Pete Chonka on Somaliland

Somaliland standing in line

2010-06-26T13:39:58Z

The un-recognized but de facto independent Republic of Somaliland goes to the polls today in what should be - for all its flaws and uncertainties - the most fair and well-administered election that this nation in the north of the Horn of Africa has ever seen. This election could bring about the peaceful transfer of power to a new Somaliland president, reaffirm a mandate for the incumbent UDUB party, prove inconclusive and divisive, or lead to a full-scale destabilization of the peace built up over Somaliland's near two decades of political separation from the south. The list of variables goes on and no-one really knows how this election will play out over the rest of the day of voting and through the counting and confirmation process. What is clear however, from the hundreds of people queuing for hours in the hot sun, is that there is a passionate desire to facilitate and participate in the election. For change or continuity, this election is providing an opportunity for the people of the breakaway Republic to exercise what they see as their inalienable right to participatory self-determination and illustrates once again the profound differences which exist between the political processes playing out in the Mogadishu-centred (and international recognized) southern 'Somalia' and the northern Somaliland state.

The Somali passion for the ballot box was illustrated to me by the president of the university of Hargeisa (whose students are playing an important roll in election administration and logistics) who recounted to me a conversation he had had in the past with an electoral official in neighboring Ethiopia. The Ethiopian official explained that elections in his country were faced with two problems - a problem of the majority (the ethnically diverse Ethiopian population at large) and a problem of the minority (the ethnic Somalis of eastern Ethiopia). The problem of the majority was that so few people trusted the electoral system or even believed that they had a genuine right to vote. Given a cultural-political experience of hierarchical state power and repression from the centre many people to this day remain wary about voicing an opinion about any possible change in government. This problem of the majority had to be overcome by the Ethiopian electoral authorities who had to convince people that they actually had a vote. What was the problem of the minority, the Ethiopian Somalis? To convince them that they only had one vote...

Speaking to people here it often seems as though the ballot box is conceived of as a right, a duty and also a kind of comptetion. It's not uncommon, for example, for people to show off proudly how many electoral ID cards they've managed to obtain and how many votes they anticipate on being able to cast. The Ethiopian anecdote illustrates how perceptions of the state, governance and popular participation are shaped by the histories and environments of different locations and the contrast between most of Ethiopia and Somalia/Somaliland is striking. Up until the closing stages of colonial rule and independence in the 1960s there was nothing even resembling a centralized state governing the far flung Somali people. The state that was formed on top of the pastoral and politically egalitarian society crumbled under the weight of its own contradictions and left a bitter legacy of violence and repression from which the north has been able to partially move on. A new form of micro-level state-formation is taking place in Somaliland, largely beneath the radar of official inter-state relations and patronage, and the election happening today is a reaffirmation of this ongoing process. Whatever the result, this long-delayed election is undoubtedly the most important which has taken place in Somaliland and the people of this young Republic will be awaiting in anticipation of the next stage of the competition. For today though, the roads are closed (to prevent large-scale clan mobilization and multiple voting), and the market is bizarrely quiet - everyone's standing in line.

For pictures of the election and campaign see my photo journal

The bumpy road to the presidency - campaigning in Somaliland

2010-06-15T17:34:50Z

With the date for Somaliland's Presidential election set for June 26th the campaign for the polls is now in full swing. These three authorized parties - the incumbent president Rayaale's UDUB, the KULMIYE (Unity) and UCID (Justice and Welfare party) - are mobilising their supporters and the country is awash with the colours and symbols of a much anticipated and long delayed electoral contest.

Campaigning on alternate days in the capital Hargeisa the parties pack their supporters in (and around and on top of) buses, four-wheel drives and sedans to tour the city and pack out the downtown rallies. It's almost as though the presidency was being awarded to the party that can fit the most supporters and banners into already overflowing vehicles and drive in the most terrifying, death-defying fashion around Hargeisa's pot-holed, goat filled roads. To an outside observer it sometimes seems as though the election campaign is serving as a welcome outlet for public celebration, complete with music and dancing, in an otherwise conservative society. There's certainly a party atmosphere when the marches and rallies kick into motion, complete with hundreds of flag waving children and dancing women clad in custom made partisan coloured burqas. Indeed, the wanton-abandon of the political festival is drawing fire from the some of the mosques. As well as calling for a peace and vigilant approach to the election several Imam's Friday sermons focused on the potential moral consequences of over-excited campaigning - women hanging out of the windows of cars driven by men was a particular target of the Imams' ire last Friday (Geeska Afrika, Hargesia June 13).

