Will Somalia Rise From the Ashes?

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
ANALYSIS
October 12, 2004

Francis Openda
Nairobi

Expectations are high but the question on the lips of many is will Somalia rises from the ashes to reclaim its seat in the United Nations family?

Coming out of 13 years of civil war, the election of Members of Parliament followed by the Speaker of the National Assembly and now the President ushers a new era for the war ravaged country.

Since the ouster of Siad Barre in 1991 the country has not enjoyed a unified central government but instead has been demarcated into zones controlled by warlords and clans.

Unlike Kenya, which has more than 42 ethnic communities, a diverse culture and many faiths Somalis enjoy a common language, religion and culture.

However despite this, deep hatred and suspicion runs between the various clans.

The main clans are the Hawiye who are the majority, followed by the Darod.

The Darod are seen as the ruling class. Former President Siad Barre and newly elected President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed both hail from Darod.

Other clans are the Digil-en-Mirifle and the Dira conglomeration of several minority clans is considered the fifth clan.

The clans split further into various sub-clans, compounding the clan issue in Somalia.

They sell arms to the warlords and openly deal in drugs due to lack of law ad order

The Hawiye are viewed as business-minded but their stab for the Presidency has never yielded any fruits.

During Sunday's election, they fielded 12 candidates thus dividing their votes while the Darod narrowed down their candidates to two, a strategy which helped them emerge victors in each of the three stages of voting.

It will be a daunting task to bring under one unified government and single leader the various clans and warlords who since the fall of the Barre government have enjoyed control of their respective areas.

In the capital Mogadishu alone, the airport, main market and seaport are under the control of different warlords who collect revenue form the users.

"It will be interesting to see the warlords and their armies used to money and control willingly surrender their jurisdictions to a central government," observed a Somali MP who participated in Sunday's election.

He noted that in Somalia, warlords do not control any army but simply go out for "soldiers on hire" to carry out their missions.

The country is littered with thousands of arms acquired during the old war between the then Soviet Union and the United States.

With commitment, unity and focus, Somalia could surprise many pessimists and rise from the ashes like the mythological phoenix.