The following was first published on eapcentre.org, and was contributed by ASFL Local Cordinator  June Moseti

Somalia has the distinction of being the world’s longest running failed state with no central government of any real authority. Peace and harmony in Somalia are seen to be as fleeting as the morning dew. Civil war has ravaged the country ever since Siad Barre’s ouster as president in 1991. The dictator oversaw a regime of gross atrocities on his people with the Somali Armed forces targeting civilians in ruthless attacks such as the 1988 bloody siege in Hargeisa that claimed 5000 civilian lives. A coalition of clan-based armed opposition group came to the rescue in 1991 and ousted the nations long standing military government. It would however, come to be that these same heroes would turn out to be the most vicious of villains as the country was plunged into a civil war that has spurned over two decades.

 
War in the region can be traced back to the 20th Century due to three reasons, namely: Barre’s dictatorship, colonialism and cold war international relations. The former colonial masters ruled Somalia as two regions: North was administered as British Somalia and the South as Italian Somalia. The two colonies in 1960 merged to form the Independent United Republic of Somalia in 1960. This however, left discordant tension due to differing economic, colonial and political traditions.

The international community has made several attempts to intervene in the civil war and bring in a state of lawfulness. “Operation Restore Hope” was a 1993 United States led nation-building and humanitarian intervention under the UN (the Unified Task Force, UNITAF). It was, however unsuccessful and was forced to withdraw after a blood bath in the streets of Mogadishu led to the casualties of US troops and the infamous “Black Hawk Down” occurrence. After this, a UN Peacekeeping Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM I and II) also withdrew in 1995. Somalia continued to be at the mercy of warlords who depended on tribal factions in their thirst for power. In the late nineties, a period of regionalization ensued with customary and religious law in many areas and the establishing of an autonomous local government in the North.

 
International pressure on Somalia continued to mount in the form of conferences and forums. This led to formation of the Transitional Federal Government in 2004. The aim was to restore national institutions and come up with a centralized government so as to restore order in the country. Abdullahi Yussuf Ahmed was elected as president of the TFG in Nairobi, Kenya in 2004. The interim administration operated from Nairobi, Kenya until the 26th of February, 2006 where the first session of parliament met in Baidoa, Somalia. The TFG was seen to be a toothless bulldog as it was a government with no control and running from outside the capital. Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, The Union of Islamic Courts (ICU) had established themselves in large bands of Southern Somalia administering strict sharia law in the region. The TFG, with the help of Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most parts of the South managing to split the ICU power ranks.

 
The ICU split into splinter groups such as the Al Shabaab- which was its military wing- which arose as a strong insurgency group capable of widespread atrocities and attacks on the federal government. The Al Shabaab group originally gained popularity with the youth due to its nationalist outline of emancipating Somalia from the Ethiopian troops. It succeeded in recruiting more than 5000 troops and controlling more than 80 percent of South Central Somalia. It also affiliated itself with terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and embarked on terror campaigns across East Africa.

 
The embattled TFG remained under the support of the Ethiopian troops until the African Union launched the African Peace Support Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2007. This strategy was meant to provide a security oriented approach as well as a politically-oriented approach. The strategy proved one of little success with the Al Shabaab continuing its reign of terror across East Africa. One of its most ruthless attacks came in Kampala, Uganda, where 74 people were killed during a suicide bomb in a social spot as they enjoyed the World Cup final. These attacks, as well as the kidnapping of aid workers and tourists in Kenya, led to “Operation Linda Nchi” that saw a coordinated military operation between the Somali military, the Kenyan military and the Ethiopian military. This began on 16 October 2011 till date.
Sally Healy and Mark Bradbury described the changing nature of the Somali crisis that has gone over 20 years as: cold war to civil war to state collapse, clan war and famine. The report of the African Union on the Somalia, describes it as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world.

 
This is a region that the world has continued to talk about, but the action must match the talk. It is a region that we cannot continue to ignore as it may come back to bite us on the heel. The Al Shabaab is an example of what may happen if a country is left to unlawfulness. Extremist groups thrive in volatile and ungoverned regions and are thus able to spread out and build networks aimed at causing mayhem and disrupting socio-economic activities. Some  youths in some parts of Kenya are  already falling victim to the wave of extremism and radicalization of the youth has become a topic of serious concern in Kenya. The solution to the crisis in Somalia remains enigmatic. The million shilling question remains when and how will the Somalis find peace in a place they call home?