SCO - Somaliland Cadastre Office by Kowsky Immobilien

SOMALILAND CADASTRE OFFICE

Centralised Land Registration in Somaliland: A Key to Economic & Strategic Development A Proposal to: The Esteemed Representatives of The Republic of Somaliland

INVOLVEMENTS In Association with and Services from

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.... Preamble Political Institutions and their Roles in Land Reform

2........... 3........... 4...........

5........... 6...........

Ministry of Justice Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Finance Ministry of Post & Communication Ministry of Planning & Development Hargeisa Municipality Association of Local Government Authorities in Somaliland Land Dispute Council The Land Management Board Land & Urban Management Institute

Obstacles & Solutions: Government Institutions Ministry of Justice Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Finance Ministry of Post & Communication Ministry of Planning & Development Hargeisa Municipality Association of Local Government Authorities in Somaliland Land Dispute Council

............9 ..........10 ..........11 ..........12 ..........13 ..........14 ..........15 ..........16 ..........17

NGOs UN-Habitat ..........18

Financial Institiutions Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce

Dahabshiil & Salaama Bank ..........19

What is a Cadastre? What is Conveyance?

7........... Ofﬁce Reponsibilities & Mandate The Stakeholders

8........... The Beneﬁt to Somaliland

......20 Proposal

PREAMBLE As Somaliland continues to recover from the aftermath of the Somali Civil War that ended in 1991, its political and jurisdictional institutions and executive authorities are still struggling to cope with the many development issues at hand. While Somaliland has made many headways and valiant efforts, unfortunately, the country currently falls short of its own stated goals for development. The framework today is comparatively weak in comparison to pre civil war Somaliland, but the security situation and political stability have massively improved over successive adminstrations. Today Somaliland is one of the few true democracies in Africa, albeit it a young one. In regard to real estate there exists a legal framework outlined by Land Management Law No. 17/2001, composed via Presidential Decree in 2001 and amended in 2008. Since the drafting of this law, institutions created such as LUMI (Land & Urban Management Institute), The Land Dispute Council and the National Land Management Board were created. Their creation was based on executing Land Management Law 17/2001 with hopes of improving the current state of national and municipal land management. By their own admission, most of these institutions are young or lack capacity to fulﬁl their duties. In order to improve this situation, UN-habitat, a United Nations agency for human settlements, has made numerous attempts to work with these institutions individually to little or moderate success. The assistance provided by UN Habitat includes technical, ﬁnancial and capacity building support and with training. While these efforts have provided moderate temporary success, there is nothing permanent in place to help build Somaliland’s land registration.

The main obstacle in the real estate sector in Somaliland remains the weak legal environment. Land Management Law 17/2001 only provides a rough legal framework and leaves openings that have been exploited on multiple levels. In addition, there exist several concerns that remain from the civil war, such as land grabbing and disputes, which have exacerbated the problems faced by the municipalities and national institutions. Due to the weak understanding of the individual mandates of government institutions, there are unclear duties; some of which overlap, some of which go beyond their customary mandate. This legal vacuum offers space for corruption and activities counter-productive to a uniﬁed strategy to move Somaliland’s agendas forward. There is also a lack of communication between the ministries and municipalities, unclear duties and a pseudocompetition between authorities with common goals. To improve this overall environment, the government has to explore credible solutions to these continued deﬁciencies. An area of priority is the repair of the legal climate, as only when the legal loopholes are closed, will laws be enforceable. When the necessary legal capacities exist, the remaining planned development will be uncomplicated to impliment. Over the course of this report, detailed insight will be given, as well as how the establishment of a Cadastre will help provide initial solutions to many of the obstacles faced.

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR ROLES IN LAND REFORM Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice is the highest judicial institution in Somaliland. Since the re-independence of Somaliland, the main traffic experienced by Somaliland’s judicial system is the resolution of conflicts based on land disputes. Since the founding of the before mentioned LDC (Land Dispute Committee) it no longer has jurisdiction over future cases, but it is still involved in disputes that are brought to its attention by disgruntled claimants who are not satisfied with the outcome provided by the LDC. As the national legal arm, the Ministry of Justice was part of a group, including municipalities, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Works, which spearheaded an effort to clamp down on the double notary document issue. Secondary to their inability to prevent tax evasion, the other issue is the ministry’s inability to enforce the rule of law. An example is that public notaries are required by law to report (every five days) all transactions conducted, but don’t provide these reports in actuality. The ministry acknowledges that several laws have been passed which are vital; however, they remain unenforceable as they lack both the tools and capacity to do so.

Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport

The Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transportation is, besides the Ministry of Agriculture, the main stakeholder in public lands. Based on Land Management Law No. 17/2001 all rural lands are owned by the government and managed by the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport and the Ministry of Agriculture. Due to the high number of conﬂicts and problems with public land related issues, the ministry set up a National Land Committee that’s mission is, inter alia, to re-assert the authority and jurisdiction over public lands. In the beginning of 2013 the national government claimed to have taken back control of all national lands and even been able to collect rents from government owned properties.

Ministry of Agriculture The Ministry of Agriculture’s primary concern is rural farming lands outside the urban areas. Since 1989, they have been working with a Mr. John Drysdale, on a rural land registry. A major oversight is that this work has been conducted without the cooperation of other ministries. This is another clear illustration of the lack of communication between ministries, and is testament to the fact that they are unknowingly working in different directions. The unilateral approach taken by the ministry undermines a nationalised maps and land registry, an effort that will have to be repeated once a system is in place. The ministry has taken the onus to establish its own cadastral survey, but hasn’t been any development in cadastral mapping on the municipal level for years. What is not apparent to the Ministry of Agriculture is that they are undermining both the Ministry of public works Housing & Transport. In the end this may lead to a situation of overlapping cadastres. The Ministry of Agriculture is an important Ministry, as it is besides the Ministry of Public Works Housing & Transport, the biggest stakeholder in public lands (rural lands). This ‘go it alone’ attitude taken by the ministry has in the past allowed the patchy legal framework to be abused. In previous administrations, there were people in this ministry who took advantage of the organisational anarchy and sold rural lands to investors and land grabbers. This was the case with lands close to Hargeisa, lands that will undoubtedly become urbanised as the city continues to expand. This is an unforeseen ﬁscal loss to the government in both physical and monetary assets. Most of the fees and monies paid never will never reach the national treasury, and it is due to the unchecked authority the ministry is given with regards to land registration.

Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance is included in all monetary and tax aspects. In real estate they are included on property transfer transactions and income on rental properties. As mentioned regarding Law No. 17/2001, and its very basic legal framework, the Ministry of Finance also faces legal issues; there are still bills in place from an Acting Bill passed in 1960. There are currently new bills under review by the Presidential Cabinet, so in foreseeable future, the legal pillars will most likely be brought up to date. Regarding the very basic processes, all taxes are paid in cash in Somaliland Shillings. Many of the procedures are slow, complicated and offer easy opportunity for fraudulent activity. In real estate, there are three different types of property revenue due: a) income tax on rental income, b) taxes on property sales and c) 3% registration fee for new properties. Since all payments have to be made in cash, some on federal and some on municipal levels, the process can be confusing and unduly complicated. Most of the work is still done using analogue trails, such as legal documents used and issued by notaries. This sometimes leads to dual issues, which are used for tax evasion. In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice there have been new forms with reference numbers created, which aren’t effectively enforced. The work of public notaries requires reorganisation as well as new stop and processes to avoid the effortless evasion of taxes. A shared system of cooperation that goes beyond the paper trail is what is desperately needed by both the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice.

It is clear that there is a great need for organization, communication and new methods to improve a tax collection numbers in the ministry. Most ofﬁcials are aware of shared problems they face, but it is hard to improve the situation without the proper tools. The Chief Tax Collector for Maroodi Jeex region estimates that only 10% of inland revenue is collected as opposed to 90% uncollected. A digital tool for tax collection would create an estimated Inland Revenue of at least $300 million per annum.

