Mr. President Your Boarding Pass is Ready for Collection

By: Ahmed Hirsi

Of late the local media in Somalia and a number of International news outlets have been diligent with their verbal diarrhoea on the upcoming impeachment motion against the Somali President.The vast majority of Somalis on the streets of London and elsewhere cheered after it became evident that the Somali Lawmakers at long last submitted an impeachment motion against the Somali President who has been inculpated/ incriminated of grand corruption among and other malpractices.

I suppose we are all familiar with how harmful and damaging corruption is. There are tons of materials on the perils and effects of corruption.Most scholars claim that Public Sector Corruption is a key barrier to effective service delivery and a barrier to economic growth and development.

According to these scholars, corruption blocks basic human rights for the poorest but also creates governance problems and instability. It also increases the cost of doing business, for instance some Multinational Companies integrate into their budget monies entirely earmarked for bribery purposes in the third world, thus the operational costs is increased and in the end the consumers will have to absorb this extra cost.

We will also need to consider the fact that corruption adds 10% to business costs globally and that cutting corruption by just 10% could benefit the global economy by $380 billion. Jose Ugaz, chairman of Transparency International, argues that governments that refuse to be transparent and tolerate corruption create a culture of impunity in which corruption thrives. I’m sorry to say all of these factors are currently and have been present in Somalia.

TRANSPARENCY MATTERS

Paul Collier Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Oxford and one of my favourite writers in the academic world points out lack of transparency over who owns companies “not only assists tax avoidance, it is the key vehicle for corruption.”
Why? Because when you have companies whose ownership isn’t known you allow a shroud of secrecy behind which people can do bad things, sometimes terrible things, with no accountability.

Collier goes on to say, the corrupt, the criminals, the money-launderers – they need anonymous company structures to hide, to move and to access their money. So by lifting off this shroud of secrecy we can expose wrongdoing and dissuade others from going down the same path.

TOP RANKED AND BOTTOM RANKED

As a matter of fact in 2014 and for the third time in a row Denmark ranked the top of the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index for being the least corrupt country in the world and this has been attributed to the fact that Denmark has strong rule of law, and clear rules that govern the behaviour of those in public sphere.

Furthermore, Denmark became the only country in the European Union that created a public register that would make clear who authentically controls, or is a salutary owner, of a company. For those of you who have worked, lived or educated in Denmark would understand the true meaning and the values Danes affix or attach to transparency.

In contrast, dodgy and fictitious companies owned by corrupt Somali officials have been operational in Somalia and United Arab Emirates for quite some time without any form of registration. These companies are diverse and are represented in various sectors of the economy such as construction, healthcare, education and banking. It has become an enigma to decipher as to who owns what in Somalia. Akin to the Omerta, the Italian Mafia’s code of silence anyone who attempts to inquire about the ownership of these fictitious companies typically will be met with the same answer: “ Niman Ganacsato ah oo isu tegey ayaa leh/ an umbrella of businessmen own this or that company”

CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY

Corruption is: the impairment of integrity, virtue or principal through the act of bribery or other dishonest practises
Bribery can be defined as the act of a person offering, promising or giving a financial or other advantage to another person to:

– Induce a person to perform improperly a relevant function or activity
– To reward a person for the improper performance of such a function or activity

CORRUPTION IN SOMALIA

The incidences and the shocking effects of corruption in Somalia are evident to most of us and Presidente Hassan and his inner circle can refute it, but nobody is going to listen to neither him nor his Damul- Jadiid Sect.

Sadly enough while members of the Somali Armed Forces are putting their lives on the line fighting with Al-Shabab, our corrupt leader and his accomplices are busy siphoning off millions of dollars to foreign countries well knowing that his tenure is about to end. Our men and women in uniform have been miserably let down by the Somali government because the government hasn’t paid them salaries for months.

Somalia in not only practising corruption but it perpetually keeps on retaining its reputation for being the most corrupt country in the world according to Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. The recurrence of this with the yearly frequency that this is transpiring is similar to Somalia’s name been glued and laminated to the bottom of that list and we thank Damul- Jadiid / Damin –Jadiid for this.

In today’s Somalia corruption is not perceived as a sign of immorality but instead it has become a trend that is ingrained into every sphere of social life and anyone in public office who doesn’t practice it is perceived as out of the ordinary.
Furthermore, estimates indicate that African leaders have siphoned off from Africa a staggering $1.2 trillion and $1.4 trillion in illicit financial flows between 1980 and 2009.

At the same time most of you will accede with the notion that corruption is embedded in the culture’s norm in many developing countries- which is very difficult to transmute. Corruption cannot and will not disappear overnight. Likewise, we are also aware of the fact that it will take many decades to do away with norms and values and that is not to say it cannot be minimized.

WAYS TO REDUCE CORRUPTION

There are a number of ways in which the devastating effects of corruption could to minimized or mitigated. Professor Morten Broberg who teaches European Union- EU Development Law, EU Trade with Developing Countries among other subjects at the University of Copenhagen, operates with what he termed as: Top-down and Bottom-up system in the fight against corruption.

1. Top-down system :

In this approach Morten recommends that the EU countries should strike at the big fish, thus making corruption unacceptable in society.

2. Bottom -up system :

In this second approach Morten recommends that the EU countries must ensure power is given to the citizens of small African villages that have been for instance given developmental aid/ money.

For Morten empowerment is pretty essential in achieving results and reaching the targets. Morten goes on to suggest when constructing a school, road or a hospital, with donor money before anything else is done a big post indicating how much money has been donated must be put up. In doing this, you give recipients of development funds the opportunity to put those in power to account.

In short accountability and power which all fall under democratization of aid are very essential if one has to fight corruption. However, this approach has many critics who argue that aid recipients, must have enough knowledge and power so that they can and are capable to speak up if they are cheated.

But how can one expect the poor and the illiterate to challenge those in power? And what options do they have also to ask those in power to account – even if they can and dare to speak up? ”

Morten goes on to argue that the local elite in the villages must be engaged before grassroots model will work, since the elite have the local power as well. Somalia has abundance of local power in forms of Garaad, Ugaas ,Suldaan, Malaaq, etc.

Another danger or short coming of this model is that the local elite could also fail to tell everyone in the village, how much money is going to be used “says Morten Broberg.

CONCLUSION

The Somali people have finally woken up and the Somali lawmakers deserve to be given a medal for their endeavours in challenging and confronting the President, his cronies and their millions of dollars.

Somalia needs honest, selfless, wise, accountable leader that is capable of bringing peace; prosperity and dignity to all Somalis and a President who will safeguard our national interest. Its also important to note that in Somalia and Africa as a whole the poor masses are unable to fight corruption if they are left to their own devices. Help and intervention from the International Community, the West in particular is paramount.

The ongoing political power games between the US, Europe and especially China is likely to complicate things further, since all these countries are vying and fighting for their own national interest and their share of the loot of Africa’s minerals and other natural resources.

The competition between Qatar, Turkey and United Arab Emirates for political and economic influence in Somalia coupled with neighbouring countries meddling in the internal affairs of Somalia could affect the fight against corruption in Somalia.
To at least minimize or discourage corruption in Somalia we will need robust legal frameworks and control institutions that are strong and transparent.

The cooperation of all United Nations member states is required if we have to fight, pursue trace and return all stolen monies from Somalia in line with how countries cooperate when it comes to the War on Terror, Piracy and other International threats.

Mr. Presidente your Boarding Pass is ready for collection. Just go….

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Ahmed Hirsi
Email: Ahmed.Hirsi@yahoo.com