MOGADISHU,
Somalia — Hundreds of Somali troops trained with millions of U.S. tax
dollars have deserted because they are not being paid their $100
monthly wage, and some have even joined the al-Qaida-linked militants
they are supposed to be fighting, The Associated Press has learned.
The
desertions raise fears that a new U.S.-backed effort beginning next
month to build up Somalia’s army may only increase the ranks of the
insurgency.
Somalia’s
besieged U.N.-backed government holds only a few blocks of the Somali
capital, Mogadishu, while Islamic insurgents control the rest of the
city and most of the country. That turmoil — and the lawless East
African nation’s proximity to Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula is based — has fed fears that Somalia could be used to launch
attacks on the West.
In
an effort to rebuild the tattered Somali military, the United States
spent $6.8 million supporting training programs for nearly 1,000
soldiers in neighboring Djibouti last year, and about 1,100 soldiers in
Uganda last year and earlier this year, the State Department and
Western diplomats told AP. The troops were supposed to earn $100 a
month, but about half of those trained in Djibouti deserted because
they were not paid, Somali army Col. Ahmed Aden Dhayow said.
“Some gave up the army and returned to their ordinary life, and others joined the rebels,” he said.
Somalia’s
state minister for defense, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, confirmed some
trainees had joined the al-Shabab militants, but he declined to specify
the number of deserters.
The
development highlights a key problem facing efforts to rebuild the
bankrupt nation’s army — guaranteeing funding for soldiers’ salaries,
not just their training.
Failure
to resolve the pay issue could threaten the success of a U.S. and
European Union training program beginning in Uganda next month that has
been touted as the biggest effort to rebuild the army in 20 years.
Funding
for the Somali army is a complex affair involving contributions from
donor nations, the U.N. and the Somali government. Individual countries
sometimes pledge to cover salaries for a limited number of soldiers for
a few months, and when the money runs out, salaries don’t get paid.
The
U.S. has provided $2 million to pay Somali soldiers and purchase
supplies and equipment in Mogadishu since 2007, according to the State
Department. Another $12 million went toward transport, uniforms and
equipment.
During
a recent AP visit, dejected-looking soldiers sat under dust-covered
thorn trees at the government’s main military base, Camp Jazira, which
lacks toilets, a clinic or even a perimeter fence. They had not been
paid, some for months, they said, adding that their wages were
intercepted by senior officials.
When
pressed for details, mid-level officers glanced at colleagues clutching
plastic bags of spaghetti, the day’s lunch ration, before saying they
could not discuss the problem.
“There
is not enough money to pay everyone,” Col. Ali Hassan said as a group
of officers listened, then added hastily: “But we are happy there is
some money.”
Earlier
this year, trainee soldiers had their guns confiscated and replaced
with sticks after a riot broke out between those who had been paid and
those who had not. The African Union, which has peacekeepers at Camp
Jazira, temporarily suspended payments over fears that men who had been
paid would be killed by those who had not, an official involved with
the training said.
Soldiers
also had problems with some battalion-level commanders stealing their
rations, a European official said. The U.S. has sent a shipment of food
this month to try to help the malnourished soldiers regain their
strength, he added.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Siyad,
the defense minister, said the U.S. was currently funding the salaries
of around 1,800 Somali soldiers, and another 3,300 soldiers were being
paid by other donors. However, that is only about half the 10,000
troops allowed under the peace agreement that formed the coalition
government.
Other
countries have contributed to training programs for security forces,
notably France and Germany. A German-funded training course for 900
Somali police recently ended in Ethiopia, a Western official in Nairobi
said, but there are fears the trainees will desert because no provision
has been made for their salaries.
Some
international payments are channeled through a fund administered by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, an arrangement designed to prevent the mass
theft of salaries and combat a desertion rate of up to 90 percent that
scuttled a previous U.N. effort to reform the police force.
However,
diplomats complain the lists of soldiers the government has provided
differ from those they have been authorized to pay. Officers including
Gen. Ahamad Buraale, who is in charge of Camp Jazira, also say
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been slow to issue the identity cards that
allow soldiers to be paid.
The firm declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement with its clients.
“We
only have anecdotal information but those reports indicate that the
desertion rate has been very low among those trained in Djibouti. For
those trained in Uganda, the problem has not been desertion but
reassignment from that trained unit to other duties such as personal
protection for government senior leaders,” said a State Department
spokesman in an e-mail.
Siyad
said it is vital that the 2,000 Somali soldiers slated to undergo six
months of training in Uganda be paid. The European Union will take the
lead in training, while the U.S. has pledged to pay the salaries of
graduates until January, said Patrick Geyson, a political adviser to
the EU program.
“Both
the police and soldiers need to feed their families,” Geyson said.
“They need to be paid every month. Otherwise they have to find other
solutions.”
Guaranteeing
longer-term wages for the soldiers may be difficult. Many donors are
reluctant to contribute money to an army once notorious for crimes such
as rape, kidnapping and murder.
The
new army commander is seen by international officials as a vast
improvement over the previous one, a warlord who used the army as a
clan militia to extort money from civilians. But donors remain wary.
In
the meantime, the Somali government is forced to rely on donor nations
that are often slow to pay, undercutting soldiers’ confidence in
regular paychecks, and feeding desertions and corruption. There are few
signs Somalia’s government will ever be able to deliver social
services, shape military strategy and pay its army on its own.
Siyad
said the success of the multimillion-dollar training programs funded by
American and European taxpayers is completely dependent on being able
to pay the graduates.
“If this is not done, then we shouldn’t even start. Otherwise the soldiers will just join the opposition,” he said.
Global Research/AP