by Balal Mohamed Cusman
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Ancient Cushite Kingdom Pyramids in Meroe town
I, as researcher working in the country – Somalia - in the last five years was puzzled to understand my own people – Somalis; I found them witty – inventively thoughtful with keen intelligence to understand one’s intentions. For instance, when you ask a research-question, almost all of them will give you the same answer, regardless of their position in the society - young, poor, rich, educated, uneducated, government official etc implying that they are not speaking from their minds. furthermore, El Adde and Halgan attacks in 15th of January 2016 and in the 9th of June 2016 respectively by Alshabab made me wonder “What kind of people are Somalis” because before these events happen, an overwhelming majority of the Somalis seem to oppose the Alshabab militia, but all of a sudden, I found them showing sympathy, if not supporting them directly or indirectly. The wittiness of the Somali on the one hand and the spontaneous behavioural change of the Somalis made me think and look back the Somali history to see if there is anything we can learn from it, which could help us understand the characteristics of the Somali people.
Somali’s turbulent history shows similar patterns recurring time and again without direct connections with one another. The aim for this essay is therefore to look back at some of the historical struggles that the Somali people had been through and to link the events in the past history of the Somalis back with one another so as to see if there is anything we can learn from it, which could help us relate with what is happening in Somalia currently.
There was no conclusive evidence about the origin of the Somalis until recently, when the historical evidence matched with recently scientific findings showing that Somalis are ethnically Cushitic, implying that Somalis originated from the old Cush kingdom. However there are others who still argue that Somalis originated from the Arabian Peninsula-implying Somalis have Arab origin. Before the recent scientific discoveries that exposed the genetic connections between the Somalis and the Cush Kingdom, the former argument was mainly based on language and the physical appearances that connects all the Cushitic communities scattered around Africa together particularly: Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan among other places, whilst on the other hand, the later argument, which indicates that the Somalis originated from Arabian peninsula is mainly based on the cultural connections between the Somalis and the people living in the Arabian Peninsula or Arabs in short. Apart from these two main argument about the origin of the Somalis, there is also a third argument, which illustrates that the Somalis are the product of an intermarriage between the Cushitic people and those skilled Arabs from across the red sea who eventually established trading settlement in the Kush land. Although the argument about “intermarriage” doesn’t seem to hold, yet, there are sizable minority group originated from the Arabian Peninsula, hence, they are known today as “Arab-Somalis”. In addition, we should know that there are Somalis who are neither Cushitic nor Arabs by origin, most notably the Bantu Somalis.
It is not surprising however to mistaken that the Somalis with Cushitic origins have Arab connections since they share very strong cultural connections with Arabs. The connection between the Cushitic Somalis and Arabs could be as a result of the long historical relationship that Somalis had with Arabs through trade and most importantly through religious connections - Islam. Obviously, religious connections between peoples have the potential to create a very strong bond between peoples, and/or nations who otherwise wouldn’t have had much in common. Therefore with the existence of the religious connection and the legitimate love and passion that Somalis have towards the beloved Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) may have lead many Somalis to claim that they are Arabs in origin - this is however true around the Muslim world. Despite the fact that the Muslims around the globe are diversified in race (black, white and Colour) and ethnicity, yet everywhere you go, there are people who claim to have direct family linkage with the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and this shows that the wish to be related to the Prophet (PBUH) is not a Somali Phenomenon.
The issue about the origin of the Somalis may remain disputed – at least for some people, but I think this argument will only be rested when a comprehensive Somali-led genetic investigation is carried out to identify the origins of the Somalis, nevertheless this essay will base its analysis on the conclusion that the Somalis are ethnically Cushitic with a mixed cultural heritage from both Cushitic and Arabs.
Throughout the essay, the words Somali(s) and Cushitic will be used interchangeably. Similarly, words Akzumites, Abyssinians and Ethiopians will also be used interchangeably as to the Egyptians and Pharaohs.
Just to give you a glimpse about the ethnicity of the Kush family, many religious scripts describe the Cushitic people as one of the earliest humans settled in the world after the rebirth of the human race. According to biblical narrations, Kush was the son of Ham having Egypt, Put and Canaan as brothers and obviously Ham was the son of Noah. This means that Kush was the grandson of Prophet Noah (PBUH) who some religious scripts describe as the father of the rebirth of human race. Similarly, the book of Isaiah mentioned Kush as many as eight times, whereas six out of those eight times refer Kush as the son of Ham. Further to this is the fact that biblical narrations illustrate that one of the first man on earth to be humanly mighty man was Nibrud/Nibrod - the son of Kush (Ibid).
