Propping-up the Social Contract

Guest essay. Nairobi, January 2024. Published on Philo Somalia.

The case for restoring social accountability

Social accountability is about involving citizens in the decision-making processes of government and making those who hold power over the people answerable. It is a fundamental principle of democracy and a powerful ally of the social contract between citizens and the state. Moreover, it improves governance, service delivery and social empowerment.

Through the redresses of social accountability, it is the duty of the government to account for its actions and accept responsibility for them. The purpose of this concept note is to put forward the aptness of initiating social accountability mechanisms and tools in Somalia now; and how that would empower the civic space and render the government accountable. It also entreats that setting off a reinforced social accountability in Somalia is indispensable, as most of government policies and priorities are seen by the public to be irresponsible; and as the country teeters towards political impasses and possible turmoil.

Context

In Somalia, there is a thinly articulated policy objectives and impulsive administrative rules and regulations. There is also a virtual absence of meaningful public debates and public consultations on any of the policy initiations of the government or the legislations of the parliament. Efforts of finalizing the constitution and restructuring the country into a federal system of governance, for the last two decades, advance at a snail’s pace.

The awareness level of the general public is radically localized in several self-ruling member states, whose relationships with the central government and with each other are yet to be formally established. Social capital remains incapacitated because there are no interconnected social networks that transcend state affairs. Civil society members often face reprisals by the state in voicing out their legitimate concerns. Government authorities use such cagey tactics like cooption and elite capture to silence the emergence of critical or equitable voices.

As it stands, Somalis can hardly marshal a common action or reaction regarding the performances of their governments both at the federal and state levels. In Somalia, all politics seem to be concerned with ‘the here and now’; as if the future cannot be influenced by planning for it today. Corruption is rife, partly due to the absence of formal enforcements, reprimands or reputational costs. The absent voices of the public have been inadvertently furnishing successive Somali governments a carte-blanche.

Of late, there even have been growing concerns among the elite that the social contract may succumb to these negative practices and relationships and give way to lawlessness and renewed civil strife. Despite these grim realities, social accountability has been absent in Somalia’s political and legal due processes. Introducing social accountability mechanisms into Somalia would, in the first instance, have the effect of progressively easing up these ticking tensions.

Theory of change

The entry point should ideally be the creation of an enabling environment for social accountability in which citizens can realize their entitlements by exercising their voices and government authorities are answerable to them. Independent media, as one of the most important factors of accountability, can bridge the gap between the people and the state. The provision of relevant and understandable information can raise public awareness and help promote civic education and mobilization at all levels.

Effective social accountability requires the engagement of everyone, including the less powerful such as women, youth and minority groups. Media platforms can facilitate opportunities for communities to meet, discuss and present their views to the decision-makers. The rationale: undertaking purposeful and efficient media projects would inform and favorably rekindle civic mobilization that would, in turn, instigate civic action and that would hopefully lead to state action.

Two approaches

Somalis have to settle their contentions at the general scheme of things — at the levels of the Social Contract, constitution-making, political settlement — and then come to the time-consuming needlework of accountable governance. Without pulling off the former, the latter cannot be fruitfully undertaken.

Intensive approach — the making of the country (60%)

Independent media is an essential facilitator of the democratic process and forms an integral part of the civic space within which democratic debate is possible. In Somalia such a platform would give input and coverage to the political cleavages of the regions and the elite, for purposes of bringing about a lasting political settlement between them and for furthering the social contract and democratization. Another focus would be targeting bottlenecks everywhere that might be in the way of undertaking the mandatory transitional tasks: finalization of the constitution, federalization, legislations, commissions. At the end of the marathon, the litmus test for the completion of the mandatory transitional tasks would be the realization of one-person-one-vote in Somalia.

Extensive approach — the running of the country (40%)

Independent media serve as the watchdogs of powerholders in all forms. They can do so in an adversarial manner, depending on the context. Media should promote transparency in public life and public scrutiny on those with power through exposing corruption, maladministration and other wrongdoings. The end goal is to make local public officials and service providers directly accountable to the communities they serve. When done correctly, this leads to a culture of accountability, associated with improved service delivery outcomes, increased adherence to human rights and the promotion of good governance.

A proposals roadmap

Since social accountability is a political process that is essentially emancipatory and reformative, stimulating change in power relations is a measure of success. Intimate consultations with communication and media professionals are needed. Initiatives may include:

1. Expanded space with ratings: number of media outlets, varied ownership, varied regions, varied audiences.
2. Outlets with programs that provide a truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of the day's events in a context which gives them meaning.
3. Features and expert analyses on accountability issues.
4. Live coverage of public meetings on accountability.
5. Talk shows, discussion or interview programs.
6. Opinion surveys.
7. Letters to the editor, commentaries, freedom of expression.
8. Phone-in programs — tell us your worries.