The rebels in Hargeisa.....

QabiilDiid · January 30, 2008

What is the Matter with "Somaliland" Politicians?

By : Mahdi Sheikh Ahmed

Jan 28,2008

Lately, political operatives from the renegade Northwestern region of Somalia, that is calling itself “Somaliland”, have been whizzing through the capitals of several African countries, as though on ‘speed-dating’. All this in a desperate search for what is proofing to be an ever so illusive a task for them: recognition of that truncated NW region as an independent state. Now that their rummaging around for international recognition (incidentally, under patently false premises) has all but come to its logical conclusion, as a futile exercise, they seem to have adopted a more aggressive stance of attempting to “secure” the artificial borders of the long defunct former British Somaliland Protectorate. Never mind that no separate state, recognized by any nation on earth, had come to existence, following the end of the era of the British Protectorate administration in the Northern territories on 26 June, 1960. Never mind too that two (2) of the five (5) regions, Sanaag, Sool along with the Buuhoodle District, that comprises that long defunct protectorate jurisdiction are pro-union and would have nothing to do with the secessionist scheme masterminded by the clan militia known as SNM. Meanwhile, a third—the Awdal region, is increasingly asserting its autonomous ways; though in a geographically precarious neighborhood, a great many Awdalites do not hide their pro-union outlook.

Reasonable people can be forgiven to think that the call for secession by the rebel administration in Hargeisa, which is predicated on clan chauvinism and nothing more should have had run its course years ago. For, in all honesty, there is no creditable raison d'être for them to pursue secession, especially when such a scheme is glaringly lacking in both moral and legal justification. In deed the rebellious politicians in Hargeisa would be well advised to cease and desist from irresponsibly further stressing the part of the Somali society under their control by: 1) stopping their hysterical campaign of alternately scaring the people and raising untrue and unrealistic expectations for them, 2) foregoing the practice of their uniquely caustic brand of clan politics, 3) not spending their foreign-aid donations as drunken sailors, trying to bribe inconsequential AU staff and such, and 4) ending their aggressive trial balloons as regards their delusional desire to usurp the lands of pro-union, Northern communities. The secessionists can begin this process by rapidly withdrawing their occupation forces from Laas Caanod, the capital of the Sool region.

Clearly, the hegemonic, clan-based secession project is a poison pill for the relative stability that has until recently been enjoyed by the various Northern communities. But it is also an existential threat to the Somali Republic, as nation state. Because, by its very nature secession is a violent act that will, of necessity, illicit direct counteraction from those communities whose territories the rebels target for usurpation. The national government, for its part, does not have the luxury of watching, from the sidelines, while those hell-bent on dismembering the country continue with their wanton subversion unchallenged; the TFG has to take an unmistakable stance in the defense of Somalia’s national unity and territorial integrity.

There is a disturbing element of fanaticism about the way in which Somaliland politicians approach politics. First they bamboozle the people in the region by over-promising things that they can not deliver, namely international recognition for the secession stratagem—a gambit that is devoid of legitimacy. Contrary to their claim of respecting democratic rule, the regime in Hargeisa frequently imprisons journalists and political opposition figures for such flimsy reasons as questioning their defective institutions and bad policies. The increasingly dictatorial practices of that administration are always geared to redoubling its efforts to hold on to power (even though the ring leaders know full well that their original aim of creating a separate canton is all but dead).

As for the state of affairs of the unionist Northerners of Sanaag, Sool and the Cayn District, perhaps the American Author and TV personality Dennis Wholey’s maxim is apt: “Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian”. Thus, in the prevailing environment, the unionists should not expect to be able to shake the ‘clenched fists’ of their fellow Northerners who had been high jacked by craven politicians pursuing an ill-advised course of rebellion, as their lives’ purpose.

Yet, it begs the question: what is the matter with the so-called political leaders in “Somaliland”? Have they all gone crazy or have they become so intoxicated with the bravado of the type of unabashed clan politics preached by the likes of ina Ali Warabe, who, in a recent a public debate, criticized the regime in Hargeisa for not conducting enough xasuuq (massacres) of more innocent civilians in the Sanaag and Sool regions, and Cayn).

While it may very well be too soon to expect cooler heads to prevail amongst the elites, Somalis of good will everywhere should keep the hope of seeing the sagacity of the people of the NW region to win through the fog of clan politics run-amok that is spewed by few political hacks in that part of the country; such would be a win for restoring the pride all Somalis have in their national identity and their undeniably common destiny. In deed a win in the sensible column would also represent an unmitigated defeat for the forces of division and its resultant societal degeneration.

Mahdi Sheikh Ahmed

E-Mail: Asheikh99@hotmail.com