Guurti's latest distraction…

The economic sub-committee of the House of the Guurti recently presented a long-winded report to the house on six ministries that the committee visited in the past few months. The sub-committee visited ministries like the Finance, Fisheries, Livestock, Planning and National Coordination, and Rural development. These ministries were said to be involved in the ‘productive’ sectors of the economy.

Although one cannot but be cynical about the timing of this latest Guurti visit to the ministries, their achievements were, nonetheless, negligible. The elders went to these ministries in Land Cruisers and listened to whatever ministers and senior functionaries told them, only to pass this back later to the house of Guurti.

To show the futility of these exercises, let’s examine the work of the sub-committee in two of the ministries that they visited.

In the first instance, the elders met with the minister and some senior officials of the Ministry of Fisheries and the Coastal Development. In the ministry, the sub-committee were informed of the fact that the ministry entered into various agreements with all kinds of ships, big and small, owned by Egyptians, Indians and Greeks, among others, to fish from the territorial waters of the country; they learned of the fact that the ministry did not have the wherewithal to protect these territorial waters; of the fact that numerous illegal fishing vessels come and fish from the area ; and of the fact that private individuals give permission to some foreign vessels to fish in the territorial waters.

The Guurti sub-committee did not deeply explore those important issues with the minister and the other officials they met, nor did they pose the right questions warranted by the occasion. The elders did not examine, and report back to the House, the contents of the alleged agreements the ministry signed with these foreign fishing vessels; the legality of these agreements; their effect on the local fishing industry and marine life, and how the revenue from these foreign fishing vessel is being utilized. The committee, by design or default, ignored these important issues.

The salience of these issues is underscored, however, by fact that there is a persistent allegation that the ‘first lady’ is engaged in a kind of business deal with some foreign vessels, fishing from the territorial waters of the country, particularly vessels under Egyptian flagship.

In the second instance, the sub-committee visited the Ministry of Planning and National coordination. Upon arrival of the ministry, the sub-committee found out that they lacked the requisite mandate to supervise the ministry. That mandate was given to the Political and International Relations Committee of the House by Guurti by-laws. The Guurti elders, embarrassed as they were, requested the house to clarify Guurti by-laws, to avoid such confusion in the future. The Guurti commitees in their thirteenth years of existence has yet to learn their roles in the political system.

One can question the existence of such sub-committees in the first place. The primary responsibility the constitution of the country grants to the Guurti is the maintenance of the peace and stability in the country and protecting the culture and religion of the people. In fact, the qualification for membership in the House comes down to someone learned either in religion or traditions and culture of the people. And while many in the Guurti House are even in short supply of these, dividing them into sub-committees and giving them the responsibility to oversee and talk about complex issues like ‘foreign’ policy and the economy is beyond me. They cannot meaningfully discuss about these complex issues.

The latest Guurti visit to the ministries has been aimed at stealing the limelight from elected House of parliament at a time the latter was engaged in a similar mission to the ministries. The elders keep on devising ways to maintain themselves in the picture and appear useful to the system.

Guurti elders have relatively played a positive role in the restoration and maintenance of peace and stability in the country. However, as time progressed, their peace making role has been reduced to supporting one political group over another, always basing their support to the one on the rule of the thumb, while leaving simmering communal flash points, like Caada in Gabilay, to explode into serious threats to the peace.

In the long run, the continued existence of the Guurti in the system, un-elected and without the mandate of the people, is a threat to peace and security in the country. In fact, as I argued elsewhere, the traditional system, which the elders represent, seamlessly fuses with the pervasive malaise of corruption in the country and the majority of Guurti are as corrupt today as the ‘ministers’ in the government.

Now that we have an elected House of parliament in place, the House of the Guurti should be dissolved.

Let the elders seek the democratic mandate of the people in the country. The sooner they do that, the better.