THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (NEC) REFUSES TO PAY THE SALARY OF FORMER EMPLOYEES

When the voter registration activities were concluded in Jan 2009, I was one of the five employees requested to continue their work at NEC headquarters by the former commissioners. As the former Voter Education Officer, my employment with NEC began in Feb 2008 and it continued until Aug 2009.  By Feb 2009, the Chairmaship of NEC was taken over by Jama Mohamoud Omar (a.k.a Sweden) replacing Mohamed Ismail Kabaweine. We soon realized that we were being confronted by some major problems including the fact that we didn’t receive our salaries for five months. The chairman Mr. Jama Mohamoud Omar (Sweden) kept promising that we would be paid soon.  Another three months had passed by without any salary. In the first week of June 2009, we were given two months’ salary although we were entitled to six months.  Then July passed by without salary. By this time I was entitled to six months’ salary plus additional per diems that I had accumulated. The total amount of money that NEC owed me by the first week of August 2009 was $7400. The reason we didn’t get our salaries was because of the fact that the former Chair and the vice-chair diverted our salaries to their personal use. Not only that but they also committed many other blunders and mismanagement that culminated in the dismissal of the old commission and the appointment of the new one. And with respect to my salary, NEC still owes me the same amount ($7400), and that has been outstanding for 17 months. 
 

There was a great hope that the new commission would be far much better than its predecessor. But that hope has not been realized as the new commission began doing things the same way as their predecessors. I personally met the members of the commission informing them of my outstanding salary and other issues related to the position I was holding. The commissioners told me that they would do everything in their power to secure our salaries as soon as possible. They also stated that the amount of debt claimed by the former commission was not only unbelievably high but also very suspicious. Because of this, the new commission stated that such debt had transferred to the government which would, accordingly, request the office of the Magistrate of Accounts to review the validity of such debt. 
 

But we (former employees) objected to the idea of calling salaries debt. I personally told the commissioners that salaries for employees like me should not be classified as debt and that salaries are something that should be paid by NEC without waiting for the results of the report from the office of the Magistrate of Accounts vis-à-vis so called debt. There was nothing suspicious, I added, about the salaries of employees as NEC knew how much each person was earning, what position the individual was holding and duration of employment. One day after the preceding conversation, some of the commissioners stated that they had agreed, among themselves, that outstanding salaries should not be classified as debt. They added that the commissioners resolved that NEC should be responsible for outstanding salaries and would pay us as soon as possible. Strangely enough, the commission had changed its position a short time later stating that I would get my salary only after the Magistrate of Accounts had determined which claim is genuine and which one is not. I was very annoyed with such tactics but I nevertheless decided to keep calm until the Magistrate of the Accounts completed its review. 
 

In early March 2010, the office of the Magistrate of Accounts issued to the Chairman of NEC and the Director General a letter ordering them to pay me $4000 at once. Unfortunately, the Commission changed its story once again stating that they had transferred previous debt to the government which, according to the commission, would pay outstanding salaries.  I was greatly bothered by such a story for it was the same commission that had told me earlier that I would be paid as soon as the Magistrate of Accounts had determined which claims were bogus and which were genuine. And now all they have to say is “we transferred previous debt to the government and the President would pay the money”, as if I worked for the President and not for NEC. I reminded them of the fact that they had promised that I would be paid once the Magistrate of Accounts completed its review. In response, the commissioners claimed that only when the Magistrate of Accounts returned all paperwork would NEC be able to pay me. Since then I have been trying to obtain my salary from NEC but to no avail.

During this period, I also came to learn that NEC had been secretly paying former warehouse employees of their outstanding salaries while others and I were entertained with silly stories such as the President is about to send some huge cash. Although NEC states that it did not pay any outstanding salary, evidence is available concerning this matter, and there are some witnesses who can testify about the issue at hand if need be. 
 

Then, on May 13, 2010, the Magistrate of Accounts corrected discrepancies made by NEC concerning the total amount of money to which I am entitled. NEC stated on the documents transferred to the office of the Magistrate of Accounts that my outstanding salary was $4000 whereas in reality I was entitled to $7400. Upon reviewing all available documents, the office of the Magistrate of the Accounts corrected my outstanding salary to $7400, the correct amount to which I am entitled. When I took this letter to NEC, the Director General and the Chairman told me that “it is the office Magistrate of Accounts that should seek the money and get it from the President; NEC has nothing to do this issue”. I asked officials of NEC:  For whom did I work? NEC, the Office of the Magistrate of Accounts or the president?   No reply from NEC.  It is very sad the National Electoral Commission behaves in that manner. An organization that was supposed to be a high caliber national agency has been reduced to a place where former employees’ rights are trampled upon and where corruption is the order of the day. 
 

