The total shutdown of the busiest “Elite Refuge Area” between Villa
Somalia and Mogadishu Airport for security reasons inhibited the appreciation
and celebration of the historical visit of US Secretary of State, John Kerry,
to Mogadishu, Somalia on May 5 2015. The
Somali public did not have the opportunity to debate and express their opinion about
the importance and expected contribution of the visit publicly acknowledged after
the departure of the US delegation. It is confirmed that the federal government
of Somalia (FGS) received confirmation of the Secretary’s arrival hours before
landing in Mogadishu. A Senior State Department official joked that the Somali
government expected him as the head of the delegation.
Highlights of the Visit
The joint meeting of federal and
regional Presidents, the Prime Minister, and three ministers with the US
Secretary of State John Kerry at Mogadishu airport raised constitutional and
diplomatic questions and reinforced the perception on Federal Government’s
waning leadership role and international respect as a representative of the
Somali State. Conspicuously absent from
the meeting was the speaker of the federal parliament, the legislative institution
primarily in charge of government oversight and the tasks of Vision 2016 ( Constitutional
Review, Federation Process, and Political Election in 2016). The Secretary left
Mogadishu without joint press conference with Somali leaders but delivered
powerful message addressed directly to the people hoping to walk down town
Mogadishu on his next trip (hopefully before 2017). Few pictures of the visit
show federal ministers sitting behind the presidents of regional
administrations and the designated Somali Ambassador to Kenya sitting behind
the US Secretary of State.
The visit takes place at a time when President Hassan
Sheikh and the Presidents of the regional administrations have started blaming
the international community for not providing the financial aid pledged in
support of the Somali Compact (New Deal) signed in Brussels in September 2013. The
repudiation of the Somali Compact that represents the basis for the cooperation
between the Somali Government and the International Community could lead to the
suspension of aid to Somalia. People in Mogadishu are feeling high taxation,
other financial burdens, increasing inflation, and decline of economic
activity.
The salient points
of Secretary Kerry’s message to the Somali People
The encouraging message of Secretary Kerry repeated the US
support for the unity, stability, and prosperity of Somalia. It reiterated the
themes of the US Foreign Policy towards Somalia delivered by the Under
Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman in June 2014. It
reaffirmed the US Commitment to help Somalia on the precondition that the
Somali leaders and people are willing to do the difficult job of making Somalia a fully united country
that wants to occupy an honored place on the regional and global stage for
generation to come.
Secretary Kerry described the Somali people as resilient
and determined to reclaim their future from the terrorists and militias. But he
missed to add “and from other destructive foreign powers meddling in the
internal affairs of Somalia.”
After emphasizing the security priority for the US
government by thanking the African Union forces (AMISOM) and by expressing the
determination to support an “integrated” Somali National Army (SNA), Secretary
Kerry said, "We all have a stake in your success. The world cannot
afford to have places on the map that are essentially ungoverned. That is why
Somalia's return to effective government is an historic opportunity."
The message stresses
the need to quickly and completely address the question of governance. This position
soberly accepts the reality that the FGS recognized by President Obama
Administration in 2013 fell far short of the expectation of improving
governance and security in Somalia.
But the US plan and
approach for addressing the issue of governance is ambiguous, incoherent, and
perplexing. A senior US department has conceded that there will not be one
person one vote in 2016 in Somalia but insisted that there should be a better
process of selecting new members of federal parliament as opposed to the one of
2012.
In an article
titled, “Kerry’s Lost Opportunity in Mogadishu,” Maria-Burnet of Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted that
Secretary Kerry lost the opportunity to speak out in his public message three
issues that are fundamental to peace, public confidence in government and free
and fair election in 2016: (1) Federal Government accountability and respect of
rule of law; (2) media freedom able to air controversial and divergent views
without fear of violence and intimidation; and (3) improvement of the basic
human rights of all Somalis. Public discourse circulates widespread abuse of
power, forced expropriation and evictions of internally displaced people from
public buildings, intimidation, arbitrary arrests, and prolonged detention
without legal process. The HRW issued several critical reports for discontinuation
and reform by the FGS and the international partners.
Other ignored
critical issues during the visit include blocked remittances from the United
States, the US support for the protection of territorial maritime of Somalia,
and the protection of Somali refugees in Kenya and elsewhere.
Challenges to the
US Policy towards Somalia
The implementation of US policy
towards Somalia based on security, governance, and development does not match the
real condition and priorities in Somalia. For example, the US position of
considering the Presidents of the federal government and regional
administrations as “a new Somali
Leadership Forum” is a sidetrack. The federal parliament which represents the
Somali people has the power to debate and decide the form, structure, and
powers of government. The alternative is a national convention.
On the question of security, it is
hard to fathom the possibility of having integrated Somali National Army (SNA) when
there is no integrated country with one flag, one national government, and one policy.
Fresh reports indicate that 3,000 soldiers trained with the help of donors by
the African Union are missing.
Trained and armed soldiers as well as
civilians are not paid for months. Therefore, the starving government forces beg,
harass, and extort the public for livelihood.
The crisis arising from the federation process is spreading,
intensifying and alarming. The economic and political chaos within each units
and the controversies between all units (Benadir Region and Southwest State, Jubbaland
and Southwest, Puntland and Khatumo State, Puntland and Somaliland, Mudug/Galgudud
and Puntland, federal government and Hiiraan Region) are multiplying beyond
control. Puntland Administration rejected the independent Commissions approved
by the Council of Ministers. President Hassan repudiated the Garowe Communiqué on the 2nd
Federal States Meeting. Furthermore, former
Prime Ministers and other leaders from Benadir region met with the Head of UN Mission
in Somalia Ambassador Nicholas Kay and sought his support for the formation of Benadir Federal State.
On the same day of Secretary Kerry’s visit, the chairperson
of the Constitution Review Commission Asha Ghelle Dirie resigned and issued a
statement listing six reasons for her resignation. Asha believes that it is
impossible to have a constitution in Somalia before the scheduled election in August
2016 for the complete absence of shared consensus and interests on the
foundations of a constitution establishing national government. The 2012
Provisional Constitution approved by 825 member National Constituent Assembly
(NCA) is in dispute. She also blamed the federal government and regional
administrations for lack of interests and priority for a national constitution.
She also noted foreign interests hampering the writing of new constitution and
undermining Somali ownership.
In the light of the above developments, Somalia needs
support for representative, well-structured, and transparent internal dialogue
on reconciliation and statebuilding centered on national democratic
constitution promoting Somali values, culture, and future. Setbacks and unsustainable solutions can
compound social deprivation that will help the spread of all sorts of criminal
activities and human tragedies.
It is time for the international community to respond to
the realities and needs of the Somali people and leave aside foreign driven
social and political transformation and piecemeal reforms that stifle local ownership,
leadership, facilitate deception and political demagoguery, and promote prolonged
presence of foreign forces now increasingly resented by the local population
and leaders. President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gas has criticized the presence of
foreign forces in Somalia in his speech during the 2nd meeting of
the Presidents of the federal and regional administrations in Garowe Puntland.
Mr. Mohamud M Uluso
mohamuduluso@gmail.com
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