THT-In Summary
- Somaliland has enjoyed significant peace, political stability and a vibrant democracy for 30 years now in an area known for civil war, authoritarianism and political unrest.
- It has its own flag, national anthem, distinct bank notes, functioning and democratically elected government, national army and clearly demarcated borders based on colonial lines.
The African anticolonial waves that the continent braced in 1950s resulted in independences mostly received in 1960. That’s why it’s always referred to as “the year of Africa”.
During this year, no less than 17 countries became fully independent from their respective colonies and started to rule their nations freely.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate was among the first 15 nations to become independent in Africa and celebrated its sovereignty on June 26, 1960.
Instantly after independence, 37 countries recognised Somaliland as a sovereign nation, among them were the five permanent Security Council members of the United Nations.
The people of Somaliland, unfortunately, enjoyed that independence for a mere four days, and voluntarily united with their neighbouring “junior” Somalia who became independent from the Italian colony on July 1, 1960.
The dream was to build a greater Somalia which comprises all Somali inhabited territories in the Horn including Djibouti, Somali regional state of Ethiopia and the Northern Province of Kenya.
That dream failed when Somaliland faced a sequence of injustice and political inequalities which drove top military officers from Somaliland to a “Coup trial” in 1961.
Furthermore, Djibouti and the other parties rejected the call to join the union while the merger between Somaliland and Somalia was never ratified by a parliament.
Somaliland, officially known as the Republic of Somaliland declared withdrawal from th
e union in 1991 after 30 years of suppression, killing, subjugation and conquest by the Somali Military Regime.
Since then, the country hasn’t been recognised by the international community despite impressive success on peace, democracy, governance and economic development.
The case of union dissolution isn’t new to Africa. In 1982 Senegal and Gambia went into a union to form Senegambia which was later dissolved in 1989 and every country returned to its original being.
Similarly, in 1958, Egypt united with Syria to form the United Arab Republic, which disbanded after three years. The paradox here, is that Somaliland remains unrecognised and out of all international platforms for 30 years while similar African decisions of Senegal, Gambia and Egypt have been respected by the UN member states.
Somaliland has enjoyed significant peace, political stability and a vibrant democracy fo
r 30 years now in an area known for civil war, authoritarianism and political unrest.
It has its own flag, national anthem, distinct bank notes, functioning and democratically elected government, national army and clearly demarcated borders based on colonial lines.
This nation has been struggling for international recognition for 30 years after declaring its withdrawal from union with Somalia in 1991 and still confidently believe that there is no going back even if it takes 100 more years to get recognised and preserve their seat at the United Nations and other international and continental organizations.
Regardless of lacking recognition, Somaliland has bilateral relations with several countries in Africa and beyond. It also hosts diplomatic offices of Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Taiwan, UK, UAE, Turkey and others.
Ismail Shirwac is a Somaliland diplomat based in Nairobi and the head ofCooperation and Development Partnerships at Somaliland’s mission in Kenya