"The UN must appoint a new and credible person immediately and commission
fresh investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Bryden’s
activities in Somalia and all the monies that are unaccounted for, no
matter whether the funds were paid through the United Nations Political
Office for Somalia or was given to individuals as cash in hand. Until then
Matt Bryden’s so called Monitoring report is implausible and should be
considered null and void.
In fact the Monitoring Group’s report falls far too short of international
standards as it lacks substance, professionalism, legitimacy and
credibility, and should be dismissed by the United Nations"
**
Keeping Somalia in conflict: Somaliland secessionists, Al Shabaab and Matt
Bryden<
http://horn.so/keeping-somalia-in-conflict-somaliland-secessionists-al-shabaab-and-matt-bryden/>
Posted on Friday, July 20th, 2012
**
Date: 20. July 2012
The Rt. Hon. William Hague PM
Foreign Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London
CC: Prime Minister Recep T Erdogan, Istanbul
CC: Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, the US State Department
CC: Ambassador Matt Baugh, British Embassy, Somalia
Dear Mr William Hague MP,
Re – the UN Somalia-Eretria Monitoring Group’s Report on Somalia
Over the past couple of decades, every Somalia analysts had nightmares
whenever they tried to find solutions for the Somalia conflict. A unique
nation, no text books were ever written on situations similar to that of
Somalia. As one of the only two countries named after its people in the
giant continent of Africa, the frustrated experts often conveniently
conclude that Somalis are just hot-headed and turbo-charged people who
argue with each other rather than sit down and debate when considering
matters of national interest.
But as a concerned Somali, it’s unacceptable to me that such energetic and
highly enterprising people would be in conflict with each other for that
long without the interference of other governments or groups of people or
powerful individuals, so I went my separate way to find out my own
solutions for what’s wrong with the country and its people.
In my researches in the early years of the conflict and occasionally at
present, I blamed the Ethiopians for having their own national interest in
the Somalia conflict. And increasingly recently I suspected the Saudis and
their teachings of Wahabi Islam. Often I would debate with friends and even
with myself about the reasons for the Ethiopians or the Saudis wanting to
sustain the conflict in Somalia. Both are close to us; one being our
immediate neighbour and the other, our favourite destination for Hajj,
shopping and work.
This past fortnight however, I took a much closer look at Somalia, Ethiopia
and the nearby Saudi Arabian peninsula. And when the bell did not ring in
any of these places, I suddenly, like Albert Einstein discovering Matter
and Energy, found a single Canadian culprit who strategically positioned
himself in the suburbs of Nairobi, Kenya. I made a substantial discovery
towards the conflict resolution programmes for Somalia.
I zeroed in my investigation to a small group of mainly Western expats in
Nairobi. But the person who is partly responsible for much of the chaos and
the unrest in Somalia over the past 21 years is none other than Mr Matt
Bryden from Toronto, Canada. He works for the Brussels-based International
Crisis Group and he is married to Ubah (her exact Somali family name
unknown at the time of writing) who originally came from Hargeisa, North
Western Somalia (Somaliland).
In fact I have been wondering over the past ten years about what interest
Mr Matt Bryden has in Somalia. I knew all along from his various reports on
Somalia that he has some kind of business in trying to keep Somalia in
conflict. I have not, however, discovered up until this week exactly what
that interest may be. Perhaps I overlooked some crucial but remote details
about the man and his activities, just like the United Nations Human
Resources Department in New York, if they were ever made aware of the fact
that they have outsourced an important contract to a person who has private
interests in Somalia.
With his latest report on Somalia, Mr Bryden attracted the undivided
attention of the entire Somali nation and this time, the knives are out to
him. His dirty laundry is there for everyone to see hanging on the ropes
outside his house in Nairobi.
Mr Bryden’s leaked report on Somalia, which is doctored several times over,
offended every Somali person and the Somalis have him cornered as his back
is against the wall. He made the very serious error of judgement by
underestimating the Somali people, their intelligence and their patience.
The incomplete report which is surprisingly sanctioned by the United
Nations has laid bare his ulterior motives. It’s obvious to everyone that
his high school style essay has been designed to disrupt and derail the
final days of the Somali peace process once again and to tarnish the
reputation of the entire Somali nation as corrupt society, unable to
produce credible people who can take responsibility for their own country.
Please note that I am not, by any means, defending any Somali official who
may have been involved in corruption activities.
In the report, while Mr Bryden pointed the finger at individuals in the
transitional Somali government and underlined the amounts of cash they
allegedly misappropriated, he deliberately omitted the vital data of who
actually handed the money over to whom and with which bank or banks the
person handled these monies, making the entire report unworthy of the
papers it was written on.