In amongst the festivities it's impossible however to forget how much is riding on this election for Somaliland's continuing political stability and wider relations in the Horn. This was a fact tragically underscored on Thursday by fighting in Burco between the police force and alleged Jihadis bent on disrupting the electoral process.

The 'internationally recognized' Transitional Federal Government (the TFG) has remained quiet about electoral developments in the north, though many here believe that, whilst it remains battling for survival behind the barricades in Mogadishu, it retains an interest in seeing the election fail in Somaliland. This is an interest arguably shared by the 'Islamist' militia groups who appear to be extending their grip over even larger areas of south central Somalia.

In the international forums of the ongoing Somali story the political process playing out in the northern breakaway Somaliland Republic remains the elephant in the room that no-one quite knows how to talk about. Vague references to Somaliland's political process in the public declarations of the last international Somali conference held in Istanbul last month illustrates a continuing ignorance, ambivalence or discomfort on the part of the 'international community' to seriously engage with anyone other than Sheikh Sharif's TFG in Mogadishu - the inverted commas of "Somaliland" in reference democratization mentioned in the Istanbul declaration say it all. The paradigm for international involvement with Somaliland remains as ambiguous as ever and continues to leave the breakaway republic in its accustomed limbo.

If the election taking place on June 26th passes off peacefully and produces a workable and generally accepted result then not only will this constitute another remarkable achievement in Somaliland's ongoing political history but may alter the regional playing field and invite a re-evaluation of international engagement with the northern state. The cold realities of international relations aside this is certainly a dominant perception in the minds of Somalilanders who are preparing to go to the polls. The T-shirts of at least one of the parties are complete with slogans talking about 'change we can believe in' (I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before...) and whilst even a free and fair election or peaceful transition of power may not bring a fundamental change in Somaliland's relationship with the world, there is no doubt that a lot of eyes will be looking this way come June 26th.

For pictures of the campaign see http://petechonka.wordpress.com

A date with democracy? Somaliland's presidential election is set (for now)

