Mogadishu (Comment)—During 198s when Somali opposition groups set up bases in Ethiopia, a protectorate mindset had taken root in their political consciousness. Opposition groups relying on communist Ethiopia were fighting an opportunistic socialist Somali regime.
Since the Ethiopian regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam did not want a democratic regime in its backyard, he, acting on the advice of Soviet advisers, chose a strategy to use opposition forces as a buffer zone to pressure Somalia into accepting a peace deal from the position of weakness. Mengistu did not attain that goal but he stayed a bit longer in power to see the disintegration of Somalia into clan fiefdoms.
In Ethiopia the Somali opposition groups developed a protectorate minded characterised by inability to see beyond narrow clan interests. This outlook tends to instil in the minds of politicians the belief that through Addis Ababa streets run a path to power in Somalia. That is why Mogadishu has set the unenviable example to valuing a clan’s proximity to the capital city above property rights and civic values after the collapse of the state in 1991. The new Somali generation (75% of the population) has no a sound grasp of the national sovereignty. The m protectorate mindset began when Somali clans signed with the British Empire Protectorate Agreements, a process through which they legitimised and imposed colonialism on themselves. Ethiopia cites Adwa war to contrast itself with Somalis whose territories Britain gave to Ethiopia in violation of the “Protectorate Agreement”.
Three weeks ago the Foreign Minister of Somaliland Administration Essa Kayd claimed that Somaliland “is a buffer zone for Ethiopia”. Kayd unwittingly defended the 2018 essay by Seyoum Mesfin, the late Ethiopian Foreign Minister, in which he proposed buffer zones in Somalia since the Federal Government of Somalia cannot guarantee security in its sovereign territories. His remarks was followed by the deployment of Ethiopian troops to fight Al-Shabaab in Somalia.
Can anyone believe that Ethiopia, whose Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week reminded Ethiopians that Somalia was the aggressor and that “Karamardha”’ like Adwa war, is a symbol of resistance, will serve the national interest of Somalia when its troops are in Somalia? Somalia needs a political therapist to enable the new generation to throw the shackles of the protectorate mindset.
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