Somalis' historical movements against foreign rule were significant in different epochs. It involved from one with cohesive religious agenda
during Ahmed Gurrey to one that exploited our clan divisions (not to the same degree as the Tories and Loyalists in American history) to mostly popular revolt against a set of colonial policies. Here is an account of pastoralists who rose in revolt against the introduction of anti-locust campaign and attempts by the colonial authority to suppress and crash the revolt.
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| Source of map: "Islam in Ethiopia" by Tirmingham |
The introductory part of this important historic account rehearses
the core justification of the colonial mission as to educate the locals, which they characterized as separate species not much different from the “wild” and the
“beast” on how to govern themselves or in euphemistic language how to orient the locals to adopt a "modern" system of
governance. The colonial
mission rested on the notion that colonialism was benign intervention to improve African societies by creating European style nation-states.
This historic record reflects various accounts of fierce resistances
against occupiers that are barely studied in Somali history. The revolt against the imposition of taxation, the formation of small political
parties that articulated the discontent and aspirations of Somalis for
independence are few examples. However, the chief aspect of this heterogeneous forms
of political struggle besides the Dervish struggle, according to the literature,
was the Pastoralist’s revolt against a locust control program in which the
colonial regime attempted to allocate a “set poisoned bait” to all the
districts in "British Somaliland".
In May 1945, Locust swarms descended on the countryside and
destroyed dozens of farms and grazing lands. However, the locals became suspicious throughout the
protectorate that the British had secret designs to destock or wipeout their livestock.
The first peace disorder took place In Zeila and Badhan, burning bait dumps and
attacking employees. The residents of Burco took the riot to the streets and
petitioned the District Commissioner at the time. The colonial authority warned
the protestors to refrain from spreading mischievous rumors and that its locust
control program was in the interest of soil conservation. It warned that anyone
who is found of spreading of such ill-conceived rumors faces punishment. The
colonial authority also preempted religious leaders from assuming any meaningful
role that may trigger popular resistance. According to Jama Mohamed who synthesized
these various accounts of resistance in the literature, Somalis held the belief
that that the colonial authority had secret plan to introduce settlers, and
this was a persistent theme in the literature[1].
Barely into a month following efforts to reverse locust invasion,
residents in Hadaaftimo adopted a strategy of non-cooperation in the form of
street protests hurling stones and poetic exchanges to foment public
discontent. Although there were some benefits of the poison baits in containing
the spread of locust, the natives believed their opposition to the locust control
program was the right approach to take in saving their livestock. Prior to the
campaign, the administration introduced two new policies to protect and
conserve the ecology of the land by encouraging more livestock exports and
grazing restrictions. The locals reacted negatively to the latter and invoked it
as a rallying cry throughout the period of revolt.
Other instances of the resistance came in the form of literary
expression through poems that called for the people to rise against the
colonial policies and to revenge for the killing of Sheikh Bashir whose body was
refused a proper burial. Instead, the British authorities left it unburied in a
Polyneices’ style of punishment. Haji Adan Afqaloc, a native of Erigavo
district, composed two historic national poems. “Raqdii Bashiir”, “The Corpse of
Bashiir” and “Gobonimodoon” “In defense of political independence” while in
Burco Jail. (Interestingly enough, Mahatma Gandhi and Kwami Nkurumah had spent sometime in the colonial jail in Bur’o, former British Somaliland.) Previously, the rise of Sheikh Bashir came after the colonial administration
punished the Habarjeclo clan by confiscating one thousand of their camels and
charging extortionate fee for the release of each camel. Sheikh Bashir’s armed
struggle was short-lived after units of the police force attacked his fort and
killed him and his entire followers. The poem translated in English goes:
Sheikh Bashir was hanged in daylight, at a house near you,
His body torn out by bullets,
And still covered with wet blood,
They kicked and insulted him
Then watched him with contempt
When the unwashed body was thrown outside,
And refused burial, you were all a witness.
There were others killed playfully,
About which nothing was done
The body of Qayb-diid is still warm
Though an old man, Farah was sent to jail
And now like a beggar he roams the outside world
They refused him rights over his family and wealth
The unjust man (British) is punishing everybody.
What the English always wanted, the people of India refused
The houses of Punjab and the gold that they hoarded there
have been denied to them
Now they look back at them with nostalgia
The celebration is for Muhammad Ali (Egypt)
And the French are leaving Syria that they conquered
They withdrew from Beirut, and Lebanon.
Many ships will arrive at our ports,
They will bring here (Somaliland) those thrown out by the
stream of shit,
The place where you pasture Daawad (the land), the infidels
will settle,
A man who owns a car and an aeroplane will force you to
work on his farms,
Few would survive such humiliation.
This rich poem, the content of which features historic figures and
awareness of political outcome in far regions, angered the Warsangeli and many
other pastoralists. The final content of this history is how the Warsangeli pastoralists
challenged the colonial authority, which in turn responded with brute force.
For the first time, the administration sent armored vehicles and an
aircraft from Royal Air force based in Aden led by Major General Wood
to combat the Warsangeli pastoralists. At the time of these incidents, the administration claimed all locals
were already disarmed and "pacified", yet the pastoralists
continued to resist against the policy, daring to attack armored vehicles,
for instance, in one instance, 300 Warsangeli clansmen armed with spears,
attacked armored units at Hubeera and Hadeed towns. “Even
though the pastoralists suffered losses, their attitude remained
‘unsatisfactory, and more force was considered necessary’: their attitude was
‘unsatisfactory’ to Major Wood, because they continued to resist the antilocust
campaign, and so more troops and police armoured cars were dispatched to the
district,” per the literature. It is important to note that Somalis
understood the concept of unity as it prevailed in our country back then.
This history reminds us that our people were united against
foreign rule regardless of our narrow differences. Great poems like those of
Haji Afqaloc did spark the revival of Somali nationalism long after Sayid Mohamed and Dervishes were defeated following the aerial
bombardment of Taleh, Badhan, and Jidbale, former Dervish bases.
Mohamed Elmi
Note: The article was first posted in 2008.
[1] Mohamed, J. (2002). 'The
Evils of Locust Bait': Popular Nationalism during the 1945 Anti-Locust Control
Rebellion in Colonial Somaliland. Past and Present, (174), 184-216.
