Rebuttal of Mohamed Obsiye’s Article: The changing Political Landscape in the Horn of Africa

This is in response to Mr. Mohamed Obsiye’s article entitled “The changing political landscape in the Horn of Africa”. Perhaps the author of this article which appeared on Jumhuuriye online, the mouthpiece of secessionist Somaliland, wanted to say the changing political landscape of Somalia, as there is no such change taking place in the Horn of Africa. I also presume the author is referring to the upcoming state of Southern Sudan whose capital will be Juba, or maybe Eretria which peacefully broke its long association with Ethiopia in early 1991 following a bloody long struggle. 

The political and social make-up of the two aforementioned is totally different to that of Somalia – Somaliland situation. Eretria was an Italian colony alongside Italian Somaliland until it was captured by the Commonwealth forces spearheaded by the British forces in 1941. The British continued to administer the territory under a UN mandate until 1951 when Eretria was federated with Ethiopia’s Haille Salassie as per UN resolution 390(A), which had the blessing of the US, the age-old ally of imperial Ethiopia.

The strategic importance of Eritrea, due to its Red Sea coastline and mineral resources, was the main cause for the federation with Ethiopia, which in turn led to Eritrea's annexation as Ethiopia's 14th province in 1952. This was the culmination of a gradual process of takeover by the Ethiopian authorities, a process which included a 1959 edict establishing the compulsory teaching of Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, in all Eritrean schools. The anger and frustration felt by the Eritrean people as a direct consequence of these repressive measures eventually led to a 30-year liberation war against successive Ethiopian governments which ended with the establishment of Independent Eretria in 1991. Whilst people of British Somaliland were overwhelming in favor of joining their brethren in Italian Somaliland on June 1960, the Eritreans were annexed by Ethiopia (see the word annexation underlined above) and made the 14th province, the same way ogaden (the current Somali state of Ethiopia) was invaded earlier by the same country.  Contrary to what die-hard secessionists like this author want us to believe, the process of uniting the two colonized Somalis was planned well before the union of 1st July 1960. Read More