Ministry of Post & Communication

The Ministry of Post & Communication, with little relation to land reform, plays an important role in local infrastructure development in the urban areas. Their main concern is the establishment of a postcode system and to assist with the street names being set up municipally. This will be a crucial development, for the establishment of a regular postal service. There have been numerous attempts and discussions held with the intention of setting up a national postcode system, but the lack of communication and cooperation between ministries has hampered their effort. Different yet interdependent institutions are waiting for each other to make the ﬁrst step towards the setting up of a postal system. This confusion has led to the stagnation and slow development of a postal system. The weak communication process is compounded by the fact that all systems and processes are done in analogue. A digital solution would be a great deal easier to manage and implement.

Under the former Minister of Finance, Honourable Mohamed Xashi-Elmi, a municipal project was set up in cooperation with UN-Habitat, which aimed for a digital cadastre map (based on GIS = Geo Information System) to improve the collection of annual property taxes. Since the cabinet reshufﬂe in which he was replaced, this project is no longer operational and the purchased servers are in disuse.

Ministry of Planning & Development

The Ministry of Planning & Development has no direct mandate regarding land reform, but it has a coordinating and monitoring position being one of the major ministries in government. Its mandate is to oversee and manage the shared planning processes of the other ministries, and to align their agendas into a coherent national development plan. As their current primary focus is food security and water, the ministry is not working on land reform and is unable to provide any statistics or plans pertaining to land. Their role as a monitor, however, is informal and there are no formal agreements between the ministries, and no formal cooperation with the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport. Due to the lack of a shared agenda on land reform, the ministries that are supposed to have a shared plan and strategy are working against each other instead of together on land reform. The only time relevant ministries meet to discuss land reform is in informal settings such as training and workshops. The only direct inﬂuence and mandate the Ministry of Planning & Development, in regard to land reformation, is its chair position on the National Land Management Board. This is a board that comprises of 13 ministries as well as Somaliland’s Water and Utility companies. The board hasn’t had much success, as most of the members of the board are funds seekers for development projects, so land reform is not a priority and plays only a small part in their work. When approached in discussion with regards to land reformation, the Ministry of Planning & Development clearly acknowledges that it is one of the most important issues facing the country. Along with a weak judicial system, illegal land grabbing, and the major lack of funding and human resources. Attempts at implementing enforceable laws have been hindered by tribalism, and this tribalism plays a major role in existing rural land disputes. An example is the currently defunct cement factory in Berbera. A major work, with a potential massive developmental impact on the entire country,was blocked by a local tribe who insisted the lands and areas were under their jurisdiction.

The surprising contradiction is, that while the Ministry of Planning & Development views land reform as a critical process that the country needs to foster further development; it fails to be mentioned anywhere in the Somaliland National Development Plan.

Hargeisa Municipality

The Municipality of Hargeisa has around 60,000 registered properties under its jurisdiction and this number is currently increasing at a rate of approximately 2,000 properties per year. The municipality manages the six-step registering process, known to take one to two weeks if all the necessary documents are produced on time. Once a property is registered, paper ﬁles are kept in an archive that dates back to 1995. In an attempt to modernise the process, the Municipality of Hargeisa worked with UN Habitat to set up a Geographical Information System, a non-digital solution. There are discussions about possible arrangements between the municipality and the Ministry of Planning, but there are no other known formal arrangements that create a cooperative link between the municipality and government ministries. Via their work with UN Habitat, at one point there was a future cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Post & Communication, with plans to use technology as a tool to improve the registration process which has yet to be implemented.

The council members mention they would be thoroughly interested in close communication with the Ministry of Justice, as their biggest obstacle are notary documents which fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry. From the LDC’s point of view, the notary documents are their biggest problem as it creates ample room for frivolous cases.

The municipality selected council, was intended to alleviate the burden on the Ministry of Justice, but there is no formal agreement or cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, nor with any other ministry. The council is only required to report to the Municipality of Hargeisa and is not monitored by any other authority.

The Land Dispute Council was established with the passing the Law No. 17 in 2001, but has been functional since 2011. It was mandated to solve conﬂicts over un-built lands and to assist with the many any civil cases (except central government lands) clogging up the court system. Most cases are over rightful ownership rarely about land boundaries.

Land Dispute Council (LDC)

The association has established an annual meeting of mayors in an attempt to enhance the communication and sharing of best practices between them. ALGAS provides assistance and direction while the funding, training, manuals and constitutions as well as electronic systems fare provided by UN-Habitat.

