The Breakaway of Southwestern Somalia: A Fair or a Foolish Deal?

The Breakaway of Southwestern Somalia: A Fair or a Foolish Deal?

BAYDHABO Jan 26, 2001 (BP)-During the last 10 years of the civil war the Digil and Mirifle communities and their southern neighbors have suffered extremely and paid prices of a war that they never wanted and never knew what it was about.

Hundred of thousands of the D/M were massacred in bay, bakool, lower shabelle, middle and lower Juba. They lived or living under brutal tribal administrations and are continuously abused and forced them to work as slaves in their own farms. As a result a resistance force led by Dr. Hassan Mohamed Nur (Shatigaduud) was established in bay and bakool region, which finally in 1999 defeated Aidid and his supporters and forced them to leave the region.

Although the majority of the land is still under tribal colony, however, the success of RRA raised the moral and the hope of D/M communities. After the victory in bay and bakool, Shatigaduud became a legitimate leader of the D/M communities and gained a lot of support from D/M communities inside and outside the country. Some rival politicians foresaw the danger of the rising popularity of Shatigaduud and his resistance forces RRA within the D/M communities.

They realized that if they do not stop, the rest of the fertile land will be liberated and that will bring to an end of a political hegemony, which largely benefited them. Having this fear in mind, they fabricated the Arta conference and led the world belief that Djibouti is hosting a final and a fair peace process for Somalia. However, immediately, after the summit started, Somalis all over the world realized that an interest group led by the president of Djibouti was dictating the reconciliation process. As a result the government of Barre was recycled, Somalia found itself again in the hands of the very same people who engineered its destruction.

The Arta conference also succeeded in dividing the D/M communities by electing Abdullahi Derow as a speaker of the new parliament. The division has almost led to an end of the dreams of D/M communities to liberate their land from the tribal colony exposed to them heavily in the last 10 years. Desperation, frustration and confusion grew in the D/M community after the Arta conference. They remained very disappointed about their leaders who gave their support to the new interim faction while, still the majority of the fertile land remains in the hands of tribes from far remote area of Somalia.

The news of Shatigaduud withdrawing his support from the interim group was not well received at the beginning because of the confusion that covered the whole process of Arta and D/M leadership as well. Some hopeless D/M communities became very attracted by the rhetoric speech of the TG president during his election and immediately afterwards. Because of his emphasis on Islamic faith and the need for reconciliation and justice in the country, many believed that his immediate action would be condemning the human right abuses and the enslaving of the people in the south by his immediate supporters.

However, immediately after his return to Mogadishu as a head of an interim government, the south have witnessed a new wave of invasion, which led many D/M communities to shift back their support to Hasan Mohamed Nur (Shatigadud), the indisputable leader of RRA.

In the last 3 months, discussions over the formation of an independent region in the south have been widely reported. But a long with the excitement of a new change is the worrisome possibilities of violence escalation and confusion in the south. Unless a fair and clear agreement is reached, not only in terms of power sharing, but also in terms of whom the land belongs to, no immediate solution will be imminent.
Beside human abuse, the south is deforested and as a jungle species lost their habitats, they are reportedly migrated to other areas, such as Kenya.

During the civil war Morgan and his allies, including Aden Gabiyow have inflicted damage and suffering to the D/M communities. Aden Gabiyow and Morgan should be warned against claiming Jelib, Jamame and the surrounding areas, Morgan should welcome all the natives of Kismayu and allow them to share with him the power. No matter who is representing the D/M communities in the formation of the breakaway of southwestern region, however, we warn both sides that the political tactics of buy Mirifle and get Digil for free is unacceptable.

The skepticism and cynicism surrounding the formation of this new ally is huge and could be overcome by making the whole process apparent and public. The voices of the D/M communities and their long-time neighbors need to be heard. Peace and stability could be achieved by working out a fair deal; otherwise, the result will be miscarriage and a painful labor to all sides involved.


by. Dr. Ali Said Faqi,
Senior Scientist, IIT Reseach I