Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Holding a Somali
conference in Garowe, the capital of Puntland State was high praise for the
local population and opportunity for all Somalis to engage a genuine national
reconciliation. Puntland State duly represents the interests of one sub-clan of
one of the 4.5 Somali clan families. However, the population of Puntland State
has no responsibility for the flaws and self serving outcome of a conference
organized to promote externally driven agenda that conflicts with national
reconciliation and ownership, transparency, accountability and sovereignty.
Apart from the gaffes, strange and contradicting statements displayed during
the opening and closing remarks, the conference ended peacefully and politely
but it opened multiple doors wider for foreign influence and dismemberment of
Somalia. The hard to seize solution is true commitment to “Somali national
vision” based on widely accepted reconciliation, shared interests, values, and
truths for restoring new national identity.
The Garowe Conference-
dubbed the First Somali National Consultative Constitutional Conference was
exclusively organized, funded and controlled by the United Nations Political
Office for Somalia (UNPOS). It is far from the truth to say that the
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) conveyed the conference. As a matter of
fact, UNPOS made the hasty convocation of the conference scheduled on December
21-23, 2011 through a press release 022/2011 issued on December 19, 2011 after
the Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan has been ousted from office on December
13, 2011 with 280 and later with 287 votes. Furthermore, the selected
participants were merely invitees to the conference opened by the President of
Puntland. Finally, the agenda and the official document of the conference, certified
by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN for
Somalia Christian Manahl, were exclusively written in English.
A systematic analysis of
the Garowe document (Garowe principles) reveals abuses of
national sovereignty, political manipulations and disregard of the provisions
of the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC). The document contains threats and
intimidation. Paradoxically, the signers including the ousted Speaker urged
(ordered) the parliament to respect the Kampala Accord which violates the TFC
and thus the legislative power. In addition, they requested the international
community (IC) to take punitive action against any member of parliament and by
extension any Somali citizen for any action or statement interpreted as
derailing the implementation of the mysterious roadmap never submitted to
parliament for approval. Out of the four elements of the Roadmap, the IC and
Ethiopia are keenly interested in the introduction of clan based federal
constitution for ending the current failed transitional period and inaugurating
another 4 years transitional period with its causes of failure built in.
Consequently, UNPOS’s mandate will automatically be extended for the same
period.
The document exempts the
top TFG leaders (President, Prime Minister, ousted Speaker and his two
deputies) from no confidence motions, scrutiny, criticism and accountability
for the exercise of their public responsibilities or power. TFG leaders and
their appointees enjoy the power to rubber stamp the new federal constitution
and act without legal checks. They are free to intimidate and arrest anyone
they want, ignore parliament and good governance practices. AMISOM forces
execute their orders with alacrity. Anybody who opposes the Garowe Principles,
Kampala Accord and the Roadmap will be labeled as spoiler and could face
personal risks or end up at the International Court. This unprecedented fraudulence
would belittle the integrity of the United Nations and IC.
Tied with the illegal
suspension of Parliament’s activities for a month, the Garowe document has put
the parliament out of business from December 14, 2011. The document assumes
that the current parliament cannot take legislative resolution action in the
last six months before the end of its term. The end-term date has been moved
from August to June 15, 2012. Premeditatedly, the Kampala Accord of June 9,
2011 has unequivocally disabled the parliament in advance. TFG is
unconstitutional Government taken over by UNPOS.
As I mentioned in my
article[1] on the
draft constitution back in September 2010, the Speaker was trusted partner of
the IC on the constitution-based initiative for a transition to a new
transitional period. His removal legally from office shocked the IC in Nairobi
and forced UNPOS to announce the date of the Constitutional Conference in
Garowe despite many issues were under discussion. The Speaker with no
parliament in session will remain IC partner.
The Roadmap transferred
the powers of the Transitional Federal Institutions provided in the TFC to six
persons called stakeholders— three mentioned in the TFC (President, Speaker,
Prime Minister) and three added without plausible justification (Presidents of
Puntland, Galmudug and an alternating representative from Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama).
Therefore, all decisions prepared by the UNPOS under the guidance of the United
Nations Department for Political Affairs (UNDPA) are or will be rubber stamped
by the six persons. The UNDPA is led by UN Under-Secretary General B. Lynn
Pascoe of United States, Assistant Secretary General Tayè-Brook Zerihou of
Ethiopia, assisted by experts well versed on Somalia. The continuous
deterioration of Somalia’s political situation and the outcome of Garowe
conference should persuade the Department’s leadership to seriously reconsider
the direction of its efforts on Somalia.
In Garowe, the six
persons passed constitutional principles without prior authority, public
consultation and with palpable conflict of interests. The dictated
constitutional principles are:
v System
of government based on federal clan system with undefined hybrid of
constituents.
v Formation
of National Constituent Assembly of 1,000 members appointed by the roadmap
stakeholders with the authority to approve the clan based federal constitution.
Its life time will only be 15 days.
v Conformity
of the Federal Constitution to the Puntland State Constitution.
v Establishment
of bicameral legislative structure: (a) Upper Chamber with unknown members of
the unknown federal states and regional administrations and (b) Lower Chamber
called federal parliament with 225 members of whom 20% will be women members.
The 225 MPs will be selected through different processes on the basis of clan
representation formula of 4.5 for 4 years term. Strangely enough the clan
representation and substitution will not be described in the Constitution. This
clause of hide and condemn clan affiliations but religiously practice clan
discrimination is odious and unpatriotic and contradicts the role of the
Traditional Leaders.
v Formation
of 15 member interim electoral commission appointed by the familiar
stakeholders of the roadmap and empowered to evaluate and approve all 225 MPs
nominees. The commission overrides the clan rights as primary constituents of
the Somali State. The practical purpose of the commission is to keep the
selection process under the control of the stakeholders and IC as it has
happened in Djibouti in 2009. This kind of controlled process will defeat the
emergence of legitimate State in Somalia.
v Nomination
of MPs by recognized traditional leaders (by whom?) assisted by qualified civil
society members. This is an anomaly in the Somali culture because the traditional
leaders have the responsibility to consult with their clan and sub-clan
members.
v New
federal parliament will be sworn on June 15, 2012 but its term will commence on
August 21, 2012. The current parliament is for all practical purposes dissolved
now.
v The
document decrees that Somaliland is part of the Federal Government of Somalia.
The lack of participation of Somaliland in the future political process will
vitiate the Garowe document.
v The
Garowe document is final and will not be submitted to parliament for
ratification. It controls the federal constitution in preparation, and binds
the next parliament and Government during the coming 4 years transitional
period.
The process outlined in
the Garowe document is replica of 2002-2004 and 2008 processes. The next 4
years transitional period would be another precious time wasted. Somalia’s
roadmap conspiracy is unveiled in Garowe.
In conclusion, there is
resemblance between UN (IC) and Al Shabab approach for establishing governance
in Somalia. Both ignore the sovereignty, interests, and legitimate
representation of the Somali people for the consideration of higher purpose of
Allah in the case of Al Shabab or of
Chapter 7 of the UN Charter and of the building block (clan based federalism)
wanted by Ethiopia and Kenya in the case of UN (IC). Al Shabab sought the help
of foreign fighters to implement its governance model in Somalia, while the
stakeholders of the Roadmap created by UN (IC) rely on the support of foreign
forces (AMISOM) to claim authority. Both approaches forebode bleak future for
Somalia.
Mr. Mohamud M Uluso
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Somalia’s Roadmap Conspiracy unveiled in Garowe
Tied with the illegal suspension of Parliament’s activities for a month, the Garowe document has put the parliament out of business from December 14, 2011.