The 2006 established, UN-Habitat funded ALGAS, is a training and education association. Their goal is to become a focal point that unites the municipalities in an effort to resolve their shared concerns. The association connects international associations with those in Somaliland and works on reconciliation of mandates between municipal and federal levels. A priority of the association is training on resolving land conﬂict and restoring faith in the municipalities.

Association of Local Governments Authorities in Somaliland (ALGAS)

The Minister of Public Works, Housing & Transport The Minister of Health The Minister of Agriculture The Minister of Minerals & Water The Minister of Interior The Minister of Environment & Rural Affairs The Minister of Post & Communication The Director General of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport The article continues to state that the National Management Board will be given further directives via presidential decree, however, this board has only ever met once, and that meeting took place on 27/01/13. No speciﬁc goals or targets from the private meeting were made public, the best information from sources suggests that the only outcome of the meeting was a general agreement and consensus that there is much work to be done.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

The National Land Board was brought to life via Article IV of Land Mangement Law 17/2001. It is a board that consists of the following members as outlined in the law:

National Land Management Board

There is also a lack of training and organisation making their work difﬁcult, and there are simple solutions that can aid in their work. The LDC expressed that they desperately need to digitize their processes and municipal archives to speed up their work.

Land & Urban Management Institute

The Land & Urban Management Institute is a governmental institute dedicated to implimenting the various articles of Land Management Law 17/2001. Their strategic plan drafted on the 24th of February, 2012 with the assistance of UN Habitat, states the following: “The Land and Urban mangement Institute is the first inter-minesterial professional body established in Somaliland. LUMI was developed out oft he former National Urban Planning Institute (NUPI), which was endorsed by Land Mangement Law No. 17/2001 (Article II).’ The creation of this organisation is a comendable effort, however, on our visit to their offices we were informed that they are currently not working on any plans or projects. There also seems to be a great effort on the part of UN Habitat to set up a working system through their work with LUMI, but it has resulted in failure. In order to assist in the creation of a fully functional inter-ministerial national land agenda, the foundation tools and resources need to first be put in place.

THE SOMALILAND CADASTRE OFFICE What is a Cadastre?

Registered property rights are necessary to support investment, productivity and growth. Cadastres and land registries are tools used around the world to map, prove and secure property and use rights. These institutions are part of the land information system of an economy. With land and buildings accounting for between one-half and three-quarters of the wealth in most economies, having an up-to-date land information system clearly matters. The beneﬁts of land registration go beyond the private sector. For governments, having reliable up-to-date information in cadastres and land registries is essential to correctly assess and collect tax revenue. With up-to- date land information, governments can map the different needs in their cities and strategically plan the provision of services and infrastructure in the areas of each city where they are most needed. 1

What is Conveyance?

Conveyance is the legal system for all aspects of buying and selling property. The conveyance profession is practiced by solicitors, specialist lawyers or in some countries, a licensed conveyancer. Conveyance is a necessary tool for any attempt at land management as it details the individual rights of land buyers, as well as a clear cut process that is to be undertaken with the full rights of both the buyer and seller taken into consideration before registration with government.

Office Responsibilities & Mandate The creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Office is long overdue as envisioned and planned. The office’s mandate would be Article 27 of the Land Management Law 17/2001, which states the need for functional land registry. The Somaliland Cadastre Office will be a publicprivate partnership tasked with the setting up of a Cadastre System for Somaliland as well as seeking the funds to establish the office and generating the finances to maintain its operations once running.

The main goal or the Somaliland Cadastre Office is to facilitate the ease of property transactions for both the private and public sector. It will include a centralized digital registry that includes the details of all properties which specific data such as GPS coordinates, property dimensions, property ownership, property transaction history, property dispute history, property value. Such a tool would be of vast benefit. A secondary priority of the Somaliland Cadastre Office would be to assist that Land Management Board as well as the Land & Urban Management Institute fulfill their respective mandates. By providing a centralized institution that does the technical work, we will allow for them to remain focused on providing guidance and direction on land and urban planning. The Somaliland Cadastre Office will not act in the traditional sense of a land registry, as it would incorporate into its system various responsibilities that are unique to the needs of Somaliland such as: 1. Working closely with the Ministry of Justice in order to ensure that the legal public notary documents used for property transactions are stored centrally. The office would then hold a copy of the document digitally, which could be referenced against the documents submitted to the Ministry of Finance and courthouses ensuring that the same document is used across the board. Providing the Ministry of Finance an opportunity to 2. log revenue collected against a cadastral map so that they can ensure taxes are collected on all properties. 3. Assisting the Ministry of Post & Communication set up a postcode system. 4. Assisting the Ministry of Public Works Housing & Transport assert its authority and properly demarcate publicly owned lands. 1 Doing Business in Somaliland (p. 3)

