The Damage Done By War in Somalia
The fall of the Said Barre regime in 1991 marked the beginning of Somalia’s recent history of conflict. Since then Somalis have lived in the throes of insecurity and conflict.
The fall of the Said Barre regime in 1991 marked the beginning of
Somalia’s recent history of conflict. Since then Somalis have lived in
the throes of insecurity and conflict. What Somali’s hear too often are
the ear-splitting sounds of Kalashnikovs, screeches of pick-ups vehicles
carrying machine guns, deafening bangs of rocket-propelled grenades,
yells of the desperate fleeing the scene of a crossfire and
bloodcurdling screams of wounded people.
Horrifying as this description may seem to a non-Somali without a
taste of the hellish experiences of life in a war-ravaged society; for
Somalis it has become normal way of life and a vivid sketch of the
realities within which they have had to make meaning of their average 49
years of life expectancy. Particularly for the estimated 44.7% of the
Somali population below 14 years and the about 50.0% of the population
who were born just before and after peace became a rare commodity in
the 637,657 sq km of territory in the horn of Africa, such is the
reality of life they know and contend with.
The psycho-social implications of such an environment on the
upbringing and development of those of such children who are lucky
enough to be alive range from a total denial of their childhood,
traumatic psychological experiences, and skewed moral development, among
others. Besides the social, moral, psychological and mental impacts,
such an environment also has dire implications for the quest for peace
owing to the effects it has on war-weariness and the desire for peace
among the population of the society at war.
Take for instance a Somali child who was born in 1991, the year in
which Barre’s dictatorial regime gave way to inter-clan rivalry,
inter-militia clashes, warlordism, banditry and war. Such a child is
likely to be in his late teens by now provided he or she is still alive
and has not been lost to the flying debris of a roadside bomb or an
inter-militia crossfire. If he or she has lived and grown up in Somalia
all these years, then the person is most likely to have lived all
his/her life in the environment of insecurity and may have no idea what a
society of peace is experientially likely to look like. The word
‘peace’ can be very uncommon in the ordinary vocabulary of such an
individual. If at all, ‘peace’ might not be a word learnt or heard from
the lips of peers. Instead, a culture of ‘us versus them’, survival of
the fittest, living by the gun and their associated vocabularies, as
pertains in war situations, are likely to form the greater part of the
person’s vocabulary in ordinary conversation. In fact, peace could be so
alien to such individuals that their real encounter of the world could
be in the news and most probably on the lips of the old.
Consider such a scenario side-by-side an adult who lived in Somalia
during the times of peace and can relate more experientially to what it
means to live in peace and can contrast the hellishness of the present
situations of conflict. Even though the current situation of insecurity
may be abhorred by the two groups of people (the young and the old), the
latter’s disgust will be worse because the background of peace will
make worse the present harsh condition of war. Thus, it will ordinarily
be easier for the latter to be war-weary and to desire peace in Somalia
because of the extent to which s/he can compare the two situations. The
quest for peace in the country can thus be easier to sustain among the
aging population who will have a burning desire to revisit normalcy in
their society than the younger generation who have never tasted peace
and may not know what it means to live in a society of peace.
This will imply that the more protracted such a conflict is, the
higher the chances that the generation of aging people who will desire
peace will pass away giving way to a more youthful group of people who
do not know what it means to live in peace and who have more energy to
fuel the inferno of conflict. In such a situation, the protracted nature
of the conflict itself has the capacity to re-enforce the perpetuation
of insecurity and undermine the quest for peace. Youngsters easily buy
into any idea of peace spoiling and sometimes contribute to the conflict
without understanding the basic underlying reason for fighting.
The contrast between these two generations of people can be sharp,
whereas the old will pray and yearn for the return of peace and will
hope that the next peace talks should bring peace, the talk of peace can
be very abstract for the young. It could be like fairy tales from the
wrinkling lips of an aged granny and the exploits of a grandpa in World
War I. Whilst the old may cry out; ‘God give us peace this time!’, the
young could ask with sheepish simplicity, ‘Mama, what is this peace you
yearn for?’ This implies that in the quest for peace in warring
societies like Somalia, time is of essence.
Andrews Attah Asamoah, Researcher, Training for Peace Programme, ISS Nairobi
