The so-called shifta war during
1963-67 in the 20th century which had caused the loss of lives of
thousands of innocent but defenseless people and confiscations of hundreds of
thousands of livestock was far from over, yet it has merely taken a new but
deceitful scale of modern skullduggery. Let’s glance back at the history, ethnic
Somalis in the Northern Frontier District (NFD) were axed from the
Jubaland region in the southern Somalia in 1925 by the British colonials as
they had concur this fertile territory with the immense gift of nature and
resources. The British ceded the north as a hard pay-cheque to the Italian in
return to what presumably had been the price they had paid in lining up with the
British in the World War One. What was left behind, “the southern part of the
said region had been rebranded as NFD (todays Northeastern Province) and
annexed to Kenya by the British Colonial Administration”. It is Kenya’s third
largest region borders Somalia in the north, exclusively and sparsely domiciled
by ethnic Somalis.
In 1960s as the Somali
nationalistic waves engulfed across the horn of Africa to form a ban Somali
government (inclusive of all five Somalis viz; the present Somaliland, Somalia
(south), NFD, Somali people in the eastern state of Ethiopia and the Republic
of Djibouti). Such patriotism driven force with the anticipative dream to
breath in the breeze of freedom in their own lands had shortly been faded away
after the Somali right-of-self-determination was deceptively taken by their
oppressor (The British). Just try to shed some more light on this; we are talking
about the Somali people prior to quarters of a century, who almost had no
professional doctor, no professor, no engineer, no charismatic political leader
and in toto no civilization rather than tribal war tactics. In contrast, they
lived with dignity and pride fostered by a well-founded culture, which would
prohibit them became jackals for their enemy and smear themselves with such
stigmas on the faces of many Somali politicians of all walks today. They
accompanied with such strong culture that breaches to prefer death over
slavery, straggle over humiliation and hunger over handouts. In a nut shell, a noble
culture that would prohibit them did much of our today’s business as usual.
As the history narrates, the real
focus of the British policy on the region was about to bring all Somali territories
under one administrative roof belongs to Somalis at large, but this has
drastically taken a U-turn shortly after when Somaliland was granted its
full-fledged independence by the British on 26 June 1960. The NFD was granted
to Kenya far beyond a formal plebiscite expressly depicting the collective
choice of the ethnic people in the region. The faith of the Somalis in NFD had
further doomed when Kenya was too granted its independence roughly three years
after Somalia on August 1963. This is
because; Kenya had apparently refused to give up this land to the Somalis and
their common oppressor had had the biggest hand in glove with this plot against
Somalis.
It was neither adoration nor naturalization
based temptations, but a trial to legitimize the annexation of such lands to
the territory in their jurisdictions to enjoy with the wealth and promise that
this land held in a store. In the same year infamous uprising forged by the
Kenya-Somalis had inevitably begun using anything that could amount to be a weapon.
To accomplish their job; Kenya had engaged in a disproportionate force with the
people, massacred unrecorded number, turned their ancestral lands into
concentration camps, deprived them from the very basics of livelihood, death
from starvation, torture of every scale, rampant rapes and confiscation of
enormous number of Somali livestock. That gloomy era was sealed off with a deal
between Somalia (the backbone of the revolt) and Kenya brokered by the
government in Darussalam (Tanzania) in the year 1967. A delegation led by the
prime minister of Somalia Mr. Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal was sent to sign the
ceasefire accord. This deal had
undermined the armed revolt, helped
Kenya retained the firm control over the region and transformed the long
standing primary pastoralist transhumant-lifestyle into more static secondary Villagizations,
impoverishing the people by killing and taking their only wealth in hand (the
livestock). Despite a sporadic banditry
the faith of that straggle had no choice but ended up to surrender. This had dropped a no choice sense of
stability across the NFD region, and dressed up both the physical and
psychological scars. The question is, thought the wounds were dressed up__ are
they really healed?
Right from the late 1970 till
early 1980s_ different atrocities were unfolded that prompted the occurrence of
the one of the worst collective punishment in the region’s history, “the Wallaga
pogroms” in which thousands more ethnic-Somalis were systematically killed and
raped in response to what Kenyan government mentioned the execution of four
Kenyan officers by unknown armed bandits.
A heinous crime against humanity which Kenya still enjoys not
apprehended in the eyes of the contemporary world, whereas today many Kenyan
top officials are under the world’s microscope for the crimes they have
committed during the postelection bloody violence in 2007-08.
