https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/world/africa/somalia-election-corruption.html?_r=1
Fueled by Bribes, Somalia’s Election Seen as Milestone of Corruption
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Some neighborhoods in Mogadishu, Somalia, bear the scars of decades of war. Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Politicians have been peeling off wads of hundred dollar bills to buy votes. Others have shown up for parliamentary races standing next to a political nobody who was bribed or coerced into running against them, to make the race look fair. In one case, the mysterious candidate was the politician’s maid.
This week, Somalia, which has languished without a functioning central government for more than 25 years and has been propped up by billions of dollars of American aid, is holding an innovative, closely watched presidential election that United Nations officials have billed as a “milestone.”
But several analysts, investigators and some Western diplomats say the election has turned out to be a milestone of corruption, one of the most fraudulent political events in Somalia’s history — and that’s saying something, given that the country is already ranked by Transparency International, a global anticorruption organization, as the most corrupt on earth.
Somali investigators estimate that at least $20 million has feverishly changed hands during parliamentary elections that will culminate in the selection of the president on Wednesday.
Outside forces like Turkey, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are widely believed to have been buying off presidential candidates to land juicy business deals, spread a harsh version of Islam or spy on American forces.
The entire process has been so bad, several analysts said, that the Shabab militant group, one of the deadliest Islamist organizations in the world, isn’t even trying to derail the vote because the corruption free-for-all almost makes the militants look upstanding by comparison.
A fish market in Mogadishu. Somalia has languished without a functioning central government for more than 25 years. Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
“This election has been awesome for the Shabab,” said Mohamed Mubarak, who runs a Somali anti-corruption organization, Marqaati, which means “witness.” “The government loses even more legitimacy and the Shabab has a chance to buy a seat!”
For decades, the world has poured more blood and treasure into Somalia than practically anywhere else outside of Iraq or Afghanistan. Somalia’s political dysfunction has caused epic suffering and death, and its problems tend not to respect its borders.
The United States recently beefed up its military presence here, seeing Somalia as a grave security threat. Warlords starve their own people, driving hundreds of thousands of Somalis into neighboring countries and overseas. The Shabab has slaughtered hundreds of innocents, including Westerners, across East Africa. And who can forget Somalia’s 21st-century pirates, who hijacked global trade with a bunch of scruffy skiffs?
But American, European and African military officers say that firepower alone won’t solve these problems. The only answer, they say, is for Somalia’s government to get its act together and provide an alternative to chaos.
Even before this election was marred by staggering corruption, patience was wearing thin. Now, with President Trump pushing an “America First” message, many aid workers and diplomats who have spent years trying to help fix Somalia worry that it could be in Mr. Trump’s cross hairs.
He has already made Somalia one of the seven countries under his travel ban, and some fear that he could slash aid. Many Somali experts believe that would only destabilize the country further, fueling the chaos that has made Somalia a global terrorism threat. And aid workers say this would be an especially difficult time to cut funds for Somalia because the country could be headed into another famine.
More than a dozen people were killed and many more were injured in a suicide bombing last month at a hotel in Mogadishu. Here, a victim is treated at a hospital. Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Fueled by Bribes, Somalia’s Election Seen as Milestone of Corruption
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Some neighborhoods in Mogadishu, Somalia, bear the scars of decades of war. Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Politicians have been peeling off wads of hundred dollar bills to buy votes. Others have shown up for parliamentary races standing next to a political nobody who was bribed or coerced into running against them, to make the race look fair. In one case, the mysterious candidate was the politician’s maid.
This week, Somalia, which has languished without a functioning central government for more than 25 years and has been propped up by billions of dollars of American aid, is holding an innovative, closely watched presidential election that United Nations officials have billed as a “milestone.”
But several analysts, investigators and some Western diplomats say the election has turned out to be a milestone of corruption, one of the most fraudulent political events in Somalia’s history — and that’s saying something, given that the country is already ranked by Transparency International, a global anticorruption organization, as the most corrupt on earth.
Somali investigators estimate that at least $20 million has feverishly changed hands during parliamentary elections that will culminate in the selection of the president on Wednesday.
Outside forces like Turkey, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are widely believed to have been buying off presidential candidates to land juicy business deals, spread a harsh version of Islam or spy on American forces.
The entire process has been so bad, several analysts said, that the Shabab militant group, one of the deadliest Islamist organizations in the world, isn’t even trying to derail the vote because the corruption free-for-all almost makes the militants look upstanding by comparison.
A fish market in Mogadishu. Somalia has languished without a functioning central government for more than 25 years. Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
“This election has been awesome for the Shabab,” said Mohamed Mubarak, who runs a Somali anti-corruption organization, Marqaati, which means “witness.” “The government loses even more legitimacy and the Shabab has a chance to buy a seat!”
For decades, the world has poured more blood and treasure into Somalia than practically anywhere else outside of Iraq or Afghanistan. Somalia’s political dysfunction has caused epic suffering and death, and its problems tend not to respect its borders.
The United States recently beefed up its military presence here, seeing Somalia as a grave security threat. Warlords starve their own people, driving hundreds of thousands of Somalis into neighboring countries and overseas. The Shabab has slaughtered hundreds of innocents, including Westerners, across East Africa. And who can forget Somalia’s 21st-century pirates, who hijacked global trade with a bunch of scruffy skiffs?
But American, European and African military officers say that firepower alone won’t solve these problems. The only answer, they say, is for Somalia’s government to get its act together and provide an alternative to chaos.
Even before this election was marred by staggering corruption, patience was wearing thin. Now, with President Trump pushing an “America First” message, many aid workers and diplomats who have spent years trying to help fix Somalia worry that it could be in Mr. Trump’s cross hairs.
He has already made Somalia one of the seven countries under his travel ban, and some fear that he could slash aid. Many Somali experts believe that would only destabilize the country further, fueling the chaos that has made Somalia a global terrorism threat. And aid workers say this would be an especially difficult time to cut funds for Somalia because the country could be headed into another famine.
More than a dozen people were killed and many more were injured in a suicide bombing last month at a hotel in Mogadishu. Here, a victim is treated at a hospital. Credit Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
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