Foreign Affairs Ministry (FAM) of Somalia… in the beginning
Reflections of a former diplomat
Once we used to have diplomatic warriors…. These are 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.
The Office of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (FAM) of Somalia was firstly formulated in Mogadishu, during the last year of the internal UN trusteeship administration of Somalia. Its foremost aim was to promote the interests of the nation in accordance with the aspirations of its citizens which was to achieve sovereignty for the country. At first, its location was established beside the main government office in downtown Mogadishu, but was later relocated to the currently existing building at Afgoye Road - KM 5.
I should emphasize here that I am relating my personal observation on how the structure of the Somali FAM was when I joined it in 1982. How it used to function in those days that I used to work there and the overall administration of the ministry under the direction of Minister Abdurahman J. Barre. Minister of State Mohamed A. Hamud used to represent the Minister on official occasions inside the country and when the Minister was away, he was primarily responsible for the coordination of Somali-Arab relations, traveling to Arab capitals, and participating in Arab League conferences on behalf of the nation.
The Permanent Secretary (PS) who was at first Ambassador Hashi Abdalla Farah and was later replaced by Ambassador Ahmed M. Adan “Qaybe” was the senior executive officer responsible for the internal day-to-day work. Ambassador Qaybe will eventually be appointed as the Foreign Minister in the middle of 1990. He was the only diplomat who served the nation as its Ambassador to the then four major capitals of the World: Moscow (USSR), Washington DC (USA), London (UK) & New York (UN). Because of the huge workload on his office, a new office called Assistant to PS was created in 1984. Mr. Omar Umal was the first occupant of that office and used to deal with among other issues, the ordinary incoming mail daily.
At that time I was stationed at the headquarters, and I believe the ministry was internally divided into two main parts. The first part comprised of regional & political departments while the second part consisted of the executive departments.
The regional departments were:
1) Economic & Planning department (on the 1st Floor)
2) Asia & Socialist Countries Department (on the 1st Floor)
3) Affairs of Arab countries department, (on the 1st Floor)
4) Affairs of African countries department, (on the 1st Floor)
5) Europe & American affairs department, (on the 1st Floor)
6) International Organizations department, (on the ground floor)
7) Department of Education affairs, (on the ground floor)
8) Somali Affairs Department, (on the 1st Floor)
As for the executive departments:
1) Protocol Department, (ground floor)
2) Finance and Accounting Department, (ground floor)
3) Information and Public Relations department, (ground floor)
4) Legal & Treaties Department – Attestation Section, (ground floor)
5) Archives (Ordinary - ground floor & Confidential on 1st floor),
6) Telex Communication Office, (on the 1st Floor)
7) Diplomatic Pouch office, (Ground floor)
8) Personnel office, (Ground floor)
9) Office of Assistant of the Permanent Secretary, (1st Floor)
9) Main VIP room & Conference room (on the 1st Floor)
10) Mini Reception (Ground floor)
As a member of the ministry personnel for three and half years and I was able to witness the functioning and areas of responsibilities of each department, yet I worked at the headquarters stationed at only one department which was; the protocol section. Therefore, I will only present here its formation and how it used to function while I worked there, from 1982 till 1985. My aim here is to mention the work procedures in place and the processes we had from my personal perspective and to provide at least the practical know-how for the current protocol practitioners as well as the young generations who are aspiring to learn the profession in the future.
Protocol Department
The Department was headed at first by Director Ex-Col. Abdilhamid Ali Yusuf, who served the nation as Ambassador to Algeria ( 1975 – 1981). Prior to that, he acted as the Executive secretary of the ruling military Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC). He was assisted in the management of the department by Deputy Director Ismail Jeyte Hayow. The Department consisted of four sections namely: a) Ceremonial & Credentials Section, b) Diplomatic Facilities Section, c) Visas & Residences Section c) Diplomatic & Service Passport section.
The ceremonial and credential section, which I headed and was the busiest – used to plan and execute all protocol matters of the state. We used to oversee the accreditation of foreign ambassadors (resident & non-resident), organizing the procedure for presenting their unsealed credential copies to either Minister or State Minister and arranging finally the ceremony of their presentation to the President. We used to oversee the procedure of registering new accredited diplomats to Somalia, preparing to publish the Mogadishu Diplomatic list, constantly updating the order of precedence of foreign ambassadors in Somalia. Most of our time was spent making appointments from the diplomatic missions to government ministries and vice versa.
I shall never forget the continuous ringing of the phone in my office and the routine habit of becoming professionally organized by carefully taking note of details of every caller, and then calling back again to respond satisfactorily to their queries. The ceremonial section was also responsible for organizing treaty signing ceremonies between Somalia and other nations. Our responsibilities were also to submit diplomatic applications for over-flight clearance through Somali airspace to both Defence and Air/Land Transport ministries and subsequently notify the consents back to the countries who applied. As for incoming delegations to ministries and government agencies, we used to consider their transportation needs in order to access the use of guest cars from the Transportation ministry. And finally, I used to prepare for newly appointed Somali ambassadors’ diplomatic notes regarding submission of their nominations addressed to the foreign ministries of the countries they were appointed to, attaching their curriculum vitae in the process.
