Warsan Cismaan Saalax
E-Mail: warsan2001@hotmail.com

Imagine a scenario where a colleague and I are catching up on things in a reception following a research event, are approached by a tall dark, handsome man who said loudly: “nothing like home” in an apparent invitation for us to engage in some sort of conversation.  I exchanged a quick look with my colleague, who looked intrigued as much as I was, and I then asked the gentleman:

“Where do you call home, then?”
“Somalia, Mogadishu of course” he answers.
“So do you live there?” I continued.

“No, I am here now, but there is no place like home” he says “it’s wonderful, it is changing, and things are getting better” he adds.

“Did you leave your family there? You must be missing them a lot” I commented
“No, they are in Nairobi?” he says.

“Are they on a holiday there?” I asked.
“No” he said while frowning at the question “that is where they live” he added.

“How come?” I questioned, “ Well you know things are bad and they will take time to get better,” he murmurs.

“Are you planning to go back any time soon?” I questioned confused by his statements, then I looked for clarification “did you always live apart?”
“I stay in Mogadishu while they are in Kenya, but when things get better they will eventually come there” he says.

“Things are not settled, there is conflict around Jubaland as well?” asks my colleague.
“There are other people with interest there,” the gentleman answers to the colleague.

“Like whom?” the colleague continues in confusion.
“Like Kenya and others” he answers.

My colleague and I were gripped by increasing sense of discomfort since where the conversation was heading was clear.  My attempts to change the topic failed, but I was able to slip away quietly hoping that no one notices me.  I later run into him again just to listen to coded language of “these people with other agendas” while noticing that the list of enemies was widening.  The horrors of the situation were complete when a third colleague disrupted the conversation by asking me “do you know who you are conversing with?” “No” I answered with curiosity “he is a newly appointed Somali diplomat”.  So I said to him “well, this puts your position into context, but I disagree with your government’s position on federalism, the constitution and Jubaland”.  The conversation then took a different tone of a personal nature, where the gentleman inquired, “What clan are you?” and when I identified my clan affiliation, the gentleman became agitated and asked “what business you have in Kismayo? I am from Kismayo”, I answered him saying “but I thought you just said you were from Mogadishu”  adding “listen, I don’t know what motivates you, but one thing is sure, we are tired, the whole world is, I agree that Mogadishu needs to be rebuilt and to be helped to recover from the destruction of the past 22 years, but you need to live and let others live too”.  Suddenly I became a person whose views are less worthy, needs are dismissed, an outsider with nothing to do with Jubaland, which is a Somali territory.  Here my identity as a Somali with rights to question things was taken away.

I worry always when prejudices are coated with nationalistic tone.  It was not long ago that this served as the basis for crimes against the people of Somalia.  They were oppressed on the basis of apparently their capitalist tendencies, or because they had lighter skin, or deemed as Arab or Abyssinian invaders, or from the wrong clan, or lived on the wrong side, and endless other excuses.   The incident above shows that they continue to linger on and motivate many.  The worry here is then how this is transformed to political actions and the implication of this for the country as a whole and the region.  In my opinion it is important to understand how fear and greed are connected to the reasons why they continue.  There are two interrelated fear involved in the current Somali situation: fear of the other instigated in the lay person due to fear of the warlords and the corrupted elites for their accumulated personal fortune and their destiny if they are exposed.   In my article (Congratulation Somalia but the fight against moral and material corruption goes on!) I argued that corruption leads to bigger crimes of concealment and eventual reinvestment in crime.

The first threat to the old order of loss and exposure comes from reversed migration of different groups.  In Mogadishu the euphoria following the changing politics in Somalia led many Somalis whose properties were confiscated during the first phase of the civil war to return and claim them back.   Some were able to do so, but many were not.  Another wave is the displaced who were in Kenya and in Dadaab who have returned or are contemplating whether to return to their homes.  Lastly, there are the displaced Mogadishu group that refers to itself as the “displaced Palestinians” and are currently returning to repurchase properties in areas where they were originally dispersed from during the second phase of the civil war and the subsequent demarcation of the city amongst warlords.  Locally the resistance is directed towards refugees who are currently being relocated outside the capital.  Also, questions of the displaced from Kenya and the international community is being ignored or pushed to the back of other priorities.

The second threat comes from the devolution of power and the federal system.  Recently, we witnessed how the talk about federalism is used to ignite clan warfare in Somalia.  Issue around reformation of the justice system is advertently spoken about in the same way as “people seeking revenge will come after you” and “your killer is my hero” confusing and frustrating, as a result, the efforts to formulate meaningful interventions to reconstruct a Somalia that is for all.  These are, of course, fear tactics to divide the people on the clan lines, a strategy that made the previous disorder possible.  “Revenge from you” implies that people are seeking collective punishment, which is far from being the truth.  In reality not all people took part in these crimes, and the interest also is in the command structure than petty criminals or opportunists that took advantage of the mayhem of Somalia’s civil war.  Additionally, many of those who were given false sense of security on the basis of clan affiliation were themselves attacked and dispersed.