5. Providing visual aids for the Ministry of Planning to use for future urban planning and development. 6. Assisting the municipal government set up zoning laws. 7. Providing banks the ability to mark properties used as collateral as unsalable. 8. Providing the intelligence services with a one-stop shop to determine ownership of a property or further details on the occupants of the house. 9. Providing the courts with a detailed historical property record and the ability to log previous disputes and update new ones.

Stakeholders

The stakeholders of this new office would be the ministries included in the National Land Board, but would also include representatives from the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Justice as well as representatives from the municipal governments. The implementer and management of this project would be Somaliland Real Estate, a private company with the experi ence and expertise to manage this office in coordination with it’s partner international consultancy firms.

The Somaliland Cadastre Office’s hidden benefit would be the ability of the banks to spur economic growth by increasing their loans to businesses and private citizens. In the safe knowledge that collateral properties cannot be sold without the consent of a loan provider (via a simple trip to a public notary or re-registration of land), banks will be more willing to provide loans. An important value would be an opportunity for the Government of Somaliland to show it can commission an office that is functional, profitable, and takes advantage of the capacities of the private sector’s work ethic, professionalism and accountability and intolerance for complacency. By hiring a private company for the implementation and management of the office, as well as allowing it to be a private shareshare holder, it would create an environment where the responsibilities falls on an entity with a clear financial objective tied to the project’s success.

Beneﬁts to Somaliland

The establishment of the Somaliland Cadastre Office will not only help enforce the various stipulations in the articles found in Land Management Law 17/2001, but it will also assist the government of Somaliland in fulfilling its pledge to enact land-reform. By establishing the Somaliland Cadastre Office, tax revenue will leap within a few years of the implementation of land registry, and the frivolous cases clogging up the various municipal courts would start to drop, allowing the courthouses to focus on protecting the public’s other rights, as well as the rights of businesses in order to create a safer business environment.

GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS OBSTACLES & SOLUTIONS Ministry of Justice

Solution

The main obstacle faced by the ministry is a lack of cooperation between the central government and the municipal governments. While the municipal governments are tasked with the implementation of various aspects of Land Management, they are yet to operate in a manner that ﬁts within the greater plans of the Ministry.

Beneﬁts to the Ministry

The Ministry that experiences the most difﬁculties with the implementation of Land Regulation is the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry has made numerous attempts to enforce the regulations as set out in Land Management Law 17/2001, such as the establishment of functional Land Dispute Council, however, they are yet to enforce the rule of law due to various deﬁciencies present in their system.

Both the municipal governments, and the Ministry blame the other for this lack of cooperation and their inability to work together to enforce Land Management Law 17/2001. The enforcement of the rule of law lies within the mandate of the Ministry of Justice and they are unable to do this due to the fact that there are no shared tools between the ministries and municipal governments. The Ministry of Justice also feels that the Ministry of Finance can do a better job at revenue collection.

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, the Ministry of Justice would have access to a shared digital database common between the two, and other ministries that would allow access to original copies of documents and the history of land disputes that can then be used by both the Land Dispute Council and the Court Houses.

