Farmajo’s presidency: A personal reflection

In less than two weeks, president Farmaajo’s term will come to an end. In this piece I will reflect on his presidency. Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was elected as Somali President in 2017. Farmajo was very popular candidate during the campaign for presidency as he has drawn large support from the youth. The Somali youth played a very pivotal role in Farmajo’s election triumph in 2017. They showed up in large numbers at his rallies; they campaigned him on social media; and later on when the national parliament was convened to cast votes for the country’s next president youth parliamentarians voted for him overwhelmingly. One of the reasons that attracted the youth to Farmajo were the issues that he emphasized on.  He campaigned on issues that had such a resonance and particular appeal to the Somali youth: patriotism, restoring sovereignty, fighting Alshabab, ending pervasive corruption, and so on. He has portrayed himself as a savior for our ailing country. His campaign messages were captivating the youth’s collective imaginations as he taped and exploited their feelings towards the bad state of affairs in their country. His messages were simple to understand by large segments of the society as he didn’t talk about grand vision and lofty ideas to govern the country, but simple slogans and easily digested phrases such as sovereignty and patriotism. 

 

The members of the national parliament heard loud and clear the clamor of the public for change; and as a result, voted for Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo to be the next president of the Republic on 8th February 2017.  It seems that his team had a ready communication strategy to maintain their grass-root support that they have engendered during the campaign when they assumed the presidency. This strategy, if you can call it strategy in the first place, was to use the social media in order prop up Farmajo’s image, specially among the youth, and harass those they deemed that they were not enthusiastic about Farmajo and his rule. Right after his election as the eighth president of Somali Republic, multiple social media pages were created on Facebook and Twitter to reach to the youth. In order to utilize this new tool (SM) for their advantage in a new and unsettling ways, Villa Somalia recruited the most active people on social media. Many dubious accounts were created to attack anyone who criticize the government. These pages circulate mostly one single message as it seems distributed them by a single person with multiple accounts in order to create the impression that a lot of people are involved. These kind of tactics in the social media are known “bots.”

 

Farmajo has shown from get go that he intends to hang on power no matter what. To do that effectively he and his team developed a new culture that was not the custom: to isolate himself from public scrutiny through the free press. He refused to give interviews or address the public even when there was a national calamities such as the major terrorist attacks in the capital; or when his government rendered a former Somali National Army officer, Abdikarim Sh. Muse, to Ethiopia. These kinds of behavior were odd and counterproductive. Not only they were callous and cavalier attitudes to the feeling and the well-being of Somali people whom he swore an oath to look after their interests, but it was also a calculated political move in order to reduce his level of exposure and hide Farmajo’s inadequacy as public speaker. Deep down he and his team knew that maybe he was not apt to the job or he could be embarrassed if the media scrutinize him in a nationally televised setting. So, they have chosen a total and complete media blackout. This was a new low. All of his predecessors were accessible and  were somewhat accountable to the public since they were interacting with the media and forced to answer for their actions and policies. Farmajo was different. He was absent from anywhere that he thought would question him or try to hold him accountable whether it is the parliament, which he emasculated after he got rid of the recalcitrant and independent minded veteran speaker, Mohammed Sh, Osman Jawari. He never availed himself such kinds of public accountability through the free press. He opted not to talk to the public and the media. President Farmajo’s first year coincided with the Gulf crises when Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain cut ties with Qatar. The Somalia government has adopted a neutral position while some federal member states sided with other side, accusing the government it has sided with Qatar. The rift between the federal government and member states widened when FMS formed Council of Interstate Cooperation and suspended their ties with the federal government. Then Farmaajo started a campaign to overthrow the FMS presidents and replace them with loyalists. He succeeded to replace Xaaf of Galmudug, Sharif Hassan of South West  and Waare of Hiirshabeelle. President Ahmed Madobe of Jubbland is the only surviving regional head from Farmajo’s onslaught and Jubbaland paid dearly for refusing to yield Farmajo’s unconstitutional demands of total and undivided personal loyalty. Madobe survived this in large part due to Kenya’s support. This purge, if you will, gave Farmajo an opportunity to taint the image of federalism as a balkanization of the country and consolidate power. The Villa Somalia also tried to destabilize Puntland by organizing protests in major cities and turning the citizens against their government. They also sent money to some development committees,bypassing the government channels in order to undermine the Puntland’s governmental authority and sow division and mistrust among the Putlanders. 

