By Osman Hassan.

The capital of Sool region, Lascanod, in northern Somalia, has a chequered history, bad and good. Its soil, Sool, was the cradle of the Darwiish Liberation movement that resisted the might of British colonial crusade for 21 years. Since then, it played a leading role in the independence of the British colony. And no less important, it was in the forefront in seeking the unity of the two Somali lands to become Somalia.

With that glorious heritage, the city’s forefathers would have thought it unthinkable that their posterity would one day surrender passively to the hegemony of others, least of all the militia of a fellow clan or, if it happened, would tolerate it for so long. Needless to say, that is what happened when the rebel secessionist, going by name of Somali National Movement (SNM), masquerading as the rulers of the defunct former  territory by the name of Somaliland, captured the city (and Sool) in 2007 without much fight and remain there to the present day.

If losing their freedom was shuttering for the people of Lascanod, what added to the pain was to be deprived of the company of their fellow brethren from southern Somalia who lived happily among them. Until now, the city boasted hosted the largest residents from southern Somali anywhere in the north. Their presence meant for the locals that they were still part of Somalia. That symbolism they cherish is also one that is also an anathema for the SNM who see it as the last remaining umbilical cord linking with southern Somalia and therefore has to be severed.

Deportation of Somalis from their own country

Thus, on 2^nd October 202, the occupying SNM militia rounded up the residents of the town belonging to the Digil and Midhifle clans in South West state of Somalia. They have lived there for three generations and Lascanod has rightly become their home. For the SNM – themselves aliens to the SSC region if one follows their logic – these residents are “illegal migrants,” and hence has to be deported to whence they originally come from.

In defending their actions, the SNM would argue that they are an independent sovereign “country” and not accountable to other governments for their actions in Lascanod or elsewhere in the SSC regions. The fact that neither successive Somali governments, nor its International Partners (IPs), rarely challenge their actions are presented as proof, from their perspective, of the de facto acceptance of their independence.

The Double Standards of International partner’s

A statement from Somaliland’s international partners 22 (Ips) on 22 October 2021 has sent two messages for the enclave: first is the good news, and that is to repeatedly address them in the text as “the Government of Somaliland”  (with capital G), implying it is not subordinate to another with all the implications it entails. Nowhere is Somalia mentioned. Secondly, it conveys their “strong concern” over the forced displacement of specific communities in Somaliland”, claiming those actions were in “violation of international human rights conventions”.

Needless to say, the SNM (aka Somaliland) has been committing such crimes in Lascanod (and other occupied SSC areas) since 2007 without incurring any censure from any quarter. Successive Somali governments in Mogadishu have simply turned a blind eye to what they see as the ones out of sight and out mind (looma ooyaan). Its IPs followed suit.

What has changed this time is that southern residents in Lascanod were wronged by SNM, prompting an outcry in the south, both public and government. Under the circumstances, its IPs felt obliged to break their usual silence too and reprimand their errant protégé for their own good. It is all about realpolitik more than concern for human rights. What adds insult to injury for the occupied unionist people of Lascanod, for whom being part of secessionist Somaliland is an anathema, is that they did not even merit mention in this statement but left out as a place in “Somaliland”.

Failure of SSC/Khatumo Options against SNM 

The collapse of the Somali State in 1991 had left the SSC regions in a state of limbo. They faced an SNM armed to the teeth, having laid their hands on the arsenal of the disintegrated Somali National Army based in the north, and one determined to bring all northern Somalia under their control by whatever means. Awdal was the first to fall under their heels. Thereafter, the message to the SSC regions was clear: submit or suffer the same consequences.

Recourse to Puntland, Khatumo, Somalia, Somaliland; What next?

Seeking ways and means of fending off the SNM predator have been the preoccupation of SSC activists. The first option they adopted was to be a co-founder of Puntland. That however did not deter SNM who took Lascanod in October 2007 with no resistance, thanks to Puntland’s collusion with the enemy.

That betrayal forced the SSC to exit from Puntland and establish their own Khatumo in 2012.

Federation open for some but not for others

Under the leadership of Dr Ali Khalif Galaydh from 2014, Khatumo opted for non-armed peaceful approach to end SNM occupation. His choice was to appeal to federal leaders in Mogadishu to admit Khatumo as a member state of federal Somalia since it fulfils the required membership conditions. If accepted, that would have made the SNM occupation of a federal member state unacceptable in the eyes of both the federal government and its international partners (IPs) and therefore force them to withdraw their militia. This turned out to be wishful thinking.

As it is, former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud closed the door on Khatumo right in Dr Galaydh’s face. As he declared at the inauguration of the Galmudug federal state, the federal membership has been completed and confined to Southern Somalia. Dr Galaydh was bluntly shown the door. His successor, Farmaajo sees the north as a hornet’s nest and does not want to stir it up perhaps for its collateral damage to his re-election prospects.

Hargeisa and the road to nowhere

Having been betrayed by Puntland, and rebuffed by successive federal leaders, a bitter and vengeful Dr Galaydh went to Hargeisa and handed the SSC regions to Siilaanyo, the enclave’s leader at the time. The only concession he got was a possible amendment to the enclave’s constitution to redress its blatant asymmetric power sharing which is disproportionately in the hands of one clan.

Unfortunately, Siilaanyo’s successor, colonel Muse Bihi, saw Dr Galaydh and his Khatumo as vanquished and for him the subject was closed. Having reached a point of no return in surrendering to Hargeisa, Dr Galaydh became a prisoner of his own making. Like a forlorn preacher no one is listening to, preaching a “Somaliland for all” in the wilderness has become his occupation (Soomaaliland lawada leeyahy) that few cared to hear or head. In the end, he passed away in a visit to Jigjiga, a failed man who left Khatumo in disarray from which it took so long to recover. If nothing else, he left a lesson to his successors: stay away from Hargeisa unless the SSC are free.

