Different perspectives on Somalia. Part X.
Procedure for opening new Somali embassy!
Once we used to have diplomatic warriors…. This is Part X of the reflections of a former diplomat and a friend of mine who after many years decided to share with me some of the interesting experiences he encountered while working for the Somali Foreign Affairs Ministry (FAM) and during his diplomatic career.
My Friend Hussein* told me the following… in his own words.
In the past, at least I am talking here when the central government was properly functioning, and the FAM of Somalia was in the process of opening a new Embassy; all relevant steps were to be taken for communicating to the country where the new mission was to be opened. Written approval from the host country must be obtained through diplomatic channels. Then a FAM official, whose rank was counsellor, was usually delegated for the task and accompanied by another diplomat, ordinarily a second Secretary who will act as an accountant. They would make the necessary preparations and will first go to the prospective country to begin the process. The counsellor will be the responsible officer for this task. They would be given a check for a lump sum amount of money for this purpose, which would be deposited only in the new Embassy’s name so that the two officials could jointly sign to withdraw money from the bank.
After the arrival at their destination, they will initially make their hotel their address and temporary headquarters. That responsible official would then first make contact with the FAM of the host country to get diplomatic recognition and to discuss the authorities with any other important matter on the subject. He would be provided with the host country’s diplomatic list for accessing the phones & addresses of other accredited missions. Then he will meet the Dean of the diplomatic corps to seek any further useful information he may provide before embarking on the task to open the new Embassy.
After finding and securing two suitable places to make the first Chancery of the Embassy, and the second Residency of the Ambassador, will they undertake the task of buying office equipment, stationery for the chancery and furniture for the Residency – listing all equipment and furniture in a registry book. Then they purchase official vehicles and recruit local staff, compiling all expenditures for submission to public accountant through the Ministry’s financial department. Then they would communicate with the foreign office of the host country and all accredited missions and international organizations, providing information of the location and contact details of the new Mission, informing them that the Embassy office was open for business.
The Counsellor who was delegated with the task of opening the Mission will assume the direction of the newly opened Embassy in the capacity of Charge d’Affairs until the arrival of an ambassador. The two diplomatic officers will also rent two separate places for themselves and inform their addresses to the foreign office of the host country as required by the protocol. When all this work is done, they will then communicate to the Somali government to declare the openness of the Embassy. And only then will the new appointed Ambassador arrive at a functioning Embassy and a ready home, to begin the process of presenting his credential letter to the appropriate authority. That was the system we had, and I am sure a lot of other countries do have similar procedures for opening new embassies.
In this context, let us take as an example of the opening of the Somali Embassy in Ankara in the Republic of Turkey in early February 1979, where Counsellor Said H. Mohamoud Farah was tasked to open the mission, while Second Secretary Mohamed Abdulle Ibrahim (Mohamed Gaab) accompanied to assist and act as an accountant. After completing all the work related to opening the Embassy, did the newly appointed Ambassador Hashi Abdalla Farah arrive in Ankara to a functioning mission in late May 1979 – almost four months after the initial arrival of a diplomatic task force to open the Embassy.
And it is very sad and unfortunate to witness these days’ situations whereby a newly appointed Somali Ambassador arrives at the country of his destination with no Embassy in place at all. And worse than that, he/she makes his/her priority to present credentials first because it seems that is all an ambassador should do. Hand over credence letter, get the picture of the ceremony and distribute to mass media, television stations and local websites. Shouldn’t it be better to look at least for a small office first to begin his assignment thus acquiring an address in the process? How can the head of missions perform their duties without an embassy and staff?
Most of these Ambassadors may have received from the government funds for opening the Embassy but chose to pocket it themselves as we have witnessed before. Imagine, a new ambassador who handed over his credential letter to a king, Queen or President of a country then arranges his accommodation privately or stays with relatives. And then business as usual, the new Somalian envoy is in the process of asking community members for aid to help rent and equip an Embassy to begin his assignment. Can a diplomatic mission be maintained and run in this way?
Let us face it; this is the reality, a new aspect of the conduct of present leaders in managing our country. To provide representation documents to so many undeserving persons who are literally wandering the globe. One can find today from the internet a Somali embassy office address in almost every capital city of the world. Because when a country has six foreign ministers in five years, each exercising his authority to appoint relatives as diplomats abroad, using the well-known method of his mini office - laptop, the result is by no means a clear testimony of the chaos that is currently reigning in our foreign service. How much lower can we go? To an embarrassing situation? A much worse aspect scenario of this downfall could be perhaps attributed to the unjustified removal of the remaining FAM’s few knowledgeable and experienced diplomats from their positions. Rather than taking advantage of their valuable experience to help re-build the foundation of the country’s Foreign Service, it was instead seen fit to be replaced by newcomers whose sole asset was tribal affiliation. If there is kingship and prejudice in our government’s functioning system, there will never be progress, prosperity, justice, and peace.
And finally, another strange habit to witness nowadays is to see two flags in every Somali Ambassador’s office, the Somali flag, and the flag of the host country. And each Ambassador takes his picture with the two flags behind him. This is inappropriate and completely wrong. Only the Somali flag should be hoisted outside the chancery and residency. Because this embassy belongs to the country it represents which is Somalia, there is absolutely no justification for another flag to be present in its offices, including the office of the head of mission.
Hussein M Mohamed and I went to Casa Popolare Primary School, Hodan, Mogadishu in the 1970s. And later on, we were the first and second students who were admitted to the faculty of Journalism where he graduated and joined the Somali FAM. He continued to serve the country as a diplomat, but I left and continued my studies at Monash University in Australia and may rapidly add not on a Somali government scholarship! We are now working on a book about Somali Foreign Affairs, stay tuned.
Hussein M Mohamed can be contacted via hmm@somaliaaway.com
Very well written- in depth and detailed!
This is a great insight on how procedures in place protect the integrity of a diplomat. It also demonstrates how naive those in power to move away from standards government functions. 'Dont fix something that is not broken'.