Viewpoints: The Specter of Detrimental Trusteeship in Somalia

As America and indeed the rest of the world were counting down the last few days before a historic election, Somalia was hard-pressed to face another less promising replay of an old history; one destined to take it where no other sovereign state has ever gone before- to the oblivion!

Though it is not officially being called such, by de facto, Somalia is now the first country in the 21st Century to be placed under trusteeship.

The trusteeship system was established to help the Trust Territories (former colonies) attain the capacity for self-determination and self-governance. This is good so long as there is a trustee willing to help in capacity-building and a trustee council providing the necessary supervision and scrutiny.

The irony in this case is that it is not the United Nations imposing this decision; rather, it is the Horn of Africa regional authority known as the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The UN has suspended the trusteeship mandate in 1994, passing it over to this regional group comprised of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia. Read More