Maxamuud Xarbi (Mahmoud Harbi) was a prominent Pan-Somalist who actively campaigned to see the five territories of Somalia united. He often locked heads with the French authorities in what was then known as French Somaliland after he accused them of vote rigging a referendum in 1958 for French Somaliland to join the Somali Republic. Refusing to recognise the results; he was exiled to Egypt where he continued his Pan-Somali campaign.
He was killed in a plane accident — though foul play by the French gov has been alleged — in October 1960. See below a speech he delivered on 26 May, 1960:
“Peace be with you, Somali brethren, people of my race, wherever you are. I would like you to listen to me today because I have been away on a mission to serve our common cause — the unity and the solidarity of our people — and I should like tell you something about my tour. As you all know, I was in Mogadishu for a year and I have met with brotherly hospitality and found the people of good heart. However, our struggle needs not only fighting inside the homeland, but it must be waged outside also. I have travelled abroad to spread the news about the situation in our homeland and how imperialism partitioned us and made it known in African and European countries, and I thank God that today our cause is better understood.
Many people do not believe that the Somali people will attain freedom, become independent and have their own flag. Many others do not believe that the Somalis will be united, but in my opinion there is no force to stop a sun that has already risen.
Today, we have a flag of our own, raised like any other country. Today we are a people who have our own state and cannot be called French slaves or British slaves or Italian slaves or the slaves of other people. Today we are a Somali people and have a Somali state.
I also think that others are aware that Somali unity and independence have become a fact, that there is no doubt in the unity of our homeland though it has been partitioned. I have no doubt about this, nor did I have any in the past, nor will I have any in the future. However, before I talk to you about my tour, I would like to tell any Somali who had any doubt about this to dispel it; the two main parts of Somaliland have have become united, but the road ahead is still long and difficult. I would like to address the the Somali people and in particular .those in Djibouti, and say: Ponder on what will happen tomorrow in Loyada. We have been overtaken by other Somalis and we have not contributed anything to the Somali cause.
What are we waiting for? Furthermore, while the situation was thus, two governments have concluded an agreement on our homeland, and soon you will find in Djibouti men who have been brought over to control it. Youth of Djibouti, what will you do about this? I will not broadcast from here the other things you have done, for I know them all I know that many camels have fallen over but that is not enough. I would like to tell you that France does not give freedom to peoples easily. De Gaulle has said: “Djibouti will remain French.” But we say: Djibouti is a Somali territory!”
Mahmoud Harbi Farah (Arabic: محمود الحربي) (1921 – October 1960) was a Somali politician. A pan-Somalist, he was the Vice President of the Government Council of French Somaliland from 1957 to December 1958, during Djibouti's pre-independence period.[1]
Harbi was born in Ali Sabieh, Djibouti in 1921 to a Somali family from the Fourlaba sub-clan of the Issa clan.[1][2] He learned to read the Koran and linguistics Arab from a young age, and when he was seventeen his father died in 1938. He was forced to work and headed towards the capital Djibouti and worked there as a waiter in one of the restaurants and while he became aware of visitors to the restaurant, most of whom were foreign tourists and benefited from cultural differences. He volunteer, sailor in the French Navy with the brother of the Sultan of Tadjoura, Ibrahim Mohamed in the Second World War. He nearly lost his life when the French warship crashed, which was being served where the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea, but he went to France. He later joined the colonial army, and was awarded the French Croix de guerre in World War II.[3]
Through the Sultan of Tadjoura, a former comrade in the French army during the World War II campaign, Harbi was introduced to Ali Aref Bourhan, a young Afar politician whom Harbi would eventually take under his wing. Bourhan subsequently served in the territory's representative council as a Harbist politician, strongly supporting Harbi's independence-oriented platform.[6]
In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a referendum was held in French Somaliland to decide whether or not to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. The plebiscite turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans.[7] There was also widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls.[8] The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as Harbi had proposed.[7] After the launch of French President Charles de Gaulle, which states that France be with the republics that accept this Constitution, Mahmoud who campaign against the constitution and demanded the right to decide the fate of the French colony in the Horn of Africa, and he led a demonstration against the Constitution of de Gaulle, Vobad for presidency government, and dismissed as well as all the ministers who supported his position.
