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Declaration of the Congress for Somali Cause (CSC)

Editor’s Note: Below is Press Release by the Congress for Somali Cause (CSC) that not only reflects back on the historical pains of the Somali people under Ethiopia but also provides a vision for their legitimate aspirations. About 70 years ago, Great Britain ceded the Haud and Reserved Area to Emperor Haile Selassie as a trophy for his service to the allied forces. Today, the community aspires to restore its integrity with its inalienable rights. They also express their readiness to work with all groups fighting for equality and justice.
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Declaration of the Congress for Somali Cause (CSC)

Press Release

This date of November 29, 1954, marks the illegal handover of the last patch of the Somali Territory to Ethiopia. We, the founding members of the Congress for Somali Cause (CSC), therefore, announce the launching of a Somali Regional State movement that aims at contributing to the region’s political, social, and economic wellbeing. Our mission is to mobilize and organize a broad-based Somali group to prepare our society for a transitional period where the right to independence, confederation, or self-determination can be agreed on.

The launching of the CSC is the culmination of year-long discussions and deliberations among Somali Leadership for Common Cause (SLCC), Save Somali State Global Congress (SSSGC), Somali World Congress (SWC), Somali National Congress (SNC), and other prominent Somali intellectuals. Several of the deliberations were hosted by the Horn of Africa Policy Center (HAPC), which strives to bring a united Somali front in accordance with the very principles that bind the Somalis of the region, regardless of their political affiliations and geographic locations.

Cognizant of the fact that Ethiopia has today reached a perilous situation and we are at an inflection point, a serious evaluation of our people’s future is inescapable. The current Somali Regional State administration appears to be oblivious to the crisis in the country and seems to have ignored the severe drought that is ravaging the region. Instead, the Somali Regional State leaders sacrificed the welfare and public safety of the Somalis to preserve an administration that has lost credibility at local, national, and global levels.

The ideological and strategic differences between the centralist versus self-determination forces that have long been simmering exploded into a violent conflict and culminated in the disastrous Tigray war that started in late 2020 as well as the devastating war in Oromia that started the year before.

Unfortunately, Abiy Ahmed betrayed the long-held aspirations of Oromo, Somalis, Afars, Sidamas Qimant, Benshigangul-Gumus, Gambella, and many others by infelicitously taking the side of the imperialist-minded centralist forces. For the majority of the Ethiopian communities who have been marginalized, the fundamental question today is not and has never been whether Ethiopia’s system of governance should be re-centralized as some may brazenly claim, but how we can come up with an effective form of federalism where the concept of self-determination is enshrined or a loose association of states.

The Congress for Somali Cause (CSC) is ready to partake in the discourses led by nations, nationalities, and the peoples of Ethiopia to free themselves from the shackles imposed by the Imperial State; we vehemently reject past and present visions based on the domination of one ethnicity, religion, and language. We are, therefore, compelled to come forward and save our people from the historical domination and the imminent conflict orchestrated by the current unscrupulous leadership and put our effort where it matters most – security, the relief effort, good governance, and leadership, and the needed development.

Congress for Somali Cause (CSC)
Somalicause.org
twitter.com/somalicause

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