Mogadishu:Towards A Final Resolution
Written By Daud jimale and Ali Ahmed
The current Ethiopian occupation has painfully exposed the multi-layered disintegrative forces that dominate the politics of Mogadishu and by extension that of Somalia as whole. Warlordism, lack of a collective vision and disorganization at both the political and social levels are some of the many problems our nation faces and any solution to our 18 years old quandary needs to take these factors into consideration as we aim to correct some of the annihilative and detrimental behaviors of the recent past. Found its self between two highly dissimilar political forces, the Mogadishu society has disintegrated and entered a stagnant stage as the cotemporary discordant Somali political forces have continued to dictate the political and social discourse of our people and in the process driving them oblivious to the more critical issues of political stability and creating a competent administrative body in the traditional deegaan first before solving the bigger issue of Mogadishu. Indeed, it can be argued (rather quite convincingly) that the peace and stability of Mogadishu lies in the peace and stability of the surrounding territories. Therefore, the traditional argument that the peace and stability of surrounding areas of Banadir lays in the stability of Mogadishu needs to be turned on its head as the last 18 years of war and anarchy has shown us ( albeit with a devastating human and property cost) that the opposite is actually quite true.
As the current division within the TFG shows, any resolution to the status of Mogadishu will be controversial and contentious. However, in our view, none of the solutions put forth by either camp addresses the real question and thus both arguments miss the hearts and souls of the issue. The 4.5 quota system is by its very nature unjust (as it awards power to groups that have no presence in Mogadishu) and the notion of placing the entire affairs of Mogadishu in the hands of one single sub-clan while ignoring the presence of other groups is simply stated primordial and incompatible with how a society should function in the modern world.
The people of Mogadishu should be cautious of the “centrifugal forces of separation/division” that appeal to clan emotions and interject clan dynamics into the social discourse in Mogadishu in order to amplify and widen the differences between the many groups that live in the city with the aim of directing the trajectory of the discourse to the familiar days of 1990s, characterized by division and lack of coherent vision.
Mogadishu and Banadir: The Question of Local Administration
There has been a lot of discussion and confusion about the issue of local administration for Mogadishu city and Banadir region. This latest round of contention and confusion about how Mogadishu city and the region of Banadir should be governed has flared up between two camps that argue whether the city should have the 4.5 formula as its foundation for the creation of a local government or whether it should be governed by the people that inhabit it. Although this current round of discussion is interesting as it once again brings the question of local administration of Mogadishu city and Banadir region to the forefront, it is not new. The question of local government for Mogadishu city and Banadir region has been a source for contention and conflict ever since the last government of Barre fell in 1991. The reasons for the many failures of finding a solution to the question of local government for Mogadishu and Banadir region are similar to those behind the many failures in solving the question of national government for Somalia. One of these reasons is that the whole question is formulated and approached along lines of zero-sum game between the various Somali clans and factions that vie for dominance. As such, whoever finds a solution to Mogadishu’s problem and succeeds to bring about a stable, vibrant local government is close in solving Somalia’s problem.
This paper will try to present a coherent strategy in establishing such a local administration for Mogadishu city which will be delinked from the wider region of Banadir. The main argument in this paper is that it is possible for Mogadishu city to be the capital of Somalia, and as such free for all Somalis to participate in its democratic local governance structures, while the region of Banadir shall have a local government that is composed of the local Somali groups that have lived in those regions throughout the centuries and as such consider it as their deegaan.
Mogadishu: A microcosm of Somalia
Mogadishu as the capital city of Somalia has a central role in Somali politics, economy and society. Throughout Somalia’s history, the events in Mogadishu city have epitomized the general situation of Somalia. From the gradual European imperialism that started from the coast and slowly expanded to the Somali hinterlands, to the 30 years of failed experiment with nationhood and a functioning state, to the 17 years of statelessness and turmoil, Mogadishu has been central to these various periods. In many aspects, the numerous problems facing current-day Somalia are thus visible in Mogadishu city. These problems range from mistrust and animosity between the various Somali groups (clans), to the intractable anarchy and the plague of warlordism and opportunism, to the unimaginable misery and hopelessness that leads people to rather escape the country on small boats through the hazardous Red Sea or through the many deserts and jungles of the African continent than to stay behind in the country. As such, Mogadishu is a microcosm of Somalia and thus should be approached with prudence. This entails a prudent approach to the question of local government for Mogadishu city that takes into consideration the unique role and place the city occupies in the nation. In doing this, we need to answer the difficult question of:
How can we build a local government for Mogadishu city that respects its unique role and place within the nation and takes into consideration the historical processes that have shaped it as a city part of the wider region of Banadir?
