Lord Diplock

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The Critical Issue of Land
Ownership
Violent Conflict Between Abdalla Tolomogge
and Awlihan in Godey Zone, Somali Region of
Ethiopia
WP 1 “Governance and Conflict Transformation”
Working Paper No. 2
Ayele Gebre-Mariam
20051 Introduction
1.1 The Somali Region
The Somali region occupies a large geographical area in the eastern and southeastern
part of Ethiopia. It lies between 4 degree-11 degree N latitude and 48 degree E
longitude. The area of the region is estimated to be 340,000 square kilometres. It is
bounded by Kenya and Somalia to the south, the Republic of Djibouti and the Afar
region to the north, Somalia to the east and southeast and Oromiya region to the west.
The Somali region is divided into 9 administrative zones and 53 weredas (2005). The
Somali region falls under the arid and semi-arid agro-ecological and climatic zone. Its
altitude ranges from 400 masl in the southeast to about 1000 masl in the north. In some
hilly areas the maximum elevation goes up to 1600 masl.
The rainfall in the region has been low, erratic and unreliable. The northern part
encompassing Jigjiga and its surroundings get the keremta rain from July to September
and the rest during gu from March-April. The south and southeastern part of the region
receives rainfall during dayr season from October to November and gu season from
March to April. The temperature ranges from 20-45° C and the average annual rainfall
is 300-500 mm. Low relative humidity and little cloud cover is observed in the region.
Evaporation is twenty more times in excess of rainfall in some places in the region. The
region receives insufficient amount of rainfall and frequently faces droughts that cause
shortage of food and water for humans and livestock.
According to CSA data of the 1997 census, the population of the region is estimated at
3,439,860 of which 85.7% live in rural areas while the remaining 14.36% live in urban
areas. The population is projected to reach 4.8 million in 2010. About 92% of the
population of the Somali region is estimated to be illiterate. Of the literate population
28% are urban dwellers. The corresponding figure for the rural areas is 4.6%. The
region has poorly developed socio-economic services and infrastructure such as
schools, health facilities, transport and communication, water supply and marketing
services. As a whole the region has been neglected and lags behind in social and
economic development. The highest student enrolment ratio is 11.8% for primary level,
7.7% for junior high school level and 5.5% for senior secondary school level. The
region is poorly served in terms of health services and below the national average,
which is 61%. Communicable diseases and malnutrition are widespread.
Most of the people in the region are pastoralists and agro-pastoralists and livestock is
the main source of livelihood. The major livestock species they raise include cattle,
sheep, goats and camels. In areas of lower altitude and lower moisture content camel,
sheep and goats are the dominant livestock species while in the relatively higher
altitudes cattle raising is the most dominant livestock farming. Livestock is the
backbone of the economy in the region and about 85% of the Somali population
depends on livestock products for their livelihood. Crop production is also practiced in
the region and important farming zones include Godey, Jigjiga, Liben and Afder. The
urban economy is dominated by trade services. The most important drainage systems of

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region are the Wabi Shebelle, Genale and Dawa rivers. The region is characterized
by the presence of dry basins such as the Ogaden and Aysha plains.
Past droughts have claimed the lives of large number of livestock and have created
repeated crop failures. There are also occasions when no crop is harvested due to total
absence of rain. This drought cycle is reported to repeat once every two to three years
(Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990). The major droughts of the past three
decades are known as lafaad, (1972-74), dabadheer (1984-85), hurgufa (1994) and
shanqadha/dabagunud (1999-2000). Due to prolonged drought periods forests are
devastated for construction and charcoal use and livestock losses have incurred. The
majority of the region’s population is composed of Somali speaking pastoralists who
are divided into different inter-related clans, each occupying its own territories.
Fighting between these groups takes place over grazing resources and water points.
Many of the clan territories stretch across the international boundary into Somalia and
the same groups live on both sides of the border, which has facilitated trade and
services in the region (Ayele Gebre-Mariam 2004).
1.2 The Ogaden
The Ogaden1 is a huge rangeland in Eastern Ethiopia and it is the favoured grazing land
within the Somali regional state and in the wider region. There is some extensive open
grassland in the area often associated with cultivation. It is also the major livestock
production centre in the region. Pastoralism extends far northwards and westwards into
the foothills of the highland massif, increasingly tending towards agro-pastoralism. The
proper Ogaden excludes the semi-agricultural areas of Jigjiga and beyond, but includes
the minority clans such as the Isaaq living in the area and entering it seasonally. Isaaq
clans mainly utilize the haud.
