Book Review
Rebuilding Somaliland: Issues and possibilities.
Lawrenceville NJ and Asmara: The Red Sea Press Inc., 2005. viii
+ 393 pp. 29.95 (paperback). ISBN 1-56902-229-1 (paperback).
from African Affairs 2007 106(422):165-166, ©
Royal African Society 2007
This collection of essays provides a unique and insightful account
of Somaliland's post-1991 reconstruction process from the perspective
of Somalilanders themselves. It is the product of a collaborative
research project undertaken by WSP International (formerly the War-torn
Societies Project) and the Academy of Peace and Development (a local
Somaliland institution) between 1999 and 2002. In accordance with
WSP International's aims, Rebuilding Somaliland concentrates on
analysing the specific challenges Somaliland is perceived to face
in its ongoing reconstruction process. The final outcome, however,
is a book that, in addition to dealing with those challenges, provides
a general portrait of the secessionist north-western part of Somalia,
a rare success story of post-conflict reconstruction and credited,
by South African academic Iqbal Jhazbhay, as 'Africa's best kept
secret'.
WSP's Somaliland programme generated two different types of written
document. First, there is the 'self-portrait', which was intended
to build 'a foundation of information and analysis on which a national
discourse of post-war priorities could subsequently take place'
(p. 359). Second, there are four 'entry points' (the results of
workshops and working group deliberations) that aim to portray the
'debates and concerns of the Somaliland community' (p. 360) and
advance an analysis of, and recommendations for, the relevant issues.
It is these five written products that form the core of the book.
The introductory chapter is a succinct version of the (previously
published) Self-Portrait of Somaliland, which provides an overview
of Somaliland's history and the plethora of perceived challenges
in political, economic, and social rebuilding. The four 'entry points'
(chapters 3µ6) deal with various issues. Chapter 3 addresses
political representation, decentralization of administration, taxation,
and equity in the context of Somaliland's transition from the clan-based
'beel system' to a multiparty democracy. Chapter 4 explores the
role of the media in Somaliland's democratization process. Chapter
5 examines the important issue of regulation of Somaliland's livestock
economy. And finally, chapter 6 examines the changing values, roles,
and relationships within the family, the socio-economic effects
of qaad use on the family, and social support systems for the post-war
family. In addition to these five texts, the book has a chapter
on the specific Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodology
used in the research (chapter 2) and an external evaluation of the
project (chapter 7).
Given that (southern) Somalia is currently experiencing one of
the most politically turbulent periods in a long time and that several
other states are battling with the challenges of reconstruction,
Rebuilding Somaliland makes for topical reading. Above all, though,
the book is a welcome addition to the still-meagre body of literature
specifically on Somaliland , which to date consists only of a few
journal articles, book chapters, and miscellaneous material produced
by NGOs. The book will be of interest to both academics and policy-makers
alike. However, one has to remember that the book 'written by a
team of researchers from the Academy of Peace and Development, WSP
International's affiliate in Somaliland, on the basis of thousands
of interviews and conversations with people across Somaliland' (p.
2) is 'self-consciously designed to be written from the perspective
of the Somaliland community' (p. 360) and as such 'it takes on an
explicitly Somaliland point of view on matters related to the contemporary
affairs of the self-declared country' (p. 360). This is a point
taken up by Menkhaus in his evaluation. This partisan stance is
particularly clear in the introduction, 'which includes interpretations
of recent history clearly dominated by a pro-Somaliland position'
(p.360), and no attempt has been made 'to strike a balance with
southern Somali views, or to alert the reader that the interpretations
provided may be contested by others' (p. 360).
The four research topic chapters of the book do provide space for
dissenting views and debates within Somaliland. The book an outcome
of a project that necessarily needed the consent and active participation
of the Somaliland government was not hesitant in being critical
of both national and international actors. However, as Menkhaus
notes in the project evaluation, the consensual approach of the
project together with the wide range of participants with a diverse
range of views meant that on the occasions when no agreement was
achieved, the recommendations probably of most interest to the policy-makers
were fairly general and broad. Overall though, it appeared that
the Somaliland project had clearly learned from the lessons of the
Puntland and other WSP projects and as such proved a greater success.
This success was clearly reflected in the quality of the book, which
to date provides probably the most definitive account of Somaliland
and its reconstruction process.
Johanna Huhtanen
University of St. Andrews
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