In a piece entitled, Somalia Regime’s Grip Weakness, Hassan Sheikh’s government can’t plug the leaks in public finances while Al Shabaab attacks increase in the capital. It’s a dangerous combination. This is what the Africa Confidential Panphelet says:
“Somalia is beleaguered on all fronts: terrorist attacks are on the rise, the government cannot tackle the chronic theft of public money and the international community is losing confidence in President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Conditions are also deteriorating for the public: reports are coming in of people dying of thirst and the United Nations’ humanitarian appeal had reached only 3% of the required US$933 million by 20 March.
There are signs that the government’s authority is slipping and that clan competition to grab power is overpowering efforts to build viable state institutions.
This raises doubts about whether the review of the constitution can be completed by the end of the government’s term in 2016 and whether planned elections can take place then. A growing number of Western governments are taking this pessimistic view, we understand. Not all the news is bad, as the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) military offensive has made some significant gains but the overall mood is gloomy.”
- See more at: http://www.geeskaafrika.com/somalia-new ... 3artT.dpuf