Observation about Somali Crisis

[Hagi]

A lot has been written about the tragedy inflicting Somalia. Unfortunately, the current problems are not unique. Many countries currently or over the centuries suffered a similar fate. The solution is relatively easy to formulate but difficult to implement. Often, many scholars misinterpret the lessons of history and successful countries by focusing on "colonialism," "tribalism" or the mythical "civil society." A successful solution to the current Somali crisis must depend on creating a government structure that uses the inherent strengths of Somalis: (1) a deep devotion to Islam, (2) a fierce sense of individual liberty and (3) the clan system of providing social services.

 

A system of government based on the rule of law is necessary for a success resolution of the crisis. The rule of law requires all Somalis, whether Majerteen or Midgan, rich or poor, must be treated equally before the law. The rule of law is in the Koran which requires equal treatment of all Muslims and even honest dealings with nonbelievers. Somalis’ deep devotion to Islam should be used to help in the acceptance of the rule of law and can be a force for development.

 

Basing a legal system on religion is not new and, actually, forms the basis of legal systems in the West. The swearing to tell the truth on the Bible is a relic from an earlier time, as is having twelve people sit on a jury that represents the twelve apostles or twelve tribes of Israel. Furthermore, Islam is compatible with Capitalism. Capitalism depends on the enforcement of contracts. The last section of the "cow" contains the basis of modern contract law. To allege Islam is compatible with Capitalism suggests the person has not read the Koran.

 

Unfortunately, the rule of law also requires an independent judiciary. Judges must be independent of the mosque and independent within the government. This will be hard because people like power, even Imams and Mullahs. While more important, helping troubled marriages or families in crisis is less glamorous than sitting in judgment over people or disputes. So, it is understandable why religious leaders would desire a role in politics or government. Yet, the proper role of religious leaders is tending to the basic needs of the family and community. When religious leaders enter politics or government, the mass killings start. The mass murders committed in Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan occurred because the mullahs left the mosque. The Christian Inquisition in Medieval Spain, which resulted in the slaughter of many Muslims and Jews, occurred because the priests became involved in political and government affairs. Somalia should not fall into the trap of believing someone who studies the Koran can implement proper or just policies or judgments.

 

The Somali sense of individual liberty also promotes the rule of law, since none feel that someone is entitled by birth to better treatment. This sense of individual liberty also promotes the growth of democratic institutions because the general population believes they should have a say in how they are being governed. Furthermore, individual liberty is compatible with development since people believe they are entitled to what they earn or create. By believing they, and no one else, is entitled to the fruits of their labor, people are encouraged to produce more and create more wealth for the benefit of society. This means socialist programs or solutions that depend on the failed models of "one-party states" or a "civil society" will fail and cause more misery. For proof, look at the rest of Africa where one-party states and "civil societies" benefit the European-educated elite and crush the rest.

 

Those who complain about the clan-system do not understand why it exists. The clan-system provides insurance against accidents or death, social services such as unemployment and welfare benefits and police services against attack by others. This is not unique. For example, until the Great Depression, social services in the United States were generally provided by the extended family, or clan. Moreover, the United States has seen clan warfare, the most famous being the Hatfield-McCoy feud at the end of the 19th century. In the West, family-based social services began to decline when government-sponsored systems were enacted. In Somalia, destroying the clan-system without providing an alternative would cause severe suffering for the general population.

 

Instead, the negative aspects of the clan-system can be minimized by the form a government adopted. Toward this end, a system based on geographic areas, rather than clan membership, should be implemented. There are many advantages. To ensure election and political support, politicians will be forced to appeal outside their clans. This will prevent the reinforcement of tribalism that would result by choosing officials based on clan membership. Also, this will reinforce the interdependence of those living in the same geographic area. Obviously, the political interests of a Majeeteen farmer in the Lower Shebelle are closer to those of his Tunni neighbor than a Majeerteen nomad in Puntland.

