Prof. Hassan Keynan
At a time of unpreced, multifaceted threats to the very existence of the nation, we are witnessing Villa Somalia itching to pick a fight with Puntland, the oldest, most peaceful, and most successful member state in the fledgling federal dispensation. The tendency to reduce Puntland’s concerns to the personal ambitions, idiosyncrasies and leadership style of its leader is disingenuous and deeply offensive. The President of Puntland is not a saint. Nor is he beyond criticism or immune from the imperatives of accountability.
President Hassan with PM Hamse
However, any robust and objective analysis would indicate that Puntland has concerns that are real, legitimate and consequential. In fact, Puntland, has made its case over and over again and in writing. More importantly, contrary to the barrage of conspiracy theories, half-baked arguments and false accusations directed at Puntland, often with Villa Somalia’s blessing, Puntland’s official statements reveal a great deal of agreement, even convergence, with the top strategic priorities of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). These include the fight with Al-Shabaab, completion of the Provisional Constitution (PC), consolidation of the federal system.
In fact, Puntland has established an impressive track record in state-building efforts and in confronting the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and other extremist groups. It has also acquired considerable experience and invaluable expertise which the FGS could readily tap as it did on many occasions in the past. What Puntland has objected to is how Villa Somalia has approached and handled critical and heavily consequential political, constitutional, and jurisdictional issues. An inclusive and transparent process for settling long standing and contentious power- and resource-sharing challenges within the framework of clearly defined and consensus-informed federal system has been a core element in Puntland’s conversation with the FGS.
Unhappy with Puntland’s staunch opposition, Villa Somalia has decided not only to dismiss the region’s legitimate concerns, but also to wage an all out war on Puntland. Villa Somalia has deployed all the power it could muster, legal and unlawful, to punish Puntland in an effort to exert pressure and exact compliance: political marginalization and exclusion, economic boycott, and deceitful propaganda. The top guns in the Executive Branch have led and coordinated the highly organized and well-resourced campaign to demonize, politically destabilize, and economically sabotage Puntland. International aid has particularly been a weapon of choice for Villa Somalia in this ugly and utterly shameful war, especially donor funds earmarked for such critical sectors like education.
It’s important to mention the central, complex, and duplicitous role the powerful and wily political operator, Farah Sheekh, plays in this scheme. He is at once a confidant of President Hassan Mohamud, a close friend and mentor to the Prime Minister, and the federal Minister of Education, Culture, and Higher Education. That isn’t all. The President, the Prime Minister, and Minister of Education have been longtime friends and big and highly influential players in the massive, unregulated, and fraud-infested private education which evolved and thrived in the context of prolonged and chaotic failed state environment, especially in and around the Capital. The trio have made careers and considerable financial and reuputational gains in this dubious but immensely lucrative enterprise. Currently, all the three, President Mohamud and Minister Farah in particular, are directly linked to Simad University, arguably the biggest and wealthiest privately owned university in the country. Some reports also associate them with a string of private education establishments and associated networks as owners, shareholders and/or patrons. Their influence in this sector is so pervasive and so deep they have become synonymous with education. Minister Farah Sheekh is particularly accorded a special status, Father of Education, a designation he fondly and proudly cherishes although it’s widely seen as a joke.
These facts indicate a number of deeply worrisome concerns. First, a credible case of conflict of interest seems to have been perpetrated with impunity. The appointment of Farah Sheekh as federal Minister of Education points to a grave error of judgement or corrupt motive on the part of the President and the Prime Minister both. In his frequent travels abroad Minister Farah engages in negotiations and enters into agreements with foreign countries and multilateral organizations in a manner uninformed by, indeed irreconcilable with, the principles and ethos of a federal constitutional republic. Private and sectarian interests are mostly on the mind of the Minister. A similar pattern is evident in the domestic arena. An important point to note here is that the Federal Ministry of Education has received unbelievably generous funding from the country’s meager domestic revenue for the second year running. It is widely believed that this unprecedented budget allocation has the hallmarks of a political slush fund put at the disposal of a shrewd and ruthless partner of Villa Somalia.
