A. Mohamed Ali Hashi ‘Dhimbiil’
A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state, especially of the highest of all. The government is everywhere sovereign in the state, and the constitution is in fact the government. Aristotle, - The Politics (Book 3)
Two forces are vying for the future of Africa: one is authoritarian the other is democratic. Curiously, the authoritarian strain was once democratic; previously, it had embraced the ideology of democracy so as to awaken the masses for insurrection against imperialism and colonialism. At the dawn of independence many of these once democratic organizations and leaders transformed themselves into one party states and later deadly and predatory autocrats.
There are many reasons for this transformation, two clearly important points were: first, national movements and their charismatic leaders were products of history, the necessary opposite to the forces of colonialism. In a word, colonialism created its own antagonist and in so doing set the seeds for its eventual end. These movements and leaders became as it were the mirror image of the forces that they were trying to dislodge because no other political action was open for them at that juncture. Etching up the radical nature of their message at time of the cold war, would have made the colonial power more intransigent and with less incentive to quit their respective countries - Mozambique, Angola and Guinea Bissau being ready examples.
As well, the system of government inherited from the colonial power was by definition set on a template that was hardly appropriate for development - both human and material. In short: the system was autocratic and its manifestation in post-colonial life would produce the same results: authoritarianism.
Secondly, national movements became chauvinistic and authoritarian precisely because of their own historical raison d’ètre. The leaders of the national movements were men in a hurry, they had to "catch up" with the Europeans, and they had to show their mettle by disproving the racist characterizations of Africans as a people ‘without a history’. Their transformation into authoritarian one party states in turn has wrought havoc in Africa, betraying their democratic credentials and the very people who stood up colonialism. International authoritarianism was be replaced by local ones.
Writing some five years after the fall of the Berlin wall a writer on transitions to democracy suggested that "the aftermath of authoritarianism, then, may be far less rewarding and far more dangerous than we thought in 1989--it may be a precursor of a new authoritarianism as the genesis of new threats undercuts the potential for any sustained democratic transition"
The author is suggesting an important if not profound dilemma, how does a country sustain or even root democracy given that history has proven more than once that transitions to democratic rule often end up, to use a worn 1970’s word, in a counter-revolution? Put another way, how can these negative and anti-democratic tendencies be avoided particularly when the struggle for democracy was/is a bloody affair that exposes the people of Africa to untold suffering? These questions on democracy and the state in Africa are central questions to the future of this continent. This short intervention cannot replace a more sustained debate on this issue. However, it is this discourse that is material to my understanding of my country, which has started along the long journey to democracy. By showing some facets of political life in Somaliland, I believe that the future of Africa can already be seen in many countries that are undergoing this transition to democracy, Somaliland being a close example in the Horn of Africa.
To be sure, Somaliland is a land of camels and poetry. Richard Burton traveling to through Somaliland in the mid 1800’s called the people he met on his way to the famed court in Abyssinia, "a fierce race of republicans". Fierce in that he was attacked and nearly killed and republican for his romantic view - from a Victorian order nonetheless - of a free and near anarchical social landscape. Somaliland though, has always had deep roots as far as ‘political authority’ is concerned. Somaliland has about six major clan institutions that have hereditary legitimacy as Sultans. Most of the clans signed protective treaties with the British in the mid 1800’s. After about a hundred years nationalist-anti-colonial groups emerged. Later Somaliland was granted independence and was a recognized state for five days.
To run history along for our purposes, Somaliland’s main claim to self-government is through the colonial question, through this contact and subsequently, like all African states, a drawing up of borders. Only Somaliland chose a different path that in hindsight was - to use a quote from none other than Churchill - "an enigma wrapped up in a mystery". While most countries inherited their respective states, Somaliland was one of the only few states that pursued a pan-Africanist, pan Somali dream.
Somaliland gave up its state and sovereignty to its neighbor and sisterly people in Italian Somaliland. What followed is public knowledge and need not be recounted here. Suffice to say that Somaliland is back some fourty years after lost sovereignty, genocide, and the wholesale destruction of the country by a dictator, Somaliland is again trying to disprove everyone by building a second chance "one thorn tree at a time". But this is to anticipate.
What then is special about Somaliland, when the very word Somali is now associated with cruel scenes of barbarism and chaos? This picture is flawed when it comes to Somaliland. Indeed, the facts in Somaliland give me the courage to write in such highbrow terms precisely because Somaliland, at least in my eyes, represents the beginning of the end of the ideas about authoritarianism that is deeply etched in the consciousness of this crooked part of Africa.
The three main principals that characterize the emergence of democracy in Somaliland: the ratification of the constitutions by the people of Somaliland; the ascendance of the Vice-President to the Presidency of Somaliland after the death of the late M. H. Ibrahim Egal; and, the coming multi-party elections in Somaliland.
These three pillars constitute a major political breakthrough as far as norms and customs is concerned. Moreover, they represent a fundamental shift to the ideas of the rule of law and the constitution as the legal guide for the affairs of government. The people of Somaliland after years of discussion and debate, including bouts of civil war, signed on to a constitution, which was ratified by 97% of the population. The constitution is the one single legacy of the late President. It is not perfect, it has flaws, but it is a document that can be improved upon and in the process help Somalilanders experience and root their constitution in the coming years.
The death of the late president tested the resolve of the people of Somaliland and their institutions. The ratified constitution took effect immediately as the new President was sworn in. This one event unfolded the next sequence of events that has led most observers to look in awe as ordinary men and women welcomed their new President with open arms and goodwill. Municipal elections have been held and have been given a passing grade. Somaliland’s meager resources and the coming parliamentary and Presidential elections present real challenges - an issue that I will be writing about on the next issue of my collaboration with Dr. AbdiShakur Jowhar - for Somaliland. However, there is no turning back; Somaliland has tentatively set on foot forward towards its own democratic dispensation.
Many of the questions raised in this piece will be answered by the next article in a series on the election that are to follow (to be continued)!
Presidential elections are scheduled in Somaliland for April 14/2003. This series of articles will provide an in depth analysis of this election. Two Diaspora based Somalilanders; a political scientist (Dhimbiil) and Psychiatrist (Jowhar) will provide the analysis on alternate weeks.
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