Before we can answer that question, we need to pause for a moment and notice the many sentences in this paper which go like ‘Mogadishu city and Banadir region’. We have deliberately used such a sentence to make clear that there must be two clearly separable local administrations for Mogadishu city and Banadir region. Mogadishu should have a city government with a democratic governance structures open to all Somalis, while the wider region of Banadir should have a regional government composed of the various Somali groups whose deegaan (region) it is. This may at first seem unworkable considering the fact that the current well-known Banadir region just encompasses Mogadishu city, and its direct surroundings. However, what many people tend to forget or are unaware of is that the current province of Banadir and its small size are just the product of the military regime’s Land Act of 1974. And in drawing up the provinces of the country, the military regime did not consult with the Somali groups that inhabited those regions nor take into consideration the historical processes that moulded Somali lands into regions. Before this Land Act, the Banadir region was much larger and encompassed the Shabelle valley (Middle Shabelle and Lower Shabelle) and the Banadir coast with its port cities of Mareeg, Warsheikh, Mogadishu, Merca and Barawe.
The pre-1974 Banadir functioned as one economic and social unit that was both natural and dynamic. The historical picture of the Banadir region was in general that the economic produce of the Shabelle Valley (agricultural products and livestock) was transported to the Banadir port cities which were sold to the urban populations in exchange for goods (clothes, sugar, iron etc). A large share of this agricultural produce (grain) was exported to Southern Arabia and Zanzibar while the Banadir ports imported various products from the Indian Ocean region[1]. Besides this urban-rural exchange and Indian Ocean trade there was also a competitive environment in which the major Banadir port-cities of Mogadishu, Merca and Barawe competed for economic, political and cultural dominance. By looking at this historical picture we can see that the grouping of the Shabelle valley and the Banadir port-cities into one province is both natural as well as dynamic.
The post-1974 Banadir was on the contrary both artificial and impractical. Mogadishu city and its direct environs were renamed as Banadir province while the Banadir coast was cut off administratively from its agricultural hinterland (Shabelle valley). We believe that the pre-1974 Banadir region can help solve the current main problem behind the creation of a local government for Mogadishu city, namely the problem of: Banadir been the deegaan (ancestral lands) for particular Somali groups. Mogadishu happens to lie within the Banadir region, and like all other Somali cities is inhabited by particular Somali groups.
Banadir Province: Regional government for the local groups
The pre-1974 Banadir province was composed of the following 12 districts: Ceel Dheer (El Der), Aadan Yabaal, Adale, Jowhar, Balcad, Afgooye, Wanlaweyn, Merka, Qoryooley, Kuntuwarey, Sablale, Barawe.
The 12-districts that composed Banadir province were inhabited by different Somali groups that have lived in those regions throughout the centuries. In the four Banadir ports one can find groups of mixed origin (Persian, Indian, Arab etc), i.e the Banadiri people. Along such groups lived various Somali clans like Mudulood clans (Wacdaan, Hilibi and various Abgal subclans), other Hawiye subclans like Murusade, Gaaljecel, Baadicadde, Gorgate (Wadalaan and Silcis) etc, Dir clan of Biyamaal, Digil clans like Geledi, Tunni etc. Banadir province is thus a very diverse one in terms of the different groups that inhabit it, but also in terms of the different economic activities people engage in, like agriculture, pastoral economy, fishery, and trade in cities and service-based activities.
The composition of the different groups in the region has been altered ever since the creation of the Somali Republic in which hundreds of thousands of Somalis from every corner of Somalia have migrated to the region of Banadir, most of them heading for the capital city of Somalia while others went to live in the other towns and cities of the Banadir region. This process of migration and the governments policies of population resettlements (during the drought of 1974) and agricultural policies based on socialism lead to some sort of displacement of local groups interest. The marginalisation of the position of the local groups while other Somali groups took over important economic and political positions went on until the collapse of the Somali state in 1991.
After the year of 1991, the Banadir region underwent a complete make-over in its population composition. First of all, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and underwent unimaginable horrors as a consequence of the brutal civil war. In this, Mogadishu city has been altered completely in terms of population composition as a consequence of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of its citizens and its replacement by hundreds of thousands of nomads from the rural districts of Somalia. Another major transformation happened in the Shabelle Valley in which the various local groups fell victim to predatory groups from Central Somalia. Ever since 1991, the local groups of Banadir have first-hand felt the terrible consequences of civil war and anarchy.
