UN corrupts Somali political transition
The Somali people desperately need miracles, as they hope for peace and an
accountable government in their land.
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Abdi Ismail Samatar
Abdi Ismail Samatar is professor of geography at the University of Minnesota
and a fellow at the University of Pretoria.
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For over the two decades, sectarian Somali leaders and their international
patrons dominated political transitions in the country. The end results of
these affairs have been perpetual political instability, endless violence
and the misery for the population without any one being held accountable.
Another transition is looming and the UN which is midwifing the process is
enabling several Somali actors to gerrymander the process in order to
predetermine the outcome to their advantage. The question that most Somalis
are asking is: why is the UN's Special Representative (SR) who dominates the
process allowing sectarian agendas to control the transition and reproduce
the mess?
This essay attempts to map this odious affair as it unfolds in Mogadishu. It
demonstrates how the UN and its corrupt Somali partners are working the
system to fabricate an outcome that will reproduce incompetence potentially
stoking violence between and among communities.
Ending the long transition?
The life of the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG), ends in August
2012 and is to be replaced by a post-transitional order. Since the African
Union military force (AMISOM) controls a small but growing section of the
country, it is not feasible to conduct national elections which can morally
sanction the formation of a new political system. Consequently, the TFG and
SR have invented a process that they hope will usher in a new era that
reflects their own ambitions.
This process guided by what they call the Road Map (RM) was thoughtlessly
concocted and consists of the following steps:
(a) completion of draft constitution by the UN;
(b) formation and empowerment of the so-called seven signatories;
(c) selection of 'traditional elders' as foundational anchor of the new
dispensation;
(d) convening of national constituent assembly to sanction the draft
constitution;
(e) selection of members of parliament; and
(f) the election and appointment of a new speaker of parliament, president
and prime minister.
The completion of these six steps is supposed to mark the end of Somalia's
permanent transition and lead to a new dawn of peace and stability that
gives hope to an exhausted population. I proffer that this seemingly orderly
process is deeply flawed and might not overcome the problems that have
bedeviled the decade long transitional period.
The foundation of any peaceful and democratic political order is the
legitimacy of the means used to establish national institutions. A key item
in such an endeavour is the drafting and adoption of a constitution. In
Somalia, this process has been completely dominated by the Nairobi-based
UNDP offices. Although the TFG presumably has selected the constitutional
commission, it is the UNDP that laid out the outlines of the constitutional
framework and which has selected and employed the drafters.
The product of this process is a constitutional draft which enfeebles the
capacity and authority of the national government and that gives
unprecedented authority to the provinces in such a way that the latter will
have the power to set their own foreign policy and veto any major initiative
of the national government. The rationale behind such a constitutional
architecture is the wrong-headed presumption that Somalis are by nature
tribalistically myopic and dislike centralised authority even if that is
democratic.
Whatever the quality of this draft constitution is, it appears that the TFG
leaders and their international associates do not want the Somali people and
their legitimate representative to have any say about it. In this manner,
Somalia's current transition leaders are willing to trade the cause of their
country and people in the hope that their pliancy will carry favour with key
international actors and ensure their reappointment as Somali leaders.
Corrupting the reform
The first step in this new strategy was to disband the Transitional Federal
parliament because the SR decided that it was a major obstacle to realising
the objectives of his Road Map. Since AMISOM controls security in Mogadishu
and the UN paid the salaries of MPs, it was easy to "dissolve" parliament.
The inter-governmental regional organisation, IGAD, then authorised the TFG
president to run the country by decree.
With the dismissal of parliament came the demise of the Transitional Federal
Charter which was the national legal document that was supposed to govern
the transitional process. Consequently, the SR and his international backers
concocted a new organ called the signatories which they hope would provide
legitimacy for the process. Among the signatories are: the SR, the TFG
President, TFG Prime Minister, Speaker of defunct parliament, the Puntland
leader, a representative of a political/religious sect called Ahlu Sunna and
the self-appointed head of an area called Gulmudug.
The African Union, IGAD, the UN and major international actors immediately
endorsed this outfit without any regard for the wishes of the Somali people.
The paradox is that the international guardians of democracy were not
troubled by the fact that the signatories minus the SR had already declared
their intention to lead the post-transition regime. Allowing the signatories
to manage the change is tantamount to them being judge and jury.
As the end of the transitional period approaches the process of sanctioning
the draft constitution is being rushed through. Under the discarded
transitional charter, parliament had the power to sanction or reject any
major changes to the transitional order, but the signatories now run the
show. In the absence of the parliament, the SR and his collaborators
realised the need to invent a new mechanism that could provide legitimacy
for their agenda: the elders and the constituent assembly.
