1. Unit One
Contemporary Politics in the Horn of Africa (Post
1990s)
Unit Overview
Dear students, as a renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle
stated “Man is a political animal". Because he is asocial
creature with the power of speech and moral reasoning.
The life of every human being throughout the world is
dominated by politics.
Politics here refers to power and resistance in a society.
It constitutes, therefore, different forms of resistance and
power relations among individuals or social groups with
regard to the distribution of resources or status
2.
Power and resistance can be organized formally or
informally.
For example, government is the formal organization
of power.
The branch of social science that studies politics and
systems of governance systematically is Political
Science.
In the understanding of the Horn of Africa, the study of
contemporary politics is extremely important.
In this unit, you will study the contemporary politics in
the Horn of Africa since 1990s.
As you may remember, the major political developments
before this period are properly discussed in grade nine.
3. Dear students, we can simply identify three
major features of the contemporary politics in
the region:
First, the increase in the quest for democracy from
the side of society and unwillingness and/or
incapacitation of state institutions to address these
legitimate questions
second, conflict, instability and partition/ secession
of states;
third, the nature of the involvement of the
international powers in the post-Cold War era.
4. What does the state of democratization look like in the
Horn of Africa?
Why and how did new states emerge in the Horn of
Africa?
Which major powers show great interest in the region?
1.1. The Quest for Individual and Collective Democratic
Rights
Since the end of colonialism, people’s struggle for
political freedom and democratic governance
continued to rise in all countries of the Horn of Africa.
The quest for democratic rights has become a
continuous pursuit of the people since gaining
political independence from colonial powers in the
1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Djibouti being the last country
to become independent in 1977.
5. Unfortunately, governance in the immediate
aftermath of independence was mostly autocratic
throughout Africa and democratic institutions
were in their infancy.
Throughout the period of Cold War the weak
protection and exercise of all kinds of democratic
rights in almost all countries of the Horn of Africa
has been central to political resistance
These democratic rights include basic rights such
as equality, freedom and religion; the right to
freedom can be exercised both individually as well
as collectively
Individuals are free to work, own property, form
their own opinion and express their opinions
through different mechanisms by joining political
parties, exercising their right to be elected and by
voting
6. o French Jurist K.Vasak categorized rights into three generation:
Civil and political rights(first generation rights),
Social, cultural and economic rights(second generation rights)
Peoples rights(third generation rights).
o First generation rights are considered as individual or personal
rights and whereas second and third generation right is considered
as collective or group rights.
o Individual right is based on an absence of any restriction of human
activity, which is fixed in principle of law and does not demand
special costs from the state.
o Collective rights are an opportunity to do something that is
grounded on principles.
o Its realization is conditioned by gov’ts disposition to create an
env’t in which people can develop their full potential and lead
productivity, creative lives in accord with their needs and
interests. These right is appeal to social equality
7. Similarly, collective rights include the right to
association, assembly, the right to self-
administration, self-determination and cultural
rights
Such rights can be exercised by collectives
such as religious groups, identity/cultural
groups or political associations(UN ,1948).
In the Horn of Africa various identity/cultural
groups have tried to exercise their collective
rights fighting against dictatorial regimes
In all countries of the Horn, even in Kenya
where the constitution prohibits the formation
of political parties based purely on ethnicity,
collective or group rights have been the major
deriving force of state politics
8. Since its independence in 1960, Somali politics have
been pushed towards pan Somali politics by prominent
personalities such as president Mohammed Siad Barre.
As we can see below in a section which deals inter-state
wars in the Horn of Africa, the idea of Greater Somalia
was designed to bring all ethnic Somalis living in
neighbouring states of Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia
under one unified state
• The Greater Somali movement would ultimately lead to
the confederacy of the five clan families, namely:
1.Darod
2.Hawiye
3.Isaaq
4.Dir
5.Digil- Mififleh.
9. However, the (pan-)Somali identity is not the only
identity an individual possesses; in fact, a person might
give political allegiance first to:
their immediate lineage
their clan
their religion or
their political ideology.
Despite Mohamed Siad Barre’s (President, 1969-1991)
anti clannism rhetoric in support of the vision of Greater
Somalia, his military regime was supported by his clans
who were part of the Darod clan
Specifically an alliance of Darod clans (Marehan,
Ogaden and Dhulbahante, hence the acronym MOD)
dominated state authority in Somalia and resulted in the
alienation of other Somali clans.
