Somaliland: Post-War Nation-Building and International Relations, 1991-2006 by M. Iqbal D. Jhazbhay A Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations, in the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa February 2007 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own, unaided work. It is being submitted for the degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. To the best of my knowledge, it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at any other university. _______________________ M. Iqbal D. Jhazbhay Date: _________________________________ Supervisor, Professor John J. Stremlau Date: ii Dedication To my Parents, Grandparents, Elders and the Children of Somaliland iii Acknowledgements This thesis owes a debt of gratitude to many souls. This study has been six years in the making, a multi-faceted and challenging intellectual journey, and one which would indeed not have been possible without the co-operation and encouragement of numerous individuals and institutions. Permit me to begin with my beloved wife Naseema and sons Adeeb and Faadil, who supported my nine visits to Somaliland, the Horn of Africa and tolerated my absence from them during the school holidays, where I was able to quietly work on my thesis. A debt of gratitude is also due to Professor John J Stremlau, my supervisor, for his intellectual support and consistent reminders to develop the chapters of this thesis. His significant feedback and time during difficult moments is gratefully appreciated. Mohamoud Salah Nur (Fagadhe) and Abdillahi Duale’s official foreign policy mission to South Africa in July 2000 kindled my interest in the topic. I also wish to thank Dr Edna Adan Ismail for support and access to materials at the Somaliland Foreign Ministry. Dr Hussein Bulhan, former Director of the Academy of Peace and Development in Hargeisa, facilitated my field visits and interviews in Somaliland. Dr Ahmed Esa, Director of the Hargeisa-based Institute for Practical Research and Training and Mr Bashir Goth, Editor of Awdalnews.com, both gave their invaluable time to read my chapters and make significant comments. African Union Commission senior officials Patrick Mazimhaka, Ben Kioko and archival staff, for important materials and time to interrogate key continental issues. Somali studies experts Matt Bryden, John Drysdale, Hussein Adam and Ioan M Lewis for the many opportunities to discuss and respond to inquiries. The encouragement of Professor Ali Mazrui spurred me on with this study at a critical juncture of my life. Dr Kinfe Abraham for the opportunity to be based at the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development in Addis Ababa and the University of Addis Ababa where the seminars I delivered yielded useful insights on regional geo-political nuances. Ebrahim Edries, John Young and Maryam Al-Mahdi for assistance with my interviews and meetings in Khartoum. Discussions were held with several persons who helped shape my thinking: Adan Abokor of Progressio, Mohamed Saeed Gees, Adam Jibril, members of Nagaad and the National Electoral Commission of Somaliland. My friends, without whose intellectual companionship this study would not have seen the light of day: ‘Jobs’ ZN Jobodwana, Marcia Wilson, Elinor Sisulu, Patricia Lawrence, Francis Kornegay, Chris Landsberg, and Farhana Paruk. My comrades in the ANC for their time and opportunity to discuss the Horn of Africa from an activist and policy angle: Kgalema Motlanthe, Smuts Ngonyama, Essop Pahad, Welile Nhlapo, Kingsly Mamabolo, Mavivi Manzini-Myakayaka, Mendi Msimang, Mandla Nkomfe, Aziz Pahad, Frank Chikane, Mojanku Gumbi, Zweli Mkhize, Obeid Bapela and Cedric Mayson. iv A word of appreciation to the Africa Institute of South Africa, Institute for Global Dialogue, South African Institute of International Affairs, Institute of Security Studies, Centre for Policy Studies, Institute for Conflict Resolution, Somaliland Policy and Reconstruction Institute, Somaliland European Communities, Royal Institute of International Affairs and CJTF-Horn of Africa, for the various fora given to me to reflect and discuss issues in relation to Somaliland and the Horn of Africa. A special note of thanks is due to my University of South Africa colleagues, Mandla Makhanya, Chrissie Steyn, Cobus Kruger, Yusuf Dadoo, Ismail Jaffer, whose understanding made it possible to delicately balance my departmental teaching and research duties. I am also grateful to Garth Shelton of Wits University for his advice, and Shaykh Fadhallah Haeri for his enlightening words of encouragement and support. Of particular importance is my mum and late dad, for their unstinted support of my intellectual path of study in Cairo, Riyadh and