Background
Mohamed Siad Barre was born on the 6th of October, 1919. He was a member of the Marehan Darod clan (sub-clan Rer Dini) near Shilavo in the Ogaden, Somali Region of Ethiopia. His parents died when he was ten years old.
Mohamed Siad Barre was born on the 6th of October, 1919. He was a member of the Marehan Darod clan (sub-clan Rer Dini) near Shilavo in the Ogaden, Somali Region of Ethiopia. His parents died when he was ten years old.
Barre received his primary education in the town of Luuq in southern Somalia. thereafter, he moved to Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, to pursue his secondary education. Claiming to have been born in Garbahaareey in order to qualify, he enrolled in the Italian colonial police as a Zaptié in 1940. He later joined the colonial police force during the British military administration of Somalia, rising to the highest possible rank.
In 1950, shortly after Italian Somaliland became a United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration, Barre attended the Carabinieri police school in Italy for two years.
When Somalia was returned to Italian sovereignty in 1950, Siad was sent to the military academy in Italy. He transferred to the Somali national army when it was formed (1960), and by 1966 he held the rank of major general and had become commander in chief. After seizing power on Oct. 22, 1969, Siad made himself head of a Supreme Revolutionary Council and imposed autocratic rule through a personality cult and the harsh enforcement of an official ideology called "Scientific Socialism." He strengthened relations with the Soviet Union, officially outlawed clan loyalties (while using clan elders to establish order in rural areas), and promoted literacy with a newly introduced Roman alphabet. He later renounced his ties with the Soviets and sought U.S. aid, but allegations of human rights abuses hurt his international standing. By 1990 fighting among clans and between clan militias and the government forced Siad to promise reforms, including free elections. He was forced out of office in January 1991 and in 1992 went into exile in Nigeria.
As part of Barre's socialist policies, major industries and farms were nationalised, 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, Somalia's debt of 4 billion shillings equalled the earnings from seventy-five years' worth of banana exports.
By 1978, manufactured goods exports were almost non-existent, and with the lost support of the Soviet Union the Barre government signed a structural adjustment agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the early 1980s. This included the abolishment of some government monopolies and increased public investment. This and a second agreement were both cancelled by the mid-1980s, as the Somali army refused to accept a proposed 60 percent cut in military spending. New agreements were made with the Paris Club, the International Development Association and the IMF during the second half of the 1980s. This ultimately failed to improve the economy which deteriorated rapidly in 1989 and 1990, and resulted in nationwide commodity shortages.
(As part of Barre's socialist policies, major industries a...)
Siad Barre was considered as a religious extremist. Somalia collapsed into anarchy following the overthrow of the military regime of President Siad Barre in 1991. As rival warlords tore the country apart into clan-based fiefdoms, an internationally-backed unity government formed in 2000 struggled to establish control, and the two relatively peaceful northern regions of Somaliland and Puntland effectively broke away.
The seizure of the capital Mogadishu and much of the country's south by a coalition of Islamist shariah courts in 2006 prompted an intervention by Ethiopian, and later, African Union, forces.
Since 2012, when a new internationally-backed government was installed, Somalia has been inching towards stability, but the new authorities still face a challenge from Al-Qaeda-aligned Al-Shabab insurgents.
He was purely a dictator. The Barre-led military junta that came to power after a coup d'état in 1969 said it would adapt scientific socialism to the needs of Somalia. Volunteer labour harvested and planted crops, and built roads, hospitals and universities . Almost all industry, banks and businesses were nationalised, and cooperative farms were promoted. A new writing system for the Somali language was also adopted. Although his government forbade clanism and stressed loyalty to the central authorities, the government was commonly referred to by the code name MOD. This acronym stood for Marehan (Siad Barre's clan), Ogaden (the clan of Siad Barre's mother), and Dhulbahante (the clan of Siad Barre son-in-law Colonel Ahmad Sulaymaan Abdullah, who headed the NSS). These were the three clans whose members formed the government's inner circle. Later, President Siad Barre incited and inflamed clan rivalries to divert the attention of the public away from his increasingly unpopular regime. By the time his regime collapsed the Somali society had begun to witness an unprecedented outbreak of inter- and intra- clan conflicts.
After 21 years of military rule, Barre's Supreme Revolutionary Council was eventually forced from power in the early 1990s by a coalition of armed opposition groups. He died in political exile in 1995, but was returned to Somalia for burial in his home region.
Quotations:
"Some of the colonizers do understand and quickly retreat, while some, because they are stupid, continue colonizing others, increasing the suffering, deaths, injuries, defeat and humiliation. The people colonized by Abyssinia will be free. Eritrea will be free, and they cannot refuse to let them be free. Western Somalia will be free, and they cannot refuse to grant it freedom. The numerous Abo will be free because this is history, and no one can prevent the sunshine from reaching us."
"When I came to Mogadishu...here was one road built by the Italians. If you try to force me to stand down, I will leave the city as I found it. I came to power with a gun; only the gun can make me go."
"It is the worst way that big power could act, it is arrogance, it is proudness, it is measuring of one's decision in accordance to his bigness, unfortunately, therefore lack of any wisdom..."
"In our Revolution we believe that we have broken the chain of a consumer economy based on imports, and we are free to decide our destiny . And in order to realize the interests of the Somali people, their achievement of a better life, the full development of their potentialities and the fulfillment of their aspirations, we solemnly declare Somalia to be a Socialist State."
"We should teach the foreigners and colonialists that Somalia cannot be led by other people and that the traitors who fled the country will never lead Somalia."
A largely self-trained and self-educated policeman and soldier, who has imposed a strong authoritarian rule and charismatic leadership as President of his country. He seems to inspire and exhort his fellow countrymen with wise Somali proverbs and long Marxist speeches. He identifies his socialism closely with his Islamic faith and appeals frequently to God as his authority. But after the coup, an initial clean up and some reforms, he has found it increasingly difficult to tackle Somalia’s fundamental problems or escape from the tribalism and factionalism which he condemns so loudly. They present as much a problem to him as to previous civilian regimes and a curious insecurity is revealed by the need for frequent demotions and treason trials amongst his closest colleagues. Father of 29 children.
He was married, and has children