2010-05-09T05:39:29Z

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything from Hargeisa. Life in the de facto (but unrecognized) independent Republic of Somaliland has been very quiet and the democratic deadlock affecting overdue presidential elections has continued. Is no news good news here? An absence of the oft-reported (if little fully-understood) blights of southern Somalia – piracy, conflict, terrorism, religious zealotry - in the northern breakaway republic can only be described in positive terms. On the other hand, doubts and ambiguities remain as to the smooth or timely progress of the presidential election and the effect that this will have on the breakaway republic’s hard-won stability.
    Word on the street, filtering out from the electoral commission, has it that the election will take place in June. The next word on the street has it that this may be a bit optimistic, though this now seems to be the timeframe emphasized by the electoral commission and its external supporting agencies. Interpeace, the leading facilitating international organisation has returned to Somaliland after their ignominious expulsion last year and is insisting that progress is being made to bring a democratic voice to bear on the prolonged tenure of President Rayaale and his UDUB party.
    With a holiday being called in the national universities for voter registration purposes and plane loads of new registration cards arriving in Hargeisa the clock is most certainly ticking.
    Political tensions which have bubbled beneath the surface in Somaliland are already showing some signs of eruption and two incidents have highlighted the potential for violence which exists when the three political parties flex their mobilizing muscles. Most recently violence has flared in Ceerigaabo in the east of Somaliland when groups of supporters from the president’s UDUB party and the opposition KULMIYE party clashed and pelted each other with rocks. One man was killed by gunfire coming apparently from the local police force (Saxafi News, May 8).
    Around a month ago in Hargeisa a rather bizarre incident occurred between the government and the KULMIYE opposition when the minister for sports declared a football tournament organized by the party to be illegal and ordered its immediate halting. Players and supporters, ignoring the order, descended on the stadium and clashed with the police force. After the ubiquitous stone-throwing, one man was shot and wounded by the police. The local media reported the incident and a newspaper printed a copy of a letter apparently written by the Somaliland Football Federation authorizing the KULMIYE competition (Haatuf, April 13). This strange incident illustrates the undercurrents of tension which remain in a divided political system. Violence of this kind strikes a nerve in Hargeisa where the memories of the repressive force of the previous southern-based regime of Siyaad Barre are still important in the political discourse. Members of the other opposition party, the UCID, evoked this very history in condemning the steps taken by the sports minister and the wider Rayaale government (Saxansaxo, April 14).
    It can be very easy to despair at the ‘democratic’ process in Somaliland especially when one considers the clan dynamics which define the party political landscape. Manifestos printed in the Hargeisa newspapers (which themselves generally refrain from even mentioning clan, thus giving a somewhat misleading impression of politics here) show little ideological or practical difference between the three sanctioned parties. Perhaps that isn’t a million miles away from the recently run-through British major party political spectrum although a fundamental difference exists in the logistics of organizing ‘free and fair’ registration for elections in a place like Somaliland where an accurate census has never been carried out. Democracy here is an unenviable task to be sure. The process is slow, painful and expensive – especially taking into account the biometric voter recognition and registration kit being currently rolled out in the hope of preventing voter fraud amongst a highly mobile population through porous regional and international borders. Money well spent? On one hand one can consider the unambiguous good of an at least partially transparent and participatory electoral system for the national psyche (as well as helping tick the boxes for democratic good governance of international donor priority lists). On the other hand it sometimes seems somewhat absurd to talk about effective and fair participatory democracy when considering the basic infrastructural deficiencies which still plague even the capital city: when it rains here it is often impossible to get from one side of the city to the other due to flooding, stranded vehicles and a lack of functioning or complete road bridges. Maybe a new government is what is required to push such infrastructural projects like Hargeisa’s second bridge out of the stagnation which has cost a great deal of money for so few visible results. Or perhaps the substitution of one group of elites for another will make little difference in these ongoing processes of shady political dealings, contracts for cronies and uneven development.
    There’s another peculiarity here which overshadows the whole electoral process. This is the international community’s involvement (through organizations like Interpeace) in a national election for a nation that they do not recognize as being independent or sovereign. Whether this matters at a practical level - given Somaliland’s development since 1991 without external recognition - is unclear, though it certainly does throw into light the territory’s anomalous context and the contractions which exist between the funding priorities and diplomatic geopolitics played out by the international community in the Horn of Africa.
    Regardless, the timeframe is set and the clock is ticking. The danger remains however that given the level of external assistance anything that goes wrong with the registration or electoral management process (and what could possibily go wrong with biometric voter registration technology for a largely nomadic population in a harsh and dusty climate?) could well be used by the Rayaale government as a pretext for once again delaying the ballot and throwing Somaliland back into democratic limbo. That is, if that isn’t where it is already.

A state in limbo

2009-10-04T07:29:13Z

In the last week an internationally-sponsored agreement pertaining to Somaliland's electoral process has been signed by the President and major opposition parties. Is delayed democracy in the de facto independent northern Somali State at last getting back on track?

The six-point agreement signed on Wednesday by President Daahir Rayaale Kaahin of the UDUB party, Ahmed Mahamed Mahmuud Siilanyo's KULMIYE Party and Faysaal Cali Waraabe's UCID, was facilitated largely by the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry which retains an interest in ensuring a peaceful political transition in Somaliland. The agreement reaffirms a commitment to the electoral process and the selection of a new Electoral Commission assisted by a team of ‘international experts’. The drawing up of the voter list by this new body will prove to be the most challenging aspect of the electoral process – a fact made clear by the Interpeace debacle earlier this year. The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry has released a glowing evaluation of the agreement though details on the ground as to a prospective timescale for the Committee selection, voter list creation and the election itself remain somewhat vague. A frequent charge leveled against the Somali political elite from civil society (Hargeisa is home to a large and vocal network of local non-governmental organisations) is that noble rhetoric is often a substitute for the logistical action necessary for facilitating the representative process and it remains unclear whether the intended ‘depoliticizing’ of the election date will ever be possible.