The Ogaden proper is 240,000 square kilometers. The rangeland is not ecologically
homogenous. The Ogaden is a plateau, which falls from 1,500 meters in the northwest
to about 300 meters in the southern limits including the Wabi Shebelle basin. The
higher altitude areas between 1400 and 1600 meters are characterized as semi-arid,
receiving as much as 500-600 mm of rainfall annually. More typically in the Ogaden
the average annual rainfall is 350 mm and less. The landscape consists of dense
shrubland, bush grassland and bare hills. The soils are calcisol, gypisol, regosol and
vertisol and fluvisol and are marginal for crop production. The Ogaden has no growing
period from rainfall and irrigation is promptly for crop production.
Apart from Somali minority groups inhabiting the Ogaden, the other minority groups
practice flood recession irrigated agriculture along the Wabi Shebelle, Genale, Weib
and tributaries of these rivers. The minority groups include Rer Barre, Woredubbe,
Shebelle, Guruantee and Gerimaro (Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990).
Minority groups such as Boni, Yibir and Midgan live among the Somali clans and are
1 Ogaden is primarily used as a geographical reference for areas lying south of Jigjiga zone and as well as
a genealogical reference for the Somali Ogaadeen clan lineages.

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providing services such as blacksmithing, leather making, artefacts, etc. (Ayele Gebre-
Mariam 1976).
The dominant tree species identified in the Ogaden are tamarix aphylla, calotropis
procera, parkinsonia aculeate, balanites aegyptica, dodonaea anguistifolia, rumex
neurosus, acacia species and combretum molle (MOA 2000).
The main mode of production in the Ogaden is agro-pastoralism. Crops such as maize
and sorghum are mainly grown using rain fed agriculture. Cultivation using flood
recession and pumping water from the Wabi Shebelle river is practiced by some agropastoralists.
The area is known for camel and small stock rather than cattle. But, there
are large herds of cattle in the region. Small stock especially black head sheep are
exported to the Middle East. The Somali goat breed is referred to as deghier, with
white colour and large body size.
The link to Somalia is critical for the Ogaden as livestock is exported through Somalia
and manufactured goods (clothing, food items such as pasta, sugar, rice, tea locally
consumed) come through the Somali ports of Berbera (Somaliland), Bossaso
(Puntland), Mogadishu and Kismayo (southern Somalia). The Ogaden’s centre of
attraction for trade is towards Mogadishu rather than Addis Abeba. The trade routes
between the Ethiopian highland and Somali lowlands facilitate the flow of chat and teff
in the Ogaden.
The estimated total area suitable for irrigation in the Wabi Shebelle basin is 345,000 ha.
This consists of about 12% of the total irrigable land in the country (Imperial Ethiopian
Government 1973). From this 265,000 ha is classified as class 1 that is described as
very suitable for irrigation. The remaining 90,000 ha are classified as moderately
suitable for irrigation. According to the Ministry of Water Resources 113,000 ha of
land is suitable for irrigation to be developed from the Genale river (WRTDA 1987).
The same study also identified about 50,000 ha of irrigable land in the lower Weib
basin.
The Wabi Shebelle, Weib and Genale rivers are the major water sources for irrigation
development in the Ogaden. The area is criss-crossed by the Wabi Shebelle river and
by other seasonal rivers such as the Fafan, Jarar, Dakata and Erer to the west. The
eastern Horn stands out as a great plain separate from this river complex. Water is the
main constraint in the development of the irrigation in the Ogaden. Thus only 40% of
the suitable irrigation land can be developed due to water constraint. The agropastoralists
use several techniques to harvest water. Harvesting run-off river water, use
of floods of the Wabi Shebelle and other rivers, pumping water, the use of the riverbed
of the Wabi Shebelle river for cultivation during its low flow are used to cultivate
crops.
The Ogaden has a potential of about 142 billion-meter cube of natural gas, which
consists of about 71% of the total estimated natural gas in the country. A detailed study
in the Calub area revealed a potential of 30 billion meter cube of natural gaz to exist for
exploration (MOME 1986). Geological surveys and exploration activities made so far

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by the Ministry of Water Resources have not indicated the presence of oil potentials in
the Ogaden for commercial exploitation.
The Ogaden is endowed with plant species, which produce gum arabic, olibanum,
myrrh and oppoponex. It has been estimated that the Ogaden has a potential of
producing 11,250 ql of gum arabic and a total of 46,000 ql gum olibanum, myrrh and
oppoponex annually (Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990). In Afder in the
south of the Somali region salt is exploited for commercial purposes. The some study
reveals a potential for the exploitation of 15,000 ql of salt per month to exist in Afder
(Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990). The modern agricultural sector consists
of a negligible portion of the overall agriculture in the Ogaden, which has been
operating in different forms since 1966. Since the late 1980s modern agriculture has
been concentrated around the Godey state farm, which has a net irrigation land of about
2548 ha. The farm was managed by the Gode State Farm under the auspices of the then
Awash Agricultural Development Corporation. Cotton is the major crop cultivated
followed by maize.
