Italian trusteeship administration pursued a divide-and-rule balkanization strategy against Somali nationalism

Evidence

The present tendency to set up within the Trust Territory of Somaliland three separate tribal States, namely, the Dighil and Mirifle State, the State of Hawiya and the State of Darot, is … alarming. During the examination of petitions from Somaliland by the Standing Committee on Petitions the representative of the Administering Authority mentioned several times the infiltration of foreign elements into the districts of Baidoa and of Merka. Obviously, the foreign elements referred to are the Somalis from other regions within the Trust Territory who reside in the districts of Baidoa and Merka, either temporarily or permanently. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 302

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to wider trusteeship-era divide-and-rule tactics used by colonial powers across Africa against nationalist movements.