Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Adom Brodbury
Ray Akang
Design/Maps:
Rich Cawley/Adom Brodbury
Cover photo: Homish Wilsan
Print: Habbs the Printer Ltd, Tattan, Hompshil-e 5040 3WX
Mark Bradbury
CIIR 1997
Third printing 2001
ISBN 1 85287 187 3
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SOMALILAND
Contents
Maps iv
Introduction 1
Boxes
1. Somali clans (and modern 9. Demobilisation 23
politico-military movements) 3 10. Mines'- a lasting legacy 24
2. Security, law and order 4 11. The new Somaliland shilling 27
3. Frankincense and fishing 8 12. The limits of government 28
4. Crop production 9 13. The Peace Committee for Somaliland 32
5. Geography of Somaliland 19 14. Local non-governmental organisations 37
6. The people of Somaliland 20 15. Capacity building in Somaliland 38
7. Primary Issaq lineages 20 16. Women in Somaliland 39
8. The Somali National Movement 21 17. Political fragmentation 41
--
SOMALILAND
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SOMALIA/SOMALI LAN D
The author
Mark Bradbury has worked extensively in Somaliland for non-governmen-
tal and development relief programmes. Country director for ActionAid in
Somalia between 1988 and 1990 and in Somaliland in 1992, he has also car-
ried out assignments in the region for Oxfam UKI, International Cooperation
for Development and VetAid. His publications include: The Somali Conflict:
Prospects for peace (1994), published by Oxfam UKI; and Building
Partnerships for Participatory Development (1996) and Building
Partnerships for Peace and Development (1997), both published by CIIR.
Somalia/Somaliland
Unless stated otherwise, 'Somalia' refers to the territories of the Republic of
Somalia, including the secessionist Somaliland, and 'Somaliland' refers to
the region otherwise known as north-west Somalia.
SOMALlLAND
Introduction
n 1991 the Somali state collapsed as civil war it is essential to recognise that Somaliland is a legacy
Iengulfed the capital Mogadishu and the military
regime of Mohamed Siad Barre was forced from
of European colonialism: before the colonial partition
of the Horn of Africa region, Somalia did not exist.
power. After more than a century in the making and 30 The present-day borders of Somaliland follow the
years of independence, Somalia has ceased to function borders of the former British Somaliland Protectorate.
as a unitary state. In May 1991 the north-west regions
seceded from Somalia to form the independent o understand political trends in Somaliland and
'Republic of Somaliland'. Here clan-based institutions
of elders, combined with fledgling governmental and
T Somalia, it is also vital to appreciate that the
political constitution of Somali society lies not in the
non-governmental organisations, have emerged to take centralised institution of a European state model, but in
responsibility for governance, security and a system where notions of a 'social contract' have
reconstruction. Elsewhere, in the vacuum of state more to do with regulating relationships between
collapse, various bodies have emerged: politico- pastoral kinship groups than between a central polity
military organisations and fragile civil structures, and the individual citizen. Colonialism grafted a
including councils of elders, the remnants of UN system of centralised governance onto a decentralised
sponsored administrative councils and, in places, and egalitarian political system of a pastoral people.
religious authorities which have instituted Islamic law The centralisation of governance reached its peak
(shari'a). during the repressive military regime of Mohamed
In 1992 a US diplomat described the situation in Siad Barre. The civil war that was unleashed in May
Somalia as 'the worst humanitarian crisis faced by 1988, when the Somali National Movement (SNM)
any people in the world'. At the end of 1992 it attacked the northern cities of Burco and Hargeisa, was
was estimated that more than 500,000 people had in part a struggle to overthrow a corrupt military
died in the war and famine in Somalia (Prendergast, dictatorship, and to assert greater self-determination.
1997: 115). This included 300,000 children. Some The most dramatic example of this assertion of self-
1.5 million Somalis had fled the country. Many more determination was Somaliland' s secession. In the
have since died. Even before the civil war Somalia context of general economic decline in the 1980s, and
was considered one of the poorest countries in Africa. Somalia's marginalisation in the world economy, the
The war destroyed housing, urban industry, Somali war has involved a violent struggle between
communications, social services and agricultural factions for control of Somalia's internal resources,
infrastructure. Government and public buildings were and externally provided aid.
ransacked. Basic needs are greater now than ever. This report seeks to promote a better understanding
of the Somali civil war, and the context of future
o single factor can explain the causes of the social, economic and political rehabilitation and
N war. The legacies of European colonialism, the
Somali kinship system, contradictions between a
development. The report falls into two parts: as a
background to Somaliland's secession, the first traces
centralised state and a pastoral culture, Cold War the history of the Somali state, the descent into civil
politics, militarisation, marginalisation and uneven war and the impacts of international policies and
development, ecological decline, lack of power- interventiorts and the second part chronicles the brief
sharing, corruption, oppression and the cumulative history of Somaliland between 1991 and 1996. After
impact of decades of armed conflict have all six years Somaliland' s claims for independence
contributed. The common use of 'anarchy', 'chaos' remain unrecognised internationally. Also largely
and 'madness' to describe the war and state of unrecognised are the efforts made by people there to
disintegration in Somalia, demonstrate an ignorance of reconstruct their livelihoods and institutions after years
Somali society and the nature of the civil war. This of war. The report analyses the impact of the conflict,
ignorance was evident in the massively expensive and and the local and international efforts in reconstructing
controversial UN military intervention in Somalia. civil and governmental structures and institutions in
To understand Somaliland's claim to independence Somaliland.
PART 1
The colonialists who entered the Somali belong to one of six kin-based 'clan families', a
region in the 19th century encountered two confederation of genealogically related clans
dominant cultures - an interior populated by (Lewis, 1961). These are Dir, Issaq, Darod,
dispersed pastoral groups, and a coastal city Hawiye, Digil and Rahanweyne. These again
culture. In addition they found sedentary divide along the male line into smaller kin-
agriculturalists along the southern rivers. groups or sub-clans (see Box 1).
Although the colonial and post-colonial states The Dir, Issaq, Darod, and Hawiye are
incorporated a range of cultures, it is Somali predominantly nomadic pastoralists. The Digil
pastoral culture that has been the dominant and Rahanweyne (also known as Digil-Mirifle)
political culture and the basis of Somali are mainly agro-pastoralists. Occupying the
nationalism. Before the 1990s war more than relatively fertile zone between the Juba and
60 per cent of Somalia's population engaged in Shabelle rivers, they have a political culture and
some form of nomadic pastoralism. language (af-maymay) distinct from nomadic
The Somali-speaking people form one of the Somalis. All the Somali clans straddle the
largest ethnic groups in Africa, living dispersed borders with neighbouring Ethiopia, Kenya and
throughout the Horn, from the Awash Valley, Djibouti.
through the Ethiopian Ogaden and into northern Other ethnic groups in Somalia include Bantu
Kenya as far as the Tana river. agriculturalists settled along the banks of the
Although Somalis are united through southern rivers, and Arabs of Yemeni descent
common descent, the Somali 'nation' did not found in the coastal towns of Mogadishu,
constitute a unitary polity or state before Merca, Brava and Kismayo. Specialised 'castes'
colonialism. Political affiliation and identity of blacksmiths, leather workers and hunters are
was based on kinship. The Somali people also closely integrated with the Somali.
I
Aqiil Abuu Ta'alib
1
I I
I
Sab
I I Samaale I
I
Irir
I I I Darod I
I
~
I I Marehan
Digil Rahanweyne Hawiye Issaq (SNF)
(SDM) (SDM) (USC) (SNM)
l
I Harti I Ogaden
(SPM)
.
I I I I
Issa Samaroon I Biyamale Majeerteen Warsengeli Dolbahunte
(USF) (SSNM) (SSDF) (USP) (USP)
I
Gadabursi
(SDA) Adapted from Lewis, 1961.
See page 48 for acronyms
political and economic intrusions of colonialism forces, thus setting a trend for the future.
and state policies this century provide some Finally, colonial state formation established
explanation of the Somali crisis. an urban bias in development that marginalised
the rural pastoral and agro-pastoral populations.
As cities became centres of the political
The colonial legacy bureaucracy, the commercial sector and
Foreign strategic interest in Somalia has always education, the cadres of the nationalist
been commercial, due to its location. In 1839 movements, such as the Somali Youth League
the British established a garrison in Aden to and northern Somaliland National League, that
protect its trade with India. In the 1880s Britain, led Somalia to independence, were largely
France and Italy signed numerous protection drawn from the new urban elite.
treaties with Somali clans in a scramble for
influence in the region (Lewis, 1988). By 1900
the division of Somali territory had been Independence
consolidated in treaties between the European On 26 June 1960 Britain granted independence
colonial powers and Abyssinia. to the Somaliland Protectorate. Four days later
These colonial intrusions left a legacy of a the Italian-administered UN Trusteeship
system of centralised government grafted onto Territory of Somalia achieved independence.
an uncentralised political system of a pastoral On 1 July 1960 the two territories united to form
people. This involved bringing pastoralists and the Somali Republic.
their resources under state control. The task of integrating the territories' legal
The political treaties which divided the land and administrative infrastructure took three
of the Somalis created borders which did not years to complete and did not go smoothly. In
respect clan territories. Of particular importance December 1961 northern dissatisfaction with
were the Haud grazing lands 1 ceded to Ethiopia__ the process and the perceived bias towards the
by Britain in 1954 (Lewis, 1988: 150). The south led to an abortive coup by disaffected
demarcation of pastoral lands curbed the northt>tn army officers.
mobility of pastoralists, leaving them more D'Gring the first nine years of the new
vulnerable to the vagaries of climate. The republic bureaucratic state structures were
allocation of pasture and water rights to certain expanded and government further centralised
lineages reinforced a notion of clan and through centrally orchestrated development
territorial identity, and upset the political programmes. Failure to invest in and develop a
equilibrium between clans. State development productive domestic economy led the state to
thus altered the way people participated in the become increasingly dependent on foreign aid.
local management of resources. The country officially adopted a non-aligned
In the absence of formal political institutions position at independence, but Cold War
or offices, British rule in Somaliland was geopolitics began to intrude as Somalia sought
administered indirectly through the heads of foreign aid and support for its claims to the
diya-paying groups, known as akil, who 'lost' Somali territories in Kenya and Ethiopia.
received government stipends. In practice, In 1963, for example, it turned down military
administration remained in the hands of colonial aid from the West in return for aid from the
district commissioners. In Italian Somalia a Soviet Union (Lewis, 1988: 201). A legacy of
similar system of selected clan chiefs was colonialism was the development of the social
introduced. These administrative structures and classes that controlled the state (Abdi I Samatar,
other developments, such as the introduction of 1989: 82).
a Western judicial system to replace diya, Increasingly, the state and its resources,
inevitably altered pastoral socio-political including foreign aid, became a focus for
institutions. competition between those elite classes. As a
As new forms of wealth accumulated in the result, parliamentary democracy became
state, the mandate of political leadership altered increasingly opaque and, in the absence of
from regulating kin relations and entitlements to ideological differences between political
pastoral resources, to regulating access to the parties, ever more 'clanist' in orientation. The
political and economic benefits of the state, thus increasingly venal struggle for state control by
sowing seeds of disunity and conflict. One these elite, eventually led to the collapse of
response of the colonial government to such parliamentary democracy and a military coup.
conflicts was to invest more in state security
the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea and could As the political and economic CrISIS
prove vital as a support area for US forces developed in the 1980s, and as Somalia became
responding to contingencies in the Persian more indebted to military and financial
Gulf. (Cited in Prendergast, 1991) assistance from the West, the regime's socialist
The United States and the Soviet Union were rhetoric began to wear thin and the reality of
not the only suppliers of military equipment to political autocracy surfaced (Ahmed I Samatar,
Somalia. Italy, Romania, East Germany, Iraq, 1988). Initially drawn from the Darod 'clan
Iran, Libya, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and family' and dubbed the 'MOD alliance'
China all contributed at different times. The (Marehan, Ogaden, Dolbahunte), in the face of
largesse of the superpowers during the Cold mounting insecurity it increasingly became
War is demonstrated in the arsenals of weapons dominated by Barre's Marehan clan.
bequeathed to Somali 'warlords' to fight the The Barre government had an appalling
war. human rights record (Amnesty International,
1988). In the regime's first seven years its
targets were individual opponents of the regime.
