Somalia needs to be honest with each other no more tit for tat my clan vs your clan. We seen the results of this for the past 30 years and if your satisfied with the results, then continue. If your not satisfied with the results. Please read my proposed solution.
Background
Somalia issue is very simple, it is an issue of lack of trust. I won't trust the govt if my tribe isn't in power and you won't trust the govt if your tribe isn't power, this comes mainly from us using a system we don't have any confidence in and know that it will be abused by each side when they are in power. So what occurs is when my clan is in power, he will siphon all funds towards his clan, he will wage war on 'opposing clans', he will try to take a 'dictator' role because that is the culture we inherited from Siad barre.
Examples of why we don't trust the system is because it is 'foreign' to our culture, it wasn't intended for our people but intended for europeans who have a completely different cultural profile and needs. A clear example is in the 1960s the colonizer came and took 'autonomous' clans who lived and ruled themselves and dumped them with a 'centralized' plus 'foreign democratic' system. What happened? they created 100 clan parties, why do they need to create all these clan parties if they trust the 'govt'? unfortunately it appears we are heading back towards this path expecting a different result, which I highly doubt we will get. Even if we ban 'clans' forming parties the 'clan culture' is still rife and it will be used 'silently' in terms of power sharing, fund allocation, political destabilization, etc.
Analysis
Now you read a brief background where our lack of trust came from and let me repeat it so you don't forget. We are using a foreign system and trying to 'force' it down our people throats. It's equivalent of us taking our 'cultural xeer' system and shoving it down 'european' throats and expecting it will work for them. It simply won't just like their system won't work in Somalia.
Now when you create a genuine system it needs to reflect your culture. Look at DUBAI, the system isn't democratic, it reflects their culture, they are emirate federally based with their cultural systems used as the form of government. This gives their people hope becaus this is what they truly believe in and trust and has gotten them where they are today.
Now lets look at Somalia cultural system for any system in Somalia if you don't look 'badiyo' your crazy because our people culture, values, ideas, and clan pride all comes from badiyo even if they live in diaspora or cities or farms or coastal areas doesn't matter, all their culture comes from 'camel riding nomads' so it's absolutely critical to assess them and determine what system they have.
Our Nomads have a very effective system and I say this because, they don't kill each other other then over resources such as grazing land, water wells, camels, etc and in-fact if you look closely when they fight their is always a 'city' hand involved that is 'fuelling' it, it's not generally from them. They have freely moved among each other sharing grazing land, water wells, barkads, and anything that is shared between clans.
They do this for their own survival and they know they need to cooperate with other clans or else when there is drought in their area, they will have no-where to go. So they created an effective system 'customary xeer' which applies to big, small, medium sized clans equally and they apply the law regardless of who you are rich or poor nomad or big or small clan, it is irrelevant to them as the system must be protected or else they know the consequences that can come from it for all of them.
When you closely look at their system, you don't see them fighting each other about who is going to lead 'the shir'(govt), who is going to mediate(courts), who is going to be apart of it(parliament). They all sit under a tree and u see 'freedom' everyone can give their voice and their debate that's free thinking, everyone is equal regardless how big or small a clan is, and there is strong justice mechanism(the customary xeer) which they apply without corruption. They know the consequences far-outweighs the benefits if they are not genuine about the system. What makes the system so effective? it came from their 'culture' it answers their 'needs' and it is 'relevant' to the society they are in which is a collective society not an individualistic society like the west so the 'individual' court system will never work in Somalia.
Solution
The solution is quite easy. We identified the nomads are 'free, equal, and have justice' that is the basics needed from all humanity, that's what the west has also but they implement it differently(thru parties), where-as we will need to implement through(tribes). We have addressed this in terms of power sharing 4.5. No matter the people who hate 4.5, which I am one of them, but I don't see any other viable system because lets be honest, you don't see people warring over if they got their fair share of political representation. It's been quite a stable system and worked since 2000 till now, to replace it will require a better system which I can't see at the moment.
