Power sharing as a conflict management tool in Somali

Abstract

Somalia comprises of Somalis who are the majority with unique attributes in common including sharing of language, culture and religious faith as Muslims. However, over the past decade, Somalia has not enjoyed peace after being regarded as dysfunctional state with the fall of General Siad Barre’s regime in 1991. Several actors including the international community have tried their best to manage conflicts in Somalia though much is yet to be realized. With the current policy debate on power sharing, this study sought to determine if it can help in managing conflicts in Somalia. Specifically, the study sought to: establish the evolution of power sharing and its role in conflict management in Somalia, determine the role of clan elders in power sharing on conflict management in Somalia, analyze the effects of political peace talks of power sharing on conflict management in Somalia and assess the effects of constitution review on power sharing on conflict management in Somalia. The Classical consociational theory provided anchorage to the study. The study adopted mixed method covering qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative methods entailed the use of interview guide while quantitative methods covered the use of an explanatory and descriptive design. The study targeted 380 political leaders, clan elders, religious leaders and country representatives from humanitarian organizations operating in Mogadishu. The sample size was determined using Yamane formula which was equivalent to 194 respondents. The respondents were selected using stratified random sampling method. Primary data was collected using questionnaire that was semi-structured. Prior to data collection, the questionnaire was pilot tested among 10 respondents that were purposively and randomly selected from Esleigh area in Kenya. The collected data was cleaned and edited in excel for consistency before being exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences for analysis. Descriptive statistics covering frequencies and percentages were used to summarize the data while inferential statistics covering regression analysis was used in drawing deductions about power sharing and conflict management in Somalia. For qualitative data collected from interviews, content analysis was used to analyze the themes. The findings of the study are expected to inform policy formulation in Somalia with regard to power sharing and management of conflicts. From the findings, 90 (73.2%) of the respondents agreed that power sharing was done to establish transitional government in Somalia, 94 (76.4%) agreed that the competency of the clan elders in maintaining peace in Somalia was demonstrated in their oratory skills, 89 (72.4%) of the respondents agreed that they believed some of the political elites were not sincere in their representation in political talks in Somalia and 95 (77.2%) of the respondents agreed that federalism has resulted into decentralization of power from the federal government to the States. The study concludes that the role played by clan elders had the largest effect on conflict management followed by, constitutional review, political peace talks and evolution of power sharing. The study recommended that the international community including UN should support and promote the role of clan elders in conflict management in Somalia. The entire constitutional review process in Somali should be supported by the international community as a mechanism of resolving the conflicts. Political peace talks in Somalia should be inclusive processes that involve all people including female gender. Power sharing should be improved as that can have significant contribution towards conflict management in Somalia