After 1978, however, whole clans and economic
The Ogaden War and its aftermath
groups associated with the insurgencies were
Since colonial treaties had allotted the Somali- targeted. Those who suffered most were the
populated Ogaden to Ethiopia in 1948, the Majeerteen from Mudug region, the Issaq in the
Ogaden had figured as one of Somalia's 'lost' north-west, and the riverine communities in the
territories, and a constant source of tension in south. The armed opposition movements that
Ethiopia-Somali relations. In 1974/75 Somalia emerged in the wake of the Ogaden war were a
endured one of the worst droughts in its history, direct response to the lack of power sharing,
known in Somali as dabadheer (meaning corruption, human rights abuses, and what has
'endless'). In Ethiopia the inadequate response been described as a serious disjuncture between
of the Haile Selassie government to the drought the moral and coercive authority in the state
led to its overthrow in September 1974. In 1977, (Said S Samatar, 1991). As the civil war became
taking advantage of a weakened Ethiopian state, protracted, any ideological concerns of the
Barre launched a war to reclaim the Somali political movements evaporated.
Ogaden for Somalia. The war was a high point
of Somali nationalism and Siad Barre's Economic transformation and
popularity. A year later the Somali army was
defeated by the Soviet- and Cuban-backed underdevelopmenf2
Ethiopian army. Even before the war Somalia was considered
Defeat was a turning point for the Barre one of the poorest countries in Africa. It was
regime, and the beginning of the demise that led estimated that 70 per cent of the rural
to the Somali civil war. Defeat ended any sense population lived below the absolute poverty
of national unity. Ethiopian Somalis who fled level. The gross national product (GNP) per
the fighting sought refuge in Somalia, making capita was only US$280 a year, some 70 per
the country host to the largest refugee cent of which was income remitted by Somalis
population in Africa. Estimated at 1.5 million, working abroad. In 1990 Somalia's
refugees amounted to some 40 per cent of international debt stood at US$2 billion and
Somalia's population. A deluge of international inflation was estimated to be running at 600 per
aid, aid workers and aid organisations followed. cent a year.
Internal dissent and the formation of military To comprehend Somalia's descent into civil
insurgent groups began to threaten the regime. war and the battle for control of the Somali
A failed coup attempt by Majeerteen officers in state, it is necessary to trace the broad economic
1978 led to the creation of the Somali Salvation transformations in Somalia since colonial times.
Democratic Front (SSDF), which launched a
guerrilla campaign against Barre in the central Transformations in the
regions of Somalia. In 1981 disaffected Issaq of pastoral economy
the northern regions formed the Somali
National Movement (SNM) and took up arms Colonisation laid the basis for a mixed
against the regime. Both the SSDF and the SNM economy. At independence this entailed a
sought sanctuary in Ethiopia, illustrating the 'traditional' agricultural sector consisting of
disintegration within the Somali state. pastoralism and peasant cultivation, and a
Deregulation of the economy, and the ending of background to the war in Somalia. However, the
mandatory deliveries to state marketing boards links between poverty and conflict are complex.
boosted agricultural production (Abdi I Samatar, Somalia's infamous 'warlords' did not come
1994). This had a cost for the peasant producers. from Somalia's poor. Underlying the Somali
Land prices rocketed and a land rush ensued. civil war has been competition between elites
Much of the irrigable land along the Shabelle over a parallel economy and the diminishing
valley was expropriated by wealthy urbanites resources of the state. This struggle became
for rice production. more violent, and was increasingly projected
Deregulation of the economy also stimulated along the faultlines of 'clanism'. This, in part, is
the growth of an illicit parallel economy what emerges from the chronology of Somalia's
(Miller, 1981). In the mid 1980s low wages civil war. It goes some way to explaining why
forced civil servants and others to seek incomes the war has been so protracted, and the way in
outside their official duties. For some the gap which humanitarian aid became an integral part
between wages and needs was filled by private of the conflict.
remittances of Somalis working abroad
(estimated to number 250,000 people in 1980),
others resorted to illicit trade and corruption.
Following the drop in oil prices in the 1980s and
subsequent decrease in employment
opportunities in the Persian Gulf, remittances
began to decline. As the formal economy and
The Somali
banking system atrophied, an informal and
illicit economy emerged.
Access to, and control over, the formal
Civil War
economy was through the state. As state power
consolidated among Barre's immediate kin,
1988-91
clan identity, proscribed in the 1970s, re-
emerged as the passport to political and
economic security. ince the Ogaden war Somalia and those
Clans allied with the regime received
preferential disbursements in development aid
S areas of the Horn inhabited by the Somali
people have been in a virtually continuous state
or political positions. Those not allied came to of armed conflict. The 1988 peace accord
depend, in part, on the informal or illegal between Somalia and Ethiopia that sought to
economy. At the end of the 1980s, in the context end 10 years of hostility between those
of general economic decline, there was a countries only precipitated another war. The
struggle between the (largely urban) political peace accord, which signalled the end of pan-
and economic elite for control over economic Somali unity by recognising Ethiopian control
resources in the formal and informal economy. over the Haud, triggered an assault by the SNM
on the northern cities of Burco and Hargeisa in
May 1988. These proved to be the opening shots
Disintegration of the Somali State to the Somali civil war.
State formation in Somalia, from the colonial
era to the Barre era, involved the transition from
an uncentralised and egalitarian pastoral society War with the Majeerteen
to a centralised, oppressive and predatory state. The first organised armed opposition to Barre
Backed by a coercive military force, the Barre was the Somali Salvation Democratic Front
regime was able to manipulate the delicately (SSDF) formed by Majeerteen officers who
balanced clan system. escaped arrest following an abortive coup of
State formation in Somalia also involved April 1978. Led by Colonel Abdillahi Yusuf,
the development of a 'national' economy, and backed by the Ethiopian army, the SSDF in
which drew Somalia into an expanding global the early 1980s managed to capture and control
economic system. Somalia's external some border territory in Mudug region in
marginalisation in this world economy Somalia's central rangelands, home of
was matched by new internal inequalities of Abdillahi Yusuf's sub-clan. The response of the
wealth. Poverty, inequity and chronic regime was savage. In May and June 1979 more
underdevelopment therefore form part of the than 2,000 Majeerteen were said to have died in
a
SOMALlLAND
Mudug region as the result of the regime's threat to their own lands. Government arming of
scorched earth policy (Said S Samatar, 1991: refugees fuelled this fear. The 1988 peace
18). The SSDF, however, retained possession of accord between Somalia and Ethiopia finally
their border territory, and launched intermittent recognised Ethiopian control over the Ogaden
cross-border raids until 1986, including joint and Haud.
operations with the SNM in 1983. Issaq merchants were prominent in the
The SSDF insurgency collapsed in 1986 after livestock trade, with the northern port of
Abdillahi Yusuf was arrested by the Ethiopian Berbera a major outlet to the Persian Gulf. The
government, which was seeking a rapprochement Issaq perceived government economic controls
with Somalia. Although reconstituted in 1989, as and attempts to regulate a parallel market as an
the civil war spread southwards and the north-east attack on their businesses and judged the
became cut off, the SSDF took no part in Barre's government's ban in 1983 on qaat cultivation,
final overthrow. In 1990, however, the Manifesto which flourished in the north-west, as further
Group that sought Barre's peaceful removal from evidence of this. The Somali army's subsequent
power contained several prominent Majeerteen monopoly of the qaat trade was early evidence
(see page 12). of an emerging economy controlled through
violence.
Throughout the 1980s government policy
War with the Issaq towards the Issaq became increasingly
In 1980 a second opposition front emerged to repressive. A 'leaked' letter, allegedly from the
challenge the regime in the form of the Somali military governor in the north to the head of
National Movement (SNM). Founded in state, raised fear among the Issaq that the
London by intellectuals, businessmen and government had embarked on a genocidal
religious leaders, the SNM was primarily an programme against them. In May 1988 the
Issaq-based organisation. Issaq disaffection SNM, fearful of losing its bases in Ethiopia as a
with the regime arose from a number of sources: result of the peace accord, attacked and briefly
inadequate (and undemocratic) political captured the northern cities of Burco and
representation, unequal distribution of Hargeisa. In response Somali government
development resources, and government forces launched a savage assault on the Issaq
regulation of business, particularly the livestock population, forcing thousands to flee to
and qaat trade. Ethiopia. Between May 1988 and March 1989
In British Somaliland the Issaq made up the some 50,000 people were estimated to have
majority of the population. Although that been killed (Africa Watch, 1990). Up to this
position changed when Somaliland united with point the SNM had not been widely supported
Italian Somalia, the Issaq continued to have an by civilians. These brutal attacks finally united
influence in government. Somalia's last two the Issaq behind the SNM for an all-out war
civilian governments of 1967 and 1969 were against the regime.
headed by an Issaq premier, Mohamed Haji
Ibrahim Egal. Under Barre several Issaqs held
cabinet posts. Nevertheless, after Somalia's War with the Ogaden
independence there was a feeling that political The Ogaden, a sub-lineage of the Darod, is the
representation in Somalia's affairs favoured largest Somali clan confederacy. Its location in
southerners. the Ogaden (Ethiopia) and in Kenya, coupled
Somalilanders' decision to unite with the with the force of Somali irredentism, has given
south in 1960 had been controversial. At the the clan a significant role in Somalia's politics.
time, however, Somali nationalism was Under Barre the Ogadenis were prominent in
vigorous. It was surmised that unity was the first the army and h@ld key military posts. Ogaden
step towards the realisation of 'Greater refugees who entered Somalia after the war with
Somalia', combining all Somali territories, and Ethiopia by and large supported Barre. Many
re-establishing control over the Haud grazing were armed to fight the SNM.