Khatumo is back in business

Khatumo’s revival has been in the works for some time and is now back in business with lessons learnt. It comes at a time when the wind is blowing in its favour and the countdown to Lascanod’s liberation has started. With the unionist regions– Khatumo, Makhir, and Awdal –expected to be free again, and the SNM unpopular in most of its clan constituency, a new era presents itself in which to look beyond their demise or the liberation of SSC regions.

Need for major rethinking after SSC liberation.

The experience of the northern people is that one clan (SNM) seceded from Somalia and failed to go beyond that while another (SSC) tried to get integrated into federal Somalia and equally got nowhere. The lesson is that they are likely to get somewhere when they are together ensemble as free people and not by force as SNM has tried. As such, the choice facing the northern people, once Khatumo is free and SNM are out of the way, is one between two alternatives:

Whether to insist on the sanctity of the union and their membership of it-constitutional right that is inviolable and not subject to the whims of whoever happens to be in charge in Mogadishu at any one time

 Or failing that, whether to accept their de facto exclusion from federal Somalia – in which case they decide freely where they go from there, with all agreed options on the table. Whether they are pursuing their own northern rights, or the wider objective of correcting what is wrong with Somalia, they are likely to succeed when they bring their collective weigh on any such objectives. One can take for granted that the people of Khatumo, Makhir, Awdal and most of those in the SNM heartland would prefer to maintain the union unless the door is closed on them or its rights  not reciprocated for all it means.

Once it has freed its people and united them after all the schism SNM planted among them, Khatumo should change vision. Hitherto, it has been going solo rightly distancing itself from the SNM enclave. Henceforth, it would need to have a wider northern-oriented vision and seek their unity. Once that is achieved, a united northern initiative  should follow to have dialogue with Mogadishu/southerners on sorting out the problems bedevilling Somalia for which they have been largely responsible since union.

From Burco to Buuhoodle, another Northern Rendezvous

In May 1991, after the collapse of the Somali State, northern peacemakers organised a meeting in Burco with two objectives in mind: first, seek reconciliation among the clans and second to chart a common northern position on the situation facing Somalia and then take it up with their counterparts in Mogadishu. That was not to be, as the SNM hijacked the conference and instead declared secession at gun point. The rest is history.

The SSC people, who remained unionists despite SNM occupation, and whose regions are the bridge linking the north with southern Somalia, are better placed to organise and host a northern conference with the same objectives as the one Burco hosted 30 years ago. When it comes to the venue, Buuhoodle recommends itself as the place that would not surrender to SNM and their secession and kept the Somali national flag flying all these years. Burco (1991) will pass the baton to Buuhoodle (2021-2). It is all fitting as they are like twins, having many similarities in history as hotbeds of Somali nationalism and proud culture.

A Northern Initiative to heal the ailing Nation

Somalis have been dreaming about realising Greater Somalia since the Second World War. That dream was partially fulfilled when those in British Somaliland parted with their newly won independence as a sacrifice to Greater Somalia Unfortunately, one clan militia brought down the State in1991 while another torn its unity apart in the same year. Since then, Somalia has been trying to pull itself up by its bootstraps but pulled down by internal and external forces. Who knows, Somalia’s salvation could come from its estranged northerner brothers.

With the SNM out of the way, a united northerner, exorcised of the evils of secessionist ethno-chauvinism, that would be a good time to take the initiative and bring their united weight to bear on healing the ailing Somali State and restore its unity. Their action will serve as catalyst to inspire and galvanize the spirit and momentum for national unity and rejuvenation. A timely northern initiative would not be short of goodwill, but will they succeed again as they did in 1960, or will it turn out to be this time mission impossible?

Faisal Ali Waraabe, head of a political party in Hargeisa, is a man many Somalis dismiss as a lunatic, while others see him as the outspoken voice of the secessionists. His scepticisms about restoring the union knows no bounds. As once said, he would rather have Amharas as bedfellows than fraternise with southern Somalis. With that mentality, he would question how Somaliland can rejoin the south that has broken up into five federal clan-based mini states, each with its own president, army, currency and foreign relations, where the likes of Messrs Deni and Ahmed Madoobe rule supreme in their respective fiefdoms -unaccountable to the central government but happy to be subservient to foreign government? 

For many other SNM separatists, Mogadishu is their bogey, the graveyard of the Somali State, where resident political warlords claim it as their clan patrimony and the government as their guest, who held the nation to ransom for the last 30 years, and adamant to cripple any government, or unseat any leader, unless it is them or those who enjoy their blessing? Faisal is not alone in saying all this, and admittedly many northern sceptics share his pessimistic assessment.

Yet, what Faisal and his cynical circles ignore is that both Somalia and its capital had been the pride of Africa in the 1960s-1970s, whether in terms of the democracy it led in the continent, or the socio-economic and military gains it achieved – admittedly under authoritarian rule. Given the will from all sides, what have gone wrong since then could be righted.

One does not have to a political scientist to know what is wrong with Somalia: the divisive fake federation, the undemocratic corrupt modalities for parliamentary representation and presidential election, the crude unjust 4.5 convention of clan power-sharing, the crippling foreign meddling, a capital hostage to political warlord’s that defies its national status, etc.

All these proven impediments to Somalia’s peace, unity and development should be on the agenda for change. The south, marooned and mired in their respective federal Bantustans, have succumbed to these nefarious forces around them. A North that succeeded to unite itself again could also succeed to unite Somalis across Somalia. They did it in 1960 and could do it again in 2021.

Osman Hassan
Email: Osman.hassan2@gmail.com

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Osman Hassan is a seasoned journalist and a former UN staff member. Mr Hassan is also a regular contributor to WardheerNews.