The Rise and Sudden Fall of the Arta Administration (Part
1)
By Dr.Ali Adawe M Barkhadle
The Author Dr. Ali Adawe M
Barkhadle Can be contacted at amsali@hotmail.com or at http:\\www.amsasconsulting.com.
(And
in our other series we will look at a trail of Strategic events, deceptions, sabotage and
intrigue that Djibouti, Libya, Egypt, Arab League, Qatar and Yemeni governments have
played in the Arta process and the role SRRC and other opposition members play in Somalia);
In New York on one
cold January day 2000, the millenium meeting of the UN was downing fast at the end of that
year and the current Nobel laureate H.E Kofi Anan called all his lieutenants to discuss a
vexing issue. Only one stood out of the rest the “Governor General” of Somalia,
“Sir” David Stevens. His mission to bring order to Somalia as if there was no
order in the first place or was it to recolonize Somalia once again. It was a question of
“what ever it takes” to install a government in Somalia before the millenium
downed. This episode led to the Arta process as we know it. Somalia, which has been a
“coffin” for UN policies and its predecessors since 1884, would prove yet again
hard to bring under control but in their minds not at this time. They thought that a
government could be put in place just that easily (please see Government
by stealth at http://www.amsasconsulting.com
) Kofi Anan had a good and workable agenda for Somalia, the “building blocks
theory “. That idea was never put in place and Ismael Omar Guled and his Arab cohorts
later hijacked the whole peace process.
In Djibouti,
“Sir” David and his hirelings took a different course, using the terrible
“divide and rule method”, and other hallucinating initiatives. In summary a
century old clan system was used even when a number of experts warned on taking that
avenue (See IM Lewis, London School Of Economics).
After a continuous
swag of power trading and kickbacks within the various clans that were present at Arta
(which was not an all-inclusive government but just a starting point) they elected
Abuqassim Salad Hassan as transitional president. A huge banquet was put in place and
people dinned and others even wined, the Arta process was delivered and born. The UN gave
the torch to the Arab League and others to run the Public relations campaigns and even
there was the utterance of recognition by the UN if the “things” looks
digestible.
The first violation
of the Arta charter was later breached when the Arta administration was to be set up in
Baidhabo, but was instead taken to Mogadishu. A plan that President Ali Abdalla Salah of
Yemen engineered which provided a safe landing for the Arta group in Mogadishu (we will
look at this in our other articles)
On 28th
October 2001 we saw the sudden death of the Arta administration that has resulted in the
impeachment or was it a vote of no confidence for the Arta group. The Arta administration
on its inception in Djibouti was praised by some and others have accused them as being a
bunch of failed members of Siad Barre’s regime and at the way things are going it
seems they have outlived their Biological half-life and are falling in tatters. In a
moment we will look objectively at how the TNG has fallen from grace in this first part we
will cover the following main points;
1.
Financial mismanagement
2.
Deteriorating security in Mogadishu since the inception of the Arta Group,
3.
Proliferation of heavy and small arms,
4.
The deliberate destabilization of Puntland and Somaliland administrations,
5.
Political assassinations,
6.
Hyperinflation, which was brought about by massive counterfeit currencies that, was
imported by the arta regime.
Financial
Mismanagement
Before we venture
deeply into how money that has been begged from rich Arab Minnow states were
misappropriated we need to look at the previous records of the two leaders of the Arta
process mainly Ali Khalif Galeyd and Abdiqassim Salat Hassan. These gentlemen were both
ministers in Siad Barre’s regime, one a trade minister and the other a minister of
state who some respected journalists say have past white collar crime hanging over their
necks.
We were amazed and
shocked to report that of the US$54Million that was given to them by some uninspired Arab
Sheiks none is available today and we have not seen anything tangible that was done with
this money. Even the parliament has meetings in a dingy warehouses that is littered with
plastic tables and chairs what an amazing environment for government MP s and Ministers.
To make matters worse there has been no Audited Annual or Interim Financial reports and we
don’t expect to see any coming in the near future. These are the chaps who swore to
“save” Somalia from the brink I doubt it.
In an interview
with a British media group even Ali Khalif Galeydh accuses the president Abdiqassim Salat,
and the head of parliament Deerow Ishaak of pilferage and lack of transparency.
First, before the
Arta cartel came to Somalia from their posh hotels in Djibouti the exchange rate for one
US dollar was 7800 Somali Shillings, and what about today it is over 22000 Somali
shillings. Dear reader we don’t need to go into the intricacies of all this to show
you that there has been massive fraud committed by the TNG even before they have been
given the blessing of any financial assistance from the rest of the world. Secondly, the
flood of counterfeit money that has been brought to town was as a result of the Arta
cartel. Thirdly, I thought all these guys were smart and had doctorates (DR’s before
their names) that have gone to waste. They could not see that there is a direct
relationship between money supply and inflation. And to make matters worse there is no
reserve backing for this currency anyway.
