Let us say from the outset that this article is not intended to be an idea written for a magazine or to be posted on the Internet; rather it is goal is to open a debate about why so many extremely beneficial writings that examine Somalia ills at length and offer a range of positive panaceas end at computer storages devices or dusted shelves at best if not in rubbish bins. To get going this text aims to look at, from communication point of view, why the conflict in Somalia still lingers on when there are literally heaps of writings from resourced people that sketch many hypotheses which can succeed in turning around the predicament that Somalia is in. This article hopes that others will explore this issue either from the same angle or from a different prospective.

When you observe ever-increasing Somali web pages, magazines and newspapers, you cannot fail to appreciate that Somalis are at last moving from being an oral society to a literate society however sluggishly. Whatever media outlet you look at especially the Internet, which is the one that we will limit to our discussion, you are bound to see many articles which can lead, if adopted, Somalia to pull itself out of a fatal dive towards state failure. Unfortunately, no one takes them seriously or act upon. Writings deserved to be immortal end up having momentary appeal. The best they can get is a quick smile - a flash of fellow-feeling - if the reader agrees with the writer or an instant’s irritation if the reader disagrees. If the readers would have taken these writings earnestly, they could address the acute law and order problems and establish a foundation upon which Somalis could rebuild their country.

The objectives of any communication are to be: received (heard or read), understood, accepted and get action. When we receive messages loud and clear but fail to act upon, we need to ask ourselves some serious questions. We are not here talking about messages that do not have clarity and intelligibility. We need to find out why these constructive messages are failing to get across or why these messages are not succeeding to produce the intended result.

Let us look at some factors that impede channels of communication or corrupt messages.

Jumping to conclusion is a major obstacle that distorts facts and leads a reader to an entirely improbable conclusion. Once we see the name of the writer (i.e. Samatar, Gure, Waberi, Farah. Osman and so on), we do not approach the writing with an open mind and often we fail to take in all available information. How many times have you assumed what a door sign says? You have definitely failed many times to open a door because you push when it says pull.

Stereotyping is a non-productive exercise built on misinformation. John H. Lienhard, University of Houston, said “stereotype means to cast a person in a preset mould -- to deny individuality.” In our context, it means once you know the clan of the writer you know his political and emotional allegiance.

Lack of knowledge is a huge challenge for writers in terms of education and understanding. As a writer, it is difficult to write for audience who have different background than yours or among themselves. For example, how do you address to Somali members of parliament? Do you address them as well-educated legislators or semi educated lawmakers or unlearned representatives? Impasse Over Moqdishu: A Grand Comprise written by Samatars is a case in point. This text is meant to offer as the authors put it “a major intelligent compromise on the part of the TFG, the Moqdishu warlords, the denizens of the city, and the international community.” And the target audience are the members of parliament. But I am not sure how many of these can actually understand and critically analyse this text.

Emotions appeal thoughts that readers may agree or disagree. In any writing some emotion, of course, is natural, but if the writing is an emotion-driven it is liable to prevent almost anything but the emotion being communicated. Somalia has been in a deep, prolonged political and security crises and times like this people make political choices based on emotions. Therefore, it is not easy for readers and writers to communicate effectively. This is one of the reason we see a growing number of clan-based web sites, each one addressing a clan or a sub-clan or readers reading only certain web pages.

The above factors are not exhaustive, however, the web makes publishing free does not constitute that Somalis need endless articles when these writings are failing to achieve change. In other words, superb articles are going to computer storages as information. And Information in itself is not communication. In order to have an effective communication, it is important to plan carefully, carry out any plan with imagination, and continuously monitor so that the necessary adjustments can be made until the messages get across. By now, you will probably have a few questions such as who is going to do all these – planning, executing, etc, which need answering. Well, like we said earlier, do not jump to conclusion and let us put aside that for another discussion another time.

Mohamed Mukhtar
London
Email: mohamed323@hotmail.com