 It is gratifying to read in the Daily Nation,
Nairobi, Kenya, an important newspaper, a commentary sympathizing with the Somali people
for the injustice they were subjected by the colonial powers during the scramble of Africa
and following the 1885 Berlin treaty, which created artificial boundaries in Africa and
dismembering countries like Somalia and others in the continent.
What touched me most is the sentence, which admits that, “No people have suffered as much trauma as the Somali from
both phenomena”. This statement deserves to be applauded. The commentary further
details the damage done by the Berlin treaty to the Somali people and says:
“First, Berlin destroyed this nation’s spirit by dishing it out to at least five
colonial states. There were two British administrations – Kenya’s Northern
Frontier District (NFD, now North-Eastern Province) and British Somaliland. There were
also Italian Somaliland, Abyssinian Somaliland (Ethiopia’s Ogaden Province) and
French Somaliland (Djibouti) – though the Issas and Afars, who compose the last one,
may assert that they are not really Somalis. That was why, when the Somali Republic was
proclaimed at independence, its flag had five stars – two representing the British
and Italian Somalilands which composed it and three representing the NFD, Ogaden and
Djibouti, which were declared Somalia Irredenta – “unredeemed Somalia”.
The first part of the paragraph, gives a clear idea on how the Somali territories were
dismembered, but few points need to be clarified. First of all the population of what used
to be called the French Somaliland or Cote Francaise de Somalie, now the Republic of
Djibouti, was only one until in 1967 when the majority of the people voted in a referendum
against the presence of France in the country, i.e. for independence. The outcome of the
referendum angered the French Government, and as a result, the French Parliament decided
to apply the policy of “Divide and Rule” by changing the official name of the
territory into “the Territory of the Afars and Issas” with the purpose of
eliminating the name “Somali”.
This was also a colonial war against the Somalis in the territory, who advocated for the
liberation from the French colonial rule. The French thought that by calling the territory
“Afars and Issas”, would deny the Somalis the right to claim their own
territory. The other intention must have been to create tribal conflict and to undermine
the peaceful co-existence of the inhabitants of the territory.
The other point is that the Somali flag had no “five stars” neither in the past,
at the time of independence, (as claimed by the Kenyan newspaper The Daily Nation,
Nairobi) nor now, but a white “five-pointed star”, which some people interpreted
as representing the five Somali territories, mentioned by the newspaper. The image of a
star is usually depicted with five or six points; otherwise, it would look like the sun
with many points. However, since the people of the former Italian and the British
Somalilands were so enthusiastic about their independence, they wishes that their brothers
in the Ogaden, NFD and French Somaliland also to be able to enjoy the same freedom.
It is desirable to go back to the historical background of when and how these territories
were unlawfully distributed or colonial boundaries arbitrarily marked by the colonial
powers. The Western Somalia, or the Ogaden, was given to Abyssinian King by the British
Queen Victoria’s Envoy Rennell Rodd in 1897. The line that demarcate between Somalia
proper and the occupied territory, is referred, until the present day, as “artificial
or de facto border”.
The British Envoy was told by his government, “You will remember that one of the
principal objects of your mission is to come to arrangements with King Menelek for a
definite understanding as to the frontier between Abyssinia and the Protectorate (British
Somaliland- Author), and for the friendly intercourse and relations between the British
and Abyssinian authorities and the inhabitants on either side”.
The instruction went on, “You are authorized, if absolutely necessary, to make
concessions in regard to the frontiers of the Protectorate, as defined in the Protocol
signed with Italy on the 5th May 1894, provided such concessions are not of a nature to
interfere with the main object for which the Protectorate was assumed, viz., the securing
of adequate supplies for the support of Aden, and the administration of the Protectorate
itself on the basis which shall as far as possible be at least self-supporting, and should
afford some prospect of further development of the resources of the country”.
The Africans know only how to blame the European or white colonialists and completely
close their eyes from the African and black colonialists. I am referring here to those who
occupy other territories given to them by the colonial powers and particularly to King
Menelek of Abyssinia who wrote to the European Heads of State in his famous circular
letter dated 10 April 1891, in which he said among other things:
“Ethiopia has been for fourteen centuries a Christian island in a sea of Pagans. If
Powers at a distance come forward to partition Africa between them, I do not intend to be
an indifferent spectator”.
Later on, in 1954, the British gave the Ethiopian Empire the Somali territory known as the
Haud and Reserve Area. For Ethiopia, it was not enough with what they got from the
European colonial power, Britain, but it also wanted France to stay in Djibouti forever.
In a BBC broadcast on August 28, 1966, Emperor Haile Selassie was reported to have said:
“If Somalis gave up claiming French Somaliland, Ethiopia will thank God; I would like
France to stay in the French Somali Coast forever”.
