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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Somalia: Sovereign Disguise for a Mogadishu Mafia
Author:Sage, Andre LeISNI
Year:2002
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:29
Issue:91
Period:March
Pages:132-138
Language:English
Geographic term:Somalia
Subjects:political conditions
civil service
nationalism
Ethnic and Race Relations
Politics and Government
External links:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056240208704593
http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=48BAA2A5BE8EBF84AD7E
Abstract:On 22 August 2000, the Somali National Peace Conference drew to a close in Arta, Djibouti, with the election of the president of a Transitional National Government (TNG). This paper examines how the TNG functions in practice after eighteen months in office. The TNG comprises two separate structures. First, it has established an intricate bureaucracy that resembles the structure of a formal State institution. That bureaucracy does not function and no investments are being made to increase its capacity. Second, the TNG rests on a unique and powerful relationship between key Mogadishu businessmen and senior government officials, nearly all of whom are drawn from the Hawiye clan. They use their private sector connections to wield power by controlling the flow of trade in Mogadishu and financing large standing militias under the guise of business protection. Until the TNG's financiers begin to invest in the functional capacity of the TNG's bureaucracy to provide security and essential services for the Mogadishu public, it makes little sense for the international community to support what amounts to little more than a business cartel. Bibliogr.
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