Now that we addressed the power-sharing part, there is still lack of trust. People will say well lets have reconciliation conference and forgive each other give each other houses back, but if we do that, which I think will need to be done but it won't cure the mistrust because this mistrust existed even in the 60s or else their would be no need to form so many clan parties if it didn't exist. So our issue is way beyond just mere looted properties, even if all was given back, we would still not trust each other and it's cause of our foreign system(democracy), we are trying to rule ourselves on someone else 'culture'.
My proposed solution is we will need some sort o NATO pact between clans. Just like clans have pacts among themselves, for example if an individual in a clan abuses the system and kills some nomad and if the clan doesnt bring that individual to justice the clans all go to war over it like a NATO approach. So what we will need to do is have NATO pact among regions and the federal government. Example Regions are expected to give federal tax to the federal govt from the ports and airports and other sources of taxation as agreed upon and the federal government re-invests that money 'equally' since we identified equality is a big part of our culture. Will they use a 4.5 approach? I think the best system is to redistribute the funds based on 'return on investment' for example if they build a big university for a state in say galmudug, then the students comprising that state must come from all the regions of Somalia since it was 'federal' investment from all the regions. If they create a factory in Hirshabelle, then the workers must be 4.5 through-out the nation and the taxes collected from that factory must be re-distributed back to the regions who didn't get the investment. So economically everyone walks away happy knowing if a region gets built, you don't lose, because it just means they pay more tax and that tax goes back to all Somalis.
Secondly we need a political pact. For example if a president in the region or federal govt abuses his mandate, breaks the constitution, breaks any agreement, we need tough repercussions for it not just 'we cut ties'. For example we could use the nomadic approach where we punish the individual first(regional president) with jail or fines and if that doesn't work then dissolve his govt, remove their federal rights, if that doesn't work and his tribe defends him, all Somalis unite to attack the region and if somalis fail to agree to attack, then in the constitution we should stipulate that the federal authorities will take over the country in a centralized format untill everyone returns back to the rules that we agreed on. This gives the federal authorities confidence that the states will behave as they have something to lose if they don't.
Even for the Regional govt, say they are good ones and the federal govts are the bad one, the regional govt should have the right to jail, fine the federal president, if that doesnt work move to the next level dissolve their political mandate, if that doesnt work take away their capital rights, if that doesnt work move to unite somalis to attack the capital and if that still doesn't work all the regions can secede and have recognition 'granted by default'. This ends up giving both the feds and regions confidence in each other that everyone will play by the book? why? cause the punishment and the system is a direct reflection from their nomadic culture which is how their 'brains' are screwed no matter if he wearing a suit in a city or on a camel back, they all think the same and if u think the same you have the same 'values' same 'culture' and that means u need the 'same system' as the nomads not something 'totally' different to it. The system we adopt must be a quasi mix of federal-central-secession to satisfy all clans political goals and restore trust. Infact if u look at the nomads that's how they live federally, yet they are central on shared matters(wells, water, rain, grazing land), yet they secede first and pull their clans out of conflict with another clan as the first option before going to war.
Finally we can convince the international community our system will have all the traits of 'freedom, equality, justice' but how we implement it may be totally different to your method but as long as the 'traits' are there, that's what matters. We can also tell them our system is fullproof and we will not be a threat to any neighbours or the general world because our nomads dont go threatening neighboring nations or groups of people, which our system 'reflects'. The system I am proposing is not a 'theory' this is 'proven' you just need to observe the nomads and translate into a modern government similar to how the 'uae' folks did. We will survive and thrive for centuries and all the mistrust among us will be gone.
We can even tell the world if they don't accept our system, they will need to prove why they are against freedom-equality-justice because our nomads have that and if they are against that, then their whole exporting 'democracy' and 'supporting freedom for the world goes out the window, they would be shown to be total 'hypocrites' and not true to their own 'ideals' if they refuse for another nation.
