Somali-land is sitting tribalism time bomb, which could explode at any time like in the past By ismail yousuf
After 23 years of independence, the people of Somali land have failed to grow from village or tribal politics and as result, this has influenced the creation a tribal loyalty and absences of true national identity. Tribalism is the deadly opponent of teamwork; it destroys careers and erodes the very foundation of successful society. It dictates people to be loyal to the tribes than to be loyal to the nation and that is exactly what I was watching everyday in Somali-land as from 1991. The multiparty system that we have adapted years ago have has not revolutionized even 10 % of Somali-land society. Rather, this has generated various tribes with diverse different political interest and agenda competing on each other for supremacy and power struggle. The concept of tribalism, like that of the tribe, is difficult to define precisely, as it is closely interwoven with the context in which it is used. Tribalism may be defined as the maintenance by a tribal society of its organization, ways, and autonomy in the face of change. But tribalism may be defined differently when a tribe’s claim of identity has less to do with its primitivism or indignity than with its ethnic discreteness and cultural distinctiveness for gaining material or political advantages. Tribalism is positive when the complete allegiance of a collectively is geared toward the collective good nation building, preserving the group identity as a single cohesive unit that fosters ethnic solidarity, seeking new dimensions of development. Contrarily, tribalism is negative when it generates ethnic hatred and war. Tribalism is closely related to ethnic solidarity and ethno-centrism.
The attack for control of Hargeysa airport in mid November 1994 and expanded than to Somali-land city Burao and last in 1997 was not more than power struggle based on tribalism. Those days dissatisfaction was reported for certain Somali-land clans from Egal administration, which was widespread among a number of clans. That fighting has already dramatically radicalized clan attitudes throughout Somali-land, sharply lowering patriotism. Without naming them, it was unfortunate that certain prominent personalities from Somali-land obtained heroic medals from his tribe, as if he won sport event. That was happened in Djibouti in 1995. Hero is the person recognized and distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. No one from SNM even qualified and recognized as that designate like above. This proves my account and claim which enlightens the attack of the airport was purely based on tribal mentality.
After 23 years of independence, we have not benefited from Obama phenomenon, which presents a lot of lessons for people and nations willing to learn from his unique experience in several areas. Identity crisis is a problem which plagues many in Somali-land. It is a topic I usually prefer to ignore, as I realize that victims of a conflict of identity bears the brunt and burden of their conflicted persona, however the Obama experience presents an opportunity to help those who may suffer such isolation of a conflicted identity with a better way forward.Ordinarily, Barrack Obama who has a White mother had every reason to deny or subdue his Black identity in a nation like the United States of America where Blacks were once slaves, and where they have continued to face discrimination through several generations. Another grim disadvantage is the population of Blacks which is only 12% while Whites make up 67% of the population. In a democracy, the majority wins, and since Whites are an overwhelming majority, the assumption that only Whites can possibly win the White house could have made Obama to subdue his Blackness and give more emphasis on his White mother and White roots.The lesson here is that in spite of all the obvious advantages of being White and disadvantages of Being Black, Obama choose to remain original and true to his black identity while at the same time never denying his White roots from his mother. In the end, his originality attracted the respect of both Whites and Blacks whose votes secured his victory to the White house. somalilanders who suffer from a conflicted identity, most of which are for political reasons and ignorance should learn from Obama’s triumph in originality. Tribalism and ethnic hatred has been put to shame for human civilization. America’s free and fair democratic process which permitted Barack Obama to emerge the president despite racism which is reported exists in American white society.
Tribalism is very strong in parts of Africa, which Somali-land is one of them despite after 500 years of colonization. When Europeans landed in Africa 500 years ago they realized two things: There were not countries borders in Africa but there were invisible ethnic group borders. But for Europeans to dominate and conquer Africa they used one tribe against another tribe because there were already rivalries among tribes in Africa.Europeans managed to achieve their goals and some Africans were captured and sold as slaves with help of some tribe’s chiefs. But at end white men killed all African tribe chiefs and occupied all Africa, divided it into countries and created new borders with diverse tribes in each country that we see today in many countries in Africa. . Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that and hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.Somali-land is the only country in the world in which the top government posts like military general, finance and foreign ministers are reserved are kept reserved for certain clan over years. Furthermore, we do not understand why some clans are allotted five or six governmental miniseries, whereas others is allotted only one minster with lest importance. Additional, we do not understand why the most important heavy weight ministries like finance and foreign are allotted to certain tribe and the least important ministries are reserved for certain Somali-land tribes. That was not even possible the days of Siyad Bare’s regime, let alone a democratic like us. This gives an indication that certain tribes are more superior than the others and a consequence this will lead citizens to be less patriotic.
Taken above into consideration, Somali-land democratic transition is back in the spotlight. The concern is no longer the stranglehold of autocrats, but the hijacking of the democratic process by tribal based election process, which many occasion created violence and ended up with human loss and casualties in the past. The word democracy appears to be pleasant when it free from tribalism. Taken this reality into consideration, it is evident that it is impossible that we elect an incomparable personality, since our selection criteria are based on tribalism. The challenge to democracy in Somali-land is not the prevalence of ethnic diversity, but the use of identity politics to promote narrow tribal interests. Some people argue that tribalism creates hidden borer between societies, which presently we notice in Somali-land. Last 23 years Somalia has shown the dangers of tribal competition and underscores the importance of building nations around ideas rather than clan identities. Much attention over the last two decades has been devoted to removing autocrats and promoting multiparty politics. In case of Somali-land, the absences of efforts to build genuine political parties that compete on the basis of ideas have reverted to tribal identities as foundations for political competition. Our political leaders often exploit tribal loyalty to advance personal gain, parochial interests, patronage, and cronyism. But tribes are not built on democratic ideas but thrive on zero-sum competition. As a result, they are unfavorable to democratic advancement. In essence, tribal practices are occupying a vacuum created by lack of strong democratic institutions. Tribal interests have played a major role in armed conflict and civil unrest in countries in world, which Somali-land has gone through dilemma years ago as mentioned in the above. It is clear that until we wipe out the elements that creates tribalism, it is unmistakable that democracy is far distant from us. Today we are just like tribal societies living together in one country without having shared interest and destiny. The only benefit of tribalism is that we live together as a people, and get to maintain our culture, language and traditions.
Tribes issue is one of traditional is holding Somaliland back and it is time to begin to think more about our people thinking about tribes that it’s creating division among somalilanders. It’s time to push for democracy, human rights, good education system based on good values and the basic conditions of living, The true is most of somaliland population are living below poverty line and the politicians and their family members are living in palaces . We’re in 21th century and there are some children are still studying under trees in many places in our country.But the children of politicians are studying in private schools in western countries. Something must be wrong with that type of democracy! Those children who are studying under trees are the future generation of Somaliland without a good education system as result an internal forces which effete their life. It’s time for to have change of mindset, forget about division of tribes and focus more in united Somaliland human rights and kick out useless politicians in power. There are individuals in Somaliland who are greed; they only get into politic because they believe that the quickest way to get rich and not to defend interest of Somaliland people.
Ismail Yusuf.
