Superfluously Unrefined Political Theories That Brought Somalia to Her Knees

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"When I came to Mogadishu... [t]here was one road built by the Italians. If you try to force me to stand down, I will leave the city as I found it. I came to power with a gun; only the gun can make me go"-Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre, former President of Somalia.

After decades of horrendous struggle with the forces of European colonialism, Somalia became a sovereign republic in 1960. Former colonial masters England and Italy left Somalia in haste leaving behind a potpourri of baffling and undecipherable political condiments that instantaneously generated ripple effect in a society used to pastoral and nomadic lifestyles. Somalia may have been the first African country to grasp the values of liberal democracy albeit the redundancy of its improvised political elite, clan configuration, and the explosion of nomenklatura retarding the propagation of an inflexible political philosophy that would serve as the structural foundation for the immature and fragile emerging nation-state.

From its inception, Somali leadership was reminiscent of a kindergarten without a guardian. Of the thirteen founders of the Somali Youth League (SYL), only three had college degrees. Shortage of educational institutions made governance a recipe for disaster as emulsification of tribalism and preferential treatment widely practiced by the authorities eroded cultural homogeneity and social cohesion. Instead of embarking on streamlining the values of social equality and economic emancipation, the nation’s leaders sought to engage in unnecessary quandaries of political irredentism by igniting a regional confrontation with neighboring Kenya and creating restlessness for the regime in power in Ethiopia. Lack of guiding philosophical thoughts, inherently aggressive behaviors, and the application of unworkable approaches and obsession with the fundamentals of defensive realism brought about an overarching security dilemma for the entire Horn of Africa region.

The assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke in 1969 shepherded contention and strife among a pastoral and orally effusive nation. On October 21, 1969, a day after Shermarke’s funeral, Somalia’s hybrid democracy was thrown overboard when a group of military officers headed by Major General Mohamed Siyad Barre, took over the reins of power in a bloodless coup. Drawing heavily from the traditions of China, the military junta adapted scientific socialism for the governing of the nation. Theoretically pioneered by Karl Marx, the term scientific socialism was used by Friedrich Engels to refer to social-political-economic developments and is largely determined by material (economic) conditions. The military junta under Barre nationalized almost all industries, banks, insurance companies, oil distribution firms, and businesses while cooperative farming received a big boost.

Akin to the communist system of volunteer work, unpaid laborers built roads and hospitals and planted and harvested crops. As he predicted during the early years of his presidency, Barre was forced to exit the political spectrum in 1991 by a ragtag militia using the barrel of the gun thus bringing to an end a repulsive political theory not in agreement with Islam. Barre passed away peacefully in Nigeria in 1995. His remains were buried in Garbaharey-the same town he claimed to have been born during his early quest for enlistment into the Italian administered Carabiniere (Carabineer).

Despite holding elections, the initial republic lacked fairness and equal justice. The few registered electors voted along tribal lines. Barre was the type of leader who, despite embracing scientific socialism, applied wise sayings to win the hearts and minds of his fellow citizens. A form of rule entailing the use of words and known as logocracy could best describe Barre’s governance from a broader perspective.

After Barre’s departure Somalia descended into chaos and civil disobedience. The line-up of notable figures that ascended the throne include Ali Mahdi Mohamed (January 1991 – 15 June 1995), General Mohamed Farah Aideed (15 June 1995 – 1 August 1996), Hussein Mohamed Farah Aideed (2 August 1996 – 22 December 1997) Abdiqasin Salad Hassan (27 August 2000 – 14 October 2004), Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (14 October 2004 – 29 December 2008), Adan Mohamed Nur Madobe (interim) (29 December 2008 – 31 January 2009), and the incumbent Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (31 January 2009 – Present). From 22 December 1997 to 27 August 2000, the post of president remained vacant.

From July 1, 1960 until 21 October, 1969 Somalia was officially known as Somali Republic and that the governing party was the Somali Youth League or SYL. From 21 October, 1969 until 27 August, 2000 the official name for Somalia was Somali Democratic Republic and that the succession of ruling parties included the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP), the United Somali Congress (USC), and the Somali National Alliance (SNA). Somalia changed name again on 27 August, 2000 with the rise of Abdiqasin Salad Hassan when it was baptized Republic of Somalia. Abdiqasin, Abdullahi Yusuf, and interim president Adan Madobe were not affiliated with any party and that the official name of the government was the Transitional Federal Government or TFG. The current president, Sheikh Sharif, belongs to the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS).

