By Goth Mohamed Goth
Nairobi—A high-level SL Ministerial delegation led by Dr. Saad Ali Shire, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation met with World Bank officials in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday whereby they signed a five year Somaliland’s civil servant’s Reform project which includes funding from both the World Bank and non-bank sources in US$ 10 Million grant.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation briefing the press moments after the signing ceremony said, “The goal of Somaliland’s civil servants project is meant to enhance the quality of life of the people on a sustainable basis by creating a competent, professional Civil Service workforce that will be responsive, effective, and efficient in achieving the objectives of the National Development Plan.’
“The objective is to develop a professional and adequately compensated Civil Service that effectively and efficiently delivers high quality services to the people aimed at improving and sustaining their quality of life,’ stated Dr. Saad Ali Shire.
Dr. Saad Ali Shire on behalf of the people and government of Somaliland thanked the World Bank Group for the continued support of the various development projects in-country.
Also present during the signing ceremony were Mr. Mohamed Mihile Boqorre, Head of the Civil Service Commission, Hon. Abdi Dahir Amuud, Deputy Minister of National Planning, Ambassador Keysar Abdullahi, Mr. Guled Saleban Hagoog, Chairman of Civil Service Training Institute, among others
The Project Structures:
– The Government Administration Act Bill which clarifies mandates – cleared by the Cabinet.
– Training Needs Assessment of 6 Ministries and Functional Review of 4 institutions was conducted by CSC and Good Governance Commission respectively, supported by UNDP.
– The World Bank also did Functional Review of two Ministries; Ministry of Environment, & Ministry of Fishery: used for SDF programming.
Somaliland’s civil servants characterized mostly as:
- Overstaffed,
- Over aged staff,
- Unskilled,
- Inexperienced,
- Poorly equipped,
- Poorly resourced, and suffer from low morale arising, amongst other, from poor remuneration and terms and conditions of service.
A deal with the devil – This is not good news, the world bank has ruined many countries by offering them loans then influencing the countries economy. Somaliland should cancel this deal
I think that deal is good for Somalilanders…Long live the Republic of Somaliland
Jama, I agree with you. Both the World Bank and the IMF are not necessarily motivated by geuine interest for the plight of our civil service but for the returns to its financiers. The policies of these Bretton Woods Institutions have wreaked untold havoc and suffering to many developing nations. We all remember the SAPs (Structural Adjustment Programmes) of the 80s.
They impose some very stringent restrictions which may not be attainable especially for an unrecognisef country like Somaliland. I don’t expect the likes of Ali above to understand the subtle economics behind such loans. To our readers here, I can only refer them to a book entitled “The Lords of Poverty”. It has some very eye-opening insights into the dealings of the WB/IMF and many supra-national organisations and international charities. The sub-section “Aid is NOT help” surely captured my attention. I encourage you all to read this little book.
For your information this is not a loan. Please check your facts before you try to make a comment!
Mr. Yasin, You might have read the Lords of poverty but I can tell from the way you are approaching things, you did not understand the context in which the author’s argument was built on. Do you when the Lords of poverty was first published?
Bro Warfa. Please wake up and smell the coffee. Of course, I read the article well. It says a “grant” above. But do yoy honestly think the World Bank is a charity or church that gives free things? I am deeply disappointed at your naivety.
They are after returns to its investors. These are wealthy financiers/lenders from Europe and North America. They see the potential in Somaliland. What is this? Our untapped resources. Maybe oil (prospecting ongoing) and other minerals. A famous Somaliland geologist was on BBC recently explaining even the presence of precious resources like uranium here.
Trust me, these “cadaans” are aware of many things which we do NOT know or cannot see due to our ignorance. They have sophisticated remote surveillance sensing technology that gives them a rough idea of the potential of a country.
Believe me. These so called “grants” are nothing more than restrictive covenants whose actual effects will be known years later as many developing countries came to realize years earlier. By then it was too late.
As for “Lords of Poverty” yes I know when it was published. FYI, the author is known to me personally. He worked in Nairobi as a journalist for many years. I have a copy of the book with me if you need it!
