Reforming Somalia Civil Service: Revival and Challenges
Hassanwali Moallim K
Xmkwali69@gmail.com
OPINION
As the title states, the purpose of this article is to bring into focus the state of affairs of the Somalia Civil Service with a view to making it an object of government concern and attention. It further highlights the importance of reforming and reviving the service and the achievements so far in this regard by the government and its partners as well as the way ahead for the public service sector.
The term “Reform” is the new buzzword in the post-transition Somalia. Probably no term can better reflect the course of actions in the most cherished changes in the restoration of functioning Somalia.
According to the Cambridge Advanced Learners’ dictionary, the word REFORM refers to making an improvement, especially by changing a person’s behaviour or the structure of something.
The Federal Government of Somalia theoretically intends to embark on an overhaul of reforms in all sectors of its functions, but unfortunately it does not have the resources to match its ambitions. Incidentally, those of us who are impatient for changes and reform, we should not wait or leave the political elite alone to piece together the disintegrated nation. It is the Civil Service that matters when it comes to running the machinery of a state. Somali Civil Service is really crying out for Reform
The president is striving to live up to the expectations he kindled in his six pillar policy framework for the foundations of new Somalia in general and to his concern for good governance and public service delivery sectors in particular, under which the civil service reform falls, with a view to bringing about public service competence throughout all levels of government agencies.
In last April, Somali President, His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, declared a public debate on Judiciary reform followed by a five-day national dialogue that came up with some useful recommendations on the legal system in country.
In less than two months, in June, a landmark education conference kicked off in Mogadishu hosted by the Somali Ministry of Human Development and Social Services and supported by UNESCO and UNICEF. This was to revive the education sector and come up with an action plan that can deliver benefits to the new Somali generations.
In September, the conference, “Vision 2016: Transitioning towards Democracy”, was organized by the presidency. The focus of the conference was to set important goals for the country’s political future especially the best way to deliver on the core political tasks of the current administration namely: reviewing and completing the constitution, preparing the country for elections, reforming government agencies and establishing good governance.
In the same note, the first national health conference was convened in early November, just two weeks ago, to encourage the Somali health professionals to help transform the health service sector.
This is all the more the case for the different sectors.
Background
To fast-track back to independence, the nine-year civilian administration that followed the country’s independence (1960-1969) prior to the military rule (1969-1991) did not effectively make practical attempts to institute credible civil service mechanism. That was followed by more than two decades of military rule and subsequent more or less dysfunctional state machinery with wars compounded by insufficient transitional governance, the civil service in Somalia remains stagnant or rather virtually non-existent.
The State collapse in 1991 and the political turmoil and persistent wars that followed have caused Somalia Public sector to suffer from immense losses in human resources through death, brain-drain or old age. In this way, Somalia lost its talented civil servants in the two-decade plus strife and lacks in managerial, professional and technical personnel across the country.
The question is: are there real and enough attempts to develop the next generation of public servants?
What is the use of Civil Service Reform?
The civil service controls the quality of services offered to the public by following management norms and procedures in all its various areas of service delivery to the public.
The establishment of functioning and capable public service is the second highest priority of the government, after security. Competent and politically neutral Civil Service does not only ensure the smooth running of the government machinery but it is also the driving force behind the socio-economic development of any country of sound public administration.
Civil servants are more conscious than the politicians as they are fully aware of the multiple challenges their country faces. They work tirelessly and professionally to keep the system of government functioning. They are trusted to work in all government agencies and departments and operate the bureaucracy to make life better for the citizens every day and every part of the country.
It is important to stress here that if the government is to assert its legitimacy and authority and to win the hearts and minds of the public, it has to strive adjusting its services to the new roles of post-transition era and modern-day Somalia by formulating Policy framework for its Civil Service.