In post 1990’s Somalia clan identity and collective rights
of groups organized under in sub-Somali cliques has
become central in politics.
10. The manifestations of such tendencies can be seen in three
interrelated processes:
(1) The rise of clan based oppositions
(2) The use of religion as factor in political mobilization
(3) The decision of Somaliland to form an independent state
seceding from the Somali state.
With regards to first, political grievances among the Majeerteen,
the Isaaq and the Hawiye has led to the creation of clan based
opposition groups.
For example, the Somali Salvation Democratic Front(SSDF),
the Somali National Movement (SNM), the United Somali
Congress (USC) and the Somali Patriotic Movement were
Majeerteen, Isaaq, Hawiye and Ogaden based political
organizations respectively.
Group right in general and identity politics along clan allegiance
in particular played a crucial role in the introduction of federal
arrangement in Somalia and the establishment of the de facto
11. The five federal states namely :
1.Puntland (mainly Darod) 2.Galmudug (Mainly Hawiye),
3.Hirshabelle (Mainly Hawiye), 4.South West (Rahanweyn or
Digil and Mirifle), 5.Jubaland (Darod) and Benadir Regional
Administration (Moqadishu, Urban but the Hawiye) as well as
Somaliland (predominantly Isaaq) are established based on clans
and to promote and protect the group rights.
Clan politics and tensions have become crucial in shaping
Somali politics since 1991, preventing the establishment of a
stable Somali government for nearly two decades.
Clan politics continued to dominate the political sphere through
different time periods:
Civil War (1988-1991)
the United Nations intervention (1992–1995),
establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (2004-
2012),
the consolidation of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) rule in
2006, the intervention of Ethiopian government (2006–2009)
and
the renowned extremist group, Al-Shabaab (2006 - present)
12. • This brings us to the second point on the use of religion as
factor in political mobilization.
• The first collective religious group that worked towards political
ends in Somalia was al-ittihad al-Islamiya (AIAS).
• It used religious ideology to work against extremist clan
allegiances by the Somali population.
AIAS was destroyed by the US led UN intervention (1992–
1995); however, the ideology continued and led to the
emergence of the ICU.
Al-Shabaab (full name: Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen) is
said to have emerged out of the ruins of the ICU during the
Ethiopian intervention.
• It is an Islamic fundamentalist institution that has worked in
collaboration with al-Qaeda and has used terror attacks
against civilians.
• Besides terror attacks against the Somali government and
civilians in Mogadishu, one of the deadliest incidents outside of
Somalia took place in January 2019 when al-Shabaab attacked
a shopping mall in Nairobi killing 22 civilians.
13. • Thirdly, although acknowledging the collective
identity in ethnicity, language, culture and
religion, Somaliland, the home of the Isaaq
clan, declared an independent sovereign state
in 1991 separating itself from the rest of
Somalia.
• The sovereignty of Somaliland has not been
recognized by the international order yet.
• Therefore, it is only the defacto state, not the
de jure state.
• Others leaders of major clans established
states which constitute the Federal Republic
of Somalia.
14. Contemporary politics in post 1990s Sudan has been driven by
complex religious, cultural and racial politics.
Many scholars attributed the complexity to the colonial period where
residents of northern Sudan were allowed to culturally and politically
dominate.
The distinction made between northern and southern residents was
multifaceted.
Northerners were mainly :
Arabic speaking
identifying themselves as Arabs and
Muslims
while the southerners were mainly:
Christians or
followers of traditional religion
identifying as black Africans
Of course, issues of identity and territory are never as clear cut on
the ground, so both the south and the north had their own diversity
within them.
For example, the Darfur, inhabited by black pastoralists is part of the
north and the south itself have multiple identity groups such as the
Dinka and Nuer within it
15. The ‘Arab’ culture and northern politics was imposed on the
Southern territories leading to a 30 year political and military
resistance by the Southern Sudanese People Liberation
Movement (SPLM).
Besides allegations of ethnic and religious marginalization;
the people of the southern periphery remained largely poor
and with limited infrastructure.
Oil revenues were not fairly shared between the north and the
south.
Subsequent governments of Sudan imposed sharia law on
non-Muslim southerners, which fueled the protracted civil war.
The civil war in Sudan took place twice;
The First Sudanese Civil War lasted for 17 years (1955-1972)
and
the Second Sudanese Civil War lasted for more than 21 years
(1983 – 2005).