As per the social status of the ancient Cushitic people, it can be revealed from the fact that biblical narration illustrate that Prophet Moses (PBUH) married with Cushitic women - a clear sign of the social status of the Cush kingdom and therefore the respect people hold towards them. History shows that traditions of the people in the old kingdoms dictate marrying with princesses was a sign of privilege but most importantly, those who aim that high to marry with princesses were also ranked as high as the royal family by the society – hence, Prophet Moses.
At an early stage of the rebirth of the human history, Cushitic people have managed to build one of the first and strongest kingdoms in human history alongside the pharaohs of Egypt among others. It is known that the Cushitic civilization thrived from about 2000 B.C.E. to 350 C.E. during, which the best part of this period they have developed a close relationship with the brotherly Kingdom of Egypt (Pharaohs) - signs of their close ties can still be found in pictures on the walls of some Egyptian tombs and pyramids.
In addition to this, the remains of inscriptions and massive images on stones in Egypt and elsewhere in the region, stand as voiceless witnesses that Cushitic people were the commanders of the Egyptian armies as well as that of the Abyssinia masses as trusted allies and not as driven slaves. This illustrates the respect Cushitic people enjoyed among their neighbours. As much as they were respected by their neighbours, one of the outstanding qualities of Cushitic people was that they treated masses under their kingdom equally at an early stage when their power, as a great empire, was at its zenith whilst other kingdoms next to them, most notably the Pharaohs, were cruel to the extent that they tried to eliminate a whole community from the face of the earth.
History also shows that elements of Cushitic people extended itself in foreign lands eastward and westward around the world - across Arabia, South-Western Asia and even to the central highlands.
Cush Kingdom occupied a strategic position in terms of trade and natural resources and as a result of that, the Kush economy worked as a redistributive system. Not only Cushitic people occupied the area close to the gold mines, and therefore supplied materials that Egypt craved, but they also controlled the route along which goods from the heart of the continent passed through. Pharaohs with their gluttonous aim however felt that the Cush Kingdom’s control of the trade networks with the north, as well as the supply of raw materials from the south such as gold, copper and precious stones was no longer acceptable for them, therefore decided to conquer the Cush Kingdom with a surprise attack. To cut this long story short, Pharaohs have eventually managed to invade Kush land and destroy its capital city Napata.
As a result of their prevailing history, Cushitic people developed a sense of pride and self-importance, which in turn cultivated an intricate brain that intrinsically resists all sorts of injustice and/or aggression. This has therefore enabled the Cushitic people not to give in to the aggressors and therefore to establish a new kingdom in Meroe (a town in modern Sudan approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum) as its capital. Meroe was 300 miles south of Napata (old capital of Cush Kingdom) and was out of Egyptian’s reach.
When the Egyptians invaded Kush land, the level of injustice reached in its peak as Egyptians started to force Cushitic people to pay tributes, which included gold, ivory, cattle among other precious valuables to the Egyptians. Not only that the Cushitic people were forced to pay tribute, but Cushitic archers who were known to be heroic and skilled fighters were sent to the front line to fight alongside the Egyptians to further the expansionist policies of the Pharaohs. Princes and Princess of Cushitic people were sent to Egypt for education to indoctrinate them as well. But what the Egyptians have never realised was that the Cushitic people never surrender to any army and that they were looking for the chance to avenge from the invaders. At around 1100 B.C.E, the Egyptian Kingdom has declined in power, and suddenly the young Cushitics with their solidity and the determination took the army to regain their independence from the Egyptian Aggressors.
Eventually, Cushitic people managed to take over whole of Egypt and Egyptian kings surrendered to the Kush’s king Piye. As mentioned earlier the two kingdoms had very close connections in many aspects including blood, and culture, therefore, having conquered the whole of Egypt, King Piye re-crowned and declared himself as a Pharaoh and as a result of this, King Piye of the Kush had become the 25th dynasty of the Egyptian Kingdom.