A thorough and accurate research on the metamorphosis of government types and governing styles Somalia has been through from the day the flag of independence was hoisted on July 1, 1960 could fill volumes. From 1960 to 1969 a flawed form of democracy devoid of conventional representation existed in name only. Even to this day, many countries exist that claim to espouse real democracy. But that is not the case; in fact they are defective democracies because they lack the right attributes of democracy. These are nations that lack social and economic modernization; they do not have class culture; and there is the absence of a political culture that is the embodiment of cultural beliefs, norms, and values relating to politics.

Economic giants Brazil and India are partial democracies because ethnic inequalities and social prejudice exist. Brazil is home to the largest population of the blacks outside Africa yet the minority white population control almost all of the economy. On the other hand, India has millions of Harijans (god’s Child) who lack basic social amenities. Nations like Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, Chile, and Indonesia are partial-democracies.

World War One instigated the implosion of World War Two. Likewise, the end of World War Two set pace for what became known as the Cold War. The tremors of the Cold War made many African nations incline to communism and thus began the explosion of authoritarianism. A greater percentage of the nations that adapted democracy as their preferred mode of governance ended up resorting to communism after successions of coups engineered by disgruntled military cadres imposed Leninist-Marxist forms of governance that retarded their forward match to economic developments. The rule by central committees, collectivization, militarization, and nationalization of economies resulted in a backward match to despondency, poverty, and general decline.

The taking of hard to digest counterfeit political prescriptions has been the major cause of Somalia’s current statelessness and disintegration. A complete democracy requires the hallmarks of liberalism and constructivism/idealism to advance forward to a brighter future. And for a democracy to succeed, it has to be substantive in general context. All citizens must have equal access to education, healthcare, and other available social amenities without regard to race, creed, color, religion, sex, gender or national origin. Liberal democracy leads to substantive democracy. Nations that exercise ostracization and marginalization of minorities, suppress the press (media), arbitrarily arrest opponents, and harass the opposition are doomed to fail. And that is how Somalia measured in the Democracy Index in its heydays. It was a nation with too many conflicting theories and superfluous governing styles.

Pirates Struggle for Survival

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Piracy in the Horn of Africa continues to be a menace for international maritime shipping. Day by day pirates are coming up with novel tactics; they are acquiring modern weapons; they are purchasing sophisticated gadgets from the international markets; they have learned to cover thousands of miles away from home; their long hands have reached distant coastal waters; they have the capabilities of evading detection by the combined maritime task force.

According to Ecoterra International, over two-hundred sailors of various nationalities and over a dozen merchant ships flying assortments of flags of convenience remain in pirate hands along Somalia’s dreaded and ungovernable coastline. Somalia has a coastline measuring 3,333 km that is impossible to police.

Piracy has made many poor and disheveled men millionaires overnight. Men who once lived on the fringes of beggary now enjoy national limelight as they crisscross lawless Somalia with ease by riding in exotic luxurious cars protected by militias armed to the teeth. On the international level, they have the convenience of executive suits and arranged valets. They dine around manicured lawns while chuckling with men of like caliber.

Piracy masterminds are intellectually brainy; they keep low profile; and they are known to keep with the times. Pirate executives own fishing trawlers; they are worth millions of dollars; and they own shares in stocks and fishing factories. Many are polygamous, live in palatial homes, and send their children to expensive schools, colleges, and universities.

The piracy business employs over ten-thousand people ranging from those who maintain the dangerous deep-sea operations to those who guard and feed the sailors while ransom negotiations continue. An intricate operation exists between the bookkeepers, accountants, restaurateurs and shop-owners responsible for the provision of daily supplies.

The abundance of mind-altering drugs like qaad (Catha educlis) and amphetamines make the continuation of piracy a straightforward adventure. As long as the lawlessness in Somalia continues and as long as these two drugs are available for pirate consumption, endurance in long-distance travel, energy and drive, speed and aggression, sleeplessness and loquacity, will remain the driving factors in future piracy-related activities.

Garissa: The Largest City Between Nairobi and Mogadishu

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The City of Garissa in Kenya’s North Eastern Province (NEP) has been on the top list of the most peaceful cities in East and Central Africa for over twenty years. It is the provincial headquarter of NEP as well as the administrative center for Garissa District. Named after a riverine local Pokomo elder or farmer called Karisa, Garissa became a recognized settlement in 1936. Majority of the inhabitants of Garissa are ethnic Somalis. Besides subsistence and small scale farming and local business initiatives by urbanites, livestock raring remains the major sustainer of the region’s economy. From 1963 when Kenya became a sovereign republic until the late eighties, the region suffered tremendous insecurity resulting from recurring banditry, poaching, and cattle-rustling.