 

They smartly exploited the clan grievances that is perennial among Somalis in order to  pressure FMS leaders. The first experiment of this kind of unsavory tactic was in Galmudug when they turned the former vice president who hailed from the president’s clan and the speaker of the assembly who is a member of the former prime minster’s clan against the Galmudug president, Mr. Haaf.They did the same thing in Puntland during president Gaas’s reign. They used vice president Abdihakim Amaey (Who was later awarded to ambassadorial job in Ethiopia) to do their bidding. Once again, they utilized clan divisions and secured the support of some clans who felt that they have been sidelined by the larger clans. 

 

Farmaajo masters the art of diversionary crisis. Whenever NN(Life and Peace) faces a problem, he use trolls to distract the people from government misdeeds. The Farmajo’s government allocates budget for these trolls on the social media on its behalf. These trolls or what Abdirahman A.Warsame called CBB(Cayayaanka Baraha Bulshada)not only harass those in the opposition and anybody they deem anti-NN or Farmajo; they also try to spread an imaginary and unfounded good news about development projects and major undertaking that Farmajo government is doing or building. It is a Soviet scale propaganda machine in the age of social media. “It’s the first time” became their slogan. They try to manipulate the public discourse with disinformation and fake accounts. They deploy trolls on Facebook and Twitter constantly. When the people see, they would believe that the government has many supporters. They monitor all the accounts of opposition leaders. They claim exclusive rights of patriotism and stamped others as “traitors”. To be fair the government did some small-scale projects by repairing and restoring some buildings and monuments in the capital that were destroyed in the Civil War such as the National Theatre, the Sayyid Mohammed’s statue and the Mogadishu Stadium. These modicum and symbolic gesture was billed nothing less as restoring the state itself while  the government doesn’t give priority to the bigger issues like security, social services, and job creation. Finally, Farmajo’s grandiosity his dictatorial tendencies is something that needs to be touched upon. Just like old military dictatorship days, the portrait of the president hangs on everywhere. His paid social media trolls sing his praise and personal glory on social media. You will be forgiven if this reminds you, “Guulwade Siyaad Aabihii Garashada Gayigayagow!”  Farmajo’s cult of personality has become a vivid and disturbing reminder of not so good old days.  His Mundus Operandi is either with us or against us, my way or the highway is off-putting, to say the least. His stormy tenure will be known to what it lacks: compromise and consensus, which is detrimental to the unity of the country.

HASSAN M. ABUKAR: A TRIBUTE

From Allah we come and to Him we return. Geeridu nimaanad garanayn iyo Geeljiray ku wacan tahay , is a Somali lamentation about death, which roughly translates, “The news of death is less painful if the passing is about an unknown person or a camel herder.” Life is a precious thing. We, humans, as we all know but conveniently forget, have a fleeting moment on this earth. 

All of us have a choice to make while kicking and munching while alive. Some choose to pass through life as what the American author and motivational speaker Les Brown called “lived but not used up” These categories of the living lived but never made their mark on this planet. They never shared themselves with the rest of humanity with their ingenuities, acumen, talent, leadership skills, or any other God-given attributes that they might have when they were walking among the living; while others lived every day of their life in the true sense of Mr. Brown’s dictum. In other words, they were “used up” when they were alive. We felt their presence. To say it another way, they were useful. They touched us while alive with their kindness, generosity, or contributed to humanity in so many beneficial ways. One of those “used up” people was a departed dear friend whom we lost a few days ago. 

On 5th January 2021, my friend and mentor, Hassan Mohamed Abukar, passed away in Phoenix, AZ. I read the news of his death on Facebook and still cannot process that he is no longer with us. He departed too soon from us when we badly needed his pen to hold those in power to account. Hassan was a decent, kind, and humble human being. Somalia has lost one of its finest, a giant and towering intellectual.

