By Hassan Abdulle
Every year Somalis from all walks of life wait anxiously for the annual UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring Group report. Whether one admits it or not the report is the only form of accountability in Somalia. Yes, it’s a name and shame report but an equally important one with a clear message to Somali leaders: there’s no such thing as impunity.
The recent report by SEMG has like previous years attracted a lot of criticism from Somalis. The usual lines of fire are: SEMG has fabricated stories; the Group has no evidence to back up its allegations; and that the SEMG is not credible as an independent group.
As a close observer of the SEMG reports, I can honestly say many of the criticisms leveled against SEMG have no real basis and are mostly of cheap political gimmicks to deflect focus away from the wrongdoers.
Over the years, for those who have a genuine interest in seeing Somalia progress, SEMG has uncovered a series of obstacles that have kept Somalia in a cycle of conflict. For that Somalis should be thankful that not all UN agencies are like the corrupt UNDP or WFP that had colluded with Al-Shabaab in the name of “access”. Rather than support the work of SEMG in trying to bring accountability to Somalia many have jumped on the political bandwagon of maligning SEMG and its work.
An example is the recent report of SEMG. Thankfully a handful of SEMG’s critics would have Somalis believe the current president and his so-called “advisers” are innocent and corruption-free. Only in Somalia can a president embezzle State funds through ‘secret contracts’ and have the temerity to publicly deny such allegations by orchestrating a public lynch mob against the SEMG. For those in doubt about SEMG’s allegations against the president and his advisers, I urge you to read the mammoth of evidence produced by the SEMG, which strongly implicates senior officials. The evidence is so overwhelming that it should be used in a court of law to convict some of the senior officials involved in the ‘secret contracting’ scam.
Reading SEMG’s last four reports, it’s now clear that Somalia under its leaders has become the gold standard in terms of corruption. To make matters worse, Somalis seem all too prepared to accept corruption as the only viable system of governance in Somalia. How is it that we applaud our leaders when they act and discharge their functions corruptly? It’s only in Somalia that a notorious pirate leader can be rewarded for his crimes with a diplomatic passport to allow him travel unhindered internationally. If not for the courage of the SEMG Somalis and the international community would be in the dark of about such a bizarre privilege granted to a criminal at the request of an influential Somali businesswoman.
Likewise, on the security front, the government claims it’s determined to rid Somalia of Al-Shabaab but the same government goes on to sell arms and ammunition donated by international donors to Al-Shabaab. Our understanding of government arms to Al-Shabaab is only much clearer once again due to the tireless efforts of the SEMG in uncovering this shameful act. Rather than call for accountability on such a ludicrous and treasonable act, Somalis are told SEMG has its facts wrong.
It would be wrong to suggest that SEMG has not made mistakes in which it has but there comes a time when we Somalis must summon the courage and ask hard questions of our corrupt leaders. Trying to vilify the SEMG as the perennial bad guys of Somali politics plays into the hands our corrupt leaders. I for one would rather have SEMG expose our corrupt leaders than let scams such as ‘secret contracting’ continue unnoticed by Somalis.
Hassan Abdulle
Email:[email protected]
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