A little over a month ago, the emotive  issue of Kismayo was being hotly debated on twitter following two seminal  articles, the first by Abdi  Aynte and a rejoinder by Mukter  Omer. Both articles were tweeted by  Somali tweeps. My objective is not to discuss the merits or demerits of either  article but to use the discussion as a segue into my subject matter: the need  for a balanced and civil discourse on Somali matters.

When the articles came out, there were  those who felt that the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) had been manipulated into  Kismayo (and Jubbaland) by high ranking Kenyan government officials of the  Ogaden clan in the service of “Ogaden expansionism”. I tweeted my opinion on  the matter and my main thesis was that the idea that KDF could be sent across  the border into Somalia on the whims of a few people in the service of a clan  was laughable.

I pointed out that the main Somali clans  – in alphabetically order – Darood, Digil-Mirifle, Dir and Hawiye – were all  represented in Kenya (so it can’t be about one clan) and that “Kenyan society  was much more complex than you [the Somali tweeps] gave it credit for”. By  those remarks, I seem to have stepped on the nerves of reductionists who see  the world in terms of us vs. them and in terms of simple, but highly attractive  narratives.

Then  the unfortunate incident of Garissa happened where three KDF soldiers were killed and all hell broke loose – people killed,  maimed and Suuq Mugdi burnt to the  ground. A tweep gleeful took my earlier comments out of context and in his own  “eat that, you punk”-way cheekily asked how my harmonious Kenya, the land where  clans and tribes happily lived side by side was doing.

He was insinuating that I am naïve and  don’t know how the world really works. The accusation of naiveté is not  altogether surprising in a society where – traditionally – war-like individuals  were gloried and moderates lampooned in oral verse. Those who refuse to normalize to  clannish vitriol are included in this hapless lot.

He was joined by a rather acerbic friend  who did not mince his words – to him Yussuf Haji, the Defence Minsiter was a nacas (a fool, an idiot). I asked the  tweep not to use such words and he trained his guns on me and called me some choice  words that cannot be repeated in polite company.

Ironically, the fact that the Defence  Minster could not do much about the second Garissa  Gubay (the Burning of Garissa, the fist happened in the 1980s) would have  made my earlier point clear – that one person or a group of people do not  determine Kenyan public policy was lost to these individuals! I prayed for the  young men that Allah would forgive them for their foul language and left it at  that.

The anecdote –  and doubtless the readers will have many other  examples – illustrates a basic lack of decorum in discussions on Somali issues  especially in social media circles where pseudonyms galore and folks speak  whatever they want in the guise of freedom of speech. Some even go so far as to  appropriate the unfortunate genocide language of Rwanda and describe entire  clan-families as “intarehamwe”, the  killers of this or that clan. Others stoop even lower and use really foul, but  very imaginative, word plays on clan names, likening some clan names to certain  parts of the human anatomy.

Our Holy prophet (SAW) admonishes us to  use kind words to each other even in the worst of times.  Recall the incident in the ahadith when a  crazy Bedouin urinated in the middle of the mosque and some saxabi wanted to give the Bedouin a  sound beating but the Prophet (SAW) refrained them from it knowing the poor man  would run around the mosque urinating and making things even worse.

As Somalis say hal ninkeeda yaa maali yaqaan – the camel herder knows how to milk  his milch camel best. I use this prophetic appeal because, to my mind, if you  draw a Venn diagram with “Somalinimo” and “Muslimness” as two separate identity  terms or circles, there is a great deal of overlap between the two, so  appropriating Muslim ethical living principles does not diminish the value of Somalinimmo (for those averse to  creeping arabization or even religion) neither will it exclude those who are  Somali and are not Muslim.

One might ask why there is a basic lack  of decorum in Somali discussions. Some would simply say that Somalis are rather  prickly and not used to criticism – they will slap you back to yesterday for an  affront, real or imagined. I disagree for two reasons – I  am on record as a strong critic of stereotypes so try to avoid broad generalities in favour of local particularities. Even if  I did agree with this particular stereotype of   aversion to criticism (which I don’t), I’d have to remember Rasna  Warah’s advice for columnists.

In Red  Soil and Roasted Maize –  a  compilation of most of her writings in the Daily  Nation – Rasna – a Daily Nation columnist herself – gives eight cardinal  rules of being a good columnist. In her Rule Three, she warns –  tongue-in-cheek – that a columnist must be consistent and must always remember  what they said 10 years ago lest the columnist is accused of equivocating on  issues, with all the attendant consequences, including losing your credibility.  So I have to remind myself constantly that I have no much patience for ethnic  stereotypes. Of course columnists being only human, as they grow older and,  hopefully wiser, or as new evidence arises, can change their minds!

In one of my interviews with Rasna on “Mogadishu  on her mind – a conversation with Rasna Warah”  for the East African and Africa Review – she made a very poignant  observation which has stuck with me months after that interview. Rasna reckons  that whereas Somalis tend to be very prolific and have a lot of websites and  talk to each other, they are not talking to the rest of the world about what it  is like being a Somali.

          But in talking to each other, we need  some basic rules of argumentation and more importantly, decorum.

All the above point to three things 1)  an appeal for self-regulation and the need to invest in 2) good  critical thinking and 3) analytical  skills. These skills can be learnt if one is willing to put in the time and  effort; self-regulation is an ethical/moral issue which is a lot harder to  implement, but not altogether impossible.

Our editors also have a responsibility  to reinforce the above points and to go the extra mile. Hiding behind  disclaimers is on the lowest end of the spectrum of quality. On the other end  is the New Yorker style fact checking – very thorough, including  getting the raw data (for instance the interview recordings and transcripts).  At the very least, the editors should go over each copy for simple facts and  figures, spelling and grammar and ask for evidence if there are some serious allegations  of fraud or misconduct which could be litigious.

          I hope I am preaching to the converted;  free speech comes with responsibility so let us talk more responsibly.         ___

Abdinasir Amin is a writer and  essayist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He can be reached at nasirke@yahoo.com and on twitter @nasirowabass.