lands in Ethiopia, a primary resource for Barre's rapprochement with the Ethiopian
Somaliland's pastoralists. The Issaq, along with regime, and the growing power of the Marehan
other northerners, supported the war against within the military, caused disaffection among
Ethiopia to reclaim the Ogaden. Somalia's Ogadeni soldiers. In April 1989 Barre sacked
defeat, however, resulted in a mass influx of his defence minister, an Ogadeni, sparking a
Ogadeni refugees into the north that posed a mutiny among Ogadeni soldiers in the southern
port of Kismayo and leading to the fonnation of December 1990, having agreed a joint
the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM). The campaign with the SNM and SPM, the USC
mutiny in Kismayo was also rooted in a took the war to Mogadishu.
protracted dispute between Marehan and
Ogadeni pastoralists over the pastoral resources
of the Juba region (Bradbury, 1994a: 54; The Digil and Rahanweyne
African Rights, 1994). The emergence of an The Digil and Rahanweyne, situated between
Ogadeni opposition movement signalled the the Juba and Shabelle rivers, belong to the Saab
break up of the 'MOD (Darod) alliance' that branch of the Somali people. As agriculturalists
had dominated the ruling group in Somalia they are looked down on by pastoral Somalis.
under Barre. A second Ogadeni front was Their inferior status and smaller numbers have
fonned in June 1989, when Colonel Omar Jess given them a marginal role in Somali national
defected with soldiers from the Somali army politics. In 1989 a Rahanweyne opposition
in Hargeisa. For most of the war against BatTe movement was fonned, the Somali Democratic
the SPM constituted a 'southern front', Movement (SDM), calling for the removal of
destabilising the regions south of the capital. Siad Barre. They played only a limited role in
his overthrow. However, after he was deposed,
the Rahanweyne and Digil were unable to
War with the Hawiye withstand the rampaging armies of Barre and
Barre's downfall was finally precipitated by the the USC. When their agriculture was
emergence in 1989 of a Hawiye-based military devastated, the Rahanweyne and Digil became
force, the United Somali Congress (USC), in the main victims of the famine in the south.
Somalia's central rangelands. As the largest
clan in southern Somalia, stretching from the
central rangelands to Kenya and Ethiopia, its The opposition proliferates
size, geographical spread, and economic Anti-government groups proliferated as the war
strength within the capital, Mogadishu, have escalated. During 1989 a Dolbahunte-based
made the Hawiye significant players in the Somali United Liberation Front and the
country's politics. The first president of Gadabursi-based Somali Democratic Alliance
Somalia was Hawiye and throughout the 1960s were fonned. Neither took part in the military
Hawiye members held 20 per cent of cabinet overthrow of Barre. Their proliferation
posts in government. presaged the fissures that would emerge after
During Barre's regime, although their Barre was overthrown. They reflected the
political power was curtailed, they benefited concern with self-preservation in the post-Barre
from the concentration of development era of mainly clan-based groups
programmes in the south, and were not
marginalised like the Issaq. An exception were
the Hawiye pastoralists, such as the Habr Gedir, The Manifesto Group
who came into dispute with the Marehan As the war escalated, several attempts at
pastoralists favoured by Barre over resources in peaceful change were made internally by
Somalia's central rangelands. (African Rights, different groups. In May 1989, for example,
1994) some prominent Marehan gave Barre an
In October 1989 Hawiye soldiers mutinied in ultimatum to change and reinstate democracy.
the town of Galkaiyo. Fighting quickly spread However, it was the Manifesto Group which
through the regions of Mudug, Galgadud and made the most impact.
Hiran. Government typically retaliated by Disaffection with the economic situation, a
bombing villages and massacring civilians. The rising tide of the displaced in the capital and the
USC was founded largely by individuals from government's handling of the conflict,
the Habr Gedir sub-clan of the Hawiye, several eventually led to anti-government riots in
of whom had been members of the SNM central Mogadishu in July 1989. The riots were sparked
committee. The USC's first leader, Mohamed by the assassination of the Catholic bishop of
Wardhigly, who died in June 1990, sought a Mogadishu, and the subsequent arrest of several
negotiated settlement to Somalia's war. General prominent religious leaders. Some 450 people
Mohamed Farah Aideed, who succeeded him, were killed during a day of rioting, followed by
favoured a military solution. The USC was mass atTests and executions of civilians, many
supported in its campaign by the SNM. In of them Issaq.
The ruthless suppression of the riots shattered Barre fled Mogadishu on 26 January 1991 to
any remaining loyalty to the regime. In May his home area in south-west Somalia. There he
1990 more than 100 prominent Somali citizens reconstituted his army under the banner of the
signed an open letter (,Manifesto No 1') Somali National Front (SNF), twice attempting
condemning the regime's policies and calling to recapture Mogadishu. In April 1992 Barre
on it to accept a process of discussion with fled Somalia to Kenya and eventually moved to
opposition groups to bring about a solution to Nigeria where he died in January 1995.
the political turmoil. Forty-five of the
signatories were arrested and charged with
treason. They were later released after mass War and famine
demonstrations in Mogadishu and international Once Barre was deposed the loose coalition of
diplomatic pressure. forces that had defeated him collapsed. The
Manifesto Group hurriedly appointed a
businessman, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, as 'interim
The fall of Siad Barre president' and a politician, Omar Arteh Ghalib,
Under attack on several fronts, the regime as prime minister, thus precipitating an
lamely tried to introduce some political reforms. irrecoverable split within the USC. Attempts by
In September 1989 the central committee of the the Italian and regional governments to
Somali Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRSP) reconcile the factions at two conferences in
approved a change in the constitution to allow Djibouti in May and June failed, and III
for a return to a multi-party system. Qaat was November 1991 fighting again erupted in
legalised and the laws giving equal inheritance Mogadishu between General Aideed and Ali
rights to women revoked. In September 1990 a Mahdi.
new constitution was ratified, the national The battle for Mogadishu lasted four months
security laws were lifted and free elections were and cost the lives of as many as 25,000
scheduled for February 1991. These moves civilians. Two power blocs emerged, based
towards liberalisation, coinciding with economic around General Aideed and Ali Mahdi, both
reforms, had the effect of dismantling many of from sub-clans of the Hawiye. The most
the structures of state set up by the revolution, powerful alliance, headed by Aideed, became
thus leaving the regime more exposed. known as the Somali National Alliance (SNA).
All offers of dialogue were rejected by the Ali Mahdi had gathered around him the
opposition groups, who saw the moves towards Manifesto Group of businessmen and
liberalisation as the last-ditch efforts of a dying politicians.
administration to hold on to power. The For some 16 months, from December 1991 to
constitutional changes, they insisted, were only March 1992, when the United Nations
cosmetic while power remained in the hands of eventually brokered a ceasefire, there was
the ruling family; to the end, eight of the almost continuous warfare in the south. The
president's sons and daughters held powerful coastal towns of Merca, Brava and Kismayo
positions within the administration. and the inland towns of Baidoba and Bardheere
On 6 August 1990, meeting in Ethiopia, the suffered waves of invasions by fighters of the
SNM, USC and SPM agreed to fmm a united USC, SPM, SNF and others. Rape of women,
front against the Barre regime. Belated offers by particularly among the coastal Hamr and
Italy and Egypt to mediate were rejected by the Bravani populations, mass executions,
opposition. On 3 December the USC, under destruction of agricultural land, looting of grain
General Mohamed Farah Aideed, took the war stores and livestock, and destruction of water
to Mogadishu. The battle for Mogadishu lasted supplies and homes led to the massive
almost two months, during which time further displacement of. people into Kenya, Ethiopia
mediation efforts by the Italians, Egyptians and and Yemen, and mass starvation.
the Manifesto Group failed.
a
SOMALlLAND
agreement from Aideed and Ali Mahdi, the UN legacy of unresolved problems. The operation,
Security Council, under Resolution 751 (24 initially welcomed by many Somalis, was to
April 1992) authorised the establishment of the leave many feeling betrayed.
United Nations Operation in Somalia
(UNOSOM). An Algerian diplomat,
The Addis Ababa conference
ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, was appointed
as the UN secretary-general's special envoy to on national reconciliation
Somalia. Conceived as an observer mission, Military intervention was followed by two
UNOSOM initially comprised 50 unarmed hastily arranged national reconciliation
military observers, later increased to 500. A six- conferences, as precursors to handing over to a
month Plan of Action was concurrently UN-led operation. In January 1993 leaders of
mobilised by the United Nations to provide the southern factions meeting in Addis Ababa
US$23 million in humanitarian aid. By agreed on a ceasefire and the procedures
September the promised peacekeepers had not for disarmament. This was followed on
arrived. When the UN secretary-general 27 March 1993 by a 'Conference on National
Boutros Boutros-Ghali accused the West of Reconciliation'. Again this was held in Addis
being more concerned with the 'rich man's war' Ababa, and again involved the 15 factional
in former Yugoslavia than with Somalia, the leaders.
UN headquarters announced plans to deploy The important agreements reached at Addis
3,500 armed troops. In October 1992 Sahnoun, Ababa concerned the formation of a
frustrated with the UN's response and at odds Transitional National Council (TNC) and other
with the secretary-general, publicly criticised transitional political and administrative
the United Nations and resigned. structures that would guide the country to
By this time inter-clan warfare had been elections in two years. However, the declaration
replaced by the armed looting of food aid. The that the TNC would be the 'sole repository' of
price agencies paid militia to protect relief Somali sovereignty angered the people of
supplies was equivalent to the cost of the food Somaliland, involved at that time in their own
delivered. With the UN troops unable to control national reconciliation conference at Borama
the ports and secure the aid deliveries, many (see page 21 below). The Addis Ababa
NGOs advocated international military agreement proved to be so full of other
protection for the humanitarian operation. ambiguities that there was nothing to prevent
Others were more cautious. In December the the signatories from repudiating it.