Harbi's refusal to acknowledge the plebiscite's results, which he considered doctored, would ultimately cause him to lock heads with the French authorities, who exiled him to Cairo. He went to African and European capitals in order to reach the goal of liberation before he died in October 1961.[9]
Harbi was born in Ali Sabieh, Djibouti in 1921 to a Somali family from the Fourlaba sub-clan of the Issa clan.[1][2] He learned to read the Koran and linguistics Arab from a young age, and when he was seventeen his father died in 1938. He was forced to work and headed towards the capital Djibouti and worked there as a waiter in one of the restaurants and while he became aware of visitors to the restaurant, most of whom were foreign tourists and benefited from cultural differences. He volunteer, sailor in the French Navy with the brother of the Sultan of Tadjoura, Ibrahim Mohamed in the Second World War. He nearly lost his life when the French warship crashed, which was being served where the Germans in the Mediterranean Sea, but he went to France. He later joined the colonial army, and was awarded the French Croix de guerre in World War II.[3]
Political career
When he returned to Djibouti in 1946, and began his career working in the port of Djibouti, and then became president of the Union of Somali workers, and in 1947 founded the Democratic Union Party, which branched off from the union, he was able in his youth that dominates the political scene for a decade. He increased his circle of friends in the Middle East through gifts such as the lions he gave to the Imam of Yemen and the King of Saudi Arabia who in return (as is customary) backed him with funds. Harbi's main political rival was Hassan Gouled Aptidon, who in the mid-1950s allegedly expressed a desire to see all foreigners expelled from Djibouti. Harbi capitalized on the blunder by coming to the defense of the foreign communities. As a consequence, he gained the material support of the resident Arabs in general and of Ali Coubeche in particular, son of one of the territory's wealthier merchants.[4] Harbi would later appoint Coubeche as Finance Minister in his Cabinet.[5]Through the Sultan of Tadjoura, a former comrade in the French army during the World War II campaign, Harbi was introduced to Ali Aref Bourhan, a young Afar politician whom Harbi would eventually take under his wing. Bourhan subsequently served in the territory's representative council as a Harbist politician, strongly supporting Harbi's independence-oriented platform.[6]
In 1958, on the eve of neighboring Somalia's independence in 1960, a referendum was held in French Somaliland to decide whether or not to join the Somali Republic or to remain with France. The plebiscite turned out in favour of a continued association with France, partly due to a combined yes vote by the sizable Afar ethnic group and resident Europeans.[7] There was also widespread vote rigging, with the French expelling thousands of Somalis before the referendum reached the polls.[8] The majority of those who had voted no were Somalis who were strongly in favour of joining a united Somalia, as Harbi had proposed.[7] After the launch of French President Charles de Gaulle, which states that France be with the republics that accept this Constitution, Mahmoud who campaign against the constitution and demanded the right to decide the fate of the French colony in the Horn of Africa, and he led a demonstration against the Constitution of de Gaulle, Vobad for presidency government, and dismissed as well as all the ministers who supported his position.
Harbi's refusal to acknowledge the plebiscite's results, which he considered doctored, would ultimately cause him to lock heads with the French authorities, who exiled him to Cairo. He went to African and European capitals in order to reach the goal of liberation before he died in October 1961.[9]
Later years
Harbi would eventually settle in Mogadishu, where he frequently joined Somali radio programs and preached Pan-Somalism to the Somalis of the Horn of Africa. In October 1960, he and several of his associates died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances in Italy on a return trip from China to Somalia.[9]- Djibouti - Worldstatesmen.com
- Touval, p.125
- Hempstone, p.158
- Virginia Thompson, Richard Adloff, Djibouti and the Horn of Africa, (Stanford University Press: 1968), pp.65-66.
- Virginia Thompson, Richard Adloff, Djibouti and the Horn of Africa, (Stanford University Press: 1968), p.68.
- Jacques Foccart et Ali Aref
- Barrington, Lowell, After Independence: Making and Protecting the Nation in Postcolonial and Postcommunist States, (University of Michigan Press: 2006), p.115
- Kevin Shillington, Encyclopedia of African history, (CRC Press: 2005), p.360.
Maxamuud Xarbi: We must achieve independence, we prefer death to life under the aegis of imperialism
Maxamuud Xarbi (1921-1960) a Somali hero that warrants eternal remembrance for he was one of the few Somali historical characters that put the dream of universal Somali brotherhood on a massive pedestal. His life account is all too known and his mysterious murder still lingers the mind of the Somali oldies. Maxamuud Xarbi shared the same characteristics of his defiant African contemporaries, those whom struggled against colonialism and imperialism such as the late Pan-Africanist Congolese independence leader Patrick Lumumba — who was incidentally murdered a year after Maxamuud Xarbi’s death.
But without exploring Maxamuud Xarbi’s life in detail, I want to mention a particular account as narrated by a witness.
In 1958 a referendum, ordered by French leader Gaulle, was held in French Somaliland (now Djibouti) on whether to join the upcoming Somali Republic or to remain with France. The majority voted to stay with France. The referendum had all the main characteristics of vote rigging, and the majority of the voters were not surprisingly Europeans. Maxamuud Xarbi vehemently rejected the dubious results of the referendum, iterating that the will of the Somali people is nothing less than full independence from France. So he returned to Djibouti to meet his people. At the airport, he was received by the French governor general at the time. What follows next is what separates a lackey from a born-leader, a reactionist from a revolutionary, a man that shamelessly serves his whims from a man who selflessly serves his people.
He went to the colonial governor and shouted at him: “I want to be received by the people and not by the French governor”. He pushed him aside and went to the Somali crowd that was waiting for him in the far distance and delivered a historical speech wherein he said:
“We must achieve independence; we prefer death to life under the aegis of imperialism”.
May Allaah have mercy on Him
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