Hassan was born in Afgooye, 30 KM south of Mogadishu, in 1960. He moved to Mogadishu with his mother and sister in the 1960s and attended Macallin Jaamac elementary and intermediate School. In 1978, he graduated from Bendadir Secondary School. After graduating, he got a job at Somali Airlines and moved to Cairo, Egypt. In 1980, he went to the USA to pursue further education. He did his BA in Political Science and Government (1980-1985) and  MA in International Relations (1985-1986) at Ohio University. He did another MA in Political Science and Government (1986-1989) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he also pursued his PhD.

Hassan started writing blogs in 2009 and became a widely read columnist and a regular contributor to Wardheernews.com, where he was also WardheerNews Editorial Board Member. He was a prolific writer, a master storyteller with a great sense of humour. He used to write on a wide range of issues, including Somali political and social issues. Hassan’s writing style was unmatched by any other Somali writer. His writing standout because of his wit, humor, simplicity, and clarity, and above all, speaking truth to power.

I always looked forward to his interesting articles that pushed the envelope with inimitable clarity, depth, and balance. He wrote numerous investigative pieces that irked corrupted politicians. He was not shy to name and shame and expose the corruption and mismanagement that crippled our country for decades. Hassan was a role model for many young aspiring writers. He supported young writers and helped many edits and proofread their writings. He was easily approachable and always ready to offer advice to anyone who approached him. He left many interesting articles and essays, but Mogadishu’s Memoir is his masterpiece. He recollects Mogadishu’s life in the 60s and 70s as a young man coming of age. I read the book two times and awed by his sharp memory of remembering people, places, and events. His plain, lucid middle-of-the-grade English was something that everybody, with those high degrees and those of us who learned English in one-room “private” schools back home, could understand. In other words, he had ways with words. His erudition was second to none.

Hassan was an urbane, sophisticated, and high-calibre intellectual but humble and down-to-earth person at the same time. He had that rare quality of putting people at ease. He did not radiate haughtiness and knows all attitudes that seem like the hallmark of the learned Somalis, especially those who spent many years in the diaspora with degrees to boot. His sense of humour was irresistible.

Through his writings, he preserved an important part of our history for the generations who never had the pleasure and the experience of living a peaceful and united Somalia. And also, to those who will come after us. For this, we owe him a great deal of gratitude. May Allah reward him with the highest Jannah.

He had involved in many voluntary and community works. When many Somalis fleeing the civil war settled in San Diego, he co-founded a non-profit organization that provides legal support and interpretation services to Somali immigrants. He was also instrumental in establishing the Somali North American Imams Association, and he later became the association's executive secretary.

I was introduced to him by his childhood friend through email in 2011, and since then, we have become close friends. We used to contact regularly through Email, Facebook, and what’s up. The last time I chatted with him was on 5th December 2020. I wish I could have said goodbye one last time. I met him in 2018 when he returned to the country after 30 years of absence. Villa Somalia offered him a speechwriter position, but some staffers who felt threatened refused to give him a chance to serve his country. He abruptly left Somalia and wrote a scathing piece on how things fall apart as he arrived in Mogadishu.

My meeting with Hassan was very brief and lasted a few hours. He returned a few months later to participate in the Mogadishu Book Fair. He gifted me a copy of his book  "Mogadishu Memoir ". He Autographed the book" to Abdirahman, a friend, and Abti". He used to call me Abti since his mom hails from Puntland, where I am also from.  After the book fair, he stayed behind, giving me a chance to have a good time with him. I enjoyed his company, and he gave me valuable writing advice. He informed me that he had finished a book on Somali families in the Diaspora and was planning to publish it.

Hassan also wanted to write a book on how Mogadishu fared over the last three decades. I’m grieved that his books wouldn’t see the light of day. For that and many other reasons, my eyes shed tears, and my heart is heavy for losing my dear friend and mentor. Brother Hassan, Rest in peace; you will be sorely missed by all those whose lives you have touched. My condolences to his children, Family, and friends, and the Somali people at large.

Puntland's Governance Crisis

Puntland is facing a myriad of challenges, while opportunities are abound as President Said Abdullahi Deni finishes his second year in office. A widespread protest against inflation broke out across Puntland cities;  this is a serious economic problem to the welfare of its citizens. The poor are bearing the brunt of the inflation and they are fed up.

