Somali elders seek larger role in national politics

Friday, July 26, 2013

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Somali traditional elders, who were instrumental in creating the federal government, met this month to discuss how to increase their role in reconciliation and helping President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's administration expand its authority nationwide.

Traditional elders helped prepare for the end of the Transitional Federal Government in August 2012 by choosing the committee that endorsed the current constitution and also selecting members of parliament. Now, they hope to play a new mediatory role in Mohamud's government.

"We decided to create an atmosphere of understanding between the security forces and the public because there is mutual mistrust among the two groups," Mogadishu traditional elder Mohamed Hassan Haad said after the July 14th meeting. "We also decided to work on educating the public about the government."

As a way to spearhead lasting peace, elders also will hold private meetings in distant villages with communities among warring tribes, said elder Sultan Warsame Sultan Ibrow of the Lower Shabelle region.

"We are working on how to build the government with grassroots methods," he told Sabahi. "We will hold meetings to educate the public on the federal system."

Nonetheless, some elders have complained that they cannot be as effective as they would like because, according to them, the government has not kept them in the loop.

"We are between the government and the public, therefore, it would be an important aspect of development for the government to share with us how things are going," Galgadud elder Ugas Abdullahi Ugas Hashi Faraadde said. "The government does not consult with us on the steps it takes and it is keeping all the work to itself."

Elders from the town of Buurhakaba, in Somalia's Bay region, react and gesture during a meeting with Somali National Army and African Union Mission in Somalia commanders February 28, 2013. [Stuart Price/AU-UN IST/AFP]

Bringing the traditional elders into the political system would allow them to better educate the public on peace and work on development, Faraadde told Sabahi.

However, Ministry of Interior Affairs and National Security Director General Hussein Abdi Aadan dismissed the criticism and said the government makes every effort to consult with the elders.

"Every time we create a regional administration, we consult with the elders as much as we consult with the lawmakers," he told Sabahi. "Most recently, we consulted with them on naming the administrations of Bay and Hiran."

That said, Aadan was clear that elders' roles were limited.

"The elders are not part of the administration [therefore] they cannot be given implementation tasks," he said. "They are not part of the parliament and cannot work on creating laws; they are not part of the courts and cannot adjudicate."
Turning to traditional elders in tough situations

Lawmaker Abdibarre Yusuf Jibril said traditional elders were helpful because the public's trust in them enabled them to find solutions to issues outside of politics.

"Traditional elders are the reference point or the only place to turn when the situation becomes tough," Jibril told Sabahi. "There are many issues that cannot be solved through politics, but the government can address those issues through traditional means."

"For example, there would have been solutions if the government had consulted the traditional elders on the disputes in Kismayo and other places in the country," he said.

For its part, the Centre for Community Dialogue (CCD), the local non-profit that organised the elders' meeting in Mogadishu, said it plans to continue holding similar events throughout central and southern Somalia to leverage traditional elders' power of influence and broker peace and reconciliation among Somalis.

"We want to repeat what the elders in the north [Somaliland region] did to lead the public toward a peaceful road," said CCD Director Iise Ahmed Omar. "We will focus on areas that have been liberated from al-Shabaab to carry out our outreach activities," he said, adding that the next meeting will be held soon in Kismayo and bring together elders from feuding communities in Jubbaland.

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