fiogf49gjkf0d
by Ali H Abdulla
Monday, July 13, 2009
To: Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman
Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
2310 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, District of Columbia 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman,
|
Congressman Donald Payne, Chairman Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health
|
The Somali people everywhere in this world would like to thank you for your efforts to bring the Somali people together so that they can extricate themselves from the prolonged sufferings they have endured for nearly two decades.
The Somali people would also like to congratulate your country on the recent election of Barack Obama to the white house. Somalis are delighted that their African American brothers, with the help of their other fellow Americans, have finally managed to overcome centuries of injustice and marginalization. Let us hope that the election of President Obama serves to bring the American people closer than ever and contribute to a truly integrated society that is well equipped to tackle the numerous challenges that our world faces today, such as global warming, the economic meltdown and the numerous conflicts raging on in many parts of the world.
The United States is a country that brings together people from all around the globe. African Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans and White Americans live in harmony, and have managed to overcome their differences to create the most powerful nation on earth. Your people have managed to overcome their fears and prejudices, and they have succeeded in sending a black man to the white house for the first time in their history, an achievement that would have been unthinkable in the recent past. This is the result of patience, perseverance and hope. The dream of Martin Luther King has finally been realized. Your glorious achievements show that dreams do come true. As Somalis, we hope that our dream of uniting the Somali people peacefully will also come true.
The Somali people are one people. They are the most homogeneous people in
Africa and perhaps in the world. They speak the same language, adhere to the same religion, are endowed with same color, and enjoy the same physical features. They live in a country that is not bigger than
Texas. Yet, they suffer from disunity and internal conflict.
The nomadic nature of the Somalis have imposed on them over the centuries a clan structure that has been exploited by the European colonialists in the 19th century to divide them into five areas of influence against their will. Most Somalis have fought against that and lost thousands in the process.
After two of the five parts got rid of the colonialists in 1960 and established a democratic government known as the Republic of Somalia, the Somali people started the process of nation building. Unfortunately, Somalia was not immune to the numerous coup d’etats that afflicted the African continent, and fell prey to the cold war influences of the time. A military junta took over in 1969 that was initially welcomed by most Somalis who were tired of the corruptions of the then democratically elected civilian government. As hindsight, it seems that Somalis were hasty in their judgment to support the junta at the time, just as some fellow Somalis are hasty in their desire to complete the work started by the colonialists in the19th century; i.e. to divide Somalia into clan fiefdoms once again.
The division of the Somalis into several countries had contributed a lot to the current mess in Somalia. When the military junta tried to re-unite some of the Somali people by force in 1977, the defeated national army became weakened and started to lose its grip on the country. Years of latent dissent surfaced, and the ugly clan influence reared its head again to further weaken the central government that eventually resorted to heavy-handed tactics in order to suppress legitimate grievances in many parts of the country.
After losing the national army that held the country together, Somalia started to disintegrate into clan fiefdoms. Some clans have been more successful than others in creating good governance in their areas of influence. Others have fallen prey to warlords, criminal gangs and religious fundamentalists, and were not given the chance to establish successful local administrations.
Somaliland is one of the clan fiefdoms that have been successful in overcoming their sub-clan differences, although all is not well there also. Religious fundamentalists have sleeper cells in many parts of Somaliland, and clan rivalry can erupt any time, if disgruntled politicians choose to play that ugly card when it suits their self-interests. As I write this letter to you, two clans are at loggerheads over disputed land not far from the capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa. Farther East, Somaliland forces illegally occupy a city whose inhabitants are vehemently opposed to the desire of some groups in Somaliland to break away from the Somali Republic. Opposing forces are assembling around the city to evict these forces, a process that can only contribute to the current mess in Somalia.
As a country that unites many ethnic groups, I believe that your country can play a major role in resolving the intractable problems in Somalia. Instead of supplying weapons to those fighting each other, the US can start engaging the different groups in Somalia as an honest broker. The Somali problem has been left to regional countries for many years. Many of these countries have no desire to see a stable Somalia that they perceive as a threat to their national interests. Ethiopia and Kenya occupy Somali territories given to them by colonial powers. They should not be allowed to exploit the current situation in Somalia to advance their strategic interests at the expense of the Somali people.
Drought, Poverty, rampant un-employment and scarce resources also contribute to the instability of Somalia. Food aid delivered by NGOs cannot solve these difficult problems. The World Community needs to pursue innovative strategies to help Somalia overcome these difficult challenges. Regions that are committed to peace, democracy and the Federal system in Somalia need to be rewarded for their efforts.
Finally, I would like to convey to you the gratitude of the Somali people for your gallant efforts to help them overcome their seemingly endless misery. We all hope that you will follow the example of your people who dreamt, hoped, persevered and finally overcame difficult challenges. Please do not give up on Somalia and continue your efforts to help them overcome their differences. Instead of isolating any group, we hope that you will engage all groups and bring them around to the common goal of uniting their country and people in a Federal system that is characterized by justice, democracy and respect for human rights.
Sincerely yours,
Ali H Abdulla
A concerned Somali
[email protected]