by Abdirahman Nur-Hashi
Thursday May 25, 2023
Kofi Annan, former
Secretary General of the UN described corruption as “insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on
societies, it diverts funds intended for development, undermines the ability of
governments to provide basic services, feeds inequalities and injustice, and
discourages foreign aid investment”. According to Transparency
International, Somalia has been at the bottom of the Corruption Perceptions
Index since 2007, in other words, the most corrupt nation on earth. Corruption
has started to exacerbate from 2012, which heralded the end of the transitional
period and formation of the federal government of Somalia. That was when the
incumbent president Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud was first elected. Since then, the
federal government has become the embodiment of “grand corruption – the abuse of high-level power that benefits the few
at the expense of the many, and causes serious and widespread harm to
individuals and society”. Unfortunately, the concomitant ills of corruption
has not stopped at the federal institutions but permeated the social fabrics of
the society, posing a real threat to the stability of the country.
From 2012, with the
assistance of the international community, public sector reforms were
introduced to combat corruption. In the same year, a joint Financial Management
Board was put in place to ensure government and donor funds are both managed
with transparency and accountability. Furthermore, in 2013, the federal government
adopted a new Public Finance Management Policy (PFMP) in order to convince the
donors that it is serious about establishing a financial system that is
accurate and transparent. Unfortunately, the reforms were counterproductive
because the top government officials were not honest about fighting corruption
but acting contrary to that, which led to unprecedented misuse of power in the
public sector. In July 2013, the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea
accused Somali government officials of misusing the central bank as their
“patronage system” where 80% of the bank’s withdrawals were exploited for
private motives. As usual, the government rejected those accusations.
The fiasco led to the appointment of Abrar Yusuf
to the governor of the central bank. Abrar immediately faced interference and
intimidation to accept illicit deals that were infringement of the rules, which
led to her resignation within three months. She announced her departure outside
the country for security reasons. Abrar’s resignation was a big blow to
president Mahmoud and his collaborators. To appease the donors, government
officials continued to undertake fake approaches in curbing corruption. In
2014, a number of initiatives were undertaken: Parliamentary Finance Committee
to monitor withdrawals from the central bank was created; Public Procurement,
Concessions and Disposal Act was passed; and the Office of the Auditor General
for auditing all government institutions was also established. Furthermore, the
government launched a public awareness campaign to curb corruption similar to
Mahmoud’s current rhetoric while he is allegedly involved in massive theft of
public assets and worst forms of nepotism and patronage.
Despite the
aforementioned anti-corruption measures, corruption continued to proliferate in
the public sector. In July 2014, the UN Monitoring Group in Somalia and Eritrea
once more raised serious concerns about corruption by top government officials.
Muse Ganjab, a Somali businessman and advisor of Mr. Mahmoud was accused of
misappropriating part of the frozen state assets repossessed from abroad. The
government was also accused of being involved in big dubious contracts
associated with the management of ports and oil explorations. The companies
identified were the Turkish company Favori, British Soma Oil and Gas Firm, and
American Shulman Rogers Firm. Because of concerns raised by some donors such as
the World Bank, the government agreed to either cancel those contracts or
renegotiate to remove all unethical elements.
President Mahmoud’s
infamous leadership in his first term was not confined to massive embezzlement
and fraud. He was also engaged in insidious political corruption by appointing
incompetent individuals to the most prominent positions such as the prime
minister and the cabinet. As if he was a dictator, he usurped all the powers of
the federal institutions including the legislature in order to do away with the
fledgling federal system in favour of a kleptocratic regime that functions
under his dictates. This negative mindset has incapacitated the federal
government as well as its member states, creating a contentious atmosphere
filled with distrust, enmity and rivalry. When attempts to dismantle Jubaland’s
state building process that was at its final stage failed, Mahmoud turned his
focus on building clan based federal member states in his favour. Leaders in
Addis- Ababa that he was very loyal to were onboard with his idea. Hirshabelle
and Galmudug states were contrived despite local resistances. Grievances of
Hiran people are unresolved and the legitimacy of Galmudug state is pending as
it falls short of two full regions (half of Mudug region is under Puntland), a
prerequisite for becoming a federal member state as per the constitution. When
the Puntland state challenged the Galmudug case, Mahmoud resorted to violence
as means to subdue Puntland by instigating two armed conflicts in the city of
Galkayo. The loss of lives and property on both sides were lamentable, but
neither Mahmoud nor his close friend Abdikarim Guled (head of Galmudug at the
time) have faced any legal charges for those atrocities. Addis-Ababa intervened
and convinced Puntland to accept Galmudug as it is until such time that the
temporary federal constitution will be revisited.
Foreign entities,
particularly the oil rich gulf countries are the biggest bankrollers of vote
buying along with the endorsement of inept corrupt individuals in Somalia. In
2012 and 2017 federal elections, Qatar is believed to have financed the
campaigns of both Mahmoud and his successor Farmajo through intermediaries.
When Mahmoud left office peacefully that was miraculous, the country was in a
big mess. Morale was very low, tribalism and disunity were rife, corruption was
rampant, governing institutions were weak, violence was ubiquitous, and foreign
entities had unlimited access to natural resources. “Great leaders create more
leaders”, and of course, corrupt leaders create more rubbish. Farmajo was also
corrupt but not as arrogant, selfish, self-centered and stubborn as Mahmoud.
Farmajo appointed his campaign manager/financer Fahad Yassin (agent of Qatar
and ex Al Jazeera journalist) to be his National Security Advisor, then the
director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). Fahad
immediately turned NISA into a coercive agency that empowered him as the de
facto president. Capitalizing on a generous financial aid from Qatar as well as
secret alliance with Ethiopia and Eritrea, the two naively tried to shape a new
Somalia reminiscent of the military autocratic regime that ignited armed
resistance. Unlike Mahmoud, Farmajo and Fahad employed both soft and hard
power. They spent a great deal of public
money on massive propaganda lies to project an image embellished with
nationalism that paid off to a certain degree, but did not materialize their
objectives. Like Mahmoud, Farmajo and
Fahad usurped as much power as they could to shape up their narcissistic
agendas by invalidating the constitution (to dismantle the federal system) and
disempowering the federal member states to the greatest extent. Jubaland and
Puntland remained resolute, culminating in the failure of Farmajo’s comeback,
an evidence of how federalism is crucial in this critical time in salvaging the
country from a total collapse.
Given his bad record,
Mahmoud’s reelection in 2022 was a stark fact of the magnitude of corruption in
Somalia, how the governing institutions including the electoral system are so
broken, and how the country is so susceptible to foreign influences. The United
Arab Emirates contributed to Mahmoud’s comeback, a prognostic of disaster that
seems to be unfolding faster than anticipated. In the first year, the
country is witnessing a replicate of his
poor leadership and brazen corruption. The role of the prime minister and his
cabinet is undermined; the legislature and other institutions are also severely
impaired; the major donors have halted crucial financial aid including the debt
relief, all of which are a threat to the
stability of the fragile nation. The top-down aid is not working for Somalia as
the corruption in Villa Somalia is incorrigible. Empowering the member states
seems to be the most reasonable option in building a stronger, transparent and
accountable federal government in Somalia.
Abdirahman Nur-Hashi
Email: [email protected]
Xigasho: Hiiraan