The interdependencies between the Ogaden with the Chercher highlands, the Bale
highlands Dire Dawa and neighbouring Somalia are crucial for understanding the
production system in the Ogaden. Symbiotic and competitive relations are observed
between the Ogaden and the highland production system. On the one hand symbiotic
relations are exhibited in terms of economic and social relations and exchange relations
between economic niches. On the other hand competition for grazing between the
Ogaden and pastoralists in Somalia and the highland farmers appears to have an
overriding effect on the rangeland causing ecological degradation. The highlanders and
sub-highlanders send their animals into the lowlands in search of pasture during the dry
season. The rangeland also serves as a source of fuel wood for the highlands and towns
and thus forests have been denuded as a result of extraction of the forest resources. This
takes place on the boundary between Harar and Bale highlands and the Ogaden.
1.3 The Godey Zone
Godey zone is 105,000 square kilometres and located in the Ogaden plateau (in
geographical terms) but within the Somali region (in political/administrative terms)
with a population of 353,551 according to the population census of 2001. 95% of
Godey zone is made of grazing land. Godey is one of the nine administrative zones of
the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia and it comprises the seven districts Godey (until
1995 host of the regional capital), Denan, Adadley, Kelafo, East Imi, Mustahil, and
Ferfer. Six of the seven districts are located along the banks of the Wabi Shebelle river
that crosses into neighbouring Somalia. 40-50% of the population depends upon
irrigation, 25-30% on agro-pastoralism and 20-30% on pastoralism and less than 1% on
urban service activities. Godey is characterized by an “extensive flat to gently sloping
topography” that accounts for about 94% of the zone’s total area (IPS 2000). The
length of crop growing period ranges from 0-75 days (IPS 2000). The soil types in
Godey zone include xerosols, solonchaks, yemosols, lithosols, vertisols, arenosols and
fluvisols. The dominant soil is calcic xerosols. The soil is ideal for livestock rearing
rather than crop cultivation.

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An estimated 56% of the total area of the zone is occupied by grazing land consisting
of open grass land, bush and shrub grass land and wooded grass land, while 33% is
occupied by wood land, shrub land and bush land. The remaining area is utilized for
crop farming (Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990). Godey has two rainy
seasons accompanied by two long dry seasons. The main rainy season called gu lasts
from March to May and the short dry season known as hagga from June to August.
Hagga is followed by the short dayr rains between September and November and the
long dry season jilaal from December to March. The mean annual rainfall based on
Godey data is about 300 mm. The zone has a potential evaporation rate of 3100 mm per
year. The average precipitation varies from 0 mm in the dry months of July and August
to 110 mm in April during the main rainy season.
Generally, the area is deficient in moisture through out the year. The pastoral areas of
Godey zone are more prone to drought than most other parts of the Somali region.
Temperatures vary from 19° C to 36° C, sometimes reaching 40°C. The mean
temperature is 28° C. In Godey zone, the mean maximum temperature is 38° C and the
mean minimum temperature is 18° C. The highest mean temperatures prevail during
February to March. The relative air humidity of Godey, which is at the centre of the
lower valley, is 55%. The mean daily sunshine hours on Godey are highest between
June and September ranging from 4-6 meter per second. Open pan evaporation is
highest during the months June to September due to strong winds. Records at Godey
show an average of 11 mm/day during these months (Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse
Haile 1990).
An estimated 80% of the zone’s inhabitants are composed of rural pastoralists and
agro-pastoralists, an exception applies to Kelafo and Mustahil weredas where sedentary
farmers of Bantu descend (Rer Barre) dominate. The Rer Barre who are associated with
Hawiye in Godey zone occupy the down stream Wabi Shebelle and Juba rivers in
southern Somalia. The Shebelle are a minority group practicing flood recession
irrigated agriculture along the Wabi Shebelle in the Imi wereda. Drinking water for
human and animal consumption mostly originates from the Wabi Shebelle river.
The rain fed and cultivated land in Godey represents 5% that is 5,250 square
kilometres. Only 20% of Godey zone consists of arable land currently under
cultivation, most of it under irrigation along the Wabi Shebelle river (SCF-UK 2001c).
