Correcting the Garri Past leaders history  August 22, 2021 by Isaac Omar GSG News contributor ,

 Correcting 20th and 21^st Centuries Gharri History with Facts Relating to its Past Leaders:

There are some of the people in leadership position trying to rewrite history based on jealousy, and hatred toward certain clan. So, let us review history of the past known Gharri leaders’ performances and accomplishes starting from Bule Hussein.

Bulle Hussein: According to oral history and written documents, it is unclear how many years Bulle Hussein ruled or led the Gharri people. He led the Gharri people in the learly 17^th century. At the end of his reign, he took many of his people and fled from the Gharri Country (now known as Mandera County and Dawa Zone) to Juba, Somalia. Most of the people and animals who fled with him died from extreme heat and starvation. Also, those left behind were enslaved by Borana and called “Gabra” (slave). This enslaved Gharri and their descendants became a full-fledged tribe called the Gabra tribe and are living in Kenya and Ethiopia. Some of the Birkaya, Bana and Kilia branches of the Gharri tribe that settled between Kismayo and Lamu assimilated into the Bajun Somali tribe, and living as Bajun thereafter. Bule Hussein’s era was the darkest history of the Gharri people and he bule Hussein himself never returned.

Ali Dayoo: It is also unclear how many years he led the Gharri People, but what clear is that during his reign the Gharri people became subordinate to the Borana clan.  They paid tribute to the Borana’s and subsequently, a large number of his clan became Borana shegat or assimilated into Borana culture and living as Borana ever since.

Ali Abdi: Ali Abdi Freed the Gharri people from Boranas and they called those freed Gharri people Gharri Ali Abdi and he led them for over 30 years, and regained the most of the land lost under Bulle Hussein and Ali Dayoo.

Gababa Mohamed Mahad: Gababa was the Gharri’s commander in chief effective 1913-15 while Ali Abdi was in jail in Nairobi, Kenya. Subsequently, he was named as a supreme leader of the entire Gharri country by Ali Abdi. The British colonial rulers proclaimed the Gharri Country as Gharri district which consists of Mandera, Wajir and parts of Marsabit, the area of 12,000 square miles.

Ali Damdable: He was the leader of the Gharri people of the El Wak Somali side. However, he was killed by Marehan and the Gharri people lost the majority of their ancestral land to Marehan. 

Hassan Gababa: He took over the Gharri country’s administration after his father’s death in 1933. He consolidated and gained back the rest of the land lost to Boranas during Bule Hussein and Ali Daayow’s leadership. The border between Ethiopia and Kenya was also determined by Hassan.

Haji Ali Gababa: He was the administrator of the Sololo and Moyale areas of Marsabit and later took over of the Nagale district of Ethiopia, which became the Nagele Borana after his brother Haji Hassan Gababa’s death in 1962.

Aliyow Gababa: Aliyow Gababa was the 3^rd son of Gababa Mohamed. After his brother Haji Hassan Gababa was killed by Haile Selassie I, he went to Somalia and formed Galla Sidamo Liberation Front and began fighting against Haile Selassie’s regime from 1962 till his death in 1972.

Robow Haji Hassan Gababa: He took over the Gharri region administration when his father Haji Hassan Gababa joined the Haile Selassie I administration as a member of Parliament and ruled the Gharri people from 1962-64. Unfortunately, he was killed while defending them on November 04, 1964.

Hassan Gorro: Hassan Gorro was a British AK officer recruited by Aliyow Gababa and his nephew Abdulahi Haji Hassan Gababa to join NFD freedom fighters. Therefore, he wasn’t a member of the Galla Sidamo Liberation Front. However, he got the opportunity to go to Ethiopia side Gharri region in 1992 after the Mengistu Haile Mariam regime collapsed. He assumed the role of the Gharri’s commander in chief of the Gharri Defense Force in the Ethiopian side of the Gharri region what is now become Dawa Zone. Unfortunately, the Gharri people lost Wachile, Arero and Maddar under his watch. However, in today’s toxic political environment, the history and recognition of those who enhanced their community’s livelihood and status was suppressed, while those who enriched themselves and did nothing for the betterment of society were given credit that they do not deserve. The names Ali Abdi, Gababa Mohamed Mahad, Haji Hassan Gababa, Robow Haji Hassan, Aliyow Gababa, and Abdullahi Haji Hassan Gababa with unblemished records have been forgotten.