Ceerigaabo Can Benefit from the Peacemaking Precedent Set by the Gaalkacyo Agreement

[Deeq A.]

Ceerigaabo residents could benefit from the peacemaking precedent set by the 1993 Gaalkacyo Agreement signed in Mogadishu.

Garowe (PP Editorial) — Ceerigaabo, the administrative capital of Sanaag, shares some similarities with Mudug. Like Mudug, Sanaag consists of five districts. However, unlike Mudug — where North Gaalkacyo and South Gaalkacyo fall under Puntland and Galmudug jurisdictions respectively — Ceerigaabo is under the control of the Somaliland administration.

The 1993 Gaalkacyo Agreement between the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) and the United Somali Congress (USC) ensured the peaceful coexistence of clans in Mudug. Administratively, the other four districts of Mudug are separately governed by Galmudug and Puntland. In Sanaag, Badhan and Dhahar are under Puntland State of Somalia, whereas Garadag and Ceel Afweyn fall under Somaliland’s jurisdiction.

Although the 1995 Ceerigaabo Agreement is still hailed as a significant and successful peacemaking initiative, it faced challenges, partly due to the uncompromising secessionist ideology of the Somaliland administration, which, in 2021, forcibly displaced more than 1,700 Somalis in Laascaanood under the pretext that they were foreigners.

As if that were not enough, the Somaliland administration claimed that Al-Shabaab elements had captured Laascaanood in 2023. This was a cynical attempt to mislead international opinion about the conflict in Laascaanood, which was, in reality, between forces of an administration claiming unilateral secession from Somalia and unionist forces with federal representation in Mogadishu’s bicameral legislature and and constitutes a part of Puntland State of Somalia, a federal member state.

In the eyes of the Somaliland administration, any person associated with Sool, Sanaag, Cayn, and the Khatumo administration is labelled a terrorist associated with Al-Shabaab. This political view, commonly held by secessionist leaders in Somaliland, is arguably the main driver of the Ceerigaabo conflict.

The Somaliland administration justified the 2023 shelling of Laascaanood by the “Somaliland army” on the dubious claim of sovereignty. The new Somaliland administration President, Abdirahman Abdullahi, faces the difficult dilemma of crafting a policy based on peaceful coexistence, moving away from uncompromising secessionist rhetoric and spurious claims of statehood, which reject the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Ceerigaabo residents can benefit from the peacemaking precedent set by the 1993 Gaalkacyo Agreement signed in Mogadishu.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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