If any of you want to comment, go ahead, but please don't go turn this topic into one of those 'tit for tat' crap, lets talk solutions cause Somalia needs it right now.
Background
Somalia issue is very simple, it is an issue of lack of trust. I won't trust the govt if my tribe isn't in power and you won't trust the govt if your tribe isn't power, this comes mainly from us using a system we don't have any confidence in and know that it will be abused by each side when they are in power. So what occurs is when my clan is in power, he will siphon all funds towards his clan, he will wage war on 'opposing clans', he will try to take a 'dictator' role because that is the culture we inherited from Siad barre.
Examples of why we don't trust the system is because it is 'foreign' to our culture, it wasn't intended for our people but intended for europeans who have a completely different cultural profile and needs. A clear example is in the 1960s the colonizer came and took 'autonomous' clans who lived and ruled themselves and dumped them with a 'centralized' plus 'foreign democratic' system. What happened? they created 100 clan parties, why do they need to create all these clan parties if they trust the 'govt'? unfortunately it appears we are heading back towards this path expecting a different result, which I highly doubt we will get. Even if we ban 'clans' forming parties the 'clan culture' is still rife and it will be used 'silently' in terms of power sharing, fund allocation, political destabilization, etc.
Analysis
Now you read a brief background where our lack of trust came from and let me repeat it so you don't forget. We are using a foreign system and trying to 'force' it down our people throats. It's equivalent of us taking our 'cultural xeer' system and shoving it down 'european' throats and expecting it will work for them. It simply won't just like their system won't work in Somalia.
Now when you create a genuine system it needs to reflect your culture. Look at DUBAI, the system isn't democratic, it reflects their culture, they are emirate federally based with their cultural systems used as the form of government. This gives their people hope becaus this is what they truly believe in and trust and has gotten them where they are today.
Now lets look at Somalia cultural system for any system in Somalia if you don't look 'badiyo' your crazy because our people culture, values, ideas, and clan pride all comes from badiyo even if they live in diaspora or cities or farms or coastal areas doesn't matter, all their culture comes from 'camel riding nomads' so it's absolutely critical to assess them and determine what system they have.
Our Nomads have a very effective system and I say this because, they don't kill each other other then over resources such as grazing land, water wells, camels, etc and in-fact if you look closely when they fight their is always a 'city' hand involved that is 'fuelling' it, it's not generally from them. They have freely moved among each other sharing grazing land, water wells, barkads, and anything that is shared between clans.
They do this for their own survival and they know they need to cooperate with other clans or else when there is drought in their area, they will have no-where to go. So they created an effective system 'customary xeer' which applies to big, small, medium sized clans equally and they apply the law regardless of who you are rich or poor nomad or big or small clan, it is irrelevant to them as the system must be protected or else they know the consequences that can come from it for all of them.
When you closely look at their system, you don't see them fighting each other about who is going to lead 'the shir'(govt), who is going to mediate(courts), who is going to be apart of it(parliament). They all sit under a tree and u see 'freedom' everyone can give their voice and their debate that's free thinking, everyone is equal regardless how big or small a clan is, and there is strong justice mechanism(the customary xeer) which they apply without corruption. They know the consequences far-outweighs the benefits if they are not genuine about the system. What makes the system so effective? it came from their 'culture' it answers their 'needs' and it is 'relevant' to the society they are in which is a collective society not an individualistic society like the west so the 'individual' court system will never work in Somalia.
Solution
The solution is quite easy. We identified the nomads are 'free, equal, and have justice' that is the basics needed from all humanity, that's what the west has also but they implement it differently(thru parties), where-as we will need to implement through(tribes). We have addressed this in terms of power sharing 4.5. No matter the people who hate 4.5, which I am one of them, but I don't see any other viable system because lets be honest, you don't see people warring over if they got their fair share of political representation. It's been quite a stable system and worked since 2000 till now, to replace it will require a better system which I can't see at the moment.