Cushitic people’s history with the Egyptians is long and therefore is not possible to cover in one or two essays, but the aim is to shed a light on the determination and solidity of the Cushitic people to resist any foreign aggressors irrespective of how powerful the aggressors are militarily and/or economically. The Cushitic people’s resistance against the Egyptian aggressors was not the last but the first of many of its kind that later came about where Cushitic people experienced similar attacks from other Kingdoms and/or superpowers including the Assyrian Empire, the Akzumite Kingdom, The British Empire and very recently international/African foreign forces in which to my experience many Somalis including intellectuals, politicians, business men and women, youth leaders and civil society members believe that they have a hidden agenda - though none of the people I have ever met as a researcher were willing to say this in front of the camera - a sign of typical Somali deceiving tactics to mislead and provide distorted information to the Non-Somalis. For instance, in front of the camera, Somalis pretend that they support the current international initiative to stabilise Somalia including the AMISOM Mission but off the camera they talk about the opposite. The fact that Somalis are back tracking to work with the mission honestly can be seen from the fact that 22,000 troops (AMISOM) from eight different African states who are well trained, well armed and given logistical and intelligence support by Washington, the United Nations and the European Union (EU) are unable to defeat the Al-Shabaab militia, which maintains control over large areas of the country.
As mentioned earlier, among those Kingdoms that managed to defeat Cushitic people, particularly the Somalis at some point were the Akzum Kingdom. The Kingdom of Akzum was centred at the city of Akzum in Northern Province of the Tigray region in modern Ethiopia. Although other mighty kingdoms, like the Cush kingdom of Meroe, sometimes claimed Akzum Kingdom, nevertheless Akzum Kingdom had eventually emerged strong kingdom with a solid international connection and status. This was partly because of its religious connections with the other civilizations. The fact that Akzumite Kingdom was sufficiently remote and therefore never suffered from punitive expeditions of the super powers at time like Egyptions Kingdom in Cairo or Cush Kingdom in Meroe nor to have come into open conflict with the later super powers like the Romans, had also given a space to grow stronger.
In addition to that, under the leadership of H. E. King Najashi, Akzumites gave protection to some of the early followers of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), who fled from Mecca (Currently in modern Saudi Arabia) from persecution and torture by their fellow clansman. This has given the Akzumites a protection from the expansionist policies of the Muslims – a protection that, according to some Islamic scholars, deemed to be active forever so long the Abyssinians do not violate the peaceful coexistence of the two.
Akzumites had over the years developed civilization and grew stronger with their own identity and even had their own coins (money) made from gold and silver. To cut the story short, the Akzumite Kingdom continues to grow and strength in both economic and military over the years enabled Akzumite Kingdom to spread its influence and control to other areas outside the highlands of Abyssinia. This has coincided at a time when the Assyrians (from Mesopotamia) with their sophisticated weapons already destroyed the Kush kingdom in Meroe and the Cushites were spread all over the horn of Africa including the countries currently known as Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia et al.
Despite the horrible experience at the hands of Assyrians in Meroe, Cushitic people never stop to think positively and go forward to rebuild their shattered lives as vividly illustrated by the establishment of Adal Kingdom by the Cushitic people later on – again a sign of endurance and determination not to give in to any aggressor.
After resettling in the horn of Africa again a new conflict has begun. Political assassinations, coups and extrajudicial killing between the Sa’d ad Din dynasty of Adal kingdom of Cushitic people and its entourage have made the lives of the ordinary people miserable. For instance, Sultan Bin Azar bin Abu Bakar bin Sa’d Ad Din who ruled the Adal Kingdom for over three decades was killed by his in-law and the in-law was killed by another prominent from within the entourage of the kingdom. Assassinations and extrajudicial killings continued until Garad Abun came to power and brought justice, equality and most importantly good governance and leadership (Ibid).
After the Adal Kingdom had enjoyed a relative tranquillity and peace for a while under the leadership of Garad Abun, one of the Sa’d ad Din dynasty in the name of Abu-Bakar (Later know as Sultan Abu-Bakar) rise against Garad Abun and his rule, and eventually managed to unlawfully kill him unknowing that among the Knights of Garad Abun was the then young man called Ahmed bin Ibrahim later known as Imam Ahmed ‘Gurey’ endowed with intelligence and foresight.
