Three Decades Later & The Revival Of Manifesto

To: President of the Federal Government of Somalia H.E. Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo

To:  Special Representative of the UN. Secretary-General for Somalia Amb. James Swan
CC: International Communities

July 1, 2020
It has been thirty years since the first Manifesto was released and published in May 1990, at a time when Somalia was on the cusp of disintegration and when state collapse was in the hands of an autocratic ruler who had refused to listen to the voices of the nation, and the nation was in eminent state. Soon after Manifesto 1 was published, Somalia erupted, and a consequential collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic ensued from which it has yet to recover. Thirty years later, the same conditions prevail in the country. There is an impasse on many key political issues resulting in a growing dissatisfaction by the Somali people, who are extremely worried about the direction of the country.

We believe no Somali citizen can any longer look away from the ominous threat or a sense of doom that hang over the country today. Thirty years after the collapse of Somalia’s central government, the country is at a critical juncture as dark clouds had gathered around the election cycle and the country’s succession to a new government is being manipulated. The uncertainty surrounding the parliamentary and presidential elections for 2020/21, just four months before the term of the current parliament and less than eight months before the term of the President expires, is particularly deeply troubling. Elections are fundamental rights enshrined in our country’s legal and constitutional framework. They are also crucial to facilitating peaceful and democratic transfers of power from one government to the next, as has happened since the Transitional National Government was created at the Arta peace process, Djibouti in 2000 to the 2017 transfer of power where the current administration of the Federal Government of Somalia was created.

The government of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has failed to 1) build stability and the institutions required for good governance, including an integrated national army capable of securing the country, and an effective police force responsible for protecting the lives, properties, peace, and security of its citizens; 2) establish the independence, effectiveness and accountability of legislative, judiciary and executive branches of government 3) address corruption and lack of transparency in government; 4) review and amend the provisional constitution and submit it for approval in a national referendum; 5) establish a constitutional court to adjudicate on constitutional matters; and 6) ) institute a rule of law reform to foster a government bound by law, justice, equality before the law and respect for human rights. Moreover, the government entered secret or undisclosed international treaties without parliamentary authorization through standard legislative procedures. The lack of progress in completing the necessary federal structures and processes, as well as its utter failure in fostering meaningful, coherent, and realistic plan for the talks with Somaliland is a retardation to rehabilitate Somalia.

The failure of the FGS in its core functions constitutes a severe impediment to the trust the Somali people placed on their government. The Somali people lack access to basic services and infrastructure. Extreme poverty and hunger are widespread. More than 70% of the Somali people live below the international poverty line. Somalia is the 185th out of 189 countries in terms of poverty rate. There is a widespread unemployment which affects above 70 percent of the population. Sadly, the young people are the largest demographic cohort and they are the most affected group. Over 75 percent of the young has no access to opportunities for education or employment, and hence face multiple social, economic, and political exclusions. More than one million Somali people are refugees, while 2.6 million IDPs have been displaced by conflict, insecurity and/or drought, and are currently living in about 2,000 IDP sites across Somalia. These are many people in need with critical problems related to physical and mental wellbeing, living standards, as well as lacking protection for their safety and security, and most of them are children.