Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo, the victor of recent elections in the breakaway republic of Somaliland, was sworn in as president on Tuesday, achieving a transfer of power between political rivals that is rare in Africa.

Only three states on the African mainland – Benin, Senegal and Zambia – have seen incumbent presidents stand down after being defeated in elections. Unrecognised internationally as a separate state, Somaliland has developed its own democratic traditions without outside pressure.

The circumstances of the handover, which saw Dahir Rayale Kahin bow out as president after being defeated in elections deemed by international observers to have been largely free and fair, are all the more remarkable for their contrast with neighbouring Somalia.

African Union leaders meeting at a summit in Uganda agreed on Monday to boost a small peacekeeping force propping up the nearly powerless Somali transitional government in the face of an al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist insurgency.

They approved a request to send 2,000 more troops to the capital, Mogadishu, and strengthened the rules of engagement to allow the force to fire first if they are facing attack.

But they stopped short of ordering the AU peacekeepers to go on the offensive, something that Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, had hoped for after 73 people were killed in terrorist attacks in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. The bomb blasts have been linked to Somali Islamists.

By contrast, on Tuesday the people of Somaliland were celebrating a democratic transition that they hope will boost their long struggle for international recognition as a separate state.

“I am handing over the presidency with good spirit and welcome President Silanyo who won the election,” said Mr Kahin, the outgoing leader at the ceremony.

“I tell my supporters that the campaign and election are over and that the people of Somaliland are expected to unite and work for the future of Somaliland and recognition.”

Somaliland gained independence from Britain in 1960, and then united with the former Italian colony to its south to become Somalia. Drawn into the civil war that followed the overthrow in 1991 of Siad Barre, Somaliland was able to extricate itself, and through inter-clan dialogue create a viable governing system.

As warlords carved up the south of the country into rival spheres of influence, and the state collapsed, Somaliland gradually began recovering. It held regular elections and benefited from increased trade through its seaport of Berbera from neighbouring Ethiopia. But so far its efforts to win recognised independence as a separate state have met little success.

Source: Financial Times

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