UN Security Council endorsed Resolution 794 The UN's approach to reconciliation through
(1992), which authorised an offer by the the Addis Ababa conferences enhanced the
outgoing US president George Bush to deploy prestige of the warlords, strengthened their
30,000 US troops in Somalia. Codenamed political role, and left little room for other
Operation Restore Hope, the limited objective potential leaders to emerge. The United Nations
of the US-led UN International Task Force made little attempt to broaden the representation
(UNITAF) was to 'create a secure environment in the reconciliation process, and efforts by
for the delivery of humanitarian relief' other peace advocates to do so had little impact.
throughout the country. On 9 December 1992 The warlords, who derived their power from
US marines landed on Mogadishu's beaches. being military leaders, in fact had most to lose
At the time UNITAF intervened, Aideed and in resolving the war. As long as the United
Ali Mahdi had fought each other to a standstill Nations was willing to continue to sponsor trips
during the four-month battle for Mogadishu. to conferences, there was little incentive for the
Critics of Operation Restore Hope have argued factions to reconcile.
that by the time the military intervened the
famine had already peaked (African Rights,
1993). While delivery of food was improved, UNOSOM 11
the underlying political conflict was just held in The March 1993 Addis Ababa conference was
abeyance. No attempt was made to disarm the critical to the international intervention in
factions, and UNITAF, concerned for the Somalia. The conference was to provide a
security of its own forces, sought the framework for tackling Somalia's political
cooperation of the warlords, thus conferring on problems, and for the UN-led administration
them a measure of legitimacy. The 'quick fix' that would take over from UNITAF.
solution of military intervention thus left a On 26 March the UN Security Council, by
Resolution 814 (1993), authorised the included expatriates, who often had little or no
establishment of UNOSOM II. Under this experience in Somalia or their particular
resolution UNOSOM was reformulated as a job, being recruited as 'Zonal Directors', and
broader civilian and military operation, with paid large salaries and given powers to match
responsibilities for the political, economic and those of regional governors. Not surprisingly,
civil reconstruction of Somalia. With a two-year Somalis began to accuse the United Nations
mandate to expire in February 1995, the of imperialism, and foreigners of enriching
objectives of UNOSOM II were to assist with themselves from Somalia's misery. Further,
providing relief and economic rehabilitation, although UNOSOM II was supposed to be a
and to promote political reconciliation, peace civilian operation, it continued to be managed by
and stability through the re-establishment of the military. This meant that military matters took
national and regional political and civil precedence over other UN and NGO relief and
administrations, no small task. The US development interventions. (Ameen Jan, 1996)
permanent representative to the UN, Madeline The contradictions between these two
Albright, remarked at the time: approaches at nation building, together with the
means of implementation, led the United
With this resolution, we will embark on an
Nations into a war with General Aideed, the
unprecedented enterprise aimed at nothing
most powerful of the faction leaders. In the
less than the restoration of an entire
process the UN lost its role as neutral arbiter in
country as a proud, functioning and viable
Somalia. Consequently the United States and
member of the community of nations.
the UN were forced into an ignominious
(Cited in Ameen Jan, 1996)
withdrawal from Somalia.
In line with the Addis Ababa agreement to re-
establish national and regional governmental
institutions, this was to involve the formation of The United Nations at war
district councils. The district council programme To support UNOSOM II in its task, the UN
represented a second track, 'grassroots' process Security Council approved the expansion of the
at nation building that was to complement the multilateral peacekeeping force to 28,000
first track, 'top-down' approach pursued through troops, plus 8,000 logistics personnel.
the Addis Ababa conference and with the In addition Resolution 814 invoked Chapter VII
warlords. of the UN Charter, giving UNOSOM II
The programme, however, was problematic. powers of 'peace-enforcement'. These powers,
The councils' representativeness was a matter vastly superior to those assumed for UNITAF,
of concern, given the large population permitted the UN to use force when
displacements, the lack of clarity and dialogue on 'international peace and security' were
the councils' functions and authority, the speed threatened, rather than normal rules of
with which they were created, their relationship engagement which limited UN military action
with indigenous councils of elders, their to self-defence.
relationship with the warlords, the emphasis on With a six-month military budget of
developing constitutional mechanisms in the US$1.5 billion and with military forces from
absence of revenue collection, and the lack of 27 different countries, UNOSOM II was at the
real financial backing from the United Nations. time the most expensive and largest multilateral
Finally, while placing some emphasis on force ever constituted for a peacekeeping
decentralised political structures, the state-centric operation. It was the first time that the United
leanings of the United Nations meant that the States had placed its troops under the UN flag
ultimate aim of the programme was to rebuild a and command, and the first time German
national body politic. This contradicted other soldieis operated outside NATO. At the end of
tendencies in Somalia that thrived on the Cold War, and in the wake of the Gulf War,
statelessness. Somalia became a testing ground for the
The means by which UNOSOM sought to international community's response to conflict
implement this programme were further at fault. and humanitarian crisis in the 'new world
Although Somalia was not made a UN order'. UNOSOM II's policies were thus driven
trusteeship, UNOSOM II, and individuals and more by international political concerns than by
interested parties under the UN umbrella, were the situation in Somalia.
given de facto authority to make decisions for On 4 May 1993 UNITAF handed over to
and on behalf of the Somali people. This UNOSOM II. A month later, after 24 Pakistani
2
SOMALI LAND
UN peacekeepers and 35 Somalis were killed Mogadishu to protect the withdrawal of the
during a weapons search of Radio Mogadishu, remaining 1,500 Pakistani troops. By 2 March
the United Nations found itself at war with the evacuation was completed. In UNOSOM's
General Aideed. Invoking Chapter VII, three-year operation, an estimated 6,000
UNOSOM took an aggressive stance and Somalis and 83 peacekeepers were killed in
ordered his arrest. By mid-September 1993 at clashes between Somali military and the United
least 56 UN soldiers and several hundred Nations.
Somalis had died in clashes between the United At the end of 1993, with the demise of
Nations and Aideed's forces. UNOSOM imminent, donor governments
The UN's approach was widely condemned, established a new forum for coordinating
and it was accused of human rights violations. rehabilitation assistance to Somalia. Known as
In October two US helicopters were shot down the Somali Aid Coordination Body (SACB),
in Mogadishu causing heavy US army this took over much of the policy coordination
casualties, which led the United States to function that UNOSOM was intended to
announce its intention to withdraw from provide in Somalia.
Somalia and the United Nations to call off its UNOSOM was one of a number of
hunt for Aideed. international humanitarian interventions in
The US presence in Somalia came to an end internal wars that occurred at the beginning of
in March 1994 and UNOSOM was handed over the 1990s. As such it was critical in the
to a Pakistani force. In November 1994 the development of international political and
Security Council ordered the United Nations to humanitarian policy. UNOSOM proved a costly
withdraw from Somalia by 31 March 1995. US and flawed experiment. Some of the reasons for
marines and Italians briefly returned to its failure are discussed in Part 11.
PART 11
Somaliland 1991-96
GULF OF ADEN
.
:
,
.'"
f.
I
~orama
Erigavo' ; &.
:
.!'tVARSENGELI
.~~
",,
;
.".
",
' ..."... ..........,
-
Las Anod
........ .
The consequently Somaliland remains unrecognised
by the international community.
Secession had never been a stated aim of the
secession of SNM. The decision by the leaders of the SNM
to reassert Somaliland's sovereignty was made
under popular pressure during the 'Grand
Somaliland Conference of the Northern Peoples' in May
1991, held in the city of Burco (Drysdale,
1992). The formation in February 1991 of an
interim government in Mogadishu by the USC
hen Mohamed Siad Barre was forced went against a previous accord between the
W from power in 1991 the Somali state
collapsed. In January that year, as the USC took
SNM, USC and the SPM. The people of the
northwest, particularly the Issaq who formed
control of Mogadishu, the SNM captured the the backbone of the SNM, feared that any
northern cities of Berbera, Hargeisa and Burco. further relationship with Mogadishu would lead
On 18 May 1991 the people of the north-west to a repeat of the persecution they had suffered
regions of Somalia revoked the 1960 Act of under military rule. Secession was also a
Union that joined the colonial territories of pragmatic stance to distance the north from the
British Somaliland and Italian Somalia, and factional fighting in the south, and a recognition
announced the secession of the 'Republic of that northerners, the Issaq in particular, had no
Somaliland'. The declaration of independence territorial claims over the south. It was also
was made without consulting Somalia's believed that security and stability in the north
numerous other political factions and would attract much-needed international aid.
Sheik Issaq
Saad
Musa
Habr
Yunis
llidalale I
- - - - - --H-a-b-r-M-a-g-aa-d-o-t------.:L ----.---H-a-b-r-H-a-b-u-u-s-h-I-----
The Gadabursi and lssa, sub-clans of the Dir, are found in Awdal region in the west. The Dolbahunte of Sool and
the Warsengeli of eastern Sanaag are sub-clans of the Harti Darod, related to the Majeerteen of north-east Somalia.
Habr Magaado and Habr Habuush were wives of Issaq.
The Peace Charter first prime minister in 1960 and Somalia's last
civilian prime minister in 1969 - as the new
The outcome of deliberations on reconciliation president of Somaliland. Abdulrahman Aw Ali
and security was the 'Somaliland Communities was appointed vice-president.
Security and Peace Charter' . This sought to rectify
mistakes that had led to insecurity and ineffectual
government (Somaliland Peace Charter, 1993). It The Sanaag Peace
aimed to promote 'the strengthening of security Conference
and stability [and] peaceful co-existence among all
the communities of Somaliland' that had been The Borama conference was one of several
agreed at independence (ibid). The charter peace processes under way in Somaliland at that
established a national security framework, time. Of the others, the most significant and
detailing mechanisms for demobilisation, the successful was in Sanaag region, where elders
formation of local police forces and judicial of the region's four main clans - Habr Yunis,
institutions and the securing of roads. The elders Habr Jeclo, Dolbahunte and Warsengeli -
were given responsibility for ensuring that these embarked on a lengthy process of reconciliation
security arrangements were put in place. The (Bradbury, 1994a; Ahmed Yusuf Farah, 1993).
charter also defined the responsibilities of elders in This culminated in the 'Sanaag Grand Peace
mediating and settling outstanding disputes and and Reconciliation Conference', which
future conflicts. It set out a code of conduct for the concluded in October 1993 with the adoption of
people of Somaliland, in accordance with their a regional Peace Charter. The charter allowed
traditions and with the principles of Islam. In effect, for the free movement of trade, the return of
the Peace Charter represented a national xeer. fixed assets, in particular land, and the
restoration of reciprocal access to grazing lands.
In August 1995 the elders in Sanaag oversaw
The National Charter the resettlement and return of land to those who
Discussions on state formation produced a had been displaced during the war. This
National Charter, which was to act as the involved some 500 families. (Haroon Ahmed
constitution for Somaliland for two years. The Yusuf, 1996)
incoming government was to be charged with
drafting a national constitution to be ratified by
referendum within two years. The National
Charter established a government structure with a
bicameral legislature. This comprises an
Assembly of Elders (guurti) as a non-elected The Egal
upper house, and an Assembly of Representatives
as an elected lower house. Together these make
up the parliament. The equivalent of a 'cabinet' is
administration
known as the Executive Council.
In addition the charter separated the judiciary,
auditor-general, and central bank as agencies
1993-95
independent of the government. The charter
institutionalised the elders as peacemakers,
defining their role as 'to encourage and safeguard
peace [and] creating new or enforcing existing The state of government
Codes of Conduct [xeer] among the clans' gal took office on a wave of euphoria
(Bradbury, 1994a: 74). Their authority was
confirmed by their right to appoint a president,
E following the su~cessful conclusion of the
Borama conference. During his first two years
vice-president and members of the Assembly of in office, Egal's achievements in creating a
Representatives. Within both the National functioning administration were considerable.
