Not Yet Kenyan

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

They Kenyan Somalis , Somali is their ethnic group Kenya is their nationality dont confuse the 2,Kenya does not belong to one specific Ethnic group. 43 different ethnic groups

[Haatu]

Haatu;986300 wrote:

Xaaji xunjuf mararka qaar wuu iska hadlaa. What can these poor people do? They are at the mercy of primitives with no fibre of decency in their person. The oppression was so widespread I could say nearly every family in the area was affected one way or another.

 

My mum remembers that day Mohamed Adow describes from his childhood when everyone was running for their lives. Adoomada came to an old neighbour of my mother's family and told him to go into his hut (he lived in a nomadic aqal). They then sprinkled diesel all over the hut and set a match to it. Amarkii Ilaahey the aqal would not just catch fire. They sprinkled more diesel and still nothing. They then yanked him out, beating him with the bottom of their rifles saying he was a magician (falfalle). After they beat him they made him lie in the middle of the road and rode one of their armoured cars over him. Alla ha u naxariistee he died instantly.

I showed my mum this documentary and she got very emotional over it. What follows is what she narrated to me about how the Garissa Massacre happened:

 

It all started because a local poacher who was called Cali Madoobe was in partnership with a Kikuyu called Paul. Cali would kill the elephants and collect the ivory, Paul would come take it away and sell on the Black Market. One day Paul decided to betray his partner. He had taken a batch from Cali, sold it on the black market and was planing on keeping the loot for himself. Paul and Cali had planned on meeting on the town's outskirts. Paul in his betrayal went to the local police station and told them a shufta (bandit) was trying to sell him weapons. He came with a truckload of armed officers with the intention of betraying Cali. Cali who had fought in the '77 war could hear the military truck coming. He climbed an abaq tree and waited. The came, looked around but couldn't find anything except the ivory horde. They took it and went back in the truck and went back. At this point Cali thought they might see him in the tree if they looked back so he decided to climb down and hide behind the tree. Whilst climbing down his gun fell and unluckily for him the safety was off. Bararac the gun went off and the askar heard and came back. Si xun bey u dileen and wey faraxumeeyeen. Cali came back into the town that day asagoo liita. When asked how he was he replied "wallaahi si xun bey ii dileen oo dumar bey iga dhigeen balse anaa og saan ka yeeli". Miskiinka was determined to have his revenge. He went to the Somali border and recruited men and arms.

 

He returned a while later and went straight to Paul's house. He hid a pistol in his belt and put a shaal on to cover it. He must've changed his appearance as well because the wife who opened the door only recognised his voice and not his face. She lied and told him Paul was away. Miyaa un buu yiriyee, he promptly shot her and yer young daughter. Paul heard all this and jumped over the perimeter wall at the back. At this point Cali was on a rampage. He then went to a nearby church and shot madowgii ku jirey as well as tu/ku Soomaali ah oo gaaloobey. He then went to a local petrol station and shot the madow waardiye. He then left the town. He would occasionally come into town and cause a ruckus and then leave again. Askarta addoomeyda dad maata oon hubbeysneen unbey ka adag yihiine, rag hubeysan wayba ka baqaan. Whenever they hear "cali baa soo socdaa" they would flee. Cali would give messages to the ladies that bring milk into the town for the police officers in town saying "haddaad rag tihiin, meeshaas iyo meeshaas iigu imaada". Never once did the adoomey take the offer.

 

After a while, GG Karioki, the internal security minister came to town. Everyone was ordered into the town primary school field. He gave his infamous speech in Swahili. He said "mas cunigii waa un mas. Cali Madoobe idinkuu idinka dhashay. Haddaan 7 maalmood gudahood ku keeni waaysaan, magaalada silig baan ku xiri oo waan idin laayni". Hooyo says at this point dadka cabsi maahee wayba isku xaareen. Waa la soo galbaday. 6 maalmood baa la joogey. On that night, my mum says while the were asleep, she was woken up by ayeey to screaming and gunshots. She said hareerihii haddaan fiiriye waxaan arkay magaalada oo dhanoo gubanaysa. The flames were only a few houses away. (this is the night Mohamed describes). The flames stretched from Buulo Cadaan (where Mohamed lived) till the end of Ngamia Road (a huge portion of town). When the troops came to their area they went to the house of a local police officer called Maxamed Isiolo. The poor man was so out of his wits he told them to leave and refused them entry. They then went to the house of another local officer named Cali Jidhaye AUN. He said "if we are to live we'll live so come in". His house was a two room brick building and mother and other relatives filled them both. The kids were screaming and everyone was reading Qur'aan at the top of their lungs. The officer who was hiding them would pluck up some courage and put on his uniform to confront the adoomey, then he would look outside and fear for his life so he would changed back into civilian clothes. He did this for a very long time. It was at this point the old neighbour which I talked about earlier was beaten and told to lie in the ground. I was mistaken. He didn't die but survived as wuxuu ku hagaagay in between the wheels. Asagoo silic ah ayuu guriga usoo galey. He said "Faadumoy ma joogtaa?" My ayeey said "Xaaji hebelow see tahay?" He said "Faadumoy Alle un baa og sidey ii galeen balse waxaan arkay calan Soomaaliyeed oo dhulkan ka taagan oo anaga baa dhulkan ugu dambeyn doonaayee, iska sabra" (Wallaahi I'm not lying, this is what my Mum heard from the old man). Dead bodies was strewn all over the place and even some of my relatives and family friends died that night. Dead bodies were strewn all along Ngamia road (a long road in the centre of town). (The adoomey threw all the bodies into the river before fajr so hide what they did).

