The immediate precipitant on this occasion, ironically enough from the point of view of the government, was the introduction throughout the Republic of a unitary system of tariffs and customs dues which, though intended to lower transport costs in the north, had quite the opposite effect. Food prices in the northern regions immediately soared causing widespread public indignation which led to a riot at Hargeisa on I May. This assured that the new party received much public support in the north.

I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Som…, loc. 445