ONCE upon a time, Somalia was stable and Uganda was at war.
Its leader, Siad Barre, brokered the peace deal between Uganda and Tanzania, which were on a war path. Today Uganda is in Somalia trying to keep a fragile peace. Ivan Lukanda digs into the history between the two countries July 11 will go down in the minds of Ugandans as the
day Al Shabaab vested their anger on them. Over 70 middle-aged football fans watching the finals of the 2010 World Cup
were killed in a bomb blast."Al Shabaab, a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda, boasted as having masterminded the heinous attack.Somalia has not had a stable government
since 1991 when President Siad Barre was ousted from power by warlords.The end of his reign also marked the begining of anarchy in the horn of Africa state, which had helped to deflect tension between Uganda and Tanzania in the early 1970s.Somalia is now a haven for terrorists and a symbol of crime in eastern Africa.But back in the day, Ugandans needed Somalia to broker peace. Somalia now needs Ugandan troops to enforce order on behalf of two successive governments installed in exile (first in Kenya and then Djibouti) in the last four years.On October 7, 1972, Uganda and Tanzania signed the Mogadishu Accord, a settlement whose major purpose was to defuse the crisis between the two countries.Wanume Kibedi, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Malecela his Tanzanian counterpart and Omar Arteh Ghaleb, the Secretary of State for the Foreign Affairs of Somali Republic, signed on behalf of their countries.The agreement called for cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of all military forces to a distance not less than 10km from the common boundary not later than October 19, 1972. The withdrawal was to be witnessed by observers sent from Somalia by Jaalle Siyaad (Comrade Siad) in consultation with presidents Idi Amin and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.It also called for a halting of hostile propaganda through radio, television and newspapers. It further called for refraining from harbouring subversive forces to operate in either country against the other.With Siad Barre’s backing in mind, on October 5, while addressing people attending the opening of a new medium wave radio transmitter at Mawagga near Mityana, Amin is reported in the Uganda Argus to have said, "We have no time for spying. We have time for developing our country."Amin also warned Ugandan girls against involving themselves in spying activities for Obote’s guerrillas in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.He said: "Those who regard themselves as beautiful should stay and enjoy themselves in Uganda."In their book, War in Uganda, Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, journalists who were embedded with Tanzanian troops, say that at the Mogadishu meeting, Kibedi demanded that Tanzania turn over Milton Obote and a number of other exiles as part of the agreement.Malecela refused, arguing for the rights of refugees and prophesied that Kibedi himself might some day find himself in exile. The prophecy came to pass.Four months later, Kibedi, also Amini’s brother-in-law, fled Uganda accusing Amin of violating human rights and the rule of law.In his book, Sowing the Mustard Seed’, President Yoweri Museveni says that by "the Mogadishu Accord, Tanzania effectively recognised Amin’s regime as the legitimate government of Uganda".The agreement also tightened the relationship between Uganda and Somalia and exchange visits followed.
Siad Barre at NakivuboWhile speaking at the Independence Day celebrations, October 9, 1972, at Nakivubo Stadium, Siad Barre called on African countries to pool their resources and brains together to develop their countries instead of engaging in fighting among themselves.At the Independence Day reception, Somali musicians and dancers entertained the dignitaries.Siad Barre was awarded Uganda’s highest honour — the First Class Order of the Source of the Nile "in appreciation of his conciliatory effort in the Uganda–Tanzania conflicts" at the function.At the same occasion, the commander of the Uganda Air Force, Maj. Gad Wilson Toko was promoted to the rank of Colonel.He was also awarded three honours: the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross Medal and the Efficiency of Operations Order.The Acting Commander of the Uganda Armed Forces, Col. Francis Nyangweso, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.Hardly two weeks after the ceremony, on October 17, 1972, the Uganda Argus reported that Tanzania had broken thepact by allowing Obote’s guerrillas to continue propaganda through radio, television and print media published in
Dar-es-Salaam.Mission to Somalia On October 20, 1972, a Uganda delegation of ministers, senior government and army officials left for Mogadishu to attend the third Somali Revolution Day celebrations set for October 21, 1972. The delegation included Lt. Col. Obitre-Gama (power and communications), Wanume Kibedi (Foreign Affairs); Mr. Okware (agriculture and co-operatives), Mr. Gesa (health), Mr. Oryema (Mineral and Water resources), Mr. Zikusooka (works and housing) and Wakweya (finance).Nyerere Avoids Somalia On October 19, 1972, the government of Tanzania announced that their president would not attend Somalia’s Revolution Day celebrations.Nyerere, who had accepted the invitation at the beginning of the month, chose to abstain from the celebrations.The statement said Nyerere "will remain quietly in Dar-es-Salaam for the coming week as he has been advised to rest for a few days".The Tanzanian delegation of six ministers was led by Nyerere’s First Vice-president, Aboud Jumbe and the foreign minister, John Macelela.While Nyerere was interested in peace in the region, he had a personal dislike for Amin who had overthrown his longtime friend Obote.This was evident in his absence fromthe 1975 OAU summit chaired by Idi Amin in Uganda. Nyerere might have masked this reasoning to avoid meeting Amin who had also confirmed attending the celebrations in Mogadishu.Siad Barre’s Interest in Uganda Barre’s interest in Uganda was largely influenced by religion. Henry Kyemba,who was the acting Minister of Culture