Hiiraan Online

by Abdirahman Waberi
Sunday, August 14, 2011

The subtle rhetoric from this new generation of International Aid Organizations (IAOs) in the midst of a looming human suffering in Somalia ‘AGAIN’, triggers a chilling reminder in many Somalis who are old enough to remember just two decades ago and how those same organizations screwed up a humanitarian mission by lethargically opting dangerous strategy to save a hopeful nation. This time, the world is watching!

It all starts with a series of reports about serious security incidents with aid workers and how unsafe it is for their staff to save those starving in the so called danger zone.  Reports would come pouring in “The situation has been further complicated by reports indicating that extremist groups pose an increased threat to humanitarian workers……..” That would frustrate both the donors and the needy.  It is a justification for rather alternate means of delivering humanitarian aid while monitoring activities from Nairobi lush resorts, preparing success story memos for NY with glossy pictures of convoys after convoys of food aid down into treacherous roads and compassionately feeding starving children. Of coarse that would bring tears to all eyes. 

The IAOs initial reports would never reveal the shocking scheme of handsomely contracting to deliver Aid the very same gangs and killers who caused the human misery in the first place, just to get wealthier and bolder more then ever. Another round of human misery would be in the making. LORDS OF POVERTY may no longer be ruthless enough name to label these people.

Reports followed …. “A handful of Somali contractors for aid agencies have formed a cartel and become important power-brokers, some of whom channel their profits, or the aid itself, directly to armed opposition groups,” Security Council’s Monitoring Group on Somalia reported. Remember, Osman Ato, Suudi Yelexow, Abdirashed Qayte, Mohamed Dualeh (Xeef), Qanyare, Bashir Raage,  Mohamed Dheere and many others…..

After “Operation Restore Hope” There was then UNISOM. Three years and some $4 billion squandered had left Somalia in ruin and the warring gangs better armed, more in militia numbers, and posed to resume more death and destruction. And they did it for many years. UN group of experts points out – more, that “The Abokor Adaani family, one of the three largest contractors for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia, which has “long been a financier of armed groups,” and which has ties with Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of the militia coalition Hizbul Islam and later Al-shabaab” .

By then, it was well-known that “control of food” was a vital political resource for the Somali warlords to be. So to help you understand the misguided logic that is in play in this most impoverished country on earth, just listen and watch IAOs planned actions as $1.5 billion is so far raised this month in the recent Rome conference (and expect to reach $1.7 B in two weeks) for this round of another devastating draughts. And how food-aid is planned to be distributed AGAIN!

As exodus continue into Dadab Refugee human-dump (camp) in Kenya, one cannot help but notice that the influx of poor and sick arrivals into the gates, barely alive are 99% young women carrying less then half of the number of children they started the heartbreaking journey with. The question is where are the men? The fateful answer is that the able body men are either been killed by Alshabaab or stayed behind for the few surviving herds, hiding and hungry. The elderly could never have made it. Draughts and food shortages may be common in Sub-Saharan Africa but this one, the worst in sixty years is even worsened by the Alshabaab.  The defeated Islamists hunt and stop the starving from what they consider an Infidel food-aid. 

Alshabaab levy these poor people with heavy taxations only to buy the proceeds with Infidel’s guns, Infidel’s trucks and Infidel’s communications gear. I guess they reserve for themselves the right to declare who or when to call one an ‘Infidel’. Their merciless reaction in this instance may be equates to a mass killing.

In much of Somalia, the government does not exist or only in the form of local racketeers and gunmen, often wearing assorted army uniforms and change sides for convenience. The combination of clan-based national movements, economic collapse, and the end of Cold War competition in the horn, along with the resulting decline in foreign aid, caused Siad Barre regime to fall in1991. When the Somali State ceased to exist, multiplication of clan based warring factions led to extreme fragmentation of Somali society.

By 1992, the disturbing pictures of mass starvation and ruthless gangs appeared in the world media “almost 4.5 million people, more than half the total number in the country, were threatened with starvation, civil order in Somalia totally collapsed as warring clan militias seized control of all parts of the country” Spurred by the fear that one group’s assumption of power would be detrimental to another’s own position, they couldn’t accomplish any sign of cohesive order or unified command, thus forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to the brink of starvation.

The following may have nothing to do with the present horror, but may have something to do with Governances mindsets in the Horn of Africa Somalia populace.  Prior to British and Italian colonialism, “there was no common Somali identity or centralized control over the territory of what became Somalia. Although more homogeneous than most of other countries in Africa – with a common ethnicity, language, culture, and religion (Islam) – Somalia’s geographical area was occupied by nomadic pastoral groups, organized predominately by paternal kinship”. The continually moving population made establishing a centralized governmental body difficult and there was no recognition of a “hierarchical system”. Government is alien to Somalis. And after premature Statehood, a pervasive corruption of all Somalia administrations and incompetence in the high-level continued to get worse, even to this day.

Aid in Somalia has been highly politicized even during th Siad Barre regime. Trends show there have been moves to divert, block and attempt to control, directly or indirectly, the delivery of humanitarian assistance and protection in order to strengthen the power bases of warlords, usually along clan lines. As a result the provision of aid can be as much a source of conflict, as well as a source of relief; the outcome being that its delivery has not always been possible or has been interrupted. Warlords either prevent aid from reaching opposing clans or influence agencies to hire staff and provide lucrative contracts for goods and services that favor their own kin (thanks to a willing IAOs) a vicious circle of devastation shall continue unless intervened and investigated by a world body. New generation of would-be warlords are circling around the UN and Aid organizations offices for the opportunity and are likely to be facilitated.

Something can be done BUT won’t be done for political reasons!. 

A)- Perhaps positive alternatives such as Cash interventions as an alternative to food aid are being discussed among caring people in the field. At times, food may be adequately available in local markets but many are simply unable to afford enough to feed themselves and their families. In cases like this, measures which increase the purchasing power of food insecure populations, such as direct cash assistance, could help enable people to buy the food they require and provide more dignified and sustainable outcomes. 

B)- When direct food aid is needed, it should always be purchased within local markets where possible. For the sheer reason that, local purchases would support small-scale agriculturalists and helps decrease future vulnerabilities according to Food-Aid Experts. Aid agencies and donors should enthusiastically develop viable alternatives to direct transfers of food in response to food insecurity, and provide responses that empower communities. These should include food or cash for work programs as well as market and production support measures.

And finally, shame to donor countries. It is well known that food aid has often been used to dispose of donor country agricultural surpluses when food prices are low. And therefore being a donor when that predictable call for help comes from the IAOs, why not dump the surplus food. Who cares what type! They have got to prepare markets for future donor country exports. It is immoral and even unethical when the bulk of those IAOs are from those same Donor countries. Only God and the Somalis can feed Somalis while the IAOs feed their own.