An open letter to the Honourable: The president of the Somali Republic, Hassan Sheikh Mahamuud; The Prime Minister of Somalia, Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke; The Speaker of the Somalia National Parliament, Mahamed Osman Jawari; And the President of Somaliland, Ahmed Mahamed Mahamuud.
May you explain to the public how federalism could solve the Somali problem of clannisam.
Let’s remind ourselves that the Union between the North and the South in 1960 was born in unfairness and has perhaps been wounded – I wouldn’t say perished – as a result of the unfairness which has been inherent in the corrupt Somali government system
As a matter of fact, since independence, the Somali people have never seen fairness in their successive governments, be the first civilian government or the last military one.
When in June 1960, Northern Somalia became independent from Britain, the aspirations of the Somali people for greater Somalia was so great that when the South became independent from Italy the following July, the Union between the North and the South was hastily formed. In the euphoria of independence, politicians from the North, had perhaps at the time naively expected from their compatriots in the South to be fair with them. However, to the disappointment of the northern politicians that expectation of fairness has never materialised. Needless to say here, that the hastily concludedmarriage between the North and the South was a contributing factor in the collapse of the Somali state in 1991 and may underline the unilateral decision of Burao/Hargeisa to divorce from the South. As a matter of fact, the grievance of the North from the start of the Union, have never received a considerate response from the successive Somali governments.
By inference from the preceding paragraph, it is imperative that the people of Burao and Hargeisa – the ruling clan – need to learn their lessons from the Union experience and avoid giving preferential treatment to their regions over the regions of the other clans. It would be a grave mistake if they do not address the genuine concerns of other clans in Somaliland.
Fairness
The success of any government’s administrative machinery and the delievery of services to the public depends on how well meritocracy, fairness, accountability and transparency are adopted at all levels of its offices and departments in the interests of the general public and in building a viable nation state. Now, can the competing clan - based political parties in Somaliland ever make a viable nation state? In my view it is not possible.
The need to have a fair proportional representation in parliament as well as in government departments and offices based not on an arbitrarily adopted number of a certain clannor on a rigged voter registration record of a certain districtbut on the fairly recorded population of the districts must be understood by all.
Unlike 1960, when nationalism and the aspirations for anation building were the driving force behind the struggle for independence, today’s struggle is for clan power – hence the fierce competition between clans for power is an obvious feature of today’s Somali clan politics. As we all know, the so- called political parties in Somaliland are all clan – based and the leaders of these parties are only after their own personal interests and the interests of their clans or sub-clans.Note here: all the three Leaders of the three parties in Somaliland belong to the clan which occupies at the Centre of Somaliland (Hargeisa/Burao). This could only mean that Hargeisa/ Burao regard other clans in the West and East of Somaliland as second class citizens. Remember there are four other clans who also live in the Somaliland territory i.e. in the east and west of the country. Since the clan is their power base, the leaders of the three parties are only accountable to their respective clans and loyalty to the clan has the primacy above the loyalty to the nation as whole.
The Need to Learn from History
The voter registration which was held in Somaliland in 2010 was rigged by all the parties in the Country. Will any future attempt to register the number of voters in the Country be made any fairer? I very much doubt that, given the fierce competition between clans or sub-clans in the attempt not to be outnumbered by another clan and the discreet approval by the leaders of the political parties to do so.
The voter registration rigging which took place in 2010 might undoubtedly have disappointed the European donors who had financed it, but most importantly it might have given a clear warning for the clans in Awdal, Sool and Sanaag regions who may have been contemplating to support the Somaliland secession to have second thoughts about any divorce from southern Somalia.
Apparently, Hargeisa and Burao haven’t yet learned the need to have a fair voter registration. So, if that’s the case, is there any prospect for the Somaliland project of secession to succeed? I for one would very much doubt it would succeed. After all, a referendum to secede from the South wasn’t held in Somaliland. After the collapse of the Somali State in 1991, the Somali National Movement (SNM) which was ONE clan-based declared the secession.
Somaliland became independent in June 26, 1960, not in May 1991. To argue that Somaliland had recognised borders with Southern Somalia is irrelevant today. The so-called artificial borders between the Somali territories were arbitrarily drawn by the colonial powers against the wishes of the Somali people. Along the colonial drawn border line the same clan straddles on both sides of the border. Indeed, the Somalis have never recognised the colonial drawn borders and rightly so because it was against their wishes.
A naive may argue that the former president of Somaliland, Mr Dahir Rayale, was from the Awdal Region and that Hargeisa and Burao – the clan in the centre of Somaliland – are playing a fair democratic game with respect to the clans on the West and East of Somaliland by choosing him as the head of government in Somaliland. But we need to understand that Mr Rayale was elected into his position by a mere luck. Luck in the sense that he benefited from the competition between the sub-clans of Hargeisa and Burao. They saw him as a safe pair of hands whom, if they so wish, could depose whenever that suits their clans objectives.
By choosing a man from one of the “minority clans” in Somaliland as head of their government, the fiercely competing sub-clans of Hargeisa and Burao saw a compromise in that and a way of avoiding an eminent infighting between themselves. A wise choice, perhaps, given the hostilities between some of their sub-clans at the time and on the other hand an incentive for the other clans in the East and West of Somaliland to support the secessionist goal. Since Mr Rayale did not have his own numerically strong clanpower base within Somaliland proper, he was always at the mercy of certain sub-clans at any given time during his tenure. And this made him weak and a hostage to the interest of the sub- clans whose support he needed to remain in power.
There’s no need for Somaliland to secede. It should remain in the Union formed in July, 1960 with Southern Somalia. From Lawyado on the border with Djibouti to Raas Kaamboniwhich is on the Southern tip of Somalia bordering Kenya, the Somalis are the same people in every aspect.
Unlike Djibouti, which has two different ethnic groups with their different languages but still under a unitary state; Ethiopia, which has more than ten different nationalities with their different languages, religions; and Kenya which is similar to Ethiopia in having different ethnic groups with different languages and religions, Somalia is blessed to have the same people with the same religion – even the same religious sect – and the same language.
In my view, we don’t even need a federal system. Somalia is one nation. It should remain as one nation. Since the fall of the Central Government in 1991, clannism has paralysed any efforts to restore a Somalia-wide central government. It’s a pity that clannism has been institutionalised in Somalia ever since.
Will federalism solve the Somali problem of clannism? I very much doubt that. In my view, since one clan may be or may claim to be a majority in a certain region, there will always be the danger that that clan may overrule other ‘smaller’ clans in that particular region.
In my view, Somalia needs a strong central unitary government. Unity is a strength. It’s a deterrent against any foreign threat to Somalia. It is a security insurance for Somalis in the Horn of Africa. In short, unity of Somalia is sacrosanct and it should be seen as such by every Somali who cares about his/her Somalism.
Thanks
Abeeb Hassan Dugsiyeh (dukseyeh@hotmail.co.uk)
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