1. Rooting out corruption – Somaliatakes a stand
You may have misseditlastweekbutthe Governmentof Somaliahasstrucka blow forall that is
good,decentandhonestbydeclaringwaron corruption.
Now,please stoplaughing.Thisisserious.
Indeed,HisExcellencyMustafa SheikhAli Duhulow,the MinisterforInformation,istakingavery
fearless“hands-on”approach,sayinginhisannouncementthathe woulddirectthe programme
himself asthe fightagainstcorruptioninall of itsformswas a “personalpassion”.
ThiscourageousMinistercouldgive lessonstothe NSWIndependentCommissionAgainst
Corruption.
“Corruption takesmany forms,” he saidinhisannouncement. “Taking bribes,skimming funds,giving
jobsto friendsand family,perverting the courseof justice are justfour.This is holding Somalia back
and mustbe stopped.TheFederalGovernmentof Somalia (FGS) will providethelegislation and all
the necessary support butitis only the Somalipeople who can actually stop the corruption.”
The bottom line,he saidbravely,wasthat, “TheFSG is committed to dealing with theissue of
corruption and fromnowon will showzero tolerance.” Presumably,thatmeant “zero tolerance”of
any andall manifestationsof corruptionandbegsthe questionof how much “tolerance”has been
showninthe past.
Well,rathera lotactuallyand,of that,more later.
EveryMinisterineverygovernmentalwayslikestomake the pointthatthe governedare all decent,
honest,kindandreallycleverfolks (thisisbestillustratedbythe rulerstheyhave chosen) andHis
Excellencycertainlydidn’tmissthatpoliticalimperative. “Somalisareknown throughouttheworld
fortheir businessacumen,”he saidwhich wouldhave come assomewhatof asurprise tothe
international businesscommunityif anybodyinithadevenbotheredtogive itthe merestthought.
However,the Minister’sclaimisnotwithoutfoundationforthe verydayhe announcedhiscampaign
againstcorruptionitwas announcedby a pirate gang thattheyhad releasedaGerman-American
journalistMichael ScottMoore afterpaymentof a US$1.6 millionransom.Moore,45,had beenheld
for twoyearsand eightmonths.
AssociatedPressreportedthatapirate commanderinthe coastal townof Hobyo,the quaintly
namedBile Hussein,hadsaidthattheyhadgottentiredof holdingMoore and were increasingly
concernedthatthe USA woulduse force to try and free him.Theyhadhopedtoget somethinglike
US$5 millionbut,showingtheirinternationally-recognisedbusinessacumen,theysettledforthe
much lowersum.Afterall,everysmartbusiness operatorrealisesthatsometimesyoujusthave to
cut your lossesandmove on.
The legendarySomali commitmenttoopenandfree competitioninbusinessactivitygotitslatest
boostwhen,afterthisransomwaspaid,rival pirate gangshad a bloodygunfightoverwhoshould

2. have the loot.At leastfourwere killedandeightwoundedwhich meantathinningof the ranksat
the AGM for the Somali Chamberof Commerce andIndustry.
And,inany case,Moore was kidnappedwhilehe wasresearchingabookaboutpiracyso it served
himrightreally buthe nowhas some unique insights intohischosensubject and,incidentally,some
guaranteedandveryhandyworld-wide publicitywhenhisbookisfinallypublished.Aswithall
businessdealsbetweenprofessionalsdisplayingreal acumen,itwasawin-winsituation.
It’s notas if Somalisaren’tlaw-abidingwhichshouldencourage the Minister. Onthe same dayas his
announcement,itwasrevealedthata local womanwhohad allegedlyconfessedtoadulteryhad
beenburieduptoher neckinsoil and killedbyhavinglarge rocksthrownather bymasked
executionerswhile anappreciative crowdlookedon.Now,that’slaw andorderforyou and beats
the hell outof NeighbourhoodWatch.
Somalia,acountry of some tenand a half millionsouls onthe hornof Africa,came intoexistence in
1960 whenthe formercolonyof BritishSomaliaandthe thenItalianUN Protectorate of Somalia(pre
war, the Italiancolonyof Somalia) were cobbledtogether.There were the usual de rigueur
statementsfromeverybodyabouthowaproud independentnew nation wasonitswayto a bright
happyfuture of peace,self-fulfilmentandgrowthalthough,tryasI may,I couldn’tactuallyfind any
glowingreference tothe inherent “businessacumen” of the citizenry.
