Norway pays Somalia's government salaries

Monday, September 09, 2013

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Norway has started paying the salaries of Somalia's government bureaucrats believing that this is the best way to help the fledgling state establish itself.

Money from Norway's aid budget is going towards paying the salaries of 380 public employees in the country, with Price Waterhouse Coopers managing the transfers.

The first payments were made last week, and went to workers in the country's Ministry of Finance and country's Auditor General, two organisations which need to be functional for the country to be able to fight the government corruption seen in the previous transitional administration.

"What we expect is a strengthened public financial sector, which can control the budget, be transparent with their projects, and so enhance the reputation of the government," Norway's international development minister Eidsvoll Holmås said of the project.

Last year, Somalia's parliament elected Sheikh Hassan Mohamud as its new president, but the state's ability to administer and control the country remains weak.

"In Somalia, international organizations run schools, healthcare and do everything that a state is normally expected to do," Holmås said. "Building up the state's competence allows it to increase its legitimacy, and so you get greater incentives to create political stability and peaceful development."

The payments are administered by PricewaterhouseCoopers and employees must register biometric data to ensure that the payments go only to the intended recipients.

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