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The Somali Diaspora:
Tribal War Lords in the West (Nur Hersi Bahal)
Ambrose Bierce once said that politics is
“strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.
The conduct of public affairs for private advantage. ”
I share his insight and I detest it for its dishonesty and
its trivial pursuit of making fact into fiction and fiction
into fact. But let us give the devil his due: Most societies,
to the exclusion of the Somalis, have a purpose and a common
objective or a national agenda respected equally by all. This
is, for example, the reason that the position of the United
States of America towards the Middle East does not change
regardless of what party comes to power. Politics, in a society
with a plan, becomes a tool that fosters and accommodates
a variety of views. Do Somalis have a common goal? Whereas
the rest of the world draws on a system such as democracy
to foster an atmosphere of stability that nurtures progress
we have opted for tribocracy. The war-lord-paradise where
every time there is reconciliation the worst of their lot
comes to the top to claim legitimacy in leadership has more
to blame than just the power-hungry war lords.
For a long time, we have ignored the role of
the general populace and their share in maintaining the continued
grip of the predatory warlords and facilitating the warlords'
ever growing confidence to make their gun-wielding politics
a reality. It takes a number of partners in crime for social
deconstruction to succeed to the point of anarchy. The stance
of the warlords flourishes on the availability of manpower
and grassroots support. Hoards of young males, including some
who are barely in their teens, look to warlords for employment
and in turn provide the much need bands of armed militia.
An equally dangerous support is garnered from inside and,
more importantly, outside the country where clan and tribe
members are poised to support ‘their' warlord morally,
materially and ideologically. If 15 years of lawlessness,
draughts, natural disasters, the death of over 500,000 people
and the daily ravage of killings and crimes perpetrated against
their nation and their brethren does not convince them of
the heinousness of their thought process, what will it take
to get them to wake up?
Introduced by Arab Sheikhs sometime around three
hundred years after the birth of Islam in Arabia , groups
of Somalis in a locality formed a confederacy to a particular
sheikh who taught them Islam. They became his “Xer”
commonly referred to as the “Xertii Sheekh Hebel”
– The Religious Confederacy of Sheikh so and so. Given
enough time, such confederacies developed into full blown
tribes with their line of paternal ancestry adjusted to go
back to the Sheikh himself and instead of “xerti Sheekh
Hebel” it became “reer Hebel”. There is
a simple prove for this: The average line of ancestry (abtiris)
is 20 grandfathers to the Sheikh. The average life span in
those days was not more than 60 years. Therefore, the ancestral
lineage or tribe is only 1200 years old. But Somalis existed
in the Horn of Africa for the last 5000 years evidenced by
the recorded trade and interactions with the Phoenicians,
Ancient Egyptians, the Chinese, and Indians etc. way before
the Christian era. Without belittling the influence of Arabs
and the relationship with Arabia , the fact that Somalis have
a distinct language and an idiosyncratic physical feature
that endured over the ions is a clear indication that Somalis
are a race onto itself parallel to the Arab race.
The overarching principle in tribalism is collective
liability. The tribe is jointly responsible for the wrong-doing
of its members. The individual was insured into a tribal ‘policy'
where unanimously agreed upon elders advocate for and stand
in his/her stead in the event of a mishap. The tribe used
to impose the necessary punitive measures required to impede
individuals from taking advantage of tribal allegiance. The
advent of Western governance in Somalia , and in most African
countries, introduced an alien element in tribal thinking.
Politics and the politicization of tribe altered the course
of deserved trust and altruistic interactions between tribes
to attain or maximize peace, coexistence and stability. The
average Somali looks at politics as the art of out-manouvering
others, including clans of his own tribe, by any means necessary.
In the Somali language politics (siyaasad) is synonymous with
deceit, cheating, dishonesty, treachery etc. and therefore,
it is not a mere coincidence that tribal politics has a propensity
to by-pass the inherent limitations in any fair dealing or
the expected accountability that accompanies any position
of responsibility. Without the restrictions on behaviour imposed
by the old tribal rules such as morality, honesty, cooperation,
and in the absence of tribal mechanisms that require compliance
to the rules and regulations which avoid conflict, leadership
within a tribe is also synonymous with a contest between the
few who can afford to give. The current divide of each tribe
into clans is an attribute of not only the natural continues
partitioning of tribalism into smaller and smaller units but
also the effects of loss of the tribalism's pillar; unanimous
acknowledgement of tribal leadership, a character that brings
harmony and coherence into people with a variety of inspirations.
Elders whose outlook on the tribal affairs involves peaceful
dealing and compromise with others are endangered species
today with their ideas equated or referred to as antiquated.
