The Somali Youth League (SYL), 1943–1969

In short

The Somali Youth League was the first modern Somali political party and the one that carried the south to independence in 1960. Its aims were to unite all Somalis, end clan division, spread modern education and write the Somali language (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study). Its members swore an oath not to name their clan.

How did it begin?

On 15 May 1943, thirteen young Somalis met in a one-room office on Via Cardinale Massaia in Mogadishu and founded the Somali Youth Club (Mohamed Trunji, Hiiraan Online, 2017). Trunji is the author of Somalia: The Untold History, 1941–1969.

Britain had ruled the former Italian colony since 1941, under a British Military Administration. The Library of Congress says British officials encouraged Somalis to organise, and let educated police and civil servants join the club (Library of Congress).

One of the last surviving founders, Ali Hassan "Verdura", said in a 2002 interview that the League "was made up of people with diverse backgrounds" (Goobjoog News, 2016). The Library of Congress records that the founders came from four of Somalia's six major clan-families and refused to say which (Library of Congress).

Who were the founders?

Lists of the founders differ, and Somalis still debate who gave the first push. The Somali National News Agency's list includes Abdulkadir Sheikh Sakhawudin, Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke, Mohamed Hersi Nur "Sayidin", Haji Mohamed Hussein, Dheere Haji Dheere, Dahir Haji Osman "Dhegaweyne", Ali Hassan Maslah, Mohamed Ali Nur, Mohamed Farah Hilowle and Mohamed Osman Barbe, among others (SONNA, 2021).

Trunji records that Abdulkadir Sheikh Sakhawudin was elected the club's first president, with Dahir Haji Osman as secretary (Trunji 2017). Some credit Yasin Haji Osman Sharmarke with the idea; others credit Sakhawudin and Haji Mohamed Hussein. Calankii honours all thirteen.

What did it stand for?

The club's first constitution had two aims, Trunji writes: to unite all Somalis, especially the young, by ending the prejudices that set communities against each other; and to educate the young through schools and cultural circles (Trunji 2017).

On 1 April 1947 the club became the Somali Youth League, with a new constitution. The official newspaper, The Somalia Courier, wrote at the time: "childhood was over and manhood was reached" (quoted in Trunji 2017). The League added two aims: to remove anything harmful to Somali interests, and to make Somali the national language, written in the Osmaniya script created by Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid.

The Library of Congress lists the League's goals as: uniting all Somali territories, including Kenya's Northern Frontier District and the Ogaden; modern education for everyone; a standard written Somali; and opposing a return to Italian rule (Library of Congress).

The members' oath

Any Somali over 15 could join, and from the party congress of 1950 women joined as full paying members (Trunji 2017). Each new member swore:

"I swear by Almighty God that I will not take action against any Somali. In times of trouble, I promise to help the Somali. I will become the brother of all other members. I will not reveal the name of my tribe."

The oath also promised not to discriminate in marriage against Somali occupational minority communities, whom it named.

How fast did it grow?

The Library of Congress says the club had 25,000 card-carrying members by 1946 (Library of Congress). It opened offices in British Somaliland, the Ogaden and Kenya's Northern Frontier District.

A United States intelligence report of September 1948 estimated its membership across the Horn at up to 75,000, with 10,000 in Mogadishu (CIA information report, 7 September 1948). A second report that month found League branches in Hargeisa, Berbera and Burao (CIA information report, 7 September 1948).

Colonial governments feared it. Kenya's governor declared the League's Garissa branch unlawful on 4 June 1948, and its leaders were exiled to Turkana until 1960 (Trunji 2017).

January 1948: the Four Power Commission

After the Second World War, Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States sent a commission to ask Somalis what future they wanted. It reached Mogadishu in January 1948 (Library of Congress).

The League held a mass rally to show the strength of the demand for independence. A counter-demonstration for Italy's return was held at the same time. In the violence that followed, the Library of Congress records 51 Italians and 24 Somalis killed (same source).

Among the Somalis who died was Xaawo Taako (Hawo Tako), a League member who is remembered as a heroine of independence. A monument to her stands beside the National Theatre in Mogadishu (Goobjoog News; Somali Architecture).

The League asked the commission for one thing: to reunite all Somalis under a ten-year international trusteeship leading to independence. The Library of Congress says the commission recommended a plan close to the League's (Library of Congress).

Why did Italy come back?

The four powers could not agree. In the British House of Commons on 29 November 1948, a minister said that "a United Somalia would be the best solution", but that the matter was now for the UN (Hansard, 29 November 1948).

On 21 November 1949 the UN General Assembly placed the south under Italian trusteeship for ten years, with independence fixed for 1960 (UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV)). The League had opposed Italy's return, but it accepted the fixed date and worked toward it.

The road to 1960

• 1950 to 1953. The Italian trusteeship administration jailed some League members and dismissed others from the civil service. The League answered with protests, civil disobedience and petitions to the UN Advisory Council (Library of Congress).
• 1956. In the first territory-wide elections, the League won 43 of the 60 Somali seats in the new Legislative Assembly. Its leader there, Abdullahi Iise, became the first Somali prime minister (same source).
• 1958. Women gained the vote in the south, and the League won the municipal elections (same source).
• 1959. Two other parties boycotted the pre-independence election. The League won 61 seats unopposed and 20 contested seats, and Abdullahi Iise formed the new government (same source).
• 1 July 1960. The south and the north united as the Somali Republic. Aadan Cabdulle Cismaan, the League's parliamentary leader, became its first president (Library of Congress; Library of Congress).

After independence

The League stayed the largest party. It won 74% of seats in the municipal elections of November 1963, and 69 of 123 seats in the national election of March 1964 (Library of Congress).

In the March 1969 election, 64 parties stood, but only the League stood in every district. By the end of May 1969 its members in the assembly had grown from 73 to 109, as members of smaller parties joined it (Library of Congress).

On 21 October 1969 the army took power. The new Supreme Revolutionary Council banned all political parties, the League among them (Library of Congress).

Sources differ

• Where it was founded. Most sources, including the founders' own accounts, say Mogadishu. The English Wikipedia article on the League also mentions Harar (Wikipedia). Calankii follows Mogadishu, as the founders did (Goobjoog News, 2016).
• When it became the SYL. The Somalia Courier of the time gives 1 April 1947 (quoted in Trunji 2017); some accounts give 1948.
• The dead of January 1948. The Library of Congress gives 51 Italians and 24 Somalis. Other accounts give lower Somali figures.

What it moved forward

The League took the cause of a free, united Somali people that the Dervishes had fought for, and carried it into politics, elections and the UN. It brought young people from every community into one party under one oath. It delivered independence on the date the world had promised.

Read the primary sources yourself

• UN General Assembly resolution 289 (IV), 21 November 1949: text.
• UK House of Commons debate on British and Italian Somaliland, 29 November 1948: Hansard.
• US intelligence reports on Somali political organisations, September 1948: Italian Somaliland, British Somaliland, and the League, July 1950.