Does the project serve its intended course?
From 2009 up to date IOM and UNDP
have been running a project entitled QUEST – MIDA which is funded by foreign
countries. This project is intended to bring back the Somali Diaspora intellectuals
with sound knowledge, expertise and experience to Somalia. The project’s sole aim
is to utilize the knowledge, skills and experience of the Somali Diaspora in a
bid to restore key aspects of good governance, developmental planning, aid
coordination, public and parliamentary reforms in a transparent and accountable
manner and to provide technical knowhow in different autonomous regions of
Somaliland, Puntland and South and Central Somalia.
From 2009 up to date IOM and UNDP
have been running a project entitled QUEST – MIDA which is funded by foreign
countries. This project is intended to bring back the Somali Diaspora intellectuals
with sound knowledge, expertise and experience to Somalia. The project’s sole aim
is to utilize the knowledge, skills and experience of the Somali Diaspora in a
bid to restore key aspects of good governance, developmental planning, aid
coordination, public and parliamentary reforms in a transparent and accountable
manner and to provide technical knowhow in different autonomous regions of
Somaliland, Puntland and South and Central Somalia.
This project was ideally meant for the Somali Diaspora
who had fled from Somalia to the western countries of Europe and North America and
gained permanent residency. The western
countries are donating the grants and reaching out to the Somali Diaspora
living in the western countries to benefit from this project.
Since these project activities were launched, the Somali
Diasporas gaining from this project have been storming country.
Methods through which applications were sent previously and the current
norms
Previously, individual from the
Diaspora would request and apply for positions while they were in their country
of residence and after being accepted they would come to work to the regions
they applied for. But of late, other methods of position applications have
emerged. The Diaspora individual will go to a high government office, where
they have a relative or close friend and they will request to become a
consultant, afterwards either the close friend or relative in the Ministries
will send the formal request to the agencies that run the project. Therefore
the government office will facilitate the request of the Diaspora individual
interested in this opportunity, by sending a request letter to the agencies
indicating the need for this person to work as a consultant within the ministry
and to be as well offered a contract. In receiving this request letter, the
agencies of this project will accept the request in consideration of the senior
government office proposal. Therefore
the senior regional governments as well as federal government offices have
found a way to bring their relatives in the Diaspora to get paid well through
this project. Each office is requesting for many advisors in favor of their
relatives in the Diaspora and these requests are sent to the agencies, this has
reduced and limited people who used to directly apply. Some of the people who
came through this project have promoted into government ministries and began to
make this project a source of income whereby they divide the income with their
relatives whom they facilitated into this project.
Are these individuals from the Diaspora community the right people needed
for this project?
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| Aden Afey's artist On Somali diaspora |
Simply, this project was meant to
encourage the Diaspora individuals to came back to the country and invest back
their skills, knowledge and expertise. In order to make this a reality as well
as encourage people, there were no entry tests and complex competitions that
led to the placement of the project except small informal interviews that led
to speedy information sharing among the Diaspora about this easily obtainable
project placements and thus led to whoever was interested to apply either
directly or through the facilitation of government offices and Ministries. In
any way, they apply through apart from their application request and mere
checking of their documents there are no investigation, analysis and lengthy
follow-ups done to their submitted documents and credentials in order to prove
their ability, expertise and experiences of this individual or if they can
extensively contribute to the areas they applied or their reputations as well
as who they were within the Somali community from where they lived.
Many of the Diaspora professionals
as well as other ones have involved themselves actively in the country’s
conflicts and they have a history of providing support to the warlords within
their respective clan. It happened that individuals who were contracted through
the same process were the ones who started to initiate further problems and
fuel more tribalism and set new trial within the people instead of working
towards the development of the country. It
is worth mentioning that some limited Diaspora professionals find their way
through this project after they were genuinely motivated and authentically sent
their application while some others came through the other means i.e. via clan wise.