As for the NFD, the history is still fresh in our memory. It was just in 1963 when the
British gave the territory to Kenya after it became independent on December 12, 1963
despite a Referendum held earlier on October 5, 1962 under the auspices of the British
Government and supervised by an independent Commission composed of a Nigerian Judge,
G.C.M. Onyuke, a Canadian Major General, M.P. Bogert and P.A.G. Field, Secretary.
Writing about the outcome of the Referendum, Prof. I.M. Lewis wrote:
“The Commission found that the Somali who they estimated made up 62 per cent of the
NFD’s population ‘almost unanimously’ favoured secession from Kenya with
the object of ultimately joining the Somali Republic”.
When the British Government decided against the outcome of the Referendum, the Somali
Government, at the time, presented a motion at the National Parliament and as a result,
the Government of Dr. Abdirashid Ali Shermarke broke-off diplomatic relations with Britain
on 12 March 1963.
It was clear that the British action was aimed at leaving behind a situation that could
lead to confrontation between the two newly independent neighbouring countries. The people
of the NFD themselves rebelled against the decision of placing them under another
colonisation, no matter what colour it had. They started the war of liberation, which the
Kenyan Government called “Shifta War”. Of course, the Somali government could
not keep silent over the injustice done to the Somali people on the other side of the
border. However, it did not resort to war, but helped them through the mass media, i.e.
Radio Propaganda.
According to recently declassified top-secret documents published by Nairobi Sunday
Standard on 25 January 2004, “Shifta menace would not be eradicated without a
multi-million shilling propaganda war waged into North Eastern Province”. The paper
quoted the official documents, “But even as the broadcasting equipment and station
was being set up the top military brass and intelligence officers knew one thing. They
were fighting a guerilla war in a terrain they hardly knew about”.
The paper also quoted the documents as saying, “Inside intelligence circles, Radio
Mogadishu was worrying the Kenya government more than the Shifta”.
However, with the mediation of the late Tanzanian President, Julius Nyerere, the President
of Kenya and the Prime Minister of Somalia signed peace agreement “to create good
neighbourly relations between Kenya and Somalia” in Arusha, Tanzania, on 28 October
1967.
All that the artificial boundaries imposed on African countries by the colonial powers has
been the most contentious issue in many parts of the continent. So far, those countries
that benefited from the colonial “cakes” tried to ignore the wishes of the
people that happened to fall under their control after the European colonialists
“left” the continent.
The newspaper Daily Nation, Nairobi, also mentions Nigeria’s Biafra civil war and
Somalia’s dismemberment by the colonial powers as the result of Berlin Treaty of
1885, but offers no possible solution to mend the wrongs done to the peoples of Africa by
other African leaders.
In its opening paragraph, the newspaper Daily Nation, Nairobi, says that, Basil Davidson,
the author of The Black Man’s Burden, “demonstrates why the international
boundary system which our nationalists accepted at independence has proved so
catastrophic”.
Africa knew that the artificial boundaries imposed on the continent were wrong, and it has
seen its consequence. The African leaders were not so oblivious of what happened to the
people of the continent because of the colonial boundaries and need not that Basil
Davidson, “demonstrates why the international boundary system which our nationalists
accepted at independence has proved so catastrophic”. Whenever a victim of this
colonial decision raised the voice for correction, the former colonialists and the African
countries that were given other people’s territories would say, “If one border
is touched, the whole continent will collapse”. We were also told that “speaking
of Africa’s border question, is like opening Bandora Box”. In the past, African
leaders were convinced or persuaded to maintain the status quo. I heard that the only
African leader to reject colonial offer to annex territory of others, was the President of
the Republic of Guinea, Ahmed Sekow Toure. Wish all our leaders were like that.
The time has come for the African leaders to come to their senses and face the reality of
the situation; to find just solution that can end, once and for all, the internal crisis
of the continent so that a durable peace and stability can be established in Africa. If we
succeed, this will be a blow on the policy of “divide and rule” and the colonial
legacy aimed at creating future conflicts in the continent. Then the future generation can
look forward to seeing all the wealth in the continent used for the benefit of the people
and the development of the continent.Once we recognise how much damage the artificial
boundaries, created by the colonial powers, caused and continue to cause to our continent,
the African leaders must find the courage to remove them, so that Africa can enter a new
era of unity and fraternity.
I wish to conclude by applauding the Daily Nation, Nairobi, for reminding the world how
much the Somalis suffered under the “international boundary system” which caused
the dismemberment of Somalia.
Commentary: Why Somalia can't
afford it yet again (Daily Nation)
Mohamed Osman Omar,
Emails: mosman65@yahoo.com
Mosman61@hotmail.com
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