The Life and Times of Mohamed Siad Barre siad_barreBorn in October 6, 1919 to a pastoralist Somali Marehan family near Shilavo in the Ogaden, Mohamed Siad Barre was the military dictator and President of the Horn of African nation of Somalia from 1969 to 1991. His parents died when he was ten years old. Siad travelled to the town of Luuq in Southern Somalia for his primary education, and then moved to Mogadishu in nearby Somalia Italiana for his secondary education. Claiming to have been born in Garbahaarreey in order to qualify, he later joined the colonial police force during the British military administration of Somalia, rising to the highest possible rank. He joined the Somali police force after the British took control of the country in 1941 and rose to the post of chief inspector. In 1958, Somalias own police force was formed, and by 1 July 1960, when Somalia became independent - uniting with the former British Somaliland Protectorate to form the Somali Republic - Siad had won accelerated promotion to the rank of Vice Commander of Somalias Army when the country gained its independence in 1960. On 15 October 1969, President Abdurashid Ali Shermarke, Somalias second president, was assassinated. The crime may not have been politically inspired, but the national assembly dithered over his successor. During the power vacuum that followed the assassination of Shermarke, the military staged a coup on October 21, (the day after Shermarkes funeral), and took over office in a bloodless coup d’état. Significant political figures were detained, the constitution suspended, the national assembly abolished, political parties banned and the Supreme Court abolished. The country was renamed the Somali Democratic Republic and Barre became the spokesman and leader of the new revolutionary government. On 1 November the conspirators constituted themselves the Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC). Barre was installed as president of the Council. During the ensuing 12 months, after which Scientific Socialism (the social-political-economic theory pioneered by German philosopher and political economist, Karl Marx) was pronounced (without public debate) the new national credo, potential rivals were detained and the Vice-Chair man of the SRC and two other influential leaders executed. In 1971, he announced the regimes intention to phase out military rule. Barres first and second vice presidents, Jama Korshel and Mahammad Ainanche, were both arrested and imprisoned in 1970 and 1971 for attempting to overthrow the SRC regime. During the first five years Barres government set up several cooperative farms and factories of mass production such as mills, sugar cane processing facilities in Jowhar and Afgooye, and a meat processing house in Kismayo, while major industries and farms were nationalized, including banks, insurance companies and oil distribution farms. By the mid- to late-1970s, public discontent with the Barre regime was increasing, largely due to corruption among government officials as well as poor economic performance. The Ogaden War had also weakened the Somali army substantially and military spending had crippled the economy. Foreign debt increased faster than export earnings, and by the end of the decade, Somalias debt of 4 billion shillings equalled the earnings from seventy-five years worth of banana exports. Part of Barres time in power was characterized by oppressive dictatorial rule, including the persecution, jailing and torture of political opponents and dissidents. The United Nations Development Programme described The 21-year regime of Siyad Barre had one of the worst human rights records in Africa. The Barre administration was haunted by various clan-based rebel groups. By 1991, factions led by warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid and his rebel group, the United Somali Congress (USC), invaded Mogadishu. Aidid fought against government forces, and Barre was finally overthrown on the evening of 26 January 1991. He was succeeded in office by Ali Mahdi Muhammad, a businessman of the Abgaal, a sub clan of the Hawiye, until November 1991. Though internationally recognized, Ali Mahdis government never managed to exert political or military control over the majority of the country. Ali Mahdi and Aidids personal clan-based militias eventually wound up fighting over control of the country in the wake of Barres ouster. After leaving Mogadishu in January 1991, Barre temporarily remained in the southwestern Gedo region of the country, which was the power base of his Marehan clan. From there, he launched a military campaign to return to power. He twice attempted to retake Mogadishu, but in May 1991 was overwhelmed by General Mohamed Farrah Aidids army, and was forced into exile. Barre initially moved to Nairobi, Kenya, but opposition groups with a presence there protested his arrival and support of him by the Kenyan government. In response to the pressure and hostilities, he moved two weeks later to Nigeria. Barre died on January 2, 1995 in Lagos from a heart attack. His remains were buried in the Garbahaarreey
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:48:18 +0000
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