As in other parts of the Somali Regional State land is collectively owned and managed
by the sub-clan lineages occupying the territory. Shortage of good farmland has been
reported in areas of flood-recession cultivation in proximity to the riverbanks. SCF-UK
reports that “the dependency on stream cultivation means constraints to the amount of
land they can use; extra land can be used in areas not fed by streams, which carries
increased risk of crop failure due to inadequate rain. This is likely to be a problem for
the future when existing farms are sub-divided for the families of the current generation
of sons” (SCF-UK 2001c). Godey zone was struck by a severe drought in 1999/2000
that caused massive human and animal loss. The zone was among the hardest hit areas
within the Somali region and most pastoralists of the zone claim to have lost between
70 % and 90% of their cattle (Guinand 2000). The 1999/2000 drought is locally known
as the odeykawayn, i.e. literally “bigger than the oldest person”, meaning “worse than
even the oldest person can remember” (SCF-UK 2001c).

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According to IPS (2000) the livestock population of Godey zone includes 402,000
cattle, 1,004,000 sheep, 636,000 goats, 8,000 donkeys and 14,000 camels. The riverine
population practices irrigated agriculture using water pumps and flood recession
farming. In Godey zone uncontrolled flood recession takes place every three years
when the river level is higher than normal and the land without canals is flooded. The
livestock from Ogaden is mostly sold on markets in Somalia rather than in Ethiopia.
Manufactured and food items from the Middle and Far East make their way to the
Ogaden and its environs. The means of exchange is the Somali shilling which is the de
facto currency of the area. During the field research (March 2005), Somali shilling
equivalent to birr 300,000 was burnt by the government security in Kelafo (50
Ethiopian cents is equivalent 1000 shillings) for the reason that the community is not
using Ethiopian Birr. The researcher was at Kelafo a day after the incidence took place.
No reaction was observed from the community or individuals at that time.
1.4 Godey Wereda
The climate of the wereda is arid to semi-arid marked by drought, seasonal variations
and an average rainfall between 150-250 mm. Imi wereda in the north, Kelafo wereda
in the south, Adadley wereda in the west and Denan wereda in the east bound Godey
wereda. The altitude of Godey wereda is 260 masl. The mean temperature is 28° C
with minimum and maximum temperature of 22° C and 35° C respectively. The mean
annual rainfall is about 200 mm distributed in two rainy seasons gu (April-June) and
dayr (October to December). The natural vegetation in the wereda is a mixture of
deciduous bush land and shrub land with different species. The farming system is
pastoralism and agro-pastoralism. Increasingly, destitute agro-pastoralists are becoming
settled farmers. They mostly consist of returnees from Somalia who came back to
Somali region after the collapse of the Siyaad Barre regime and other local livestock
poor households.
According to CSA (1994), the population of Godey wereda is 45,755 persons
excluding the Godey town population. The estimated population of Godey wereda in
percent, in the riverine, agro-pastoral, and pastoral and urban setting is 30, 40, 25 and 5
respectively (SCF-UK 2001a). The clans living in Godey wereda mainly consist of
Abdalla Tolomogge, Rer Mohammed, Bah Gerri, Awdak and Abdille. Godey wereda
has an estimated cattle population of 352,000, 244,350 sheep, 135,000 goats and
45,000 camels and equines together (SCF-UK 2001b). The ecosystem of the wereda is
fragile and subject to intensive grazing, intensive destruction of tree for fuel wood and
construction material. The area is highly denuded and exposed to soil and wind erosion.
This phenomenon of environmental deterioration has been observed even during the
early 1990s (Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990).
1.5 Adadley Wereda
Adadley is one of the weredas of Godey zone situated in the Ogaden basin. East Imi in
the north, Kelafo in the south, Godey in the east and Hargele weredas in the west

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17
bound Adadley wereda. According to SCF-UK (2001a), the wereda has a population of
46,661 persons. The clans in Adadley wereda are Awlihan, Abdille, Makahil, Harti,
Sherif, Shekash and Lelkede. 10% depend on riverine cultivation, 28% are agropastoralists,
60% are pastoralists and 2% are urban dwellers (SCF-UK 2001a). The
wereda was established in 1964 and then the headquarters was at Gereblow. Traces of
the village/settlement are not seen nowadays. In 1991, after the collapse of the Siyaad
Barre regime, the Awlihan returnees established Bohol Hagere as the new capital of the
wereda.

