No! Villa Somalia, the DPM does not appoint ministers

Article 100 of the Provisional Constitution envisages the creation of the office of the Prime Minister in the governance structure of the Somalia state and bestows upon the holder of such office powers to appoint a cabinet with the approval of Parliament. That officeholder is also empowered by the same article to relieve ministers of duties.

The subsequent article creates the office of the Deputy Prime Minister who ‘acts for the Prime Minister when the Prime Minister is out of the country, and carries out other responsibilities as may be delegated by the Prime Minister’. From this understanding therefore, it is crystal clear that the powers and responsibilities of holders of these two offices are not- nay, the same.

Villa Somalia website, has despite remaining under construction for several months in 2017 is largely black, dotted with half truths and tags along developer templates.

But Villa Somalia website has it otherwise. “Prime Minister of Federal Government Somalia H.E Hassan Ali Khayre -The Prime Minister’s role is to run chair (sic) the Cabinet, appoint ministers, and act as key person for the government both in Parliament and out,” Villa Somalia website reads. “Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Ahmed Guled-Same responsibility as the Prime Minister.”

DUMMY TEMPLATE

For several months in 2017, the Villa Somalia website which shares similar platform with the office of the Prime Minister was under construction and, as was expected of new office holders-PM Hassan Khaire and President Mohamed Farmaajo, the website would be given a new, refreshing outlook. One would expect it to be loaded with detailed and relevant information as it also acts as the country’s repository. Both a citizen and foreigner should find a rich history from the website of the country’s top office.

But a cursory look at www.villasomalia.gov.so/ www.presidency.gov.so is not only disappointing, smacks of casually built web page and more so, embarrassing.

Citizens ought to volunteer content to describe the aura and architectural composition of the Villa Somalia complex

EASY, WIKI IT!

One would not expect the office of the President to lift information from Wikipedia to present the profile of a former president but the casual reader could sometimes give you a pass if you removed the hyperlinks! Equally, one wouldn’t lack anything to say about a former president as is the case for former presidents

In this grab image from Villa Somalia, information about former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been lifted directly from Wikipedia.

Abdullahi Yusuf and Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Which other platform, more befitting should one find information about a former President?

Only news items seem to dominate the website reducing the Presidential website into more of a new web page in Mogadishu.

A researcher keen on gleaning information from Villa Somalia could have the hardest of times trying to comprehend the information on offer.

ENGLISH SECTION

Only three menus have some semblance of life-Presidency-which only presents a historical bio of President Mohamed Farmaajo and Gallery-which apparently has one photo for 2018. The other menu is the Press Room which is scantily updated.

The rest of the menus in the English section are either blank or, ignominiously, contain text from the original template the website was built on. Even personal websites-which are in hosts in Mogadishu alone shy away from such indignity.

Villa Somalia is yet to find even a sentence to say about former President Abdullahi Yusuf. FYI, He was Somali President from October 14, 2004 – December 29, 2008.

SOMALI SECTION

Owe unto many a citizen and foreigner who wish to access information about Villa Somalia in the national and official language-Somali. Safe for the homepage, the rest of the links and menus in the Somali section are either blank, dead or, like their match in the English section invite the reader to a dizzying history of the dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry-Lorem Ipsum. Even basic information about the Presidency is zilch!

Whereas the Presidential website ought to contain at the very least documents about the office both in the present and the past in addition to crucial information about the President’s manifesto and policy areas, Villa Somalia website only has one document for download-The Provisional Constitution.

There is an option for Arabic but lovers of that language might still need to wait a little bit longer.

GOVERNANCE TOOL

Parliament approved a $4.9 million budget for the Office of the President in the 2018 national budget up from $4.7 in 2017. A portion of this amount would be allocated for the public information and strategic communication department which the Villa Somalia website could fall into. It is not clear if allocation to that department has translated to any good for the public.

Somali language visitors to the website might have to content with a blank page about the Presidency

It is imperative to note that government websites form an integral part of governance and must therefore be given due attention. They are one of the means through which citizens can hold the governors accountable especially in the age of information technology. Websites are a component of open governance.

One only hopes President Mohamed Farmaajo or Prime Minister Hassan Khaire wouldn’t be visiting this website anytime soon!

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