Unsurprisingly, Sultan Abu Bakar laid the Kingdom of Cush waste as highwaymen re-emerged as did the alcohol drinks, corruption, injustice and misuse of other illegal substances as per against the norms of the society and Islam. As a direct consequence of Sultan Abu Bakar’s power misuse, Islamic scholars and the dignified people in the society suddenly reprimanded his conducts and this triggered a rebellion against the Sultan not least that the youngsters led by Imam Ahmed Gurey decided to take the matter into their own hands to stop the injustice spreading over the kingdom.
Motivated by the Islamic scholar’s decree against the Sultan, Imam Ahmed Gurey assembled forces to fight against the unjust rule of Sultan Abu Bakar. However while the young men were organizing themselves to get ready to overthrow what they saw as a unmerited regime in their own kingdom, they heard that the King of Abyssinia with his strong army had invaded their kingdom and reached a town not far away from where they were to assemble their forces against the Sultan.
Despite the disparity between the two armies in terms of equipment and logistics, Imam Ahmed Gurey and his young men immediately changed their minds and decided to defend the kingdom from Abyssinian invaders first before they deal with the tyrant leaders from within their own community, namely Sa’d ad Din Dynasty.
This decision was a decision that went into the history books with bloody and an unfavoured long war. Imam Ahmed Gurey seemed to be the first to apply the famous doctrine of ‘either you are with us or against us’ as a strategy of war, which many others in the modern world after him including Sayid Mohamed Abdille Hassan of Somalia, George W. Bush of United States of America et al have later adopted. Fighting between the two sides was immense and relentless as it was heroes fighting with heroes in joking dust and in the middle of neighing horses. However, this was the beginning of the long war between the Abyssinian kingdom, which hailed from the Akzumite Kingdom on one hand and the Adal Kingdom, which hails from the Cush kingdom, on the other, until eventually the Portuguese came in support of the Akzumites. As intrinsic courage and determination, Cushitic youngsters led by Imam Ahmed Gurey continued the war against the aggression of Abyssinian invaders. Even though the war has proven to be one of the bloodiest wars in its time, yet historical evidence shows that Cushitic’s aim was solely to fight against injustice at the beginning.
Imam Ahmed Gurey and followers dealt with the Abyssinian invaders with hammer’s blow, whilst he continued his previous objective to get rid of the spoilers in his own kingdom. The twin fight between the youngsters led by Imam Ahmed Gurey on one hand and the tyrant rulers of the Adal kingdom of Cushitic people and the aggressors from the Abyssinian Kingdom towards the Adal land on the other hand continued for a while but after a long battle, Imam Ahmed Gurey had finally managed to bring justice to the Kush Kingdom of Adal and this led the people of Adal Kingdom to put their trust in the youngsters as they led the campaign to get rid of tyrant leaders and the injustice. Having won the respect of his people and scholars among others, Imam Ahmed Gurey shifted all his focus on to bring the Abyssinian aggression against his people to an end.
This was the beginning of a long war coined as the Conquest of Abyssinia later in the history. This was a war in which many people died; many houses were burnt to the ground; many places of worship were destroyed; and most regrettably brought abhorrence among two peoples (Cushitic people and Akzumites) that otherwise would have been able to live side-by-side with harmony and peace - two people that use to live peacefully with each other even when the overwhelming majority of the Cushitic people embraced Islam as opposed to the Akzumites who remained Christian.
The unfortunate aggression that first triggered this unfavoured saga between the two kingdoms was the then unprovoked attacks of the Abyssinians on the Adal Kingdom, but the people of the region are still paying the price for that after centuries as the tit-for-tat game continues under the banner of newly coined names of Somalia and Ethiopia.
Obviously, the animosity between the Cushitic people (Somalis) on the one hand and the Akzumites (Ethiopians) on the other, still continues in one form or another. But this indicates that the ancestors of these two great kingdoms still lack true leaders who could make hard decisions to put their differences aside since they have more in common than they differ. Surely the two would have been stronger in joining their natural talents towards the well being of their people. But if the tit-for-tat game continues, it would only increase the hate and loathing between the two inseparable nations and worse, the cycle of violence between the two people will only get worse generation after generation as none of the two sides is known to accept defeat.
