Hiiraan Online

Favori LLC is Turkish company operating Mogadishu Aden Abdulle International Airport since 15th September 2013.

Somali Parliamentarians inquiries and scrutiny of key issues of such national importance is a sign of progress and a shift towards dialogue over the violent confrontations of the past. However, on this matter they have been unprofessional and have played politics with our national interest.

Favori was awarded the contract last year to take over the management of Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International airport for 15 years. They were, in so far as the Minister that awarded the contract was concerned, best placed to carry out the work. There were and there is currently no Somali bidder for the contract that can carry out the work to the international standard required to allow international airlines like the Turkish one to land safely in the capital city. Some Parliamentarians have played the nationalism card without bringing forward an alternative local contractor. This at best is evidence of bias and dishonesty on their part or a lack of understanding of how the world works today.

In an era of globalisation characterised by international trade and public private partnerships to achieve policy and economic goals, the ideas of New Public Management are not just theory but a reality. The role of the State has altered dramatically from monopoly in service design and provision to sharing this duty with various partners both in the public and private sector as well as local and concerned communities. The state where it leads and therefore still rows today has many oarsmen and in some places it no longer rows but mostly steers. Somali Parliamentarians must accept that Somalia does not currently have the institutions, human resources and companies capable of managing an important lifeline to the Somali people and state such as the capital’s airport. The government does not also have and cannot make a commitment to implement $15 million of development works as Favori has announced recently. This investment will go ahead if enforced as part of the terms of the contract by the Parliamentarians and it will constitute by far one of the largest single investment in upgrading and maintaing Somalia’s destroyed and non existent vital transport and physcial infrastructure.

Parliamentarians of late have started to want to vote on absolutely everything even those issues that concern the day to day management of state affairs. The elected President and his Ministers have the right to make a decision about those contractors that they best feel will serve the country with the most skills, integrity and passion. If these matters had to be voted on all the time, nothing would get done. However, where the Parliamentarians feel and they have evidence that Ministers are rewarding friends and are receiving incentives of any kind to make a decision in a groups favour over others, then it is their constitutional duty to challenge this. Where a Minister falls short of the standards expected of a public official or is caught in the act of dishonesty both they and the executives of the company should be dealt with by the law. On this occasion, despite the accusations, there was no evidence against both Favori and the former Minister in question.

The fact that Favori is a Turkish company has been criticised by angry Parliamentarians too. Have they forgotten that Turkey was one of the few nations to first believe in Somali rebirth? Was it not one of the first to assist us? Was Turkish Airlines not the first national carrier of global reputation to land in Mogadishu airport? Parliamentarian’s short memories could drive away political friends and investors the country needs to develop after over two decades of self-destruction and poor leadership. And for what? To revive total State ownership and control of every asset if it is not given to somebody or a company they all approve of? Not only is this idea dead in an age of diverse, multi agency partnerships where the State has to co-operate and work closely with other stakeholders to make development happen especially in developing countries like Somalia but it is also impossible for clan programmed MP’s to ever agree on much.

Somali Parliamentarians should always be a critical friend to investors, international partners and to the national government and Executive. They should scrutinise, debate and vote on the future of their nation. Nothing less is expected of them. However, with the Airport contract matter regarding the Turkish company Favori it was unprofessional to attack one of Somalia’s few international investors which happen to be working towards connecting it to the rest of the world. What the Somali Parliament should invest time and energy in is creating an international investment law which promotes transparency, ethics and local partnerships so that the Somali companies they want to run our public services in the future can learn from those that are internationally excellent today. This is, in the long term, the genuine public interest. If only they understood this.