However, according to Kenya government figures, Garissa District has continuously for years recorded the highest concentration of livestock in East and Central Africa. Traders in Garissa get their surplus livestock from Somalia’s southern regions consequently making Garissa a haven for livestock merchants primarily between the months of January and April when the volume of cattle substantially increases. Cattle trading in Garissa attract traders from as far as Machakos, Nairobi, Nyeri, Mombasa and other coastal towns during this time of the year consequently transforming the city into a beehive of activity. Despite generating enough revenue from the taxation of cattle sales, Garissa city has lagged behind other cities of Kenya in all aspects of development. The district’s markets in southern Somalia include Baidoa, Dinsor, Qorioley, Jowhar, Afgoi, Salagle, Bardhere and Afmadow, among others. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that 60-80% of livestock in Garissa originate from the Somali region in Ethiopia, Somalia, and other divisions with NEP.

In the past, the district experienced remarkable government involvement after health concerns related to the epidemiological outbreaks of Rinderpest (cattle plague or steppe murrain) and other devastating foot and mouth diseases necessitated in the enforcement of veterinary regulations, consequently and at times, leading to closure of cattle markets.

Despite being the major supplier of beef to major cities in Kenya and to as far as Tanzania and despite being the largest city between Nairobi and Mogadishu, Garissa greets its visitors with grim reality. With the exception of a teachers’ training college and one Islamic school founded by mindful businessmen and overseas-based organizations, the city has no university; it has no feasible infrastructure; the only visible tarmac located in the city center measures a few kilometers; its dusty potholed streets transform into lakes during rainy seasons; the municipality and the city council have no refuse collection systems in place thus making inhabitants susceptible to waterborne and airborne diseases; it has no manufacturing industries; unemployment is rife; drug addiction among the youth continues to skyrocket; poverty, beggary, and street children remain an eyesore and a social menace, and worst of all poor land allocation strategies riddled with corruption has been the major cause of civil skirmishes among the tribal-minded inhabitants resulting in government application of emergency laws such as extended curfews and deployment of the dreaded General Service Unit (GSU) together with the rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) to quell disturbances.

The city has a long history of election rigging; harassment of electors and opposition groups is common-dirty tricks and techniques inherited from past fallen autocratic regimes. Just like their cousins across the border, Somalis in Garissa and other parts of NEP have over and over again championed clan domineering approaches by unconventional means especially by rampant warring and ethnic animosities. Reminiscent of Somalia’s “Guulwadeyaasha” or revolutionary youth during the military junta, Kenyatta and Moi era governments relied on a force that recklessly represented the Kenya African National Union (KANU) Party-a consortium of embellished, underfunded youth wingers whose arguments rested on the just war doctrine of “kill or be killed”. Such political plunders ensured the uninterrupted reclamation of political structure and extension of inheritance for the old guards.

The trouncing of Moi’s single-party regime and the birth of multiparty democracy in 1992 did little to alter the pervasiveness of past odious events. In fact it exacerbated the political scenario when new contestants found their ambitions obstructed by the same old guards who jumped on the bandwagon using the same old tricks inherited from their past masters of deception.

The district has suffered poor county and parliamentary representation since Kenya’s attainment of independence in 1963. The reason the region is underperforming is due to the government's discriminatory practices of allocating resources, unfair distribution of wealth, outright marginalization of the people who inhabit the land, and diversion of funds earmarked for the region to other more prosperous regions.

Ironically, because of their adroitness at accumulating wealth, majority of the region’s uneducated councilors and parliamentarians have promoted their self-esteem and thus harbor elitist mentality such that even those who bowed out of politics remain a force to reckon with. These men have the power to imprison, kill or regain one’s freedom. While the poor suffer dental decay due to unhygienic eating habits coupled with shortage of dentists, the uneducated honorable parliamentarian or councilor displays sparkling white teeth because of abundance of money at his disposal. For a long time, stealing from state treasury has been a hallmark of African politics and Kenya, because of its corruption ranking profile, is no exception.