Federal system became a necessity since Somalis have grown apart in that past 22 years.  But also because of the historical disconnection between the regions and government power base, Mogadishu, post and also to a greater degree, the pre-civil war period.  These areas sustained themselves through reliance on their meager local resources.  Realistically speaking, after few decades of self-reliance, people do not need any more government further away from their immediate environment.  The idea of a federal government is more about keeping Somalia intact than a need for a government, and for that they would not mind surrendering some of their rights.  A federal system is seen as something that would harness their quest for self-reliance, while recognizing their difficult journey to peace.  This journey was about people coming together voluntarily, at the local level and organizing their lives based on bottom up consensus building efforts.  These are values that people hold so dearly.  Abandoning this history and depending on a government sitting on the other end of the country to organize their lives is unreasonable since the Somali government has no means or the capability to do so for even Mogadishu city where it resides.   Barre’s regime, which was relatively well-developed central system, was unable to sustain beyond Mogadishu as well, leading to perpetual deprivation and subsequent collapse.  These are important considerations for a country that rejected dictatorship, especially when a large section of its people and territory are asking for federal system, from Sool, Sanaag & Cayn, Puntland, Galmudug, Jubaland and Bay and Bakool.

Moreover, the conclusion of “your killer is my hero” is less related to justice and more to the attitudes that made the violence, killing and the displacement of millions of people possible.  It is not difficult to see, how research into the area of justice; itself is being used to pervert the course of justice.  However, for a hero to commit mass killing of thousands of unarmed citizens, displace similar numbers, gang rape neighbors, schoolmates, friends and acquaintances would require an international redefinition of the term “hero” itself.  Even for argument sake, the mass violence that took place in Somalia, cannot meet the definition of self defense either, but it is and continues to be based on puritanical ideology and a misplaced sense of entitlement on the basis of kinship, colour, or origin.

Researchers looking for an easy answer, without careful consideration of the ethical issues involved in how participants are recruited, how questions are asked can unwittingly become a voice for injustice.  It is easy in places like Somalia for research to be misinformed by gatekeepers, and in this way become used to sustain the status quo as well as be vulnerable to exploitation by seasoned criminals as shown by recent coverage by ITV investigative reporter Jamal Osman (The ‘Somali pirates’ who are not what they seem).  Research in places like Somalia cannot be a quick fix as everything else in Somalia, we need to account for the dynamics of power relationship, understanding of gatekeepers, whose voice we hear, how we recruit and how we analyze and engage with the data.

Generally, examining attitudes towards the other enhanced the world’s understanding of prejudices, how they operate and manifest themselves in government policies, in the US in the early part of the century and also in post Nazi Europe.  But they were not used to justify actions or defer responsibilities.  Hitler, for example, did not turn to a hero just because certain groups saw him as such.  In Somalia, there are many Hitlers.  For Somalia, one may accept that there is a need for immediate justice.  Focusing on defining personal justice may lay the foundation for laws to govern in communal level.   However, investigating historical injustice is of a paramount importance also to prevent mass violence.  This will involve establishing facts about who the “killers” and the “heroes” were, the command structure of movements and examining ideas utilized to make ordinary people commit heinous crimes of such scale as that of Somalia.

In conclusion, it is difficult to establish if the gentleman I encountered was a victim of fear mongering or if he was a perpetrator, what can be established, however, is that his views are in line with his government’s positions on things.  When such views are repeated by people in power, then we ought to take notice and monitor their implications for human rights very carefully.  There is a need for justice system that begins with the “here and now” but equally important is research that looks at attitudes to the other and their relationship to Somalia’s historical injustice.  A truth commission is needed also for prevention purposes.  Additionally, we have already spent millions of our taxpayer’s money to put together a federal constitution that emphasizes bottom up democracy in Somalia.  The barriers to implementation, therefore, need to be investigated.  Somalia is a country emerging from decades of conflict and crimes committed by people in power and citizens, it is needless therefore to highlight the need for military force that is seen as neutral and accepted by all.  This will probably take a long time of trust building and changing attitudes.  Currently AMISOM plays this role and needs to be supported materially and morally.

Warsan Cismaan Saalax
WardheerNews Contributor
E-Mail: warsan2001@hotmail.com

___________________________________________

We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com. WardheerNews will only consider articles sent exclusively. Please email your article today . Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of WardheerNews.

WardheerNew’s tolerance platform is engaging with diversity of opinion, political ideology and self-expression. Tolerance is a necessary ingredient for creativity and civility.Tolerance fuels tenacity and audacity.

WardheerNews waxay tixgelin gaara siinaysaa maqaaladaha sida gaarka ah loogu soo diro ee aan lagu daabicin goobo kale. Maqaalkani wuxuu ka turjumayaa aragtida Qoraaga loomana fasiran karo tan WardheerNews.

Copyright © 2013 WardheerNews,
All rights reserved