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2 Methodology and Resource Use
Conflicts
2.1 Data Collection
The Ogaden Welfare Development Association (OWDA), a local NGO, facilitated the
implementation of this study by providing the researcher with a letter of introduction to
the Godey zone administration to enable him to carry out the study. The number of
persons interviewed by the author is about 90, consisting of elders, youth, women,
agro-pastoralists and pastoralists. The data for the study has been collected in the
month of March 2005. Both salaried elders (guurti) and bush elders were interviewed
as key informants. Other persons interviewed were carrying out their routine activities
such as tending livestock, farming and relaxing in teas shops. The wereda and deputy
wereda administrators of Adadley and Godey were consulted as well. Regional
parliamentarians from Awlihan and Abdalla Tolomogge in Jigjiga participated actively
in discussing the conflict issue between Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan with the
researcher. Other parliamentarians and ugases from the nearby clans were also
consulted. Discussion was also held with the ugas of Abdalla Tolomogge in Addis
Abeba.
Mohammed Nur Hassen from Abdalla clan assisted the author in translating from
Somali into English and was engaged from March 8-30, 2005. Some of the difficulties
encountered when traveling through Godey wereda were the security situation to the
north and east of Godey town. There was a security search in Godey town for two days
during which the researcher was unable to move out of town.
Both published and unpublished documents were read prior and after the study. While
in the field the main tool used was focus group discussion on the basis of a checklist
prepared by Hagmann (2005). Teashops and wereda offices served as discussion sites.
The participants consisted of men, members of the council of elders (guurti), bush
elders, salaried elders and heads of subclans and lineages and women. A minimum of
one to a maximum of 12 men participated in the informal discussions. Among the big
crowd the active participants were usually between one and three persons. Others
intervened whenever they felt like contributing to the theme under discussion.
Discussions with two to four elders held in their homes were common. After long hours
of discussion the participants asked for money to buy chat. Informal discussions were
held with agro-pastoralists on the crop fields and among pastoralists in teashops. These
discussions were lively and open.
2.2 Assumptions and Hypotheses
The Horn of Africa is home for pastoralists and agro-pastoralists and is endowed with
conflicts associated with natural resources. Some conflicts are caused by raiding
livestock, which is the case for Ethiopian and Kenyan, Sudanese and Ugandan
pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. The second type of conflict is violent and involves
the killing of people over the control of natural resources. This second type of conflict

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is at the centre of this research. Processes of cooperation and exchange relations prevail
amidst violent conflicts. Three working hypotheses guiding the research (Hagmann
2004) are examined. They include:
• Hypothesis 1: Conflict transformation is enabled through the inclusion and
participation of stakeholders who are not directly involved in violent disputes
over natural resources.
• Hypothesis 2: The integration of customary and modern procedures and
institutions for conflict and resource management is an effective conflict
transformation strategy.
• Hypothesis 3: Violent multiple resource user conflicts are settled through the
exchange of differentiated bundles of property rights for diverse users in space
and time.
Some scholars claim that the increasing scarcity of resources has increased the
frequency and intensity of violence among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the arid
and semi-arid areas over the last decade. This scarcity has been compounded by state
interventions in agricultural production, nationalization of rangelands, and
sedentarization of nomadic population, privatization of land and break down customary
governance and availability of cheap fire arms (Abbink 2000, Abdi Umar 1997, Lane
& Moorehead 1996 and Mkutu 2001). The author shall consider this theoretical
framework with some modifications.
What has effectively been observed in the study area is the sedentarization of nomadic
populations, some privatization of land, a break down of customary governance and
availability of cheap firearms. State intervention in agricultural production has taken
place but discontinued. Yet a nationalization of the rangelands has not taken place in
the Somali region. Resources are getting scarce due to increasing human population
pressure and livestock populations. The increasing human population needs more
resources in terms of food, health and social services, while the increasing livestock
populations demands more veterinary drugs and better services. But this increase is not
matched by an expansion of services and this exacerbates conflicts.
The conflict between Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan is mainly over land resources.
The conflict takes place in Adadley wereda where both clans claim land ownership.
Before 1974 conflicts between the two clans revolved around livestock raiding. After
1974, because of scarcity of resources and migration of Awlihan from El Berdey
(Somalia) into the Wabi Shebelle basin, the conflict turned into a land issue, became
violent and resulted in the death of several people from both groups. The Ethiopian
government used to operate a research station for crops, vegetables and fruits under its
agricultural programme in Godey. The government also managed the state farms that
were established on pastoralist land following the resettlement of destitute highland
farmers in the Godey area. Claims over land conflict between Awlihan who are
predominantly pastoralists and Abdalla Tolomogge who are predominantly agropastoralists.
Few Awlihan agro-pastoralists aspire for farmland and few Abdalla
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Tolomogge want to engage in multi-species pastoralism. Prior to the 1990s the conflict
revolved around camel looting for dowry payment (yarad) and to build up a herd to
make a viable household. The conflict is exacerbated by high population pressure that
embarks on multiple resources from both Awlihan and Abdalla Tolomogge.