Charter and the Peace Charter formulated at Ministries were revitalised. Government offices
Borama, there is a clear link to the SNM's were refurbished. Regular morning and
original vision to reform radically systems of afternoon work hours were instituted. A civil
governance in the post-Barre era (see Box 8). service commission was formed. Regular
In June 1993 the National Guurti appointed coordination meetings were established
Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal - Somaliland's between the planning ministry and international
NGOs and UN agencies. The central bank was army. The government even introduced a
opened and a new Somaliland currency minimum wage. In November 1994 ministries
introduced. In Hargeisa, Borama and Berbera received their own budgets. Some 50 per cent
police forces were equipped and organised. was allocated to the defence ministry and
Customs officers were appointed and offices police, with education and health combined
established. A justice system of regional and making up 17 per cent (Gilkes, 1995). All this
district courts was re-established in places, was achieved with minimal external assistance.
utilising the 1960 penal code. In Hargeisa the In the absence of such support, however, these
mayor embarked on a programme of town achievements have not been sustained.
planning and civil engineering, including Although the government's writ was largely
repairs to government hotels. Ministerial and confined to Hargeisa, Berbera and Borama, it
civil service staff (estimated at around 2,500 in had a functional relationship with the regions,
1995) were paid regular salaries, as were where none had existed under Tuur. For
national assembly members, the police, and example, regional health plans in Sanaag were
DEMOBILISATION
The militarisation of society is a clans anxious not to forgo the made in the east. Despite this, up to
constant threat to security and benefits of retraining and 5,000 militia were estimated to have
stability in Somaliland. Before May employment in the new security been disarmed (Niyathi, 1995: 27).
1988 the SNM was said to comprise forces envisaged, this had risen to Their reintegration was more
some 3,000 fighters. When the war 6,000 by October. problematic. The reintegration
escalated in 1988 there was a rapid Substantial assistance was programmes that existed were small
militarisation of society as the Issaq anticipated from UNOSOM, which and run by SOOYAAL. Several
population was mobilised for the had a mandate and a US$18 million hundred of those encamped in
war. At the end of the war many budget for demobilisation (Bradbury 1993 were recruited into the police
SNM fighters laid down their arms 1994a: 82). Despite several and customs forces. The remainder
and returned to civilian life. Some assessment missions and the were sent home unemployed.
remained together as military units. United Nations Development An informed estimate in early
Some turned to banditry and were Programme (UNDP) posting two 1995 suggested that some
joined by others who had not fought consultants in Hargeisa to draw up 10,000 militia remained to be dealt
in the war. In 1993 the Somaliland demobilisation plans, the assistance with. (Gilkes, 1995)
government estimated that there was never forthcoming. The failure The outbreak of war in 1994
were 50,000 armed militia in to support demobilisation in politicised and set back
Somaliland (Niyathi, 1995: 27). This Somali land is an indictment of demobilisation. While the
was probably an over-estimation, UNOSOM. The German government government stated its intention to
but indicated the scale of the through GTZ, with CARE, Oxfam continue with the programme, the
problem. and the Swiss Group, have since NDC was unacceptable in
The first Somaliland government supported demobilisation, but for opposition areas. In 1993 the
had proposed to unify the militia in a the most part international support government had pronounced that it
national army (Drysdale, 1992: 30). has been meagre. did not intend to form an army. That
It failed to do this and the hational Somaliland has therefore largely policy changed when the National
Peace Charter sought to establish a been left to itself to orchestrate the Army recruited militia into its ranks,
framework in which the communities demobilisation and reintegration of giving rise to accusations that the
would take responsibility for ex-combatants. Formally two government had gone against the
security. Within four months of organisations exist to support this spirit of the Peace Charter.
\. taking office Egal reached an process: a parastatal National The 1st brigade of the new National
agreement with some militia Demobilisation Commission (NDG) Army was operative by March 1994.
commanders and elders to collect and SOOYAAL, a veterans By September 1995 estimates put
militia in cantonment sites. association and NGO concerned the National Army as high as 15,000
Businessmen agreed to contribute with SNM veterans and their soldiers uniformed and armed.
food in the interests of keeping the widows. In February 1994 the NDC Although the government has said
roads safe. But events moved faster claimed it had acquired three- it intends to demobilise them once
than anticipated. In September quarters of the weapons from five the war is over, the positive
1993, 3,000 militia were encamped brigades, primarily in the Hargeisa environment that existed in 1993
in Mandera, south of Berbera. With area and the west. No progress was has dissipated.
authorised by the central ministry, while regional port has suffered technical problems, while
health workers and some education officials Berbera has developed a simple but well-run
received incentives through the government, facility, although still in need of improvement.
although funded by international agencies. Berbera has also benefited from the closure of
The progress in establishing an administration the southern ports of Kismayo and Mogadishu
was achieved by increasing the government's due to the conflict there. Livestock from as far
resource base. In September 1995 government south as Beletweyne are exported through
revenue was estimated to be roughly Berbera. Expansion of the livestock trade has
US$lO million, rising towards US$15 million. 6 also been stimulated by the reopening of the
Government revenue collection improved after Saudi Arabian market, which had been closed to
effective customs and excise facilities were Somali livestock since the 1980s. At least one
established in Berbera and on the Djibouti border Saudi port is open, unofficially, to receive
at Zeila, and from taxing the qaat trade. In 1995 Somali sheep and goats. In addition to trade,
it was estimated that the annual value of qaat there has also been a gradual recovery of the
imported into Hargeisa was equivalent to rural economy in Somaliland; in September
US$137 million a year; for Somaliland as a 1995, the main cause of food insecurity in
whole it was put at US$250 million (Gilkes, Hargeisa was inflation. In June 1995 private
1995). Government finances were also helped by companies re-established a functioning
a windfall received when the Somaliland telecommunications system in Hargeisa, with
currency was introduced and exchanged at a international lines. This has since been extended
preferential rate for the Somali shilling. to Berbera and Borama.
Underlying the government's economic Underlying economic recovery was a greatly
fortunes was Somaliland's buoyant economic improved security situation. Banditry was
growth from mid 1993. The foundation of this widespread during the Tuur administration but
was growth in the livestock export trade and the after the Borama conference it diminished
opening of new external trading links. Since significantly. With the support of the clans the
1993 the volume of Somaliland's trade has government was able to remove checkpoints
increased substantially. In particular, political from the main roads between Berbera, Hargeisa
changes in Ethiopia and the opening of the and Borama, thus facilitating the flow of trade
Somali-Ethiopian border has created a vast new and food. In the towns the establishment of
market for Somali traders. Some 65 per cent of police forces and a judicial system helped to
the trade through Berbera is said to be destined restore some law and order. A short-lived
for Ethiopia. Along with Assab in Eritrea, demobilisation campaign contributed to the
Berbera is challenging Djibouti as the main port improved security situation (see Box 9). In
for eastern Ethiopia in terms of volume of trade. Hargeisa the security situation improved to the
Berbera offers the benefits of lower customs extent that the United Nations began to import
dues than Djibouti. Some traders import their its own vehicles and international NGOs scaled
goods through Berbera and ship them overland down their investment in security.
to Djibouti to avoid taxes. In addition, Djibouti Although considerable progress was
achieved in establishing the institutions of
government, the new state remained politically
MINES - A LASTING LEGACY fragile, and vulnerable to a shift in power
Unexploded ordnance remains a major hazard throughout between the clans and politicians influencing
Somaliland, and Somalia. During the war with Siad Barre the situation. The boundaries of the Somaliland
1.5 million mines were thought to have been laid in state were unclear, as non-Issaq clans
Somaliland alone by the Somali Armed Forces and the particularly in the east remained ambiguous
SNM. Most were laid against civilian or economic targets, towards Somaliland. Egal' s administration
such as on farmland and records were not kept of their benefited from the port revenues from Berbera
positions. The economic and social effects are long lasting. in a way that Tuur was never able to, because it
A two-year (1992-93) de-mining project by a British firm lay within Egal's clan territory. Another head of
with a team of trained Somalis cleared an estimated state may not have found people willing to pass
80,000 mines. Despite there being foreign troops in that revenue to the government. At the same
Somalia who could have done this, UNOSOM failed to time Egal's government was unable to secure
institute a de-mining programme. When war broke out in and control Hargeisa airport, a strategic site on
1994 new mines were laid, particularly around Burco. its doorstep which was held by Iidagale militia.
The fragility of the administration and became divided towns. New arms flowed into
security was exposed 18 months after Egal was the region as the opposition received support
made president, when war returned to from Aideed and the government acquired
Somaliland. weapons from eastern Europe. The war harmed
a rapidly expanding economy, causing currency
devaluation, inflation in the west and a retraction
Retu rn to WO r in international assistance programmes. In the
After a year of heady progress which included a east trade was curtailed, hurting small businesses.
concerted attempt at demobilisation, and the Government budgets were also severely affected:
strengthening of government institutions and the government allegedly spent US$4.5 million
revenue collection, fighting again broke out in re-equipping the army.
November 1994 in Hargeisa, spreading to Perhaps the most immediate damage was the
Burco in March 1995. The immediate reasons loss of confidence among Somalilanders who
were twofold: a struggle for control of Hargeisa had believed that fighting was over. The war
airport and its revenue between the government caused new social and political cleavages.
and a militia of the Iidagale (Issaq) clan within There was a further rejection of central
whose territory the airport lies, and an attempt government and 'politicians', and the war threw
by the government to impose its authority Somaliland's viability into doubt. The different
outside Hargeisa (Bryden, 1994). The roots of layers of the conflict are examined below.
the conflict, however, are more complex. The
prime catalyst was the manipulation of the
airport confrontation and historical clan Political factors
animosities by a political clique opposed to the Despite the achievements in creating an
Egal administration. Also important were administration, politically things did not begin
unresolved issues of power sharing, historical well for the Egal administration. Egal's first
divisions within the SNM, competition over government met with strong opposition from
Somaliland's resources (particularly trade and the Habr Yunis and Iidagale (collectively
currency), and interventions by General Aideed known as Garxajis). The Habr Yunis and
from Mogadishu and the international Warsengeli refused offers of two ministerial
community through the United Nations. Most of posts. In July 1993 the Habr Yunis meeting in
these have been threads throughout the previous Burco (the 'Liiban Congress') declared that
bouts of fighting in Somaliland.7 they would not take up their seats in the Upper
At the time this report was written, hostilities and Lower Houses, nor be bound by laws
were continuing. As in 1991 and 1992, the war passed by parliament.
has been largely confined within the Issaq clans, The Habr Yunis' s grievances were threefold.