The Offspring of a Snake is a Snake
The above phrase is a translation of the Kiswahili saying “mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka”. It has been used by corrupt Kenya leaders as a rallying cry to provoke non-Somalis to hate and oppress Kenya-Somalis. The saying inspired Kenya leaders after the succession of past Somali governments instigated political irredentism and supported the repossession of what used to be the Northern Frontier District (NFD) from the Republic of Kenya. This idiomatic expression and phraseologically provocative aphorism applied to almost every Kenyan-Somali and that its widespread use slackened only after the collapse of the Somali central government in 1991. The bitter territorial dispute that kicked-off between Kenya and Somalia in the 60s has gone down in history as the “Shifta War”. The word Shifta (or “shufta”) implies a bandit, outlaw, or rebel. The name became an allusion and nom de guerre for every Kenyan-Somali regardless of whether one was a law-abiding citizen or a contextually sadistic law-breaking criminal.
Thus, Kenya-Somalis saw themselves wedged between two diametrically opposed forces with profound conflicting ideologies-one a civilian authoritarian government (Kenya) with western inclinations and a dictatorial regime (Somalia) -espousing a plethora of political dimensions.

Thousands of families lacking guidance or controlling force or influence crossed the border into Somalia to escape rampant hostilities on the Kenya side. Leaders of the Northern Province People’s Progressive Party (NPPP) incorporated Somalis of diverse clans, Borana, Rendille, and others.

For decades, Garissa had been under the radar of Kenya security and intelligence agencies primarily because the region was under martial law decreed immediately after Kenya’s proclamation of independence. Besides the insecurity that came with the shifta menace, widespread illegal poaching by Somalis scavenging for better living conditions decimated-if not-drastically reduced wildlife concentration in Kenya’s internationally-acclaimed national parks and game reserves. Besides the hazards of wildlife plundering, poachers stealthily brought with them dangerous small arms that endangered the lives of government game wardens whose task implied the protection of wild game and the preservation of Kenya’s vigorous tourist industry. Since independence and till this day, tourism has been a cornerstone and sustainer of Kenya’s economy. The best the Kenya government can do for the moment and in the future is to fully integrate Kenya-Somalis and give them a share of the national cake.

Ethiopia’s Black Colonialism

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Africa has been through rough times including slavery and slave trade, European colonialism, neo-colonialism, and dictatorship. Currently it is experiencing economic slavery, African slavery of Africans, and oppression of select societies who are struggling for self-determination, religious freedom, and political involvement.

A case in point is the oil and natural resources rich Niger Delta of Nigeria inhabited by the Ogoni people who have been denied a share of the national cake. The Government of Nigeria has underdeveloped the Ogoni people by denying them their inalienable rights. This part of Nigeria has become a forgotten region yet it is where Nigeria's 'Black Gold' is extracted. Discuss in-depth with Ogonis in the Diaspora and you will be amazed by the strange stories they narrate. Followers of Nigeria’s political events will recall the hanging of the academic, writer, poet, politician, and a businessman Ken Saro Wiwa by Sani Abacha's regime on a trumped up crime in the morning of November 10, 1995. "The blood of Ken Saro Wiwa will stain the name of Shell..." was a statement given by Greenpeace on learning the death of this great man. He was a man who fought for ecological and social justice for his people. Surprisingly, there is no armed struggle in Ogoni land except a few armed groups who wish to highlight their plight to the world through abductions and blowing up of pipelines that cause adverse effects on the economy of Nigeria and other fuel-dependent nations.

Now let's come back to the beautiful Horn of Africa and have a quick look at the Western Somali region in Ethiopia. The Western Somali region or the Ogaden region predominantly occupied by Somalis was given to Ethiopia by the European colonial powers in the aftermath of the Scramble for Africa and has remained underdeveloped ever since. The region has been an issue of contention between Somalia and Ethiopia for many years yet the international community has never bothered to intervene for the sake of saving the suffering masses. The inhabitants of this region have been victims of successive Ethiopian expansionist emperors and dictators with killings and imprisonment, rape and abductions, burning of villages and towns, underdevelopment and isolation and other inhuman means of torture being the methods used by the state machinery to silence dissent.

Somalia and Ethiopia went to war over this territory several times; the most recent being the 1977-1978 war that saw Ethiopia getting material and moral support from the former USSR, Cuba, and communist Yemen while Somalia stood alone in her endeavors to reclaim it.

Ethiopia has always denied committing human rights violations against the people of this region yet satellite images taken from razed villages and towns reveal the contrary. Towns and villages that have been intact and thriving in the past have been found leveled to the ground, thanks to modern human technological advances in the space sciences. This region of Ethiopia has been intermittently experiencing the worst natural disasters including flooding of rivers and drought that devastated crops and livestock-the only means of survival for the region’s impoverished pastoralist society. The region lacks schools, hospitals, roads, and visible infrastructure. The Ethiopian Government employs stooges from the region to advance its propaganda and political constipation.