The introduction of human and livestock health services has increased the human and
livestock population respectively. Multiple user conflicts are related to chronic forms of
poverty in conjunction with a process of commodification and integration into national
and global market economics (Blench 2001). Pastoral resources are depleted due to the
need for fire wood, building material, livestock feed, roof thatching, crop growing and
intrusion by outsiders such as town people of Abdalla Tolomogge, Awlihan, other
Ogaden clans and highlanders.
2.3 Structure of Report
Chapter 3 the study looks at the political and institutional setting of Godey and Adadley
weredas. Chapter 4 examines the pastoral economy and agro-pastoral system. Chapter
5 examines how past droughts and floods have affected the Awlihan and Abdalla
Tolomogge. The kinship structure and territory claim of both clans is depicted in
Chapter 6. Chapter 7 looks at natural resources such as grazing/browse, water and how
the two clans use them. Chapter 8 depicts the traditional social structure, which governs
the Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan. In chapter 9, the symbiotic and cooperative
relation of Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan are examined including blood payment
modalities and the external factors that ignite fire between the Abdalla Tolomogge and
Awlihan. The last chapter advances a number of concluding remarks and
recommendations.

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3 Political and Institutional Setting
3.1 Background
In the past but less so today the political agenda of the Ogaden has been secession and
forming a greater Somalia with ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya. The
Western Somali Liberation Front (WSLF) with the support of the Somali government
fought two wars with the Ethiopian government in 1964 and 1977-78. After the
downfall of the Derg, the Ethiopia’s Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)
took over power in 1991 and established a federal structure in Ethiopia. The Somali
inhabited territory was called Somali regional state or region 5. Each clan produced its
own political party at the beginning of the 1990s. Later on the kinship based parties
merged into the predominant Somali People’s Democratic Party (SPDP). Since 1994
the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) operates as a rebel group in some zones
of the region. It seeks liberation from Ethiopia aiming to set up an independent state of
Ogadenia.
Prior to the establishment of Godey as a wereda in 1964, Godey and Adadley weredas
were under Kelafo administration. The Aden Abdalla and Barer Saad lineages of
Abdalla Tolomogge then had good relation with the Awlihan, except from few
incidents of looting of livestock between 1900 and 1947. Godey was only established
after the bridge on the Wabi Shebelle river had been built. The Imperial Ministry of
Interior established a farm for drought victims west of the Wabi Shebelle river. An
airport was also built. These infrastructures made Godey an awraja centre during that
period.
Some informants state that Godey and Adadley weredas were formed at the same time.
Godey wereda encompasses the eastern part of the Wabi Shebelle river and Adadley
the western part of the river. The capital of Godey wereda was Godey and the one of
Adadley was Gereblow in the 1960s. There is no trace of the town Gereblow today.
Some informants talk about two to three iron sheet covered houses then. Other Abdalla
Tolomogge informants state that the area currently belonging to Adadley wereda was
part of Godey wereda and that there was no Adadley wereda as such.
After the collapse of the Siyaad Barre regime there was an exodus of Ethiopian Somali
returnees from Tolomogge and Awlihan to Godey area. The returnees had initially fled
to Somalia after the Ethio-Somali of 1977-78. Upon their return to Ethiopia many
returnees lived in shelters along the banks of the Wabi Shebelle river at the beginning
of the 1990s. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), NGOs
and the then government Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) were supplying
relief food to the internally displaced people. After some time it became impossible for
the Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan to live in the same camps. There was frequent
fierce fighting over trivial matters. The inherent cause was the land that the Abdalla
Tolomogge was cultivating. The ugas of Abdalla Tolomogge, Abdi Rahman Muhumed
Kane, who was heading the Peace and Reconciliation Committee of Godey wereda at
that time, proposed to move the Awlihan west of the Wabi Shebelle river to Bohol
Hagere in 1991. UNHCR appreciated the idea as its work had often been hampered.

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Lineage groups of Abdalla Tolomogge such as the Aden Abdalla, Barer Saad,
Mohammed Asse and Seleban wrote a letter to the Godey zone administration to
facilitate the establishment of Adadley as a wereda centre for Awlihan. The transfer of
Awlihan returnees into Bohol Hagere eventually led to the establishment of Adadley
wereda. The regional government recognised Adadley as one of the seven districts of
Godey zone in 1998.