On 29 January 1991; the genesis of Somalia showdown
Roughly, ten years old armed
rebellion hails from some major clans have collectively succeeded the ultimate
derailment of the military government headed by Siad Barre (the hardline
dictator). All the armed opposition groups are said to have had a common goal
congruence, just to remove the dictator from the helm and proceed to building a
stronger and more inclusive government. Soon after Siad Barre was ousted;
Somalia had slipped into a vicious circle, unleashed the entire country
specially the “South” into an even darker era which still counts its aging years
for more than two decades and on (it’s more than the tenure of Siad Barre).
Civil wars coupled with starvations, diseases, warlordism, terrorism, regional
and international interventions, have collectively undersigned the death certificate
of hundreds of thousands of Somali people. This had eventually triggered a huge
exodus to the neighboring countries and the other world as well both by land
and sea, just seeking shelter to refuge from the conflagration in their
homeland. Hundreds of thousands of them
made their ways crossed into Kenya. The refugees initially drew a warm welcome
and friendly hospitality from the Kenyan government and people with sing boards
written a short phrase (Kenya Hakuna Matata) which translates “in
Kenya there is no problem”. In turn, Kenya has benefited and booked
billions of dollars from the hand it had stretched out to these needy people in
terms of employment and investment etc.
Refugee Status permutations
Somali people are
said to be very good at making business and this had caused many of them move
from the refugee camps to the mega cities in an attempt to grab their share and
transform their living conditions. Nairobi one of Africa’s most vibrant capital
cities hosted Somalis both the refugees and the citizens in the same corner. Eastleigh
neighborhood known as the “little Mogadishu” turned into almost an exclusively
Somali inhabitant area of the city; businesses flourished, opportunities blossomed
and the sky seemed the potential limit for their success stories. Kenya’s failure in understanding that there are
inextricably strong ties of blood and culture between her ethnic Somalis and
those from Somalia, has also failed to draw a line between her people and the
refugees, all are painted by the same brush and all are heavily paying the
price of what their government imported from abroad (Somalia).
Somalis in Nairobi have injected
millions of dollars into the country’s economy; created thousands if not
hundreds of thousands of employment opportunities for the locals; pay tax with
integrity and contribute to the national fiscal-policy. All those revenue
flowed out from their pockets had never bounced back from the government’s
treasury even to the least percentage to develop health, education and infrastructure
for the under privileged shabby corner contained with the Somalis. Despite depraving
all these necessities; Eastleigh progressed into a ghetto of great abundance
and hope for the Somalis, but for the Kenyans as God’s gift to wait and closely
watch with eagerly eyes.
In October 2011 Kenyan forces
have crossed into Somalia to fight with Al-shabab in the pretext of protecting
their nation. Protection has turned into a severe retribution in which
Al-shabab vowed to repatriate the outcome of Kenya’s invasion back to their
homes. Kenyan people have largely
experienced a wave of attacks including the siege of Nairobi Mall on late of
September last year, in which scores of innocent people have lost their lives.
Though, many Kenyans similarly believe this as the consequence
of their government’s invasion_ again many others do believe that Somalis in
their towns are part of the problem. This is why every Somali in Kenya’s big
cities senses the heat of an untimely backlash. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s speech on the eve
of the West Gate Mall siege has in fact dosed any potential flames of backlash
and sent cables of tolerance and co-existence across the nation. It has dropped
a positive message into the hearts and minds of many Somalis that they owe the
country a lot more beyond they thought. To everyone’s astonishment, the
president’s message-tone was different from the script it was written. Early in
April last month, Somalis in Nairobi woke up in a different morning; a huge
raid on their residents and businesses, detentions without trials and
deportations back to the lands they have lost in hostilities in which Kenya had
become a part. Much of their wealth has been destroyed, forcefully confiscated
and much more disappeared into the best interest of the relentless watchful
eyes we have inked above. This crackdown
against Somalis is happening every single minute we pass by and still has
invited no firm outcry or concern from the international community.
Make no mistakes!!! The amnesty
of Somalis in Kenya is growing weaker and weaker in the hands of their own
government, the sign boards were eroded and never repainted, the welcome phrase
was replaced by a silent abominate. Hate graphs are on the rise amongst the nation,
the finger is on the trigger, the hateful hands are reaching out capable
weapons of all kinds, simply waiting for a sinister command to do.
But the history would REALLY judge, mark bold and unchanged
in the book of modern history.
By: Khadar Hanan
Date: 25-05-2014
E-mail: Khadarhanan@gmail.com
Doha, Qatar.
No comments:
Post a Comment