President Hassan with Minister Farah
The educational resources and opportunities mobilized and secured in the name of the Federal Republic of Somalia are often distributed on the basis of personal or partisan calculations in which both the President and the Prime Minister feature or are implicated. The volume of educational resources allocated to and actually spent in regional states considered close to the FGS, particularly the areas recently liberated from Al-Shabaab, may provide useful insights into this conflicted mode of educational governance. Strong allegations persist that stabilization funds for education have been disproportionately poured into villages and towns closely associated with the President often with little preparations and credible plans. There are also credible reports indicating that portions of the country’s limited public educational resources have been diverted to private education outlets, including some associated with the top leaders of the country. A former federal Education Minister confirmed instances where computers donated by development partners ended up in a private university directly linked to the President and his confidant before they acquired their current positions.
In addition, there’s the case of the much talked about rent-seeking network, a group of well-organized and highly-placed brokers, middlemen, and extortionists for whom stealing from the state, citizens and donors has become a lucrative career. These include senior federal government officials who demand bribes, kickbacks or other illicit favors particularly from local and international organizations managing or implementing external aid. Serious allegations of politicization of and corruption in externally funded education projects managed by two International NGOs have recently been raised by concerned beneficiaries, even made it into the Lower House of the Federal Parliament. The popular Global Partnership for Education (GPE) featured in the controversy, with the bulk of the blame being directed at the Federal Minister of Education. There is a growing perception that education has become a racket involving the most powerful figures in the Federal Government of Somalia. The spectacle of architects and profiteers of a deeply entrenched and irredeemably exploitative private education syndicate being put in charge of building and running a robust and transformative public education system is an astonishing sight to behold.
Second, Minister Farah Sheekh usurps and exercises powers reserved, under the Provisional Constitution, for Federal Member States (FMS) and, at times, even the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers mainly on account of his relationship with Villa Somalia. Education, which falls under the jurisdiction of FMS, is a clear example. Minister Farah Sheekh has no constitutionally mandated authority to recruit and train teachers, conduct examinations, or monopolize the certification and awarding of certificates and diplomas. These are the responsibilities of Federal Member States. The millions of dollars the FGS included in the annual budget of the Federal Ministry of Education, Culture, and Higher Education to train and pay the salaries of 6000 teachers for the whole country, should have been transferred to the Federal Member States, which are directly responsible for and manage education in their respective jurisdictions.
Puntland has and runs the oldest, largest, and best integrated education system in the federation. In fact, the education system established and administered by Puntland had been recommended as the best model for the rest of the country eleven years by the National Education Conference held in Mogadishu in June 2013, the first national level gathering since 1991. At that time, Hassan Sh. Mohamud was President and the great and well-respected Mariam Qassim was the Minister of Human Development which included education. The educational landscape in Mogadishu and much of central and southern Somalia was inchoate, disparate, and deeply fragmented in ownership, curricula, and teaching and learning materials. Such unmitigated power grab is one of the foul ambitions and potential calamities Puntland repeatedly warned about.
Third, Minister Farah Sheekh uses the power and authority invested in him as a minister and the resources and opportunities mobilized from domestic and external sources both as a vehicle for centralizing and concentrating power at federal level, a flagrant violation of the Constitution. Education is clearly used as blunt instrument to centralize power, exact compliance and loyalty and eventually dismantle the fragile federal constitutional order one FMS at a time. Puntland has been particularly targeted and has borne the brunt of this sinister and shameful power grab and disenfranchisement.
The unfortunate war on Puntland has poisoned domestic politics, undermined peace- and state-building efforts in Somalia. It even reached regional and international corridors of power and development cooperation. Minister Farah and his network have spent a great deal of time and money crisscrossing the capitals of leading donor countries and headquarters of bilateral and multilateral agencies, mobilizing support for Villa Somalia’s and his own politically motivated agenda and at the same time avoiding, ignoring, or suppressing any form of dissent and legitimate demands. On its part Puntland felt compelled to make and defend its case. A high level delegation from Puntland led by the President was in Nairobi, Kenya, last week to meet Somalia’s international development partners in an effort to advocate for a fairer and more accountable distribution of donor funding.
Somali politics is labyrinthine and messy. Factions and rivalries abound and run deep. Trust is in short supply. Conflict is endemic. And everything is contested: state, power, government, constitution, federalism, territory, ownership of public assets and natural resources, citizenship, elections, control of air space, education, and international aid. Controversy, disagreements and miscalculations are therefore bound to happen, indeed inevitable, in such volatile and deeply fractured political landscape. In addition, Somalia, the Third Republic in particular, has not been blessed with visionary leaders and competent administrative class capable of navigating the myriad and complex challenges at hand. If any thing the ruling political class has proved a monumental failure. Opportunities abound for apportioning blame and there is more than enough blame to go around.