Manchester, in order to obtain the required tools to study the Horn of Africa and International Relations. v Contents Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………ii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………….iii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….iv Contents……………………………………………………………………………………vi Abbreviations and Acronyms…………………………………………………………….ix Maps………………………………………………………………………………………..xii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….xiii Overview of Hypothesis and Chapters………………………………………………….xiv Chapter 1: Introduction _______________________________________________________ 1.1 Exploring the Roots of Somaliland’s Nation-Building……………………………..3 1.2 Hypothesis, Analytical Framework and Research Objectives: the Efficacy of African Culturally-Rooted Nation-Building from the ‘Bottom Up’……………………..5 1.3 Notes on Data, Research Methods and Sources…………………………………12 1.4 A Survey of the Six Chapters……………………………………………………….18 1.5 Literature on Somaliland: Consolidated Survey and Review……………………21 1.5.1 Literature in Chapter 2 – Reconciliation: Collapse, Conflict, Consensus and the International Community………………………………...25 1.5.2 Literature in Chapter 3 – Reconstruction: Rubble to Rebuilding……………28 1.5.3 Literature in Chapter 4 – Religion: Somaliland and the Upheaval within Islam……………………………………………………. …….33 1.5.4 Literature in Chapter 5 – Recognition: Recognising the Unrecognised……………………………………………………………………..39 Chapter 2: Reconciliation Resistance, Collapse, Conflict, Consensus and the International Community _______________________________________________________ 2.1 ‘Xeer Soomaali’ Under British Colonialism: Elders the Midwives of Somaliland……………………………………………………………………..45 2.2 The SNM: Northern Resistance Takes Shape………………………………..50 2.3 Somalia’s ‘Liberation’ Proliferation……………………………………………..55 2.4 SNM’s Comparative Advantage in an Escalating Struggle………………….60 2.5 Enter the Clan Elders: Post-Conflict Stabilisation…………………………….64 2.6 Sheikh and Borama Conferences: Toward a Traditional- Modern Compact…………………………………………………………………67 2.7 Reconciliation, A Divergent Perspective: Somaliland and Puntland……………………………………………………………….……..71 2.8 Somaliland’s Contested Consolidation: From Reconciliation to Constitutionalism………………………………………………………………78 vi 2.9 Post-Conflict Constitutional Development……………………………………..82 2.10 Somaliland’s Electoral Transition…………………………………………….…87 2.11 Reconciliation: A Lutta Continua………………………………………………..98 2.12 Somaliland, Reconciliation and the New Logic of Continental Union……………………………………………………………..101 Chapter 3: Reconstruction: Rubble to Rebuilding _______________________________________________________ 3.1 Political Governance: Reconciliation as Political Reconstruction……………………………………………………………………110 3.1.1 The Security Preconditioning of Political Reconstruction………………….…110 3.1.2 Contradictions in Centralising Security and Decentralising Governance……………………………………………………..115 3.2 Political Reconstruction Continued: Parliamentary Elections in the Balance…………………………………………………………117 3.3 From Clan Limits to Political Reconstruction: Rural and Gender Dimensions……………………………………………………………...124 3.4 Economic (and Corporate) Governance: The Parameters of Economic Reconstruction………………………………………………….……129 3.4.1 Somaliland’s Social Economy of Reconstruction: Geo-Cultural Contours…………………………………………………………..129 3.5 Somaliland’s Sectoral Factors of Reconstruction…………………………….134 3.6 Capacity-Building Support: A Brief Survey…………………………………....136 3.7 Overcoming the Livestock Achilles’ Heel……………………………………...139 3.8 The Neglected Marine Economy……………………………………………….144 3.9 Education: Somaliland’s Reconstruction Generator……………………….…147 3.10 Transport Communications and Tapping the External Realm……………....154 3.11 Somaliland’s Diaspora…………………………………………………………...162 Chapter 4: Somaliland and the Upheaval within Global Islam _______________________________________________________ 4.1 Preface……………………………………………………………………………173 4.2 Somaliland’s Islamic Identity in ‘Afrabian’ Perspective………………………176 4.3 Somaliland and the Rise of Political Islam in North-East Africa…………….189 4.4 The Geo-Politics of the War on Terror and the Global Islamic Civil War…………………………………………………………204 4.5 Somaliland’s Islamic Culture of Education: The Influence of Arab/Islamic Charities………………………………………..216 4.6 Religion and Stability: the Somaliland Prognosis……………………………..234 Chapter 5: Recognition: Recognising the Unrecognised _______________________________________________________ 5.1 Recognising the Unrecognised…………………………………………………242 5.2 Somaliland Quo Vadis I: Overcoming Africa’s Post-colonial Self-Determination Conundrum…………………………………244 5.3 Somaliland Quo Vadis II: The Dilemmas of Self-Determination and