 A tool to assist with conveyance in Somaliland  A tool to combat the frivolous lawsuits consuming their efforts  Tools to audit the documents created by the various Public Notaries, especially those that are active participants in document fraud  A central database of all Land Deeds & Titles, historically, in Somaliland

Sources: Interview held with HE Minster of Justice Xuseen Axmed Caydiid on 10/02/13

Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport

The ministry with the perhaps the greatest difficulty in enforcing its mandate with regards to land ownership is the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport. The ministry is given a broad range of directives in Land Management Law 17/2001, all of which are difficult to enact without some sort of cooperation between the various levels of government. While the Land Management Board met on 27/01/13 for the first time, there is still no clear directive as to how to move forward with the major task at hand for the Ministry. The Ministry is aware of the importance of Land Reform, and has set up the Land & Urban Management Institute with offices on their premises in order to facilitate the creation of the system that will allow for the proper management of land in Somaliland. The Land & Urban Management Institute, however, remains an office that is effective on paper, but has not made any tangible progress with regards to the directive given by the Minister on 17/12/2012.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Office, the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport will finally have a long-awaited tool needed to effectively fulfill its mandate. By having a visible indication of the assets it is required to oversee, monitor and manage, it will be better able to work towards the smart use of these assets in a manner that is beneficial to the development of Somaliland’s infrastructure and overall development.

Beneﬁts to the Ministry  A tool to assist the government’s planned Land Reform as outlined in the President’s address to parliament in 2013  A tool to provide a template for future land planning and development  The ability to differentiate between privately held and public lands for future developmental plans

Sources: Interview held with Fuad Ahmed Hussein, Advisor to the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport on 12/02/13

Ministry of Agriculture

One of the biggest deﬁciencies in the Ministry of Agriculture is its pursuit of an individual land-registry system for the registration of rural lands. Through work with John Drysdale and UN Habitat, the Ministry has set up a deed system for rural lands without consulting the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport. The effect of this unilateral effort outside of its mandate, is that these deeds will then be legal documents used by rural landowners to claim ownership of public land. So long as there is no dispute between the borders of land ownership, the Ministry ﬁnds no issue with issuing these deeds to whoever makes a request. This current project is detrimental to the interests of Somaliland as it is giving away the rights to public lands in a pseudo-fashion.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, the Ministry of Agriculture will be unable to unilaterally work on a land-registry, but would have to work with other ministries across the board. They will have access to a tool that clearly marks the boundaries between public and private lands.

Sources: Interview held with The Honorable Minister Farah Elmi on 09/02/13.

Ministry of Finance

Solution

The main concern in terms of Real Estate revenue is the weak notary system in Somaliland that allows for the use of dual copies of transaction documents. Due to the use of one copy for actual records, and another fraudulent copy for tax reporting purposes, a massive opportunity for tax evasion exists and is exploited. A massive deﬁcit in revenue collection is present as a result.

Beneﬁts to the Ministry

While the Ministry works with the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport, there is no clear method or tool for the two to collaborate on efforts to stamp out tax evasion. It is estimated that the ability to properly collect taxes due on property transfers and registrations would be a substantial percentage of the 300 Million dollar deﬁcit that the Ministry currently estimates is missing.

 A tool to audit submitted revenue

There are currently no manuals or regulations at the moment at the Ministry of Finance, nor any clear guidelines to follow on tax collection. The Ministry is still operating under a legacy bill from 1960 that is out of date. There has been an effort by the Ministry of Justice to create a new system that uses a speciﬁc form with the Ministry of Finance; however, this process hasn’t been effective as the Ministry of Justice is currently struggling to enforce this new process.

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, the Ministry of Finance would have access to the original copy of the notary document that will be used across the board. The buyers would have no legal protection unless they were forthcoming and honest about the value of the transaction; forcing them to report the appropriate ﬁgures when paying taxes to the ministry.

 A tool to monitor property transactions so that the Ministry is better aware of the funds owed to it for revenue collection  The ability to determine the exact fees owed to it on property transactions

 A tool that will facilitate with ﬁnancial forecasts

Sources: Interview held with Abdisalam Mohamed Mohamoud, Chief Collector for Maroodi Jeex on 10/02/2013

Ministry of Post & Communication

The Ministry of Post & Communications is one of the documented ministries failing to enact its mandate with regards to post. The lack of a postal code system in Somaliland is one of the main factors hindering further development in the nation. The Ministry is currently working with UN Habitat to establish a post-code system but this process has been in stagnation for many years. The issue is that the Ministry of Post is waiting on the completion of capacity work with the municipal government, while the municipal government is waiting for direction from the Ministry of Post & Communication. This has led to a breakdown of the work started by UN Habitat as the entire post-code project has been in hiatus.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, the Ministry of Post & Communication would have a tool to work off of in order to create a working postcode system in Somaliland, as well as access to a shared digital database common between them and other ministries that would allow access to original copies of documents.