On May 22, 2010, the Magistrate of Accounts transferred all documents regarding the previous debt back to NEC. Since the office of the Magistrate of the Accounts had completed its review, one would be tempted to think that NEC would come to its senses and start paying people their salaries after 17 months of waiting.  Not so, as the Director General of NEC was reported to have stated that he was missing some original documents that he had supposedly transferred to the office of the Magistrate of Account. Such assertion is not only laughable but also a deliberate denial of people’s basic rights to their hard-earned salaries. In fact, the behavior of NEC is tantamount to robbery on the high seas, if not worse. It is nothing more than a delaying tactic designed to discourage former employees so that such employees would somehow get tired and leave NEC alone thus abandoning their salaries.  Well, don’t count me among those who would run away from their rightful salaries. Such ridiculous excuses by NEC indicate the strange, unprofessional, and dishonest behaviors that have become normal and accepted procedures of the organization. Add that the fact that NEC has been given the mandate of holding national elections and the equation becomes murkier. One wonders how such an organization would hold a national election when it cannot settle the salaries of its former employees. 
 

Because of the public sympathy towards the new commission, and because of the fact that the people of Somaliland had resolved that the new commission should be supported as much as possible, the current Commissioners have taken advantage of the public sympathy and have misused it to a large extent; as a matter of fact, those who manage NEC have become the masters of deception thus getting away with too many plunders which had been overlooked one of which is the story I narrated herein vis-à-vis our outstanding salaries. Misleading people, lying to them, inventing ridiculous excuses, sending them to the Magistrate of Accounts, telling them that the President is about to send NEC some good cash, and finally saying loudly and clearly that NEC has nothing to do with all previous salaries (as if people didn’t work for NEC) are some of the latest deception tools employed by NEC. Thus the spin doctoring of the Electoral Commission continues unabated and unashamed. Anything goes here and nothing is out of the ordinary. With this record, many people including myself are now wondering whether NEC would be able to hold fair and free elections.  The basic principle is that if the officials of the NEC can lie to their former employees, then what is holding them from lying to everybody else including political parties, the President, the Parliament, and public at large?  Surely nothing and this is why it is necessary to review the current commission lest they put the whole nation on a road to disaster. 
 

In conclusion I worked for the National Electoral Commission (NEC); I didn’t work for the President; neither did I for the office of the Magistrate of Accounts. It is NEC that should pay my long outstanding salaries. Regardless of what deception and denial techniques NEC employs, my salary will still be on their shoulders. And one way or another, I am destined to get my salary one day.  In fact, lawyers are reviewing the case and would soon render their opinion. Surprisingly, NEC may end up paying me more money than I expected owing to its negligence - which, after all, is not a bad lesson for the amigos that run the NEC. 
 

Since the auditors who had been assigned to review the commission’s debt certified that my salary is genuine, I see no reason for NEC to withhold my salary except for corruption purposes. The time has come for NEC to stop evading its obligations, and pay former employees their salaries. Flip-flopping is not a good way of managing an organization like NEC and there is nothing so civilized about refusing people their salaries.  Statements like “The president would send us money; the Magistrate of Accounts should get the money from the president; we’re missing some original papers that we (NEC) had given to the Magistrate of Accounts” are all rubbish and foolish excuses that would only harm NEC. In fact, such claims had already harmed the reputation of the organization as many people no longer trust it. I strongly believe that NEC should stop acting like a fool and come to its senses  
 

I compiled this article for two reasons

• To seek my right with regard to outstanding salary
• To make my country a better place to live in by exposing corruption activities such as the one NEC is doing now.

By bringing this issue to the open arena, I am contributing to shortening the lifespan of corruption thus saving my country from further mismanagement and corruption. It is precisely when we hide corruption that we encourage it to multiply itself thus rendering it as a way of life. I am not about to take that road. I do believe that if everybody were to fight against corruption we would at least be able to reduce it.  And so, on my part, will I continue to struggle against evil forces, the foremost of which is corruption- the evil of all evils. 
 
 

Mahamoud Yusuf Mahamed,

Former Voter Education Officer for NEC,

Hargeisa, May 24, 2010