# Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA)

> The Somali Democratic Alliance, the Gadabuursi movement founded in 1989: its leader, the events around Borama in 1990–92, and its split over Somaliland's independence.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/somali-democratic-alliance/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

The Somali Democratic Alliance (SDA) was the movement of the Gadabuursi (Dir) of the north-west, around Borama. It was one of several clan-based movements of the late 1980s, but it took a different path from the [Somali National Movement](/en/institutions/somali-national-movement/) (SNM) over the future of the north. This page records what the sources say, without taking sides on Somaliland's status. The region is described in [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/).

## Founding and leader

Wikipedia records that the SDA was founded in 1989 and led by Mohamed Farah Abdullahi, known as Hansharo, citing Redie Bereketeab's *National Liberation Movements as Government in Africa* (2017) and the *Europa World Year Book 2002*. It is distinct from the Horyaal Democratic Front, an earlier Gadabuursi movement that opposed the Derg on the Ethiopian side of the border ([Wikipedia, Mohamed Farah Abdullahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Farah_Abdullahi)). The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, citing *Africa Events* of April 1993 and US academics, also named him as leader and recorded that the SDA had no written agenda beyond its position on Somaliland ([IRB, 16 February 1994, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195211)).

## The north-west, 1990–1992

An IRB response of September 1992, drawing on press reports and the researcher Patrick Gilkes, recorded that:

- Gadabuursi militias helped the Somali army retake Zeila and Loyada in April 1990;
- the Gadabuursi town of Dila was partly destroyed by the SNM, and some Gadabuursi refugees could not return;
- in February 1991 the SNM was accused of "ethnic cleansing" in the Borama area (the report gives no SNM response);
- fighting broke out in the town at the end of March 1992;
- the two Gadabuursi members of the SNM-led government resigned or were dismissed in early 1992

([IRB, 1 September 1992, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1311612.html)).

## The split over Somaliland

After the SNM declared the Republic of Somaliland on 18 May 1991, the SDA divided. The September 1992 IRB response described three wings: one led by a recently dismissed Somaliland minister; one that said the SNM had broken its promises of fairness to all northern clans; and one that strongly backed Somali unity, whose leader was reported to be in Mogadishu working with [Ali Mahdi Muhammad](/en/people/ali-mahdi-muhammad/) (IRB, 1992). By February 1994 the IRB described two factions: a larger one opposed to Somaliland's independence, and a smaller one that supported it and was represented in the Somaliland government (IRB, 1994). A November 1995 IRB response recorded that Gadabuursi openly linked to the anti-independence SDA might regard themselves as at risk in Somaliland ([IRB, 15 November 1995, via ecoi.net](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/194743)).

Elders from all of Somaliland's clans met at the Borama conference of January to May 1993, which agreed a national charter ([Charles G. Thomas and Toyin Falola, 2020, chapter 5, "Somaliland, 1991–present"](https://ucp.manifoldapp.org/read/048dd300-32fb-4842-8814-4f060c9b7c5a/section/8a2922c8-aceb-432c-8c70-22f203f7fd68)). See [Somaliland, 1991 to 2026](/en/states/somaliland-1991-to-2026/).

## Sources differ

- **Number of wings.** Three in 1992, two by 1994 (IRB).
- **The leader's name.** Given as Mohamed Farah Abdullahi, "Hansharo" and, in one 1994 account, "Hashari".
- **The 1991 accusations.** Recorded by the IRB from press reports; the sources read for this page do not give the SNM's answer.

## Read the primary sources yourself

- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM16491.E (1994): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/de/dokument/195211).
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, SOM11602 (1992): [document](https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1311612.html).

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