Somalia’s Council of Ministers: A Call for Competent and Rule-Based Cabinet
MOGADISHU, Somalia: After the conclusion of a turbulent political dispensation in Somalia, the newly selected parliament elected president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on May 15, 2022 who will then appoint a prime minister within 30 days.
The first task of the new prime minister is to appoint the members of the Council of Ministers.
According to Article 97(2) of Somalia’s provisional constitution, “the Council of Ministers is the highest executive authority of the Federal Government and consists of the Prime Minister, the deputy prime minister(s), ministers, state ministers and deputy-ministers”.
This makes the Council of Ministers the forum where the deliberations are made and substantive decisions are reached.
Using key-informant interviews and document analysis, this study summarizes and analyzes the history, processes, and practices of forming Council of Ministers in Somalia. It finds that, during the democratically elected administrations of 1960 through 1969, the laws of the land defined the nature and work of the Council of Ministers and other government institutions.
These laws explained in detail the number of ministries, the services they provided, and the powers vested in these state organs, describing their functions as well as key auxiliary offices that supported the cabinet and the ways office holders were to be held to account.
For the twenty-one years of military government that followed, and then during the transitional and fragile governments of two post–civil war decades, Somalia’s cabinet formation processes and practices were mainly arbitrary and often problematic.
The Council of Ministers is an essential organ of the state. The cabinet is as vital for the country as the brain is for the body.
A lackluster approach toward cabinet formation has prolonged the fledgling nature of Somalia’s institution-building endeavors.
Somalia’s seemingly perpetual fragility means the country will not be able to build a democratic, progressive, and efficient state unless its leaders correctly establish its most vital state organ — the Council of Ministers.
Since 2000, thirteen prime ministers have created a plethora of one-term cabinet posts without any legislation governing cabinet formation.
Most ministries were formed to accommodate clans that demanded representation or to reward politicians who contributed to electoral successes. Some of the randomly created and abruptly discontinued cabinet portfolios of the past twenty years have included ministries responsible for national assets and procurement, science and technology, protection of the disabled and orphans, tourism and wildlife, diaspora affairs, and rehabilitation and retraining of militias.
Drawing lessons from the past, the incoming prime minister — in consultation with other national leaders, such as the president and leaders of the parliament — must steer the country toward a rule-bound and needs-based governance system.
The first step should be the establishment of a fit-for-purpose council of ministers made up of competent technocrats. The cabinet formation process should be legally grounded and should comply with Somalia’s governance model.
The new prime minister should set an example in the way he/she forms the Council of Ministers. More than anything else, the president and the prime minister should spearhead the revival of laws that legislate the organization of Somalia’s executive branch. Of particular interest to the prime minister and the national leaders should be the Law on the Organization of the Government.
Over the past two decades, thirteen prime ministers have appointed hundreds of ministers who failed to rescue Somalia from a perpetual regression. Therefore, credibility and competence in delivery of services should be the main criteria for the selection of the incoming cabinet.
Past strategies of stacking the cabinet with parliamentarians were counterproductive as they stunted accountability. Therefore, the incoming cabinet should be made up of technocrats from outside the parliament.
Insulating the Council of Ministers from the domination of parliamentarians will enhance accountability. It will also put a workable checks-and-balance process in place.
This study finds that the root causes of Somalia’s paralyzing and complicated governance-related challenges stem primarily from discrepancies within the provisional constitution. During cabinet formation, the prime minister should be mindful of the federal governance model — that is, federalism — adopted by Somalia.
A fit-for-purpose cabinet would help to avoid duplication by both levels of the federal government.
More importantly, the new Council of Ministers should collectively internalize the understanding that the cabinet is the highest executive organ of the Somali state. It should be clear, from practice, that neither ministers nor any other entities or individuals — including the president and the prime minister — are above the law.
The cabinet should therefore strive to ensure constitutionalism. Furthermore, to ensure that affairs of state are conducted professionally and in accordance with the constitution, the cabinet should restore and empower the permanent, bipartisan, and professional civil service–staffed secretariat used by the democratic governments of the 1960s.
The era of power brokers, friends, financiers, and family members of senior leaders working in government institutions and wielding undue influence should end.
READ THE FULL REPORT: HERE
