By Hassan Zaylai

There are two definitions for the word reconciliation: 1) the restoration of friendly relations and or 2) the action of making one’s view or belief compatible with another.

If  people ever needed reconciliation so badly, it is the people of Somalia! Truly, Somalis need to restore that undercurrent through all Somalis of brotherhood and sisterhood. After all, Somalis are not only people of one origin, but also very unique. Restoring the family, however, will first take reconciling so many ugly things that got wrong in Somalia society in the last 23-plus years. In other words, the family dirt linens must be aired. Even then, the truth must be told about the past in order to move forward. Yes, a blame must be assigned to those whose actions led to a failed Somali state.

Twenty three years of misery for a nation in its entirety must not be swept under the rug, but rather dissected and examined as a lesson for posterity never to be repeated.

First, we all must understand the magnitude to which a nation is completely dethroned from grace and dignity by failing at governance. To begin with, without a country to protect and advocate for its citizens, Somali people were exposed to a cruel world both domestically and internationally. For example, in the early years of Somalia’s chaos of 1990s, hundreds of thousands of Somali Bedouins and farmers lost their lives due to a famine from a drought. With a functioning government, that disaster could have easily been prevented.

With aimless and continued violence also, tens of thousands of Somalis died. Others in the millions were displaced internally and in neighboring countries. Yet, the bodies of thousands of Somalis are also littered at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, the Red and the Mediterranean Seas, as Somalis continuously risk lives on rickety boats in search of a better life. Somalis are gunned down in South Africa with impunity, for just being entrepreneurial.

Somalia, as a country, is practically destroyed, with its infrastructure in tatters. There is no one unified command and control country called Somalia anymore! Somalia’s territorial waters has become the dumping ground for chemical and even radioactive wastes.

How do you know when a nation has massively fallen? You know it by when her enemies become the charge of her. I don’t think I need to elaborate on that!

Mogadishu was thoroughly dismantled. Neither public nor private properties escaped unscathed from mobs of looters. Mogadishu, with the biggest Somali State weapons depots (from the cold war and its aftermath) practically unsecured and available to anyone, became the ultimate MAD MAX city of the world. Remember all the “technicals,” checkpoints and turf wars. At a price, one could then buy any weapon at the infamous Bakara Market.

The children born and grown up in South and central Somalia, from 1991, (some of them now adults) have known nothing but death and violence. One can only wonder what that would entail for the present and future Somalia crime and criminal justice system. Will Somalia be forced to build mega prisons to contain a generation of violent young men in particular?That is to say nothing of would be high psychiatric cases in Somalia from what I would call the “anarchy generation!” for decades to come.

In a nutshell, Somali State is Mogadishu, and Mogadishu is Somali State. Our immediate forefathers made the Somali State the Siamese-twin of Mogadishu. Logically, if Mogadishu is at peace and prospering, then not only the Somali State is well but it is because of it that Mogadishu is at peace and prospering. In 1991, the sitting government of Mohammed Siyad was ejected from Mogadishu by a one particular militia of USC (United Somali Congress). Did this rebel group or its leaders ever plan for the aftermath in Mogadishu alone, if successful in overthrowing Siyad regime? If they did, it did not show, for the same day of ousting Siyad, Mogadishu descended into an all-out anarchy of looting and other despicable acts. By the end of last year, 2014 ( from 1991), was the first time when—because of AU Forces, AMISOM—the trend of chaos in Somalia is finally halted and perhaps even reversed!

USC was one of many clan-based rebel groups, trained and equipped in Ethiopia, which at the time were vying for the removal of Mohammed Siyad and his regime. These armed opposition group rebels, although united in spirit on the ousting of Mohammed Siyad, were not capable of establishing in exile an inclusive, across rebel and clan groups shadow government to rule after Mohammed Siyad was removed. Simply, each rebel group headed to their historical clan area of Somalia—to liberate, if you will, their area from Siyad’s regime. Therefore, each rebel group had to become by default the government of its regional sphere of influence (based on their clan lands) of Somalia. Very soon, after Mohammed Siyad fled from Mogadishu and his regime collapsed, Somalia and its people would enter into unforeseeable long lasting disaster, at the center of which would bring about the failure of Somali State and sovereignty. Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, was utterly ruined in all conceivable ways.

Where Mogadishu was failed by its own rebel group USC, Hargeisa, Garowe, Bossaso and other towns were maintained or rebuilt from the ravages of war between the rebels and government. Regrettably, no law and order in Mogadishu meant more than a localized disaster for one city. The Somali State fell with Mogadishu—with the rest of Somalia incapable to rescue Mogadishu from itself.

I conclude  that this unspeakable disaster on Somalia is a man-made disaster. Who are the guilty or the sinners in Somalia’s bedlam of 23- years? The answer, when addressing outsiders, is us Somalis. We did it to ourselves, without a doubt! To pose the same question to Somalis, however, the answer has to be different, because all Somalis are not guilty of it. Personally, I charge the leaders of the USC rebel group as the ones who failed to secure Mogadishu, which automatically meant the failure of Somali State. The state has failed because by getting rid of the existing government, a security or law and order vacuum was created in Mogadishu. Who should have filled such vacuum? Obviously, it was the responsibility of the USC rebel group which ousted the sitting government from Mogadishu, which falls into their historical clan area. They (USC) entered the presidential palace of Villa Somalia in Mogadishu the same day after Siyad fled. What other rebel group was there in Mogadishu to assume power in Mogadishu immediately? The Somali State ceased when Mogadishu was not policed after Siyad! No Mogadishu, no Somali State! Therefore, reconciliation among Somalis will go a long way if the truth is told about past events, even if it is difficult for some groups to admit the mentioned wrong done by their own. Confession is healing and forgiveness ensues admission! I appeal to my Hawiye brothers, whose rebel group failed not only the rest of Somalia and Somalis (by not securing Mogadishu) but also Mogadishu and Hawiye themselves, to be bold in confronting head on this historical stain on themselves, every Somali, Mogadishu and Somali State. There is no escaping from the past.

Hassan zaylai
Email:haahzay@hotmail.com