by Mohamed Ahmed
The Somali speaking people does not live in Somalia and Somaliland, but in other countries in the Horn of Africa. The union of the Somalia and Somaliland was a result of an Egyptian led campaign to get rid of the Europeans from the Somali speaking countries in the Horn of Africa and creates what maybe called the Greater Somalia. In early 1991, while SNM fighters rolled up the last government resistance in the Somaliland, USC lead by late General Mohamed Farah Aideed battled their way into Mogadishu, and the Somali government, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist. The State that was created from the contested Union of July 1960 has collapsed in January 1991. On feb1991 without taking into consideration the struggle of the people of Somaliland and the inequalities of the 30 years union, Somalia selected their own government. This has put the last nail into the coffin that Greater Somalia aspirations were buried. Somaliland has seen it as a replay of the process of administrative annexation. Somaliland has chosen a different bath than reconstituting of the contested First July 1960 Union.
Somaliland dates its genesis as a political entity from the establishment of the British Somaliland Protectorate in 1884. Except for a brief period of Italian occupation (1940-1941), the territory remained under British control until 26 June 1960, when it received independence as the State of Somaliland. Notification of that independence was duly registered with the UN, and some 35 governments reportedly recognised the new state. Several days later, on 1 July 1960, the UN Trust Territory of Somalia (administered by Italy, the former colonial power) also achieved independence and united with the State of Somaliland to form the united Somali Republic. Although unification had been under discussion by the leaders of Somaliland and Somalia for some months, the merger was poorly prepared, and the two parliaments approved different Acts of Union. Some legal scholars and the Somaliland government have argued that this invalidated the union. Despite shared ethnicity, language and religion, the colonial legacies of the two territories – subsequently, known as Somaliland and Somalia – had produced largely incompatible administrative, economic and legal systems as well as divergent orientations and interests of their political elites. By embracing the merger unconditionally, Somaliland entered the union at a distinct disadvantage: Somalia retained the capital city and obtained two-thirds of the seats in parliament, while Somalia leaders (including the president and prime minister) dominated the first unitary cabinet. Early dissatisfaction with the arrangements negotiated by Somaliland’s leaders led Somaliland voters to reject the unitary constitution in a June 1961 referendum, and in December of that year Somaliland officers launched an unsuccessful coup in Hargeysa, with the aim of reasserting Somaliland’s independence. Although the union remained intact, Somaliland dissatisfaction persisted. In October 1962, Somaliland ministers resigned from the government, and several days later Somaliland deputies walked out of the National Assembly and threatened to boycott it.
A forced Somali Union will only destroy what Somaliland has achieved so far and create a return to conflict on a scale not witnessed since the peak of the civil war in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The prospects for peace and security in the Somali peninsula – perhaps in much of the Horn of Africa – are closely linked to Somaliland political recognition. Somaliland has achieved tangible results that we need to appreciate. Somaliland has achieved what I believe is good for all Somali speaking people. One should understand that we in Somaliland are Somalis anyway, but have a separate political Union as Djibouti chose to have on 27 June 1997.It is in the interest of all Somalis to accept Somaliland political recognition. It is a reality. It has came out of the rubbles of the Collapsed state of Somalia. Political leaders in Somaliland are bound by a constitution, accountable to parliament and very sensitive to the opinion of Somali political union. Somalilanders consider talk of unity to be treasonous. It is no more realistic to expect Somaliland’s leaders to tear up the constitution and revoke the 1991 declaration of independence. Somaliland’s struggle cost well over 150,000 lives – the vast majority of them civilian, spawned nearly one million refugees and internally displaced persons, and left it with one of the densest concentrations of land mines and Explosive Remnants of War in the world. It has also left Hargeisa and Burao in rubbles. Today, after a decade of uninterrupted peace, its armed forces are the largest and best equipped in Somali speaking territory, and its people have made clear their determination to protect their hard-won achievements. False presentations of the recent history of Somaliland with well versed articles written on some Somali speaking websites can not stop Somaliland being the 54Th State of the African Union. Wake up!! Face the reality!!!!!!
Mohamed Ahmed
E-mail: jaaj52@yahoo.com
The opinions contained in this article are solely those of the writer, and in no way, form or shape represent the editorial opinions of “Hiiraan Online” |
