Subject; President Hassan Sheikh and Hawiye Clan Expansionism Against Dir Biyomaal Lands in Lower Shabeelle Province.

Statement on Land Rights and Ethnic Tensions

A direct order from President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud to the Ministry of Planning and Investment reportedly plans to seize the land of the Dir Biyomaal community by force, without their consent. The Dir clan has warned President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud about what they perceive as ethnic cleansing plans targeting them, asserting that the expansionist actions of the Hawiye clan will not be tolerated.

The Dir clan calls upon the international community, including the UN and human rights organizations, to acknowledge their plight and condemn President Hassan Sheikh as a warmongering figure. They denounce his clandestine activities against the Dir clan’s Biyomaal lower Shabeelle territory.

Furthermore, the clan emphasizes that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud’s actions threaten to plunge Somalia back into civil war, as clearly evidenced by the ongoing unrest jubaland and other part of country since he assumed power, reopening old wounds from the atrocities committed by the Hawiye clan since 1991, which remain unresolved.

The Dir clan also wishes to inform UNSOM and other international organizations that there are no internally displaced persons (IDPs) as suggested. The claim of relocating 10,000 Hawiye clansmen to Dir clan lower Shabeelle land is viewed as a tactic of Hawiye expansionism. They question why, if relocation is necessary, those being relocated are not returning to their own lands.

The Dir clan warns international organizations and donors countries against becoming complicit in what they see as ethnic cleansing activities. They assert that President Hassan Sheikh’s actions reflect a deep-seated ethnic hatred against the Dir clan, which we will never be accepted. The Dir clan pledges to fight for their rightful lands until their last breath, stating emphatically that anyone who moves to their lands will not be tolerated, and they will not take responsibility for the consequences.

In any corner of Somali-inhabited geography, tribal disputes and clashes are live non-stop. Lives are being lost with impunity, and properties and livestock are being destroyed daily. No accountability of any kind rendered. Even today, a country location called Harfo (North Mudugh), which is not far off from Puntland Capital Garowe, two close subclans are clashing for minor habitat issues that don’t serve the loss of human lives.

Now, even such tribal hostilities rage on with the instigation and participation of the fledgling national government. The recent armed conflict in Jubaland State between FGS and the Member State is the prime example. Arms trafficking, including heavy gun-mounted so-called “technicals” is unprecedented as a result of the UN lifting of Arms Embargo on Somalia. Talk about peace and nation-building in Somalia!

In 2005 when I was working briefly with the United Nations and World Bank on the Somali Research and Development Program (RDP) called Joint Needs Assessment (JNA), I have learned something that seemed odd and strange to me at the time. In my little capacity as the Technical Coordinator with a multi-national teams of experts to carry out this needs assessment as the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia was established in Mbagathi, Kenya, in 2004, I travelled with these foreign experts from UN and World Bank, or hired by them to conduct such research and assessment for Somalia’s needs to recover from multifaced destruction following the Civil War. In fact, the Somali New Deal, signed in 2013 in Brussels, Belgium, between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and European Union (EU), was based on JNA and RDP field works in Somalia.  Abdirahman Faroole and Abdirisaq Jurile were ministers of planning and international cooperation of Puntland and the Transitional Federal Government, respectively, coordinating with our technical teams of Puntland State, South-Central Somalia and Somaliland administrations.

Upon landing on any Somali town, locally hired UN security staff was handy to give us security briefs on local issues. They always used to say that there was no peace in a tribal society, and human lives didn’t matter much there. I admit I was annoyed by the statements of these UN security personnel on local conditions and wrongly assumed that they were unpatriotic and even traitors. I was wrong.

From there, I learned that stupidity reigns supreme in a clan-dominated environment. There, neighbours and relatives fight to the last man. It could start any minute unpredictably without notice. Tribal conflicts and fights to the finish could be started by a single teenager, followed by the fall of numerous innocent people and bystanders. Unfortunately, this war within clans and subclans has been going on for centuries without any lessons learned. They couldn’t at least develop a mechanism or system for individual accountability. They continue to practise collective responsibilities for individual wrong-doing. That is why everyone is at personal risk of being targeted for belonging to a wrong clan. In fact, one of the biggest faulty lines of the famous Somali traditional leadership lies there. It is a wild world of savagery. You can now see this stupidity displayed in social media as unrestrained and mentally sick people contributing to Somalia’s social chaos and degradation of cherished Somali family values. Be careful!