Paradoxical situation
The Somali Civil Service is bizarrely bloated in its smallness and needs both downsizing and expanding at the same time. It is a sad fact that the current Somalia Civil Service is both overstaffed and understaffed in equal measure. This ironic situation can best be expressed in the fact that there is an acute miss-match between offices held and the skills required to professionally carry out their objectives. This sad truth is further aggravated by the lack of official statistical information regarding the Somali workforce record.
What has been done so far?
Despite some sporadic occasions, the Government of the day, the multitude of so called development agencies and NGOs and even the civilian organs of the security handlers have done enough to basically bother giving attention to revitalize the civil Service in Somalia. However, there have been at least some modest efforts, in an attempt to restore the Somalia Civil Service, that deserve mentioning.
Notwithstanding some proposed goodwill plans which still remain in their initial stages, Somali Government has yet to fully set up policies and programs relating to the various sectors of the national development especially the reform of the Civil Service.
Government Achievements in the Civil Service Sector Restoration
For the first time, since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, Somalia Government pays salaries and allowances to about 3000 registered Civil Servants. The adopted minimum wage is $ 198 which is one of the highest in the region. As a result of the improved salary and remuneration structures of the Government, the flow of the job-seekers applying for government work has increased 50% compared to recent past years. Some workers have decided to go back to school for personal development with the aim of improving their grades and hence their salaries.
According to the latest report of the National Civil Service Commission (NCSC), under the current budget, out of the allotted 3060 government employees, there are 2901 fully salaried workers. More than 25% of government employees account for female workers. This is at least quite a positive Affirmative Action.
The employee grading system has not been fully set up yet. The pay grade is roughly divided into merely five broad and essential grades (A, B, C, F and X) in a descending importance order with a view to simply managing the payroll. However, the employee registration letter from the Commission (for all individual verified employees) clearly indicates that STEPS and SCALES of the grading structures will be in place and all jobs will be assigned into proper grades accordingly in due course.
Wage rate
Wage rate is the most important condition of work. It is the cost and the source of income for the workers. The Federal Government of Somalia has reconsidered the wages policies and it is undertaking crucial reforms in the civil service. The minimum wage is about $ 200, a pay that is not only better than that of the private sector but it is also one of the highest in region. The Somali Labour law has not been reviewed since 1972.
Reinstitution of the Somalia Civil Service law
In an attempt to reinstate the Civil Service, in 2006, the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia commissioned a panel of experts to study and piece together the Civil Service foundation. The panel reorganized the service and put forward a draft law to reinstitute the Civil Service law. The bill was signed into law on December 5, 2006 by the then president of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, His Excellency Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. Law number 11 (2006) was issued to re-establish the fundamental principles and comprehensive rules for civil service Commission in the Federal Government of Somalia. However, in practice, the law has not been fully enforced or implemented since then. The current Federal Government, through the Development and Social Services Ministry, is working on Law number 12 (2013) to improve on the Law number 11 (2006)
National Civil Service Commission (NCSC)
National Civil Service Commission (NCSC) is a 14 member commission whose main task is to recruit, test, register, supervise, promote, and protect the welfare of the Civil Servants. The Commission also investigates the complaints and grievances of the Government Departments and within the employees consistent with the Act of the Civil Service Law (N0. 11). In addition to that, the Commission gives advice on Salaries and Wages Structures in the national budget.
The Commission is little by little establishing itself as a relevant national body. Mr. Ali Mohamud Ibrahim is the chairman of the Commission.
One more sign of recovery which is worth mentioning here is the coming back of Somali Trade Union better known as Somali Congress of Trade Unions (SCTU). The union is making docile endeavours to fight for the rights and welfare of the working class in Somalia. It so far has about a dozen unions representing various industries but mainly represents the private sector.
Civil Service Institute (Somaliland)
In 2005, with the assistance of UNDP, a Civil Service Institute was launched in Somaliland. Although the institute does not have much to offer as an institute, it provides some sort of courses of training to the civil servants and private individuals in manpower development with special emphasis on the most needed areas of public administration, accounting as well as communication and technology. The institute operates in a sustainable manner and contributes to the capacity building of career civil servants for the public services as well as private sector employees in Somaliland.
