Many historians of Somalia are convinced that Tribal community political ideologies only developed in contact with the European ‘thinking about tribes’ which the missionaries and colonial officers brought to Somalia.

Early 19^th Century Colonialism drew borders which did not exist and threw together Somali people who would ordinarily have lived together into one Somali nation and nationality. During the colonial era, the Europeans used various approaches to dominate the Somali tribes. In varying degrees, the French, British and Italians tried to transform the Somalis into five colonial regions in Horn of Africa (NFD, Ogadenia, French Djibouti, British Colonial and Italian Colonial).. Like any cultural group that was arbitrarily divided at the Scramble for Africa, Somalis will not stop with the dream of reunification of all their population into a greater Somalia.

To begin with, as the Dervishes Liberation era dawned in the late 1910s and SYLs, SNL and USP early 40s, the West realized the great threat posed to its hegemony by an independent and unified Somalia in Horn of Africa. 

Nowhere is the neo-colonial thumbprint more evident than in Somalia. 

Defining back the relation between colonialism and tribal states, you have to know the distinction in between two phases of colonialism; that is, active and passive colonialism. The former refers to the conquest of a people followed by the direct control (or domination) of the same by the conquerors using a combination of measures such as military coercion and dominance of major internal institutions such as the polity. The latter, on the other hand, represents what is commonly referred to as neo-colonialism or the extension of especially economic domination of a people beyond the attainment of self-rule. The second phase of colonization is associated with practices, policies and structures inherited from the first phase. These constitute a colonial legacy that, in our view, impacts on the extent of corruption in independent Somali nation. 

Recently the passive colonialists had organized group of Somali tribal leaders to select the members of the Somalia’s future legislatures (4.5 tribal systems). Remember to collect taxes; the colonial governments mostly relied on local Somali tribal leaders and especially chiefs. Where chiefs did not exist or were uncooperative, new ones were appointed by the colonial powers. Above all, to motivate chiefs to generate as much tax revenue as possible, and do so with zeal, the colonial administrations allowed them to retain a part of it.

To understand the association between corruption and the practice of divide and rule one must reflect on some of the methods utilized to sustain it. Those tribal state warlords groups such as Somaliland and Puntland are enjoying a privileged status in the ex-colonial administration were rewarded with easy access to western aid donations and political assistances. 

The modernization of tribal war and politics have paved the way for an aggressive build-up of illegal high powered firearms in Somalia  posing a serious threat to development, progress and freedom. All public properties, including schools, seaports, airports and aid posts, in Somalia are subject to possession by Tribal States such as Puntland and Somaliland.

Today Somalia is at the mercy of Western political interference propaganda and media conglomerates which relentlessly paint the country as one beset by poverty, piracy, terrorists crime, diseases and endless wars which has to be rescued by foreign aid workers and sanctimonious celebrities at Nairobi and Addis Ababa...Because of those UN Envoys, Aid donors, and foreign NGO’s Somalis have lost their way, culturally, politically and economically.

Contemporary forms of Tribalism in Somalia are growing in magnitude and incessantly adopting violent forms. It is a barrier to peace, violates the dignity of human race across social and tribal boundaries, and holds back victims development. The Current Somali man/woman will think of himself as a Hawiye, Darod, Digil-Mirifle or an Isaaq rather than, say, a Somali.  This is because the tribal states that exist in Somalia now did not exist before the civil war. Today, the influences of the tribes, tribal beliefs, and tribal chiefs are increasing.  Loyalty to the Somali Nation is gradually being replaced by loyalty to a Tribal State, and tribal conflicts become strong and have resulted in civil wars and monumental slaughter of peoples. The expectation that you can develop a Tribal state in Somalia exclusively is just too wishful thinking. The thinking that you can hate a tribe or a group of people and expect to build a prosperous and for the Tribal State itself survive is quite myopic. The problem in governing Somalia squarely lies with tribalism, a shakily United Nations NGOs, greed, external interests, poverty, and skewed allocation of resources dating from many years in the past and so on.

Recently the Hope of Somalis has been cheated out of the corrupted legislatures (parliamentarians) members and their owners of so called "UNSOM, USAID, UNDP, Qatar, and AMISOM” using voting manipulations they sought are indisputable. What is reprehensible is the cynical manner in which the Somali people’s genuine anger has been orchestrated into ‘tribal states conflict.’ That is the danger that Somalia faces-unscrupulous leaders backed by foreign interests dividing their people in order to cling to power. These are leaders without vision, traitors to Pan-Somali ideals, squandering the sacrifices of heroes who gave their lives for the dream of a free United Pan-Somalia. 

My Fellow Somalis, Tribalism is pervasive, and it controls a lot of our actions, readily overriding reason. Think of the inhuman things we do in the name of tribal unity and tribal mini-states. Wars are essentially, and often quite specifically, tribalism. Genocides are tribalism – wipe out the other group to keep our group safe – taken to madness. 

My fellow Somali citizens before a year is over we require no less than an imaginative, intelligent and broadly accepted constitution and elected anti-corruption and anti-tribalism leaders like Mrs. Yussur Abrar  . Otherwise we are not out of the woods yet.

By: Haboon Haji Abdi ⁽¹⁾ Buhotle -Khatumo State –Somalia, February 24^th, 2014