opinion by article Mandeeq Hassan
SONNA, Mogadishu: It is deeply disheartening to see propaganda spread by the very people it was designed to manipulate. Somali politics and perhaps politics everywhere is often an illusion. What we see splashed across social media is literally a marketing campaign, no different from the advertisements that interrupt your YouTube videos. You wouldn’t watch a supplement ad and blindly believe it cures all illnesses; you know it’s selling a product. Why, then, is it so difficult for us to accept that politicians are selling a narrative?
In our context, however, the deception feels more appalling, disrespectful, and obvious to anyone who has ever opened a book. Even our opposition groups often lack merit because their grievances are rarely about conflicting ideologies, they are about personal beefs and previous falling-outs. But the reason this system persists is simple: it favors just enough people who are willing to defend it to the death.
This is where the challenge lies. The male born of almost any major Somali clan holds a unique ticket “laandheeranimo” lottery ticket that has no expiry date. He can scratch it off today, or thirty years from now. The system is rigged in his favor. So, I ask the millions of Somali men: What do you have to gain from dismantling a rotting system that serves you?
This is the question we must answer if we want progress. Why would a man willingly decrease his own chances to empower the Somali woman? The culture often portrays her as little more than an asset to be traded. She likely went to the same school as her brother, achieved better grades, all while managing the household, yet she remains sidelined. Why would he step aside for her? Because she is his “sister,” “mother,” or “daughter”?
The sad reality is that familial titles often vanish when power is at stake. When times are hard, women are suddenly “tolka” (the clan). They are asked to sell their gold to defend a collective honor. But the moment the warring sides make peace, who is the honorary lamb taken to slaughter? Who is gifted to the very people she was taught to hate?
“Ehel baa la yahay, lama kala go’ayo” (We are kin, we cannot be separated) are the harsh words spoken to justify these exchanges. But the unspoken truth behind them is: “Ina rag waa ehel, adiguna waxaad tahay hub, marna waxaad tahay godob-reeb” (Men are kin; you are merely a weapon, or sometimes, the price of peace).
There is no one who can educate Somali women on their potential as long as they cling to clan allegiances that do nothing but demean and degrade them. But this is not a message of despair; it is a call to action.
The solution lies in positive awareness of women and the society at large. We need to challenge the men in authority not just to “protect” women, but to respect their autonomy and intellect.
To the men: True honor isn’t in using your sisters as bargaining chips; it is in building a society where their merit matters more than your clan ticket.
To the women: Stop buying the “marketing campaign.” Your gold, your intelligence, and your lives are worth more than the preservation of a system that views you as currency.
We must move beyond the illusion. We must demand a politics of ideology, not biology. It is time to scratch off a different kind of ticket, one where success is earned by contribution to the nation, not by the clan you were born into. That is the only way we cure the illness.
