Abstract
Chapter 2 analyses state reconstruction in Somalia. It critically examines the role of traditional institutions and authorities in this process, and how clans and Islam are playing a significant role in it. After decades of absence, traditional institutions, clans and Islam are brought together in the state-reconstruction process.
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Notes
- 1.
Abdurahman Abdullahi, “Women, Islamists and the Military Regime in Somalia: The Reform of the Family Law and its Repercussions.” A paper available from http://www.scribd.com/doc/15418893/Women-Islamists-and-Militry-Regime-in-Somalia (accessed 5 June 2013).
- 2.
The approach of Somali nationalists with respect to tradition is derived from the “modernization framework [based on] the assumption that modernity and tradition are mutually exclusive polar opposites”. See Abdul Rashid Moten, “Modernity, Tradition and Modernity in Tradition in Muslim Societies.” Intellectual Discourse, 19, 1–13, 2011, 3.
- 3.
Three important laws were passed prior to 1969. The first was intended to reduce the authority of the tribal chiefs, the second to lessen tribal solidarity and the third resulted in banning political parties that utilised tribal names. The military regime enacted laws to liquidate dabar-goynta, with a view to eliminating clanism in Somalia; abolish the Diya (blood money) system; rename clan chiefs in rural areas; and introduce compulsory auto insurance and local government responsibility for funeral expenses. Above all, massive propaganda against clanism was undertaken in the name of the “socialist transformation” of Somali society.
- 4.
On the escalation of conflict between the military regime and Islamists in 1975, see Abdurahman M. A. Baadiyow, “Women, Islamists and the Military Regime in Somalia: The New Family Law and its Implications.” Milk and Peace, Drought and War: Somali Culture, Society and Politics (Essays in Honour of I. M. Lewis), edited by M. V. Hoehne and V. Luling, 137–160. London: Hurst, 2010.
- 5.
For example, the Majeerteen-dominated SSDF (1978), the Isaq-led SNM (1981), the Hawiye-based United Somali Congress (USC) (1986) and the Ogaden-dominated Somali Patriotic Movement (1989). The various Islamic movements included Islah (1978), Al-Itihad (1981) and Aala-sheikh (1982).
- 6.
See Somaliland Constitution article 5:2: “The laws of the nation shall be grounded on and shall not be contrary to Islamic Shari’a.” Available from http://www.so.undp.org/docs/Somaliland%20in%20English.pdf (accessed 5 June 2013). Also, see Puntland Constitution article 6: “Islam shall be the only religion of Puntland State of Somalia. No any other religion can be propagated in Puntland State, while the Islamic Religion and the traditions of the people of Puntland are the bases of law.” Available from http://www.so.undp.org/docs/Puntland%202001%20English.pdf (accessed 5 June 2013).
- 7.
See Somali National Charter adopted at the Somalia National Peace Conference in Djibouti in 2000, article 2.2: “Islam shall be the religion of the state and no other religion or ideas contrary to Islam may be propagated in its territory.” See also article 4:4: “the Islamic Shari’a shall be the basic source for national legislation” and “any law contradicting Islamic Shari’a shall be void and null”.
- 8.
Max Weber, “Politics as Vocation.” In Max Weber, Essays in Sociology. Translated and edited by H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. New York: Oxford University Press, 1946, 77–128, 2. Available from http://polisci2.ucsd.edu/foundation/documents/03Weber1918.pdf (accessed on December 30, 2016).
- 9.
These four clan families are the Darood, the Hawiye, the Dir and Digil, and the Mirifle. Other classifications include the Isaaq and the Dir separately.
- 10.
This unit is called Diya-paying since its members collectively participate in paying and receiving blood compensation for killed individuals. Full blood compensation is equal to 100 camels for men and 50 camels for women, payable also in monetary values. Nonetheless, often, neighbouring clans agree on lesser values, such as 50 camels for men and 25 for women. The concept is derived from Islamic jurisprudence.
- 11.
The caste groups in Somalia, called Nasab Dhiman , comprise the weaker or smaller clans and individuals from a variety of technical professions cast out historically by other stronger pastoral clans. These clans include the Tumaalo, the Yahar, the Boon and the Yibir. See Asha A. Samad, “Brief Review of Somali Caste Systems: Statement of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.” August, 2002. Available from http://www.madhibaan.org/faq/somalia-brief-2002.pdf (accessed 5 June 2013).
- 12.
This classical segmented system is not peculiar to Somalia but is found in other African societies, such as the Kuru in Liberia and the Nuer in Sudan. Fortes and Evans-Pritchard pioneered the study of the acephalous societies of Africa.
- 13.
The difficulty of uniting various segments in the face of an outside threat is well illustrated in works such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (London: Heinemann, 1958) and Elechi Amadi’s The Great Bonds (London: Heinemann, 1969).
- 14.
Pastoral Somalis mainly speak the Maxaay dialect, while many agropastoral clans speak the May dialect of the Somali language. See Lee Cassanelli, The Shaping of Somali Society: Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600–1900 (Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 1982), 23.
- 15.
For details of the history of the urban dwellers of Banaderi, refer to Scott Reese, “Patricians of the Banadir: Islamic Learning, Commerce and Somali Urban Identity in the Nineteenth Century,” (PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1996).
- 16.
For instance, the Salafia movement (Wahabia) focuses on confronting the beliefs and practices of the Sufi orders and considers them to be a deviant sect.
