Galmudug

Galmudug is an autonomous region in central Somalia. It is bordered to its north by the Puntland region, to the west by Ethiopia, and to the south by other regions of Somalia.

Galmudug's name is derived from a conflation of the Galguduud and Mudug provinces. Unlike the secessionist Somaliland region in northwestern Somalia, Galmudug, like all other territories in Somalia, is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation. It considers itself an autonomous state within the larger federal republic of Somalia, such as defined by the 2004 Transitional Federal Charter (TFG).

Overview

The Galmudug State is the most centrally located area in Somalia. It is equidistant from Galkacyo (the southern part of which forms the state capital) by 750 km to Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Bossaso and Harar in Ethiopia. It is bordered to the east by the Indian Ocean, to the west by Ethiopia, to the north by the Mudug region of Puntland, and to the south by the Galgaduud region.

History

For pre-colonial history, see Sultanate of Hobyo

Creation of Galmudug

Prior to June 6, 2006, the clans of central Somalia were part of the vast territories held by the "Mogadishu Warlords", the powerful businessmen-warlords who each ruled a district of Mogadishu and conducted their business there. Financial development, security and infrastructure were all funnelled into Mogadishu by these warlords and the regions of Mudug and Galgadud in particular became seriously neglected. For the Mogadishu warlords, Mudug and Galgadud was a place to import soldiers and livestock, Mogadishu was where to invest and develop.

From March 2006 to June 2006 the Islamic Courts Union battled and defeated the Mogadishu warlords and shattered their power, allowing the ICU to conquer all of the capital as well as the Middle Shabelle region. As a side consequence of this however, the central regions became independent of the Mogadishu warlords for the first time in 17 years, and finally had a say in how the regions were administered. The Sacad clan diaspora and political leadership, taking note of the success Puntland and Somaliland have had with autonomy, began to work towards establishing a regional state.

Galmudug was established on August 14, 2006 and Mohamed Warsame Ali 'Kiimiko' was elected President.

The state was named Galmudug (Galgadud and Mudug) with the cities of South Galcayo, Galinsoor and Bandiradley. Hobyo were technically a part of Galmudug from the outset, but de-facto authority rested in the pirates who ruled the towns and preyed on shipping along the coast. This changed when the ICU flushed out the pirates from Hobyo and Harardhere on August 16, 2006, and later when the ICU conquered Harardhere and Hobyo in early November 2006, to be reconquered by Galmudug forces in early 2007 with the help of Ethiopia, Puntland and the Sacad warlord Abdi Qeybdiid.

However, control by a central government remains fleeting. Much of the area of Galmudug remains under control of coastal pirates and Islamic militants groups, such as Al-Shabaab.

Relations with Puntland

Relations between Galmudug and the Puntland region to its immediate north have historically been tense. However, more recently, the two regions have made strides toward strengthening inter-regional relations. To this end, representatives of the two autonomous administrations signed an accord on February 2011 in Garowe, the capital of Puntland, wherein both governments officially agreed to cooperate on security, economic and social matters.^[1]

Geography

Galmudug State occupies the following Districts of Somalia:^[2]

• Mudug Region - Districts:
  • Bandiiradley
  • Galinsoor
  • Algula
  • Baraag ciise ( KAlabeer)
  • Bitale
  • Cel Dhanaane
  • Labaceel
• Hobyo Region - Districts:
  • Hobyo
  • Afbarwaaqo
  • Wisil
  • Bacaadweyne
  • Qaycad
  • Jiicdheere
  • Qaydaro
  • Ceeldibir
  • Xingod
  • dabaro

War with the Islamic Courts Union

Galmudug and the ICU clashed increasingly in October and November 2006, leading to an ICU invasion of Galinsoor, Hobyo, Harardere, Bandiradley and Abdi Qeybdiid's base in the Marehan town of Abudwaq in November and December. A joint Ethiopia-Puntland force intervened to prevent the ICU from capturing Galcayo (the most important city in the region), the northern half of which is administered by Puntland. The Ethiopia-Puntland-Galmudug-Abdi Qeybdiid coalition emerged victorious and recaptured Bandiradley and Galinsoor.

On January 1, 2007, Abdi Qeybdiid and the Puntland/Ethiopian force parted ways with the Galmudug military and continued on towards Mogadishu, briefly occupying Adado and Dusamareb.^[3] To this day, the status of the majority of Galgadud (except Gelinsoor, administered by Galmudug) is unresolved.

Al-Shabaab and Pirates

While the Transitional Federal Government made an agreement to admit members of the former Islamic Courts Union into the government in a bid to unify the country, violence continues to plague the central Somali coast. It takes two primary forms: piracy by various tribal groups, and Islamic extremist movements, such as Al-Shabaab.

Piracy has been rampant along the coast of Somalia, with at least 111 attacks against shipping and 42 vessels captured during 2008.^[4]

In December 2008, Hobyo pirates and Al-Shabaab militants fought over the control of Hobyo.^[5]

Reconstruction

Galmudug state has, in spite of limited resources, managed to open eight new schools. Medicine San-franse had promised to fund the schools but that did not materialise after several of their staff were kidnapped in lieu for the withdrawal of the funds to Galmududg state educational programmes. The state also embarked an audacious plan to solicit funds to build a modern port in Hobyo that could be used businesses in central Somali and even by landlocked Ethiopia. A 172 Miles tarmac dual carriage road that would go through Hobyo- Galkacio- and further a field into Ogadenia has been planned in order to boost commercial and transport links in that part of Ethiopia which is inhabited mainly by poor ethnic Somalis who continue to live under occupation of hostile Ethiopian regimes.

Galmudug State military is composed of remnants from the dreaded Ex USC/SNA Forces of General Mohamed Farrah Aidid who have been acknowledged in the documentary Black Hawk Down to be the most efficient and battle-harded fighting forces throughout the ensuing civil war in Somalia. Western military analysts also believe that the Galmudug state forces do indeed hold in their possession a substantial amount of heavy armament that was looted from the former Somali national army which was never used in the civil war by the USC forces of the late Gen M. Aideed. But most of these would in due time be handed back to a genuine Somali government if ever formed. Galmudug state has an ambitious plan to revitalise by way of priority the education system through the importation of highly qualified teachers from India, South Africa and ethnic Somali Teachers from North East province of Kenya. In order to keep costs to the education budget to a minimum in the long run, plans have been made to build teachers' quarters alongside every school that was built in order to provide free accommodation to the teachers. A trust fund has been set up to which UNICEF, the Indian Government, and a number of Dubai-based corporations has promised contributions. A team from Galmudud State Ministry of Education recently travelled to Cairo, London, Manchester, Columbus, Ohio, South Carolina and Minneapolis in an encouraging college graduates from that region in the Diaspora to take up training in the teaching of sciences and mathematics. Scholarships have also been offered in the spirit of fulfillment of the aforementioned education goals by the University of Alexandria in Egypt.

References

Further reading

• A. Jimale (ed), The Invention of Somalia. Lawrenceville, NJ, 1995.
• Cassanelli, Lee V., The Shaping of The Somali Society- Reconstructing the History of a Pastoral People, 1600-1900. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Univ. Press, 1982.
• Middleton, John. The World of the Swahili- An African mercantile civilisation. Yale University 1992.