UNDP, QUESTS-MIDA and IOM Initiatives to enhance the capacity of public service in Somalia
To set Somalia on the path of development, UNDP Somalia implements programmes and projects aimed at delivery of recovery and development assistance to Somalia. One of these projects is the Somali Institutional Development Project (SIDP).
QUESTS-MIDA project works with public sector institutions in Somalia to facilitate the transfer of skills, knowledge and experience from qualified Somali expatriates in the Diaspora through short-term, capacity-building assignments in key public institutions in Somalia.
As part of the efforts to enhance the capacity of the country’s public service, the IOM’s Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals project is pretty helpful as the employees it sponsors fill short-term needs in government departments.
AMISOM and neighbouring countries including Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya as well as Uganda and Sierra Lone sometimes but not often offer occasional training courses to what they term Somali Senior Staff capacity building.
However, I have not done enough research to know how far those projects have progressed towards its intended objectives in its major areas of public sector and civil service reform, the subject matter of this article.
Delivering change in Civil Service: the way ahead
As the work of the civil service has a profound impact on the life of the public, the Government Projects will not get done until a national civil Service is re-established, in order for the Civil Service to transform the delivery of the public services in line with the six pillar priorities of the president and fulfil its duties as the Government employees, it must be a politically neutral civil service.
To that end, the starting point is to restore the value of the institution especially the staff professionalism where Personnel appointments must be based on qualifications and merits and made through open and competitive process.
Training to upgrade the Civil Service
Civil Service Reform refers to the upgrading of the organisation, performance and working conditions of the government employees. This does not necessarily mean concentrating around a reduction in the size of the civil service. More importantly, the desired reform should be phased over a period of certain time. One of the best ways of reforming civil service is through the use of training as a vehicle for promoting it.
The success of training for developing cadre for the public administration largely depends on a combination of factors including the content of the training course, the process and technique used as well as the environment in which the training is undertaken.
Conclusion
In all fairness, the mere thought of the overall miserable situation in all fronts in Somalia makes us not to overestimate the general negative overview of the civil service. The fact of the matter is that we cannot think of a sane public service delivery without restoring a functioning national civil service. Therefore, to achieve the much needed improvement in the Civil Service, we need to focus on the practical priorities of restoring a functioning Civil Service that can provide responsive public service which sees constant improvements to capacity and facilities.
Civil servants are expected of being loyal to the government of the day while serving with integrity the nation in different roles in the multiple government departments and agencies. They really deserve to be respected for doing that accordingly.
For those who follow Sports, in the Sports leagues during the season, if a team seems to qualify a promotion, it is said to be in promotion zone. Likewise, the Somalia Civil Service is returning to life and it is in the normalcy zone.
The shortage of a capable public service in the country is due to a number of compounded causes including a) the absence of capacity building institutions that train public servants that carry out state functions and deliver services to the public b) the destruction of public life over the past decades c) the technical and intellectual give way.
To begin a national journey of recovery for the public service, we graciously need to remain optimistic about the future of the Public service, despite enormous challenges.
Finally, a question for the Somalia Civil Society
If Civil Society in Somalia boasts that it was at the forefront of the end of transition in Somalia and the subsequent change in leadership, if you like, what beats me is why it has fallen short of committing itself to revitalizing Somalia Civil Service? Where is the Civil Society in Somalia in all this exercise to revive and reform the Somalia Civil Service? Or is it me who has not done his research well?
Hassanwali Moallim k
Xmkwali69@gmail.com
References:
1. Mr.Hashim Sheikh Abdinoor, The impact of minimum wage rates, http://socotu.org)
2. Sergei Pushkarev , Civil Service Reforms in Somalia http://patimes.org/civil-service-reforms-somalia/
3. http://www.quests-mida.org/index.php/about-quests-mida,
4. Latest report of Somali National Civil Service Commission (August 2013)
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