 

It was at this point my abti was agitating to run away to Somalia saying "Adoon ma i dilaye, Soomaaliya baan ku shubi (carari)". A lot of the youth were doing this (a relative named Kilas did this and he was only seen when Somalia collapsed). Ayeey wouldn't let him. At the morning just before fajr, the adoon made the local chief a man named Chief Sugow to give an announcement on a loudspeaker. He told everyone to present themselves to the Primary School field again by midday or else they would be killed in their homes. Everyone was again rounded up with the officers cocking their guns at the populace, surrounding them. Officers would casually come into the mass of people and randomly beat people up. After a while, all children, women and government workers were allowed to go home. During that night was when the mass raping of the town's female population took place while the men were still held in the field. It was the next day Siyaad gave his famous ultimatum to Moi. The men were shortly released. 2 days and 2 nights without food and drink. It was so bad they resorted to drinking each others' urine. My own abti was one of them.

 

My family then fled to Somalia on foot. Mother told me of their happiness at the sight of the Somali border which meant safety. They were fed, clothed and housed by the Somali Republic for as long as they wished to stay.

 

Wagalla was even worse.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Haatu;986344 wrote:

Xaaji we are the joke of the world, even kuwii madowga ahaa baa naga sarreeya and instead of taking heed, we continue to divide each other. That's what he's trying to say.

Thats a fair point but most of these problems were created by Somalis no?

[Cadale]

Haatu;986356 wrote:

I showed my mum this documentary and she got very emotional over it. What follows is what she narrated to me about how the Garissa Massacre happened:

 

It all started because a local poacher who was called Cali Madoobe was in partnership with a Kikuyu called Paul. Cali would kill the elephants and collect the ivory, Paul would come take it away and sell on the Black Market. One day Paul decided to betray his partner. He had taken a batch from Cali, sold it on the black market and was planing on keeping the loot for himself. Paul and Cali had planned on meeting on the town's outskirts. Paul in his betrayal went to the local police station and told them a shufta (bandit) was trying to sell him weapons. He came with a truckload of armed officers with the intention of betraying Cali. Cali who had fought in the '77 war could hear the military truck coming. He climbed an abaq tree and waited. The came, looked around but couldn't find anything except the ivory horde. They took it and went back in the truck and went back. At this point Cali thought they might see him in the tree if they looked back so he decided to climb down and hide behind the tree. Whilst climbing down his gun fell and unluckily for him the safety was off. Bararac the gun went off and the askar heard and came back. Si xun bey u dileen and wey faraxumeeyeen. Cali came back into the town that day asagoo liita. When asked how he was he replied "wallaahi si xun bey ii dileen oo dumar bey iga dhigeen balse anaa og saan ka yeeli". Miskiinka was determined to have his revenge. He went to the Somali border and recruited men and arms.

 

He returned a while later and went straight to Paul's house. He hid a pistol in his belt and put a shaal on to cover it. He must've changed his appearance as well because the wife who opened the door only recognised his voice and not his face. She lied and told him Paul was away. Miyaa un buu yiriyee, he promptly shot her and yer young daughter. Paul heard all this and jumped over the perimeter wall at the back. At this point Cali was on a rampage. He then went to a nearby church and shot madowgii ku jirey as well as tu/ku Soomaali ah oo gaaloobey. He then went to a local petrol station and shot the madow waardiye. He then left the town. He would occasionally come into town and cause a ruckus and then leave again. Askarta addoomeyda dad maata oon hubbeysneen unbey ka adag yihiine, rag hubeysan wayba ka baqaan. Whenever they hear "cali baa soo socdaa" they would flee. Cali would give messages to the ladies that bring milk into the town for the police officers in town saying "haddaad rag tihiin, meeshaas iyo meeshaas iigu imaada". Never once did the adoomey take the offer.

