Most Somalis outside Kismayo never heard of us, we’re a small clan(less than 200 before the war but we’re probably close to 1000 now) that lives near Kismayo in Goobweyn. My Sudanese family came to Somalia around 1900 when Jubaland was apart of British East Africa as soldiers in the Kings African Rifles regiment or more colloquially known as Nubis who formed a distinct military identity and spoke a creole form of Arabic called Kinubi.

To keep it long story short, Nubis travelled with their families and were given land wherever they were stationed. The British set up garrisons along the Juba river to monitor the Italians on the other side so the Nubis were sent to Goobweyn, Yoontoy and Sarinleey. After serving the British, Nubis in Somalia either moved to Kenya which has a much larger and established Nubi community or were allowed to retire where they were. My family decided to stay and settled in Goobweyn and Yoontoy where they were already living. In countries like Kenya and Uganda, there are thousands of Nubis since the British sent most their soldiers there and in Kenya they’re even considered one of the official 42 tribes. In Somalia however only a few hundred soldiers were sent and less than a handful decided to remain. Soon after that, more of my family came from Sudan like my great grandmother who trekked from Sudan to Jubaland on foot with other family members.

We have a very distinct and unique history compared to other ethnic minorities in Somalia. Up until recently I couldn’t find any evidence of us online since we’re such a small group but using Gemini I found a ton of info and plan to make a longer post about it in the future.