Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Kenyan Mwai Kibaki and Somalia TFG's Sheikh Ahmed Shariff at a meeting in Nairobi on taking further military action in Somalia. All leaders are backed by the United States., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012 at 11:51 pm
U.S. and U.N concerned about corrupt transition in Somalia
NAIROBI [Radio RBC] :World leaders from Africa to the U.S. and Europe said they are growing increasingly concerned that intimidation and corruption are marring the selection of a new Somali parliament, a task still unfinished less than a week before the government’s U.N. mandate expires.
The U.S. Embassy said in a statement Tuesday that it shares the concerns of the African Union and U.N. over “multiple credible reports of intimidation and corruption” in the selection of the country’s new 275-member parliament.
James Swan, the U.S. representative for Somalia, continued with his list of concerns: “Inadequate representation of women and in some cases reports of former warlords who are being nominated by their communities.”
Since 2004, Somalia has been represented by a U.N.-approved leadership structure called the Transitional Federal Government that mostly controlled only small parts of Mogadishu.
The government has accomplished little, but because African Union and Somali troops pushed al Shabab militants out of the capital last year positive momentum is building.
But the U.N. mandate for the government expires Monday, and Somali leaders still must nominate a parliament that will in turn vote in a president.
That looming deadline — and the messy process of naming a parliament — appears to be making world leaders nervous about Somali power brokers’ ability to make decisions that are in the best interest of the country.
A report commissioned by the U.N. finalized in July said that systematic misappropriation, embezzlement and outright theft of taxpayer funds have become a system of governance in Somalia.
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