Finally, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in
2011, through a referendum based on a peace agreement
signed between the SPLM and the Government of Sudan
16. Even though the challenge of self-determination in
Sudan’s politics was settled through the independence
of South Sudan in 2011,
the new government of South Sudan at Juba is
currently struggling :
to properly manage diversity,
with tense conflicts between the Dinka and the Nuer,
and
with weak democratic institutions that hinder free
political competition,
corrupt security forces and a dysfunctional justice
system.
In Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir was removed from
power through popular protest after staying in power for
27 years; leaving a power vacuum that led to the current
dominance of the military in the country
17. In Djibouti head of state was unwilling to leave
power.The President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh,
has stayed in power since 1999.
Initially the constitution of Djibouti limited the term of
presidents to two.
However, towards the end of Guelleh’s second rule, the
parliament amended the constitution to remove the term
limit.
Popular protests opposing the actions of the parliament
took place in 2014, but it was quickly suppressed.
State Politics in post 1991 Djibouti is also a delicate
balance between the Afar and the Issa Somalis.
This is partly because of the history of diverging
interests in the 1960s and 1970s and the history of
political conflict between the two in 1990s.
In the 1960s and 70s, the Afar had shown interest to
remain with France, while the Issa were interested to join
the rest of Somalia; after a decade Djibouti became an
independent country separating from France in 1977.
18. • The other incident is that conflict between Afar led
opposition and Issa led government broke out in the
early 1990s.
• Three Afar led oppositions were formed:
Front for the Restoration of Right and Equality, and
the Djibouti Patriotic Resistance Front.
All these merged in 1991 to form The Front for the
Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD).
In late 1991, FRUD launched a rebellion against the
government.
Nearly 1,000 people died during the conflict until
1994.
In summary, contemporary Djibouti politics is the
politics of a quest towards individual as well as
collective rights.
19. Kenyan contemporary politics isn’t different in this regard.
The politics of group rights is prevalent in the ethnic
interaction especially among the:
Kikuyu,
Luo,
Kalinji and Luyha since the period of colonialism.
The paradox is that the constitution of Kenya (Article 92(2))
prohibits the formation of political parties “based on a
religious, linguistic, racial, ethnic, gender or regional basis”.
Yet, group identity has always been manipulating politics in
Kenya. Especially during election times, for example, in
1993,2007, 2013 and 2017 the rivalry between different ethnic
groups had posed the possibility of violence
Failing to accommodate the claim of ethnic grievances and
the quest for the protection of group rights, Kenya
experiences repeated violence based on group identity.
Conflicts occur frequently especially after the introduction of
multi-party politics in the early 1990s
20. Politics and rhetoric surrounding issues of self determination
and self-administration is an important part of contemporary
Ethiopian politics.
In the 1960s young educated Ethiopians started to debate “the
national / nationalities question,” it was a phrase they had
adopted from the Marxism movement.
One prominent Ethiopian Marxism explained the nationalities
question like this “what is a genuine national state? It is a state
in which all nationalities participate equally in state affairs, it is
a state where every nationality is given equal opportunity to
preserve and develop its language, its music and its history.
It is a state where Amharas, Tigres, Oromos, Harari, Somalis,
Wolaytas, Gurages etc are treated equally. It is a state where
no nation dominates another be it economically or culturally
21. After the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution abolished the
imperial government, liberation fronts in what later to be
the regions of Tigray, Oromia, Ethio-Somali, Sidama,
Benishangul and other areas launched armed struggle
for decades against the central government.
The quest for the protection of group right led to the
downfall of the military government in 1991 by of the
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front
(EPRDF).
• One of the very first people to reap the results of the
commitment to self-determination by the EPRDF were
the people of Eritrea.
• Eritrea got its independence from Ethiopia in 1991.
• The Eritrean question within the Ethiopian politics was
the question of self-determination.
• The liberation struggle for Eritrean independence took
three decades.
22. • After independence, the quest for democracy among
the Kunama, the Afar and some religious groups in
Eritrea has grown; especially among the Eritrean
Diaspora to these days.
• Eritrea is currently a country where democratic
institutions such as parliament, electoral
commissions and political parties do not exist.
• Religious freedom is highly crippled by the state and
youth have suffered due to limited higher education
institutions in the country and forced conscription
• In conclusion, the quest for democracy should be
holistic encompassing individual liberties, institution
building and the recognition of group rights based on
strong legal and judicial mechanisms
