
No Northern politician has carried the can for what our people have been through as a result of the union. Discussions about the Somali Union are riddled with half truth and conflicting accounts of what our opticians were up to as they finalised the act of Union with our southern brethren. For some people the NUF was mature party that could foresee the futility of union; we are told that the late Ali Garad Jama asked the Northern political elite to delay the union for a coiuple of months on the ground that the Southerners were more politically mature as they had two colonial experiences (i.e. the Italian and the British) while the North was British protectorate since June 26 1960. “Laa Yaa Garaad (No to the Garaad)” is how the newspapers reacted, goes the story.
These conflicting narratives shape our decisions about whether we prefer to become an independent state or not. Sifting through these confusion is a matter for people who are keen on the idea of Somaliland state in which all people in ex British Somaliland can live peacefully. So far they have failed to perform that task.
Pro-Somaliland commentators aim to point out the need to apply the African Union principle on the borders: “Respect of borders existing on achievement of independence.” Mohamed Ali Ibrahim (Sabayse) interprets this article to be in favour of an independent Somaliland . It is one way of interpreting that principle but it does not hold water if one applies it to the ex British Somaliland borders. Since the border was made by the British its relevance for any legal discussion on secession of Somaliland is open to debate. The legality of colonial borders in a country like Somalia that was colonised by more than one country is to be agreed once the colonial masters depart. The inviolability of colonial borders can be invoked when two countries are in a dispute over a territory.
Against Self determination but in favour of secession
Another analytic mistake that pro-Somaliland cyber pundits make is the labeling o f the Somali freedom movements for a Greater Somalia in 1940s, 1950s, and 1960a a wholly insidious endeavour. “My worst day was when the British annexed the Haud and Reserve area to Ethiopia ,” said the late Abdi Duale of the BBC Somali section in an interview in 1967. He was a Somali Lander through and through and a believer in the people's rights to self determination.
Mr Mohamed Ali Ibrahim's reading of events in those tumultuous days is different:
The dream of the Somali independence movements of the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's was the ultimate unification of all ethnic Somali communities of East Africa under one jurisdiction by any means necessary. The undercurrent of this noble cause stipulated the creation of a racially and ethnically pure Somali entity comprising of former British Somaliland, French Somaliland (Republic of Djibouti now), the Hararghe region of Eastern Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland, and the Northern Frontier District of Kenya . (Italics mine)
It is well known fact that many Somalis are living in territories under Ethiopian and Kenyan jurisdictions. People living in these territories expressed their desire to live with their Somali brethren, and faced punitive measures against them for being forthright about it before the Somali state collapsed. By discrediting the freedom movements one does not deserve self determination. Somaliland independence was not given on a platter; so many people have laid down their lives to see a Somaliland free from British rule. Mr Sabayse does not offer alternative freedom movement but criticises the freedoms movements that led to free Somali Lands. Self determination is an indivisible principle . If pro Somaliland writers can not sympathise with the freedom fighters of yesteryears, they make mockery of the Somaliland project whose history is rooted in the struggle of independence.
Don't run pell-mell into marriage whether unitary or secession one
The collapse of Somali state has taught us one important lesson: the need to be careful about being absorbed into political projects whose supporters bear unification or secession slogans. History can be repeated but it can not be rewritten. Pro-unionists use the rhetoric of homogeneity and territorial integrity; the secessionists use the nomadic principles of clan supremacy under the cloak of self-determination. O tempora, o mores!
Ahmed Keyse Ali,
London , U.K.
E-Mail: ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com

Neither Union nor Secession Matters in Somalia and Somaliland

These days it is difficult to be in the business of prophesy. Few people can predict political developments in Somalia with certainty. To be in that business all one is required to do is to peddle irrational, exclusive thoughts. When discussing Somaliland recognitions the tone rarely becomes convincing as the whole issue is an emotive one. I take issue with Mr Mohsin Mahad whose article Somaliland Recognition: Why it won't happen, despite being well written, fails to contribute to healthy debate about administrations that came into existence when the Somali state collapsed in 1991.
His starting point is: the Isaaq clan has declared Somaliland an independent state without consulting other clans in ‘Northern Somalia.' As Somali website readers are aware of, clannish paradigms make discussions more woolly. The only message that comes out of the pen of someone who looks at Somali issues with clan lenses is hatred. Who doubts that tribalism closes the mind of those practising it?
Somaliland has become an enviable example of self rule in Somalia. The institutions that Somaliland administration has put in place made a signifcvat contribution to peace in Somalia. Puntland is believed to have taken a leave from the Somaliland book.
Somaliland supporters have the same right as the Somalia supporters in what many people call Somaliland: the right to be consulted on the political future of region.
The only common characteristic that Somalia and Somaliland leaders share is their willingness to seek recognition from the world rather that from their people.
Somali leaders think that no one can secede from Somalia since the union between the northern and southern regions is inviolable. This approach has shown the world that the challenges for Somalis in Somalia and Somaliland are not to secure recognition from other countries but to build durable institutions that are not undermined by tribalism. “You give priority to the clan rather state”, we are told time and again.
Somalia has yet to recover from the fall from the grace when it became the first country in Africa where the disintegration of the state led to a clan based fiefdom seeking legitimacy from the world. Somaliland administration's mistake is basing its case on the historical fact that people in what was once Ex-British Somaliland are legally and historically empowered to be a separate state from Somalia. No world recognised referendum has taken place in Somaliland to determine the percentage of the population in the ex British Somaliland is in favour of a separate Somaliland state.
So far no Somaliland leader has come up with creative approach to solving the problem of people who pledge allegiance to Puntland rather than Somaliland.
In 2002 Ali Guled argued that recognition will be not be “panacea for Soamliland problems” without judiciary reforms and strong emphasis on the rule of law. It is a strong point. Although president Riyale of Somaliland finds hard to disentangle Somaliland from the clan tethers, he presidency has generated a heated debate on the future of Somaliland. Under Egal, the late president, people wore rosy spectacles; trust in his political experience and leadership was a major factor out which the peaceful Somaliland emerged following the intra SNM wars in 1990s.
Ahmed Mohamed Aden Qeybe, the experienced Somaliland politician and former diplomat, is on the record for saying that “Unity is better when it is based on justice.” The same can be said about secession.
Ahmed Keyse Ali,
ahmedkeyse98@hotmail.com
London