A quick search for the region on the internet search engines reveals tons of information on the cultural, historical, and political struggle of the people of this region. Some document daily atrocities and incidents as they evolve. International organizations carrying out humanitarian activities in this region have been suppressed by successive Ethiopian governments with some facing expulsions for voicing their concerns. The government is using relief supplies as a tool to garner support from its oppressed inhabitants.

The discovery of oil in this region has increased tension and competition among energy-starved powers most notably China that has a big stake in Ethiopia's oil drilling and mineral exploration. The storming of an oil installation manned by a Chinese firm by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the subsequent killing of many of its workers contracted to the drilling and extraction of oil a few years ago brought the world media to attention. This incident made the world aware of the prevailing inhuman conditions and the treasures in the region.

Despite the huddles of getting access to the region because of government restrictions on travel and stringent visa procedures coupled with media censorship, several media houses were able to penetrate the region's most affected parts relaying convincing information that could be used to indict those suspected of committing human rights violations and genocide. Al Jazeera television, often referred to as the 'CNN of the Middle East', in an exclusive documentary on the region, showed harrowing images of destitution and suffering that was visible on the faces of many it was able to interview.

Ironically, successive Ethiopian governments have used inhuman methods to underdevelop this region including:

1.Unequal distribution of wealth
2.Misuse of donor funds meant for the impoverished region
3.Use of Tigreyan cadres to represent the community
4.Diversion of relief aid for military use
5.High illiteracy, high unemployment, and high mortality rate
6.Amharic language forced on to the people
7.Lack of veterinary services
8.Denial of farming technology
9.Biased state media
10.Conscription of civilians in to Ethiopian army to fight foreign wars
11.Print and electronic media in Amharic
12.Censorship of Somali-speaking media

Razor-Sharp-Mouthed Globetrotting Troglodytes
From the time Meles Zenawi was declared the overall winner of the pseudo-democratic elections held in Ethiopia last May, a retinue of Tigreyan troglodytes from Ethiopia’s Somali region have been circumnavigating the globe extending an olive branch to the Ethiopian-Somali Diaspora with a message of peace and reconciliation from the headquarters of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Delegations led by razor-sharp-mouthed representatives relaying unconventional wisdom converged on major cities in the western hemisphere with a view to selling their distorted ideologies to predominantly unsuspecting and uninformed onlookers and sightseers. Shuttling between Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Diego, and Minneapolis, and several other European cities, these uncompromising impostors driven by party zealotry unleashed well-rehearsed ideologies and revolutionary desiderata by calling on participants to grab offers of democratic values of inclusivity-perhaps referring to variants like freedom, equality, equity, cooperation, peaceful resolution of disputes, the rule of law, popular sovereignty, representative democracy, economic well-being, equality of opportunity, equality of condition, and other democratic factors-aspects that are beyond reach in “Cruel Ethiopia”.

Led by tribal-minded political neophytes with past records of corruption and freewheeling lifestyles, EPRDF party apparatchiks gave conflicting imaginary statements aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the Ethiopian-Somali Diaspora. Do these so-called representatives of the EPRDF who are in essence Somalis themselves reflect the atrocities, repression, arbitrary arrests, denial of basic services, and the host of inhuman measures inflicted on their people by the current and past regimes seated in Addis Ababa? Without an iota of doubt the regime in Addis Ababa has committed heinous crimes including genocide against Somalis of Ethiopia.

Satirically, what these subjects fail to realize is that even fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini claimed to have been a democracy one time and that the same applies to Germany under Adolf Hitler. Where on earth is the democracy they are preaching when demonstrations are suppressed and the opposition jailed or killed?

In this era of communication and globalization, it is absolutely impossible for oppressive governments to conceal deliberate inhuman acts from the glare of publicity. The election irregularities that led to the subsequent arrest and extra-judicial killings of opposition figures and university students in the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital city, in 2005, still echo in the minds of Ethiopia's bitterly enraged multi-cultural societies seeking abrupt regime change.

For now, the international community is well aware of the human rights violations being committed by Meles Zenawi's regime in Ethiopia’s Somali-inhabited region and in other parts of Ethiopia, though, to the surprise of the people of the region and their sympathizers, none among the world powers in the forefront for universal suffrage, not even the UN, the world governing body, is willing to see further fragmentation of landlocked Ethiopia since Eritrea's legal divorce in 1991.

This article appeared on www.wardheernews.com