29 May 2013
Conflict by Design
Somalia is a country of cultural unanimity with political disunity. While the former attribute is an organic phenomenon, the latter is often the product of faulty leadership. A report at a Joint meeting of the Royal African Society on May 1, 1958 asses the Somalis this way:
The division and the fact that the tribes are divided among themselves and ridden by suspicion of one another the Somalis clearly form a distinct and compact racial group. They speak the same language, they have the same religion and customs and at heart they feel themselves to be one people.
Just as today, Somalis were internally divided then. The Italian Administrator, signor Anzilotti, told the Legislative Assembly on October 16th 1957 that “if the Somalis were not prepared to co- operate, Italy would tell the United Nations that she was ready to give up the mandate.” The conflict then was between Mogadishu’s vision pertaining to pending post-colonial state and the Digil Mirfle’s propensity for more autonomy.
Today, the AU and the UN are in the same predicament about Somalia’s unending business as they were in 1957 and 1958. In other words, it is always difficult to bring the humpty-dumpty Somali clans and their leaders together, when one side wants to impose its will on the other side.
Despite all the enviable national attributes, Somali leaders never miss an opportunity to overlook them and consistently employ policies of division and confrontation. This time around, President Hassan Sh. Mohamud is astonishingly putting policies of confrontation ahead of accommodation.
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