Colonial officers humiliated Somali employees with degrading dress rules and violence.

Evidence

A few days after Fitzpatrick saw Hussen’s letter, he introduced a new office rule requiring all Somalis entering his office take off their shoes. The first victim of this colonial edict was a rural police officer, named Ardon. Early one morning Fitzpatrick called for this man, and Ardon hastily entered the office without taking his shoes off. Fitzpatrick was incensed by what the policeman had done and gave Ardon a hard kick in the back. Ardon simply grinned and did not react to the indignity. Hussen reported Ardon’s humiliation through the signal network to all corners of the country. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 202