Mogadishu (UM) – The Somali Partnership Forum (SPF) in Brussels last week returned the same results the Somali people have come to expect: more commitments and renewed determination to support Somalia to move forward from the international community. The Somali government provided a school-like report to donors on security, economic reforms, inclusive politics and building resilience. The international community clapped, made more pledges, some dating back years which they perhaps intend to enact now, and everybody was supposed to be happy until the next meeting in 6 months’ time. The only issue is the Somali Federal Government has committed to too much and will need the international community’s support to really deliver on these this time.
From the implementation of a security Transition Plan without domestic financing led by a former European Union adviser with no security experience to the promise of universal suffrage by 2020, the federal government has really outdone itself in pledges. In return, international partners have responded with promises of technical and financial support. The most generous been the European Union itself with over 120 million Euros of budgetary support over the remaining lifetime of the first term of this administration. This, when put into perspective, is peanuts for a country with over 10 million people of whom most live below the poverty line. Aside from the general usual pleasantries, it is clear very little thought was given to the enormous undertaking the Somali government agreed to with international partners at the most recent SPF. Now, the Somali government can save itself from complete embarrassment by demanding accountability from these donors to deliver on their pledges to support the implementation of these ambitious programs.
Perhaps President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo should call his predecessor Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and ask what the international community did for him with the pledged 2 billion dollars in the conference in Brussels under the New Deal for Somalia. He left office telling everyone “there was No Deal.” Like Afghanistan billions is poured into Somalia for stabilization and state-building purposes but very little has arguably reached the Somali people. President Farmaajo has a unique opportunity to tell the international community, we are committed and you must be too. Somalia cannot be the only one on trial being judged by those that set them up to fail.
With just over $274 million budget, the Somali government’s economic weight is limited in comparison to the International organisations and agencies that dominate donor funded projects. Billions pledged and spent are thrown around in meetings in Mogadishu and around the world by donor countries but where is the accountability to the Somali people? We cannot trust you can no longer be an excuse used by the international community to hide poor governance on their part including extortionate project overheads, pay and allowances for staff who claim danger pay while inside Halane. Where is the good governance the donors seek from Somalia when dealing with their own? An audit of aid spending against impact in Somalia will certainly reveal much interesting facts for donors to “learn from and improve on” as the usual mantra goes.
The federal government has committed to working transparently with all partners to develop Somalia. Yet, it appears as though they are afraid of upsetting donors and their project managers on the ground. However, to avoid the Hassan Sheikh trap of committing to universal suffrage when there is no hope of it occurring, the government must demand immediate support, as pledged, by the international community for voter registration, logistical assistance and support for financing security during elections. On the security front, large scale support must be given outside of salaries and haphazard and disjointed training if the Transition Plan is to work and AMISOM is to leave having successfully fulfilled its mandate. On the development agenda much resources have already been spent on the National Development Plan and now it must be operationalized with the pledged finances. Designing un-implementable fancy projects which suits implementing international agencies objectives is no longer acceptable. Projects are either Somali led and owned or not existent.
There is a beautifully worded agreement called the “Mutual Accountability Framework” in which partners commit to honestly assisting Somalia to lead on its own development while they support in the most appropriate manner they can. The Somali government must finally ask for this to be implemented alongside improving its own systems and capacity to absorb more responsibilities for national progress. In the end, it is not the international community that is on trial, but the government which will have to face the Somali public in just under two years if the election timetable is something to go by. Public service and Political survival are interconnected for this government and the international community is happy to work with anyone so long as they get their funding. This is the lesson of past administrations which the current government must understand and avoid.