By Abdurahman W. Jama
Apparent Turkish frustration with the Somali Federal Government’s (SFG) failures to move forward and do what it has been intended to do is being shared by the Somali people, the international community, and neighboring countries, some of which have contributed arms to the peacekeeping mission in Somalia. The perpetual infighting between the president and the prime ministers he selected is a testament to the lack of vision, leadership, and will to lead the country. The SFG, in its present incarnation, is not moving in the right direction. The current government has failed in almost all aspects of good governance. While the president is fixated on making sure his personal friends in the Damjadid party, which he belongs to, are appointed to key cabinet positions, the situation in Mogadishu and surrounding towns is getting out of hand.
Al Shabab forces are gaining momentum day by day. They were even able to attack the presidential palace in broad daylight, killing higher government officials and security guards in Villa Somalia.
The government of President Mohamud originally received tremendous support from the Somali people, western countries, and the international community as well. However, that support is no longer present for this administration. Both the Somali people and the international community disappointedly gave up their hope for President Mohamud’s leadership. It seems he is not up to the task for which he had been elected, and has gotten stuck on the unnecessary clan politics that had led Somalia to its current abysmal state. Furthermore, donor countries became disillusioned with the SFG when Yusur Abrar, who had been appointed as the head of the Somali central bank for just over six weeks, quit her position and reported that she was pressured to sign illegal deals. In addition, the Somali Eretria Monitoring Group’s (SEMG) report on Somalia was another devastating blow to President Mohamud’s credibility as someone who can be trusted in the pursuit of bringing peace and stability back to Somalia.
The President, who has been in power for over a year and half, was eagerly expected to focus more on rebuilding the destroyed government institutions, reconciling people who have thoughtlessly been fighting with each for over twenty-two years, and implementing the approved Federal road map. He has, regrettably, instead been emphasizing issues that have created disunity among the already disconnected Somali people. Considering his actions and the leadership style that he has presented for the past sixteen months, President Mohamud doesn’t appear to have a plan to invigorate the road map that had effectively guided the creation of a permanent government – one in which he has been elected to lead. In addition, the President did not take into consideration the dire situation of the country. Instead of concentrating on the bigger issues of healing the division in the community, bringing the divided people closer, and working with regional states, the President has instead emphasized a narrow political agenda- one which doesn’t reflect the reality on the ground.
The President should have been attentive to creating an environment that would have been conducive to the reconciliation process and good governance. Unfortunately, the political fight between him and the last two Prime Ministers overshadowed important issues that should have been attended to. As a matter of fact, the President’s fight with the Prime Ministers was based on his uncompromising position of forcing them to include his Damjadid friends in the cabinet. Obviously, the President gave his party’s agenda precedence over the national interest.
Now, some SFG parliament members have petitioned for the removal of the President from office, which, as majority of Somalis believe, would increase the dark storm clouds hovering over the unlucky nation. Even though the Somali people have faith in neither the motives behind the petition, nor the competence of parliamentary members to serve the country as capable legislators, their gathering to voice their anger against the President, at least for now, strengthens their position in the eyes of Somali stakeholders concerned with the President’s inability to lead the nation. It is obvious that President Mohamud has failed to provide the necessary leadership for the country to move forward and to tackle important national issues of political and social concern. As expected, parliamentary members will not get the vote needed to impeach or remove the President from office. However, his removal from office, at this critical time, would derail the new initiative by the newly appointed Prime Minister, Abdiweli. The Prime Minister seems to identify with the plight of the country and has already started to address some of the important issues, which need to be handled carefully. He deserves more time to implement the political, economic, and social initiatives he has put forth for rebuilding the nation’s institutions, and forming a functioning government for the country.
As the FSG is retreating from all aspects of good governance, and the international community and other donor countries are seemingly declining to deal with it, Turkey has evidently started to reassess its strategic plans toward Somalia as well. Turkey was one of the few governments that had been giving direct budget support to SFG. As a matter of record, Turkish cash aid to SFG was $4.5million every month, almost half the SFG annual budget. The head of Somalia’s former central bank, Abdusalam Omer, has confirmed this. Loss of Turkish budget support is immensely damaging for the cash-strapped federal government. Though Turkey has had internal political issues for the past several months (which hit its currency, the Lira, hard) the reason it had stopped its support of the SFG had to do only with the uncertainty associated with the SFG’s financial mishandling. Not only Turkey, but also the United Arab Emirates has stopped funding the SFG.