History went on, and as the time went by, other foreign forces, namely, the British colonialist invaded the newly coined Somalia (part of Kush Kingdom). This time, the conflict between the Abyssinians and the Adal kingdoms was deemed to be dormant except very few incidents here and there, but what is not changed was the feelings of the Cushitic people (particularly Somalis) towards the foreign invaders, and most notably that of the young people, who were always witty and sensitive as if they are mind readers and ready to die for and defend their pride with the belief that there is no one who could ever dare look down at them, let alone within their own land.
When the British colonial power arrived in Somalia through the North West region of Somalia, (currently known as Somaliland), the locals adopted a wait and see policy as the vicious colonial intentions were not clear for them from the outset - one of the strategic tactics adopted by the colonials. However this has changed suddenly when a young man with some understanding about their ends had arrived at the port of Berbera.
A young man called Mohamed Abdille Hassan later Known as Sayid Mohamed Abdille Hassan or the Mad Mullah by the Somalis and British Colonials respectively arrived at the Berbera port and to his shock, he was been asked to pay tax on his arrival at the port of Berbera by an Englishman.
Similar but not related to the previous injustices, the young man reacted very angrily in disbelieve that an Englishman is asking him to pay a tax for coming back to his own country!. Sayid Mohamed suddenly decided not to accept the injustice but in the contrary he asked the English tax collector the famous question of ‘who collected the tax from you on your arrival in Somalia’. When the English officer realised that this man is awake and unlike many Somalis who came through the port before him is unwilling to accept his demand, the Englishman withdrew his demand and let Sayid Mohamed go without paying tax calling him the Mad Mullah for his own relief and to make excuse for himself for letting him go without paying tax. This is where Sayid Mohamed inherited his famous nickname ‘the Mad Mullah’.
The young Sayid Mohamed didn’t stop there by refusing to pay the unlawful tax to the colonial power nor has he seen his release as a bonus. Instead, despite the overwhelming military power of the British Empire, he as his predecessors in the Cushitic family, decided to fight against the invaders at all cost. The war between the British Empire and its allies on the one hand and the Sayid Mohamed and his followers (Known as Darawish) on the other hand was proven to be another bloody war between the Cushitic people and foreign invaders. This war cost the lives of many innocent people as well as the lives of the troops of the opposing sides.
Sayid Mohamed used his extensive knowledge in the Somali culture and his sensational poetic ability as weapon of war to face the greatest empire on earth at the time. Sayid Mohamed assembled his forces from the Somali clans to fight against the colonial power where he inflicted heavy casualties to the aggressors, most notably the death of Regard Kofield- one of the prominent officers of the British Empire in Somalia, if not in Africa.
With all the incomparability of the Sayid’s army and that of the British Empire, British troops were at some point forced to retreat back to the coastal town of Berbera, for keeping the cost as well as the death toll of their troops low. Obviously, the Mullah was condemned by the British but many Somalis admired his determination and sustained resistance against the imperial power - though at the time, only very few people in the area under the British Empire were able to openly express their feelings towards the Mullah for fear of retribution from British and/or its allies.
After more than 21 years of a bloody war, which was triggered by the aggression of the foreign invaders, Sayid Mohamed met with his end in his favour as he himself described in one of his poems in which he described his political vision - roughly translated as ‘if I fail to manage putting the Somali flag from here (north West Somalia) to Nairobi, couldn’t I manage to die as a martyr and thereby get the mercy of Allah and accompany with Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) in the hereafter’. A statistic that still persists among the Somali people.
The feeling of the Somali people towards the struggle of Sayid Mohamed as well as those before and after him including Imam Ahmed Gurey have become clear as the statues of Sayid Mohamed, Imam Ahmed Gurey, Hawo Tako and Somali Youth League (SYL) was built in the Capital Mogadishu and the history of the struggle against the colonial powers of many others were taught at schools. From this struggle was also created many songs, and poems, in remembrance of their struggle and vividly praising their struggle against the imperialists and invaders, particularly during the Siad Barre Era. They were also depicted in the Somali history as national heroes and role models in contrast of the view of the colonials and/or invaders who saw them as terrorists or Mad Mullahs for the least. Similarly, an unparalleled war between the Somalis and invaders was that between the Portuguese invaders on the one hand in the 14th century and the Somalis in the coastal regions on the other. Irrespective of the casualties, Somalis show endurance and taught a lesson, arguably the then strongest army in the world to defend their country.
As recent as the 1990s, the fight between the UNISOM troops led by the Americans on the one hand and Aidid Militia, which later went into the history books, as the black hawk down in Mogadishu was also another sign of Somali resistance towards the foreign forces.