Beneﬁts to the Ministry  The foundation to create a post-code system  A tool to remedy the working relationship between them and the municipal level  The ability to coordinate between the water agency, utility companies and voter registry with a single house numbering system

Sources: Interview held with Eng. Mohamed Abdillahi Elmi, Director General of Communication and Hassan Nur Fahiye, Adviser (Former Director General) on 10/02/13

Ministry of Planning & Development

While the mandate of this ministry is ‘all things planning’, Land Reform was a key omission to both the Somaliland Vision 2030 and the Somaliland 5 Year National Development plan. There was a lack of importance placed on the issue of land reform, and it is due to the lack of information provided by the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport. In our interview, the Director General stressed the importance of a central land-registry and the ability to plan for the future development of Somaliland, however, he mentioned that the Ministry of Works Housing & Public Transport lacked the tools it required to effectively monitor land and to implement any of the articles mentioned in Land Management Law 17/2013.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, the Ministry of Planning will have a live indication of Somaliland’s progress in terms of land development for both rural and urban lands. They can then use this information to formulate a better plan on how to better direct the management of the country’s assets in the future.

Beneﬁts to the Ministry  A tool to assist the government’s planned Land Reform as outlined in the President’s address to the parliament in 2013  A tool to provide a template for future land planning and development  The ability to differentiate between privately held and public lands for future developmental plans

Sources: Interview held with Ahmed Abdillahi Nadif, Director General of Planning Department on 12/02/13

Hargeisa Municipality

At the municipal level, the burden of the land issue is most evident. The Municipality openly admits to demarcating public land as there is no working cooperation between the central and municipal levels of government, and no other government agency preventing them from acting in an illegal or unilateral manner. The municipality complains about the lack of support from the Ministry of Justice, and is aware it is missing out on a tax windfall due to the fraudulent public notary issue. The municipality has mentioned that various approaches have been attempted, and that a preliminary cadaster system with the aid of UN Habitat was set up, but this has not become a fruitful system and is no longer functioning. Records are currently kept in hard format, a system that has created opportunity for havoc and disorganization.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Office, the Municipality of Hargeisa will finally be able to fulfill its long held goal of setting up a Cadastre that can be used across the board. This can then be replicated to the other municipalities across Somaliland.

Beneﬁts to the Municipality  The ability to collect on rightfully owed property taxes  The ability to monitor the growth and development of the city, as well as to plan on how to effectively zone future surrounding areas  The opportunity to have a better working relationship with the central government

Sources: Interview held with Abdulqadir Omer Jama, Director of Planning & Development on 11/02/13.

Association of Loval Government Authorities in Somaliland (ALGAS)

The Association of Local Government Authorities of Somaliland (ALGAS) is an organization tasked with creating an intelligible form of cooperation between local municipalities. While their ofﬁces are open, the organization lacks the ability to act on its original mandate at inception and has resorted to simply holding seminars and drafting publications. The original intention for this organization was for it to share systems and process, as well as best practices used by the various municipal authorities in Somaliland. The organization’s lack of many tools in order to fulﬁll its mandate of correcting systems and processes across municipalities, and that they feel too overwhelmed to make a genuine effort, shows the need for these tools to be provided with the assistance of the Government of Somaliland.

Solution

Beneﬁts to ALGAS  A tool to assist the government’s planned Land Reform as outlined in the President’s address to the parliament in 2013  A tool that can be used to bridge the gap between the municipal and central levels of government

Sources: Interview held with Jamal Sulaiman, Admin & Finance Ofﬁcer on 11/02/13

Land Dispute Council

The Land Dispute Council was set up by a directive in Land Management Law 17/2001, but did not actually begin its operation until 2010. While it is tasked with being functional throughout Somaliland, it is only currently operating in the Municipality of Hargeisa. The main objective of the Land Dispute Council is to alleviate the burden of frivolous court cases on the Municipal Court Houses; however, they have been inundated with the same number of requests and have not managed to reduce the number of cases that are presented to them. While they have had moderate success, they mention that due to the lack of a proper system being put in place, and a lack of the tools necessary such as a database, they have to work in good faith and with hopes that they will be able to reduce the frivolous land dispute issue. They feel that their will only be able to realistically begin to tackle their mandate when they are provided with the appropriate digital tools and solutions.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, the Land Dispute Council will have the ability to instantaneously review when land was registered, to whom it was registered, and the entire transaction history of that particular property.

