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potentially help create buy-in to the Somaliland government at both local and national levels
across the country according to one interviewee, a former local council member in the east of
the country, “The problem is that the people in my area already doubt the authority of any
Somaliland government, and they [the international community] support this doubt by not
recognizing the government either.”
Legal Framework
Participants in the executive workshop were in agreement with local government participants in
regard to the need for strengthening of legal and policy frameworks relating to decentralization.
Participants talked about “filling the gaps” and “resolving the lack of clarity” in the current legal
frameworks that guide decentralization. In particular, participants referred to a “lack of clarity”
in both the constitution and the regions and district law (Law No.23), the latter of which in
theory gives local government the power to administer basic services (such as health, education,
security and water). In practice, however, there is no legal framework specifying how and when
these services would be handed down to the local governments.
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The law is also thought to be
unclear regarding tax-collecting responsibilities, both between local councils (for instance
where there are disputes over where taxes on trade goods are collected, a common problem
according to workshop participants) and between central and local government. A number of
participants and interviewees mentioned that the way to resolve many of these issues was to
have a comprehensive decentralization policy, an idea which has in the past received support
from the international community in the form of a legal consultant drafting an initial policy,
according to one high-ranking government official. However, according to one interviewee,
these efforts have “fallen to the side” due to a lack of political will.
Revenue Generation
On a related note, local government participants and interviewees stressed the need for “full
decentralization of the system in practice,” including both the provision of adequate subsidies
from the central government and support to raise their own resources through taxation and
partnerships with the private sector. While local councils may lack both experience and skills,
it is the lack of necessary resources to develop the local infrastructure that presents the greatest
challenge to the newly-elected councils. In the words of one current mayor, “trainings only
cannot help but other opportunities should also be created.”
An additional issue to emerge during interviews concerned the need for ministries to be
formally established with a legal mandate which sets out their rights and responsibilities, much
like the Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Commission.
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For ministries with large
reform remits, such as the Ministry of Interior, this could prove a challenge and therefore needs
to be addressed through legal means.
Inter-Government Relations – Low Priority
This category was considered a low priority in both workshops, though there is significant
overlap between this category and others, notably internal organizational capacity and
management. For this reason, issues in this category were discussed as part of the wider
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In practice all services with the exception of sanitation come under the authority of the central government.
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Fewer in number in terms of workshop participants.