This multi-layered and multifarious new breed
of delusional thought requires a society to espouse a position
towards those who use patriarchy to attain a self-serving
end if she aims to relinquish decades of ravage and war. Tribalists
are very savvy in refusing to concede that the interest of
their tribe is dependent upon a fully functioning Somali nation.
At a time when tribal politics has emerged as a tool of survival,
it is infantile to harbor any believe that lets you imagine
the possibility of your tribe at the realm of a nation to
the exclusion of others. Today's political impasse in Somalia
is a direct result of tribes constantly swimming against the
current, each claiming to be fighting for the right thing.
Unless and until each and every tribe holds its members accountable
for their actions it will be futile to even think of peace
and stability in Somalia . War lords, above all, should be
made accountable. After all it is their tribe that fuels the
imagination of their undeterred egos. If a war lord does possess
the courage to bring peace even to his fellow tribesmen and
women then what good is he to them? Even in Somaliland where
peace prevailed over the last 14 years, one can see the ravages
of tribocracy and its intrinsic vices. Somaliland has lost
the opportunity to use the most expensive commodity - peace
- to its advantage. Squabbling over tribal lines and dirty
musing of tribal politics has wasted time and resource that
could have lifted the people spirits and given them hope of
progress and the realization of their potential. But I digress.
Let me come back to the issue at hand!
At the height of this moronic debacle called
Somali peace process and politics is the Diaspora. A living,
thinking, society builds upon its common goals to arrive at
beneficial aims that adds to the betterment of the value of
their life. It should learn from other societies and enrich
itself as a result of getting access to knowledge and experience
not available to their folks back in Somalia . It has the
opportunity to gain insights into how members of other cultures
cooperate to ensure their survival, progress and prosperity.
The Somali Diaspora has deliberately failed to augment its
thought process and closed itself in a cocoon unaffected by
the world of progress built on a health thought process and
logic. Our Diaspora employs antediluvian thinking in a world
decided by selection of the best possible strategy to ensure
success. Tribocracy is the only thing the Somali Diaspora
knows and it has not even procured a strategy to develop tribalism
to bring cooperation to them and facilitate peace and nation
building in Somalia . It seems to me that the Diaspora is
feeding the fire of the nation whose problems they immigrated
from.
The Somalis in North America chose to take sides
between the warring factions. The President of the TFG and
the Chairman of the TFG Parliament were in recently in North
America to attend a UN session for the 60 th birthday of the
United Nations and the World Parliament Day. It was a golden
opportunity for the Diaspora to bring this groups to the table
and give them an ultimatum to reconcile or else! I was shocked
to read that groups loyal to the Chairman of the TFG Parliament
apprehended “spies” from the TFG President support
who wanted take back information. Equally amazing, is the
fact that scores of people loyal to Abdillahi Yusuf left Toronto
to meet him in New York . Chairman of the Parliament came
to Toronto . There were guards at the door to stop “unfriendly”
and “spies to be”. Of course identification was
on tribal basis. What do you expect!!! I was supposed to speak
at the Chairman's visit in Toronto but I was taken off the
list. Actually, no body spoke. The reception was changed to
a question and answer session. I am speculating that the group
that prepared the reception was not ready for tough questions.
I intention, were I allowed to say a few words, was to tell
the Chairman that both he and Abdillahi Yusuf are operating
the outside the agreed upon constitution. In that case, no
one is right. I was going to tell him that while they squabble
like band of baboons a 150 Somali kids die every day. I was
going to tell him that Abdillahi Yusuf cannot tell us that
he wants to solve their differences by using peace and persuasion
and then turn around and ask the Security Council to lift
the arms embargo. Who does he think he is kidding! There are
100 million guns in Somalia . He wants the Security Council
to scrap the article that prohibits a nation to invade another.
In this case he is paving the way for Ethiopia to invade Somalia
. I was going to tell him that he, Mr. Shariff, cannot tell
us that Mogadishu is safe and the government can move in while
foreigners and Somalis who fight for justice and peace are
slaughtered in broad daylight every day of the week. I was
going to tell him that while Mogadishu is hostage to a tribal
militia, it will impossible to dream of peace. I was going
to tell him that if he and Abdillahi Yusuf are not willing
to follow, they do not deserve to lead. I was going to tell
him that it is too late to trick me anymore. I have grown,
matured and learned and I came onto my own. I can see a lying
politician a mile away. I am not going to sing the Guulwade
anymore for I cannot see victory in the blood of the Somali
children. I was going to say that he and Abdillahi Yusuf and
each and every war lord can go to Hell!!!
Nur Hersi Bahal
"Nur Bahal" nurb@rom.on.ca
Toronto , Canada
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