Political Settlements And State Formation: The Case Of Somaliland

Brief Timeline of Key Events

Pre-‘Independence’

• June 1960 – British Somaliland becomes independent and is recognized by 34 United Nations member states as an independent state for a period of five days before voluntarily unifying with The Republic of Somalia.
• June 1961 – Referendum on the unitary constitution of Somalia is widely boycotted in the north of the country.
• October 1969 – General Siyad Barre overthrows the civilian government of Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal.
• 1974 – Devastating drought and famine, centered in the north of Somalia.
• 1977-78 – Somali-Ethiopian (Ogaden) war, culminating in Somalia’s defeat.
• April 1981 – The Somali National Movement (SNM) is officially established in London.
• June 1981 – The SNM publishes its first edition of the opposition paper, Somalia Uncensored.
• February 1982 – Student demonstrations over the trial of members of the Hargeisa-based self-help group, Uffo. Several were killed and hundreds arrested. The regime crackdown is popularly remembered within Somaliland as being the origin of the Somali civil war. President Siyad Barre renounces a state of emergency in the northwest.
• 1988 – Peace treaty signed between Somalia and Ethiopia. President Barre launches a devastating bombing campaign on urban centers in Somaliland, particularly the cities of Hargeisa and Burao. An estimated 50,000 people are killed in these attacks and the SNM insurgency is galvanized against the regime.
• January 1991 – Siyad Barre’s regime overthrown; Barre goes into exile.

Key formative period

• February 1991- The SNM leadership engages the clan elders in the northwest of Somalia to negotiate a ceasefire with the other northern militias and establish consent for the political leadership of the SNM in the region.
• April-May 1991 – ‘Grand Conference of Northern Clans’ held in Burao (Somaliland).
• May 1991 – Somaliland proclaims its independence from Somalia at the Burao Conference. SNM Chairman, Abdirahman Ali Tuur is nominated as the first president of The Republic of Somaliland.
• 1992 – Berbera (Somaliland) Port and Burao conflict. Fighting breaks out in Berbera and Burao between Habar Yunis (Garhajis) and Habar Awal/Issa Musa militias after President Tuur attempts to organize a national military force to disarm militias. A violent power struggle ensues over control of public infrastructure and revenue at Berbera Port.
• April 1992 – Creation of United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I) to secure humanitarian operations in Somalia.
• October 1992 – The Sheekh Clan Conference (Somaliland) ends the conflict in Berbera and sets general principles for a forthcoming peace conference to be held in Borama. The conference also established a framework – expanded at Borama – through which the clan leaders would participate in key governance issues in a more formalized manner.
• December 1992 – United Nations (Resolution 794) authorizes the creation of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF) to take over from UNOSOM I and use ‘all necessary means’ to provide a ‘secure environment’ for the provision of humanitarian assistance in Somalia.
• December 1992 – US-led Operation Restore Hope sends 30,000 American troops to Somalia and 10,000 allied troops for peacekeeping missions.
• January-May 1993 – The Borama (Somaliland) Clan Conference consolidates a Peace Charter and National Charter for Somaliland. The Charter establishes a bicameral legislature with an elected House of Representatives, a non-elected House of Elders (the Guurti), an elected presidential executive, and an independent judiciary. Under the Peace Charter, it is agreed that all militias must be stood down and that all militia weapons be surrendered to become government property.

The conference at Borama also sees the transition from the SNM to a civilian administration, and nearly two-thirds of the 150 official delegates at Borama voted President Abdirahman Ali Tuur out of office. Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal becomes Somaliland’s second president with Abdirahman Aw Ali (Gadabursi) selected to serve as Vice President in a transitional government with Egal.

• May 1993 – Operation Restore Hope hands over to United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II).
• June 1993 – (Somali) General Mohamed Farah Aideed’s forces kill over 20 Pakistani UNOSOM II peacekeeping troops.
• October 1993 – (Somali) General Aideed’s forces shoot down several Black Hawk helicopters, killing hundreds of Somalis and 19 US Army Rangers, prompting US President Clinton to announce the withdrawal of US troops by March 1994.
• November 1994-October 1996 – Hargeisa Airport conflict. In a mirrored reflection of the Berbera conflict in 1992 (in which the Habar Awal defied the government by claiming Berbera as its territory), members of the Idagalle (Garhajis) clan begin agitating for control of Hargeisa Airport and the revenue that passed through it. By March 1995 the conflict had spread to Burao, continuing until 1996 and causing extensive destruction in both Hargeisa and Burao.
• September 1994 – The Somaliland Shilling is introduced as a new national currency, providing a financial windfall to the small circle of business elites who funded its creation.
• January 1995 – The Somali Shilling ceases to be legal tender within Somaliland.
• 1995 – A national army of around 5000 people is established, largely from disarmed militiamen.

The Hargeisa Conference to the present

• October 1996-February 1997 – The Hargeisa National Conference (shir qarameed). Unlike the conference at Borama, where the incumbent president was unseated, the Hargeisa conference reinstates both President Egal and the parliament. Also unlike the previous conferences, it is the Somaliland government which funds the Hargeisa Conference – rather than local communities.
• August 1998 – The neighboring territory of Puntland declares itself as an autonomous region of Somalia, under The Puntland State of Somalia. Unlike Somaliland, Puntland does not seek outright independence from Somalia.
• May 2001 – Somaliland referendum to ratify the constitution held, with around 97 percent of voters officially voting in favor of it.
• May 2002 – President Mohamed Ibrahim Egal dies; Vice President Dahir Rayale Kahin is sworn in.
• December 2002 – First local council elections.
• April 2003 – First presidential elections. The incumbent is returned to the office by an almost infinitesimal margin.’
• September 2005 – First parliamentary elections.
• December 2005 – President Dahir Rayale Kahin presents the case for Somaliland’s independence to the African Union.
• September 2009 – Saudi Arabia officially lifts the ban on live cattle exports from Somaliland.
• June 2010 – Second presidential elections. Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud Sillanyo defeats Dahir Rayale Kahin.
• April 2011 – The Sillanyo administration tables the controversial Telecommunications Act in parliament – an ambitious attempt to extract greater tax from the telecommunications sector, but which was ultimately undone by internal inconsistencies.
• November 2012 – Second local council elections.

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