Introduction

The AU has systematically drawn down its forces in Somalia, which is an indication they cannot be there forever. The increasing number of conservative right-wing leaders in the west and schisms such as Brexit does not bode well for the AU's long-term presence in Somalia. So what has to be done for long-term stability in Somalia should be done now. There is a lot to learn from the country's autonomous northern regions considering that Somalis are one people, with one language, one dominant religion (Sunni Islam) and shared cultural experience. It is logical therefore to argue that what works for the regions of the north will work for the regions of the south. The stability achieved during the short-lived ingenious administration of the ICU strongly supports this view. All that was needed was to make this indigenous approach more enduring through international support. Systems of government are more effective when they evolve from the experience of the people they are meant to serve.

While southern and central Somalia still remain conflict-ridden, the northern part of the country devoid of AU occupation has long since experienced some semblance of stability. The autonomous regions of the north devolved a system of governance unique to their experience and being spared external interference, these regions have been fairly stable. This decent example shows the workability of indigenous governance in Africa and an independent AU should have invested its resources into encouraging such indigenous political models all over Somalia rather than disrupt them at the insistence of its benefactors.

In the northwest and northeast of Somalia, the collapse of the central government did not precipitate the kind of warfare and plunder that initially devastated the south. For a variety of reasons, such as greater political cohesion among clans, local ownership, more support from businessmen to support the peace, effective political leadership and innovation rooted in tradition, these areas spared themselves intense violence. The self-declared state of Somaliland gradually began to build modes of capacity to govern, and a national assembly of traditional clan elders helped to manage the peace and keep young gunmen under control. In Puntland in the north-east, chronic inter-clan tensions were contained by traditional elders as well.