Somalia: Victory against COVID-19 maybe in cooperation between levels of government

EDITORIAL | Somalia’s 80 reported cases of the novel coronavirus disease have become a cause of worry, especially among enthusiasts of a country rising to its feet.

The worry is both in the numbers and the uncertainty they create: Until Tuesday this week, the Federal Ministry of Health had reported 25 cases of COVID-19, as the disease is formally known. Those figures jumped in a shocking pattern over two days to reach 80, by recording 25 on Wednesday and another 20 on Thursday.

What this means is surveillance led by the Health Ministry, with cooperation from the local UN agencies, could have helped determine the new cases. But it also leaves a gap on whether some more could be hidden in the communities. Somalia being a highly social society means that folks may have intermingled freely ever since the first case was reported last month.

It, therefore, calls for a new form of working between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the Federal Member States (FMS), especially on cooperative work that can help arrest the spread.

This week, the FGS ordered an indefinite curfew to help curb the spread of the virus in the capital Mogadishu. Commander of the Somali Police Force, Gen Abdi Hassan Mohamed indicated the curfew will run daily from 8 pm to 5 am the next morning, requiring all non-essential movement of people and vehicles to cease.

Curfews, ban on public gatherings and other social distancing regulations as well as handwashing have been imposed in Somalia, just as neighbouring countries have done. The difference is in how the central government will cooperate with the regional administrations.

Somalia, of course, is a bit different from saying Kenya or Ethiopia, who have been stable for most of the time.

In Kenya for example, the national government decreed a curfew across the entire territory and is fully in charge of managing statistics of the COVID-19. In an administration where health is a devolved function, it may have forestalled confusion in public confusion by giving the national Ministry of Health powers to issue directives on restricting the pandemic.

It could be unfair to expect that Somalia follows the same route. For one, Somalia still runs on an interim constitution which has neither given the numbers of federal states nor clarified the roles of FMS and FGS.

This may explain why the FGS in Mogadishu was issuing separate directives from regional administrations. In fact, at one point, Somaliland, which claims independence from Somalia (though remains unrecognised internationally) was issued its tally of COVID-19. Puntland also issued directives limiting movement of people in and out of the region.

Wielding certain powers, it is expected that these regions would try to enforce their varied defences. But it is important that the centre and the periphery cooperate against this common enemy.

On Sunday last week, the United Nations Office in Somalia cautioned against any divergent dealings on the virus. In a joint statement with other partner countries in Somalia, they expressed solidarity with the Somali people.

Any response towards COVID-19, the partners said, will require unity, and for conflict and violence to be set aside. A resumption of dialogue and “constructive collaboration” to mitigate the threat of the virus was urgently required.

As a matter of consistency, we should say coronavirus should not suspend or even replace legitimate political differences that exist between the various actors in Somalia. The country is planning an election later in the year. But there are issues on whether a universal suffrage election can be run.

There are concerns that al-Shabaab’s threat is stronger now than before. There are concerns about a hungry population, locust invasion, some 1.1 million people displaced from their homes and five million in need of food. Somalia, overall, needs to rebuild institutions crucial for Somalia’s rebirth.

All these require money, but Somalia is donor-dependent. A UN appeal for Somalia’s hunger status indicates the country requires over $1 billion to provide food, water, health care, protection and livelihood support to 3 million people – among them 1.4 million internally displaced people. But the Humanitarian Response Plan was issued in January, before locusts and now COVID-19 became a real threat.

In late March, Somalia’s Health Minister Fawziya Abikar asked donors to join in the National Contingency Plan for Preparedness and Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Its major tasks of having testing kits, protective gear for health workers and managing isolation centres required $4.2 million, according to a document circulated to the media.

Further contingency plans for the covid-19 fight could take the budgetary as high as $7.2 million. The money is to be raised from donors, according to the Plan. Those donors were already forthcoming, going by their public statements. But it's not clear whether their taps will keep flowing given some of those countries like Italy are facing a heavier toll from COVID-19.

In Somalia, the social and economic effects of COVID-19 could surely compound the effect of al-Shabaab and locust invasion. The recent announcement by Prime Minister Hassan Khaire that Mogadishu was releasing $1 million to help FMs fight coronavirus is welcome.

But it is how leaders react, how they abandon personal ambitions for now and gather for a common enemy that could make a difference.

GAROWE ONLINE