Editorial

One of the Stability Fund’s objectives is to support ‘legitimate, viable governance structures’.  This phrase, which fails the plain English test, belies some of the subtlety and thinking that went into its formulation.

We talk about ‘governance structures’ rather than ‘government’ to reflect the range of organisations the Stability Fund can work with.  Yes, this includes the Federal Government of Somalia, the governments in Puntland and Jubbaland, and emerging federal states such as South-West State.  But it also means district administrations, village and community councils and even private sector organisations.

And we talk about ‘legitimate’ and ‘viable’ knowing that there are multiple (and often conflicting) views in Somalia about which particular elements of Somali governance have the local acceptance and ability to take and enact decisions that affect people’s lives. These are critical factors the Stability Fund considers when making decisions about its governance projects:  is the structure in question legitimate and viable enough for the Fund to consider supporting it, and what effect in turn will the proposed support have on the legitimacy and viability of that structure?

This edition of the newsletter focuses on some of the Stability Fund’s core governance projects – at federal, federal state and district levels.  On top of the self-evident technical and practical challenges of these projects, questions about viability and legitimacy of the governance structures concerned have remained at the forefront of the Stability Fund’s thinking throughout.

Caretaker Administrator Training

Since February this year the Somali National Army, working alongside AMISOM forces, have liberated twelve major towns and district capitals from Al Shabaab.  Following liberation, it is essential that local government structures take root so that the Somali state can begin to assert some authority and control in the newly recovered districts – both to mitigate the risks of a power vacuum and to begin the process by which basic services such as security and justice might be provided to the people of these districts.

The Somali Ministry of Interior and Federalism (MoIF) set out the process by which it envisaged district administrations would be created.  The MoIF’s ‘Stabilisation Plan’ started with deployment of twelve-person Caretaker Administrations to each of the districts, and then set out a process of creating interim and then permanent administrations.  Under the plan, this political work is to be complemented by projects aimed at improving government infrastructure and supporting community priorities in the districts.

But the first step was to train the individuals the MoIF had identified for deployment to the districts as Caretaker Administrators, to bring them together in Mogadishu and to prepare them for the daunting task that lay ahead: to be the first Somali government officials in districts that had long been under the control of Al Shabaab.

So it was in April this year that the Stability Fund, jointly with Sweden (which has since become a donor to the Fund), contracted the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy (EISA) to develop and deliver training to some 165 caretaker administrators.  Working closely with the MoIF and other Stability Fund consultants, EISA designed a week-long training package covering issues ranging from the roles of the caretakers, through service delivery on to how to manage the process of establishing interim administrations.  The course was run three times over consecutive weeks, ending with a graduation ceremony attended by President Hassan Sheikh.

While the graduation ceremony marked the end of the training, it was just the beginning of the historic task faced by the administrators who have since deployed out to 12 districts where they have started to lay the foundations for governance and development.  The challenges faced by these individuals are immense – not least the hardships posed by insecurity, austere conditions and poor access, but also the difficulties of negotiating conflicting political agendas, advancing the local process of establishing interim administrations, and delivering some support to the local population to demonstrate the benefits governance can bring.

The caretaker administrator training course was also just the beginning of the Stability Fund’s work to help build effective governance and deliver tangible results to the population.  The Fund is working in several of the newly recovered districts to support the administrators and implement the MoIF’s plan, and will continue to expand its presence as more and more districts become accessible.

Rebuilding and reconnecting with Warsheikh

In March 2014 the Somali National Army, working alongside AMISOM forces, liberated Warsheikh district from Al Shabaab.  Warsheikh is a historically-important coastal district located 60 kilometres north of Mogadishu in the Middle Shabelle region of Somalia. Warsheikh has cemeteries of many Somali Sufi Saints and traditionally was home to numerous Sufi Scholars who enjoyed the respect and love of the Warsheikh community and the whole of Somalia.

As one of the newly liberated districts, a temporary, caretaker administration for Warsheikh was formed through a district structure consisting of District Commissioner (DC), Vice-DC and a Police Commissioner. In May 2014, coordinating with the Ministry of Interior and Federalism (MoIF), the Warsheikh DC was one of the district officials to participate in the caretaker administration training programme.  

Following a joint planning session in Mogadishu with the Stability Fund and USAID-funded TIS programme, in June 2014, along with officials of the MoIF, we visited Warsheikh district to carry out a preliminary assessment.

During our sessions with the Warsheikh community and district administration several priorities were identified. Support to foster economic growth was prioritised, as well as basic services. And so, in addition to support for the local fishing industry, provision of safe drinking water and solar street lighting were selected for immediate investment.  

The Stability Fund and MoIF, together with Warsheikh District Administration, is signing a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise agreement on the support to be provided in Warsheikh district. Now it is time for the real work to begin: drilling boreholes, providing equipment to fishing cooperatives and installing solar streetlights will be our focus over the next several months.

The road to establishing IJA’s Public Financial Management Framework

In February 2014, the Stability Fund began providing technical assistance to the Interim Jubba Administration (IJA) to establish a sound Public Financial Management (PFM) framework and the necessary infrastructure for financial operations to commence by July 2014. This aggressive timeframe was met largely due to the commitment of the IJA leadership to implementing superior public financial management systems.

The IJA’s enactment of the Public Financial Management Decree 2014 recognized the Minister and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) as the custodian of IJA financial matters and a legal framework for PFM. Expenditure management procedures and a robust commercial Financial Management Information System (FMIS) have been developed for use by the MoF and all other government bodies. Working closely with Stability Fund, the IJA has also completed an initial review of subnational government revenue and has developed a decree to formalize revenue raising.

In September 2014, the Stability Fund delivered a two week seminar for 25 IJA officials to introduce them to the PFM framework and procedures.  This included staff from line ministries and agencies for the first week, followed by more intensive training for 12 newly-recruited Ministry of Finance staff during the second week.  By the end of the seminar, through a practical, learning-by-doing approach to capacity building, the FMIS was fully operational and the recently-approved Budget for the second half of the 2014 fiscal year had been entered into the system.

The next step, as envisaged in the 2014 Budget, was to formalize responsibility for revenue collection in a new Revenue Administration (The IJARA). A workshop to outline the strategic plan for establishing the IJARA was completed in Kismayo in October. Banking arrangements have been established with Dahabshiil Bank, providing safe cash storage, deposit and withdrawal services, and full transaction reporting.

The IJA’s system features a Budget Classification Structure (BCS) that allows the MoF to control and account for all revenues and expenditures based on the IMF Government Finance Statistics (GFS) framework.  This particularly applies to donor funding provided directly to the IJA, which can be uniquely identified. The use of the donor funds can accordingly be tracked and reported in line with International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

In recent months, the MoF has continued to progress implementation of its PFM framework, with limited technical assistance and support from the Stability Fund. The ministry continues to collect revenue, which is now all deposited in the IJA’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) in Dahabshiil Bank. While a permanent ministry building is being constructed, financed by the Stability Fund, the Minister is operating from secure temporary offices. With just 10 laptops and a reliable internet connection the budget department is now finalising the FY 2015 budget.

The Stability Fund is proud to have had the opportunity to work with the IJA on establishing its PFM framework. The degree of commitment and ownership shown by the IJA, from the President to data entry clerks, bodes well for the future of an administration that will thrive by embracing the principles of financial transparency and accountability, and delivering public services in return for government revenues.