In theory, Arta was expected to stand for a movement that was born from the Djibouti sponsored Somali National Peace Conference (SNPC) held in mid 2000. Although this definition may seem mockery for Arta’s opponents, the principal guidance of the peace proposal included a ‘Convoy of Peace’ (Geeddi Socodka Nabadda), which was to involve a process to transform the Somali conflict into peace by sending the traditional leaders to all Somali regions. This approach was not only searching for a solution but hopefully a process within the society affected by conflict, with the aim of empowering actors within the affected society. Convoy of peace describes the progression of the process to peace movement.

1. Abdisalam M. Issa-Salwe
UNDERSTANDIN G ARTA FACTOR
December 2001
Since the year 2000 the Arta Outcome has been a major factor in the Somali politics.
Some saw this as destabliser and the return of the old clique of the former dictatorial
regime (thus Arta Group), whilst others saw it as the 'route to the revival of the Somali
state. Although both views are based on emotional assumptions, they demonstrate how
little is known about Arta influence to the current Somali politics. To understand the Arta
factor we should look how the Arta is pronged to two determinants: the 'ideals' of the
peace initiatives and how the outcome contradicted the current Somali socio-political
reality.
1. The 'Ideals'
In theory, Arta was expected to stand for a movement that was born from the Djibouti
sponsored Somali National Peace Conference (SNPC) held in mid 2000. Although this
definition may seem mockery for Arta s opponents, the principal guidance of the peace
proposal included a Convoy of Peace (Geeddi Socodka Nabadda), which was to involve
a process to transform the Somali conflict into peace by sending the traditional leaders to
all Somali regions. This approach was not only searching for a solution but hopefully a
process within the society affected by conflict, with the aim of empowering actors within
the affected society. Convoy of peace describes the progression of the process to peace
movement.
President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti who proposed the initiative at the 54th
General Assembly of the United Nations on 23 September 1999 triggered the proceedings
of the SNPC. This novel proposal that was meant to open a new dawn and solution to the
Somali crisis stimulated two factors. First the peace talks were to be shifted to the civil
society. In other words, the victims of the civil war were to lead the peace process.
Secondly, in reaction to the first factor, a popular interest by the Somali society was
generated.
The period marked the tenth year since the central authority collapsed following the
breakdown of the state institutions. The civil strife was reaching at the stage of abating
and war fatigue. The poplar support for the solution to the Somali problem was expected
to receive a positive response. Despite that the objectives of the initiatives of the peace
process were directed towards a noble end and many of its participants were honest, what
the outcome damaged was the approach of the resolutions. This has laid the ground for a
typical leadership. What has sealed the outcome, if I can borrow Professor Abdi Ismail
Samatar s expression, is the poverty of leadership s imagination (Samatar, 1992), and it
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2. is dubbed as the Arta Group, was as soon as the SNPC had finished, the leading actors
began to compete for its manipulation.
1.1. Setting the Stage for the Civil Society
Generally, a common understanding of civil society is a partnership between the family
and the state, which exists to pursue collective goals. This is usually taken to include
civic, professional, trade union and other voluntary organisations. Civil society is also
often referred as a 'third sector' alongside the state and the market. This definition
perceives civil society as a form of organised individuals that strive to achieve an end for
the good of the community. In this case the civil society should be organised to make
sense of their aim and concern. When any part of civil society coalesces around a shared
concern, the individuals involved start with voluntary action.
To function and probably grow, civil society needs an environment of relative peace to
develop. For example, during the peace building stage, one of the elements required to be
revived. Here peace building refers to the post-conflict social construction in a period of
sustainable peace. It is during this period that restoration of civil society takes place. It
also aims at reviving a country s economy, establishing participatory system of
governance and accountable administrations (Heinrich, 1997). Other important
characteristics during this stage include disarmament and demobilisation of militia, and
their sustainable social, psychological and economic rehabilitation.