What also baffled the Somali people and the observers of the Somalia
conflict is the deliberate exclusion from the poorly written report of a
widespread corruption that is taking place in Somaliland. The United
Nations Development Programme confirmed in the winter of 2011 (news wire)
that a warehouses in Hargeisa with 1000 metric-tonnes of food aid that was
donated by the government of Oman, was emptied by Somaliland officials in
bright daylight.
Moreover, a fourth-grader knows that when corruption takes place anywhere
in the world the facilitators of that corruption would consist of two
people or more. And in the case of Somalia, since almost all the monies
came from foreign donors and mainly changed hands on the watch of the
United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) in Nairobi, where Mr
Bryden lives and works, there were no people named in the report other than
the Somali officials, shamefully insulting the intelligence of everyone who
read his so called Somalia Report.
According to Mr Bryden’s sources, there are the Arab Sheikhs who Mr Bryden
claims paid substantial amounts of cash to the Somali government officials.
But if an Arab Sheikh hands over a suitcase full of cash to a Somali
official and asks him or her no questions later, would you consider it as a
gift to that particular individual or would you call it a corruption – a
corruption by who? And surprisingly enough, as the weak Somali government
officials are junior partners to UNPOS when it comes to foreign donations,
the report has been selective and does not contain the names of the people
who I believe initiated the alleged corruption and who pocketed most of the
misappropriated funds. The world needs to know who these people are.
The UN must appoint a new and credible person immediately and commission
fresh investigations into the circumstances surrounding Mr Bryden’s
activities in Somalia and all the monies that are unaccounted for, no
matter whether the funds were paid through the United Nations Political
Office for Somalia or were given to individuals as cash in hand. Until then
Matt Bryden’s so called Monitoring report is implausible and should be
considered nil and void.
In fact the Monitoring Group’s report falls far too short of international
standards as it lacks substance, professionalism, legitimacy and
credibility, and should be dismissed by the United Nations. In the light of
the facts available so far, the United Nations should demand the tax
payer’s money back from Matt Bryden and his organisation. And Mr Bryden
must be relieved from his post, and not reappointed in public service
capacity to any activity within the Somali republic. The international
community can no longer afford to tolerate any government or lone wolves
who represent other privately established institutions to prolong the
conflict by working against the efforts to find peace and security in
Somalia.
The Somali people are also strongly urging the UN – after the report is
reconsidered – to open the way for comprehensive and independent
investigations into the suspected Nairobi-based protection racket which is
possibly headed by Mr Matt Bryden. And a good starting point would be Mr
Bryden’s interest in Somalia and his relationships with the secessionists
group in Somaliland. Only then can the fragile Somali peoples’ relationship
with the UN be put back on the right track.
As politically literate society, the Somali people are well aware of who
meets whom and when in Nairobi’s expatriate circles. When Mr Augustine P
Mahiga, the UN Special Rep. for Somalia, for example, called for the
diplomatic recognition of Somaliland, my follow up investigation confirmed
that he had a dinner table conversation in Nairobi with Matt Bryden the
week proceeding to his departure for Hargeisa, where these statements were
made. But the irresponsible remarks put the colonial mission school
educated Mahiga in hot waters after the Security Council promptly
reprimanded him.
I must underline that the Somali people have the resources – financially
and the professional personnel – to conduct their own world class
investigations, and if Mr Mahiga elects not to recommend the termination of
Mr Bryden’s role in Somalia, other people would be implicated. I should
also make it clear to everyone, friend or foe, that the Somali people are
fully awake in 2012.
Big or small, there is corruption everywhere including Somalia. But we must
be on the lookout for the parasitic individuals who are lurking in the dark
periphery of the Somalia conflict, and who are actively involved in the
attempts to keep Somalia in conflict. We won’t be able to put to good use
the recent gains made by the African Union without removing the remaining
obstacles to peace and stability in Somalia: Somaliland secessionists, Al
Shabaab and people like Matt Bryden.
It’s an open secret, albeit published in some intelligence reports on
Somalia, that Somaliland politicians believe that it’s in their best
interest to help sustain the anarchy in the rest of Somalia. So when Mr
Bryden’s strong relationship with Somaliland is on the public domain, I
wonder how an oversight could have taken place in the UN’s recruitment
policy on international staffing.
Urgent review of the UN’s hiring procedures should also be made before
another ‘white collar warlord’ and international ‘conflict fat cat’ cooks
their own books and makes further embarrassments for the world body. It’s
time to find out who else, apart from Matt Bryden, is fuelling the conflict
in Somalia and giving Al Shabaab the lifeline they badly need. The Somali
people need answers as they are running out of time – and patience.
Warm regards,
Abdul Ghelleh, former UKLG civil servant
abdulghelleh_at_gmail.com
Received on Tue Jul 24 2012 - 14:56:40 EDT
