Is May 18 The Somaliland Day Or The Cleaning Day?

By Dalmar Kaahin, Ottawa, Canada

Yes, if you are still stuck on reinforcing a dead man’s policies, then May 18 is the “cleaning day.” Despot Gen. Siyad Barre—the former ruthless dictator who ruled Somalia for 23 years, with iron fist—named the 18th of May: the “cleaning day” or “Maalintii Nadaafada.”However, from the Somalilander’s prospective, May 18th is a day of joy; a contrast to October 21—a day of tyranny, where Gen. Barre’s cruel Army, an array of killing machines were showcased in a parade.

Oddly enough, May 18 is the same day that Somalilanders reassured themselves that Gen. Barre and his legacy were gone for good. May 18, 1991 was the day that Somaliland people realized that they have been duped into believing in bogus Somali nationalism that the unholy “father of Somalia”—Gen. Barre—betrayed it: his Army obliterated cities from the face of the earth, raped and brutalized citizens in droves. He put Somalilanders against each other for almost three decades, where a nephew and his uncle couldn’t spare each other’s life because they belonged to different tribes. Or a young man could not visit his aunty in another region because his cousins’—her sons—would probably kill him.

It was the day that the noble people of Northern Somalis put an end to hostilities where before this day someone from Borama couldn’t visit Burco, or LaasAnnod, and vise versa. It was a day of joy. It was the day that marked the end of animosities and bloodshed between Somaliland tribes.

On this day, it downed on Somalilanders that for almost 30 years nothing had been invested into their country. But the evidence of hate, poverty, ignorance, and the scares of oppression were abundant, and visible everywhere.

May 18th of every year is a day that the 50,000 Somalilanders slaughtered in the late 80s whisper into our ears while we sleep and say, “keep the peace, trust each other, agree to disagree and don’t repeat another 30 years of free falling into an abyss. Work with your neighbors before you attempt to work with someone else that lives 1000km away from you.”

May falls in the middle of the Gu—rainy season in Somaliland. And May the 18th is a day when the rain exposes the bones of the dead—the victims of Gen. Barre’s brutal Army— and people gather around the mass graves; the dead speak to us again and say, “use our tragedy as another reason to forgive each other, another reason to build your country, another reason to educated your youngster so that another catastrophic event is not repeated. But don’t use our tragedy as an opportunity to emotionally exploit and manipulate the survivors where the public is divided into victims and victimizers. Coexist peacefully, so the dead could rest in peace.”

On May 18, 1991, our people acknowledged that Gen. Barre not only used one tribe as the bulwark against another one, but also he had never invested a penny of their tax money into their country. They have also acknowledged, yes, that Gen. Barre slaughtered thousands of civilians, and yes his opponents, SNM forces, were not angels either, but it was time to move on, so the healings begun.

It was the day that Somalilanders realized to sweep the past under the carpet is a big mistake; to cling on to it—and make fetish out of it—is even a bigger mistake. It was the day that Somalilanders chose to press ahead.

We may disagree with each other the direction that our country is heading, and that is the essence of true democracy; but as of May 18, 1991 we buried our ugly past behind us. No more hell in our cities, no more cousin’s of different tribes butchering and jamming daggers into each other’s hearts. No more!

As of May 18, 1991 there were no more maggots—Gen. Barre and his loyal gangs from every tribe—left in Somaliland. And we would continue disinfecting the nation until our hearts and soles are purified, until we rid of tribalism and ignorance, and until we get to the point that we are more loyal to our country than to our tribes. The clean up would continue every year this time—May the 18th.

So, yes it is a marvelous day to celebrate as well as to clean up. Where is my broom?

E-mail: dalmar_k@yahoo.com

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