That is the primative tribal society blessed with feeble rudimentary minds that we expect them to build a nation-state in Somalia. That is an illusion bordering on insanity. That is the reality we are dealing with. Welcome to the real world of Somalia.

___________

If you enjoyed this story and would like to read more like it, consider supporting WDM work by  subcribing to our Annual Subscription at +252 90 703 4081. Your support helps us to keep producing more content like this.

[This article has been updated after posting].

QORAAL ARAGTIDA WDM

Isku dayga hirgelinta arrintaasi, daabacaada lacag hal dowlad goboleed oo qayb ka ah dowlada federalka ee Somalia, Waxay noqon doontaa waqti iyo hanti lumis taas oo si loo daba galo ay noqondoonto arrin adag ama wax mala awaal ahoo kale ah. Lacagta waa in ay dadweynuhu aqbalaan oo ay ku beddelan karaan lacagaha kale ee qalaad. Aynu ka soo qaadno in ay aqbali doonaan shacabka dawladda Puntland, ka dibna ay noqon doonto mid u cuntami doonta guud ahaan shacabka Soomaaliyeed. Si kastaba ha ahaatee, Bangiga dawladda Puntland iyo dadka deegaanka ayaa si degdeg ah ay uga dhammaan doontaa wareegtada lacagta cusub (currency circulation). Maamul-goboleedka Puntland waxa uu awoodi waayi doona in uu daboolo baahida iyo sahayda ka haysata guud ahaan Soomaaliya oo ay ku jirto Somaliland.
Waxaa intaa dheer, way adag tahay in dadka reer Puntland ay aqbalaan ama laga aqbalo in ay alaab iyo adeegyo ku iibsadaan/iibiyaan meeshii doolarka Mareykanka ee hadda laga isticmaalo guud ahaan Soomaaliya. Waa dhaqaale ku salaysan dollarka iyada oo aynaan ka tirsanayn Maraykanka sida wadamo dhawr ah oo aduunka ka jira.
Maadaama uu dhaqaaluhu ku saleysan yahay dollar, sida kor loogu soo cadeeyey, daabacaadda lacagta Soomaaliga, Bangiga Dawladda Puntland waxaa ku waajib ah in uu dejiyo sarifka lacagaha qalaad iyo in uu diyaar u yahay in uu lacag adag oo dollarka Maraykanka ah u qaybiyo macaamiishiisa iyo dhammaan dadka degan iyo dadka safarka ah ee ku sugan Puntland. Sidoo kale waxaa lagama maarmaan ah in la qaabilikaro lacagta Puntland ee ku jirta sarifka lacagaha qalaad sida dollarka ee laga keeno gobolada kale ee dalka Soomaaliya oo ay ganacsatada iyo dadka safarka ah ee reer Puntland ay ku iibsan jireen badeecado iyo adeegyo ka baxsan dowladda, taas oo ah arrin uusan Bankiga Puntland awoodeeda lahayn. Arrintaas ayaa ku filan sida aysan suurtagal u ahayn daabacaada shilin Soomaali ah oo u gaar noqon doonta Dawladda Puntland.
Hadii dhinac kale loo dhigo, beddelka ah in Maamul-goboleedka Puntland loo daabaco lacagteeda maxaliga ah oo la aqbalo sida Somaliland oo kale waa safar adag oo lagu shaacinayo ka go’itaanka Soomaaliya inteeda kale. Tani ma waxa aan ka hadlayno baa marka laga hadalayo hadal jeedinta iyo ku dhawaaqida dabacaada lacag u gaar ah Dawladda Puntland? Taasi ma shaqayn-doonto, waayo Xukuumadda Puntland kaligeed ma go’aansan karto haddii aysan jirin rabitaan baaxad leh ee dadka deggan Puntland. Waxaa la ogyahay in Hogaamiyaha arrintan ku dhawaaqay xilligiisii 1aad, kaligii masuulka ka ahaa in uu meesha ka saaro kalsoonidii ay shacabku ku qabeen Shilinka Soomaaliga markii horeba. Talo, halaga digtoonaado ku takrifalka dadka masaakiinta ah ee deegaanka Puntland.

(Waxa tarjumay Prof. Abdiqani Danla’aan).