All these historical evidences show that the Somalis are not intimidated by the military might of the opponent. However, none of these above-mentioned struggles were ideally or tactically directly linked with one another, other than the fact that the identical genetic factors of the Somalis reacts the same in such situations. This also reminds us about the description of Somalis (as part of Cushitic family) by Richard F. Burton who as part of his expedition went to modern Somalia in the 18th century. Richard described Somalis as “Tall and Skinny, Fast runners, very proud for themselves, effective and brave, enduring and resilient to the harsh environment they live in” .
Similarly the then British ambassador of Zanzibar, which visited Somalia, said that unlike other African people whom he had seen, “Somalis don’t give extra privileges to the foreigner including the Englishman – colonial power”. Eventually, he realised that Somalis are not intimidated by the sheer power of the colonial power – the British - and that they are very proud of themselves.
To come back to the current, there is no question that we are living in an interdependent world in which the boundaries are shrinking by the day, if not already disappeared and therefore a situation where the free or the semi-free movement of people across the nations in the world is reality. This may therefore require careful and calculated decisions in the way we treat and interact with one other. With this turbulent time of Somali history, critical thinking about the best solution for the crisis in Somalia is needed more now than ever before in order to create a win-win situation for both the Somalis who as we have discussed earlier are unrepentant and uncompromising in nature and the ambitions of those others who may have any interest in the Somali land. A world where the natural resources that are vital for the continuation of the modern lifestyle are getting scarce and to my guess is creating conflicts among the United Nations, Somalia is becoming an important place as it may occupy a key location for that matter.
All the indications show that Somalia occupies an important location both in terms of the natural resources that lies underneath, as well as its strategic position in the world and maritime routes – an identical position as that of the Kush Kingdom. However, given the long violent history and the unpredictability of the Somalis, it will be wrong to suggest that the use of force or dirty tricks in exploiting those natural resources beneath Somali soil or the illegal use of its territorial waters is a feasible strategy. It may also be a mistake to advise the potential investors to rely on the contracts signed by the transitional or corrupted leaders who apparently had no national vision and as a consequence are not recognised as legitimate leaders by the mainstream Somalis. Indeed the mainstream Somalis remember them and the crimes they may have committed against their own people with the exception of the then Prime Minister Mr Mohamed A. “Farmajo” who even though he didn’t leave tangible legacy on the ground, yet have managed to capture the hearts and minds of many Somalis in the few months he was in office. My calculated guess is that the risk may well exceed with the return in supporting and securing contracts with corrupted leaders through bribing or coercion. This doesn’t however mean that investors should stay away from investing Somalia, but given the unpredictability of the Somali nature and thereby the risk this may bring to the investors at some point, they should wait until a true leader who represents the interests of the people emerges and the rule of law prevails in Somalia and thereby institutions that serve the interest of the society are built and start to function fully.
As mentioned earlier, the defiance character of the Somalis could clearly be seen from their long history in which we have briefly mentioned thus far in this essay. Cushitic people, Somalis in particular, irrespective of their position in the society show similar patterns in making drastic and spontaneous decisions – a signal of what the Somalis are capable of. It has shown that they don’t give in to the dictation of the super powers nor are they intimidated by the enormity of the political, economic and military power of the challenger as this could easily be remembered as recent as the 20th century when, despite the sheer size of its power, Somalia decided to expel the Soviet Mission from Somali with a very short notice.
In addition to that, history has shown that the majority of the Somali population usually support the resistance explicitly or implicitly even if they believe the youngsters are using awkward strategies, hence Imam Ahmed Gurey, Sayid Mohamed et al. Therefore, given the historical evidence, the unpredictability of the Somalis in taking drastic and sometimes uncalculated decisions and the interconnectivity of the world today, the burning questions, which I think are timely and pertinent to the current situation of Somalis and therefore require balanced and unbiased investigation from the researchers are ‘is there a need for a fundamental change in the way we approach the contemporary Somali/a problems?!. Given the history, the answer indeed seems to me as if it is YES, then, what is the workable alternative solution to achieve long lasting peace in Somalia and in the region at large?”
Please send your comments and questions to the email below.
Author: Independent Researcher and Consultant, Mr. Balal Mohamed Cusman; Email: [email protected]