Opinion | Somaliland: Bridging the Divide

 By: Mohamed M JaaJ

Somaliland’s mediation and dispute settlement project has been praised since its inception for its ability to reconcile internal conflicts. Religious scholars, traditional elders, and organizational actors made this initiative possible to embark on a long journey of peace-building in Somaliland. Even though the concepts of individual political beliefs depend on clan identities, the tribal polarizations and community segregation based on clan divisions are a significant hindrance to democratic values and state-building.

Somaliland’s past history demonstrates its incredible resilience in recovering from election-related polarizations by applying proper strategies for peace and reconciliation, but the post-election rifts cannot be denied.

Not only do election-related results usually spark social unrest or tribal deviations, but leaders might also design destructive and divisive conspiracies to split the population.  Leaders fuel social polarization to further solidify their tenure in office. They also incite animosity by causing divisions into clans and self-made buffer zones, which is always advantageous to the ruling elite.

From the succeeding governments till today, Somaliland has been dealing with community polarization or tribal disagreements stemming from clan interests, which may be ignited by opposition and clan leaders to spoil the system.

Former Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin, in his speech to then-President Silanyo on the day of the handover ceremony, said, “I hand over to you a united country and its citizens.” This becomes a legacy quote, which validates how crucial maintaining national unity is to nation-building and internal security. Thus, the incumbent president has a significant duty to bring the people together and preserve their unity.

As per their manifesto, the current office-holding president, H.E. Mr. Irro, and his government are available to listen to people’s grievances and resolve them peacefully under the rule of law and accepted customs, in line with democratic principles. Interested.

It is also essential for nationals to cooperate on this in order to strengthen their unity. This contributes to the country’s overall security. To attain this, the government must have a policy to lessen animosity, hatred, and division to prevent partition.

Consolidating mode has to be turned on to avoid political turmoil and community polarization through various means. Let us recommend some approaches.

1. Identifying grievances and inspiring dialogue.

Examining election-related complaints and developing nonviolent means of resolving ideological disagreements within society must be applied. The government ought to set up Public Reconciliation Forums, which aim to bring together politicians and civil society groups with varying opinions to find common ground.

To avoid recurring disparities, the government should also foster an atmosphere of truth and transparency. Similarly, community leaders, traditional elders, and government officials should avoid anything that might incite animosity or ideological disputes.

2.   Strengthening Democratic Institutions.

Elections can be the source of societal disputes. Those institutions that engage in electoral processes and other democratic bodies must be strengthened to preserve social cohesion. To fairly serve society, the various government institutions must treat all people equally, irrespective of their race, clan, or political beliefs. Independent oversight, for instance, ought to be permitted during elections to guarantee the impartiality and openness of the provision of election services.

3.   Encouraging National Unity over Partisan Divides.

The government ought to establish nationwide unity campaigns by spreading messages of solidarity via poetry, the media, and public gatherings to prevent political rivalry from tearing apart the social fabric. Similarly, cross-party collaboration should be encouraged to urge opposition and ruling parties to work together on key national issues. More importantly, reducing social division also requires the inclusion of women and youth.

4.   Economic Recovery and Shared Prosperity.

Post-election tensions and social unrest are often fueled by economic frustrations. Therefore, to fight against unemployment and post-election rifts, there should be job-creation initiatives and enhance infrastructure developments. In the case of Somaliland, there are complaints concerning inequality in budget and project allocations in certain regions; then there should be must devise a regionally based national asset distribution that fairly distributes the government’s yearly budget.

5.   Media Responsibility and Countering Misinformation

Like nationwide, the office-holding government is having difficulty dealing with the rise of bogus news on social media. Media is a double-edged sword; in one scenario, it can incite public discontent and create negative set ups by broadcasting misleading contents that disrupts internal security. If no policy is established to regulate news content on social media, people will fall into the trap and lose trust in the system. Thus, the government should develop a fact-checking policy and support ethical journalism to combat fake news. Instead, the government should use the media to inspire unity while also raising community awareness against disinformation and unsourced news.

6.   Traditional Conflict Resolution Mechanisms.

It is a dime a dozen in Somaliland: traditional elders – Guurti, and religious leaders have historically played a key role in mediation and community cohesion since its founding.

Somaliland has adopted the practice of using traditional elders to settle internal conflicts. The involvement of traditional elders in Somaliland’s nationalizing of civil forces—more than 7,000 civil forces—is a true example.

We can infer that post-election dissatisfactions and other tribal polarizations test a nation’s resilience, but they also offer a chance for development.

Resolving grievances, bolstering institutions, and promoting national unity can help Somaliland deal electoral disputes more united than before. The way forward calls for tolerance, communication, and dedication to prioritizing Somaliland’s future over political rivalries. “Somaliland First” is the most deserving project to contribute to.

About The Author

Mohamed M Jaaj; Freelance Content writer, translator and Finance person. Ms in Financial Engineer.

Contact:jaaj993@gmail.com

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the Horndiplomat editorial policy.

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