(although insecurity affected Awdal in 1995 First, they argued that the election which
when the Issaq, Gadabursi and Issa clashed on selected Egal over Abdulrahman Tuur, a Habr
the Djibouti-Somaliland border over control of Yunis, was unfair. Second, they asserted that
trade between Hargeisa and Djibouti, and over seats in the upper and lower houses of
the port of Zeila). For non-Issaq the conflict is parliament should be allotted according to
seen primarily as an Issaq problem. As with region rather than clan, which would have given
previous wars, fighting has concentrated around them a greater number. This dispute was
the major urban and commercial centres of supposed to be settled by a constitutional
Hargeisa and Burco in the north-west and committee, but discussion on a new constitution
Togdheer regions, giving credence to claims did not start until 1995. Egal rejected calls for
that this is largely a war among an urban another national conference to resolve the issue.
political elite. Third, the Habr Yunis and Iidagale accused
The war has involved the heaviest and most Egal of anti-Garxajis sentiments and of forming
protracted fighting since the end of the conflict his government from a 'single political wing'
with Siad Barre in 1991. Tens of thousands of (Bradbury, 1994a). This referred to Egal's first
civilians fled Hargeisa and Burco, many going choice of cabinet ministers who included some
to Ethiopia from where they had returned in of the most aggressive opponents of Tuur's
1991. Some estimates put the number of people administration and members of the alan as
killed in Burco alone as high as 4,000. There faction within the SNM who had opposed Tuur
has been widespread destruction of property during the conflict in Berbera in 1992. The
rehabilitated since 1991. Hargeisa and Burco impression given was that those who fought
against the Tuur administration won the war and Rejection of federalism and Tuur, however, did
so undermined the spirit of reconciliation not translate into support for Egal. In
achieved at Sheik. Somaliland the Garxajis were concerned with
In November 1994, after protracted their under-representation in government, the
negotiations with the Iidagale militia broke predominance of Habr Awal political and
down, the government took the Iidagale-held commercial interests in government, the
Hargeisa airport by force. The army then went on inclusion in the government of alan as officers,
to attack the Iidagale town of Toon. This and alleged violations of the National Charter.
government act of aggression forced the Garxajis (The last refers to the formation of a national
to unite against the Egal administration. army and government attempts to control
The dispute over the airport was largely Hargeisa airport.) On these grounds the
manipulated by prominent politicians, including Garxajis elders and leadership portrayed the
former President Tuur (Habr Yunis) and conflict as being clan-based.
General Jama Mohamed Qalib 'Yare'
(lidagale). In April 1994 Tuur revived an
acquaintance with General Aideed, formed when The Burco factor
the SNM and USC agreed to coordinate In January 1995, with a newly equipped army,
operations against Barre, and announced his the government re-asserted control over
conversion to a united federal Somalia. In 1995 Hargeisa airport. Once the capital was secured,
he joined Aideed's self-proclaimed government the government's policy was to establish its
in Mogadishu as a vice-president. Jama Yare has authority in the east. In March 1995 the war
consistently opposed Somaliland' s indepen- spread to Burco after the national army tried to
dence. However, it was not until 1995 that he take over checkpoints in the city.
joined Aideed's government as foreign minister. The conflict in Burco is different from that of
Tuur's change of heart occurred in part under Hargeisa. The core of the conflict here is a
inducements from UNOSOM, which was historical struggle between elements of the Habr
desperate to conclude a peace deal before leaving Yunis and the Habr Jeclo for control of the
Somalia in March 1994 and invited him to town, a major commercial centre. After the
participate in a UN reconciliation conference. fighting in January 1992 between the Habr
(Bryden, 1994) Yunis and Habr Jeclo militia, the town was
Once fighting broke out, the government and divided and only a fragile peace existed. With
'opposition' disagreed about whether the the renewal of conflict the population of Burco
conflict was about political or clan issues. The evacuated the town, the Habr Yunis moving to
government sought to portray the war as being Oodweyne and Ethiopia or east to Sanaag
between proponents and opponents of region. However, elders in neighbouring Sanaag
independence, and thus claimed the moral high region managed to prevent the fighting
ground. These claims were reinforced by spreading to that area.
General Aideed's material support for the
Garxajis and public claims that his forces were
fighting the Egal administration. The The SNM factor
government initially rejected overtures for inter- In renouncing Somaliland's independence, Tuur
clan negotiations from elders, on the grounds made an unsuccessful attempt to resurrect the
that this was a 'political' rather than clan SNM as a political force in order to broaden his
struggle. There was some legitimacy in this, as legitimacy within Somaliland.
the government could claim to represent a broad
coalition of clans. At the same time, Egal's
aggressive stance was not conducive to EcoDomic dimensions of the war
negotiations. The 1991-92 war over Berbera was dubbed the
For the opposition, the 'federalist' position 'sheep war'. While directly referring to a
was limited to the clique of political figures specific clash over a convoy of livestock
such and Tuur and Yare. The Habr Yunis destined for export through Berbera, the name
'Liiban Congress' in July 1993 and again in highlighted the economic dimensions of that
December 1994 reaffirmed their commitment to conflict. Economic growth since 1993 has been
Somaliland. It was not until July 1994, at a critical factor in Somaliland's survival and
'Liiban Congress 11', that Tuur received any Egal's success in re-establishing government
support for his position from Habr Yunis elders. institutions. The clash over Hargeisa airport was
one element in a complex economic environment where the Garxajis own many buildings. As part
which involves shifting monopolies on the of the Hargeisa municipality's rehabilitation
livestock and qaat trade, and control of the programme the central market was divided into
Somaliland currency. smaller markets around the city, supposedly to
There were claims by both sides that the other spread the benefits of trade. The effect, in fact,
was profiting from continued instability. In was to undermine the economy of the Garxajis
1995 Egal asked the vice-president to in Hargeisa. The city's livestock market,
investigate allegations that individuals had used traditionally located in a Garxajis area, was also
money meant for the war effort to enrich moved by the municipality, signalling to the
themselves. Garxajis a change in the monopoly in livestock
Economic tensions have a clan dimension. trade. In the east the livestock trade has become
The Habr Awal have traditionally controlled the dominated by a single Habr Jeclo trader, while
wealth in the urban centres of Hargeisa and the Habr Awal have become dominant in the
Berbera, with a strong foothold in Djibouti. qaat trade to western Somaliland.
They were important financiers of the SNM. These changes in trade monopolies since
Their wealth is based on commodity trade. The 1994 tend to support Garxajis grievances that
Habr Yunis have been prominent in the civil the Egal administration has strengthened the
service since colonial times, while the Garxajis
and Habr Jeclo have been prominent in the
livestock trade. THE NEW SOMALI LAND SHILLING
On taking office Egal's priorities were to Control of currency has become integral to the war in
restore law and order and create a strong Somaliland. 8 A new currency was introduced in October
revenue. The latter involved affirming 1994 at the rate of 54 Somaliland shillings to the US dollar,
government authority over the ports and a rate greatly preferential to the Somali shilling. When the
airports, including Hargeisa. Egal, from the Isa government bought old Somali shillings with Somaliland
Musa sub-clan of the Habr Awal from Berbera, shillings at a this rate it was accused of 'the greatest
has been able to raise taxes on the port's robbery in Africa'.9 The government certainly made big
revenue. As it lies within their territory the profits from changing the currency. Two years later, in
Iidagale claim Hargeisa airport as their asset, as October 1996, the market rate was 4,500 Somaliland
Berbera is for the Isa MusalHabr Awal. shillings to one US dollar. The immediate cause of the
Opposition leaders further justified this position devaluation was a shortage of US dollars in Somaliland.
with the National Charter, which provides for Behind this lay the central bank's failure to control the
local security arrangements. By taxing and market, the strength of the Somaliland traders compared to
harassing passengers of commercial and aid the bank, and the cost of the war. Failure to establish a
flights, the Iidagale militia affected Hargeisa's banking system throughout Somaliland meant the new
economy. Habr Awal businessmen in Hargeisa currency was only introduced in Hargeisa and the west.
were particularly aggrieved. The airport was The war prevented its circulation to eastern regions. Indeed,
thus a focus for a range of competing economic money sent from Hargeisa to the army in Burco had to be
interests. sent in US dollars or converted into old Somali shillings.
The government's relationship with Throughout 1995 and 1996, the government introduced
prominent merchants was crucial to the progress increasingly draconian policies to prevent the circulation of
Egal made in re-establishing government old Somali shillings in the west and to control the exchange
institutions. Egal's main financial backers were rate. These failed to stem the devaluation. By the end of
a group of Habr Awal importers and 1996, in Borama, the Ethiopian bir became the favoured
wholesalers based in Djibouti who held a currency.
monopoly on the trade between Berbera, Frequent devaluations coupled with spiralling inflation
Hargeisa, Ethiopia and Djibouti. When created insecurity about being able to afford food,
government revenue was insufficient to feed the particularly among Hargeisa's poor. The devaluation also
National Army, the merchants assisted with eroded government salaries. In September 1995, for
food for the army and police. They also example, the price of 50 kg of sugar rose from 6,600 to
financed the printing of Somaliland' s new 9,000 Somaliland shillings in one day. Despite this, it
currency, introduced on the eve of war in became politically impossible for the government to
October 1994 (see Box 11). re-introduce the old Somali shilling as legal tender or to
Before the war Hargeisa market was withdraw the Somaliland shilling. At the end of 1996 the
booming. Much of the early fighting in government was continuing to print new Somaliland notes.
Hargeisa was around the central market, an area
role of the Habr Awal business community. government, they do not appear to be interested
Hargeisa, which traditionally lies in Habr Awal in investing in infrastructure or social services.
territory, has prospered during Egal's tenure. One exception is the telecommunications
The Habr Awal consequently fear the impact companies that have established themselves
that a non-Habr Awal presidency would have. since 1995. The only private investment in
At the same time opposition areas have suffered social welfare services is being made by
greater economic hardship as a result of the war. international agencies. Where the state is unable
The informal economy in Somaliland is to regulate the market, redistribution of wealth
extremely strong, stimulated by lack of depends entirely on the clan system. Exclusion
government regulation. However, there is little from the market, or other means of
evidence of economic growth reaching the poor. accumulation such as through government or
While the merchants have been prepared to even aid agencies, is a source of ongoing
make political investments in support of the tension. Any settlement of the conflict will have
to address wealth distribution and the economic
imbalances created by the war in which not only
THE LIMITS OF GOVERNMENT have the 'opposition' areas lost out to the
The case of Sanaag region raises interesting questions administration's, but also rural to urban areas,
about the reconstruction of the state in post-war and the poor to the wealthy.
Somaliland. Since the war against Siad Barre ended in
1991 Sanaag has had no functioning government
administration. A regional guurti consisting of 36 elders, an Decentralisation and
NGO committee delegated by the guurti to liaise with governance
international and local NGOs, and an education committee
and regional health team, represent the only form of local The future political constitution of Soma1i1and -
administration. No tax revenue is collected. Based in the and in particular decentralisation - has been
regional centre, Erigavo, the remit of these committees at a central to the war. Article 21 of the Somaliland
local district or village level is highly limited. Badhan district National Charter promotes the principle of
in western Sanaag, for example, does not recognise the decentralisation through the creation of regional
authority of the regional guurti. and district councils. However, their precise
The region has consistently rejected central government authority was not defined, nor implementation
appointment of regional governmental officials, or the covered. For example, no guidelines were
establishment of a national police force. Some sections of established on the fiscal power of local
the community feel that there is an opportunity to develop councils, an issue at the heart of the conflict
new, more appropriate forms of governance that will mix over Hargeisa airport.
the traditional with the 'modern'; the modern is seen to Decentralisation was one issue on which the
have failed. However, had Somaliland achieved opposition could count for broad support. It is
international recognition, allowing bilateral funds to be about more than clanism or territoriality: it is a
channelled to government, it might have provided sufficient political issue about governance. It was
incentive for Sanaag to form a local administration. It might expected that councils would be created within
also have created new conflicts and supported the the government's two-year mandate, yet it was
formation of unfair structures. only in the later part of 1994 that the
Allegations of 'corruption' within government have been government began to tackle the issue seriously,
made by both the opposition and Egal himself, and are spurred on partly by the opposition's activities.
further constraints to creating government structures in UNOSOM's support for the formation of
Somaliland. Corruption and abuse of government district and regional councils in Somalia was
resources were major grievances against the regime of based on establishing the constitutional
Siad Barre. As new government structures emerge there is techniQalities of decentralisation. The rationale
a danger that, without checks and balances, the mutual was to support grassroots representation in a
dependence of politicians and their clan constituencies will regional and central government. In Somaliland
become institutionalised and corruption and nepotism will the Egal administration placed more emphasis
flourish. This requires a change in attitude towards on developing functioning local government
government as a means of wealth distribution rather than a structures, with responsibilities for revenue
source of enrichment. Without this there is a risk that the collection and municipal administration;
same flawed state that people fought to overthrow will be political representation was a secondary issue.
recreated in Somaliland. Hargeisa municipality was an example of this.