However, even by the horrendous standards of Somali politics, the deep hostility Villa Somalia and its close allies have shown toward Puntland seems to point to an extremist agenda driven by sectarian political motives and exclusionary and inherently hegemonic ideology. Given the cultural, political, and demographic configurations of Somali society such demagogic and despotic political project is likely to encounter a fierce and resolute opposition in Puntland and across the country.
President Mohamud’s lofty electoral promise, Soomaali heshiis ah dunidana heshiis la ah, and his fiery Friday sermons ring hollow given the divisive and inherently evil designs his confidant and close allies harbour and actively and aggressively pursue. Villa Somalia’s prejudiced stance also raises serious questions about the President’s intention to unite and rally the nation in the face of an imminent existential threat to the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Does the President not know the geography and demographic configuration of the country he claims to rule? With Somaliland already gone and in collusion with Ethiopia to alter the territorial and jurisdictional map of Somalia and the geopolitical order of the region; what is the point of alienating and fomenting trouble in Puntland? For what purpose? To what strategic end? A nation mired in perennial and vicious power struggle internally is unlikely to deter external aggression. If anything it invites hostile, frequent, and ruinous foreign intrusions.
President Hassan Mohamud has every right to listen to his chief oracle and have absolute faith in his counsel. The President can enjoy the company and whispers of loyalists, and the paeans of praise sung by sycophants. But the criteria by which the President leads and governs the country ought to transcend the ambitions, preoccupations and partisan agendas of a narrow circle of confidants, family members, friends, loyalists, and political allies.
The protracted standoff between Villa Somalia and Puntland could have been avoided or even prevented. Sadly that opportunity was missed. And there’s no guarantee this will be the last as credible and ominous signs of a lethal confrontation between Villa Somalia and other Federal Member States are already evident. Now the right thing to do is to pull back from this unfortunate and destructive standoff. Villa Somalia, the President in particular, must personally intervene and restore a modicum of reason and sanity in the relationship. After all the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia is HE Hassan Sh. Mohamud, NOT the leader of Puntland. The awesome powers invested in him by the Provisional Constitution are meant to protect and preserve the sovereignty, unity and strategic interests of the Republic.
In the spirit of this enormous responsibility, and given the imminent existential threat posed by the rogue hegemonic neighbor to the west, President Hassan Mohamud, should, in good faith, consider the following:
1) Order the immediate release of Puntland’s share of all external aid given and received in the name of the Federal Government of Somalia. The arguments linking this to issues of oversight are bogus. A credible formula for ensuring accurate reporting and verifiable accountability already exists. It’s politics that stands in the way.
2) Restrain the rogue and sectarian elements in the Federal Government, the Cabinet in particular, who routinely usurp and exercise constitutional and jurisdictional powers beyond their office and portfolio with impunity. A competent and clean government is long overdue.
3) Establish and convene an independent expert panel or eminent persons’ forum tasked with the responsibility of promoting genuine reconciliation and healing in the service of a nation clearly in great peril.
For its part Puntland ought to refrain from incendiary rhetoric and hostile maneuvers that could further inflame the already deep and lethal confrontation. More importantly, Puntland must not allow itself to be dragged or sleepwalk into situations or scenarios that could harm itself and the broader national interest; and from which it would be hard to extract.
Finally, the International Community must not allow the situation in Somalia to be out of sight and out of control. It’s incumbent upon Somalia’s friends and development partners to ensure that:
a)Their involvement and assistance in peace- and state- building in Somalia do not become a curse that condemns Somalia to an eternity of division, disintegration, dysfunction and dependence. Foreign aid and investment should not be in the business of creating a cottage industry in the service of profiteering and sectarian and lethal politics.
b) They do not become implicated, complicit in, or even remotely associated with any agenda or scheme designed in furtherance of Ethiopia’s long standing hegemonic ambitions toward Somalia.
Somalia, and the region, stand at unprecedented crossroads characterized by unprecedented, complex, and unpredictable geopolitical transition coupled with a multiplicity of lethal threats not seen in nearly a century. Indeed the entire world stands at an inflection point. Business as usual is no longer an option in the current geopolitical climate.
Hassan Keynan
Email: keynanhassan@yahoo.com
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Hassan Keynan is a former Professor at the Somali National University and a senior UN official (former) who worked in Africa, Asia and Europe.
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