Somalia scores a rare diplomatic victory as U.N decides to appoint a new envoy to replace expelled one

By The Star Staff Writer

MOGADISHU — Somalia’s national government has scored a rare diplomatic victory on Friday after the United Nations secretary-general said he would appoint “in due course” a new special representative for the Horn of Africa nation to replace Nicholas Haysom who was expelled by Mogadishu, which accused him of “deliberately” interfering in its sovereignty and of “openly” violating diplomatic ethics and norms.

The world body’s decision is certain to give the embattled Somali government a much-needed morale boost, only few days after it has taken a lot of flak for the expulsion of Haysom. But a former Somali minister has called the U.N.’s sudden announcement to send another diplomat to Somalia a “poisoned chalice and a scar on the current leadership in Mogadishu.”

Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq said in a statement on Friday that Secretary-General António Guterres “deeply regrets the decision” of the Somali government to kick his special representative out of the country.

“UNSOM needs to be able to carry out in the most effective manner its mandate to support the country,” said Haq, referring to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. “Therefore, he intends to appoint in due course a new Special Representative for Somalia and Head of UNSOM.”

Haq said Guterres had “full confidence in Mr. Haysom, an experienced and respected international civil servant who has distinguished himself in numerous senior leadership roles, in the field and at UN Headquarters.”

The Somali government on Tuesday banned Haysom from operating in the country after the South African diplomat wrote a letter to Somalia’s internal security ministry, demanding that it provide answers for 12 questions about the circumstances that led to the arrest of former Islamist leader Mukhtar Robow and his subsequent detention without trial as well as the deaths of 15 people in the western Somali city of Baidoa.

Ethiopian forces under the African Union mission in Somalia arrested Robow on Dec. 13 and handed him over to the national government, which is now holding the man, whose arrest sparked three days of deadly protests, in an undisclosed location in the nation’s capital, Mogadishu.

Robow defected to the government in 2017 and renounced extremist ideologies, but the government said he violated the terms of his defection and brought weapons to Baidoa city, allegations which were not independently verified.

Abdulkadir Mohamud Dhaqane, a former Somali minister between 2004 and 2006, said the U.N.’s decision to succumb to Mogadishu’s demand spells doom for the remaining years of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo’s rule.

“It’s a poisoned chalice and a scar on the current leadership in Mogadishu. In fact, it could well be the beginning of the end of the international community’s respect for President Farmajo,” Dhaqane said. “If our president thinks the world is unaware of his shenanigans in the country, he’s mistaken. He will soon face the music. Appointing a new U.N. envoy for Somalia won’t change the world body’s mandate in the country.

“It’s more likely that the new envoy will raise the same human rights abuses committed in Baidoa last month because the Somali government hasn’t yet provided answers for them,” he said, enumerating the national government’s mistakes, such as cracking down on opposition figures and picking a fight with parliamentary Speaker Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman, who fled his office in the sprawling presidential palace and put up at a hotel in Mogadishu.

The U.N.’s decision to replace Haysom came as a surprise to many. On Thursday, Haq was somewhat optimistic, telling reporters in New York that “we imagine he will continue to go about his work.”

Haq told reporters on Friday that Secretary-General Guterres had “spoken twice in the last few days” with President Farmajo, but those phone calls didn’t produce any breakthroughs as was clear from the U.N. statement, adding that “it’s crucial that the U.N. Mission on the ground is able to go about its work.”

It appears that the Somali government decided not to change its mind because doing so would have been construed as a sign of weakness by its foes at home and abroad.

President Farmajo’s office “must be feeling elated it stood its ground and the UN backed down,” said Somali expert Rashid Abdi, who’s also the Horn of Africa Project Director at the International Crisis Group in a Twitter message. “But going forward, Somalia cannot succeed without cooperative rather than adversarial relationship with UN, other key partners…”

Somalia’s Ambassador to the U.N., Abukar Dahir Osman, told the Security Council on Thursday that his country was “a sovereign nation with all its rights and privileges” and that the “U.N. and its representatives have a duty, even (an) obligation, to respect their mandate and don’t interfere in our internal affairs and let the Somalis control their own destiny.”

Somalis were split on their government’s decision to eject the top U.N. diplomat out of their country, with some of them calling it “impulsive” and “suicidal” and others hailing it as a “great” and “brave” move.

Haq, the U.N. spokesman, said the doctrine of persona non grata cited by the Somali government in its official statement announcing Haysom’s expulsion didn’t “apply” to the diplomat, “or in respect of, United Nations personnel.”

“As described in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the doctrine applies to diplomatic agents who are accredited by one State to another in the context of their bilateral relations,” he said. “The United Nations is not a State and its personnel are not accredited to the States where they are deployed, but work under the sole responsibility of the Secretary-General.”

Haq said Secretary-General Guterres is “strongly committed to assisting Somalia in its efforts to achieve peace, stability and prosperity for all.”

The Somali government didn’t comment on the U.N.’s new decision.