REMEMBRERING SNM ON ITS 30TH ANNIVERSARY
30 years ago in English spring, SNM (Somali National
Movement), a liberation
front against dictatorial regime of Somalia, was
officially launched in London, asthere was no possibility to hold free assemb ly or
conference neither in Somalia
nor in the whole Middle East. Representatives were
constituency based andnot clan based as practiced latter on. They came from
Somali communities
abroad mostly from Europe and Middle East with
representation and approval bygrass-root and leadership units in side the country.
Immediately SNM ignited thefirst spark of continuous armed struggle for a decade,
during which the tyrantbombed civilians, shelled its cities and sent the entire
residents of major to wns ofSomaliland like Hargeysa, Buroa, Berbera and Erigabo and
many more to refugee
camps in Eth iopia and in exile far away.
SNM leadership brought in a new style of governance to
armed movements. It
established a system of democratic government, with
independent executive and
legislative branches. Occupants were democratically
elected through a process
of constituency selections. The executive were led by a
C hairman elected for one
year. The armed wing of SNM was operationally
independent but at the poli cy
level was directed by the executive. Democratization of
an armed movement
to that extend was unprecedented. During 10 years of
armed struggle, SNM
changed leadership democratically, so ofte n. It had five
Chairmen in the process.The Chairman with the longest tenure was Ahmed Silanyo,
cur rent President of
Somaliland.
It is that background which helped Somaliland to adopt
democracy practically,effectively and peacef ully in a short period.
Let me leave with you this interview with President
Ahmed Silanyo, then
Chairman of SNM. It is an illustrative lesson that
portrays the raison d'être andmotives of SNM. This interview was translated by BBC
Monitoring Unit.
He Has Done to the People Things Which the Colonialists
Never Did.
(Clandestine) Radio Halgan Interviews SNM's Silanyo
in Somali 1700 GMT 3 Aug 87
[Excerpts] [HALGAN] Radio Halgan, the united voice of
the Somali opposition forces to
interview fi ghter Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo, the Somali
National Movement chairman.
We asked him about the general situation in Somalia.
[Silanyo] The general situation in Somalia is, as all
Somali people know, [words
indistinct]. He has be en dictator for a long time.
During his rule the economy, the
political situation and other factors aff ecting the
lives of the people have deteriorated.There is less freedom. He has done to the people things
which the colonialists
never did, things which they have never experienced
before. The horrors the system
has imposed on them are well known. Today there is
internal strife. There is a strugglegoing on between a group who belong to Siyaad Barr's
clan or household and another
group who see themselves as the rightf ul successors
according to the so-called law of
the land.
He has appointed his son, Masleh, to the new post of
army commander in and around
Mogadishu. Masleh has also been made the
commander-in-chief. This means that
prepara-tions are underway to put him in charge of the
army, security and everything
else i.e. minister of defense, now that Mo hamed Ali Samantar has lost that post. The
latter has been made prime minister.
As we have said many times before, all this is leading
to a monarchical system of rule
based on here ditary succession. The preparations for
this have been observed for
a long time. From the beginning the people have been
fighting not only against the
dictatorship destroying the land and the people but also
moves towards creating a
monarchy in the country. Those who oppose it are pushed
about when they express
disagreement. The Somali people must study this
situation carefully. The people of the
world should do [word indistinct]. The fighting Somali
opposition forces, who have seen
ever ything that has happened and can even see what is to
come, have always been
against such things. I believe that the Somali people
will not let this continue.
[HALGAN] Fighter chairman, once the situation reaches
that level, it is certain that
the Somali peopl e will rise up and struggle against any
colonizer. It is also certain that
the level of struggle against Siyaad Barre has increased
in the country, as you have
said here tonight. We would like you to tell the Somali
people about the extent of the
liberation struggle spearheaded by the armed Somali
opposition forces.
[Silanyo] As you said, it is quite clear that the
present system in the country is not in
the interests of the people. It suppresses the people,
kills them, herds them into prisons,
destroys the economy, and makes living conditions worse.
When this became clear, all the people began to oppose
it. We know and strongly
believe that 99 percent of the Somali people, wherever
they may be, whether inside
the country or abroad, can now be described as open
rebels with no confidence in the
system. However, there are many diffe rent kinds of
people. There are some who stay in
the country to protect their interests.Some face
circumstances in which they cannot rise
up or do anything about the system which they are
witn ess-ing. There are some who
get their way.
There are others who hate the system in their hearts.
Many of them remain outside
and inform the world of the suppression and oppression
to which people are subjected.But they are not organized. The two organizations which
are armed and organized in
every sense and who lead the opposition are the SNM and
the DFSS. The level of this
struggle is satisfactory in every way. It inspires a lot
of confidence that the system will
be toppled, overthrown and brought to its knees. There
is no doubt that the struggle is
gaining ground daily. It has inflicted heavy losses on
the fascist system's army in arms,
equipment and other ways. Politically the people have
been alienated from him.
The people are working for the struggle because of his
oppression. The struggle is at
a good level and it has a lot of confidence. On the
battlefields we have the upper hand.His radio stations do not report this fact. The
surprising thing is that when their letters
are intercepted, like that of Morgan, which has received
a lot pub-licity and comment in
the international press they tell lies about winn ing a
victory and inflicting certain losses
in such and such a place, when actually they did nothing
of the sort and the truth is to
the contrary.
The children of many people have been shaved and taken
away to fight in other
regions. Their pare nts and relatives do not know where
they are. The system does not
disclose their whereabouts. It hides the truth but it
knows the extent of its casualties.