The week's developments have also involved the British. Representative to Ethiopia, John Marshall, expressed his happiness at the signing of this 'important' agreement paving the way for Somaliland's future elections. As the British government does not recognise Somaliland's independence, diplomatic involvement is usually administered through Addis Ababa. It is a fascinating oddity of the international relations of the region that the British government can express support for the election of a Somaliland executive whilst maintaining an official recognition of united Somali sovereignty based in distant and chaotic Mogadishu. This strange state of affairs is certainly not lost on ordinary Somalilanders who often invoke Britain's historical link with her ex-colonial territory as a plea for diplomatic assistance. Indeed, Somaliland's very claim to legitimate independence is based on this colonial relationship: British Somaliland at independence in 1960 joined in union with Italian Somalia in the south to form what is now still portrayed on maps as the Somali nation state. A history of neglect and state violence directed against the North from the South resulted in Northern separatist intent when the centralised state crumbled in the early 1990s. This is a historical narrative which remains alive in Somaliland's political culture through older generations who experienced the bombardment of Hargeisa by Siad Barre's southern forces, and a younger generation which has no recollection of a united Somali state. Another international dynamic to this story continues in the United States where legal battles are ongoing to bring members of the former Somali state military to trial for war crimes perpetrated in the North.

Despite earlier dire predictions of political disintegration following President Rayaale’s successive contested extensions of office and subsequent civil unrest, a view from the streets of Hargeisa today confirms that Somaliland is somehow managing to continue along its relatively tranquil course of political development. As usual, this stands in stark contrast to the seemingly endemic violence of Somali politics in the South. Further fracturing of the self-proclaimed Islamist opposition Sheik Sharif Ahmed’s internationally recognized government continues to complicate factional politics and claim more lives.

Despite its relative stability the conundrum of Somaliland’s state of democratic and diplomatic limbo remains unresolved. Whilst it is unclear how the oddities of the unrecognised Republic's international status will affect an (apparently) upcoming election, it is certain that these processes continue to shape Somaliland's dynamic self-image and expectations for future political development.

For pictures of Hargeisa see my photojournal

Neighbours in the Horn

2009-09-28T16:05:36Z

Pictured on the map the road that runs east between the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and Hargeisa in Somaliland looks pretty straightforward. In an area of roughly 500km, Amharic-dominated, Christian, highland Ethiopia descends towards the Gulf Aden into dry scrubland and the traditionally pastoral territory of the Somalis. Pretty simple really. Maps, however, can be deceptive and nowhere does this seem more true than in the Horn of Africa. Scales, altitudes and contours give hints and mould expectations but, ultimately, everything in this part of the world exhibits a diversity that makes a mockery of any cartographic definition.

Part of the fun of travel anywhere involves the matching of a preconceived image with a reality. The northern Horn of Africa is steeped in travelers mythology which dates back to Richard Burton's famous, first footstep,in the mid 19th Century and stretches into popular modern imaginings of the, archetypical failed state, Somalia. Separating fact from fiction here isn't always easy.

For a journey to Somaliland I've been in full tourist mode. I'm no Richard Burton - for one thing I’m pretty sure colonial-era explorers didn’t carry Lonely Planets. At the same time, as there are so few other foreign travelers in Eastern Ethiopia it is possible to pick up on that scent of adventure and sense of genuine wonder. The region has vast potential to develop as a location for independent travel and the beauty of the country would certainly warrant it. From cosmopolitan Addis Ababa the road stretches out through undulating green farmland and falls into a dusty interior populated by nomadic tribes people and their livestock. Beyond the savannah-like plains of Awash however, the road rises again into verdant highlands where the valleys sparkle with the reflected light of scattered tin-roofed settlements. This is chat country and the terraced hillsides are lined with this plant whose leaves when chewed (and they are, a lot) act as a mild narcotic. Chat is consumed throughout the Eastern Ethiopian and Somali Horn and the trade has developed into a massive and hugely influential regional industry - in many ways this little leaf ties these nations together. Afternoons in the ancient city of Harar are spent roasting coffee beans, downing multiple sugar laden cups of the rich brew and chewing the cud. Chat debris is strewn all over the floor and the cumulative stimulant effect is enough to set hearts palpitating to the same rhythm as the buses which bounce through in clouds of dust. Not that such intoxicants are really needed to get a kick out of a place like Harar where the nightly ritual involves the feeding of the local Hyenas. Skulking out of the darkened fields these magnificently scruffy animals howl and yap in deference to the old men who call them by name and hand over big chunks of meat.

