How the Ex-British Somaliland Attained Political Independence

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu — (Essay) — How the ex-British Somaliland gained independence is a little-understood historical phenomenon among the current generation of Somalis because not many of them have read books on post-colonial Somalia written by the late I.M. Lewis, Professor Abdi Ismail Samatar and others. When a Somali secessionist by name of Ismail Shirwa, wrote a column in the Nairobi-based The Standard, to argue fallaciously and misleadingly that “Somali irredentism is a huge threat to Kenya and Ethiopia” he pretends to have forgotten how the ex-British Somaliland, unlike the South Somalia, unexpectedly attained in political independence on 26 Jun 1960.

The independence for the North was agreed in the ex-British Somaliland Constitutional Conference held in May 1960 to speed up independence and ensure the Union between the South and North took place on 1 July 1960. The South, known before 1 July 1960, as the Trust Territory of Somaliland, underwent a unique state-building process through a trusteeship under Italy for ten years (1950-1960). The trusteeship prepared the South for competitive politics based on political parties through self-rule known as dakhiliyah.

The late Mohamed Hagi Ibrahim Egal observing a guard of honour in Hargeisa on 26 June 1960, with the Somali flag fluttering in the background.

The political parties contested for municipal seats. The Somali Youth League was the leading political party that transcended loyalty based on a shared clan identity. In the ex-British Somaliland, the Protectorate Agreements the British Empire signed with some Somali clans prevented subjects from agitating for independence. This policy ensured that Somalis in the North were denied the right to challenge the British government, when in violation of the Protectorate Agreements, Britain let Imperial Ethiopia annex Somali territories. The fact that the Somali flag was hoisted in Hargeisa on 26 June 1960 is a proof that the North and the South shared nationalist goals. The South, through its diversity and population, managed to help the North weather threats Imperial Ethiopia was posing to what was left the ex-British Somaliland. Emperor Haile Sellasie was keen on the north becoming a part of his dominion; he was oblivious and insensitive to the injustice Somali Northerners were suffering after the betrayal of the British government.

The irredentism that Ismail Shirwa attributes to the Federal Republic of Somalia is none other than the fraternal bond Southerners have shown their Northern brethren who were forced to live in the suzerainty of Imperial Ethiopia against their will.

When Muse Bihi Abdi, the President of Somaliland Administration, signed an illegal Memorandum of Understanding to lease a coastal district to Ethiopia in violation of the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia, he betrayed the memory of his father and mother, and what he, at the age of 6 years, witnessed when, in 1954, Ethiopia annexed Haud and Reserve Area.

The post-independence Somali polity considered the Protectorate Agreements as legitimate agreements that Britain was supposed to honour. When a Somali secessionist writes in a Kenyan newspaper to accuse Somalia of irredentism he tries to absolve Britain of violating the Protectorate Agreements, and Ethiopia of annexing Somali territories. The search for the rights of Somalis living in the territories annexed by Ethiopia was what pro-Ethiopian scholars described as irredentism.

The Federal Republic of Somalia respects the sovereignty of Ethiopia and Kenya. It is secession that poses a threat to Kenya and Ethiopia, two countries with diverse ethnicities. Ethiopia is more vulnerable to secession movements that can invoke an article in the Ethiopian Constitution.

Adan M. S. Hussein teaches history at a university in Mogadishu.

The post How the Ex-British Somaliland Attained Political Independence appeared first on Puntland Post.