Hargeisa (PP Editorial) — Britain was the colonial master in Northern Somalia when it was known as the British Somaliland Protectorate. Although Britain promoted post-transition governance in the Federal Republic of Somalia, its policies divided communities in Northern Somalia. It tends to favour the secessionist communities, funding projects there while pursuing policies that neglect developmental aid to northern unionist constituencies in territories under the jurisdiction of Puntland State of Somalia.
Britain reiterates its support for the territorial and political unity of Somalia, yet it used its influence to persuade the Federal Government of Somalia to treat Somaliland administration as quasi-independent entity, until the former Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi signed an illegal maritime Memorandum of Understanding with Ethiopia on 1 January 2024.
The Secessionist ideology of Somaliland administration often portrays Somali clans that did not enter protectorate agreements with the British Empire as foreigners in Northern parts of the Federal Republic of Somali. Applied to the Harti clan confederation, only the Warsangeli clan would qualify for the secession-based, unlawful citizenship tied to defunct colonial borders.
Secessionism in Somalia was a political stance until 2021, when Somaliland authorities forcibly displaced Somalis from Laascaanood who hailed from the South West State of Somalia. To put it clearly, the current President of the Somaliland Administration, Abdirahman Abdullahi ‘Irro’, views President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of the Federal Republic of Somalia as a foreigner in Laascaanood. In 2013, President Mohamud instituted peace-consolidating policies under the Special Arrangement, whereby donors directly sent development aid to Somaliland administrations.
In 2024, the former Somaliland Interior Minister, Mohamed Kahin, claimed that an agreement with the Federal Government of Somalia entitles Somaliland Administration to sign a maritime Memorandum of Understanding with Ethiopia under a human development clause contained in the December 2023 agreements signed in Djibouti.
Nowhere in Africa has colonial history divided people more than in Somalia, whose territories were carved up by colonial powers after the 1884 Berlin Agreement. When Somali secessionists wrongly invoke the inviolability of colonial borders, they misapply a cardinal article in the African Union Charter on borders between member states. This misapplication led to the forced displacement of Somalis in Laascaanood in 2021 and the six-month shelling of the administrative capital of Sool in 2023 by Somaliland forces. Somaliland Administration leaders insisted on a two-state solution as a precondition for a ceasefire, until allied Harti forces overran the secessionist base at Goja’adde barracks on 25 August 2023. The Harti forces were not merely defending their Somali citizenship, but also, by extension, the citizenship rights of all Somali unionists.
That Britain failed to actively promote peace in Northern Somalia, despite being the penholder on Somalia at the UN Security Council, is a remarkable lapse in diplomatic judgement. The Labour Government might now rectify this situation.
© Puntland Post, 2025