 

After a while, GG Karioki, the internal security minister came to town. Everyone was ordered into the town primary school field. He gave his infamous speech in Swahili. He said "mas cunigii waa un mas. Cali Madoobe idinkuu idinka dhashay. Haddaan 7 maalmood gudahood ku keeni waaysaan, magaalada silig baan ku xiri oo waan idin laayni". Hooyo says at this point dadka cabsi maahee wayba isku xaareen. Waa la soo galbaday. 6 maalmood baa la joogey. On that night, my mum says while the were asleep, she was woken up by ayeey to screaming and gunshots. She said hareerihii haddaan fiiriye waxaan arkay magaalada oo dhanoo gubanaysa. The flames were only a few houses away. (this is the night Mohamed describes). The flames stretched from Buulo Cadaan (where Mohamed lived) till the end of Ngamia Road (a huge portion of town). When the troops came to their area they went to the house of a local police officer called Maxamed Isiolo. The poor man was so out of his wits he told them to leave and refused them entry. They then went to the house of another local officer named Cali Jidhaye AUN. He said "if we are to live we'll live so come in". His house was a two room brick building and mother and other relatives filled them both. The kids were screaming and everyone was reading Qur'aan at the top of their lungs. The officer who was hiding them would pluck up some courage and put on his uniform to confront the adoomey, then he would look outside and fear for his life so he would changed back into civilian clothes. He did this for a very long time. It was at this point the old neighbour which I talked about earlier was beaten and told to lie in the ground. I was mistaken. He didn't die but survived as wuxuu ku hagaagay in between the wheels. Asagoo silic ah ayuu guriga usoo galey. He said "Faadumoy ma joogtaa?" My ayeey said "Xaaji hebelow see tahay?" He said

"Faadumoy Alle un baa og sidey ii galeen balse waxaan arkay calan Soomaaliyeed oo dhulkan ka taagan oo anaga baa dhulkan ugu dambeyn doonaayee, iska sabra"

(Wallaahi I'm not lying, this is what my Mum heard from the old man). Dead bodies was strewn all over the place and even some of my relatives and family friends died that night. Dead bodies were strewn all along Ngamia road (a long road in the centre of town). (The adoomey threw all the bodies into the river before fajr so hide what they did).

 

It was at this point my abti was agitating to run away to Somalia saying "Adoon ma i dilaye, Soomaaliya baan ku shubi (carari)". A lot of the youth were doing this (a relative named Kilas did this and he was only seen when Somalia collapsed). Ayeey wouldn't let him. At the morning just before fajr, the adoon made the local chief a man named Chief Sugow to give an announcement on a loudspeaker. He told everyone to present themselves to the Primary School field again by midday or else they would be killed in their homes. Everyone was again rounded up with the officers cocking their guns at the populace, surrounding them. Officers would casually come into the mass of people and randomly beat people up. After a while, all children, women and government workers were allowed to go home. During that night was when the mass raping of the town's female population took place while the men were still held in the field. It was the next day Siyaad gave his famous ultimatum to Moi. The men were shortly released. 2 days and 2 nights without food and drink. It was so bad they resorted to drinking each others' urine. My own abti was one of them.

 

My family then fled to Somalia on foot. Mother told me of their happiness at the sight of the Somali border which meant safety. They were fed, clothed and housed by the Somali Republic for as long as they wished to stay.

 

Wagalla was even worse.

. Thanks for sharing.

[Safferz]

Thanks for sharing your mom's account, Haatu. I don't like how you keep referring to non-Somali Kenyans as adoon, though... I understand the resentment but racist and hateful language is unnecessary.

 

Mohamed Adow did a great job with this, the documentary is already being circulated widely and I've seen a lot of interesting debates as a result. I wish he had been a little more aggressive with the internal defense minister and the police chief though.

[STOIC]

Haatu, thanks for sharing that history.Mohamed Adow ( Rageh Omaar of NFD) did an excellent job with this documentary. It was very moving piece.It took me way back home. Honestly I have never considered myself a Kenyan. To be integrated into a population means for all practical purposes to be Indistinguishable from other citizens. Somali Kenyans are world apart from other Kenyans.You could see how the Kariuki guy and the policeman were both rude and dismissive. Nacala Kikuyu!!

[Safferz]

Apophis;986366 wrote:

The guy's family were nearly killed but you "don't like" a very common word because it disturbs your refined sensibilities, which is above all else.

 

The bourgeoisie cocoon you live in has never allowed you to experience an hour of reality in your life.

