Immediately
after the imposition of the Provisional Constitution (PC) establishing a
medieval model of governance in Somalia, Prof Ken Menkhaus, scholar and UN/US government
advisor on Somalia, has published an article under the title, Somalia's
20-year Experiment in Hybrid Governance in World Politics Review and in the
Somali Websites. The article offers theoretical justification for the adoption
of what the author termed the ‘Mediated State’
Model of governance in which the central government outsources its core
functions to the private sector, nonprofit organizations and local polities. This
model of governance embedded in the PC assumes the existence of legitimate and accountable
local political authorities either interested in or obliged to cooperate with the
national leaders and institutions. Thus, the leaders of the central government without
responsibilities and competencies must gain legitimacy, functions and authority
from those local authorities.
Prof
Menkhaus who has been musing on Somalia’s dystopian future for the past 20
years dispels the perception that there will be a functional government in
Somalia after August 20, 2012. He considers the efforts devoted to establishing
a Central Government fruitless. And finally, he admits that the ‘Mediated State’ model is not amenable to
donor aid programs.
As
an example of the aptness of the ‘Mediated
State’ Model for fragile states (Somalia), Prof Menkhaus refers to the
Wajir case study titled (The rise
of a mediated state in northern Kenya: the Wajir story and its implications for
state building). But it seems tenuous if not a stretch to make the Wajir
story- the security and development experience of small community- a model for rebuilding
the collapsed State of Somalia. The motivations of the Wajir community and the
indifference of the Kenyan Government to the insecurity in the Somali-inhabited areas could have
different explanations including the dictatorial system, corruption, and the deliberate
politics of divide and rule, etc. In the years 1992-2002, the Kenyan government
had sufficient coercive power and resources to quell any security disturbance
in any part of Kenya. In Somalia, local government laws contained provisions
guaranteeing the participation of traditional and civic leaders in the security,
development and political activities of
the regions and districts. But the dictatorship made public participation
meaningless. Anyway, that kinds of local experiences should not be elevated as a
model to state-building in Somalia. It is ironic to see donors rush to
prevent at any cost the falling apart of the Ethiopia state at any critical moment
while Somalis are exhorted to drift apart.
Prof
Menkhaus is not alone in the efforts to prescribe
a primordial model of governance for Somalia. Specifically, the imposition of
the PC and the formation of symbolic Federal Government (FG) is the practical
implementation of the theoretical political framework articulated by a host of
American and European scholars and institutions. The list of scholars includes
Matt Bryden (New
Hope for Somalia? The Building Block Approach), John Yoo (Fixing
Failed States), Richard Dowden (Don't
force statehood on Somalia), Bronwyn E. Bruton (Somalia A New Approach),
Peter Haldèn (Somalia: Failed State or Nascent
States-System?), Prof Ken
Menkhaus (Governance
without Government in Somalia: Spoilers, State Building, and the Politics of
Coping). The institutions include Chatham House (Somalia's
Transition: What Role for Sub-National Entities?) and the Berghof Research
Center for Constructive Conflict Management , which published the article
titled “On
Hybrid Political Orders and Emerging States: State Formation in the context of
"Fragility" written by Volker Boege, Anne Brown, Kevin
Clements and Anna Nolan.
Also,
in 1995, the European Union funded a study project co-chaired by Prof Ioan M
Lewis and James Mayall who issued a document titled, “A
study of decentralized political structure of Somalia: A Menu of Options,” In
1998, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry drafted a policy paper for the
conceptualization and implementation of a “clan based building blocks strategy” for Somalia.
Despite the widely documented criticisms (debunking), if not outright rejection of clan federalism by
the majority of Somalis, foreign powers spearheading federalism went ahead with
the imposition of a federal system- a harbinger of national conflict.
Nation
building opponents, theorists of “wicked
problem” concept in political science, revisionists of Westphalian nation-state
sovereignty for fragile (failed, weakened, collapsed) States, war on terror pundits
and profiteers, donor bureaucrats, and historically rival neighbors ( Ethiopia
and Kenya) have targeted Somalia to seriously debilitate rather than
rehabilitate. These groups would use Somalia as a laboratory experiment or as a
site for looting foreign aid. They have developed brilliant narratives that
have obfuscated the flaws and superficiality of the perfunctory international efforts
to help Somalia.
