Somaliland: Marshalling to its own Destiny
Somaliland, like many African countries, got its independence from the British colonial power
in mid-1960 (June 26, 1960). However, many Somalilanders believed that independence was incomplete.
They were thinking of liberating and uniting all Somalis. Fortunately, four days later (July 1, 1960),
Somalia became independent from the Italians. With good intensions,
Somaliland politicians united their country with Somalia devoid of any conditions.
But as it has been said: "the road to hell is paved with good intensions".
Somalia took everything: the president, the capital, the power, the economy - everything.
In 1962 a group of young military officers attempted an unsuccessful military coup to detach
Somaliland from Somalia. In 1969 Siyad Barre launched a military coup.
Somalia as a whole was ruled by a dictator who had no mercy on people.
The Somaliland elite were killed. The "scientific Socialism" took us down the drain.
In 1977, Siyad Barre lead Somalia into a war with Ethiopia to save his power from the
emerging dissatisfaction with his rule and the internal struggles that began to shape-up.
Once again, Somaliland decided to go its own way, and began the struggle of the 1982,
lead by the Somali National Movement (SNM). That was a decade long war (1982-1991) that
cost Somaliland over 50,000 youth, almost all the national wealth, and reduced the population to refugee status. By
then, the so-called "democratic countries" of Europe, the old-colonial powers and all the Arab countries were supporting
the military regime with arms and money. Hargeisa, the capital, was completely destroyed by the aerial bombardments.
The planes were taking-off from Hargeisa airport to bomb Hargeisa town and came back to Hargeisa airport to be refueled
and re-armed. It was "a government killing its own people". The rest of Somaliland towns were also reduced to ghost
towns. Finally, the struggle was won. Somaliland reclaimed its independence in May, 1991. The cost of the earlier
mistake of uniting with Somalia and seeking "greater Somalia" was dear.
Once again, Somaliland was punished by the
international community. No aid, and no recognition - it was as if they were saying "it was a mistake to get rid of
Siyad barre". But even so, Somaliland did go its own way. Three things came out of the struggle as goals:
By:
Abdillahi M. Hersi
Hargeisa - Somaliland
1. Prevent future defeats
2. Preserve national existence
3. Gain what had been lost
In so doing, Somaliland maintained peace, established the state apparatus of good governance,
promoted education and established an economic model of self-reliance. The process of democratization began
and took long strides involving:
- Two local government elections
- Three presidential elections
- Two parliament elections
It would be illusive and naïve to
paint such a perfect picture and not reveal the pitfalls of Somaliland.
During this long journey, Somaliland had major set-backs:
- Internal clan wars in Erigavo, Burao, Berbera and Hargeisa.
- Delayed election schedules in all the elections
- Semi-permanent "house-of-elders"
- Shaky policies and procedures, and
- Poor economy
However, the good thing was that everything Somaliland did and did not,
was something of its own choice and in its own way. When the rest of what
was once known as "Somalia" is still suffering from inter-clan wars, sea-pirates,
and re-colonization by foreign forces, Somaliland is currently relatively peaceful
and a full-fledged state in its own right.
It has been the norm of the political system of Somaliland that elections are never held on their scheduled dates. President Egal had an extension, the local governments exceeded their second election by double the term, and President Rayale had two sessions of extensions and the incumbent parliament surpassed its time. Two weeks ago, the National electoral commission declared that they needed a period of one year to technically prepare for the presidential and parliamentary elections. The opposition parties agreed on that. But the House of "Gurti" (The House of elders) came-up with an extra nine months, to make the extended period one-year and nine months. The opposition parties and some of the population were annoyed and complained of the resolution.
All of these happenings are fine in the eyes of most Somalilanders. Somaliland is used to it and somehow it is managed. But this time the matter got worse when some former colonial powers in a "new" shirt called the EU (European Union) sent the Italian Ambassador to Hargeisa to tell the government back-off from the "new" set date for election, which is November, 2017. The question is who gave him right to tell Somaliland what to do and when to do it?
The Italians and Great Britain should have been the last nations to dictate to Somaliland how to keep its house tidy. Somaliland has maintained all that a state needs to be recognized for a period of 24 years. However, these two arrogant colonial countries made sure that Somaliland remained outside the United Nations family.
Therefore, for friends and foes alike, Somaliland will continue to depend on itself and will succeed as once China did. Elections will be held very soon and in a fair and free manner. Then, and only then, our friends will be happy and our foes will seek other tricks to impede Somaliland from its destiny. Some people envisaged Somaliland and Somalia to be another South and North Yemen and the "Issaqs" being the "Hutis" in the Horn of Africa. A similar scenario will not happen in this part of the world.
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