- 17.
Said S. Samatar, “Unhappy Masses and the Challenges of Political Islam in the Horn of Africa.” Available from www.wardheernews.com/March_05/05 (accessed 8 June 2013).
- 18.
See SYL Constitution. Available from http://somaliyouthleague.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/constitution/ (accessed 10 June 2013).
- 19.
Islamists participated in the formation of Somaliland, and their influence is evident in the adopted flag and constitution. With respect to Puntland, the SSDF’s armed faction was disbanded and the Al-Itixaad Islamic organisation weakened in the bloody war of 1992.
- 20.
The 4.5 power-sharing formula was strongly criticised by many scholars, including Omar Enow, Mohamed Enow, Abdi Samatar and Ahmed Samatar. However, they failed to come up with an acceptable and practical approach to power sharing in the absence of political institutions. Also, it is important to note that the 4.5 formula offered women and minority clans more seats in parliament and the so-called dominant clans comparatively fewer. In the final analysis, 4.5 was a temporary democratisation measure for traditional society and was never intended to be a permanent approach for a future political model. See Mohamed A. Enow, “Inclusive But Unequal: The Enigma of the 14th SNRC and the Four Point Five (4.5) Factor”, and Abdullahi A. Osman and Issaka K. Souare (Eds.), Somalia at the Crossroads: Challenges and Perspectives on Reconstituting a Failed State (London: Adonis and Abby, 2007).
- 21.
Official delegates numbered 810, consisting of four clan delegations of 180, each including 20 women, and 90 minority clan alliance representatives, including 10 women. Among the 810, women accounted for 90 delegates, or about 9 % of the total. In addition, more than 1500 observers were allowed to attend the conference.
- 22.
An alternative option, which did not receive enough support, was proposed by Abdulqadir Adan Abdulle, son of the former Somali president, Adan Abdulle Osman, who presented a paper to the first intellectual conference in preparation for the 2000 Somalia Peace Conference in Djibouti. His concept was based on sharing parliamentary seats according to region and based on the historical seats in 1960, as adjusted by agreement.
- 23.
Somali-inhabited territory was divided among four powers in the nineteenth century—namely, Britain, Italy, France and Ethiopia. British Somaliland Protectorate and Italian Somaliland were united to form the Somali Republic in 1960.
- 24.
See the constitutions of Somaliland and Puntland, and the Federal Constitution adopted in 2012.
- 25.
Djibouti, the Somali Region in Ethiopia and the North Eastern Province in Kenya were considered to be parts of the Greater Somalia project.
- 26.
In 2013, registered Somali refugees in the Horn of Africa totalled 998,343 (193,776 households), and most of them were in Kenya (471,914) and Ethiopia (245,068). See “Refugee in the Horn of Africa: Somali Displacement Crisis.” Available from https://data.unhcr.org/horn-of-africa/regional.php (accessed 16 September 2013).
- 27.
It was estimated that 14 % of the Somali population lived in the diaspora, qualifying it as “a truly globalized nation”. See UNDP-Somalia’s “Somalia’s Missing Million: The Somali Diaspora and its Role in Development.” Available from http://www.so.undp.org/content/somalia/en/home/library/poverty/publication_3.html (accessed 10 June 2015).
- 28.
The clause on border disputes among African countries states, “Solemnly declares that all Member States pledge themselves to respect the borders existing on their achievement of national independence.” See the OAU’s resolutions adopted by the first ordinary session of the assembly of the heads of the state and government held in Cairo, United Arab Republic (UAR), 17–21 July, 1964. Available from http://www.au.int/en/sites/default/files/ASSEMBLY_EN_17_21_JULY_1964_ASSEMBLY_HEADS_STATE_GOVERNMENT_FIRST_ORDINARY_SESSION.pdf (accessed 16 September 2013).
- 29.
Federal Republic of Somalia, Provisional Constitution, August 2013, articles 1 and 3. Article 1 states, “Somalia is a federal, sovereign, and democratic republic founded on inclusive representation of the people, a multiparty system and social justice.” Also, article 3 on founding principles states, “The Federal Republic of Somalia is founded upon the fundamental principles of power-sharing in a federal system.”
- 30.
State–society relations can be encapsulated in six scenarios ranging from extreme cooperation to extreme conflict: (1) mutual collaboration; (2) mutual engagement; (3) conflictual engagement; (4) mutual disengagement; (5) enforced disengagement; and (6) resistance-revolutionary disengagement. See Tracy Kuperus, Frameworks of State-Society Relations. Available from http://www.acdis.uiuc.edu/Research/SandPs/1994-Su/SandP_VIII-4/state_society_relations.html (accessed 14 February 2011).
- 31.
Abdurahman Abdullahi and Ibrahim Farah, “Reconciling the State and Society: Reordering Islamic Work and Clan System.” Available from http://www.scribd.com/doc/15327358/Reconciling-the-State-and-Society-in-Somalia (accessed 4 June 2013).
- 32.
“The more intensively TAs get involved in politics beyond their control, the higher is the probability that they have to make unpopular decisions and therefore loose [sic] the support of the community they claim to represent.”
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Abdullahi (Baadiyow), A. (2017). Reconstructing the National State of Somalia: The Role of Traditional Institutions and Authorities. In: Bereketeab, R. (eds) State Building and National Identity Reconstruction in the Horn of Africa . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39892-1_2
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