We have got hold of a study carried out by a
foreign consultant about the reality in Somali regional state. Unlike
what daily being broadcasted and posted by the Ethiopian Somali
Television (ESTV) and Cakaranews and many regional president personally
sponsored websites all over the world, the leaked report clearly depicts
that the actual development in Somali regional state. We, therefore,
thought it would be important that we share with our readers and
supporters all over the world. Although the ordinary folk know the
reality at the grassroots levels, it seemed to us very important to
include the main finding of this report in this article. However, if any
one wants further information, we will like to refer our readers at the
end of this article to our personal blog where all the
documents/studies are archived. As a result, this article will focus on
the key findings only. This will give the reader a comparative scale to
weigh what the regional state daily feeding us through its propaganda
machinery and what the reality at the ground is.
According to this study, the Somali regional
state’s poor development indicators compared to others parts of Ethiopia
read as the following. The report even questioned the accuracy of this
data. Therefore, one always should approach these figure with greater
caution. According the report find that primary enrolment rate is 51% in
Somali regional state while it is almost 82% nationally (much more
less), antenatal care coverage is 30% in Somali regional state but it is
71% nationally (this is the figure given by the regional and federal
government). It is expected to be much lower than this figure. And safe
water coverage is 44% in Somali regional state while it is 69%
nationally. The Somali region data here is more generous than what real
the people have access to. This is because all Somali regional state’s
biggest problem is the lack of water. Therefore, one could easily assume
that the Somali regional state safe water coverage is much lower than
20% -30%. The study also looked at the limited livelihood
opportunities (particularly for youth and
women). It concluded that outside of pastoralism opportunities in the
regional state are few. The regional state could have become a hub for
business entrepreneurships due to Somali people’s early exposure to
business practices. With the right policy and good measures the regional
state could have fostered best business practice. It is only the qat
trade that is out of scope of the regional government that is currently
active business in Somali regional state. However, it is viability is
questionable because of its health and social impact it has on the
citizens. The regional government could have jeopardised even this
non-viable trade had it got the chance to control it with nepotism and
favouritism. Qat traders are protected by the federal government simply
because it generate a huge amount of foreign currency.
In addition, the report indicated that existence
of high levels of food insecurity and a chronic dependence on food aid.
Besides, the report found that as elsewhere in Ethiopia, opportunities
are constrained by poorly functioning markets, but in the regional state
are further compounded by restrictions on trade and mobility. Trade
restriction was introduced for single purpose: to suffocate the rebel
organisation. However, the regional government use it as a hidden agenda
of expanding grand ogaden theory by targeting peaceful and quiet area
close to the border area. This purposeless policy of blanket ban on
trade has severely impacted on the development of the regional state.
There is no coherent and clear contraband policy against the goods and
service from neighbouring country. As well known districts in remote and
far border area of the region have never been covered by the regional
and federal service provided by public and private organisation. In
absence of public and private services in these hard-to-reach areas,
they rely very much on the products and services from the neighbouring
countries, such as Somaliland, Puntland and Somalia. However, the
regional officials have shown open hostilities towards border traders by
public shunning even bottled water from Somaliland. It is reported that
the regional and vice president, Abdi Mohamed Omar and Abdillahi Werar
(ethiopia), respectively, have shoved off from their table bottled
mineral water imported from Somaliland when they were visiting border
districts. This open hostility has no meaning other than racism. This is
also in direct contradiction with federal government policy of
improving border trading among communities on both sides of the border.
The study talk about the recent discovery of oil
and gas deposits in the Region, however, it give its damning assessment
that insecurity and limited access to justice are having great
restraint on the regional state’s ability to effectively utilize these
natural endowments for the benefit of the regional state and country in
general. Due to insecurity prevalent in the regional state, the regional
government in collaboration with the federal government have
established Liyu police (special police) in 2007 as a main vehicle to
bring about peace and tranquillity in the regional state. However, in
stark contrast to what we are daily hearing and seeing in the regional
propaganda machineries, the report analysed that the special police have
seriously failed to achieve its primary aim. Rather it has contributed
its own fair share in the insecurity prevalent in the regional
government. The big problem encountering the special police has been
studied by this report. According to this study, it has been found that
the special police have serious organisational, structural, and capacity
shorting comings.
The study carried on to elaborate that as a
result of insecurity and limited access to justice, the Region is host
to conflicts between clans over natural resources and between the
Federal Government and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (an
insurgency group with a separatist agenda). The Regional Special Police
and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) are routinely associated
with human rights abuses. The study concluded that there could be a
potential danger that the conflict in neighbouring Somalia to spill
over.
The study has mentioned that Justice sector is
characterised by a mixture of state and traditional structures and
increasingly unable to deal with rising levels of fatal violence. The
inherent tribalism rampant in the regional state and failure of the
regional authority to grip with the negative trend due to their rent
seeking mentality have serious implication for the regional state to
cope with the development pace other part of the country’s regional
state achieving. Most of times the regional state officials are spend
their official working hours and most of the rest period in devising a
rent seeking activity. Instead of effectively designing policy and
programmes they are witnessed trying to impress their masters in the
federal government other key military positions. The regional government
spend significant amount of resources and valuable times on
manufacturing of massive propaganda. A lot of commentators wonder why
the federal government simply remain inactive while the state resource
is being plundered by the regional officials. The regional state
officials shower federal government officials with gifts and presents
when the latter visit the regional government. Diaspora delegate who are
flocking from abroad are being given cash and gift in kind without
investing anything in the regional government. One unwitting federal
government official heard of saying how the regional government
effectively created a strong diaspora community more than any other
regional state in the nation after his hotel bill was paid and he was
given expensive gifts in London by the regional president agent who
usually stack regional budget to distribute among cronies. Sometime I
wonder if this is federalism: where the poor pastoralists have nothing
to feed their children and die of starvation. Even rich countries would
not have such lavish spending resources. Unfortunately all these money
is given by western countries that have other objectives.
The study finally find that women and girls are
the biggest losers: poor security limits their access to education; long
distances to water sources increases their exposure to violence; and
they are a target for armed groups with frequent reports of sexual
violence. Ninety-seven percent of Ethiopian Somali females have
undergone some form of female genital mutilation. Access to justice is
limited to traditional institutions in most areas with no form of
redress.
The report concludes that what is happening in
the Somali Region state matters to Ethiopia’s development and future
stability. Ethiopia will not reach the MDGs without addressing the
development deficit in the developing Regional States (including Somali
Region). An insecure Somali Region with limited governance capacity will
undermine progress towards stability across the Horn, as well as
limiting future exploitation of valuable natural resources. And Somali
Region’s consistent allegations of human rights abuses pose both
substantive as well as reputational concerns.
By Haudland
No comments:
Post a Comment