In early 1995 the government attempted to origins in the war against Siad Barre, and the
redraft Article 21 of the National Charter, to SNM's policy to integrate traditional and
establish the legal basis for a relationship modern systems of governance (see Box 8). The
between the centre and the regions. However, National Guurti was written into the first
negotiations with parliament broke down. lO The constitution of Somaliland - the National
government agreed to provide some finance for Charter - with a specific role to safeguard peace
local councils, but local representatives did not and uphold the xeer among people. The division
agree to generate their own sources of revenue. of the elders and politicians into two houses
For example, because the regions were unable sought to separate domestic clan politics from
or unwilling to raise revenue to support local national (and international) politics. It identified
police, it was agreed that a national police force 'clanism' as a potential source of conflict, and
would continue under government authority. the need for a mechanism to manage it. The
This, however, was seen as an infringement of chairman of the National Guurti, Sheik Ibrahim,
local autonomy. Further, while the parliament remarked in 1993: 'Our task is to ensure
accepted centrally-appointed executive chairmen security and reconciliation. The government's
of regional and district councils, it stipulated responsibility is management, administration
that they had to be agreed by the National and development.'(Rakiya Omaar, 1993).
Guurti, the Lower house, akils and elders. In the The war brought to light the difficulties in
end, Egal chose the same route as Tuur by creating a council of elders as a permanent
making appointments centrally. institution, and of integrating so-called
Egal was required by the National Charter to traditional and modern forms of government.
draft a constitution for Somaliland, for approval An immediate result of the war was that the
by referendum. This turned out to be a National Guurti split. Members who remained
controversial process. A constitution may help in Hargeisa were seen to be allied to the
clarify some of the issues of decentralisation, government. Members of the Guurti receive
but it cannot resolve them without resources and salaries and accommodation costs, which has
structures in place, and political consensus. indebted them to the administration and is seen
to have compromised their neutrality.
The role of the National Guurti The view of the Guurti as a neutral body, and
no more than a mechanism for conflict
The issue of governance is related to the role of resolution, misjudges the role of elders. Elders
elders, in particular the National Guurti are not above day-to-day happenings and
(Assembly of Elders). The 1993 Borama intrigues. Indeed, their knowledge is drawn
conference was an impressive example of an from their daily involvement in matters of the
indigenous Somali reconciliation process, in clan. It is also misleading to view the institution
which the role of lineage elders as mediators in of elders as static. Since colonial times, when
the internal affairs of the communities were akils were incorporated into the colonial
clearly displayed. It provided an alternative administration, the role of elders has been
model to the reconciliation process promoted by changing. During the Barre era their role was
the United Nations in Somalia after the politicised. The failure of the National Guurti
resignation of Ambassador Sahnoun. to intervene in the war raised doubts about
The authority of the Somaliland elders arose whether to integrate the institution of elders into
from the failure of the first SNM government modern government, as it left little alternative
and a country paralysed by the conflict in space for inter-clan dialogue.
Berbera. The capacity of grassroots political
structures to provide a mechanism for conflict
resolution was demonstrated when elders International
, relations
interceded to end the war and restore stability A further element in Somaliland's internal crisis
through the Borama Conference. In the absence has been the international policy environment. The
of credible government, committees of elders United Nations and the international community
became active in all regions of the country in have refused to recognise Somaliland's
response to particular crises. The origins of independence. In this, regional governments and
these committees are thus rooted in conflict the Organisation for African Unity would have to
management. The question arises as to whether take the lead, and none to date have done so.
they can have any other role in government. Somaliland today is of little strategic interest to
The Somaliland National Guurti has its Northern or regional powers. Some Somalis
believe there are commercial quantities of oil in Yet lack of recogmtIOn has forced the
Somaliland, but no company has been prepared government to develop its own capacity.
to invest in exploration while political instability Although this has not brought recognition, it
continues. Ethiopia has an interest in Somaliland achieved a certain 'acceptance' (Gilkes, 1995).
remaining stable, as events in its eastern The British and German governments have sent
neighbour can affect Somali Region Five in high-level delegations to Somaliland and are
Ethiopia. The continuation of trade through supporting aid programmes, although the
Berbera, and prevention of any Islamic German aid programme withdrew in 1996
fundamentalist threat, are of particular interest to following the kidnapping of its field director.
Ethiopia. Relationships with regional states have been
Independence did not bring the anticipated more problematic. Since 1991, Somaliland's
international assistance to Somaliland. The relationship with Djibouti has been fragile.
concentration of humanitarian efforts in Since the war against Barre, Djibouti has hosted
southern Somalia, and the UN's refusal to a significant number of refugees from
acknowledge and underpin the achievements of Somaliland. Commercial links between the two
the Borama peace process and demobilisation countries are intricate, with Somaliland's
efforts, have left a legacy of mistrust towards wealthiest businessmen operating out of
the United Nations. UNOSOM was asked to Djibouti. The Somaliland-Djibouti border
leave Somaliland soon after Egal assumed dissects the land of the Isa clan of the ruling
office, when assistance for the police and family in Djibouti. The Djibouti government
demobilisation failed to materialise. While has been nervous about the possible impact of
encouraging the formation of stable an independent Somaliland on Djibouti' s
administrations elsewhere in Somalia, the UN internal politics. Since 1991 there have been
has consistently failed to accept the validity of intermittent clashes along the border area over
the authorities in Somaliland. The view in commerce and territory.
Somaliland that the United Nations has sought The current Ethiopian government came to
to destabilise Somaliland has some validity. At power as the Somali state collapsed. In contrast
times UNOSOM openly supported other to Somalia, the transfer of power in Ethiopia
political parties in Somaliland and encouraged was smooth, brokered and supported by the
certain regions to look to Somalia rather than international community, in particular the
Somaliland for political alliances. Perhaps most United States. The presence of refugee
damaging was UNOSOM's support for the populations in Ethiopia from Somaliland, and
federalist positions of Tuur and Jama Yare, the political regionalisation process in Ethiopia
which raised doubts in the international that has created Somali Region Five, has left the
community over Somaliland's future status. Somaliland-Ethiopian border almost redundant.
Since the demise of UNOSOM, policy Somaliland and Region Five form part of a
makers such as the Somali Aid Coordination single cultural and economic zone. People move
Body (SACB) have continued to refuse to daily between Hargeisa and Hartisheik in
engage constructively with Somaliland and to Ethiopia, and many Somalis hold Ethiopian
reinforce principles of good governance and passports. Ethiopian traded goods pass through
disarmament. Egal' s relations with the Berbera, and Hargeisa and Borama are
European Union and the SACB have been important commercial centres for eastern
fraught. One donor representative summarised Ethiopia.
the international community's attitude towards The Ethiopian government has become
Somaliland as follows: increasingly concerned about the activities of
The image of Somalia as a place in a Islamic movements in the Horn of Africa, and
perpetual state of anarchy does not apply to the growth of fundamentalism in Somalia. This
North West Somalia. This is the thinking that was demonstrated by Ethiopian attacks on
donor interventions from Nairobi are based Islamic communities in southern Somalia in
on. Since UNOSOM was thrown out of the 1996, and threats to Somaliland. Ethiopia has an
area, no-one is looking to see North West interest in maintaining good relations with the
Somalia succeed. In a sense, people are just Somaliland government in order to curtail any
waiting for the collapse of the North West potential threats from Islamic groups. However,
Somalia state. (Cited in Boyden and recognition has not been forthcoming.
Goodhand, 1995: 15)
SOMALI LAND
a wider peace process between the Garxajis and helped the check the war, and provided an
the government. Egal's attitude towards the impetus for the Camp Abokor meeting.
Peace Committee had been ambivalent from the The first meeting between the Habr Jeclo and
beginning. Rumour and speculation suggested Habr Yunis came under pressure from the
that he was suspicious of its motives, and that he Ethiopian authorities after fighting between the
viewed the Camp Abokor meeting's success as clans over a water tank on the Ethiopian side of
a threat to his own authority and influence over the border threatened to spread. The two clans
forthcoming presidential elections (see below). met three times from May 1996. This, coupled
The peace process in the east proved more with a withdrawal of Somaliland government
successful. Since 1991 Burco has suffered two soldiers from around Burco, appears to have
major wars. A peace settlement here would be created the opening for reconciliation. A peace
of great significance for Somaliland. The agreement was finalised in the town of Beer in
reconciliation process in Burco primarily October 1996. While the Peace Committee was
involved the Habr Yunis and Habr Jeclo who able to provide some financial support to this
are predominant in Burco, with the Arap and Isa peace process, it was the clans in the area who
Musa/Habr Awal who live in the area also made the largest investments.
participating. The peace process here in fact Tensions between the Habr Yunis and Habr
evolved faster than that in the west. Its success Jeclo in Burco stretch back to colonial times.
The current rapprochement between these 1996, raised political tensions in Somaliland.
protagonists and other eastern clans at Beer was Concerns were raised about the timing, location,
interpreted by some Somalis as an alliance of legitimacy and organisation of the Congress.
convenience to challenge Egal's government. 13 First, it was argued that the Congress could
It was particularly significant that the Habr not proceed without a cessation of hostilities
Yunis agreed to negotiate at Beer within the and a peace agreement; reconciliation was a
framework of Somaliland, thus repudiating the prerequisite for a meaningful Congress. The
federalist position they once held. However, fact that the Congress in Hargeisa opened
while united in Beer, both the Habr Yunis and before the conference in Beer was concluded
the Habr Jeclo were themselves divided along raised the possibility of there being two
sub-clan lines, with some allied to the conferences, leading to the selection of two
government. A concerted effort will be needed presidents. Given the precedent of southern
from all sides to ensure the long-term security Somalia, this was seen as extremely dangerous.
and peace of Togdheer. Egal's supporters were more positive, arguing
It had been envisaged by the Peace that there would be room within the conference
Committee that a successful process in the east for reconciliation. Participants at Beer decided
and west would pave the way to a constitutional to send a delegation to the Hargeisa Congress
conference, similar to the Borama conference of rather than holding a separate conference.