It is possible that they don’t know or even have the ability and experiences of
the work they are paid for. On the other hand there are some other people with
the knowledge and expertise for the job but after they arrive here they will
not familiarize themselves with techniques of the work in the country and will
get confused, most of these individuals are the Somali youth born or raised in
the west and are not well versed with life back in the country.
There are many other ones who do
not have the technical knowledge and therefore hire internal experts to assist
him draft quarterly reports. Mostly, the employees they were supposed to work
with do not even know him or and rarely see him except at times when they will
be seen accompanying the minister. And when the project agencies are monitoring,
the staff will always speak well of him and give positive feedback about this
individual because the minister brought him here and facilitated his placement
thus the employees are afraid to indicate otherwise. In this regard there are
no measurable impacts from this project in many areas of its interventions.
A lot of resources are lost this
way which could have benefited the country in many other rewarding ways.
What exactly do these persons
meddle in unlike their intended roles in the project?
As earlier described this project
was meant to build the capacity of the administrations and the central
government through investing back the knowledge, skills and experiences of the
Somali Diaspora who were educated outside the country and who were exposed to
the professional lives and behaviors of the developed world.
This was intended to bring back
their development as well as what they had gained in the Diaspora back to the
country. In any case if this was intended it didn’t happen this way. As soon as
they arrive and get these jobs in Somalia and the good hefty salaries with no
imposed taxation which they haven’t being able to get back in Europe and
America their greedy desire even increases more and more. Unlike the way it
should be they fall short of providing the good advice and technical assistance
and the expertise they claimed to disburse and this was not in any way properly
invested back at the same time they rarely export their experiences gained back
in the developed countries to their Somali counterparts in the governments and
in other parts of the country. Most of them will be occupied or get involved in
politics and landing a major seat in their respective governments as well as
facilitate their way into the government offices through the money gained from
this project which they use to mobilize elders and their clan for their own
desire to get more money than he/she is earning at that time. They don’t care
who they step on along the way and will get on at any cost because their
immediate families are not present in the country, therefore the welfare of
others in the country will not be of their concerns. Even in coming here they
have ulterior motives and there is something missing from their lives they couldn’t
attain up there and they need to accomplish it here at the cost of the Somali
people back home. One of the true stories that happened at one point was that a
consultant to one of the ministries who was desperately searching for a
government position in one of the ministries was asked why he was very
interested in this job and he quickly responded that “He needed to pay off his
house mortgage back in the US and this was the reason he was head over heels
for the job.
As these persons are mostly
attached to the ministries they have close contacts with the specific minister
as well as accompany him to all his travels for the purpose of exposing
themselves to different places both internally and externally so that they gain
the needed reputation and initiate special contacts wherever they go. In
leaving the country they reprint their fake business cards to disburse in
external meetings and these persons will always struggle for external
recognition. As they are close to the specific minister, this particular
individual will always represent him in all his external dealings wherever
possible unlike other senior civil servants in the ministry. They as well very
much enjoy traveling as this is a door towards fulfilling their innate greedy
personal desires.
It once happened that a director
of a specific ministry was invited to South Africa, after all the travel plans
were put in place the general Director went for his trip before he was cut
short in the middle of his travel. This happened while he was transiting in
Nairobi at the point where he wanted to update the people of the institution
that sent the invitation whereby right at that time he was informed that his
ministry sent someone else with a different name, in astonishment and
humiliation he was forced to return back. These individuals that are constantly
interchanged with the opportunities intended for the local civil servants
within the country who were meant to benefit from these programs with other incompetent
people brought from abroad. The people within the country serving at different
institutions are deprived constantly of their privileges and all opportunities
both externally and within and this chances are preserved for other relatives
mostly from abroad that are close to those who serve in senior positions both
in government institutions and others.
As they are relatives or close
friends with the minister, there are no follow-ups done on these people and the
employees in the ministry will not be able to complain if they intervened with
their work or if they have concerns. He doesn’t do a full time job but rather
is a puppet and acts like a wild animal waiting for their next prey. This
person will also take full advantage in the areas that concerns them unlike
performing on daily basis just like other employees or as depicted in their
TOR. In opposite to this, he is very much distracted searching for alternative
routes and chances at any cost. By this he will go very far by establishing a
seemingly illegal NGO or company with some other representatives without
functioning or stagnant offices that will make them knock many doors that they
think will lead them other easy opportunities.
