Day: October 27, 2024

THE LAW AND NOMADIC NATURE OF THE SOMALI MAN

There are three laws theoretically in Somalia. They are:

  1. Customary or traditional law
  2. Sharia
  3. Penal (criminal)/civil law

None is binding to the crude nature of a nomadic Somali man without strong state reinforcement. Nomads are free-wheeling and hateful of any restrictions against their impunity for any  action of their wish and wimps. Any law he may accept at minimum is the customary law of his clan because it has no enforcement mechanism and because he doesn’t want to lose the support system and the benefits he enjoys within the tribal councils.

A nomad considers Sharia and penal law as imposition against his free will and way of life, although he may not openly criticise the Sharia out of fear of getting into disfavour with his elders and the  clergy in the community.

Nomadic societies are historically backward because of  their way of life. lack of schooling and other tools of modern society. They lead a hard life, exposing them to a mentality of survival of the fittest. They have no sense of charitity, and hospitality with his meagre resources is done for the purpose of self-perservation and protection of clan reputation.

Most Somalis are of nomadic origin, and even though urbanisation is taking roots lately in Somalia due to increased tribal conflicts, civil war, negative impact of climate change, internal displacement as a result, and environmental deterioration, they have nomadic heritage. They need a lot of orientation and training to understand their obligations, rights, and responsibilities to fit into an organized modern society.

THE IDIOSYNCRACIES OF THE SOMALI MAN

Somalis are pseudo-Muslims and are almost pagan in behavior and ways of life. Murder, theft and acts of blasphemy are considered patches of honor. Public theft, abuses of entrusted position, revenge, and punishment of real or perceived opponents and rivals are fair games for both ordinary men and Somali public officials. It is only in Somalia where you hear the President of a Republic claiming that his kids have the right to take advantage of his position in acquiring undeserved government privileges and unearned wealth; government officials, including ministers, looting government coffers, on the top of misappropriating salaries of their employees in daylight with impunity, and remain a functioning official or minister in Cabinet. One can infer from this that the boss of that particular minister was doing the same and didn’t bother firing the corrupt subordinate. The list of similar behaviors goes down to the office messengers and cleaners.

“According to the Greeks, there are three types of people on earth:

  • The idiots
  • The tribesmen, and
  • Citizens

When the Greek used the word idiot, they didn’t use it as a curse word. Idiots are the people who just don’t care, if they write an exam, they’d cheat, if they’re in government, they’d steal. An idiot just doesn’t care at all. If he eats bananas, he throws the peels anywhere instead of putting it in a trash.

According to the Greek, some some societies have more idiots than tribesmen and citizens.

The next set of people are tribesmen, these are the set of people that look at everything from the point of view of their tribe. These are people who believe in you only if you’re part of their tribe. It can really be terrible to have a tribesman as a leader, he would alienate the rest.

When the Greeks talk about it, it’s not just about ethnicity, they also consider religion as a tribe. A great deal of Africans are tribes men because they view everyone from the point of view of their tribes. They trust only their tribesmen.

The last group of people are citizens. These people like to do things the right way, they will respect traffic light rules even if no one is watching them, they drive within speed limit. They respect laws, in an exam, they won’t cheat, if they’re in government, they won’t steal. They are compassionate people, they give to others to promote their well-being.

Some countries have more citizens than tribesmen and idiots, others have so many.

A tribesman can become a citizen through orientation, and an idiot can become a citizen by training and constant enforcement of the law.

Things will fall apart if you elect an idiot or a tribesman to lead if he has not been reformed,” truly reflecting most of the Somali men.

Based on this description, the Somali man is an extreme combination of the characters of THE IDIOT AND TRIBESMAN. Can he be reformed, and whose duty is it to do?