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Mogadishu, June 12, 2019
Somali political leaders attend bilateral and multi-lateral meetings unprepared, not only to contribute ideas and initiatives to the gathering, but also to get any benefits from such settings.They go there empty-handed and empty-headed. No preparation of any type precedes their attendance – not even SOMALIA’S country profile, just to forget about their national priorities, national vision and policies towards the sub-region, world peace and international security. Look, they aren’t even familiar with note-taking at meetings. The enire delegation line up at opposite side of the table devoid of pens and papers, while their counterparts are busy recording the deliberations. Empty-headed has nothing to record for posterity and doesn’t need a follow-up of events.
The root cause of this problem is not because Somalis are stupid, but because it is due to that fact that when a Somali leader is elected (selected, to be exact), his/her only concern is how to form an administration on the basis of clan and regional balance – no any attempt to seek qualified politicians, competent personnel to run the state bureaucracy and subject experts, men and women with experience in statecraft.
Take any recent conference, and you will find out that Somali delegation went there to just warm up the seats. Particular embarrassing situations happen when the Somali Head of the Delegation discuss bilateral cooperation with a host country, and since Somalis come unprepared, they cannot produce any policy documents, reports of any field, feasibility studies, state statistics in any field, state priorities or areas they need for bilateral cooperation.
Under this unfortunate situation, the fallback and favorite subject Somalis would always like to discuss about is the security sector (mainly about Al-Ashabab and ISIS). They have nothing else to offer to the bilateral deliberations. They talk about their country’s needs for military training and logistics, and complain about UN Arms Embargo. To every bilateral meeting they bring along a shopping list of items Somalia’s security sector requires.
This problem wouldn’t be fixed and wouldn’t go away unless Somalia’s leaders are ready to break from the past experiences and approach to state-building. Efficient and apolitical state bureaucracy is all that Somalia needs to avoid everyday’s embarrassment in dealing with the world community.
IsmailWarsame.blog
@ismailwarsame
Warsame Policy & Media Network (WAPMEN) 