Beneﬁts to the LDC  A tool to instantly determine frivolous cases and separate them from the legitimate ones  A tool for them to ﬁnally be able to act in accordance with Land Management Law 17/2001  A tool to assist the government’s planned Land Reform as outlined in the President’s address to parliament in 2013

Sources: Interview held with Mohamed Abdirahman, Chairman of LDC on 11/02/13

NGOs

OBSTACLES & SOLUTIONS UN-Habitat

UN Habitat is an international non-government organization with an ofﬁce operating in Hargeisa, Somaliland. UN Habitat has worked with various government ministries as well as municipalities in Somaliland on projects with varying success. There has been millions spent in an attempt to assist with Somaliland’s Land Reform process, however, the implementation of projects was never coordinated. The reality is, UN Habitat lacks an ideal counterpart in government able to correspond with the various government agencies in order to achieve a shared success. The issue with UN Habitat is their practice of ‘spreading themselves thin.’ Through their involvement with various agencies with no master agenda, or a plan as to how to bring these various projects together, they are inadvertently creating an up-hill battle for themselves. An example is their work with The Municipal Government of Hargeisa, ill advisedly attempting to set up a cadaster system without the involvement of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing & Transport. UN Habitat has a solid intention of bringing about a positive change, however, owing to their methods; they have been unsuccessful in making any real progress on the land management front.

Solution

With the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce, UN Habitat would have a fully functioning and capable counterpart for their efforts.

Benefits to the Ministry  UN Habitat will finally have a one-stop shop to work with on projects  They can finally implement a project that has wasted millions of funding that can be used for further developmental projects

Cooperation between UN Habitat and the Land & Urban Management Institute (LUMI), the organization they helped create in order to begin true land reform, has broken down due to the lack of tangible effort from LUMI and no real direction apart from what is written in their Strategic Development plan.

Sources: Interview held with Aydarus Elmi, Former Senior Assistant Engineer & Admin of Planning on 12/02/13

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS OBSTACLES & SOLUTIONS Dahabshiil & Salaama Banks

There are currently two local private banks operating in Somaliland: Dahabshiil and Salaama Bank. Both banks have managed to amass a vast amount of liquidity with the intention of using them to provide loans. The ability to obtain a loan from a bank is one of the cornerstones in the development of industry in any nation; however, there is an inability to safely provide such loans in Somaliland, as the banks do not have the same protections provided to ﬁnancial institutions in other countries. The existing private banks in Somaliland are unable to use property as collateral for loans, as there is no protection for them from the public sector with regards to true land ownership. The ability to sell property via a simple trip to a public notary creates the insecurity that prevents local banks from providing these loans more openly.

Solution

One of the greatest benefits that will be obtained through the creation of the Somaliland Cadastre Office is that the banks will now have the ability to confirm ownership of land, review the history of transactions (in order to better place a value on the properties), and an ability for them to prevent the sale of said lands once used as collateral. This will single-handedly create a domestically fueled economic boom with residual benefits that will reverberate across the nation.

Beneﬁts to Financial Institutions  The ability to mark properties as unsalable in an enforceable manner  A tool to assist in the valuation of properties used for collateral  The conﬁdence to use virtually any physical property as collateral for loans

PROPOSAL

CONTACT

We are asking the government of the Republic of Somaliland to establish the Somaliland Cadastre Ofﬁce so that we can work together to make Article 27 of Land Management Law 17/2001 a reality.

Somaliland Real Estate

By providing us with the mandate to run this ofﬁce, and non-ﬁnancial assistance, we are asking for permission to implement a project that will literally change the future social and economic development of Somaliland.

+2522.471.6171

René A. Kowsky +49.152.2994.5947

Kaiser & Marshall +2522.424.0710

We thank you for considering our request and look forward to discussing the project in more detail.