The Centre for Research and Dialogue (CDR), which conducted an 18-month study over 8,500 km in Somalia, blamed politicians preying on the kinship-based and pastoralists` social structures for fuelling insecurity among the various clans after the collapse of democracy in 1969.

Kenya`s Special envoy to Somali peace talks, Bethwel Kiplagat, who heads the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) team mediating the peace talks aimed at bringing a lasting peace to the war ravaged Somali republic, released the study`s findings.

"The Somali crisis is the product of multifarious, inter-linked causes, as diverse as the lingering effects of colonization the dislocation of forced urbanization and the stresses of globalization," said CDR`s director Jabril Adbulle after the report`s release.

"This report is unique because it offers an unparalleled snapshot of Somali today, the reasons to lament as well as the causes for hope, of which we feel many people are unaware," he said.

The report, in which the UN is a significant contributor, examines the origin of the long-winding conflicts over pastures, resource-based conflicts, which it identifies as an integral solution to the volatile environment that threatens the lives of ordinary Somalis.

According to the document, the situation in Somalia worsened when the government of General Mohamed Siad Barre collapsed in 1991, leaving abundant quantities of arms, including anti-aircraft batteries, light gunboats, rocket propelled grenades, anti-tank launchers and crew-served machine guns in the hands of rebel insurgents.
The report accuses the "recalcitrant political leadership" of being behind the previous Somali government’s failures to provide adequate security during the Horn of African nation`s limited days as a democracy and the ensuing military coups that abated insecurity.

"As violence escalated, many civilians rallied against the armed the rebel movements or sought to acquire their own weapons to better defend themselves as their property and perceived clan interests," said the report jointly prepared by CDR and WSP International, a body working on overcoming conflicts and building lasting peace in the world.

The report comes ahead of the installation of the new Somali government in early August, a development the IGAD mediators in Nairobi believe would be achieved after the completion of of an ongoing election for the 270-member Somali parliament, currently dogged by inter-clans feuding.

"We felt this (report) was a crucial step at this time because of the on-going peace talks," said Abdulle.

He said the document is intended to show the (Somalis) the fruits of their support and to provide further incentives to delegates of the Somali National Reconciliation Conference taking place in Mbagathi in the outskirts of Nairobi city.
 

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives