In Somalia, President Sheikh SharifSheikh Ahmed's government will soon appoint an anti-corruption czar to helproot out wrongdoing ahead of the president's move to increase revenuegeneration. This comes after a second cabinet meeting Thursday since thegovernment's relocation from neighboring Djibouti, where the new president wasduly elected by parliament. The cabinet also decided to continue withreconciliation efforts involving opponents of the government, including Islamichard-line insurgent groups like al-Shabab. Al-Shabab has refused to recognizethe new administration, describing it as a plot by western countries. Theinsurgents have vowed eventually to take over the country through violence.Abdisalam Guled is the spokesman for the Somali prime minister. He tellsreporter Peter Clottey that the new administration aims to earn the support ofall Somalis ahead of its effort to rebuild the country after at least 18 yearsof ineffective government.
"Oneof the agendas was financial issues or revenue issues and how the governmentcan create revenues to rely on itself, what we have, and what we don't. To usethe resources that we have and then to know exactly what we cannot cover.Second was to appoint an anti-corruption commission, which stresses much on theneed to fight corruption and the need to come into being immediately. This is avery important in Somalia because fighting corruption has not been done formany years. And the other issue was the full implementation of the peaceprocess and reconciliation, which is what this government is about," Guledpointed out.
Hesaid the new government seems to be enjoying support from ordinary Somalisabout how the new administration will embark on rebuilding the country.
"Thegovernment's main priority is finding ways of making possible the things thatpeople need and how they can depend on each other. This has gotten verypositive feedback from on the ground after there was a big demonstration in thecapital, Mogadishu in support of the government and the peace process. Theother issue is the security problems in the capital in terms of how to make thecountry and Mogadishu a better place to live," he said.
Guledsaid there are armed groups in the country that the government would have tobring to the negotiating table in order to make the capital safe.
"Whenyou are talking about the security in Mogadishu, the most important thing isthat there are two armed groups. One was the armed group that was opposed tothe previous government and the Ethiopian troops. The second group was thegovernment troops or soldiers. They are not together so far, so there is theneed to bring these two different groups under one umbrella. It's what thegovernment is focusing on, and this is what most Somalis are demanding. Theprime minister and the president met local respectable elders, and peopledemanded through them the need to bring these armed groups together to maintainpeace in the capital. So the government has been listening to them and ismaking sure these armed groups are brought together under a single umbrella,"Guled noted.
Hedenied claims by most people that the insecurity problem in the capital andother areas is insurmountable after al-Shabab threatened to continue itsoffensive.
"InSomalia the situation is different as probably the world sees things here. InSomalia things can sound impossible and untouchable and cannot be reached. Butwhen you are on the ground in Somalia, everything is possible if you take theright approach and see the right people and act at the right time. So ofcourse, there are people who are working on that issue and that agenda to makeit very easy. The elders who are mostly respected in the society in thiscountry are working day in and out to make things understandable and workablefor the ordinary people to bring about peace," he said.