Undertaking such as shifting from the warlords, it was theorised that the civil society is to
take a major role. Setting the stage for the civil society at the theoretical platform seemed
working well until the stage of implementation had arrived. In previous peace talks, the
warlords were the leading figures of the peace talks that were to blame for spoiling the
Somali peace attempts.
1.2 The Question of Representation
The controversy over the civil society case opened again another important front, that of
the representation. In previously held peace-meetings the faction leaders dominated the
conference and as soon as they were concluded, they were prone to failure, as many of
these leaders were not really representative of any constituents.
The SNPC was proceeded by two symposiums: the Technical Consultative Somali Peace
Process Symposium attended by Somali intellectuals and the Traditional Peace
Symposium attended by Somali traditional elders. The first symposium was to advise on
the technical side of the proposed conference, while the latter was to decide on
representation.
Since this question had been of the most contentious issue in Somalia, the Djibouti
authority was very cautious about this matter. This is carefully expounded in Annex IV of
Somalia National Peace Conference: An Action Plan for the Peace Process, [1999] as it
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3. uses extremely guarded words about the matter. At the heart of the representation stands
the issue of legitimacy and who represents whom. It explains it as follows,
In a such situation as the massive population displacement and the occupation of lands
by force there is no easy answer to what may or may not constitute legitimate
representation in a country such as Somalia, that has undergone a drastic breakdown
and where basic information on population is lacking, and where major population
displacement as well as movement has occurred (Annex IV, 2000).
In spite of the contrary advice the Traditional Peace Symposium decided that
representation was to be based on clan. The plan took a sharp twist when the delegates of
Puntland elders went back to Garowe, the capital of Puntland, and rejected the
proceeding of the Traditional Peace Symposium. For fear that the proceeding conference
was about to collapse, the plan was changed and delegates were asked to represent their
own locals. The action of asking people to represent themselves called for consultation
was a complete infringement of the logic of representation. The resolution also ignored
the developments, which had taken place during the previous ten years as a mood of
centralisation of Somalia was shaped.
2. The Outcome
Initially, the scheme of Convoy of Peace (Geeddi Socodka Nabadda) was to advocate and
lead to a peace process and not just one event, e.g. peace conference. Process defines a
means to an end and not an end in itself. However, the initial plan had been diverted to be
used as an end. The conference just concentrated on one of the thorniest issues which
made the previous conference fail: a vision for rebuilding the Somali state from the
rubble of the shattered statehood and country, before considering the rehabilitation of
social fabrics. This also contradicted UNESCO s approach to civil war solutions is first to
rebuild the society. Rehabilitation of the state was supposed to be seen as a project, which
needed to lay down first suitable foundations.
The approach of considering the state prior to the civil rehabilitation made the SNPC glad
to see things evolve with the motto: a bad government is better than no government .
At Arta, after six months the SNPC ended up with the formation of a Transitional
National Government (TNG) and a Transitional Constitution.
Similarly, the principle of conference was supposed to be based on lessons learned from
previous peace failures. The idea of giving priority to the formation of the central
authority without first creates its essential components advocates a top-down approach.
This perspective may also contradict the natural trend into which Somali regions have
been moving since the collapse. The task of recreating the Somali state leads to the need
to establish a body, which could represent the central authority of the Somali nation. The
logical conclusion is that such a body could stem out from the sum of its parts. Instead,
the SNPC has agreed to form an 'externally driven body' without parts or limbs. This
'bubble body' depicted as the central government is at odds with itself, let alone
functioning with its 'would-be-component' (the regions).
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4. The Djibouti initiative was set at a time when the Somali regions and towns where
passing through a different organisational level after a decade of lack of national
government. Since the outbreak of the civil war, Somali regions developed apart in
different directions. Some parts have made considerable progress towards institution
building and provision of basic services to their communities. This situation let Somalia
be distinguished by three different zones: recovery zones, transitional zones and crisis
zones. Similarly, Mr Kofi Anan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, also uses
the same classification. In his report to the Security Council of 16 August 1999, Mr Anan
urged that this classification be considered for assistance in humanitarian and
rehabilitation strategic aid (see S/1999/882, 16 August 1999). The Secretary-General s
concluding recommendations ranged from emphasis on providing basic and life-saving
service in the zones of crisis, to the provision of the technical support for good
governance and capacity building in the recovery zones.
