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of the region lie two opposite interpretations of political turbulences within the Somali
Region.
Two dominant narratives - both of which appear in folk and scientific discourse -
confront each other. First, the highland narrative attributes political instability in the
Somali Region to the ‘nomadic culture’ of the Somali (-Ethiopians). It portrays the Somalis
as enemies of Ethiopian identity and culture including Christianity, as lawless
troublemakers with an ‘unwavering insurgency attitude’ (Faisal Roble 1996), and it
deplores their incapacity to organize themselves in stable state institutions. Thus it sees
them as unable, if not too immature, to benefit from Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism that – at
least formally – allows for national self-determination. This paternalistic perspective puts
heavy emphasis on the Somali social fabric to explain the ongoing turmoil in the region.
This view is partially echoed by Markakis (1996:570), who states that ‘the new political
order in Ethiopia does not seem to have affected the categorical imperative of Somali
political practice, which is clannishness’. Escher (1994:656) speaks of the ‘disintegrative
forces and relentless fighting for power and influence among the Ogaden Somali
themselves’. Van Brabant (1994:16) too talks about tribalism having entered Somali
politics in eastern Ethiopia. Paradoxically, the highland discourse on its Somali borderland
oscillates between the official party-state discourse and popular Ethiopian perceptions of
Somali compatriots. The EPRDF’s state ideology of ethnic federalism praises the ‘process
(…) of “de-colonisation”’ underway in what is paternalistically termed as Ethiopia’s
‘backward’ or ‘emerging’ regions 7 (Walta Information Center 2000) and perceives the
Somali Ethiopians as one among the many ‘peoples, nations and nationalities’ of federal
Ethiopia. Contrary to this somewhat idealistic view, the majority of Christian highland
Ethiopians perceive the Somali-Ethiopians primarily if not exclusively as Somalis who are
alien to Ethiopian nationhood.
The lowland narrative proposes a sharply contrasting view on the permanent turmoil
within the Somali Region. Somalis and those sympathetic to their cause bring the latter
forward. This view stresses the oppressive nature of the Ethiopian state, which is accused
of ‘practicing colonialism’ (Said Yusuf Abdi 1978:22) similar to past British, Italian, or
French colonialism in the Horn of Africa. In its more radical, yet quite widespread version,
it stresses the continuity of Ethiopian domination: ‘Successive regimes have not only failed
us, but even worsened the lid of oppression on us, massacring at will and letting their
security machinery rape our mothers, wives, sisters, and kill our fathers, sons and brothers’
(Abdi Aden Mohamed 2001). Although many observers emphasise the comparatively
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