The government of Turkey has so far not criticized the SFG overtly for its apparent failures in devising a viable political strategy to lead the country out of its impasses. However, suspending direct funding to the SFG, and reducing reconstruction programs in Mogadishu, signals the discontent of the Turkish government with the SFG. Turkish dissatisfaction with the SFG could lead to a complete withdrawal from Somalia, and Somalia cannot afford to lose such a friend – one that came to rescue the nation. Turkish departure is unthinkably bad for the Somali people.
Turkey is willing to continue its unique support to Somalia. Its support is genuine. Of course, no country would give a free lunch, but Turkish relief operations during the 2011 famine saved the Somalis, and the ensuing developmental projects in Mogadishu were incomparably generous. In addition, the Turkish Prime Minister’s (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) visit to Mogadishu, which was the first visit of a non-African head of State to Somalia in the past twenty years, was wholeheartedly received as a historic and brotherly visit. The visit came in the midst of war and unspeakable famine in the country, and eventually the visit grabbed the world’s attention, as it shed a light on the difficult situations the Somali people were confronted with. Since then, Turkish involvement in Somalia, whether through humanitarian assistance or rebuilding national institutions, specifically in Mogadishu, has brought enormous benefits.
Despite Turkish termination of cash aid to the SFG, officials from the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) have confirmed that developmental projects in Somalia will continue. This is a confirmation of Turkish commitment to continuing its mutually beneficial relationship with Somalia. Since Turkey is committed to helping Somalia stand on its own feet, and the SFG has completely lost the confidence of the international community, including Turkey, the Somali people must assure Turkey that this brotherly gesture is not done in vain. If the Turkish relationship with the SFG doesn’t improve soon, which will mainly depend on the SFG’s political maneuvers, the Turkish government will definitely engage elsewhere in Somalia.
Although most Turkish developmental projects in Somalia, as they have been planned, are confined to Mogadishu, TIKA is open to working with other regions, and visibly wants to have its feet on the ground in regions of Somalia that have been stable and peaceful. TIKA staff and social workers could not fully function in Mogadishu to complete the developmental programs for security reasons, as they would have if they had been working in peaceful regions. Furthermore, TIKA would do a better job if they had the freedom of mobility, which would be possible in peaceful parts of the country without depending on heavily armed guards.
Noticeably, Turkey is not ready to withdraw from Somalia; therefore, the peaceful Somali regions must have a strategy in place to not discourage TIKA and its staff. Unapologetically, Puntland and Somali Land (which unilaterally declared its cessation from Somalia proper) are the only semi-autonomous states at this time that are able to satisfy the role of convincing Turkey to continue its assistance to Somalia. Specifically, Puntland, which unlike Somali Land is part of Somalia and enjoys peace and functioning institutions, would be a fitting candidate for that role.
The Puntland government should take a lead role in assuring that the relationship between Somalia and Turkey continues. Furthermore, Puntland should provide a strategic alternative with which the government of Turkey would be convinced its national interests in Somalia are protected. To shape an effective partnership with Turkey and to advance the interests and values of both countries, the Puntland government must understand the viewpoint of the Turkish government and adopt changes to the situation on the ground.
Turkey has expanded its trade connections with African countries since 1998, and its trade volume with the continent has reached $24 Billion annually. Obviously, Turkey’s interest in Somalia is based on long-term goals, and Turkey wants future business and trade relationships with Somalia. It has already gained the trust and confidence of the Somali people with its humanitarian aid efforts, and social development projects implemented by TIKA have been received wholeheartedly by the Somali people.
Puntland has the leverage to attract Turkish private companies and government enterprises to establish business relations with privately owned companies and public organizations of Puntland. It is well known that the Indian Ocean, off the eastern coast, is rich in marine resources. Therefore, the fishing sector is one of the areas in which Turkey can be of help by exploring abundant resources in Puntland. In addition, Turkey has a well-developed marine industry, and advanced companies in fishing operations; thus, Puntland can work with Turkey to develop the Somali fishing sector and protect national resources from illegal fishing activities in Somali waters.
Finally, a continuous relationship with Turkey is beneficial to both Federal and regional authorities. Both sides need to maintain the practicality of the established relationship with Turkey. Somalia has obvious needs to advance its relations, not only with Turkey, but also with other countries with which mutually beneficial relationships can be established. To do so, however, Somalia needs to get its house in order before it seeks friendly support and cooperation with other nations.
Abdurahman W. Jama
Email:[email protected]
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