Now that we addressed the power-sharing part, there is still lack of trust. People will say well lets have reconciliation conference and forgive each other give each other houses back, but if we do that, which I think will need to be done but it won't cure the mistrust because this mistrust existed even in the 60s or else their would be no need to form so many clan parties if it didn't exist. So our issue is way beyond just mere looted properties, even if all was given back, we would still not trust each other and it's cause of our foreign system(democracy), we are trying to rule ourselves on someone else 'culture'.
My proposed solution is we will need some sort o NATO pact between clans. Just like clans have pacts among themselves, for example if an individual in a clan abuses the system and kills some nomad and if the clan doesnt bring that individual to justice the clans all go to war over it like a NATO approach. So what we will need to do is have NATO pact among regions and the federal government. Example Regions are expected to give federal tax to the federal govt from the ports and airports and other sources of taxation as agreed upon and the federal government re-invests that money 'equally' since we identified equality is a big part of our culture. Will they use a 4.5 approach? I think the best system is to redistribute the funds based on 'return on investment' for example if they build a big university for a state in say galmudug, then the students comprising that state must come from all the regions of Somalia since it was 'federal' investment from all the regions. If they create a factory in Hirshabelle, then the workers must be 4.5 through-out the nation and the taxes collected from that factory must be re-distributed back to the regions who didn't get the investment. So economically everyone walks away happy knowing if a region gets built, you don't lose, because it just means they pay more tax and that tax goes back to all Somalis.
Secondly we need a political pact. For example if a president in the region or federal govt abuses his mandate, breaks the constitution, breaks any agreement, we need tough repercussions for it not just 'we cut ties'. For example we could use the nomadic approach where we punish the individual first(regional president) with jail or fines and if that doesn't work then dissolve his govt, remove their federal rights, if that doesn't work and his tribe defends him, all Somalis unite to attack the region and if somalis fail to agree to attack, then in the constitution we should stipulate that the federal authorities will take over the country in a centralized format untill everyone returns back to the rules that we agreed on. This gives the federal authorities confidence that the states will behave as they have something to lose if they don't.
Even for the Regional govt, say they are good ones and the federal govts are the bad one, the regional govt should have the right to jail, fine the federal president, if that doesnt work move to the next level dissolve their political mandate, if that doesnt work take away their capital rights, if that doesnt work move to unite somalis to attack the capital and if that still doesn't work all the regions can secede and have recognition 'granted by default'. This ends up giving both the feds and regions confidence in each other that everyone will play by the book? why? cause the punishment and the system is a direct reflection from their nomadic culture which is how their 'brains' are screwed no matter if he wearing a suit in a city or on a camel back, they all think the same and if u think the same you have the same 'values' same 'culture' and that means u need the 'same system' as the nomads not something 'totally' different to it. The system we adopt must be a quasi mix of federal-central-secession to satisfy all clans political goals and restore trust. Infact if u look at the nomads that's how they live federally, yet they are central on shared matters(wells, water, rain, grazing land), yet they secede first and pull their clans out of conflict with another clan as the first option before going to war.
Finally we can convince the international community our system will have all the traits of 'freedom, equality, justice' but how we implement it may be totally different to your method but as long as the 'traits' are there, that's what matters. We can also tell them our system is fullproof and we will not be a threat to any neighbours or the general world because our nomads dont go threatening neighboring nations or groups of people, which our system 'reflects'. The system I am proposing is not a 'theory' this is 'proven' you just need to observe the nomads and translate into a modern government similar to how the 'uae' folks did. We will survive and thrive for centuries and all the mistrust among us will be gone.
We can even tell the world if they don't accept our system, they will need to prove why they are against freedom-equality-justice because our nomads have that and if they are against that, then their whole exporting 'democracy' and 'supporting freedom for the world goes out the window, they would be shown to be total 'hypocrites' and not true to their own 'ideals' if they refuse for another nation.
If any of you want to comment, go ahead, but please don't go turn this topic into one of those 'tit for tat' crap, lets talk solutions cause Somalia needs it right now.
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