Paper presented at the āMuslim Societies and Peacebuilding,ā Al Hokama Center for Peace Research, Rabat, Morocco, 26-28 May, 2022. (For inclusion in an edited book forhcoming in 2023), 2023
This paper explores the role that the discriminatory 4.5 power sharing system plays in ossifying ... more This paper explores the role that the discriminatory 4.5 power sharing system plays in ossifying clan-based hierarchies and undermining the conditions needed for post-war peacebuilding in Somalia. The Banadiri, Bantu-Jareer, and other minoritiesāSomalis who are not genealogically related to the majority clans and the outcaste groupsāhave a long history of social marginalization. We argue and show empirically that incumbent groups (that is, the majority clans) have vastly more power than opposition groups (that is, minorities) and thus have greater power to shape the electoral system to serve their interest and maintain their power. Under-representation of minorities occurs through two pathways: first, in granting minorities a half ā.5ā share of seats compared to a full share for each of the four majority clans in the 4.5 system (where the ā4ā are the four majority clans), and, second, by falsely designating some majority subclans as minority ones in order to allow them to take some of the few seats given to minority clans. Although minority groups should receive at least 20 percent of the seats (55 of 275) in the legislative institutions according to their population size, minority clans hold only 11 percent of seats (31 of 275) in Somaliaās Lower House and 2 percent (1 seat) in the Upper House. We argue that this unjust situation persists for two reasons: first, majority clans are more able to advocate for their interests before the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) that supports Somaliaās federal elections including āthe delivery of elections which are free, fair, timely, peaceful, transparent, credible and inclusiveā (UNSOM 2022) and, second, Somaliaās clan system, with its dozens of clans and subclans, is complex and difficult for outsiders to understand. By shedding light on the role that electoral structuring plays in Somalia, this chapter has implications for the literature on electoral institutions and conflict for policymakers seeking to support durable and just peacemaking in Somalia. It urges the international community to support a census in Somalia, enforce equal representation of all majority and minority groups in Somaliaās Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament by reforming the 4.5 system, and take steps toward reinstating direct elections, which have not occurred in Somalia since 1969.
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or the other, either did not exist in the country or were barely known about. As the state of neglect became a major concern, UNICEF, the Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development of the Federal Government of Somalia, in conjunction with the Swedish government, created a platform to address the conundrum by contracting six selected universities in Somaliland, Puntland and Mogadishu in 2018 to start training the first batch of Somali social workers in certificate and diploma programs that culminated into a
4-year bachelorās degree study. From this background, this essay aims to contribute to the existing literature on social work by discussing the introduction of formal social work education in Somalia.
Index terms: Social Work Education, Social Work Practice, Social Work Profession, Somalia
society. In this regard, it can be said that as the master of the magics in the word, a writer can establish latitude of any imaginable scenario to limn his/her inner vision of the images perceived in that particular context. In
other words, the image of an imaginary world can be presented as an idealistic viewpoint without real ecospheric landscape where it can exist beyond the authorās imagination, while yet it remains an entertaining
piece of literary work on which a reader can reflect. To do so, the essay borrows considerably from selected works by Ali Jimale Ahmed and other Somali scholars.
(a) Does Somalia constitute a homogeneous society of Arab origin?
(b) Do the Somali Bantu/Jareer suffer ethnic marginalization?
(c) Who is a Somali and by what criteria is the paradigm of Somaliness/Somalihood determined?