Socialism In Somalia Analysis

The main aim of this thesis was to contribute to a better understanding of the existing literature about the analysis of political economy of socialism in Somalia, and it was mainly focused on the economic and political impact of socialism on the Somali state. As discussed in the introductory chapter, during the cold war, socialism had become an active promotion in Africa. Some African countries including Somalia had pursued an internal policies that have led to totalitarian rule. In the case of Somalia, Mohamed Siad Barre, seized the power in a military coup in 1969 and renamed the country the Somalia Democratic Republic that he vowed it was based on scientific socialism. It was argued in this thesis that, Siad Barre who didn’t have a formal
He mentioned that the clan has been outlawed, but at the same time gave a great share to his sub clan. Not only clans, but all formal political institutions existed during the civilian regime has been suspended. Moreover, all formal government institutions such as, parliament, Supreme Court, and political parties were adjourned. Political associations and gathering were prohibited, and ‘the death penalty’ for offenders was implemented by the military.

When the president of the civilian and democratically elected regime has been assassinated by one of his body guards with the complicity of the military junta, and they overthrow the civilian regime, this had created a political vacuum which shapes the central political chaos of Somalia till today. As discussed in the literature of the Somali state conflict, Siad Barre promised to the Somali nation that, socialism will bring three important prospects, unity and justice; economic independency and sufficiency; and development. However, these has been proofed to the opposite. The country had experienced disunity and inequality among clans; an economy depending on foreign aid; and food import due to the failure of local agriculture and
As Makhubela noted, there were many additional problems to the Somali case, the colonial legacy; Siad Barre’s repression; competition for land and food resources; clan rivalries; clan inequality; exclusion from power and wealth sharing; the economic decline under Barre; the hyper-militarization of the Somali nation due to the abundance of weapons acquired during the years of conflict. However, his analysis is missing the impact of socialism and how the economy failed under Barre regime. I argue in this thesis that, Socialism was a major factor of both economic catastrophe and political upheavals in post-independent Somalia. Abdi Ismail himself described the presence of Soviet Union in Somalia as “unhappy principle”. Although there is no clear evidence which shows that Moscow orchestrated both the assassination of the civilian president and support of the military takeover, there was obvious coincided interests. As discussed in chapter one, the deep presence of Islam in the Somali social fabric and the regime’s reluctance to aggressively address this issue was the main source of serious confrontation between socialism and Islam. As far as religion was concerned, Moscow wanted to see Somali state based on Marxist-Leninist principles, free from religious influence. In contrast, the Somali people, on the other hand, believed