Thingsprettyquicklywentdownhillwhich,tobe fair,isthe Africanwayand notsome peculiarlack
of goodmannersamongSomalis. In1969, the thenPresidentwasshotdeadbyhisown bodyguard
and thisprecipitatedamilitarycoupanda dictatorMohamedSiadBarre seizedcontrol.He more or
lesskeptthingstogetherwithaverypersuasivepolicytoensure popular acquiescence if not
acceptance and whichincludedbrutal repression,murder,torture,kidnappingandjailingof rivals,
confiscationof everythingyoucouldgrab, strictcensorship,abolishingparliamentandthe courts
and free milkforall childrenunderthe age of ten.
Well,the free milkbitisn’ttrue.IbetyouguessedImade itup justto make himlookgood.But, say
whatyou like aboutPresidentBarre he gave ithisbestshot and,despite this,sufficientungrateful
localsrevoltedandtoppledhisregime in1991. It seemsthe localsrecalledhisboast –“I came to
powerwith a gun,only a gun can makeme go” – and tookup arms againsthim.He managedto get
out justintime.
That astute judge of international statespersons,Cuba’sFidel Castroonce hada chat withBarre and
latertoldthe East GermancommunistbossErichHoneckerthat, “aboveall he is a chauvinist”which
was ratherunkindsince theywere bothcommittedtothe splendididealsof socialism.
The nexttwentyyearsinSomaliawere asuccessionof bitterbloodyfeudsbetweenrivalwarlords
and leadersof clansandsub-clans.Attemptstoformanysort of stable governmentwere always
doomedtofailure andthe country - whichiscomprisedoverwhelminglyMuslimsof the Sunni faith -
saw the inevitable rise of al-Shabaab,afundamentalistterroristoutfitalliedtoal-Qaeda.
Thisorganisationhashad mixedsuccessimposingfundamentalistSharialaw byforce andhas
sometimessplitintowarringfactionsbutattempts –largelybythe USA – to eradicate ithave not
proventobe entirelysuccessful.

3. WithBarre gone,the oldBritishcolonydeclareditself independentand,strangelyenough,thisself-
declaredRepublicof Somaliaisthe mostpeaceful,mostdemocraticandmostprogressive partof the
country.Perhapsthatis whynobodyrecognisesit.Anotherlarge chunkof the fragmentednationis
the semi-autonomousPuntland Republicof Somaliawhich,like the neighbouringRepublicof Somalia
isnot recognisedbyanybody.Notthateitherof them muchcare to be honest.
In fact,the Federal Governmentof Somalia whichwasfoundedinAugust2012 and of which Mustafa
SheikhAli DuhulowisInformationMinister substantiallyonly existsonpaperanddoesn’tevenhave
firmcontrol of the capital Mogadishu.
The US Central Intelligence Agencywhichisnotnotedforitssense of ironysayson its World
Factbook thatSomaliais “in theprocessof building a FederalParliamentary republic” – that’sit,
nothingelse which,atleast,soundspromising andhasthe benefitof notrequiringanychange for
quite a long,longtime.The US hashad any numberof unfortunate experiencesinSomalia including,
mostfamously,the 1993 incursionaspart of a UN force andmade famousin the 2001 movie Black
HawkDown.
Later thisepisode wasrenamedthe FirstBattle of Mogadishutonaturallydistinguishitfromthe
SecondBattle of Mogadishuin2006. The Yanks had the good sense nottohave anythingat all to do
withthissecondroundof mindlessbloodlettingandleftitall tothe locals because theyare so good
at it.
Overthe years,one of the mostsuccessful businessmodelsof Somali entrepreneurs –remember
theiracknowledged “businessacumen”–has beenwholesale piracy.Shipsfromall countriesfoolish
enoughtosail anywhere nearthe Somali coast were threatened,capturedandheldforransom.It
had proventobe a nice little earneralthoughthe glosscame off thisburgeoning enterprise when
the UN SecurityCouncil inJune 2008 unanimouslyvotedtoallow countriestosendwarshipsto
confrontthe pirates.
Facedwithreallybigshipswithreallybigseriousguns,manyof the pirateshauleddownthe Jolly
Rogerand decidedacorporate strategymeetingshouldbe heldunderthe guidance andinspiration
of a hands-onfacilitatortoredefineobjectivesinthe newlyemergingandchallengingenvironment,
to assesscurrentinitiativesandtothinkoutside of the box vis-a-visgoal setting. The sensible
decisionwasto switchto kidnappingbecausethatwasdone onlandand the infidels’warships
couldn’tgothere.
Young people,beingyoungpeople,still hadtheirinnocentfuntryingthe oddbitof piracy here and
there butreallythe pirate communityhadlostitssense of purpose anditssense of achievementand
I wouldnotbe one bit surprisedif theynow heldnostalgianights,relivingpastglories. “Ah,
rememberthatSwedish tankerbackin ‘92 Abdus?”“Oh yes Aashif,butwhataboutthatIberian-
registered merchantship in ’07? Remember,I wasthe onewho machine-gunned itsdeckswhen they
wouldn’timmediately stop – ah,the good old daysto be sure.”