From Mr Anan s observations, the most realistic approach for the Somali peace process
in Djibouti was to agree on a means or mechanism which could bring each of the three
zones to a stage of effective local governance. This mechanism could stand as a national
committee or a national operational body. For instance, this mechanism could help those
regions in the crisis zones to move into the recovery stage. So each may develop its own
unique institutions according to local need, within the overall framework of a federal
Somali state.
2.1 Approaches to Reconciliation
Many have doubted the viability of the Arta Outcome, particularly the formation of the
central authority (TNG), which by now was to stand for the 'bubble body'. What they
hoped from at most, however, was that the spirit of Arta could open new paths towards
the reconciliation process. However, what few could not anticipate was that the fate of
the future reconciliation was sealed by the very outcome. For the TNG, the end of the
process of the formation of the central authority has been reached. This principle seen as
the solution to the Somali problem could be non-negotiable because as they see it, it
would put in jeopardy the existence of the very state . According to them, what remained
was to invite its rivals to be in a position of either on board or die out .
A policy of assimilation was set, and as a proof of its success , this was measured by the
absorption of a few waning Mogadishu warlords. Its failure disguised as scapegoat, is
what made the former TNG Premier Ali Khalif Galeyr a victim. This policy is what
makes the Arta Outcome - now dubbed as Arta Group - unable to be seen as the
solution, but as an obstacle to the very principles, which was supposed to stand for. As
one of the main purposes of the Arta spirit , the national reconciliation became a
mockery of the peace process.
The dead-end policy opened another important issue: Legitimacy and social mistrust,
which is seen as central to the failure of the state. For the TNG this option became a way
to gain legitimacy by force and money. To this end it began to build the national army
(which is made of only one militia group) and import arms and ammunition on an
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5. unprecedented scale. Looking from the Arta perspective, while the TNG contravenes its
own enchanted 'Arta spirit', the prospect of its policy looks bleak as its initial action
signals that the myth of militarism is yet to die in Somali politics.
This policy also ran alongside another priority by the TNG which was to gain
international recognition rather than getting the confidence of its people. Whilst this
move has to do a lot with globalisation, it is also aimed at the resuscitation of an
externally driven state structure where the local people s involvement is rarely sought.
Similar approaches have been applied many times since the breakdown of the Somali
state in early 1991. Not only were they all unsuccessful but they were also counter-
productive.
3. Conclusion
Shifting the focus of the peace process to the victims of the civil war is a great
achievement, which should help any future talks.
Although the SNPC has failed to come up with a resolution to a viable Somali central
authority, many hoped that its outcome (Arta Outcome) would pave the way for a phased
reconciliation process. This did not materialise, as the outcome itself sealed the fate of the
future reconciliation to a dead-end. This in turn has determined that the Arta Outcome is
not the solution to Somali problem. However, at best what the outcome could be is a
lesson of a failed peace opportunity to the future peace talks.
This, however, should be realised before Arta group degenerates into what one observer
described as mindi aan daab lahayn (a loose gun). Whatever a group or clan takes it
over may use it as means to any end. This way may usher the Somali nation to another
era of warlordism.
5. References
Heinrich, Wolfgang, Building the Peace: Experience of Collaborative Peacebuilding in
Somalia 1993-1996, Uppsala: Life & Peace Institute, November 1997.
Report of the UN Secretary-General on the situation in Somalia, S/1999/882, 16 August
1999.
Samatar, Abdi Ismail, Social Decay and Public Institutions: the Road to Reconstruction
in Somalia in Beyond Conflict in the Horn, Eds. Martin Doorbnos, Lionel Cliff,
Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed, Institute of Social Studies, the Hague, in association
with James Gurrey, London, 1992.
Somalia National Peace Conference: An Action Plan for the Peace Process, [1999].
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