by Issa Ahmed Warsame
Friday, September 09, 2011
After 20 years of civil war and intensifying armed conflicts, it is now time for a small scale recovery. The capital city of Mogadishu has been mostly vacated by the Islamist Al-Qaida inspired Al-Shabab insurgents. Though the militants described their retreat as being done for tactical reasons, nevertheless the present state of affairs displays a light on the horizon which might be considered a golden opportunity for the Transitional Federal Government.
To take the advantage of such an occasion, the TFG must first overcome its weakness and corruption. Hence, a comprehensive internal reform is required before the TFG attempts to make a valuable and positive difference in the current situation.
To do so, the TFG must adhere to its fundamental governance instrument. As such, it has to follow its supreme law -the Transitional Federal Charter- and issue all ordinary laws and administrative measures according to it. Moreover, all authorities at its different levels shall be committed to the supremacy of law under article 3 of the TFC. By doing so, internal conflicts will be prevented or, at least, minimised.
If, however, a dispute arises there must be mechanisms to its definitive resolution without involving foreign elements under the nomenclature of International Community or otherwise. A recent example for such a wrong doing is the so called Kampala Accord. Substantially, such an accord contained provisions that aimed at amending the TFG’s supreme law, the TNC. Such kind of conduct is contrary to the letter and spirit of the TNC and hence constitutes a major violation of the fundamental law.
Constitutional authorities, i.e. the TFG President, Speaker of Parliament as well as other members of parliaments and parliamentary committees, have to observe the rule of law in order to be role models for other governmental authorities and ordinary citizens. Thus, constitutional violations such as the continuing crime of signing and implanting the Kampala Accord must be avoided.
Meanwhile, violations of ordinary laws should be prevented. The most destructive types of such violations include financial and administrative mismanagement, i.e. corruption, embezzlement of public funds, tribal favouritism and the like. Therefore, the public administration must conform to the contemporary principles of transparency, accountability, equal opportunities and the like.
In order to achieve maximum standards of good governance and rule of law within the TFG, the judiciary must be enforced. In the case of the TFG, the judiciary is mostly marginalised. However, the TFG must apply the check and balance principle by involving the judiciary in cases of constitutional and legal disputes as well as accountability of senior administrative officers and civil servants to their actions. Therefore, the restoration of strong and independent judiciary will translate into strong and efficient TFG.
Only with such a comprehensive strengthening, the TFG can successfully implement its transitional tasks as well as any preliminary or extraordinary responsibilities. The latter duties include the proper response to the current humanitarian crisis. The TFG must advance itself from burdening food and medicine supplies destined to the starving population with taxes, fees and bribes. Such humanitarian items deserve a full exemption from any financial charges. Furthermore, it is reported that these supplies are stolen by unscrupulous and greedy people and then sold on markets for satisfaction of their selfish interests. Such mischief must be stopped by the TFG authorities who should plan for smooth delivery of relief items to all eligible beneficiaries. In addition, the aid agencies including the UN have to set up strict guidelines and criteria for any contractors to whom they entrust the work of aid delivery/distribution. As a result, the aid provision will be accomplished with efficiency and administered for at least 20% famine-stricken populations who stay in TFG controlled areas.
Though it appears that TFG famine response mechanisms are at their lowest level, but it must make its best efforts to provide for the aid distribution among the remaining 80% of famine victims within the areas controlled by Al-Shabab. The specific techniques of discharging such a duty are to be discussed by the concerned authorities. However, one thing must be known by the TFG: armed fighting against Al-Shabab does not constitute the only viable way to safe the lives of starved millions of Somalis. Instead, it appears that such a method could result in increased blood shed, mass exodus, severe malnutrition and starvation mortality rates. Perceptibly, there are other ways of doing a more proper rescue. One of these modalities consists in direct negotiation with Al-Shabab rulers who control these areas. Such negotiations can be facilitated by mobilising and involving local community leaders and religious men who can perform a lot of difficult works if encouraged.
As regards the implementation of the TFG’s transitional tasks, it can be said that forward planning plays a crucial rule in this respect. Meanwhile, the upcoming consultative meeting can facilitate the formation of a plan of action for compilation of the transitional tasks. However, it is obvious that the meeting is not all inclusive as a main actor in the Somali politics, namely Al-Shabab is going to miss. Hence, the meeting’s expected outcomes are going to be partial as they will face a probable denial and sabotage by strong armed insurgents. In fact, the retreat of Al-Shabab from Mogadishu and the frequent news about a possible split in their organisation cannot be a basis for concluding that they will not react to any TFG plans. The group is still controlling large areas of the country. Meanwhile, a change of tactics, i.e. hit and run attacks, suicide and roadside bombings is expected to be implemented in the capital. Therefore, any roadmap formulated by the UN/TFG with all other stakeholders will be unsuccessful unless Al-Shabab participation is ensured.
How, then, Al-Shabab can be engaged in the process of ending the transition? First of all, the current stakeholders who convene the consultative meeting should be convinced of the fact that Al-Shabab’s inclusion in such a process is highly imperative. If so convinced, all these actors must do their best to influence the main missing stakeholder in the process of nation building in Somalia. Therefore, the TFG must play a crucial role in changing the direction of the current political attitude within the international community as well as the national actors.
This article was first published in Equilibri