Mogadishu (Commentary) — Writing for Hiiraan Online, the former Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud lauds his record in reforming the Somali Army. “The Somali national army had become an army with a standard uniform governed by the principles of national defense after decades of clan-affiliated militias controlling the national army, leading to mistrust and violence within the command control structure” writes the former President who is a presidential candidate. He accuses the incumbent President of politicising the Somali Army.
Under President Hassan’s administration the Somali Army was the most corrupt and militia-dominated force Somalia ever had after the post-transition period. “Donors including Britain, the US and the UAE have grown increasingly frustrated with the Somali National Army (SNA), which is “nowhere near ready” to take over from African Union forces despite four years of funds and training. Frustrated by corrupt communist-era generals, donors want to divert resources to regional forces, known as dervishes, which they believe will better fight al-Shabaab militants” reported The Times of London on September 22 2016. The newspaper quoted a British Official in Mogadishu who said: “Donor countries have put significant resources into the Somali security forces and haven’t seen significant results yet…”
Under President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, the Federal Government of Somalia successfully conducted security reform that weeded out phantom soldiers. Khaire was exceptionally brave that he prevented his detractors from organising mutiny since beneficiaries of the phantom soldiers were related to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and his predecessor, President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
President Shariif Shaiekh took advantage of a bloated parliament formed in Djibouti in 2008 as a part of a peace deal only to recruit soldiers from his clan. President Hassan never addressed the lop-sided recruitment that gave rise to an army dominated by one clan. Michael Keating, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of United Nations for Somalia, wrote in 2016 that “the population has low expectations of and little faith in government. In many areas, Al Shabaab is more effective in providing security and rule of law – albeit their own brutal version – than government. “.
President Hassan makes a strong case for consensus — “a genuine national security transition to the Somali national army from the African Union forces cannot be implemented without the Federal member states’ full cooperation, consent, and participation” — but he and his successor have failed in different ways in the task to legitimise the security architecture through a transparent consultations and consensus-based approach to rebuild the Somali National Army.
There is a parallel clan army in Mogadishu known as Badbaado Qaran (national salvation). Neither President Hassan nor President Sharif sees armed militias as a threat to national security. No audit has ever been made on the make-up of the Somali National Army currently based only in Banadir, Galmudug, Southwest State and Hirshabelle.
The last two federal Somali governments were keen to see the arms embargo lifted in the absence of national consensus on how to form an inclusive army. Even the successful security reform carried out by the incumbent federal government has not managed to address the institutional weaknesses of the army. Unfortunately, the 2016 verdict of the British official on the army still stands.
O. D. Hassan, Mogadishu
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