Since 2006, Somalia has become the most corrupt country in the world. The country is a stateless within the weak institutions because the militants and armed militia have been fighting against the Somalia Federal Government. In addition, predatory politicians, business people, local NGOs, International NGOs, and narrow elites are still making fortune by exacerbating local conflict, and the lack of a state.
However, corruption is the outcome of a political process, absence of effective institutions, political instability, clan rule, and democracy managed and monopolized by a small elite of politicians since 2000.
It is necessary to clearly define the terminology of corruption before the examination factors induced the corruption in Somalia, the World Bank defined corruption as “abuse of the public office for private gain”. similarly, Lampsdorff (1999) defined corruption as a misuse of public power for private gain. However, corruption undermines and cripples public service delivery, economic growth, and caused major inequality, and plunged unemployment by 75 percent into extreme poverty. Corruption is unavoidable due to the lack of capacity of the state and poor government, and corruption is increasing political instability, social conflict, and gang crimes.
The main causes of corruption in Somalia
- Absence of State and Weak Institutions: Since 1991, Somalia has experienced civil war, insecurity, terrorism, and a lack of a strong central government. Somalia adopted the deferral system without public consensus in 2004, but only world leaders agreed to it in Mpagathi, Kenya. The country is divided regionally, politically, and clannishly. As a result, each of autonomous region is dominated by a narrow elite that benefited from foreign aid, local taxes, and income customs from airports and seaports while excluding the majority of the people from receiving state benefits. Indeed, state leaders are obstructing the federal government’s efforts to expedite state-building, democratization, the building of a national army, a review of the constitutional process, and revenue mobilization to complete state revival. Furthermore, corruption is shaped by poor governance, ineffective bureaucracy, an absence of the rule of law, less transparency and accountability, and politicians competing for their interests rather than rebuilding the state and institutions.
- No Merit Recruitment: The concept of public servants’ recruitment must be based on merit as in most developed countries, but it is different in Africa in general, and especially in Somalia. On the other hand, there is widespread nepotism, cronyism, and political patronage connected with the hiring and recruitment of public servants. On the other hand, powerful clans, politicians, and businesspeople exert pressure on the government to nominate their members for top positions such as high-ranking officers (general directors), the positions of independent commissioners for public appointments, and armed commanders to return the money to their groups. Furthermore, clans, rent-seeking groups, and political groups dominate public institutions by eroding the administrative accountability system of internal control for the institutions, including integrity of civil service, and ethics codes. Indeed, High-ranking positions are in fact made accessible to family, clan members, and supporters of politicians who publicly praise and support them on social media and other platforms.
- Lack of anti-Corruption Commission and Anti-corruption of Law: According to Article 111c of the provisional federal constitution, the approval of the anti-corruption law and the establishment of an anti-corruption commission to investigate the allegations of corruption are mentioned. Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh, dissolved the anti-corruption commission because the previous House of the People of Somalia federal parliament unitarily approved that law and its commission without the Upper House, which is contrary to the constitution because Somalia’s Parliament consists of two chambers.
- Clan Rule and Patrimonialism: Somalia’s political structure is based on clan power-sharing, which means that all members of Somalia’s Federal Parliament, ministers, military commanders, and ambassadors are allotted clans through a clan power-sharing formula. This structure leads to unqualified people holding the top jobs of the country, including political and top office positions in the government like general directors, which undermines the effectiveness and efficiency of public service and rules out the competition and innovation as well as exacerbating poverty, economic growth, and development. In addition, the other main causes of corruption are a lack of adequate accountability and transparency, a lack of role for the civil society and media, the fusion of the judiciary and executive arms, and a lack of citizen awareness.
Main Forms of Corruption in Somalia
There are numerous forms of corruption, such as political corruption, nepotism, favoritism, and abuse of power. In addition, facilitation payments are a major source of corruption that exists in Somalia because the people make unofficial and illegal payments to bureaucrats to expedite routine functions due to public servants’ excessive delaying of public service. Bribery and extortion are the main forms of corruption that prevail in Somalia. The embezzlement, evasion of tax, and fraud destroyed resources, public properties, prioritized projects, and economic growth and development. Cronyism widened mostly in Somalia because the government’s high-ranking officials were providing government contracts and jobs to families, cousins, friends, the president, the prime minister, ministers, governors of states, and other top leaders. There are other kinds of electoral corruption, such as vote buying, clientelism, and political patronage, because indirect elections are marred by intimidation, vote-buying, blocking the parliamentary candidates from running the election, bribing delegates, the electoral commission, and clan elders who are selecting electoral college delegates.
Implication of Corruption
Corruption impedes public service and goods, economic growth, and development. And the corruption plunged Somalia’s population into extreme poverty. Corruption undermines the effectiveness and efficiency of institutions and decision-making. The security sector was disbanded by corruption in terms of bribing security officials to facilitate criminal and civil cases. Foreign aid is looted, spent on unproductive programs, and moved to offshore banks. Furthermore, corruption prevails in Somalia and harms livelihood, health, education, and individual freedom, and it weakens state-building, the rule of law, government trust, human rights, and the separation of powers. The money allocated for the state and national buildings is stolen. Somalia loses millions of dollars to corruption, which is supposed to improve lives, and it is a challenge for Somalia’s revival state in terms of recruitment for public staff, promotion, competition, innovation, and institutional capacity to serve effectively its citizens due to bringing families, friends, and cousins into jobs who cannot do the job. As a result of corruption, there is an increase in crime and terrorism in Somalia.
Recommendation
- The strengthening of state capacity and institutions, and implementation of separation of powers such as executive, legislature, and judiciary branches;
- Somali has to shift from patrimonialism and a system based on clan power-system away to a modern state because this system causes nepotism, favoritism, and unqualified persons holding the top posts in the government;
- Reducing the opportunity for corruption, promoting moral integrity, and awareness, and maintaining transparency, accountability, and supervision;
- Nomination of anti-corruption commission, and to be very qualified and intellectual, honest, and have full authority and legitimacy to investigate any office including top offices of the state;
- Establishment of the independent judiciary because it is contributing to the significant role of the fight against corruption;
- Establishment of an effective public complaint system in which the people submit their complaints;
- A corporation with the international community to freeze the accounts of corrupt leaders and officials in international banks;
- Civil society and media must take their role in curbing corruption;
- To foster the professionalism of anti-corruption commission staff because fighting corruption is a very difficult task because you are conforming people are properly very intelligent knowledgeable and powerful; and
- Digitalize the public service and use E- government which should reduce corruption and allows all transaction and public service to be done online.
Author: Ahmed Mohamoud Mohamed