1993 (Peace Committee for Somaliland, 1996; However, when the Congress opened there was
Ahmed YusufFarah, 1996b). Plans to widen the little indication that those Iidagale outside
discourse, however, were interrupted by the Hargeisa would participate.
cancellation of the Baali Gubadle conference Second, the appropriateness of making
and the National Guurti's announcement of its Hargeisa the venue for the congress was
intention to call a national congress. questioned. The eastern clans wanted the
conference to take place in Sheik. This was
rejected by the Guurti.
Shir Bee/eedka Third, the legitimacy of the Congress was
When President Egal's term of office was questioned. Many Somalis argued that
extended by 18 months he was required to bring procedures set out in National Charter were
the war to an end, introduce a constitution and being ignored. People objected to the the Guurti
prepare elections. By mid 1996 the government, giving only 10 days' notice for the start of the
parliament and National Guurti were perceived Congress. The government and Guurti were
by many Somalis to have failed on all these accused of influencing the selection of
counts. delegates, rather than them being chosen by
Two draft constitutions were produced, one their clans. Furthermore, the legality of the
by a Sudanese lawyer contracted by the existing members of the Guurti and parliament
president, and a second by a parliamentary having voting rights in the Congress was
committee. In May 1996 heated discussions questioned. The Congress was to comprise 300
over these constitutions led to a vote of no voting delegates, to include 150 from the Guurti
confidence in the chair of the parliament, and and parliament and 150 new delegates. There
the boycott of parliament by some thirty would also be 100 invited observers. Those
parliamentarians and Guurti members claiming opposed to the Congress argued that the current
interference from the president. 14 Guurti should not automatically have voting
The 18-month extension of Egal's term of rights unless chosen by their clans. The
office was due to end on 4 November 1996. In opposition in particular viewed the Guurti as
the absence of an agreed constitution multi- impartial.
party elections could not be held. In this Finally, it was argued that it was unclear
situation, it was understood that four months whether the Congress's main purpose was to
before the expiry of the government's mandate bring about reconciliation, to appoint a new
the Guurti would announce the date for a president or decide on a constitution. In the
national conference to select a new president opinion of some Somalis, time was required to
and vice-president. In September the Guurti discuss the failures and successes of the past
announced the date for a national congress (the two administrations before a new administration
Shir Beeleedka or Congress of Clans). was selected or constitution introduced.
The announcement, and subsequent opening The government, however, gave little space
of the Shir Beeleedka in Hargeisa on 15 October for debate on these issues. Before the opening a
SOMALILAND
SOMALI LAND
relations, and intersected with traditional administration were exposed when the
authority structures (Human Rights Watch, Somaliland National Guurti failed to avert or
April 1995). However, they failed to provide the intercede to end the conflict in 1994.
building blocks for a restored Somali While massive humanitarian aid helped stem
government. UNOSOM concurrently failed to the tide of famine in Somalia, the UN
recognise and build on localised peace intervention failed to comprehend the economic
processes that brought a measure of stability to dimensions of the war. Estimates of the cost of
some areas. These included the Galkaiyo peace the UNOSOM mission since 1992 run between
conference in May 1993 which restored some US$2 billion and US$3 billion; UNOSOM's
stability to the central regions and opened trade headquarters alone cost US$160 million to
routes between Mudug, Galgadud and build. By early 1994 UNOSOM was paying
Mogadishu, the August 1993 Jubaland more than US$40 million in salaries and
conference which brought six months of peace contracts, and was employing as many as
to Kismayo, and the June 1993 Borama 17,000 Somalis, 11 ,000 in Mogadishu alone
conference in Somaliland. (Bradbury, 1994a) (Prendergast, 1997: 113). The concentration of
UN efforts at mediating the Somali conflict UN operations in Mogadishu meant that other
contrast starkly with local peace initiatives in areas missed out on assistance. Humanitarian
Somaliland in 1992 and 1993. The locally aid also also helped perpetuate Mogadishu as a
sponsored peace conferences in Sheikh and focus of conflict. The financial payments made
Borama were fundamentally different from the directly and indirectly to faction leaders helped
UN sponsored conferences in Addis Ababa. The fund their political and military machines.
peace process that has been unfolding in Aideed, who controlled southern Mogadishu,
Somaliland since, while partially the result of where the largest part of the UN operation was
the intercession of Somalilanders from the based, probably benefited most. International
diaspora, has again sought to harness the NGOs, through the hiring of armed guards to
lineage-based grassroots political structures. protect their staff and operations, also bear some
And yet neither the so-called 'top-down' responsibility. At one time the International
approach to conflict resolution characterised by Committee of the Red Cross was said to be
the UN in Somalia, nor the 'bottom-up' spending US$100,000 weekly on protection in
approach adopted by elders in Somaliland has Mogadishu (ibid: 113). But it was not just
secured lasting peace and stability. Somalis who benefited. International staff of
The reasons for the failure of the UN agencies had their salaries augmented with
approach are clear. Among other things, the hardship post bonuses. It is said that two
conferences were externally driven and Western contractors to UNOSOM in two years
sponsored. There was little incentive for earned the equivalent of more than one-third of
military leaders and their militias, who were annual US development assistance to Africa
profiting from an economy of plunder and (ibid: 113).
extortion, to implement any peace accord. With Following the withdrawal of UNOSOM,
the peace conferences held outside Somalia most factions' power bases eroded and the
there was little pressure on the factional leaders internal struggle moved to other resources. In
to adhere to the agreements. UNOSOM was a March 1995, for example, fighting broke out
bureaucratic state-centric body. Constituted by between clients of rival Italian and US fruit
governments, its mandate was to re-establish a companies over the Somali banana trade
centralised government, albeit with (Menkhaus and Prendergast, 1995). Economic
decentralised regional and district structures. decline in Somalia in the 1980s, as noted,
Here the United Nations failed to acknowledge hastened the end of the Barre regime, as a
government as a source of conflict. The inept violertt struggle emerged between elites for
attempts to cobble together a government set control over Somalia's formal and informal
back opportunities for national reconciliation. economies, and southern Somalia's productive
At the same time, local level reconciliation resources. This struggle was later transferred to
and grassroots peace accords, to date, have not humanitarian aid brought by international
provided the foundations for lasting resolution agencies. The UN humanitarian and military
to conflict in Somaliland. The inherent intervention and efforts at peacebuilding in
difficulties of melding customary institutions, Somalia did not begin to address the economic
concerned with managing pastoral resources or crisis underlying the conflict.
local clan disputes, with a modern
For the future, an essential question is the those external changes. Telecommunications
extent to which fundamental social values, such that make informal money transfers possible
as expressed in the Somali xeer, have been lost between London and any part of Somaliland
during years of military rule and war. Evidence within 24 hours is another. The proliferation of
suggests that Barre's assault on the fabric of Somali non-governmental organisations, the
Somali society ultimately did not manage to growth of international NGGs and the
eliminate the traditional or historical Somali responsibilities delegated to them by donors to
value systems. There is a strong sense in act in the Somali crisis is yet another.
Somaliland of people looking to their culture, The political constitution of Somali society is
their religion and their politics, both for intricately linked to the pastoral economy. That
explanations as to why Somalia has reached the economy is changing in response to internal and
state it is in, and to the future. There is a external factors. The commercialisation of the
conviction among many Somalis that future livestock sector in the past three decades has
peace and stability can grow only as people affected the social, economic and political
rebuild trust, consensus and political and relations in Somali society. Since 1991 numbers
economic cooperation from the grassroots. To of livestock exported from Somaliland have
this end people in Somaliland and some areas in increased substantially. Growth in livestock
Somalia have put their faith in traditional numbers puts pressure on rangeland resources.
institutions and means of political conflict The amount of commercial feed being grown is
management. The Borama Conference and the increasing. Cultivation is becoming more
Sanaag and Togdheer peace processes all attest widespread. Changes in the composition of
to the strength of these. However, as noted, livestock herds affect the division of labour and
these 'grassroots' processes have yet to bear social relations. A monetary economy
fruit in long-term stability. The war has had an encourages urban migration. The breakdown of
impact on the lineage-based political structures traditional pastoralism affects authority
of Somali society. The internal and external structures. Privatisation of land is increasing.
environment with which they must cope is The expansion of enclosures on rangelands has,
volatile. in places, led to armed clashes. The war has also
The civil war's effect on the political caused a considerable movement in population.
economy of Somali society has scarcely been Transformations in the Somali political
analysed. The current political formations in economy in the 1980s, linked to global changes,
Somaliland and Somalia are a response and helped to precipitate the Somali war. External
adaptation to an 'internal' political crisis - interventions by aid organisations in Somalia
historical political regimes and the civil war - and Somaliland need to be aware of both the
and 'external' political changes taking place in nature of these internal changes, and the impact
the region and globally. The appearance of of the external environment on the Somali
satellite television in Somaliland, where none peoples.
existed before the war, is a simple example of
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ABBREVIATIONS
EU European Union
GNP gross national product
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross
IMF International Monetary Fund
LNGO local non-governmental organisation
NDC National Demobilisation Commission
NGO non-governmental organisation
ORH Operation Restore Hope
SACS Somalia Aid Coordination Body
SDA Somali Democratic Alliance
SDM Somali Democratic Movement
SNA Somali National Alliance
SNF Somali National Front
SNM Somali National Movement
SPM Somali Patriotic Movement
SRSP Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
SSDF Somali Salvation Democratic Front
SSNM Southern Somali National Movement
TNC Transitional National Council
UNCT United Nations Coordination Team for Somalia
UNDHA United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNITAF United Nations International Task Force
UNOSOM United Nations Operation in Somalia
UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees
USC United Somali Congress
USF United Somali Front
USP United Somali Party
GLOSSARY
af-somali the Somali language qaat mild narcotic (catha edulis)
akil headman of diya-paying shari'a Islamic law
groups, a position formalised shir council of elders
by the British shir beeleedka congress of clans
alan as red flag (SNM faction) shish snipers (SNM faction)
dabadheer drought (specifically of suldaan leader or chief in Issaq clan;
1974/75 - means 'endless') often but not always
diya blood compensation , hereditary; also known in
garaad leader or chief different parts of Somalia as
guurti committee of elders boqar, garaad (among the
jaalle comrade, as form of address Dolbahunte) and ugas.
under Scientific Socialism; sunni sect of Islam
no longer acceptable usage xeer contracts
maymay language of Digil and
Rahanweyne clans
The People's Conscience? Gvil groups in the Guatemalan and South Mrican transitions
Briefing by Richard A Wilson
The active participation of civil groups in both Guatemala and South Africa holds important lessons for future peace processes in
other countries. Learning from the experiences of these groups is vital to discovering how best civil organisations can organise them-
selves and influence change. This paper compares the experience of civil groups in both countries and assesses the contribution they
have made to the building of consensus, focusing in particular on their role in clarifying the truth about past human rights abuses.
40 pages 4.00 1997 ISBN1852871784
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