Inter-Clan Strife Engenders a Military Coup

The first post-independence elections were held in 1964, and another Darod clansman (from the south), Abdirazak Haji Hussein a charismatic, largely self-educated political agitator was made new Prime Minister by the President, although the ruling party had endorsed Dr. Shermarke to continue occupying the premiership.
 
Squabbling among the same influential Darod clansmen led to Parliament electing the former Prime Minister, Dr. Shermarke (from the same Darod clan) to be President in 1967; and Muhammad Egal, a northerner from the Isaq clan, became Prime Minister. The new government managed to secure a semblance of peace with Kenya and Ethiopia.
 
In March 1969, other elections were held and the same government was returned to power. Most politics-interested people felt that the government was dominated by the two clans- the Darod and the Isaq. Consequently, despondency and factional wrangling set in. In October 1969, President Shermarke was assassinated by some disgruntled politicians. The Prime Minister then tried to solicit for his handpicked nominee to be named President by the Parliament; and a political crisis became imminent.

Six days after the assassination of the President, the army, supported by the police, seized power in a military coup. The coup was led by Maj-Gen. Mohammed Siad Barre, a southerner from the Marrehan clan. Maj-Gen. Barre announced that the military had intervened so as to combat clanism, nepotism and overt misrule which had plagued the previous government. The Prime Minister and his colleagues were detained until 1975 when they were forgiven and released.


National Movements and New States in Africa