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By
Ahmed Kheyre
A few days ago a colleague of mine mentioned that he had seen some
interesting articles on Somaliland. I was somewhat taken aback because
this fellow’s political interest didn’t seem to extend to Somaliland, or
even international affairs for that matter. Don’t get me wrong, he is a
well-read, intelligent and curious person, but, I had no idea that he
had any ideas about the issues of Somaliland.
I am aware that he is aware of my deep interest in my country of birth,
but his questions on Somaliland were very interesting; allow me to share
them with you...
“Ahmed, I read this article on Somaliland regarding the upcoming
elections there, there appears be some lively political debate, what is
going on?” he asked
After giving this question some thought, I responded in the following
manner…
“Dave, glad you asked, also I am quite glad that you have taken an
interest in my country of birth, remind me to block my pc when I am
browsing or updating Somaliland websites. Ahem!!”
“As you know Dave, or may not know, Somaliland received its independence
from Britain after almost a century of colonial rule on June 26th, 1960
. After a few heady days of independence in which almost 38 nations,
including the USA, UK, USSR, Egypt, recognized Somaliland, our people
and their political leaders, driven by the illusive elixir of “ pan-Somalism”
or the mirage of a “greater Somalia” decided to throw in their lot with
Italian Somaliland which recently gained its independence from Italy on
July 1st, 1960”
“Now remember, Dave, this union was on the spur of the moment, it was
not debated or ratified by act of Parliament, it was purely driven by
false nationalism, which in truth was not greatly reciprocated by the
Somalis in Italian Somaliland. Nevertheless, off we marched to
Mogadishu, wherein, everything was conceded by the officials from
Somaliland. It was a lopsided division of power which led to resentment
and eventually a catastrophic chain of events, culminating after almost
30 years of neglect and prosecution, in a civil war” I responded.
“Not a very good deal then” said Dave.
“Not at all, after the heady days of “nationalistic euphoria”,
Somaliland and its patriots came to the conclusion, that the ill-fated,
un-ratified union had been a mistake. On May 18th, 1991 that error was
rectified, after much loss of life and bloodshed” I replied.
“How so?” asked Dave.
“Well, after the overthrow of last Somali dictator in January 1991 by
many opposition forces, including from both the north and the south. The
agreement had been to get together and talk about the future of the
union” I stated.
“So, what happened?” wondered Dave.
“Well, lo and behold some politicians in Mogadishu decided to form a new
government without consultation or representation” I replied.
“Shafted again!” exclaimed Dave.
“Precisely, then at a great forum in Buroa, a major town in Somaliland,
attended by all the elders, politicians, intellectuals, and people from
every social strata and clan fellowship, it was decided that Somaliland
will again reclaim its independence of June 26th, 1960, and the
un-ratified union of the 1st of July, 1960, with Italian Somaliland is
null and void” I responded.
“Well, talk about once bitten twice shy, so, I guess it has been plain
sailing since” remarked Dave
“On the whole yes, that is to say, the last nineteen years have seen
remarkable progress in Somaliland through dialogue, discussion and
consensus. However, there have also been some periods of trials and
tribulations” I replied.
“What kind of trials and tribulations?” asked Dave.
“Well, not only were the people of Somaliland dealing with after effects
of a civil war, the total destruction of infrastructure, refugees,
displacements, mass graves, etc, there also the question of constructing
a state, disarming the militias, creating a standing army, police force,
all the institutions of a viable state, from scratch” I responded.
“I suppose Somaliland received help from the international community, I
seem to recall President Clinton sending some troops down there in the
early 1990's” enquired Dave.
“No. The troops you are thinking about went to Somalia, and Mogadishu,
you know Black Hawk down, no, that wasn’t Somaliland” I clarified.
“Really!” said Dave.
“Really, in Somaliland, after a few miss-steps, including a needless
internal conflict, and also some lingering border issues which will be
dealt with through diplomacy and consensus, the people of Somaliland
managed to begin the work of building a viable, democratic and progress
nation, which included an overwhelming “Yes” on a referendum on the new
Somaliland constitution and the reclamation of sovereignty. Which,
brings us nicely back to the upcoming elections, I think, the fourth or
fifth, peaceful elections held in Somaliland. In fact, in the last
Presidential elections, the current incumbent won by less than 80 votes”
I stated.
“Less than 80 votes and nobody made a fuss?” asked Dave.
“There was some fuss, But, it was done through the courts, like
Bush/Gore in 2000, not through the use of the gun” I replied.
“No hanging chads then” chuckled Dave.
“No, there have been so far, three peaceful and orderly transfer of
power in Somaliland, the first President, the late Abdirahman Tuur gave
way to his successor, the late Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, who was succeeded
on his death by his Vice-President. And all Somalilanders expect, that
irrespective of the victor in the up-coming elections, the nation’s
democratic path to continue” I responded.
“But, what about all these stuff I hear of pirates and so-called
terrorist” question Dave.
“Well, they are not “so-called terrorist”, they are actual terrorist!
Who carried out suicide attacks in Hargeysa last year. The Somaliland
government and its people have been confronting these elements,
successfully, for quite sometime. It is not in the nature of the
Somaliland society to foster intolerance, in fact, the intolerance of
the previous Somali regimes during the ill-fated union, led directly to
the civil war and to Somaliland reclaiming its sovereignty. As for the
pirates, they operate in the Puntland region of Somalia , which is a
neighboring region of Somalia, and once again, Somaliland with its small
navy has managed to capture quite a few of these pirates, and they have
been tried and sentence in Somaliland's courts" I replied.
“Quite interesting, you know, sometimes, miss-representation and lies
can often lead to someone getting the wrong end of the stick, So, tell
me Ahmed, what is really going in Somaliland now ahead of the
elections?” asked Dave.
“What is really going in Somaliland are the political maneuverings of a
democratic nation in the midst of an election campaign; you know, we
have a free and vociferous press, a highly politicized population, and
an election to hold. Indeed, after the holy month of Ramadan, it all
begins again. Which is quite interesting, because, in the article you
mentioned Dave, Somaliland is being held to a higher level of scrutiny
by the international community, which show the maturity of our democracy
and the success of the dialogue, discussion and consensus formula that
has made Somaliland, Africa’s best kept secret” I explained.
“I did not know that” stated Dave.
“Now you know, Dave” I responded “Now you know”.
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