and Community Development in 1972, said Amin had a habit of looking for Muslim friends. "Barre was an ally of Idi Amin because they were both Muslims," Kyemba said. "In 1973, I led a delegation to Somalia to cement the relationship between Uganda and Somalia."Historian Semwanga Kisolo said he (Amin) had registered Uganda as a Muslim state under the Organisation of Islamic Conference to win the favours from the Arab League.Kisolo said: "King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Gadaffi of Libya entrusted Barre with the power to broker peace between the warring parties on behalf of the Arab League."It is important to note that radical Islam was not known to many parts of the world then though terrorism existed on a small scale and was masterminded by groups such as Black September.Although it sounds logical to reason that Barre’s brokering of peace in the east African countries was based on religion, AaronMukwaya, a lecturer of international relations at Makerere University, disputes this.Mukwaya said that Barre "was the custodian of solving conflicts" because he was the chairman of the Organisation of African Unity at the time. The role Barre performed is similar to the one John Kufour of Ghana attempted to perform as chairman of African Union in Kenya when the 2007 presidential elections climaxed in bloody tribal riots."Britain was not interested in the conflict between the two counties because the success of Tanzania over Uganda would [inherently] mean the triumph of socialism over capitalism and therefore used OAU to solve the problem," Mukwaya said.Tanzania under Nyerere was socialist. The British helped (or ignored) Amin’s rise power. Mukwaya said "peace would make their business in Kenya prosper".Why Somalia collapsedTo many people, the Somali conflict surfaced in 1991 after the complete disappearance of a centralised Somalian state on January 26. But the fact is that Somalia had developed serious cracks that made the collapse inevitable. The most powerful and organised rebel groups were formed, developed and gained power much earlier, between 1978 and 1989.In his article, Perspectives of the State Collapse in Somalia, Abdurahman Abdullahi of Mogadishu University, gives a number of reasons why Somalia caved in.He says that Somalia collapsed when Soviet Union withdrew external support and yet societal demand for economic advancement and better governance had increased. This was worsened by the end of the cold war in 1989, a situation which put Somalia on drip.He says Barre’s attempt to pursue military foreign policies that resulted into conflict with neighbours that had rival claims to the Somali-inhabited territories increased pressure on the regime.His claim for a greater Somalia was unacceptable to
Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti’s insistence on the principle of territorial integrity and sanctity of colonial borders. Somalia’s neighbours were prepared to defend their territories by all means even, if it meant going to war.After the
1977-78 war with Ethiopia , which destroyed the state and overthrew his regime, the porous borders became a problem as Ethiopia became home to Siad Barre’s growing number of opponents.Somalia as a state had a weak history. Abdullahi says that "there has never been a state in Somalia in the strictest sense of the term". Somalia is composed of clans brought together by basic institutions built around market exchange and later brought together by colonialists to form a state.Barre’s regime attempted to bite more than it could eat. Barre devoted a lot of attention and resources to solving colonial mistakes, which led to wars giving Somalia no time to build institutions without which no nation can survive in modern times.The suppression of Islam and clans radicalised the institutions in the late 1970s.This enabled rebel groups to rise. There are currently many factions in Somalia. These include theSomali National Front,
Somali National Movement, Somali Patriot Movement, UnitedSomali Congress , Somali Salvation Democratic Front, and Somali Democratic Movement. Al Shabaab, survives under such confusion.Hansen Stig Jarle, a Norwegian researcher on Somalia, says: "It seems quite clear that without the formation of these rebel organisations, neither the breakdown process nor the full collapse of 1991 would have taken place."Any government should consider Islam, business and the nomadic nature of Somalis, if it is to survive.Barre: From police officer to president Siad Barre was born in Lugh District, Italian Somalia in 1919 to a herdsman from the Marehan clan. He went to an elementary school before joining the police force in 1941.He rose fast through the ranks and by 1950 was a chief inspector, the highest position held by a Somali at that time. He switched profession from police to the army in 1952, becoming deputy-commander in 1960 and commander in 1965.At this time Somalia was getting a lot of military aid and training from the Soviet Union. He is said to have received clandestine assistance from the Soviet Union to execute his coup in 1969 from a disorganised civilian government.He declared Somalia a Leninist state and portrayed himself as a socialist under the
Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party.His regime scored some achievements, especially in the field of literacy where it encouraged writing the Somali language. It set up several co-operative farms and factories that promoted mass production of sugar and meat.wth increasing Soviet military support, however, Barre’s regime got lost in thought of acquiring territory occupied by ethnic Somalis from Ethiopia.Barre launched the attack in
1977 but the Soviet Union chose to support
Ethiopia under Mengistu and Somalia was defeated.From then on, Barre’s regime struggled to retain power as clan rivalries intensified. Like most regimes under this situation, Barre’s human rights abuse intensified.In 1991, Barre fled in a tank to survive a rebel attack mounted by Mohammed Farah Aideed’s men. He went into exile in Nairobi and later Nigeria leaving a dreadful legacy of civil war and famine in a country that Uganda once looked to for her peace. He died on January 2, 1995 in Lagos of heart attack.