The checks and balances are being eliminated when former speaker Abdihakin Dhoobe was unlawfully removed from his position, and a loyalist was installed. Last week, 8 MPs were stripped of their positions, after raising legitimate issues. The Parliament has lost its oversight and accountability role and has been reduced as a rubber stamp for the executive.

Some members of parliament put forward a motion to review the terms of Bosaaso port agreement. Then the speaker of the parliament refused to deliberate the issue on the house floor and announced that they leaved the port issue to the executive, abdicating their oversight responsibilities. The  UAE owned P&O maritime logistics company has been managing the port for 3 years and has not yet expanded the port as per the agreement.

Judiciary is under the direct control of the executive. The successive administrations refused to give the judiciary the independence it needs to exercise its authority. They used it for their political interests. The courts always rule in favor of the government. The citizens prefer to solve their problems through traditional methods because the judicial system is slow and corrupt.

The president has made some minor progress in democratization comparing to his predecessors. He has named the TPEC in his first year in office. The political associations were formed and the first municipality election was scheduled to occur in 2021. Nonetheless, much still remains to be done including public awareness, district demarcation, population census and creating the constitutional court.

Some people are casting doubt on the possibility of holding one person one vote election. They are pointing out, among other things, how dissenting voices are stifled and stamped as “NN agents- supporting the Federal Government.” How elections will be held if the judiciary is not independent and members of parliament who had raised legitimate issues were stripped of their positions?

President Deni has introduced a biometric registration for security forces as part of wider reform in the security sector. The biometric registration will help in eliminating ghost soldiers and sending soldiers’ salaries via  their bank accounts. The security forces are still clan-based  and need to be overhauled into national forces. The reform must also include improving the living conditions of the soldiers, strengthening their capacity, and modernizing their training, weapons, equipment and communications.

Civil service sector is Achilles heel of Puntland administration. it’s bloated and riddled with ghost workers, corruption and nepotism. Lack of competent and skilled personnel in the public sector is impeding the performance and service delivery of the public sector. Most civil servants are lacking the required skills and competencies for the civil service jobs. The government systems are manual and outdated. A lot of the staff have been working on the same role for so long. They developed special skills to survive under successive administrations. They resisted change and reform and their clan elders provide protection. The civil service doesn’t attract talent due to nepotism, cronyism, low wages and luck of professional development opportunities. The competent persons seek jobs in international NGOs and the UN. The president needs to instill new blood in the bureaucracy – with commitment to transparency, accountability, integrity and diligence. He should appoint a body with competent, honest, and fair-minded members. He should introduce a merit based system to improve the public-sector efficiency and productivity.

Puntland continues to fail to provide basic services to its citizens, such as clean water, education, and health care. The NGOs stepped up and filled the government role. The NGOs operate in remote and rural areas. They run parallel projects that weekend the state. Leaving the government services to the NGOs severs the link between the state and citizens. They NGOs should be forced to cooperate and work with the government systems.

Puntland advocates to the federal system but it fails to devolve power and resource to the local governments. The local government is the most important tier of the government to deliver basic services to the citizens. Puntland local governments lack administrative capacity, human and financial resources. The districts need to be equipped with the necessary resources to bring services closer to the citizens.

Public finance management is critical to the quality of the public service. President Deni should also work on improving in public finance and accountability systems. Public finance reforms will reduce corruption and improve service delivery. The PFM is also contingent on the donor budgetary support. In order to succeed in reforming the PFM, he must replace the underperforming minister of Finance and appoint a technocrat to deliver much needed reforms.

There are no public engagements to strengthen the government’s interaction with its citizens through increased public participation and input on its performance and public service delivery. The people need regular updates and adequate information on government priorities and programs. The faith in the government has been lost and it needs to be restored. The youth are feeling they have a stake in their country and demanding accountability and responsive government. President Deni’s inconsistent monthly speech to the public is not enough.

Thus, there is an urgent need to develop an effective communication strategy to engage and win the hearts and minds of the citizens.

Puntland successive presidents had adopted a strategy to shift the people from local concerns to the missteps of the federal government. President Deni has been elected for Puntland and he must focus and prioritize on Puntland problems. The culture of not holding the president to account must change. If the person doesn’t fear from accountability he/she will do whatever he/she wishes. The Puntland citizens, Political associations, the press and civil society groups must play their role in holding the government to account. Accountability will ensure a more transparent government which serves the interest of people and not just few individuals.

