Ethical Leadership in Post-Conflict Somalia:Humanity as a Governance Principle Chloe Schwenke, Ph.D.

Senior AssociateCommunities in Transition Division

Creative Associates International Inc.Washington, DC

A silent tragedy

• The story of a massacre• Village of

Goobweyn, near Kismayo

• January 16th, 1999: death of eleven Somalis

• Abdirizak Jiis Jumbur (11)

• Abdirizak Hirsi Dheere (58)

An uncle of integrity

• Abdirizak Hirsi Dheere• A student political activist, before Somalia's

independence• Later worked at the Somali National Bank • Active trade unionist. • Opposed the Barre dictatorship, and so was

never promoted • Honest - never stole bank’s money to buy a

car, • Believed that Somali democracy would bring

justice for all

Moral landscape of Somalia - 1• “Hobbesian world”

• A time of perpetual war

• Every man is enemy to every man

• “the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal”

Moral landscape of Somalia - 2

• In such condition: • No industry, no culture, no navigation,

no trade, no building• No knowledge, no account of time, no

arts, no letters, no society• Continual fear, and danger of

violent death:• “the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty,

brutish, and short”

Escaping a Hobbesian world

• Can ethics save Somalia from a Hobbesian fate?

• Somalia:• The weak and innocent exploited• Traditional Somali ethics and culture

uprooted• Even the code of the warrior is meaningless • Instead of fighting to protect and defend,

warriors in Somalia have fought to exterminate

Overcoming a tragic legacy

• Full dimensions of destruction will never be fully counted or truly comprehended

• Destruction ~ swept away lives and those elements that make any lives worthwhile:• aspirations, hopes, trust, compassion,

dignity, tenderness, love, self-respect

Moral duties of a state

• Where do Somalia’s leaders begin? • Addressing technical and administrative

obligations • What of the moral priorities?

• Aristotle: state exists to enable the individual to realize the highest quality of life of which he or she is capable

Quality of governance - 1

• Measured by quality of life enjoyed by citizens

• Leadership: • Reclaim a sense of the public good• Rebuild a deliberative society• Bridge across deep divisions

Quality of governance - 2

• Success directly linked to moral character and integrity of leaders

• What moral resources are available to TFG leadership?

Inventory of ethical resources - 1

• “Common” morality• Families,

parents, friends

• Religion• Social

institutions• Culture and

tradition

Inventory of ethical resources - 2

• The Koran • Religion:

• Unite us in our common values• Not divide us between factions who

support differing “truths”

Inventory of ethical resources - 3

• Moral theories • Do not prove anything• Seek to persuade

• A moral lens to understand and solve moral dilemmas

Inventory of ethical resources - 4

• Adam Smith• Invisible hand of the market• Visible hand of moral leadership

• Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative• Humanity always as an end, never as a

means • Kant’s ethics:

• Rigorous duty, few compromises, recognition of the value and worth of each person

Inventory of ethical resources - 5

• Human rights theory • TFG as a champion of human rights

• Constraints:• Lack of sufficient economic resources • Current inability to shape public morality

• Yet government remains morally obliged to:• Make that effort• Demonstrate some progress

Inventory of ethical resources - 6

• The capabilities approach:• What are people able to do and to be? • Each person entitled to a decent level

of opportunity• Enhance the capacities or powers of

people as human beings• Simple ~ fulfill nutritional and health needs• Complex ~ social and political participation

Inventory of ethical resources - 7

• The ethics of care • Moral attitude or longing for goodness

and not with moral reasoning • Come face to face with concrete

realities instead of abstract principles• Leaders must focus on the reality

of suffering to respond with effective policy appropriate to the needs of those who suffer

Inventory of ethical resources - 8

• Virtue ethics • Focus is on the individual’s moral

character, not on his or her actions

• Concentrate on developing virtuous character traits first:• Moral actions will naturally follow

Reconciliation challenges - 1

• “Bad elements”• Must be rehabilitated or failing that, be

constrained• Some still benefit from war economy and

chaos• Confronting selfishly ill-intentioned people

from position of strength • TFG’s strength: Qualitatively different from

strength of bad elements• TFG’s strength based on principles of ethical

governance• TFG as a moral actor

Reconciliation challenges - 2

• Responding to Somali survivors of years of conflict and violence

• How or what ought TFG to:• Think about

them• Say to them• Do for them?

Reconciliation challenges - 3

• Moral perspective offers 3 answers:• 1) Offer justice• 2) Offer care and compassion• 3) Economic development

opportunities

Justice - 1

• What governments are supposed to provide• Rule of law• Institutions of governance• Laws grounded in the shared moral

values of that society. • No society’s laws are perfect, nor is

the administration of such laws through the courts and police always fair or proper

Justice – 2

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission • The best strategy for dealing with past crimes and

violations of human rights? • Overriding priorities from a moral perspective: TFG

must be seen to deliver justice - holding people accountable for the harms caused

• Creating a public record as a form of public validation

• It may happen again unless TFG is unequivocal: human lives are valuable, and the human dignity will be respected and protected

Caring

• A function of governance?• The most influential characteristic of

a truly transformational leader• A ruler doesn’t “care”

• Authentic transformational leadership:• Charisma, inspirational motivation,

intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration

Development

• Equitable, participatory, and sustainable

• Framed in the expansion of basic human freedoms

• Founded on respect for human dignity and worth

• Led with integrity and vision

Starting, and moving on

• The mechanics of governance• Restarting and managing the

Somali economy • Pursue a richer moral goal than

economic growth alone?

Ethics and Economics

• Ethics complements economics

• Economics: acquisition of property and “things”

• Ethics: the value of families and interpersonal relations, access to quality education, enjoyment of cultural affairs, humane workplace organization, or recreational and sporting pursuits

Deliberation

• The time to broaden the economic and policy dialogue about Somalia’s future through linking this dialogue to essential deliberations about the fundamental values of Somali society – spiritual and religious convictions, personal morality, societal values, public integrity, virtuous character, accountability, and caring – is now

Moral Reconstruction - 1

• Not the task of government alone• “In every community there are

agencies of moral and cultural development that seek to shape the ways in which individuals conceive of their duties to themselves, their obligations to each other, and their responsibilities before God”

• G.C. Loury

Moral Reconstruction - 2

• TFG’s role: • Seek out these

communities and individuals

• Unlock these resources

• Together, bring Somalia into a new era of moral accountability, of high ethical standards, of reinvigorated Somali culture, and of deep and committed caring