When it is time to send the
project reports to the respective agencies, they will hire someone to do it on
their behalf to draft an excellent informative report and this is how they will
send it to the agencies. In receiving
this document the respective agencies will acknowledge the report as well as
comment on the excellent information in the report which is as they expected,
maybe they will at least send a letter of gratitude for the good job done. In
this regards it is highly likely that they will receive an extension of the
contract agreement.
What is the effect of the
actions on the local communities?
When they arrive in the country to work as usual, they settle in
luxurious hotels as they rely on their hefty salaries that can cater for their
stay as well as lead them to be someone they are not, a figure among their clan
and perceive themselves to be reputed among the community. They do not appear
to be well educated as they seem from their interactions, especially when they
speak they brag in amusement unlike real educated people with skills and
experiences. There is one thing that they attract people to and they enjoy
speaking about it that is they had lived in the west. Amazingly you will see
many of them enrolling in local universities that make people doubt about their
so called expertise.
They do not work or engage themselves in the activities they claim to
perform in the country instead they spend their time in the areas where
government officials are located because they like the exposure; they
participate in events, search for seminars and trips abroad. The people are
well aware of their continued secure finances therefore people tend to believe
that being from abroad favored them unlike other persons more competent and
hardworking than them who are not even paid good salaries.
The Somali youth are not able to
find good jobs unlike them they are aware how these people from abroad easily
find jobs without the struggle and how they are extravagantly spent on, that’s
why they opt to migrate and risk their lives across the dangerous roads in
search of better living conditions. Some are attracted to get the international
passport in the western countries that is favorable for easy opportunities back
in Somalia. Sufficient is this example –
a few months ago a young man who had graduated from one of the universities in
the country died in the sea between Libya and Europe. The deceased decided to
take this risky journey after his cousin who left the country over seven years
ago come back through this project with a job that seemed a lot to him plus
frequent travels to seminars abroad with good per diems and extra incentives as
well as having fun in luxurious hotels in the country, compared to his
situation jobless and nothing to do even after trying a lot to get a job. This
situation tempted him and he decided to leave the country - to him this journey
was worth the risk.
Recommendations:
Since a lot of funds are spent on
this project, it is advisable that it is executed as planned and to its intended
course. Therefore it is strongly recommended that the following issues are addressed:
1. A free
and fair recruiting process should be observed through direct applications.
2. A
thorough background check should be done on the candidates before the incumbent
is elected to office. These key areas should be assessed;
a.
An
in-depth look into their knowledge, skill and qualifications
b.
Criminal
history, records and reputation they uphold in the society. The role they
played in the society and how they are perceived in the society greatly helps
to know them deeply by their character, attitude and behavior.
3.
A
medical checkup should be done on individuals before their placement to
Somalia.
4. The
recruiting agencies should give the incumbents’ probationary period while
closely assessing their knowledge, capabilities and achievements before
engaging them in a full term employment.
5. To put
in place a complain mechanism for the staff of the ministry to send across
their concerns as far as this project implementation is concerned.
6. Assessing
and evaluating the projects’ impacts, goals, objectives and achievements before
contract extension – Has the project achieved its intended goals and
objectives? Has the capacity of the ministry staff been improved?
7. To
expose genuine individuals under this project to a much needed official
programs and seminars to intellectually develop them for the benefit of the
staff they are coaching and to acquire knowledge from them.
8. To
consider in this project other Somali Diaspora from other parts of the globe
(i.e. Middle East and some parts of Africa) other than limiting it to the
western countries because there are many Diaspora from this countries who have
a lot to offer.
9. If it
is possible, it is good for the project to cover people educated within the
country so that they can get access to job opportunities.
