MAPPING ICTS IN SOMALIA: POLICIES, PLAYERS, AND PRACTICES
several participants said they were only given a summary
of the law during the consultations. The fact that the media
reform law is shrouded in secrecy may be evidence that
Puntland authorities are likely to promulgate laws that are
intended to silence dissent.
three of which are Hormuud Telecom, Telecom Olympic,
and Nation Link. Hormuud, the largest ICT company in
Somalia, owns the largest ICT providers in Puntland and
Somaliland. NationLink, the second largest company, also
has similar operations in all three regions.
Somaliland
ICT companies play a major role in shaping telecom
policies. According to Abdi Nur Hussien, a former advisor
to the World Bank on Somalia, ICT policy is controlled
by the telecom and hawala companies, which have the
necessary resources and the knowledge to influence these
policies (personal communication, March 2013). In the
last decade, the Somali government lacked the institutional
capacity to develop ICT policies and procedures, and other
priorities always stood in the way. A common theme from
our interviews was that because of these two factors, the
telecommunications sector has an oversized influence
on how policy is crafted both at the national and regional
levels. Telecom giants combine their lobbying efforts with
attempts to influence politicians by improving service
delivery in policymakers’ hometowns and villages.
Somaliland is an internationally recognized autonomous
region of Somalia. It is the most stable of the three regions
of Somalia, and its government has held several successful
elections. While its telecom and other ICT sectors are
booming, the media remains constrained. Private radio
stations are not permitted, on the pretense that they could
undermine stability and precipitate disorder (Stremlau,
2012). Although there are more than ten newspapers in
Somaliland, there is only one radio station – Radio Hargeisa
– which is owned and run by the government (Stremlau,
2012). Given the high rate of illiteracy, print media has
relatively low penetration among the wider society, making
it easier for print media outlets to avoid government
restrictions. The government contends that privately owned
radio stations are one of the factors of instability in SouthCentral Somalia—an assertion widely seen as an attempt to
keep the airwaves exclusive to pro-government broadcasts.
Somaliland media policy is guided by the Republic of
Somaliland Press Law (2004). Freedom of expression and
protection of journalists are also enshrined in Article 32 of
Somaliland’s Constitution (“Constitution,” 2000). In 2007,
the Somaliland Press and Publications Bill was introduced
in parliament to replace the 2004 Press Law. The bill is
currently working its way through relevant committees,
as media activists have expressed concern about the
legislation. Journalists and media owners have advocated
for an independent regulatory body, but the government
has yet to respond to that call.
3) A strong private telecommunications
sector that benefits from a lack of
regulation
Telecom giants across Somalia have enormous resources,
and as a result, hold huge sway among policymakers.
Dahir Adaani, an ICT specialist at MIPT, described them
as “unstoppable” (personal communication, March 2013).
They are, primarily, national companies with market
penetration in all three regions of Somalia – the largest
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It is in the interest of the telecom sector to keep the regulatory
environment lax, and the sector uses its resources to
support this goal. Somalia’s powerful private sector exploits
the inherent weakness in the SFG to continue making huge
profits while avoiding paying taxes and fees. This dilemma
has frustrated many governments over the last decade.
According to one senior advisor to the current MIPT, there
appears to be no end in sight:
For nearly two decades, the Somali private sector has
been taking advantage of our institutional weaknesses
and lack of capacity to develop and execute ICT
policies…The private sector has, in some ways,
contributed to the limitations of the government
by perpetually stymieing progress on national ICT
policies. It’s time for our government to take the matter
seriously. (Personal communication, March 2013)
One way the telecom sector “stymies” progress on ICT policy,
and therefore maintains the status quo, is by maintaining,
to the extent possible, a positive image both in the eyes of
government and the public. For the government, this takes
the form of a mutually supportive co-dependency; for the
public this means creating ICTs that fulfill some of the roles
of the government.