From Harar I double back to the more modern town of Dire Dawa, the second largest urban centre in the country built up at the turn of the century for the new railway line running from Addis all the way to Djibouti and the Red Sea. It’s for this train that I wait three days. A definite Monday morning departure turns, on Monday morning, into a maybe Thursday. The section of the track running west and back to the capital is being currently overhauled and it seems that service on the stretch to Djibouti is, as a result, ever more unpredictable and sporadic. I'm forced, like the crowd of other disappointed Djibouti-bound punters, to negotiate a bus. From the Eastern edge of Dire Dawa onwards everything feels Somali - the leaves sold at the roadside stalls have turned from Chat into Qaat, and in the barren and rocky scrub land which runs east one can pick out the unmistakable silhouettes of nomads with herds of goats, donkeys and camels.

The tiny African country of Djibouti is definitely a Somali state, but is, at the same time, defined by a colonial history and modern geopolitics. Traditionally playing host to French legionnaires, Djibouti is now home to the Americans. It is from here that the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa operates to conduct intelligence and military operations in the Horn. The G.Is on leave in downtown Djibouti city show off fierce crew cuts and a general lack of discernible necks, whilst the burly legionnaires sport their snazzy desert boots and short shorts combos. In the heart of the city the Somali market buzzes with the intensity of semi-organised chaos, whilst a five minute walk will take you to leafy colonial squares and air-conditioned supermarkets patronised by white families driving shiny SUVs.

Short of time, I elect to jump into Somaliland by plane and show up bright and early at the airport to catch my scheduled flight. After waiting around outside for an hour or so while all the airport staff arrive for work, I am duly informed that there will be no plane to Hargeisa today. Several ticket-holding passengers gather up their luggage and set off back into the city. I inquire at the airline office and find out that a, no plane today, can evolve into a, maybe later this morning, to finally a wonderful, oh look, there it is’. The best thing about the delay is getting some time in the departure lounge to drink overpriced cups of tea and watch the F-16s use the runway for takeoff.

So that's the neighbours. It's a superficial glance to be sure, but is one that might give you some sense of context for this de facto independent but diplomatically unrecognized modern nation state of Somaliland. Somaliland's fledgling democracy, (excuse the phraseology) is apparently reeling in a protracted constitutional crisis. The most recent postponement of the presidential election, scheduled for September 27th, resulted in clashes on the streets, police shootings and several fatalities. Once again Somaliland's hard won and oft-ignored stability was rocked by political violence. The previous instance occurred last year with Islamist-linked bombings in Hargeisa and Bossaso in largely autonomous Puntland, which targeted government buildings, the UN, and Ethiopian commercial and diplomatic interests.

To some, Somaliland is as a country on the brink. Democratic functioning (another of the Republic's previous claims to fame) is faltering and the whirlwind forces of insurgency which plague Mogadishu and the South of the country, could conceivably expand into a vacuum brought by destabilisation Somaliland. The stakes are no doubt high though that in itself may be a moderating factor. Political crises come and go in this part of the world (as do the staff of some international organizations who are pulled out of the country as soon as any trouble is spotted on the horizon) and already political concessions have been made. Whilst not without controversy, Somaliland's Guurti legislature has, in effect, confirmed an extension of President Rayaale's term of office, and an election will be unlikely to take place this year. Does this represent a return to normality for a large proportion of the population who are more concerned about putting food on the table than elite political wrangling, or does it instead epitomise the perpetuation of an inherently vulnerable and potentially combustible status-quo? This is a question I hope to explore during my stay in this fascinating corner of the Horn of Africa.

For pictures visit my photojournal.