Forty-four years after independence, Somalia should have been a country at peace with itself. But it is not. Still bleeding from wounds inflicted by the civil war of 1991, it has effectively split into several mini-states and fiefdoms. The northern region has seceded and declared itself the sovereign republic of Somaliland.
Somalia was formed on July 1, 1960 by the union of the Italian administrated UN Trust Territory of Somalia in the south and British Protectorate of Somaliland in the north. After gaining its independence on June 26, 1960, the northern region unconditionally united with the southern regions.
Independence, it was hoped, would mean for the Somali people a change for the better. Instead, it brought them violence, internecine killings, economic collapse and disintegration. If this is to change, answer must be found to the question: What is the basis of these crises?
The current crisis dates back to Oct. 21, 1969, when Gen. Mohammed Siad Barre overthrew the civilian government and installed a military dictatorship in place of parliamentary democracy, The new regime’s first war was against the rule of law. It violated all norms of civil society and set on a course of systematic violation and abuse of human rights, such as imprisonment without trial, torture and ban on all political activities.
The military regime’s fundamental policy was the time-tested “divide and rule”. It deliberately fostered hatred and conflicts among the country’s various clans and sub-clans which gradually fragmented the socio-political fabric of the Somali society. Finally, when the iron hand of the dictator was no longer there to keep the forces of hate and ambition under check, there were open armed conflicts among clans and sub-clans which, in turn, became the basis of the subsequent “clan-approach” to the struggle against the regime, and paved the way for the crisis in Somalia.
The consequences of this disastrous situation were anarchy, the 1992-93 famine, and a mass exodus of the population. The American and the UN intervention in 1992-95, undertaken with the aim of feeding the starving people, brought no solution.
Taking advantage of the collapse of the military government, former British Somaliland in the north seceded in May 1991, and declared itself independent. Although no nation in the world has recognized it as a separate sovereign state, Somaliland has provided significant governance and security in its territory.
Discontent had simmered among Somalilanders for years on the issue of union with the south. Even by the time the northerners had formalized their unconditional accession to Somalia, there was wide resentment that all key positions in the civilian government - such as the presidency, prime ministership, important Cabinet portfolios, and army and police commands - had gone to southerners. Then after seven years, the late Muhammad H. Ibrahim Igal from the north — who once became the president of self-declared Somaliland — was elected prime minister. Unfortunately, the military regime overthrew the civilian administration led by Igal.
Somalilanders believe that, during the civil war of the 1980s, the military regime pursued brutal policies such as aerial bombing of northern cities. They feel that they have long suffered under southern rule and are not willing to continue with that.
Some political analysts believe that the mutually brutalizing behavior of the political elite in the preceding thirteen years paved the way for the current anarchy. Since 1991, the country’s warlords have held thirteen reconciliation conferences and have not reached any fruitful agreement.
The Transitional National Government (TNG) and most of the country’s heavily armed factions have been holding peace talks in Nairobi for nearly twenty months. Many observers, however, do not expect a genuine breakthrough in the talks. They see the gathering as a repeat of earlier failed peace talks.
A Somali poet once said, “You birds... sing, sing a good song.” Many times over the last thirteen years, the same song has been sung with no practical outcome. Many Somalis have a distinct feeling that they have seen all this before. And they are right.
The tragedy is that all these need not have happened in Somalia. It is different from other troubled African societies in that it has a fundamentally homogeneous character. But there is too much mistrust in the clan-based Somali society. Without trust, there can’t be lasting peace.
Time alone will tell whether the Somali political elite will succeed in heralding a new era of national integration and reconciliation, or simply prolong an old nightmare of chaos and dismemberment.
