by Mohamed A. Elmi
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
As concerned Somali expats we are dealing with a complex set of problems in our quest for an ideal future for perpetual peace and prosperity through an overarching vision nourished by benevolent objectives and specific guidelines. We understand and consider the need for further research and study of the strengths of Somali cultural identity, political union, good governance and untapped natural resources. The scientific improvement of such crucial items is knowledgeably impeded by the continual fragmentation of Somalis into clan-inspired mini states and dominions.
Looking at the scale of measurement thus far, still running negatives for the indicators of our absolute social values are apparent injustice, cruelty, regressive political expression and self-destruction. That it might take beyond our lifetime to cut the social and economic deficit is a serious consideration until the international community of states alters its outright negligence about the baleful conditions under which Somalia throttles in.
The Northern (Somalia) dilemma
While the South suffers under the weight of proxy wars, the North is routinely classified as relatively calm. Of the lopsided coverage of the presidential election in "Somaliland, a new description entered the Somali conflict.”Ballots vs. bullets" has been recently coined to draw a stark and unfair contrast between the North and the South of Somalia, respectively, while leaving the dire situation and conflict in Las Anod city and environs out of the spectrum of the political discussion.
It is praiseworthy that Prof. Mohamed Said Gees and his highly valued research organization, the Academy for Peace and Development (APD) pioneered and sustained the democratic process of "Somaliland" like the strengthening of the multi-party system, voter registration, constitutional law, how to develop and sustain peace and consensus among Somali communities, but it is not largely enough if it encourages and advances, in its publications, reports and academic books (commissioned by the UNICEF and the UK Government), the dismemberment of Somalia. On the other hand, the political reality in the North (Somaliland) gives us a different perspective. Fascist thoughts and behavior are tolerated and advanced in public spheres, schools and around government circles. For instance, the history of the SNM movement was officially proposed (though later reversed) to be part of the academic curriculum in Primary and Elementary schools. A die-hard secessionist would openly glorify the atrocities committed against the people of much of Sool, Ayn, Haylan, and Sanaag regions by the SNM guerilla fighters as justified means to “freedom”, and to secure the right to secede from the bulk of Somalia. The last authoritarian regime’s resort, however, to brutal force and bad policies had had dire consequences on every Somali citizen in almost equal measure until its collapse.
Inspired by a British colonial legacy, "Somaliland" declared an “independence” from itself, but the international media often ignores this fact. It also ignores how this entity emerged from the wreckage of the collapsed state of Somalia and how it superimposes its political aspirations---warped as it may---on the regions of Maakhir Territory (made up of much of Sanaag, Haylan and western Bari regions) without any ground forces to manifest for its bogus claims. Though, always and successfully, challenged, the claim to Maakhir Territory is her propaganda asset in her desire to balance and seek a legal personality status with rights and privileges as a new member of the international community. I am surprised the secessionist "government" is under no international pressure to retreat from its narrow political agenda, which might set a precedent or a "contagion" effect for this volatile, Horn of Africa, region.
International Economic Integration
Even though the rise of secessionist sentiments and clamor for statehood in the areas around Bur'o, Berbera, and Hargeisa, a.k.a the Triangle, is well reported, the region has not proven to be economically viable as it lags behind Puntland and the rest of Somalia in trade volume and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the private sector, according to a comparative analysis by the World Bank, collected data of the revenues between the ports of Berbera and Bosaso. With the exception of Sanaag and Sool regions, both of which are well-documented (Somalia, The Petroleum Economist, 1991) to have large deposits of oil and minerals besides marvelous greeneries in the Calmadow plateau, the secessionist-controlled areas are less endowed with such resources. "Somaliland" does not even fit Robert Gurr's 'Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflicts’, which states, "Smallness can be an asset in the division of labor in the modern world, where economies are linked through international transactions. The secessionist "government" also parlays the benign assistance from the U.N and related aid agencies into serious political advantages. A central government that would have applied a much-needed break against the parochial excess of one-clan secession is long dead, suspended or absent.
Moreover, fueling the violence and the anarchy in Mogadisho are part of its best strategy to dismember Somalia.
The Double Standards of the International Action and Media
Human rights violations, for instance, is systemitacally bypassed and news of a voter registrations process and presidential polls given credibility. Various not-for profits European organizations and individuals found new jobs and opportunity to build up their resumes and win lucrative contracts from donors and the states in which they are registered. Shameless deals with foreign non-state actors over our national resources for a mere payment--less worth of public expectation--or much lower than the its intrinsic value--are traded on popular stock exchanges in Australia and Europe.
The support of one group at the expense of another is how the policies of divide and rule in Africa are still employed and maintained by the powers that be. I recall once reading a good article about Somalia from the Foreign Affairs magazine. It argued for the promotion of a bottom-up approach as a viable solution to Somalia's political and economic crisis. One of its interesting policy prescriptions or recommendations was that it called for either the U.N or the U.S to launch a national deposit fund that doubles almost in half for every dollar every Somali region receives as a remittance from Europe and America. The money will be used to encourage local initiatives and traditional models of governance. At the moment, all the significant financial support and blind attention that Somalia gets have been unfairly given to three entities, one of which is the Transitional Federal Government Somalia (TFG)--the main recipient, while both Puntland" and "Somaliland" have been granted financial incentives to play minor roles for the International Community such as the war against piracy, international terrorism, and the promotion of human rights and democratic principles, though they abuse the responsibility that comes with such collaboration--almost routinely, in their hostile dealings with Maakhir regions.
Mohamed A. Elmi
San Diego, CA
[email protected]