In
his paper on State
Fragility as a Wicked Problem, Prof Ken Menkhaus argues that Somalia classified as a “wicked problem”
rather than “tame problem” defies what he called the traditional state
building policy prescriptions. Thus,
behind closed doors Somalia is viewed and dealt as dystopian society that
requires new doctrine and policy prescriptions developed by the external powers.
Organizing
and funding conferences for Somalia and issuing statements in the English
language for international consumption became permanent practice and evidence for achievements by the international community Few countries,
many independent foreign journalists and scholars, international humanitarian
organizations and others including investigative bodies of the United Nations
have worked hard to point out the misguided policies of the international community
towards Somalia, but their objective analysis and recommendations were ignored.
As
an illustration, the International Crisis Group (ICG) published a critical policy
briefing statement titled- “Somalia:
from Troubled Transition to a Tarnished Transition?” that analyzed the harmful
consequences of the UN controlled process for ending the transition period. In
its quick response, “UNPOS
response to ICG article on Somali Transition,” the United Nations Political
Office (UNPOS) did not deny the criticisms and argued that Somali politics are
complicated and fractious and that the process has been difficult and has and
will continue deeply flawed in many ways. This reveals the decidedly
destructive judgment of the donor bureaucrats on Somalia.
In
August 2008, Hiiraan Online- a top and influential Somali Website- published an
editorial, critical of bottom up rule titled From
Statehood to Primordial City States in response to an article published by
the New York Times: Anarchy-cursed
Nation looks at bottom up rule. The emphasis on the bottom-up approach is
to obstruct state-building in Somalia. One of the recycled myths is that the
political processes in Somaliland and Puntland were bottom-up approach while in
reality the processes in both local entities were top-down approaches in their
context. Somaliland and Puntland have yet to implement devolution of power to
local governments.. Therefore, the debate over the bottom-up versus top-down
approaches is deceptive. Somalia needs both approaches simultaneously. The
focus should remain on the complementarities of the governance structures at
all levels, public consensus and awareness of state building agenda, and resource
availability.
The
above mentioned scholars share the view that the Somali people are unable to
understand and practice the value system behind the Westphalian nation-state
concept, which constitutes the foundation of the international norms of economic
cooperation, foreign aid and diplomatic relations. As a consequence, they hold
that the Somali State should be be allowed to disintegrate and be replaced with
a medieval system of governance with varying names: community based development
system of governance, development without regard to governance, nascent-states
system or mediated state governance all without sovereignty. Now, in the presumption
that Somalis lack political sophistication, it’s hard to fathom the Somali
ability to understand the suggested messy state formation process based on what
has been called ‘Mediated State’ of
governance.
Prof
Menkhaus and others did not explore sufficiently the profound effect of
external influence and interventions in Somalia. The ‘Mediated State’ is a destructive governance model, which institutionalizes
political fragmentation and probably will hinder the emergence of effective national
government with capacity to address governance needs.
The
Somali people should be very much concerned about the decisions and actions of
the new political leadership and a parliament populated by individuals accused
of corruption and with questionable loyalty. Already the seeds of fresh conflicts
have been planted among Somalis, and the new parliamentary leadership has been
booby trapped. The improper travel of former parliament speaker, Mr. Sharif
Hassan Sheikh Adan to Kenya and United Arab Emirates for discussions with
foreign leaders- allegedly about rigging the outcome of the presidential
election- has shattered public confidence in and enthusiasm for the new
parliament as well as the credibility of the whole political process. In
addition, the new parliament hijacked by the international community, has been ordered
to elect quickly new president who without proper preparation should attend on
September 26 in New York an international conference on Somalia.
The
hijacking of national institutions by the international community is the
beginning of FG failure. To prevent a dystopian future for Somalia , it is
urgently needed to create and activate a
Somali Transparency and Accountability Society (STAS) for the protection and
defense of Somalia.
In
the 21st century, Somalia needs a democratic functional national
authority accountable first and foremost to its people, not only willing but
demonstrably capable of representing national interests and empowered to
deliver the critical functions of government. The only way this kind of
government can be established in Somalia is to fulfill the five points plan
proposed by the Turkish Government during the Istanbul II Conference-Turkey
pushes for united Somalia and to adhere to the principles laid out by
Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart in their book on “Fixing the Failed States- a Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World
(2008).”
Mr.
Mohamud M Uluso
mohamuduluso@gmail.com
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