The Last Battle of the Somalia Civil War: Dec. 14, 2005 byAbdulkadir khalif  

 As the country slowly moves towards what looks like an uneasy peace (or is it a ceasefire), one wonders whether this trend will lead to a cohesive and democratic federal country or whether it will slowly settle down as a totalitarian dictatorship in some regions, a brutal slave state in others and yet still an anarchic enclave in others. As matters stand now the government in Jowhar is working overtime to form administrative regions as some of its own members cry foul at times and nod in agreement at other times, depending on whether their narrow interests have been satisfied along the way. A good example is the Honorable Minister Mr. Mohamed Sayid Adan who said nothing about the appointment of a “Godoomiye” for Baardheera while his Ajuuraan counterpart screamed objections. When the Prime Minister named a new “Governor” for Gedo, Mohamed Sayid cried foul, sighting constitutional issues. Definitely Farey is not his man. In all these appointments, the indigenous peoples of those regions were totally ignored and sidelined. The Digil and Mirifle peoples of Gedo, as usual, had no say in these nominations.

 The Somali civil war is currently been fought in the board rooms of Mogadishu and Jowhar, with an occasional shift to Marka, Kismaayu and Baidoa. The battle fields are being drawn along the Shabeele and Jubba rivers where most of the agricultural resources of the country come from. These lands traditionally inhabitated by the Digil and Mirifle peoples but which are being systematically taken over by the Daarood and Hawiya warlords from Mudug and Galguduud. The present administration is blinding itself from the real issues on the ground: the one that will soon come to a head. That issue can be summarized as follows:

·         The Digil people of Shabeelaha Hoose, Jubbada Dhexe, Jubbada Hoose and Gedo, together with their Somali Bantu and Mirifle neighbors are being systematically marginalized and their farms and plots deliberately confiscated as the whole world and especially the new Federal Authorities watch unconcerned.

·         The Mirifle peoples of Bay and Bakool are being encouraged to massacre each other so that they will have no time to collaborate with their occupied cousins further south. Their leaders are manipulated and through them the people are held hostage.

·         All the Bantu peoples of Southern Somalia are being pushed into barren lands from which they can not eke a living, hence forcing them into the slums of the major cities where they live in abominable conditions.

·         In the board rooms of Mogadishu and Jowhar, a plan is being hatched that will see the dismemberment of the D & M lands and the grabbing of the best areas by a collision of Daarood and Hawiya power brokers, with the tacit approval and connivance of a few self-centered and unpopular “leaders”.

 While this is going on inside the country, the oppressed peoples of those regions are taking notice and preparing to confront those land grabbers. They have said “enough is enough. We shall take it no more.” Their voices will soon be heard and it will be very loud and clear. As the world begins to get used to a Somalia with a central authority (though a weak one), new noises will be hard from deep down in the throats of a much brutalized people. When the world thinks it is all over, an explosion will be hard that will have far reaching consequence. I can see it coming. The final battle of the Somali civil war will be fought on the banks of the Jubba and Shabeele Rivers…and it will be soon.