I would like to put the record straight on the indecorous commentary penned by the project oriented chap (Chris) and the tribal advocate (Abdul), who called themselves Abdul Ghelleh and Dr Chris Jaeger. The former claimed as the Ex-UKLG civil servant and an independent academic, where the latter was a former ResRep of UN RC and UNDP advisor. Most surprisingly, Chris has no authentic record on Somali political issues nor a previous commentary to refer. Regarding an arduous inquiry on his academic silhouette about Somali history and culture in which I have conducted. Nevertheless, on the 14th of December, they published a conjectured piece on tolerance.ca about Somalia’s political and economic ailments in 2016. The first paragraph of the article profoundly celebrated the month of December, which all Christians believed as the consecrated month for both Christmas and the Happy New Year. Whereas, Abdul can be considered as a Somali Muslim, who practices Islam. Inversely, he praised December same as the holy month of Ramadan.
Secondly, the sham article speculated whether the New Deal Project will be continued, the case of the new United Nation’s Special Representative for Somalia in comparison with his predecessor Nicholas Kay, and the role of federalizing Somaliland as a regional state of Somalia. Though, the piece was not scholarly written. For the reason that it thoroughly lacks the Somali political and historical literature reviews, citations and any other referred evidences about the legality on why Somaliland needs to be federalized. On the contrary, it rather predominantly triggered the drawbacks of the cruel genocide to the innocent civilians led by the South authoritarian Somali dictator Siyad Barre. Specifically, to the minds of the Somaliland people in general, and the relatives of the 50, 000 more in particular, who have been killed by the bombardments in the 1980s.
This emotional article is nothing more than a fuel that might start ignition to the resentment between the two sides in which politically separated by the bloody civil war in 1991. Furthermore, the piece totally omitted the political history of the two countries. It also generated the reality that Abdul Ghelleh is from the South Somali clans, and all his exertions were merely to emasculate Somaliland, while stimulating Somalia as a country of his own. Nonetheless, it is iniquitous or ill-starred for him and his fellow stooge, because the International Community already mediated the two countries at the London Somali Conference in 2012. According article 6 of the London Communique ‘’the Conference recognised the need for the international community to support any dialogue that Somaliland and the TFG or its replacement may agree to establish in order to clarify their future relations’’ (London 2012). Therefore, both the world and the Somali speaking societies will straightforwardly perceive this unethical piece of a writing as malevolent. At the same time, it will only be construed by way of cautiously aimed to damage the political status and sovereignty of Somaliland as well as the two countries’ potential will to cooperate.
Somaliland is nothing similar to its neighbouring Somalia, which the world has witnessed as a domicile of inferno, analytically corrupt, where immoral and an ethical dishonest are all on primed. It is also a home of piracy and a self-haven for international terrorism. These negative occurrences resulted that the world ranked Somalia the top ten international failed states, mostly number one of the peaks for the last twenty-three years. Besides, during Somalia’s lack of central government period, there were antagonistic, intimidating and nerve-racking hostilities between the Somali clans of the South. Quite the reverse, Somaliland established a solid peace, instrumental democracy based on representation and elections with the mandatory of the rule of law, where it’s Presidents, Members of Parliament and Local Government Councillors are all elected by its people.
But it is an ill-fated argument to decipher the peace and the self-determination of Somaliland as it is the destabilising cause of Somalia. According to Abdul and Chris ‘’ When the Somali state collapsed in 1991, and a civil war ensued in much of south-central Somalia, Somaliland pulled things in a different direction, albeit unwittingly becoming a little contributing factor in the destabilisation of Somalia’’. This ‘’destabilisation’’ refers that the peace of Hargeisa is the total war of Mogadishu, what an amateurish cheap argument is it to quote. On the other hand, the co-authors conceded that Somaliland is a successful state, but contended that the world has not recognized as an independent sovereign nation state. They stated ‘’ although Somaliland developed an impressive political and economic system, it had not achieved the desired recognition from the international community’’.
