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Balkanization and
Subjugation of Somalia
(Washington July 07, 2011
Ceegaag Online)
Let me begin
by saying that had it not been for Somalis transgressing
against other Somalis, the state would neither have been in
its current pitifully fragmented state, nor would it have
become the poster child for the failed states.
Since its
independence 51 years ago, Somalia has been a pawn in a
geopolitical chess game and a gambit in the global war on
terrorism. In that half a century, Somalia has never been
entirely independent of foreign influences, and
exploitations. But, it was never pushed down to a level
similar to the current one where its nationhood, history,
and indeed future aspirations are at a great risk.
Climbing out
of the current predicament would require an entirely
different approach, and stepping outside the confinement of
the conventional.
Like a human
being facing a deadly threat, there comes a time in a
nation’s history when screaming, kicking, scratching, and
using whatever means available to it is not only an
existentialist obligation, but a moral one. Somalia is
facing such a moment as a result of a number of policies and
resolutions designed to systematically erode its national
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Straw
that broke the camel’s back:
Though the
motives driving these policies and resolutions are by no
means monolithic, they have further divided a war-fatigued
nation and traumatized people; they exacerbated the
humanitarian disaster; they exposed it to the exploitation
of the political vultures of the 21st Century;
they hindered and in some cases sabotaged the incubation
process for progress and reform, and facilitated a process
whereby the annexation of the Somali state by its patiently
keen neighbors is imminent. The latest of these eroding
elements was ceremoniously delivered through the Kampala
Accord.
Though the
Kampla Accord offers a number of provisions to bridge the
sensationalized political difference between the top
leadership, in a vague language used to articulate Articles
4 (j), (k), and (n), it dictates certain impositions. It
denies the Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) its
authority to thoroughly debate the merit of the Accord
before ratifying it, scrutinize leadership and if necessary
hold them accountable, and it officially places the TFG
under what political scientist Afyare Elmi calls “stealth
trusteeship” (define). Specifically, under what the accord
refers to as The Bureau- a coalition of stakeholder nations
and institutions.
Building-blocks of deconstruction:
Somalia’s
fate is now in a runaway train known as the
“building-blocks”- a political train fueled with what could
only be described as “groupthink” energy. Within the Somali
context, the concept promotes the official dismemberment of
the State by “re-tribalization” and paves the way for its
detrimental deconstruction or “re-colonization”.
In his 1994 essay, ‘The Bondage of Boundaries’, prominent
Africanist—Professor Ali Mazrui—argues that “External
re-colonization under the banner of humanitarianism is
entirely conceivable. Countries like Somalia …where central
control has collapsed may invite an inevitable
intervention”. Uncharacteristic of his long running
scholarly contributions, he takes a simplistic approach in
advocating for Ethiopia’s re-colonization of Somalia on
behalf of the international community, and if it proves
necessary, to annex it as it (Ethiopia) has the imperialist
appetite that attracted it in the past to annex its
neighboring ethnic communities.
The result
was a bloody fiasco of historic proportion. Ethiopia ’s two
year deadly occupation (2007-09) left tens of thousands of
Somalis dead and close to 2 million displaced, it leveled
one third of Mogadishu , and boosted the recruitment appeal
of the violent extremist militia al-Shabaab.
Despite the
trail of blood it left behind, some are still convinced that
the building-blocks concept is a viable one-size fits all.
They argue that this system has anchored “sustainable
federalism” in Ethiopia …never mind the profound
complexities of the Somali clan dynamic, and the history
between the two nations.
The
Politics of Simplicity:
A year or so
ago, in the course of our discussion over lunch in
Washington (DC), my interlocutor—a prominent analyst and one
of the leading opinion makers on Somalia —asked me a
question that perplexed me a bit. “So, when would President
Sharif Ahmed realize that the only way the international
community would continue its support is to declare his
outfit as SCS?” he siad. Asking for clarification, I
responded: “What is SCS?” My interlocutor replied with a
flare of confidence and a grin: “South Central Somalia , of
course. And considering how resourceful the southerners are,
SCS could easily become the commercial center that attracts
business people from Somaliland and Puntland”.
