If Firewood Becomes Cold, Who Will Warm It?

[Gabbal]

Salad F. Duhul • Special to Arab News

 

JEDDAH, 19 August 2003 — Although the three-year mandate of Somalia’s Transitional National Government (TNG) expired on Aug. 12, it has indicated that it will not step down.

 

TNG Information Minister Abdirahman Adan Ibbi told reporters last week that his administration will stay in power until a new government is elected.

 

The TNG President Abdi Qassim Salad, who walked out of the Somali peace talks in Kenya two weeks ago, accused the organizers of the peace talks of favoring the dismemberment of Somalia.

 

President Salad convened a session of parliament at the weekend in which votes of no-confidence were expressed in the TNG prime minister, Hassan Abshir Farah, and the speaker of parliament, Abdallah Derow Issak. Both men were the TNG chief negotiators at talks, which brought together representatives from more than twenty warring Somali parties. The participants of the talks are drafting a federal constitution for Somalia, a overture to choosing members of parliament that will elect the next president.

 

Many Somalis say a major concern is whether the TNG president will give up his post.

 

They view the TNG remaining in power could worsen the reconciliation process and could also add a new dimension to Somalia’s twelve years of anarchy.

 

In fact, the TNG was formed in neighboring Djibouti in 2000 by Somali clan leaders and civil society groups. Many Somalis expected miracles from the new administration. They eagerly await the government’s first steps toward pacification and reconciliation. There must be talks with the opposition aimed at accepting the central authority; the nearly-dead economy must be revived and thousands of militias loyal to clan warlords must be disarmed. But what has the TNG achieved in the last three years?

 

President Salad said in his inaugural address that his first job would be to talk to his opponents. The TNG has not made any meaningful contacts with the warlords and its opponents still control most of Somalia, its territory and resources. The TNG has failed to exert its control over the capital city.

 

On the other hand, some entrepreneurs in Mogadishu have taken advantage of the non-functioning banking network. These individuals, who were supporters of the TNG, imported counterfeit Somali shillings in early 2001.

 

The TNG bought imported counterfeit notes valued at $3 million. The end result was that the Somali shilling fell from 8000 to the dollar to 24,000.

 

“Donations of millions of dollars by friends of Somalia to the TNG have been misappropriated. We demand accountability for that money,” said a statement issued by a local Somali Human Rights non-governmental organization. The NGO claimed that TNG had received $24 million from Arab countries and millions more from other sources.

 

Some commentators believe that these entrepreneurs have been undermining the peace process as they finance and support the warlords.

 

The businessmen have taken advantage of the non-functioning government and have avoided paying taxes or legal dues. They have no desire to see a new national government, regarding it as a threat to their lucrative existence.

 

In fact, the International Community has allowed the TNG to occupy long-vacant Somali seats in such international and regional forums as the UN, OAU, Arab League, Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and many other bodies.

 

The Somali people do not only want a government to represent them internationally. They need a lasting peace, genuine reconciliation and effective central administration.

 

A Somali poet once said, “If firewood becomes cold, who will warm it? If medicine becomes sick, who will cure it?”

 

He was referring to a government that had failed to fulfill its duties.

 

Can we read the poem in the present context of Somalia?