3.2 Kebeles
Before the local elections of 2004 all the three former wereda administrators of
Adadley were from Abdalla Tolomogge while the respective vice administrators were
from Awlihan. There have been frequent changes of the wereda and kebeles
administration officials. In Adadley wereda the Awlihan and Abdalla Tolomogge have
each five election sites recognized by the regional government. An election site
consists of three to five kebeles. Only agricultural based settlements are considered as a
kebele. In the 2004 elections one of the Abdalla Tolomogge and five of the Awlihan
inhabited kebeles participated in the election. On the basis of this the wereda
parliament consisted of seven Abdalla Tolomogge members and 35 Awlihan
representatives. The four Abdalla Tolomogge kebeles did not vote as they were refused
the post of wereda administrator. They claim to be the majority in the wereda. Since
the February 2004 elections the speaker of the wereda parliament is from Abdalla
Tolomogge and the vice-speaker from Awlihan. The wereda administrator is from
Awlihan and the vice-administrator from Abdalla Tolomogge. One salaried elder at
zonal level represents Adadley wereda and one elder each represents the other six
weredas of Godey zone. Two Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan salaried elders at
wereda level represent Adadley wereda. At regional level, two Awlihan and one
Abdalla Tolomogge parliamentarian represent Adadley wereda. At federal level
Adadley wereda has no representation. The Awlihan also inhabit Hagere, Bare,
Hargele, Dollo Ado and Imi weredas of the Somali region and thus two
parliamentarians at federal level, Ahmed Ugas Fatule and Kamil Jamma, represent the
Awlihan. On the other hand one federal parliamentarian who is also Ethiopia’s
Ambassador to Yemen, Abdi Dollal Mohammed, represents the Abdalla Tolomogge.
The members of parliament are chosen by the EPRDF-friendly SPDP and not by the
people. In the August 2005 national and regional elections, the Abdalla Tolomogge and
Awlihan had 15 and 16 election sites respectively.
3.3 Federal Military
There is a huge federal army presence in the Somali region and also in Godey town, yet
not in Adadley wereda. With few exceptions military personnel stationed in the Somali
region consists of soldiers originating from other parts of the country. Apart from
maintaining security in the region the federal military works in close cooperation with
regional, zonal and district officials and also involves in containing, and to some degree
resolving, clan conflicts.

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3.4 Political Parties
The existing political parties within the Somali Region are the ruling SPDP and
opposition parties such as Dilwabe, Western Somali Democratic Party (WSDP, Somali
Galbed) and Somali Democratic Alliance Force (SODAF). SPDP is the dominant party
affiliated to the EPRDF. Dilwabe has been formed after the 2003 elections. Somali
Galbed has its constituency around Jigjiga, Kebre Dehar and Wardheer. Agitation on
political lines is not strong and party mobilization is weak. An elder in Godey stated
that the SPDP and ONLF are controbank (involved in the issuing cheques/money,
meaning mismanagement of funds) and controbandiro (working against the Ethiopian
flag). The opposition parties are weak. Their voices are often ignored and undermined
in the set up. They are known only by name at Godey zone level. The SPDP had been
formed in 1998 through a merger between the Ethiopian Somali Democratic League
(ESDL) and the moderate faction of the ONLF.1 At the wereda level it is difficult to
clearly distinguish the roles of members of the party, administration and parliament
(see also Lister 2000). Even worse, with the exception of the party and parliament these
institutions hardly function. Even the regional parliament at Jigjiga rarely convened
meetings in 2005.
3.5 Ethnic Federalism
With the government policy of devolution of power to the weredas in hagga 2004
Adadley wereda was not fortunate. Staff for most district offices is not in place except
for three experts in the education office. The wereda agriculture and health office is
without staff. The office structure has been built and is not staffed. This is attributed to
low technical and human resources at regional level and the unavailability of social
infrastructure in the wereda. The set up of regional states in Ethiopia on the basis of
ethnically defined political representation has helped the Awlihan to establish their own
wereda Adadley. However, because of the violent conflict between the two clans
development has become elusive. The people are not sure as to when the next conflict
will take place. Even the yearly budget that is disbursed to the wereda is shared among
the cabinet members of both clans.
1

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4 Pastoral Economy and Agro-pastoral
System
4.1 Pastoral Economy
The Awlihan are predominantly pastoralists engaged in camel and goat husbandry
while the Abdalla Tolomogge are mainly agro-pastoralists keeping cattle and small
stock and practicing flood recession agriculture, pump irrigation and rain fed farming.
The pastoralist Awlihan and Abdalla Tolomogge keep two kinds of herds: milking
animals and dry or non- lactating animals. The milking animals consist of milking
cows, small stock and camels. Women and children keep these animals within easy
proximity of their camp. In most cases, each individual household keeps milking
animals. Usually livestock travels about five to eight km to water points every other
day. Donkeys are replacing camels for fetching water and donkey carts are used for
fetching water, carrying roof thatching, firewood and grass for people living in
settlements and wereda centres. Around the settlements are farmlands irrigated both
with pumps and rain. Teashops and stores are found around these settlements. Figure 3
shows a schematic diagram of the settlements of Abdalla Tolomogge and Awlihan.