Deteriorating
security in Mogadishu and Southern Somalia since the inception of the Arta Group
Kismayo City
located in the southern parts of Somalia has seen constant wars and counter wars that have
been waged by the TNG against the SRRC coalition. There were atrocities that was committed
by the TNG resulting in rape, looting and executions of prisoners contrary to the Geneva
convention, there are a number of NGO’s that are still collating all this atrocities
and will ultimately bring the perpetrators to justice when it’s time comes.
In the Secretary
General’s report to the UN it says, “…The security situation, however,
still does not allow him to recommend the deployment of a post-conflict peace-building
mission in Somalia. The seaport and airport remain closed and no single authority in the
country can assure security and unimpeded access to the United Nations, even in
Mogadishu.” In short the security situation is not that conducive at the moment to
warrant a deployment of UN representation.
Recent skirmishes
by TNG militias against Haji Muse Suudi Yallahow has brought new fighting in Mogadishu
that has never been seen before, ‘cause both of them are armed to the teeth, we
don’t know who will win, the game goes on.
Proliferation
of heavy and small arms,
The main things the
TNG has been busy at was the garnishing of heavy arms from Yemen, Libya and some other
rogue Arab states with the presence of, SAMII, and stinger missiles imported from other
sources, indeed a dangerous cocktail for unaware aviation airlines that at times trespass
into Somali airspace. The Chinese representative to the UN, Wang Yingfan also noted that
“armed conflict had escalated recently due to the proliferation of small arms. Unless
the supply was cut off, it would be difficult for the peace process to
succeed…..” The TNG must abide strictly by the relevant arms embargoes and work
towards reconciliation.
Earlier in this
year the Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi cited arms importation into country as the sole
reason for closing borders with Somalia.
The
deliberate destabilization of Puntland and Somaliland administrations and other states,
The Arta
administration has even tried to sponsor a number of candidates in both Puntland and
Somaliland and have failed miserably. The main agenda to destabilize their economies,
military, and politics. They wanted the clans to fight to the death but their conspiracy
has barely worked and no blood was shed except a small “pockets” of terror that
has been controlled. In the one-day marathon conference on Somalia at the UN, Wang Yingfan
Representative of China noted that the peace process was at a standstill, and Somalia
remained divided into various factions. The relative stability in Somaliland and Puntland
had recently deteriorated a statement that the TNG might have been to blame for all
this.
The Ethiopian UN
ambassador Dr.Abdul Mejid Hussein voiced his appeal to the UN in this way
“….Ethiopia had always been transparent and frank, he said the TNG was not of
one mind.” Then he went on to display his anger at the TNG by calling on the council
to enforce an arms embargo and stressed that illegal arms were shipped to Somalia by air
and sea. Ethiopia had suffered terrorist attacks from some groups who had received arms
through Somalia. The attacks stopped only after Djibouti had taken action against
terrorist groups that reside in Somalia. He also said that he had proof that groups
connected to Al Qaeda were established in Somalia. He declared that they’re some in
the government who were part of the problem.
Political
assassinations
Hussein M.Farah
Aideed accuses the TNG of trying to liquidate him in a fierce battle in Mogadishu that
resulted in the death of a number of his body guards in early 2001. Muse Sudi Yallahow
also says that the TNG tried to ambush him in a confrontation a couple of weeks ago. The
list of atrocities committed in the name of the TNG is rising as new evidences come up
each day.
Enter one by the
name of “Sheef” a close relative of Ali Khalif Galeydh who was to become the
TNG’s Finance Minister. He was poisoned in a hotel in Mogadishu and autopsy showed
that his food was laced with a cocktail of cyanides but no one has been arrested for his
death but it remains a classic case of conspiracy within the TNG.
Hyperinflation, which was brought about
by massive counterfeit currencies that, was imported by the Arta regime.
It is estimated
that 200Billion Somali shillings was imported into the country from far east Asia and it
led to the impeachment of the first minister, Galeydh and his cabinet. It culminate in the
Somali shilling to Hoover around 20,000 an all time high that has never been reached, even
at march 1992 at the zenith of the Somali civil war.
The Arta group has
even tried to amass taxation money from poor street vendors that has resulted in
skirmishes in Mogadishu and there was even the forcing of exchange dealers to accept a
controversial 500 Somali shilling which some dealers say is even “manufactured”
in Mogadishu.
Lastly, what amazes
us all is that the president is said to have met members of the cabinet to continue with
their normal duties, how can that happen when they have been voted out of office together
with their Prime Minister. It remains to be seen whether Members of Parliament that
castigated this motion are going to dissolve parliament and call for an election. The Arta
charter seems to look like a note book that can be changed without consultation with
parliament or even a referendum, I wonder whether Members of parliament really understood
the ramification of impeaching their own government.