Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — Formal trusteeship, as opposed to the current status of Britain as the pen-holder of Somalia at the Security Council, could end the zero-sum politics of the Horn of Africa, argues Abukar Arman, an influential Somali political analyst and the former Envoy of Somalia to Washington.
Writing in Bildhaan, a journal dedicated to Somali studies, Arman likens the political predicament of Somalis to Israelites’ forty years of wandering in the wilderness before reaching the Promised Land.
In a polemic that reflects the extent to which Arman has lost faith in Somali political classes, he identifies several factors that prevent Somalia from progressing into a stable country where the rule of law reigns supreme. Foreign powers whose diplomats operate in Halane compound, the inept Somali politicians and major business conglomerates such as Dahabshiil Group and Hormuud conspire separately and sometimes jointly to undermine Somalia’s efforts to reconstitute a viable state, argues Arman.
He points out how the use of language gives clues about the Somali political situation that has so far defied transformation. The phrase kala-guur (transitional), which Arman, taking a leaf from the translation of Mohamed Nur Tarsan, the former Mogadishu Mayor, translates as ‘time to part ways’, is one example Arman furnishes to spotlight the similarities between the state of national politics and the meaning transition conveys when translated into Somali.
“Granted, the formal trusteeship system was established to help the Trust Territories (former colonies) attain the capacity for self-determination and self-governance. This is good so long as there is a trustee willing to help in capacity-building and a trustee council providing the necessary supervision and scrutiny. Once the UN Security Council agrees to such proposal, a friendly country with proven goodwill toward Somalia will be invited to serve as a trustor for a period of 4 years.2 In so many different ways— political, economic, educational, and in capac- ity building—Turkey has proven itself being a loyal strategic partner” writes Arman.
Arman views a Turkey-managed trusteeship as a necessary undertaking that stands the best chance to transform the African solutions to African paradigm proposed by the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, a peacekeeping policy that inadvertently prolongs dependency on foreign peacekeepers such as AMISOM at the expense of developing an inclusive national army.
© Puntland Post, 2021
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