At the diplomatic facilities which were also the most occupied section where resident embassies and diplomats often contact to secure their facilities. Blue forms were used for importing tax-free vehicles and other necessary items for missions and their diplomatic staff, while red forms were used for getting tax-free petrol and free duty items. The number of official cars allowed for each mission was based upon its size, and each diplomat has the right to import a tax-free new car, which could be sold provided the concerned diplomat keeps the car for two complete years. The Section used to oversee providing diplomatic plates as well diplomatic ID cards to diplomats and their immediate family members. Each foreign diplomat used to have a file opened, so protocol officers managing the section knew perfectly what he/she was entitled to. In my time, a colleague of mine by the name of Adan M. Mohamud nicknamed “ Kofi-xariir” used to work in that important and powerful section with another official.
My other colleague Dahabo O. Mohamed headed Visas & Residence section. Providing resident permits to all personnel of accredited diplomatic missions and international organizations was not an easy task, their passports have to be physically taken to Immigration & Naturalization Department for the resident permit stamps and brought back to the section where Embassies would collect later. Each foreign Embassy’s requests have to be entertained separately and forwarded to the Immigration. The Section was also responsible for requesting visas for government employees from accredited foreign embassies. Two other officers who used to work with Dahabo assisted her discharge her duties.
The diplomatic and service passport section was established in late 1984 and added to the protocol department while I was presently working. Originally transferred from the Immigration and Naturalization Department which used to hold before, this section dealt with keeping diplomatic and service passports in locked cabinets, and the issuance of new ones when the need arises. The Immigration & Naturalization Department which used to keep those official passports since independence (1960) on behalf of the Foreign Ministry was not happy at all when the decision to transfer the passports was taken, and they literally dumped the files and documents to the designated secure room in a confused mixed state. It took days for officers working at the ceremonial section of the protocol to sort out the mess.
However, at a later date - I believe in 1987, a Consulate Department that works alongside Protocol was established for carrying out the tasks of processing visas and issuing diplomatic and service passports. The Director of the new department also took over the duty of signing ordinary passports – on behalf of the Minister. That job of signing ordinary passports was previously reserved for the Permanent Secretary who found it too burdensome. It is worth noting here that electronic passports which are universally used nowadays do not need official signatures at all.
In 1982 Somalia has 41 embassies, 1 permanent mission, and 4 consulates in operation around the globe, which were as follows:-
Somali Embassy in Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti.
Somali Embassy in Khartoum, Republic of Sudan
Somali Embassy in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt.
Somali Embassy in Tunis, Republic of Tunisia,
Somali Embassy in Tripoli, Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
Somali Embassy in Algiers, People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.
Somali Embassy in Dakar, Republic of Senegal.
Somali Embassy in Lagos, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Somali Embassy in Geneva, Swiss Confederation.
Somali Embassy in Lusaka, Republic of Zambia.
Somali Embassy in Maputo, Republic of Mozambique
Somali Embassy in Dar es salaam, United Republic of Tanzania.
Somali Embassy in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya.
Somali Embassy in Kampala, Republic of Uganda.
Somali Embassy in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Somali Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Somali Embassy in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
Somali Embassy in Aden, Democratic Republic of Yemen.
Somali Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen Arab Republic.
Somali Embassy in Doha, State of Qatar.
Somali Embassy in Kuwait, State of Kuwait.
Somali Embassy in Bagdad, Republic of Iraq.
Somali Embassy in Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic.
Somali Embassy in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Somali Embassy in Ankara, Republic of Turkey.
Somali Embassy in Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Somali Embassy in New Delhi, Republic of India.
Somali Embassy in Tokyo, Kingdom of Japan.
Somali Embassy in Peking, People’s Republic of China.
Somali Embassy in Rome, Republic of Italy.
Somali Embassy in Belgrade, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Somali Embassy in Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania.
Somali Embassy in Paris, Republic of France.
Somali Embassy in Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany.
Somali Embassy in Berlin, German Democratic Republic.
Somali Embassy in Brussels, Kingdom of Belgium.
Somali Embassy in Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden.
Somali Embassy in Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Somali Embassy in London, United Kingdom of Gr. Britain & N. Ireland.
Somali Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.
Somali Embassy in Washington DC, United States of America.
Somali Permanent mission in New York, United Nations.
Somali Consulate General in Rome, Republic of Italy.
Somali Consulate General in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Somali Consulate General in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Somali Consulate General in Washington DC, United States of America.
The list of Somali Foreign Affairs ministers: 1960 - 1991
1960–1964: Abdullahi Issa Mohamud
1964–1967: Ahmed Yusuf Dualeh
1967–1969: Mohamed Haji Ibrahim Egal
1969: Haji Farah Ali Omar
1969: Mohamed Siad Barre
1970–1976: Omar Arteh Ghalib
1976–1977: Mohamed Siad Barre
1977–1987: Abdirahman Jama Barre
1987–1987: Mohamed Ali Hamoud
1987–1988: Mohamad Siad Barre
1988–1989: Abdirahman Jama Barre
1989-1990: Ahmed Jama Jangali
1990- 1991: Ahmed Mohamed Aden
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