I told the
expert that this could only be a viable approach if one
deliberately ignores certain crucial facts: 1) That the
Transitional Federal Institutions, as a body, is a microcosm
of the Somali society as there is not a single clan left out
of the power-sharing. 2) That there are many Ministers and
Parliament Members currently serving in the TFI, and many
soldiers serving in the Somali National Army who hail from
Somaliland and Puntland. 3) That after two decades of bloody
push and pull, people have finally resigned to the fact that
there is not a single clan who could claim exclusive rights
to Mogadishu . Currently, the economic, military, numerical,
and political power is spread across clans. 4) That the
suggested approach would be like solving a problem by
creating several others.
However, the
expert remained relentlessly convinced; giving a fresh
meaning to George Orwell’s “One has to belong to the
intelligentsia (or the expert community) to believe things
like that…”
Renewed
Energy:
On September
2010, the Noref Report by the Norwegian Peace-building
Center titled ‘Remaking of the Somali State : a renewed
building-block approach’ was released. The report
would resuscitate the ailing concept. The report advocated
breaking up each regional territory into “a smaller
pieces—building blocks—that can more effectively be managed
by local authorities; then, when these become working
polities, reunite them under a decentralized, federal or
even con-federal structure.”
A month
later, on October 2010, the US State Department officially
unveiled its “Dual-Track approach toward Somalia .” In this
approach, the US decided to continue its dialogue and
support of the TFG, open the political floodgates and
actively engage all actors, and keep all doors open for the
emerging ones so long as they oppose al-Shabaab.
Less than a
year later, a quick gaze at the political landscape projects
a daunting picture.
Over a dozen
regional administrations, city and village states with their
own presidents, foreign ministers, and defense ministers
have emerged. So much for sustainable security
collaboration, unified military command, and nation to
nation treaties of mutual interest.
Kacdoon:
It is within
this context that the Accord became the straw that broke the
camel’s back, so to speak. The Accord has ignited protests
in many parts of Somalia and abroad. Somalis in many parts
of the world are organizing grassroots movements intended to
salvage the Somali state. Kacdoon (uprising in
Somali) is a Facebook group that started less than a month
ago and it already has close to 10,000 subscribers.
Finally, the
dormant conscience had a rude awakening. And the collective
will of the people, especially the younger generation, is
making a clear demand: the Kampala Accord shall only be
ratified if it is in the best interest of the nation, not as
result of a pressure or coercion from the international
community or regional authority. The will of the people is
reverberating throughout the country as well as the diaspora
communities around the world and they are screaming for an
indigenous solution to the Somali problem.
Foreign
concocted solutions have a miserable record in Somalia . The
irony is that the very aforementioned report promoting the
Building-block approach recognizes that “ Somalia has become
the graveyard of externally sponsored state-building
initiates” while it offers yet another one.
Proponents of
the Accord argue that it is too late to discuss, change, or
reject it as one of its critical aspects has already been
implemented. A Prime Minister was ousted and another one
appointed and approved by Parliament, and a new government
is being formed. The opponents, on the other hand, cite a
number of reasons why the Accord should be declared
null-and-void; chief among them is the argument that the
Accord was an agreement made between two of the top
leadership—the President and the Speaker of the Parliament
who had a difference of opinion—and did some costly horse
trading that flies in the face of the Transitional Federal
Charter and the original Somali constitution. While the
President has the authority to unilaterally represent the
Presidency, the Speaker of the Parliament has no authority
to unilaterally represent the Parliament in such an
agreement that, among other things, shackles their
authority.
So, TFP
should yield to the will of the Somali people. It should
unequivocally reject the aspects of the Accord that clearly
encroaches in the autonomy of the nation and the right of
the Parliament to discharge their mandate. This is the only
way to face up to the long unyielding campaign to eradicate
the Somali state, and to the special interest groups who
have cleverly been weaving their short-sighted schemes into
the international effort to find a political panacea.
Moreover, this is the way for the TFP to demonstrate its
willingness to transcend its own short-sighted political
interest and stand for the nation.
Abukar Arman
is Somalia ’s Special Envoy to the United States .
webmaster@ceegaag.com
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