It is a legitimate cause when the various local groups of Banadir region fight for their rights to their lands and economic resources. Just like other Somali groups have the right to create local governing structures for their respective regions and economically exploit the resources within their regions, so too have the local groups of Banadir. In exercising these god-given rights, the local groups of Banadir have to overcome numerous obstacles. The most pressing of these are how to cope with the anarchy and lawlessness that have engulfed Somalia and particularly Banadir region. As a consequence of this anarchy predatory groups have taken the opportunity to militarily subjugate the local groups of Banadir region, and establish political, economical and militarily dominance over most of the 12 districts of the Banadir region. The only way to overcome these problems and once again restore Banadir region to its local groups is to lay the foundation for the establishment of a Banadir regional administration. This Banadir regional administration should be composed of the 12 districts, in which every district sends a number of representatives that together can form a regional parliament. This regional parliament then forms a regional government. A lot has to be thought out and worked out, but the most important question of them all is: What is the role of Mogadishu in this Banadir regional administration?
Mogadishu: A city government
Although Mogadishu lies within the Banadir region and is inhabited by the local groups of Banadir, like the Banadiri groups of mixed origins (Indian, Persian and Arabic) and the Hawiye clans of Murusade and Mudulood, it cannot become exclusive to particular Somali groups since it is the capital city of Somalia. Because of this unique role and position of the city within the wider country, it cannot become part of any future Banadir regional government that is composed exclusively of the local groups that have inhabited that region throughout the centuries. On the other hand, Mogadishu city as discussed earlier is the microcosm of Somalia, and as such should be approached prudently when talking about its political future. Although it is the capital of Somalia, and in theory open to all Somalis, we cannot overlook the tremendous transformations it underwent ever since the creation of the Somali Republic and more so during and after the collapse of the Somali Republic. In discussing the political future of Mogadishu city, one has to take into consideration both this past and current picture, while one also has to be aware of the most likely future development trajectory one wants to follow.
Throughout the 30 years of existence of the Somali republic, Mogadishu was the seat of the government, but after the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, the city has become hostage to numerous warlords that have carved out their little fiefdoms in which they exhorted the people from money and let lose their militia composed of young undisciplined men. The problem of creating a local administration for the city became problematic since all Somali people had a picture of Mogadishu city as been the capital city and thus was it the task of a Somali government to create a local administration for the city. This paradox of Mogadishu been a capital city and a city were various Somali groups lived became more visible when other Somali groups established local administration for their regions and cities. Mogadishu people found themselves then in a situation were they wanted to establish local administrations for their region and their city but could not overcome the above paradox. This problem of creating a local administration for the city has entered its latest form in the discussion of Mogadishu having 4.5 formula of clan-distribution of its local government or Mogadishu having a local administration in which the local groups play a key role since they have lived in the city for centuries. Like explained earlier, the whole question and problem is formulated along lines of zero-sum game between the various Somali clans and factions that vie for dominance. We believe that this is kind of approach is divisive and destructive, and that a more appropriate approach would be to look at the city and its political future from the needs of the people that live in that city from day to day. Evidently, any resolution of this dilemma will affect the millions of people who call this city and region home. As such, it should be a local administration of the people, by the people and for the people of the city.
Mogadishu: a democratic city government
It is foolish to argue that Mogadishu city should have a city administration that is either based on the concept of the city as being the deegaan of some groups or is based on a concept 4.5 distributive formula. Both fail to take the reality into consideration. For example, how is it possible for some groups who lay claim to the city to govern the city alone even though they are not more then 40-60% of the city’s population? On the other hand, how is it possible to divide the city’s administration along a 4.5 formula while in reality the city is largely composed of some Somali groups, while others have no presence in the region whatsoever? And more importantly, is it not better to approach the whole question along the lines of, what do the more than 2 million inhabitants of Mogadishu have in common? They all live in the same turmoil and aspire for: peace, freedom and justice. The only way to achieve the desires of the more than 2 million inhabitants is to create local representative governing structures. The people should be in a position were they can elect representatives to the municipal level and eventually to the city council. This democratic system of governance in which the city council is composed of men and women that are elected by their various districts is one that both corresponds to the immediate needs and desires of the more than 2 million people in Mogadishu, and to the theoretical image of Mogadishu as a capital city open to all. This city government composed of the people, and by the people and for the people of the city is the road forward.
Of course, to achieve the above desirable political development a lot of obstacles that need to be surmounted, but hopefully the road towards that development will become much clearer once the basic problem is explained and placed in its wider context. The democratic city government of Mogadishu needs to have a city character that is free from the Banadir regional administration and eventually free from whatever national government that may arise in the near future. Mogadishu can in this sense still be a capital city free to all, a city with its own local administration, and as a city which is the seat of the government. Banadir on the contrary should have a regional administration composed of the local groups that inhabit that region.
