Deegaan, Politics and War in Somalia 347arms. Powerful clans use weapons to defend their newly acquired deegaan
and the resources therein. Weaker clans who do not have access to weapons
are pushed to the periphery and denied land and resource rights. They are
also marginalised because they must operate at the periphery of economic
and political decision-making processes.
The desire to increase political strength at the national level is the fore-
most reason different clans and alliances compete to control specific dee-
gaan. Through control of deegmn, clans and clan alliances are stronger polit-
ically and can claim greater representation in important national decision-
making processes. Greater political power implies greater access to resources
both at the local and national level. The Ogaden and the Marehan sub-clans
have fought for supremacy in Jubbaland in the hope of becoming the 'legiti-
mate' holder of deeg~n. Thus the Marehan, considered by many observers
to be a minority albeit powerful sub-clan, are stronger politically at the
national level than are the majority Ogaden. The Marehan were able to cap-
ture greater deeg~n in Jubbaland, which they invested in strengthening their
political representation at the national level.
The Marehan have encroached into Jubbaland since the time of the Barre
government, which favoured the Marehan, as it was observed earlier. During
Barre's regime, the Ogaden were displaced from towns such as Bardere rhat
were traditionally in their area of control.79 Their sense of ownership of the
Jubbaland region was slipping away from them. Therefore, the Ogaden feel
obligated to defend it from their rival Marehan and other sub-clans. Unmh
offers an alternative explanation. He argues that by denying outsider and
weaker clans access rights to deegaan, clans such as the Ogaden are defend-
ing it from being overgrazed and otherwise degraded by overuse. In that
sense, defence of deegaan can be seen as a technique to conserve key land
and natural resources.80
Reconciliting Completing Claims to DeegaanInternal as well as external intervention in the conflict around Jubbaland has
not led to peace or stability.*' Various international efforts led by the UN and
neighbowing countries have only compounded and complicated the joumey
towards a peaceful coexistence of the various clans that inhabit the Jubbaland
region. External intervention in the conflict focused on the leadership, prima-
rily warlords, many of whom benefit directly from continued conflict, but did
not address the rote of deegaan in the conflict. The failure of these intewen-
tions shows the great need to integrate the various issues underlying the con-
flict and parties involved to adequately resolve the c0nflict.8~
The various clans that inhabit the Jubbaland region have long discarded tra-
ditional mechanisms of conflict resolution though they are still applied in
focalised contexts where one particular sub-clan dominate^.^^ Among the