Although Somaliland is not recognized as an independent state, in reality, it functions as one.

Gitau Muthuma

ANALYSIS
Despite the recent attack on the president's palace and the UNDP headquarters in the capital, Hargeisa - suspected to have been carried out by Islamic militants - the breakaway Republic of Somaliland remains largely unaffected by the chaos that persists in southern Somalia . Situated in northwestern Somalia in the Horn of Africa, it was part of Somalia until 1991.

The region is bordered by Djibouti to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and the Puntland region of Somalia to the East. Somaliland has a working political system, government institutions, and its own currency and a 740 kilometer coastline along the Red Sea .

Following the collapse of the Siyad Barre regime, the northern part of the country declared itself independent as the Republic of Somaliland on May 18, 1991. However, it did not receive international diplomatic recognition.

In 1960, the area had enjoyed independence for a few days, between the end of British colonial rule and its union with the former Italian colony of Somalia (southern Somalia ). 40 years later, in 2001, voters in the territory overwhelmingly backed Somaliland 's independence in a referendum.

As a result, Somaliland leaders distance themselves from Somalia 's central transition government, which they see as a threat to their autonomy. That is why they were not part of the just ended IGAD leaders' meeting on Somalia in Nairobi . The main preoccupation of the government of Somaliland is to get international diplomatic recognition, which has so far proved elusive.

Those opposed to the recognition of Somaliland internationally fear that such a move would trigger an avalanche of secessionist demands in the rest of the continent. But even without this recognition, Somaliland has political contacts with Britain , Djibouti , Ghana , Belgium , Sweden and Ethiopia .

Ethiopia , in particular, needs Somaliland as an import/export outlet since it is landlocked. The US is also said to be toying with the idea of acknowledging the less volatile Somaliland Republic .

Some parts of the Somaliland territory such as Sool, Sanaag, northeastern Maakhir and Cayn are, however, not quite reconciled to the idea of the Somaliland Republic and still yearn for unity with Somalia .

Somaliland 's first president was the Abdirahman Ahmed Ali Tuur. He succeeded by the late Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal (also deceased) in 1993. Neither of them was elected; instead, they were appointed by the Grand Conference of National Reconciliation.

Egal was reappointed in 1997, and remained in power until his death on May 3, 2002. The vice president, Dahir Riyale Kahin succeeded him and in 2003 and became the first Somaliland president to be elected by popular vote.

Somaliland 's system of government combines traditional and western institutions. The Executive consists of a President, Vice-President and a Council of ministers. The judiciary is independent, and the Legislature bicameral.

The traditional Somali council of elders was incorporated into the governance structure and forms the Upper House of the Legislature; it is responsible for managing internal conflicts. The government in Somaliland is a power-sharing coalition of the main clans, with seats in the Upper House proportionally allocated to clans according to a predetermined formula.

This was also the case with the Lower House, but in September 2005, voters elected a new parliament, and the system where MPs had hitherto been chosen by clan elders through a process of consultation was finally discarded.

The Somaliland constitution limits the number of political parties to three, and they are the United Peoples' Democratic Party (UDUB); Peace, Unity and Development Party (Kulmiye); and the Justice and Development Party (UCUD). These parties are mainly clan based and no single one is capable of winning power on its own, hence the coalition.

President Dahir Riyale Kahin of the ruling UDUB, who won Somaliland's first multi - party presidential elections in April 2003 with a slim majority, and whose five-year term ended in May 2008, had his term controversially extended by Somaliland's council of elders.

This was ostensibly because Somaliland was not adequately prepared in terms of voter registration and other logistics. Voter registration is now complete, and the presidential election will be held in April 2009.

Somaliland is mainly inhabited by the sub-clans of the Dir and the Darood clans. The major clan in Somaliland is the Isak, followed by the Gadabursi. Others clans are the Issa the Gabooye and the Darood sub-clans, the Dhulbahanta, and Warsengeli.

The Darood sub-clans mainly support the Kulmiye party, whose candidate is Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud Silanyo. The various sub-clans of the Isaksub- clan of the larger Dir clan, namely the Garhajis, and the Habar Jelo, support the UCID party whose presidential candidate is Faysal Ali Warabe. The Habar Awal, also a sub-clan of the Isak, support President Riyale's UDUB.

The Gadabursi's support is divided between two parties. One of the sub-clans, the Mahadase, support Kulmiye since the vice-presidential candidate for the party, Abdirahman Saylici is one of their own. The other Gadabursi sub-clan, the Habar Arfan, support UCID. The Makahil, also of the Gadabursi clan from which President Riyale hails, support UDUB.

As things stand now, there seems to be an alliance between the Kulmiye and UCID parties, and they may well kick Riyale's UDUB out of power.

Economically, Somaliland is still in its developing stages. The Somaliland shilling, while stable, is not an internationally recognized currency and currently has no official exchange rate (unofficially $1 is equivalent to 6,000 Somaliland shillings).

It is regulated by the Bank of Somaliland, the central bank. The bulk of Somaliland 's exports are livestock, hides and skins. Agriculture, mostly cereal production, is minimal.

However, recent research shows that Somaliland has large offshore and inshore oil and natural gas reserves. But since the country lacks diplomatic status, these resources cannot be exploited at the moment. Somaliland's port of Berbera has also grown as a major export port for Ethiopia since the latter's fall-out with Eritrea .

Given its relative stability, and despite some local and international opposition, it may well be more practical for the international community to recognize Somaliland as a separate entity from the chaotic south Somalia since it in fact functions as such in reality.

**Gitau Muthuma is the registrar, Eelo American University , Borama, Somaliland .

Source: The Monitor ( Uganda )