Anti-locust bait was misread as a plot to kill Somali livestock, sparking riots.
Evidence
It might be thought that the successful introduction of these new measures, and particularly of secular education, implied that all conservative resistance to change had been overcome. This, however, was far from being the case. There was still an undertow of antagonism which the severe devastation caused by a plague of locusts in 1944–45 brought to a head. Anti-locust measures employing locust bait, which was regarded with suspicion, were interpreted by some elements in the population as a deliberate attempt by the government to kill Somali camels and stock; and in 1945 this issue provoked a serious riot at Burao and similar troubles at Erigavo. … In point of fact, at the time, the administrative establishment was quite inadequate, there being only five District Commissioners available to run six Districts, and only one of these officials could speak Somali. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 362
Categorization
- XREF: Echoes the pattern of colonial measures misread as deliberate harm documented elsewhere in Somali history and in other colonial settings. — connects to: Colonial anti-locust campaigns were misread as plots against Somali livestock.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 362