ADDIS ABABA — Battling daily insurgency and unable to stamp authority across the nation, Somalia’s transitional government has tapped a private accounting firm to soothe donor concerns over funds management.

With the collapse of institutions over the last 18 years of relentless conflict, President Sharif Sheilkh Ahmed’s administration recently enlisted the services of PriceWaterhouse Cooper to manage its finances.

In addition, recent heavy attacks by hardline Islamist militia have also significantly pared Sharif’s government control of the capital Mogadishu where it is backed by African Union peacekeepers.

“We don’t have the personnel who have the experience, the training and the skills,” Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar told AFP.

“We now have to work with not only international organisations but with many governments and countries therefore we need assistance to be able to manage the funds of the donor community and the international organisations,” he said.

In April, international donors raised 213 million dollars (165 million euros) to help bolster the Horn of Africa country’s security forces, back the understaffed AU troops and help combat piracy off its coast.

Under the deal with PriceWaterhouse Cooper, the firm is to hold the cash in a foreign country and manage the fledgling government’s expenditure.

“At the moment our banking system has been completely destroyed. We don’t have a commercial bank in Somalia where money can be deposited,” Omaar said.

Sharif, a moderate Islamist, came to power in January and since relocating to Somalia from neighbouring Djibouti where he was elected in a United Nations-brokered deal, his government has been stifled by rebel attacks.

Days before his election, radical Islamist Shebab rebels took control of the south-central Baidoa town which had hosted parliament.

The Shebab and the more political Hizb al-Islam stepped up their offensive in May, and on Monday the Shebab fired mortars at a Mogadishu building where lawmakers were meeting for the first time since the onslaught.

Walid Musa AbdelKarim, a top official with the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), termed the move to engage the accounting firm “a demonstration by the government of Somalia of its will of transparency on accounting with donors.”

Previously, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) managed the transitional government’s finances. However, UN agencies operating in the war-ravaged country have also seen their operations regularly disrupted by armed groups.

Last week, the Shebab banned the operations of three UN organisations, including the UNPOS and the UNDP accusing them of being enemies of Islam.

A European Union official also lauded the decision by Sharif’s government.

“We are satisfied by this move,” said the official. “We will wait and see how PriceWaterhouse will determine the efficiency of the government’s expenditure.”

Source: AFP

By Emmanuel Goujon (AFP)

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