Secessionism in African Politics by Lotje de Vries & Pierre Englebert & Mareike Schomerus

Author:Lotje de Vries & Pierre Englebert & Mareike Schomerus
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783319902067
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Somaliland 2007–2018

The decade from 2007 and 2018 was one of internal challenges for Somaliland. Kahin’s administration was facing growing internal opposition and external criticism. Between 2008 and 2010, it reacted heavy-handedly against journalists reporting on a corruption scandal involving the president’s wife and against a group of Somaliland intellectuals, seeking to set up a new political party.67 A disastrous election process meant that both President Kahin and the Guurti, firm allies of the president, lost much of its legitimacy.

According to the constitution of Somaliland, presidential elections had to take place in March 2008, yet neither the administration nor the opposition had taken the necessary steps to hold them. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) did not work effectively. The Somaliland parties and NEC opted for a sophisticated biometric registration system using fingerprinting and photo card identification, against the explicit advice of the donors and Interpeace (an international NGO involved in the process).68 This process was both ambitious and highly symbolic—for the first time, all citizens of Somaliland would be able to receive a document identifying them as “Somalilander.”

The registration process started in October 2008, proceeding relatively quickly from Western to Eastern Somaliland despite a host of logistical problems. It then came to a sudden halt when Somaliland and Puntland were shaken by five suicide-bomb attacks on October 29, 2008. In Hargeysa, the presidential palace, the UNDP compound and the Ethiopian liaison office were attacked while two offices of the Puntland Intelligence Service were bombed in Bosaso. More than 20 people were killed and about 30 injured. It was commonly suspected that the perpetrators were closely related to the extremists of Al Shabaab in Southern Somalia, who had supporters in the north. The Islamists—wanting to establish a strong, united, and Islamic state of Somalia—opposed Somaliland’s independence.69

Voter registration in Somaliland eventually proceeded. Soon after the process was concluded, it became obvious that massive over-registration had happened. The newspapers reported that about 1.4 million registrations were counted of which more than 50% had registered without fingerprints.70 Certain locations in Somaliland could be easily identified as strongholds of the UDUB, Kulmiye, or UCID, respectively. It was clear that the purpose of multiple registrations, particularly in Booroma, Hargeysa, Bur’o, and surrounding areas, was to increase the voting powers of the different party cum clan constituencies. The resolution of the ensuing political crisis was complicated. No party leader wanted to lose his extra votes.

In early March 2009, the Guurti extended the president’s term for a second time. It referred to provisions in the constitution concerning the “security situation” (article 83 [5]), which arguably did not apply in the context. This delay, which many believed to be unconstitutional, caused rising tensions in Somaliland. When opposition parties called for demonstrations, the administration regularly declared these illegal, accusing opposition leaders of undermining the peace and stability of Somaliland. Armed police and the military were deployed in the major cities to control the situation.71 Nonetheless, demonstrations took place and at least one person died when the police opened fire on demonstrators in Hargeysa on September 12, 2009.

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