The Horn Of Africa States: A Somali Season – OpEd
Could there ever be a Somali Spring or a Somali Summer or a Somali Autumn or a Somali Winter? Whichever season they select, there is bound to be, one day, a Somali season. “A Somali season for what and against what?” would probably be the question, Somalis would be asking themselves as they read the tile of this article.
Since the collapse of the state in 1991, the country has broken down into warlord enclaves and eventually it settled down into clan fiefdoms in the form of clan states, whereas the identity of the Somali appears to have changed with loyalties now to these clan fiefdoms instead of to the nation they belong to – the Somali Nation.
Before and after independence, a Somali was always a Somali and a clan-member after. It is now the clan-member before being a Somali and this seems to be growing since the federal infrastructure was introduced. We now have Jubalanders, and Southeasterners and Hirshabellars and Galmudugans and Puntlanders and Somalilanders. There is no Somali anymore, as seems to be the case. Perhaps, the Somalilander, which still retains the root of being Somali still rings a bell. The others are unknown quantities – they are neither countries nor clan names, but in the end, they represent the wishes and wants of the political leaders of clans that inhabit or have taken control of these regions.
It is the unfortunate story of the Somali who, in the past, would be able to live and work and set up shop and business anywhere and the Somali nomad who could travel with his livestock anywhere in the one million three hundred thousand kilometers of his land, is today confined to smaller territories, which is the abode of his ethnic clan family.
For some four decades now, the country has been exposed to a misrepresentation of Somali values and more specifically with respect to clan-affiliation and even their faith, where religious fundamentalism imported from outside has become the modus operandi of religious activities. This has led to religious terrorism, using mafia tactics, impose protection monies and tax systems on the populations, using religious terminologies.
There is now some assertive and corrupt political class, which draws resources from the international community, mainly in the form of a legal cover through the recognition of a Somali authority. The alien federal infrastructure introduced into the country in 2012 and the sharing of power through a clan-base earlier created in Djibouti in year 2000, have confused the traditional and homogeneous society.
The clan infrastructure which was the savior of the nation for millennia has been turned upside down to suppress the nation where no clan now works with another and where every clan seems to be suspicious of the other clan. It was never used like that for in Somali societies of the past, the clan was an instrument of peace building and reconciliation when, like any other society, issues and political issues arise.
The new federal infrastructure has only exasperated a situation which was already bad and needed to be addressed through the normal Tree process of the Somali, the Xeer. It went to international hotels and resorts in foreign countries where inputs from agents of foreign countries became the dominant themes discussed and roots of the decisions made. The international so-called support, therefore, became largely ineffective and caused only more crisis, such is going on today between the Federal Government and Jubaland state or the Federal Government and the Puntland State or the Federal Government and the Southwest State and the rejection of the whole Somali process by Somaliland.
It is also the source base of the terror groups, who fill the vacuum of no-governance in the country, with their twisted ideologies. The soul of the nation, the Somali Xeer, has been discarded to the dustbins and the traditional conflict management processes was completely ignored. They could have taken cue from the Somaliland process which used the traditional Xeer to solidify its governance process and which shines out from all the other regions of Somalia.
Ignoring the Somali Xeer has only amounted to ignoring the functionality and integrative roles of Somali values. The alien infrastructures introduced into the country appear to emphasize the differences rather than the shared values of the Somali and the clans of the country, which represent the constituent body structure of the Somali society. The Somali Xeer is as old as the Somali society and is older than many other laws including the laws of other countries, but certainly older than the Napoleonic code or the British Common Law.
In a traditional Somali context, decisions are generally based on consensus among the leaders of the people and resolutions may include forgiveness of wrongdoing to keep peace and, therefore, do not necessarily become dominated by punishment of perpetrators. The modern corrupt political class have disrupted a system which has worked for Somalis for thousands of years and the current administration blockade could only be resolved through the old ways, where money was of secondary value as is presently the case. Honor, modesty, generosity and respect for the word of the elders and leaders, were of paramount importance.
The current federal administration appears to value money and corruption and earning of money through any means. This, therefore, has undermined the smooth process of governance and hence the lack of peace in the country, which is, therefore, a heavenly environment for the terrorists and the corrupt political class of the country.
The corrupt political class of today including those in governance and opposition parties, take advantage of the deficient non- Somali system and use tactics of divide and rule through money and bribing to pursue their own personal agendas and personal enrichment. They have no shame when the country they lead is counted as the poorest among the nations of the world or the most fragile or the most corrupt. They buy and build palaces across the globe. They have removed the role of the traditional genuine elders from participating in the security, peace and social cohesion of the people.
The Somali Xeer commanded and still commands authority among the Somali people but the corrupt political class of today deny deployment of this valuable conflict resolution system. Note the Somali Xeer controls the peoples’ wealth and resources, marital relations, networks within the clan and with other clans, Somali identity and beyond. The Somali Xeer was, indeed, the source of power and authority in the country and the result is what one sees in the Somalia landscape – bad governance, religious terrorism, corruption, poverty, migration and foreign interests destroying the country or taking advantage of its resources. These include the Gulf Arabs, the Turks, the Europeans, the Africans and many others.
It is a sad story and there will one day be a Somali Season or color revolution or whatever one would call it. But certainly, the current processes will not stay long. The corrupt political class would need to be removed through the Somali Xeer process. It is the only way a cohesive Somali society functioning like any other society will be achieved.
Certainly, the current corrupt political class has generated confusion, lack of peace and lack of a normal functioning governance infrastructure, where even the Federal Government is not in control of its own capital, Mogadishu, a lack of discipline and hierarchy and/or conformity to the traditional faith and the cultural norms of the people.
The alien mediation process which is deployed in the country involves using the international community, basically the UN organs and of course representatives from other countries interested in Somalia who all reside in the Halane district of Mogadishu, as the mediator between and among the Federal Government and the various clan fiefdoms (the federal member states) created through the advice and cajoling of these non-Somali institutions. This is a denial of the country’s millennia-old system and values, and of course, this process has not worked, as is evidenced by the ongoing troubles and travails in the country.
It is perhaps time for Somalia and Somalis to deploy their traditional values and Xeer in the recovery process. Should such process see light, we might see the real Somali Season sooner than later.
