Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein

There are few positive activities that the current Somali government carried out, and most of these are related to the international community wanting to bring back Somalia to a normal condition and helping it to move away from the failed-state status. Turkey, EU, USA and the African Union worked very hard to normalize the situation in Somalia. It is not the diplomatic work of Somalia succeeding in foreign relations but it is the work of countries like Turkey and Britain mentoring Somalia and supporting it to stand on its own feet.  

Domestically, bridges of understanding were not built between the peripheries and the centre. Actually the opposite has happened. Puntland is on confrontational trajectory. Kismayo affair was not handled properly and subsequently wars occurred in which lives and livelihood were lost. Other emerging federal member states are not supported to hatch out of the shell during a time when Somalia is expected to complete its federalization as early as possible and move through all the activity milestones that will enable it to get ready for a proper election in 2016. The FG is lagging behind after 10 months of near-dormant condition.

On the other hand, stability and security is eroding fast. Al-Shabaab is on a spree of fierce attacks, reaching the heart of Mogadishu and every corner. Every day people are getting slaughtered and fear is spreading like plague. Corruption is rampant and the focus of FG is seems to be on scrambling wealth and stealing the donations and the aid for the Somali people. The UN Monitoring Group Report provides evidence on that. There is no financial system or mechanism in place that safeguards how and where the public money is spent. Investors (source of revenue) are not invited because they will ask for systems and standards that are not in place. The required legislations are not moving forward and therefore, investors are not willing to come in where there is are no legislations and at the same time the risks are high.

The government did little to provide the basic services to its citizens. Re-building public institutions is running at a very low pace. And forget about tax collection! The government obtains little revenue and that will not enable it to provide the needed services. The only revenue that the Federal Government is getting is from the port, the airport and some from the Immigration. However, this meager revenue is not well spent and not controlled strictly. Schools, hospitals and clinics are still occupied by internally displaced people. Just for an example, my old secondary school, 15^th May Secondary School is still occupied since 1991.

The Federal Government can’t continue behaving in this way. It has to act and move things forward. The pace of doing work is currently sluggish and the Somali people as well as those from the international community are sick of it. FG has to act swiftly to re-invent itself and face the challenges and leave putting its neck in the sand like an exhausted ostrich! There is no other way except to allow failure. Failing, again is not an option this time.

Abdulkadir Abiikar Hussein
WardheerNews Contributor
Email: qaadir.abiikar@hotmail.co.uk