The SR called for a new Council of "traditional leaders" to represent the
population during the last days of this period and declared that the elders
were the legitimate voice of the population and have the moral authority to
anchor the emerging political dispensation. Subsequently, the TFG leaders
developed the list of traditional leaders despite the fact that it was
widely known that the former were committed to reproduce themselves It is
puzzling to understand why the SR could not see the conflict of interest
involved in having the TFG steward the very process which they hope would
reappoint them. Be that as it may, the list of names of the elders was
developed although there is some disagreement among genealogical communities
regarding who is being represented and who has been left in the cold.
As a result of this design, the TFG leaders immediately gained an advantage
in shaping the elder's political outlook, particularly since it was possible
for the leaders to replace individual elders who were found to be
insufficiently pliant. I know of at least five elders who were replaced
because they were "deemed" to be of the wrong political persuasion.
Thereafter, the elders were isolated in a base in Mogadishu and the TFG
leaders and the SR are the only individuals who have access to them. Other
Somali political actors who plan to challenge the TFG for the
post-transitional leadership have so far being shunned.
Responsibilities of the elders
Among the responsibilities of the elders are to oversee the vetting of the
draft constitution and then select the new members of parliament. Because of
the enormity of the power ceded to them access to the elders has become a
major issue of contention. It is common knowledge in Mogadishu that many
elders have received money, other gifts, and promise of more largesse if
they nominate the "right" MPs.
The elders recognised their newly found power and began to take some
political initiative. First, they have demanded that a separate chamber of
parliament for the elders be created. Second, being the "representative of
the people" they declared their intent to review and amend the draft
constitution before it could be forwarded to the constituent assembly.
At this stage, the SR panicked that the elders might affect certain reforms
which the international packers of the draft constitution covet.
Consequently, he scorned them that such a demand exceeds their mandate and
they would not be allowed to alter the draft charter. Reprimanded, many
elders realised they had a limited shelf life only to be discarded when they
performed the tasks assigned to them. As a result, they slowed down the
nomination process to thwart any swift attempts to undermine their role.
In addition, the elders were empowered to nominate all the 825 individual
member of the constituent assembly whose sole responsibility was to approve
the draft constitution. Each member of the elders had the responsibility of
naming the number of assembly members from their genealogical group.
Since each elder's own knowledge of all the competent and qualified members
of his community was limited, other interested parties developed lists and
handed them over to the elders which make the process ripe for abuse. The
nomination of the assembly members is subject to further gerrymandering as
those who control the purse can block nominated individuals by not providing
them with plane tickets or transport fees to get to Mogadishu, and then
replace them with preferred candidates.
Finally, another task for the elders is to appoint members of parliament
representing their communities. This duty is exceptionally contentious
because there have been no discussions among the genealogical communities
pertaining to the political orientation of their people. Because of the
transformation of cultural identity into political identity the elders have
gained unparalleled political power in the nation's history.
Given the absence of a mechanism for keeping the elders accountable the
political process is subject to exploitation. There are already clear signs
that corrupt means have being used to seduce the elders to do certain
things. For example, the TFG leaders are the only political actors who have
access to the elders and credible reports indicate that the former are using
their ill-gotten money to woo the elders with cash and gifts if they
nominate to parliament individuals who support them.
If this corruption is not checked it is highly likely that the new
parliament could very well reproduce ineptitude and corruption that could
dwarf current malfeasances. Further, gerrymandering the appointment of MPs
could easily foster conflict between various groups within genealogical
groups that could ignite new violence.
Once MPs are appointed, then parliament will be convened to elect its
speaker, other officers and finally, the President of the Somali Republic. A
sordid market has developed for parliamentary votes in which those who are
competing for speaker, president and prime minister will spend phenomenal
amounts of money to buy MPs' votes.
By far the biggest bidders are the current TFG president, speaker and prime
minister who have amassed substantial cash since they came to power. The
puzzle is that despite the common knowledge of this market, neither the SR
nor other international actors have raised a whisper about such corruption.
The Somali saying that "Qaalin xaaraanihi niriq xalaaala madhasho" (a stolen
she camel is incapable of producing a legitimate offspring) aptly fits the
circumstance.
Striving for a miracle
Rarely do miracles happen in the world of politics, but the Somali people
desperately need one since the TFG leaders, the UN, AU and IGAD conspire to
destroy Somalis' hope for peace and an accountable government in their land.
Notwithstanding these odds, faithful people are relentlessly working to
change the course of history for the better while they pray for a miracle.
The Somali civic movement is engaged in such a struggle and is striving for
a miracle under horrific circumstances, but their efforts are continuously
undermined by regional and international actors who seem to relish the
humiliation of the Somali.
Conceiving and executing a corrupt political process designed to disable the
Somali people, the UN strategy makes mockery of the high democratic and
humanitarian ideals international actors claim to cherish and could very
well instigate a new wave of violence. Let us hope that the civics
miraculously triumph and human dignity restored.
Abdi Ismail Samatar is a Professor of Geography at the University of
Minnesota & Research Fellow at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Received on Mon Jul 30 2012 - 21:12:02 EDT