But let’sgetback to the war on corruption.
On August30 lastTransparencyInternational (TI) –a respectedinternational non-political group –
rankedSomaliaasthe most corrupt countryinthe world.

4. More insorrow thanin anger,TI observed, “Thecountry isbarely held togetherby an incredibly loose
central governmentand ismoreaccurately being run by a numberof competing clansand warlords,
creating lots of hostility and division ... information on theinner workingsof Somalia’sgovernment
and its economicsystemis scarce.That aloneis rather telling, ascorruptofficials may notwant
outsidersseeing the true picture of what’sgoing on insidethe country’sborders.”
The TI website isalivelyone indeed,reportingoncorruption- relatedissuesaroundthe world.
Somaliagets0% inthe “percentile rank”on the control of perceptionand,inthe cruellest snubof all,
it hascompletelyignoredthe Somali Minister’scall toarms.Sometimessayingnothingsaysmore
than a whole bunchof words evercould.
Reallyhittingitsstride,TIcontinued, “Both petty and grand formsof corruption areprevalentin
Somalia,permeating key sectionsof the economy such asportsand airports,tax and customs
collection, immigration,telecommunicationsand managementof aid resources...corruption
manifestsitself through variouspracticesincluding grosspublicfinancial mismanagement,large
scale misappropriation of publicand donorfunds,unethicaland professionalnegligenceand
concealmentof actualresource flows.”
Last December,the Somali ForeignAffairsMinisterhadamajorwhinge abouthow the European
Unionwasn’tfunding hergovernment.The EUhitback saying, “The statement...is untrueand,we,
the EU,spend millions of dollarsin aiding Somalia.Howeverif (the Minister) meantthattheEU
doesn’tdirectly hand overfundsto the central governmentof Somalia then sheis right becausethe
EU doesn’ttrustthecorruption overburdened regimein Mogadishu.”
One particularlysadexample of corruptionexposedthe Somali EducationDepartmentwhichexists
inname only.Notonlydoesn’titrun anyschools,itdoesn’thave somuch as a single textbook.
Turkey,ina humanitariangesture,fundedscholarshipsfordeservingstudentsbutthese were
dispersedtofriendsof the governmentonthe basisof tribal loyalties.Appalledbythis,Turkeysent
itsown representativestoadministerthe scholarships,setthe examsandhadthemmarked in
Turkeywithresultspublishedonline.
Corruptionknowsnolimits –unskilledanduntrainedso-called“athletes”are senttothe Olympic
Gamesas a jauntand football teams –despite beingnaturallyvettedforgovernmentloyalties –
regularlydefectseekingpolitical orrefugeeasylumwhensentabroad.
In Julylastyear,the UN MonitoringGroup onSomaliareportedthatthe Central Bankhad become a
“slush fund”for patronage networkswithastaggering80% of withdrawalsfor “privatepurposes”.In
one documentedcase anenterprisingcashierinthe Finance Ministrywithdrew US$20.5millionfor
himself.Now thatsure shows “businessacumen”,doesn’tit?OnlytwomonthsearlierinMay,2013,
Britain,the EU andthe USA pledged$350 milliontopayformost of the Somali annual budget.
The UN Group,incidentally,saidthe governmentonlycontrolledsectionsof the countryaroundthe
capital and onthe southernborderwithKenya.

5. AfricanUniontroops(AMISOM) are fightingthe al-Shabaabterroristswithoutthe slightesthelpof
the Somali militaryandaspokesmansaid, “Somalimilitary areundisciplined,corruptand unableto
manageorcontrolthe areasliberated fromal-Shabaab. (They) areselling theweaponsdonated to
themby the internationalcommunityto al-Shabaab terroristgroups.”
However,I’mprettyconfidentthatnone of thisfazesthe InformationMinisterwho,presumably,is
pressingaheadwithhisanti-corruptioncampaign.
His statementannouncinghiscampaignwas,tosome extent,realistic.
“Unfortunately,Somalia is...judged to be amongstthemostcorruptcountriesin the world,along
with thelikes of Afghanistan,NorthKorea and Iraq.Wehavepicked up a numberof ‘bad habits’in
the way we do business,someof which are symptomsof themodern world,someof which go back
generations.Weneed to moveaway frompracticeslike bribery,nepotismand so on and modernise
ourideas if we are to takefull advantageof thenaturalresourcesand skills of ourpopulation if we
are to flourish and prosperas a nation.”
I can onlywishHisExcellencythe bestof luck.