AGAINST ALL ODDS - THE PEOPLE OF SOMALILAND HAVE CLEARED THE LAST HURDLE AND APPROVED THE CONSTITUTION OF THEIR SOVEREIGN STATE
Ten years ago the people of Somaliland, after a decade-long liberation war that lasted from 1981 to 1991, reclaimed their statehood and sovereignty by annulling themselves from a disastrous and unratified union with Somalia—
Before even Somalia attained its independence from Italy, Somaliland was a sovereign state that received its independence from Great Britain on June 26, 1960. During this time, the people of Somaliland were mostly refugees coming back mainly from camps in Ethiopia where they had fled in 1988 after the Somalia government of Siad Barre unleashed a genocidal campaign against them; the land they were coming back to was a scene of destruction: their cities had been napalmed and bombed to rubble and no roadway
was safe from the millions of mines left behind by Siad Barre’s army.
Under the circumtances, declaring an independent state in a country riddled with land mines and without any standing infrastructures or homes seemed
to all observers a great challenge and an impossibility to be taken on by such a destitute people returning to a country laden with mines. But the people of Somaliland had always fought against great odds. When they were being decimated by Siad Barre’s pogroms, the world watched in silence
as they died by the thousands; worse, international money, including UN, Arab and Western aid continued to flow into the coffers of the Barre regime to be used for their killing. Despite these great odds, however, they won the war through self-sacrifice only to find that the task waiting for them was also
a daunting one for they had to reconstruct from scratch both state and country. They asked for international help so they could at least get some
roofs over their heads; but the world, in general, and the UN, the Arab countries, as well as Western countries, in particular, became busy with getting Somalia, this time, out of its state collapse and man-created famine. Somaliland became a forgotten country in the cacophony of finding expensive solutions for Somalia.
Undaunted and as resilient and tenacious as they were in the war against the Somalia government, the people of Somaliland decided to help themselves and started reconstructing not only the structures
of a state but the whole country, including the rubble cities left behind by the Somalian regime— their youth again sacrificed their lives by pulling
mines by hand, one at a time.
For the next 10 years that followed the declaration of the resumption of a sovereign state, the people of Somaliland rebuilt everything from scratch: their capital, described in 1991 as a modern Pompeii by the devastation wrought on it by the Somalia army is today a thriving city and has been described as “one of the safest cities in the continent.” (BBC World Service, Somaliland Votes on Independence, May 31, 2001). The prominent Kenyan parliamentarian, the Honorable R.A. Odinga, even had to admit that the capital of Somaliland is safer than the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, where a huge UN bureaucracy for Somalia sits in glass towers and churns out biased reports on Somaliland (The Republican, Kenya and Somaliland Share Historic Ties, May 19, 2001)
By any measure, the efforts of the people to rebuild home and country are heroic, and all the more so in the absence of any tangible help from the outside world. Unluckily, not everyone has welcomed these heroic efforts of
the people of Somaliland and for the last ten years since the restoration of their statehood and sovereignty they have been subjected to a ferocious assault by an invisible army bent on reversing all the political gains, freedom and sovereignty for which they had given their blood by the thousands. That invisible army consists of a few top bureaucrats in the UN and the OAU,
as well as Somalia’s former colonial master, Italy. The tiniest country in the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, has also joined this sinister against Somaliland, as the dictatorship of Guelleh mistakenly believes Somaliland’s economy is hurting that of his country when in fact Djibouti has enormously profited from the boom in Somaliland.
Together, this invisible army of top international Bureaucrats and few countries with special interest in the region have done everything possible to block Somaliland’s full international recognition as a sovereign state with all available power and means, including acts of sabotage aimed at disturbing the peace in Somaliland and starting a civil war among the people of Somaliland. However, the people of Somaliland have both persevered and managed to reinforce their unity and peace, again, against all odds.
To further consolidate their statehood and avail themselves of a democratic system, the people of Somaliland instituted a parliamentary system of two
chambers and a constitution, again without any help. Then they called for a referendum to be held on May 31, 2001. But the the UN, OAU and Arab league bureaucrats would not help them with holding the referendum; they were busy installing the Djibouti-appointed government of Somalia, presided
over by Abdulqassim Salat Hassan, whose “government” fictitiously claims
ownership of the territory of independent Somaliland while it does not
even control the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. Undaunted, the people of
Somaliland went ahead with preparations for the referendum on their
constitution and to pay for the cost, since no one would help, every
citizen paid what he/she could give either in time or money.
Today, the people of Somaliland have cleared the Last hurdle: they have overwhelmingly ratified the constitution of their state with a 97% majority
vote. This constitution guarantees the rights of Somaliland citizens and provides a democratic system of government. We are now saying to all responsible governments and leaders of the world: Sovereignty resides
with the people and the people of Somaliland have been patient for a decade; they have worked hard for peace, development and constitutional
democracy at no cost to the international community. They have over-earned and rightfully deserve their place in the community of nations. Today, all they are asking is to be recognized as a sovereign state.
Somaliland Forum
SLF Background:
The Somaliland Forum (SLF) is an international organization that brings
together Somalilanders from all parts of the world mainly, through the
medium of the Internet. The primary objective of the Forum is to work with
the Somaliland communities around the world in order to provide some
lasting solutions to the needs of the Republic of Somaliland and its
people. For more information, Please visit forum’s web site at:
http://www.somalilandforum.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FOLLOWING SPOKESPERSONS FOR THE
FORUM:
North America:
Farah Ahmed Hersi
Toronto, Canada
Tel: (416) 630-3728
E-mail: chair@somalilandforum.com
Europe:
Dahir Abdi Jama
London, U.K.
Mobile(cell): 07960 173 184, Tel: (0)208 347 8529
Email: Dahir@dahir.freeserve.co.uk
Middle East
Mr. A.Ismail
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Email:-
Tel: 965 2630592