From Hiiraan:
When President Hassan Mahmoud took office in Sept 2012, like most of us,
I thought finally Somalia will solve at least its most pressing issues:
The lack of an accountable government, security, Somalia’s global
image, and the economic problem in the country. Of course I wasn’t naïve
to believe that these problems will be solved in fifteen-months or in
that case in two years; however, I had the cautionary understanding that
at least the president will put the foundation for a successful
government and strengthen the government’s reach.
But today it seems
like the president is slowly losing everything that his predecessors
fought hard to create let alone President Hassan strengthening and
building the foundation of a successful country, and I say that as a
concerned citizen.
Have you heard of Fetridge’s infuriating law or Murphy’s law? Well,
let’s see what these laws state. Fetridge’s law states: everything that
is supposed to happen wouldn’t happen when you need them the most. On
other hand, Murphy’s law says: everything that could go wrong will go
wrong at the worst moment.
Combine these two laws and you will have a
pretty good picture of what’s happening now in Somalia: everything that
we hoped to happen isn’t happening, and everything that could possibly
go wrong is going wrong in the country.
Take for example Al-Shabaab’s resurgence in Mogadishu. The group has
resumed its nighttime mortar shelling of the city which has been absent
since Sheikh Sharif was the president and the group withdrew from the
city. It has also increased its day light roadside or suicide attacks
since President Hassan took office.
Moreover, the city of Mogadishu has
no Internet connection because Al-Shabaab disconnected the Internet
network from the city and other parts of the country. It seems like
Al-Shabaab is micromanaging the city.
Then there’s the corruption allegations: since this president took
office two central bank governors had resigned from the office because
of corruption, and the government of Somalia did not investigate these
cases. Even the president went to say, according to an interview that he
gave to the Financial Times, that he doesn’t understand why the donor
nations are worried about “this thing” of central bank when corruption
allegations became a public knowledge. In fact this has forced Turkey,
which used to give the government $4 million every month, to reconsider
this direct funding at the end of last year.
Probably the president and
his advisers underestimated the corruption allegations that they were
facing, and thus failed to be proactive and engage public relations to
shape the message. In the world of mass media and information war,
public perception is the reality regardless if those allegations are
unfounded.
Moreover, there’s the name calling. I mean what the diplomats, the
spymasters, and opinion makers are saying about President Hassan’s
leadership. The director of National Security Agency (NSA) of the U.S.
called the president of Somalia “weak” leader not long ago. Remember
that the NSA’s director has in his disposal the most sophisticated spy
organization in the world to monitor whoever he wishes.
The British
parliament thinks the president isn’t doing enough, and both Somali
opinion makers and non-Somalis think the president is losing the control
of his government and his message. If you think I am exaggerating this
statement look how far the President went to calm down rumors in the
media that said last week that the president was “dead,” after senior
government official told the world that the president of Somalia went to
Turkey to get a medical check-up and to see his family.
And then there’s everything else: there’s this group that say the
president is centralizing all power around his office: “technocrats
including enthusiastic diaspora who have returned to help rebuild their
country regularly complain that even low-ranking donor officials go over
their heads and refuse to deal with anyone but the president,
undermining efforts to build the very institutions donors say they want
to exist,” wrote the Financial Times; there’s the political infighting;
the lack of economic recovery and plan; still using the 4.5 tribe based
political system; a huge cabinet; lack of finances; regional political
conflicts; floods, droughts, and drones.
These are all substantial allegations and facts that can’t be
ignored.
In fact, all of these shortcomings have the potential to
destruct this president’s government, make him one term president, and
one of the worst presidents that Somalia had unless he makes
immediate
changes that shift instantly and turn around the direction that the
country is moving.
These changes should start in the president’s palace. Start firing
close advisors that have emotional attachment to the president including
public relations people. The president should also fire presidential
appointees that head the security apparatus of the country who failed to
keep Mogadishu safe and systematically hunt Al-Shabaab. He should ask
the prime minister to reduce the 52 ministerial positions to a
manageable size focusing more on merit, efficiency and less on tribal
demands.
The president should appoint, sincerely, an independent group to
investigate corruption allegations, appoint independent central bank
governor, and trust the prime minister and his government to do their
job by empowering them. He should also cut his abroad travels and focus
more on domestic issues such as security, writing the constitution and
preparing the country for a national election, minting the Somalia
Shilling, and build other governmental institutions.
Most importantly, strong accountability—more public engagement,
transparency, proactive governing—and open diplomacy to all nations
should accompany these changes. The president should attract people in
his inner circle who have diverse views, experiences, educational
background, less emotional attachment to his presidency, and care more
about moving this country forward. One last thought, it would be
imperative the president to act as a referee instead of a player in
Somalia politics since he’s the President.
By: Hassan Mire
Sunday, February 16, 2014
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