Agreed M.Yassin, it’s unfortunate that some people judgement has been blinded. All you have to do is look at Africa as a continent which has two thirds of worlds natural resources and yet is in a state of poverty to understand how the world bank manipulates economies. I am not surprised they made this loan payment – it’s an opportunity to exploit the countries resources – as a citizen of somaliland I am worried about this news and urge the government to rethink this agreement
Jama, you are spot on. The World Bank is NOT a donor. It is a financial institution. It gives out loans (usually long term) to fund megaprojects like construction of roads, electricity, one-stop border/customs union (like is currently ongoing between the three sister EA countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania).
It is not a church or mosque that is philanthropic or benevolent. It is in the business of lending money borrowed from others (its investors/financiers in the Western World who expect handsome rewards/returns especially in third world countries).
Nothing in life is ever free. Everything has a cost. The WB knows this well. The author here only gave us a tip of the iceberg. The real “terms and conditions” are not available to us. But they are reported (they call it transparency in governance) to their financiers/investors/funders in the West who are free to inspect these records whenever they wish to. In the end, the real “losers” are the uninformed citizens of this undeveloped countries who have no idea what is happening yet who are duped to believe it is in their own interests. Sadly, the actual beneficiaries are wealthy individuals in the developed world. Like they say, don’t blame the game, blame the play!
Yassin you have a brilliant mind, off course nothing comes out of nothing see World Bank official website as of 30/07/2016 they don’t give the actual detail that’s why as the Author, i obliged to reaffirm you as our esteem reader , your correct Judgement which :
1. The Somaliland Ministry of National Planning is the Borrow of the Loan.
2.The real losers will be our citizens the tax payer’s, as you’re well aware off they shall sometime in the future grant Green visas to the same crop of cream to work in their countries some time in the future yet SL Citizens shall bear the brunt of paying the same debt.
SomalilandPress.Com was one of the few websites in the whole world to highlight the “The Lords of Poverty Report
We have to start a petition to stop this deal or lobby the government to rethink this deal
Samatar, its already a done deal. Unfortunately, as citizens our hands are already tied from the outset. Some government official somewhere has already signed this agreement “on our behalf”. Paragraph four above says “Dr Saad Ali Shire on BEHALF of the people of Somaliland thanked the WB for their continued support ….”.
As citizens of poor developing countries, the WB (and by extension our bureaucrats in government) expect us to comply with these “development” projects. Why else would we not? Its like looking a gift horse straight in the eye. We badly need the cash injection, right? Herein lies the problem.
From my experience, there is very little choice. The options are severely limited. I admire your courage. Very few citizens of developing countries have tried to intervene in past instances. The best example was in Asia, where residents of a location that was earmarked for “development prpjects” took matters into their own hands. It was a very drastic but simple measure which ultimately worked.
I wish our representatives would disclose more details on this issue. Dr Shire, can you please shed some light if you are reading this article? The details we need include the duration, repayment schedule, the exact terms of the contract, interest or grant rates, default penalties, other options et al. This would be a good start.
I don’t expect this to kick out a fuss. Government officials are good are ignoring genuine concerns like ours.
Yassin you should have a role in the government since you seem to know what you are talking about. The government should not ignore the people who elected them
Samatar, try telling that to our bureaucrats in Hargeisa, if they will listen. The problem with politicians is that they always think they have a monopoly of ideas or that they know what is best for us as citizens.
They say the best government is a government of one person. The reason is that decisions are much faster since you do not have to consult any one. Yet, a government of one is …… Well, a dictatorship. We all know that from our unfortunate history.
As such, we tout for a democracy. A government of the people, for people, by the people (Abraham Lincoln). This involves consultation, concessions and compromises. All this takes time. There has to be an appropriate system of checks and balances. Ultimately, in a true democracy, true power lies in the people/public as was clearly demonstrated in Turkey recently.
I am NOT a politician. I am a student, scholar, practitioner, pragmatist and a realist. I doubt our powers-be would be willing to accomodate alternative ideas and insights. It would require a really brave authority to do that.