In short we say that, whether inside or outside, the
just struggle against Said Barre has
the upper hand and is full of confidence.
Final victory is certain, however long it may take. The
last battle to be reported by
Radio Halgan was 2 or 3 days ago, when they were badly
beaten. So, the struggle is
continuing. It will continue and go on to victory, God
grant.
[HALGAN] Fighter chairman, after the struggling Somali
peo-ple began to win
the political and armed struggle, the unreason-able
regime resorted to cowardly
acts inspired by fear, that is, the assass ination at SNM
bases of personalities who
spearheaded the struggle in the SNM wing of the Somali
opposition forces, for example
Col Adan Shaykh Mahmud Ali Shine and Col Abd al-Qadir
Kosar. What light can you
throw on this matter for the Somali people?
[Silanyo] First, as you said, they were killed at SNM
combat bases, while discharging
their duties. We ask God to rest their souls in peace.
They were martyred and died for a
just cause, the cause of the Somali people. We say their
death was a just one. May God
console their bereaved relatives? We see that they did
their duty. They died for a just
cause that is being continued by the Somali people.
Their death will not be in vain. We inform the Somali
people that the struggle for which
these men died and suffered martyrdom will encourage the
people. The struggle will
never be crippled by such acts. Their martyrdom will
fuel the struggle be redoubled
instead.
[HALGAN Fighter chairman, it is true that the worlds'
mass media have been
commenting on Somalia. They show a correct picture of
the true situation in Somalia.
But sometimes, for whatever reason, they distort the
objectives of the armed Somali
opposition forces. It is our duty to clarify this for
the Somali people.
[Silanyo] The world's mass media comment widely on the
sit-uation in Somalia, mostly
giving the tr ue situation, exposing the violation of
human rights, the injustices, the clan-based rule, the weak economy, and hard living
conditions. When reporting the struggle,
they tell the truth most of the time. However, because
of different interests and levels
of information some radio stations and pa pers employing
various journalists wrongly
report. Some of them say, as the BBC did in its
commen tary on my speech of 26 June,
that the SNM is clan-orientated.
All the people are suffering and are oppressed. They all
suffer from bad government.
Misuses of pub lic funds, destruction of life,
insecurity, suppression, lack of freedom and
lack of democracy have aff ected everyone.
The fact that special pressure is applied to the
northern regions where the struggle
is more intense needs no explanation. The armed struggle
is more intensified there.
My point is that in whatever reg ion and place, the
struggle that is taking place is a
Somali struggle whose objectives and aspirations are
based on the removal of that
cruel system which is characterized by inhumanity,
greed, bad pol itics, ignorance, and
problems.
When it is said that a clan or a family is singled out,
it is true because when the clan or
the family us es public funds that are common to all
Somali people, is dictatorial, ignores
the face of freedom, and wants to establish an outdated
feudal monarchy, which has
never existed in Somalia, it cannot be accepted. I
hereby clarify that we are not against
a clan or an innocent group, as Siyaad Barre is
wronging, killing and spying. We want
to remove all injustices and associated problems in the
count ry.
If the economy has collapsed, if there is no security,
if women and children are being
massacred and subjected to indecencies, if the
pastoralists are being obliterated, if
neither a shaykh nor an intelle ctual nor youth is safe,
if the people have been reduced
to exile within and without, if the learned have been
finished all these call for the fight of
a nation. It is not right to interpret that liberation
struggle as a fight against a particular
group. We do not want to harm anybody. We just want our
rights.
[HALGAN] Fighter chairman, now you have spoken on the
general situation of the
country and the level of the struggle, and you have
thrown some light on the issues we
discussed, Radio Halgan fin ally asks you to say what you
call on Somali people to do.
[Silanyo] It is clear what the Somali people are being
called upon to do, and it is what
we are discu ssing. They have been called upon many times
before. Most of the people
are not without informa tion. Therefore, we call on
Somali people not to accept and
not to endure. Join us, give full support to the
struggle, and perform your role. Lives
are sacrificed for liberation and free-dom. They are
sa crificed for, fought for, moved
for, cried for, and demonstrated for. So we say rise up.
You must not sit if your house,
camels, wife, and children are not safe. You know this
very well. There is nothing to
wait for. Rise up and join the struggle and move forward
with the fight. Thank you. THE
END.
With that in mind, Ahmed Silaanyo continued his devotion
to politics in order to
bring to fruition his vision and aspiration. The winning
manifesto presented tothe public by Kulmiye party, the party of the President
was directly translated
from the aims and the objectives of SNM. It's ultimate
aim be ing to build a nation
where rule of the law is the custom.
To change our people for better quality of life, calls
for economic development
and enhancement of education, health and social justice.
In their turn these
dignified objectives can be achieved by era dicating
corruption and implementing
righteous principles of good governance, transparency
and accountability.
Today the President Silanyo is at the helm. He has all
intentions and commitment,
as well as power albeit limited by circumstances, to
leave a legacy of
accomplishing the ultimate goal of SNM. (Somali land,
where rule of the law is the
norm). The expectation of the public is very high, for
they value this leadership
dear. It is a huge responsibility and it's realization
demands teamwork and can do
attitude from all levels and sectors of government, as
well as understanding and
cooperation from the public.
Stand for the aspiration of our people, those who
struggled so long and hard to
have basic human rights: rights for employment, shelter,
education, better heath,
justice, security, equal right to nati onal resource and
wealth, and many more.
United we succeed, divided we fail.
Mr. Ahmed H. Arwo
Somaliland Presidential Advisor on
Economy,
commerce and
Investments
Eci.advisor@ymail.com
Hargeysa
Somaliland |
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