Don't be a moron. Do you know how many people have been killed, enslaved, colonized, exploited because of that word, because Africans were considered nothing but "adoon," non-human, primitive, barbaric, backward? That includes Somalis too, regardless of whether you think you're above your Africanness or not. The very reason NFD is part of Kenya today is an inheritance of a shared history of racial oppression in East Africa as Africans, you would be hard pressed to find a region in Africa more defined by the legacy colonial partition and rule than the Horn of Africa. You are the one who has no grasp of reality and what it has meant to be an African in the world.

 

The stup*dity and myopia is astounding. How do you fail to see this?

[Safferz]

^ You have no self-awareness or historical understanding whatsoever of Somali history and African history more broadly, I would laugh at you if it wasn't so tragic. The same Europeans who set foot in the Somali peninsula in the 19th century, partitioned us between themselves and denied us our freedom and humanity for decades, and decided to leave NFD with postcolonial Kenya in 1963 thought of *you* as an adoon too in every sense of the word, whether you want to believe that or not. I don't care what you believe or what things look like in the parallel historical and political universe you seem to exist in, but I've spent enough time spilling over the writings of dead white dudes writing about us to understand what's at stake when Somalis internalize this BS.

[Hawdian]

Safferz the khadiim you are really bila dareem. Hatu shared a personal family story and how his family was affected when thousands of my country men were killed raped and humiliated by Kenyan state and the most important for you was to correct the use of the word adoon in that story. You really are mish faida.

[Safferz]

Work on your reading comprehension and quit projecting, Hawdian. Haatu started using the word adoon on the first page, and it's something I've commented on in past threads. The kid is brighter than both of you and knows better than to interpret my critique of a term as an attack on his family history. I was actually planning to send him a message to suggest recording his family members' oral accounts of what happened, not only because the stories themselves are important but for record keeping of witness testimonies in case of future court action/settlements like the Mau Mau case, which succeeded because of the archival and oral history work of historians and student researchers.

[thefuturenow]

I'm sure the "adoons" had a similarly derogatory word for us while they killed, maimed and defiled. Every time they said it, they felt justified and righteous in their evil actions.

[Hawdian]

@ Safferz Khlaas inzel mowduuc yaa khamdaa . Ana araf anta Khaltisti Jamacta lakiin istagaal sey adfahl . Bila faida . Ana arafi sey harakti. Dawaar naas taani .

 

Thanks once again Haatu for giving us a real insight into the dark past of NFD. How ironic it is that the same people are today peace keepers in somaliya.

[spartacus]

haatu thnx! It's sad to know we have been through this pain since colonial powers left the country walahi we don't have morality, ambition somalis are either they fight kill each other hate each other or either discriminate insult each other and yet their people brothers are beaten raped every day in many countries, we don't sympathize each other how other people will support or help us when we don't like each other and yet we jealous of each other. when cadaan realized we don't value each other than they planned to divide our territories and give to such countries. NFD somalis they claim kenyans only, but heart really doesn't because they have zero hope to their brothers they don't have choice but to be dominated and beaten by those animals. we shouldn't accuse our problems for other countries, it's we who all problem started from.

[thefuturenow]

Apophis;986379 wrote:

They do, It's 'woriya" (i,e warya). From my everyday experience, both 'woriya' and 'adoon' are not seen as offensive words by their intended recipients. Such political correctness is a western disease and I'm glad to say it does not exist here in East Africa.

**omba, you may have missed the point. The power of words cannot be limited. They create our perception and signal the biases of our brain. Certainly, thoughts become words then actions, then habits before they ultimately become our character. Referring to someone else with derogatory names will reinforce a sense of superiority in one, enough to justify one's unjust actions toward another.

 

We, as Somalis, have a particular tendency to belittle others through name calling. We refer to people by their deformity or the features we find most unappealing. Gacamey, illey, jareer. Somali usage of the word 'adoon' is very interesting. If we are referring to fellow Africans & (blacks generally) as "the enslaved," how have we managed to exempt themselves from this experience? Perhaps, it is our inferiority--fermented by being the lowest of the global low that we have resorted to insulting others. If we continually refer to Kenyan as 'adoon,' in due time, will we then assume the role of 'master?' Do you see what is wrong?

 

Al-Qur'an: 49:11

O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one's] faith. And whoever does not repent - then it is those who are the wrongdoers.

[Haatu]

Safferz;986363 wrote:

Thanks for sharing your mom's account, Haatu. I don't like how you keep referring to non-Somali Kenyans as adoon, though... I understand the resentment but racist and hateful language is unnecessary.

Hateful, yes. Unnecessary maybe but that's besides the point as that is what everyone in the NFD calls them almost exclusively. So much so people use it when casually referring to them instead of saying "madow baan arkay", they'll say "adoomey baan arkay".