Who Shelved The Role Of Attorney General’s Office In The Case Of Joint Needs Assessment Program?‎

We all know that the Office of the Attorney General has the overall responsibility of providing LEGAL ADVICE to the Government and its Agencies and is required to ascertains that Somaliland legal system operations both Private & Public Sector is carried out in accordance with approved laws. As PRINCIPAL ADVISOR to the government and its agencies on Commercial Contracts, Agreement, International Treaties and Conventions of all Government Bodies should include in their negotiations teams with a Legal Expert, who specialized on Corporate Law / Constitutional Law, when discussing conditionality of LOANS or GRANTS with 3 rd Parties (i.e. UNDP/W.BANK). GRANT conditionality of these organizations change from one Country to the other depending on the prevailing standard of GOVERANCE of the receiving Country. For example, the Memorandum of Understanding Of most International Organization require specific maintenance of accounting records, audit provisions and reporting procedures etc as clarified below:

• Quarterly un-audited financial reports;
• Quarterly implementation status;
• Semi annual progress reports;
• Etc ……..and audited annual financial statement.

Legal Officers are required to monitor the fulfillment of the GRANT conditionality and to inform these Institutions the financial policies and procedures in which the proceeds of the grant will be administered. This is the case only, if Somaliland entered and signed a LETTER OF INTENT (M.O.U) with these organizations, otherwise the GRANT we are debating upon is simply a hand-out from the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and will be administered under the Federal Charter. Incase that assumption is true the Legislators should reject the GRANT and review the whole process and find out those who are responsible in violating the laws of the Country. So far, I have not come across reports on this topic that raised any legal issue and as a result, I am convinced that the Office of the Legal Council was not represented in all the discussions held with the UNDP/W.Bank Mission in Somaliland. This definitely raises many questions about the accountability of the Government as a whole and in particular those responsible in managing the financial Sector of Somaliland.

We know that the main cause of the protracted discussions between the UNDP/World Bank Mission and the Legislative Bodies of Somaliland was a legal issue, since the Program was initiated by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. We should ask ourselves why the Office of the Attorney General was excluded in participating the negotiations and discussions carried out by the Parties concerned. This is a very serious omission which merits to be addressed in a responsible manner, because the way this program has been presented so far is not in compliance to ARTICLE (1) one of Somaliland Constitution and as such be considered as an act of violation to the Integrity of Somaliland.

In one of the discussions held between Somaliland Legislators and the UNDP?WORLD BANK Mission, H.E. the Minister of Planning Mr. Ahmed Haji Dahir, stated that a LETTER written to the Government satisfied and answered all concerns the legislators raised. However, the contents of that letter and the authority/authorities who issued have not been disclosed to them so far according to the information made available to the author of this article. Can a Minister hide or (for that matter the government) or refuse to divulge contents of a letter to the Legislators of the Country or Shelve the role of the Attorney General’s Office. In my opinion the answer is no and the Minister should divulge the contents of letter in question to the Legislator and to the Office of the Attorney General.

Recommendation:

The Office of the Legal Council should be asked to review exhaustively all the documents pertaining to the JOINT NEEDS ASSESSMENT Program, so as to come up a legal opinion that advices and guides State Bodies in a manner that do not violate the laws of the country. Also, its important that the President instructs all government bodies not to undertake negotiations and discussions with 3 rd parties on issues requiring Legal or semi-legal Agreement without the representation of the Attorney General’s Office.

Written by: Mr. Ahmed M.Gedi (Sanjab)

Secretary General,

Somaliland Justice & Welfare Party.