 

Also, a federal system instead of a parliamentary system of government should be adopted. This will allow for local control over education, police and other services. A relatively weak central government will be responsible for national defense, foreign affairs and ensuring the individual rights of minority clans within the geographic political divisions. Such a system prevents the rise of dictators or domination of one clan over another via control of the central government. Such a system builds on the Somalis need for individual liberty by giving local communities vast amounts of control over how their children are educated, how they are policed and how they live their lives. Coupled with an independent judiciary, the constant political fighting between the central government, the local governments and the judiciary means no one power can oppress the people. Instead, each branch of government has the incentive to offer more freedom to the people to gain their support in that branch’s political fights with the other branches of government. This is not possible in a parliamentary system based on clan membership that forms the TNG.

 

To further split political power, a bicameral legislative branch should be adopted. The power of the purse will belong to the directly elected lower house since the people should have the most say in how their money is spent. Instead of directly elected, the upper house should be composed of elders selected by the legislatures or governors of the geographic political divisions. This ensures that the federal government listens to the concerns of the geographic political divisions since part of the federal government is chosen by these political divisions. Also, this type of selection allows traditional clan elders, like the Ugasyada , Sultanyada and Malaaqyada, a role in the government. There are reasons that traditional clan leaderships survive, in particular, because they work and people trust them. Therefore, traditional clan elders should be used and not discarded under the misguided view that they are backward or impediments to development.

 

In conclusion, Somalis should adopt a federal system that has three horizontal divisions: a bicameral legislature further divided into a directly elected lower house and a selected upper house, an executive or president and an independent judiciary, as well as the vertical divisions between a national government responsible for national defense, foreign policy and preserving individual rights, and the local government responsible for the rest. These government institutions will be based on Islam and the rule of law where all are treated as equals. Complex government solutions that discard or ignore Somali culture, religion or traditional methods of settling disputes and providing social services will only cause more suffering and death.

[Thinkerman]

Quote

A lot has been written about the tragedy inflicting Somalia. Unfortunately, the current problems are not unique. Many countries currently or over the centuries suffered a similar fate. The solution is relatively easy to formulate but difficult to implement. Often, many scholars misinterpret the lessons of history and successful countries by focusing on "colonialism," "tribalism" or the mythical "civil society." A successful solution to the current Somali crisis must depend on creating a government structure that uses the inherent strengths of Somalis: (1) a deep devotion to Islam, (2) a fierce sense of individual liberty and (3) the clan system of providing social services.

 

Couldnt agree more especially with regards to 1 and 2

[Libaax-Sankataabte]

Quote

A lot has been written about the tragedy inflicting Somalia. Unfortunately, the current problems are not unique. Many countries currently or over the centuries suffered a similar fate. The solution is relatively easy to formulate but difficult to implement. Often, many scholars misinterpret the lessons of history and successful countries by focusing on "colonialism," "tribalism" or the mythical "civil society." A successful solution to the current Somali crisis must depend on creating a government structure that uses the inherent strengths of Somalis: (1) a deep devotion to Islam, (2) a fierce sense of individual liberty and (3) the clan system of providing social services.

 

 

We often assume that the Somali crisis can be explicated through the prism of a singular event or a random trigger. Our propensity to perceive the crisis as either predictable/continuous or a combination of accidents and random events, is driven by our two-dimensional tendency to rationalize things as either orderly developments we can understand, or a completely random enigma / “Ilaahay qadartiis”.  If one truly digs deep into our upheaval, you can’t but realize the societal collapse was a result of a complex mixture of socio-trends, predictable patterns, random and semi-random events. Before the initial triggers in 1990, one could argue there were some underlying socio-political and economic movements that should have been seen as creating or relevant to the collapse, but one should not ignore the myriad other contravening trends including government strategies in place to deter easy collapse of public order. In other words, the spontaneous collapse of the country at that particular period, was driven by a combination of random and predictable events.  

 

And that brings me to a possible solution!  Instead of prescribing panacea based on a singular perceived illness, we should instead formulate socio-economic, political and cultural therapy to trigger a healing trend from the current starting point, knowing that the recovery still encompasses random downward trends, setbacks and mini-crisis, as long as the long-term trend achieves the broad positive objective of transforming the country towards a lasting stability.  

 

The following graph conveys my message more clearly.