Meet the Man Who Destroyed Somalia: Siad Barre

Now as we all know, Somalia has been seen as the Poster Child for failed states for just about three decades now and at present, the country is still trying to claw its way back to being a stable and functional nation.

The Early Days of Siad Barre

But there was a time Somalia was seen as one of the more stable nations in sub-Saharan Africa. However, corruption was rampant and conditions were perfect for a possible coup by the military, which at the time was seen as the only government institution that had not been ruined by the corruption and nepotism that was rampant in the rest of the government.

On October 21, 1969, Siad Barre led a bloodless military coup that toppled the Somali government and saw him taking control of the nation. Now to be fair, Barre did attempt to modernize Somalia as well as enact large-scale public works programs. He successfully implemented an urban and rural literacy campaign, which helped dramatically increase the literacy rate. But like most military dictators, Barre had a bit of an ego complex and saw himself as more than just the leader of Somalia. He saw himself as a leader alongside other notable figures like Lenin and Marx. It must also be pointed out that Barre strongly advocated a form of scientific socialism based on the Qur’an and Marxism-Leninism, with heavy influences of Somali nationalism. So it was no surprise that he became very close to the USSR and other communist nations.

The Quest for a Greater Somalia

But he also advocated for the creation of a “Greater Somalia”, which involved uniting Somalia with other territories with large populations of ethnic Somalis. Unfortunately, this was where things began to go south for Barre, as he invaded Ethiopia in 1977, thus kicking off the Ogaden War. A war that saw Somalia being isolated as the invasion was frowned upon by other communist regimes, including the USSR, and received little to no support.

Not surprisingly, the war ended very badly for Somalia and Barre’s regime began to show signs of cracking. In 1978, there was an attempted coup that failed and Barre began to consolidate power, purging his regime of all those who were suspected of being traitors and basically turning Somalia into a police state. It was not long before resistance movements began to pop up and were brutally crushed by Barre’s forces. Couple this with a failing economy and mismanagement of international aid which Somalia had received, and it was clear that things were not gonna get better.

The Downfall of Siad Barre

In an attempt to retain control, Barre cracked down even harder on the Somali population, specifically the Isaaq people in the northern part of the country, whose leaders were stripped from their positions in the government and executed, while thousands more were killed in relentless military operations carried out by Barre’s forces. This resulted in what some call the “Somaliland war of Independence” and the formation of the “Republic of Somaliland”.

Needless to say, it was not long before more and more uprisings began to pop up across the country and in 1991, Somalia descended into civil war. While Barre fled the country in a tank filled with money taken from the Central Bank, he did attempt to use this money to raise an army to retake the country. However, these attempts failed and Barre would live out his life in exile, dying of a heart attack while still in exile in Nigeria.

~NC