Why Somalia Does Not Fit the Two-State Analogy

[Deeq A.]

Mogadishu (Commentary) —The call for a two-state solution in Somalia comes from Israel. It has become clear that the promotion of secession in Somalia is a strategy Israel sees as a way to challenge the emergence of a Palestinian state. Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli Foreign Minister, described Palestine as a “virtual state”.     

The call for a two-state solution in Somalia originated in an article in The Times of Israel in which Grant Arthur Gochin argued that “Africa endures the same structural flaw, amplified by borders arbitrarily drawn during the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference to suit imperial convenience.” He supports the break-up of South Africa into two several counters. “ South Africa must lead the way in fragmentation. Voluntary, referendum-based independence for historical ethno-cultural homelands such as those of the Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Sotho, Venda, and Tsonga…” Gochin wrote.

The founders of the African Union (then the Organisation of African Unity) were wise enough to prevent the redrawing of colonial borders. They were not oblivious to the arbitrariness of the borders, but they knew that Africa’s future lay in promoting diversity in post-colonial state formation.

Somalia agreed to the principle of the non-violability of colonial borders but argued that, because of the homogeneity of its people, all Somalis deserved to live in one country, because “they are victims of arbitrarily drawn borders in territories inhabited by Somalis before the union in 1960.” The homogeneity thesis demanded referendums in regions of Ethiopia and Kenya with large Somali majorities, regions that border Somalia proper.

The core argument in reclaiming territories pertained to the “violations” of protection agreements that Britain signed with Somali clans but failed to honour. “In the middle of the nineteenth century, only a few years after Britain had cynically signed flamboyant Treaties of Protection with the people, it had secretly signed treaties with Ethiopia, ceding to that country a portion of those very lands it had undertaken to protect,” wrote Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, the Prime Minister of Somalia (1967–1969). Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations when it signed agreements with Britain. These agreements set a precedent for secession in Africa based on agreements, not unilateral secession or recognition similar to the one offered by Israel to the Somaliland administration in violation of the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Somalia.

Instead of going to the archives, Israel consults news clips when formulating policies on an  African country. There is no case for breaking up Somalia into two countries. Somalis are learning to coexist with each other thanks to the support of friends who understand that violating the African Union Charter is not a proposal worth considering.

Adan M. S. Hussein teaches history at a university in Mogadishu

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