However, the commentary failed to explain why the international community still dispensing the financial and technical support to the most alienated Federal Government of Somalia. Whilst, it’s senior representatives such as the President, the Prime Minister, the Members of the Parliament came into power through corruption, enticement and deception, which marks them purely illegitimate. The issue of legitimacy and political stability have their own meaning here in the Western world, where the co-authors currently reside. This argument indicates that Chris and his co-author were not oblivious by mistake, but deliberately driven by a project and a tribal greedy interest oriented mindset, in order to utilise the nosedived federalism project of Somalia. For instance, Chris Jaeger is a Former UN RC and UNDP ResRep Advisor: Federalism, Peace and Reconciliation, but, the trepidation of Abdul is nothing more than a tribal advocate with a myopic view.
The 24 years of anarchy of Somalia and the current prolonged instability were mainly caused by the absence of political agreement among those who prefer the concept of the Somali unity, which obviously endangers the stability and security of the Horn of Africa in particular, as well as the local economic privations that pushed the entire nation’s people towards crime and insecurity. Because, the political concept of the unity still lacks the measurement of justice and self-governance. The fundamental basis of the Somali unity also squandered the political opportunity to create the unification of the five Somalis under one flag and one political territory, by strengthening the concept of the one Federal or hypothetically decentralized unitary state. In the future, if the world insists it will violate the African recognized borders, especially, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti.
Most of the Somali speaking people realized this as a fact, so as the neighbouring countries. Unfortunately, these pint-sized and inexperienced blokes are not fully cognizant about the negative consequences of the Federal tribal dogma. On the other hand, Somaliland and Somalia united in 1960, and after a long bloody war, Somaliland withdrawn the political concept of the Greater Somali Republic, because unity has failed the country. Somaliland was an independent British Protectorate, while Somalia was under Italian Colony and later became a United Nations Trusteeship state. Once again, the two chaps failed to mention the unity between the two countries and how the name of the Somali Republic, which later turned the Democratic Somali Republic came into existence. The five pointed white Star of Unity in its center represents the five Somali ethnic communities in Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Somalia.
However, the people of Somaliland, completely believe that reunification between the South and the North will further disgrace the political stability and social cohesion of the Somalis. In addition to that, Djibouti currently is not willing to unite with the 25 years failed state of its neighbour, the Reserve Area completely followed different path of a political survival, while NFD has never favoured unity as much as the four other regions. It is now obvious that NFD received twice its population size (refugees) from Somalia after the civil war. It is again a tribulation idea to combine the two countries together without the will of their people. Besides, Somalia whether it is a federal or unitary state, refers legally the Italian part of the united Somali Republic. Consequently, Somaliland should be excluded academically, but it is a misfortune for them (Chris and Abdul) to ignore that Somaliland was an independent entity before July the 1st 1960, and authentically withdrawn its independence once again. After country’s wide referendum of 97.7% vote in 2001 for independence.
Finally, the unprofessional piece of writing lacks the ethical values of academia. Although, both authors concern was based on their own different personal interests (tribal and project based interests), which keep them blind to evaluate the reality on the ground. But, I want to be the reminiscent of Chris and Abdul, that it is always the interest of the people of Somaliland to keep and uphold their peace, democracy and national sovereignty. It was not Turkey nor the International Community that made the solid peace, democracy and the social stability of Somaliland. It was the dedication of its people that safeguarded the integrity and solidarity of their nation state. Furthermore, it is now discernible that Somaliland will remain peaceful and democratic, even if the world turns its back. There are economic and political shifts in the world, the cases of the Middle East and the Eastern Europe might come up with different political strategy, who knows as politics is always dynamic with a transformative paradigm.
Mohamed Hagi Mohamoud. Department of Politics and International Studies. The University of Warwick. Email:m.hagi-mohamoud@warwick.ac.uk, mohamedomar1@hotmail.com.
