Table Of ContentUnderstanding statebUilding
To Scott
Understanding statebuilding
traditional governance and the Modern state
in somaliland
rebecca richards
University of Lancaster, UK
© rebecca richards 2014
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
rebecca richards has asserted her right under the copyright, designs and Patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
richards, rebecca.
Understanding statebuilding : traditional governance and the modern state
in somaliland / by rebecca richards.
pages cm
includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-2589-8 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4724-2590-4 (ebook) -- ISBN
978-1-4724-2591-1 (epub) 1. Nation-building--Somaliland (Secessionist government,
1991– ) 2. Newly independent states--Somaliland (Secessionist government, 1991–)
3. Somaliland (Secessionist government, 1991– )--Politics and government. 4. Somaliland
(Secessionist government, 1991– )--Ethnic relations. I. Title.
JZ5584.s58r53 2014
320.96773--dc23
2014003398
ISBN 9781472425898 (hbk)
ISBN 9781472425904 (ebk – PDF)
ISBN 9781472425911 (ebk – ePUB)
II
Printed in the United Kingdom by henry ling limited,
at the dorset Press, dorchester, dt1 1hd
contents
Acknowledgements vii
1 introduction 1
2 norms, ideals and Modern statebuilding 19
3 legitimacy and the ‘built’ state 39
4 The Clan, Governance and the Build-up to Breakdown 63
5 the emergence of the new state 95
6 the institutionalisation of the traditional 123
7 somaliland at the crossroads? 153
8 conclusions 177
Bibliography 195
Index 213
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Acknowledgements
My thanks go to the numerous people who have helped and guided me throughout
the process of writing this, from the proposal stage to completion. it is impossible
to mention everyone by name, but I would like to acknowledge the support
provided by family, friends, academics, organisations and many many individuals.
Firstly, I would like to thank Professor Mark Duffield, who has consistently
provided invaluable advice, comments, critiques and seemingly endless support.
Thanks also to Vanessa Pupavac and Martin Gainsborough for comments on
earlier drafts; to adam Morton for his continued support; to berit bliesemann de
Guevarra, Nina Caspersen, Ian Spears and Stuart Gordon for pushing me to think
further, and to Will Reno, I.M. Lewis and especially Mark Bradbury for all of their
assistance and guidance.
In Somaliland I would like to give thanks to everyone at the Academy for Peace
and development, especially Mohammed gees, bobe Yusuf duale nassir Osman
Sheikh Hassan and Abdi Aw Rabaax. A special thank you goes to Mohammed
Hassan Gani for all of his guidance, insight and special ambushing skills. Their
support and assistance were very much unexpected but overwhelmingly accepted.
Thanks also need to go to all the men of the Somaliland Guurti. they called me
the ‘walking contradiction’ at first but accepted me as one of their own at the end.
Special thanks at the Guurti must go to abdullahi habane and his staff for all of
their assistance and document retrievals. I would also like to thank Ulf Terlinden
and genti Miho for everything.
Finally, unquantifiable thanks must go to my family and friends for their
patience, understanding and support. and to robert – i could not have done this
without you.
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chapter 1
introduction
anyone who has watched enough documentaries on dangerous or ‘no-go’ places
in the world is sure to hear about somaliland at some point. somaliland is a
‘place that does not exist’. Officially on most government no-go lists because it
is technically a part of somalia, the idea of traveling to somaliland has an air of
intrigue, mystery and daring to it. anyone actually planning a trip to somaliland,
though, will encounter a different experience. Visitors can obtain visas from small
offices hosting Somaliland consulates prior to their arrival (these are unofficial
offices, of course. In London it can be found in a standard terrace on a back street
in Whitechapel). Regular flights from Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Dubai on major
carriers make Somaliland easy to reach. As mysterious travel goes, it is all fairly
mundane. Upon arrival, you disembark in a relatively developed airport, pass
through immigration and customs, and are met outside by taxi drivers in cars with
somaliland license plates clamouring to get your custom. the roads in the cities
are paved and maintained, the Somaliland flag flies above most buildings and
adorns almost anything imaginable in a show of nationalistic pride. it is against
the law to use certain plastic bags in the market as the thin blue variety have
a tendency to escape and collect in the bushes and trees, turning them an odd
shade of blue in an otherwise dusty and brown environment. the democratic
government is stable, political debate is commonly heard in most tea houses and
cafes, and the opposition is very vocal. the capital, hargeisa, is growing, it is
vibrant and it is booming. Most notable, though, is the remarkably peaceful and
orderly nature of Somaliland. The conflict that plagues the south is conspicuously
absent, and sometimes you have to remind yourself that you are indeed technically
in Somalia. Ask any Somalilander why Somaliland is different and they are
certain to reply with ‘we are not like Somalia. We are civilized and peaceful’.
somaliland may be on the list of places that do not exist, but being in somaliland
tells a completely different story. somaliland is a state without being a state, and
for more than 20 years it has been undergoing, and undertaking, a remarkable
self-led statebuilding process. guided by both external expectations and internal
necessities, it has created the apparent antithesis to its parent-state, somalia. the
question is, however, how did it do it?
the 1991 failure and collapse of the state in somalia ushered in what was
to become a long-term and largely unsuccessful effort aimed at internationally
driven post-conflict state reconstruction and statebuilding. Since 1992 Somalia
has been the subject of numerous peace conferences and a succession of attempts
at re-establishing the state apparatus and a government. the current government
in Somalia continues to be plagued with difficulties, not only from within the