Institutional reform is not without its difficulties but it needs bold ideas, determination, and political will. It takes years to develop institutions but gradual steps should be taken to build it.

I would advise the president to set up strategies on human resource development and government institutions that includes delivery unit in his office to coordinate the government agencies and to monitor progress and timely fulfillment of his election promises.

President Denti still has 3 more years to deliver on his election promises; he must focus on leaving a remarkable, memorable legacy or history will not be kind to him.

State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century:A book Review

In State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century, Francis Fukuyama examines the dangerous threat posed by weak and failed states to world security; He prescribes state building as a solution to this threat. The book is based on a series of lectures he delivered at his alma mater, Cornel University. The book consists of three chapters. 

 

The first chapter discusses the missing dimensions of stateness. He argues that the lack of domestic demand is the biggest barrier to institutional development in developing countries. He adds that domestic demand often comes through crises and revolutions. He provides the Glorious Revolution that leads to the emergency of property rights in England as an example. He asserts that if there is no domestic demand, it should be generated by force or conditionality. The reform won't work if there is no will on the part of elites and politicians. The International NGOs take over the government functions and reduce the government's role to one of coordination.NGOs have more resources than governments and don't involve them in project planning and implementation. The Governments never take ownership of the projects run by the NGOs thus rendering the projects unsustainable. Due to a lack of opportunities, the local civil servants opt to work for NGOs.

 

He emphasizes the importance of strengthen over the size. The developing countries have big functions but lack the Institutional capacity to plan and execute policies. The push by Donors to narrow the size often lead to a decrease in both scope and strength. The structural adjustment gave neopatrimonial regimes an excuse to cut the basic services while increasing the size of neopatrimonial state. Narrowing the scope of the state and strengthening the capacity gained momentum after the fall of Soviet Union .The neoliberal economists gained the upper hand and their advices to reduce the size of the state were made stringent by IMF and the World Bank to the developing countries.

 

He notes that the absence of strong institutions led failure to implement economic liberalization properly.He questions the extent the knowledge is transferable from developed countries to developing countries. So far the donors have failed to transfer the knowledge to the third world. In some cases they made the situation worse. The capacity building projects in Africa caused the deterioration of institutions. 

 

He says "Almost every African country has witnessed a systemic retrogression in capacity in the last thirty years; the majority had better capacity at independence than they now possess.(p.53) .He stresses that the norms, values and culture affect the success or failure of institutions. He points out that the attitudes of elite is contingent on the success of institutions. The success of Japan , Korea , and Taiwan had roots in their traditions that extend centuries.

 

The second chapter discusses in great deal with organizational theory. He argues that organizational theory revolves around delegated discretion." The conundrum of organizational theory is that while efficiency requires the delegation of discretion in decision making and authority, the very act of delegation creates problems of control and supervision ". ( p.59). Fukuyama notes the intractability of creating formal system of monitoring and incentives in public sector.

 

He argues that public administration is more art than science." Most good solutions to public administration problems, while having certain common features of institutional design, will not be clear-cut "best practices "because they will have to incorporate a great deal of context-specific information .." ( p.58). He underscores that General knowledge of Public Administration should be combined with local knowledge, culture and norms. 

 

The final chapter examines the implications of weak and failed states on international security. He questions the suitability of the Westphalian system at a time many weak and failed states are posing a danger to International Security. He asserts that weak and failed states justify the erosion of the Westphalian sovereignty and territorial integrity. He says sovereignty can be breached if a country is killing its own people or posing a danger to international security. The intervening countries deliver humanitarian relief after the invasion but found it hard to build sustaining institutions after their withdrawal. However, he cites some successful examples of building durable institutions, such as the Indian Civil Service and the legal systems in Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

The book is very much theoretical and doesn't provide practical solutions to state building; I think that's where it falls short. However, it provides a good foundation for public administration students in the debates of the State Building. For everyone interested in a practical book, I would recommend reading "Fixing Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World" by Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart. It provides a practical framework for state building.