Sunatimes.com - The experimental state building in Somalia is over. Somalis are known to have been a resilient people, they have been patient and waiting for a government of the people to come about for so long with international help. Now, they have released that they have been putting up with the most incompetent people to tear into pieces the only document that Somalia had complied as draft constitution. The most influential people in the country have called this administration to stop breaking the system into pieces with no avail. The international partners, who have been funding the project, are seen to be neutral or don't know what to do about it .
Disappointed civil society groups have taken an initiative and have been organizing a Somali Salvation meeting with their little resources. They intend to invite all meaningful Somali clans to have say the future of Somalia as state. The momentum has been growing for the last few weeks and the truth is that first Somali owned Somali national conference is in the horizon. Many people will get shocked when they come to know that they represent nobody and their careers will come to end abruptly.
The important thing to note is that all successful services in the country are privately owned. Financial instituted, Hospitals, schools, utilities and businesses of different forms. All these services are run by competent individuals who invested in it. They employ the best people the market can offer. In contrast, the people see that the government, which they have been paying taxes for many years does not provide the public any beneficial service whatsoever. They couldn’t care less if it disappears.
The government has been alleged to employs the worst people in the society who otherwise could have been jobless in their respective regions. The senior officials in the government filled the job opportunities in the system with their cousins. Every official in successive governments are blamed to have enriched him/herself or employed folks from his/her clan. There are allegations about barring specific people from the government jobs. It is fair to say this government is not different from the previous ones in that aspect despite its claim to wage war on corruption.
The federal system experiment which was meant to take services and representation closer to the Somali people have been hijacked or abused. The mismanagement has reached a point where many people can not afford to buy even a bread in some states where some other states new inter clan fighting have emerged. Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West federal states are among the worst hit areas and people are not sure what the future holds for them.
It is a common knowledge that Banadir region which is the most populated region in Somalia has been frozen out from politics deliberately. Mogadishu has more people than the population of all other cities in the country put together. It can not be justified that Banadir doesn’t have parliamentarians or senators in the two chambers of Somali parliament. Whatever the reason of its misrepresentation in the system, the city remains the seat of the federal government and its tax is the sole income for the government to supplement with foreign aid.
To the surprise of many, residents are demanding that theirs peace can not be compromised or threatened in any circumstances by anyone. They are now organizing their plan with the true civil society groups in order to decide about their future. There is no doubt that the politicians in the government and in the opposition are not picking up the signals, instead they are arguing about petty things like election which is not likely to be held in time ... Somalis everywhere, like the residents of the capital, have underlined the status quo can not continue except a very view individuals who are demented or day dreaming.
Twenty years ago, in an effort to rebuilding Somali state started in Djibouti With a civil society idea and it ended up eventually in hands of self appointed individuals who are lining their pockets with money from Somali taxpayers and International partners.
It is relevant to point out that the United States of America( the biggest donor) realised the problem and admitted openly that they had spent billions of their taxpayers money in Somalia and they had nothing to show for it.
The UN caught the wagon in Kenya in 2004 peace talks. In the eyes of many Somalis that all the documents funded with its money including the draft constitution and good governance literature are wasted on their watch and collecting dust. The worst of all is that the government that they have been funding with a hard cash and expertise is a collapsing state right now.
According to experts in the know that Somalia remains in dire situation than ever before in terms of security and public services. The blame does not lie with this administration alone but is a shared one. "Imported peace with good funding has never been a Somali peace and never borne a fruit... look everywhere where is the peace!", Says a prominent figure in Civil Society groups. This haunting reality, however painful that could be, catches up with everybody involved including Somali politicians and foreign friends alike. That is why the Somali civil society groups, who fed up the endless crises, are going back to review their Arte plan( Djibouti Peace Deal) and effect a tangible change in this country. They are asking the real Somali tradional leaders to take the final decision of bringing about a sustainable peace to this country as that role has been theirs all along. The End.
By Mohamed Mohamud Adde.
The author is an academic and an Independent Somali Political Analyst who is based in Mogadishu
Somalia: The Haunting Reality
Sunatimes.com - The experimental state building in Somalia is over. Somalis are known to have been a resilient people, they have been patient and waiting for a government of the people to come about for so long with international help. Now, they