Adults keep the non-milking animals in distant pasture areas for about six months.
Groups of households move together for security reasons. They can move to
settlements sites if good pasture is available. The adults feed on the milk from the
animals they tend. The chance for the herdsmen of getting food grain is small as they
are in inaccessible areas. The herdsmen do not have access to food aid unless they visit
settlements. Within Awlihan and Abdalla Tolomogge there are pure pastoralist
communities who stay for about two to three months in a specific locality before
moving with their animals to the next encampment, which may involve about half a
day travel. These groups of people can keep milking animal and non- milking animals
together. The non-milking animals could be hundred km away from their temporary
encampment size.
Both Awlihan and Abdalla Tolomogge have dry and wet season grazing areas. The dry
season grazing areas is situated along the banks of the Wabi Shebelle river and places
further away from the river while the wet season grazing areas are the plains, hills,
hinterlands and catchments (see Figure 3). The dry season grazing areas serve as
grazing resources in times of drought periods. In severe cases of drought the Abdalla
Tolomogge and Awlihan move to whereever it rains. Movement with their animals to
Fiq and Afder zones is common. Access to the Wabi Shebelle river is allowed for any
group except where there are irrigation schemes. After crops are harvested access is
allowed. Even though the wet and dry season grazing are designated, their access varies
from year to year depending on rainfall, relations between clans, livestock diseases and
other factors.
Stockowners claim that the number of livestock species kept on the range is decreasing
as compared to the past 20-30 years due to frequent droughts. Even milk yield is
decreasing as compared to the past. According to informants edible fruits and bushes

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used by people and livestock are yielding less these days. The yield from natural gum is
declining as well. Some livestock experts argue that livestock numbers should be
increasing as a result of interventions in livestock health. What is significant is the
human population increase due to the availability of improved human health services.
The population growth absorbs the increasing number of livestock and thus livestock
ownership per household is minimal. The household heads continue to bequeath their
animals to their sons and the sons at a later stage share animal resources with their
sons.
Because of frequent occurrences of drought, pastoralists replace cattle and sheep with
the more resistant camels and goats. A Somali proverb states that ”when the last cattle
die, the first camel starts dying“ (“marka saca u danbeeya dhinto yuu neefka geela u
horeeya dhintaa”). The Adadley wereda is covered with bush and shrub and even
prosopis juli flora has starting to invade the rangeland. The expansion of prosopis may
reduce the grazing available for livestock and crop farming in the future. People may
be forced to move away from areas where the tree has grown.
4.2 Agro-pastoral System
4.2.1 The Godey Farm and Settlement
The Godey Agricultural Development Project was established by the then Ministry of
Interior of the Imperial Ethiopian Government in 1966. In 1971 the project was taken
over by the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR). The IAR developed 150 ha for
experiments and after satisfactory trials settled 70 pastoralists on 140 ha of land. In
1976 as a result of the catastrophic drought about 1000 Somali households from
Abdalla Tolomogge were settled on 1080 ha of land suitable for irrigation. Because of
the Ethio-Somali war of 1977-78 the whole development programme was discontinued.
At the end of the second quarter of 1981, the project was under the supervision of the
council of ministers of the Derg regime, which resettled people from drought-affected
areas of highland Wollo and Tigray. Subsequently, 3000 farmers were resettled in
Godey at four settlement sites, namely Korahe, Jarar, Fafan, and Welmal. Later on the
settlements were turned into producer cooperatives. At the beginning of 1982, the RRC
took over Godey agricultural settlement. The settlers started growing maize as a major
crop and other crops such as cowpeas, fruits and vegetables. The site of the Godey state
farm is currently in Adadley wereda, but the state farm doesn’t function effectively
nowadays.
The settlement project had continued up to 1989 and on July 8, 1989 was taken over by
the Ministry of State Farms Development and officially named Godey State Farm. As a
result of this move and forced resettlement, many of the highland settlers fled the area
and those highlanders that stayed behind were turned into labourers for the state farm
(Ayele Gebre-Mariam & Tadesse Haile 1990). After take over of government by the
EPRDF in 1991 the Abdalla Tolomogge told the new government that they wanted
what they considered their land back from the highland settlers and state farm. The
settlers were urged by the wereda administration to hand over the land to Abdalla
Tolomogge. The agro-pastoralist Abdalla Tolomogge started farming on the resettler’s