1

High-Quality Research Support (HQRS) Programme

Ahmed Ali Mohamed

IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON JOB OPPORTUINITES (CASE STUDY UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE)

2

ACKNOWLDGEMENT: I would like to thank my mentor Mr. Gilberto Algar-Faria, University of Bristol, OCVP and Transparency

solution for their endless technical help in preparing this research paper through the High-Quality

Research Support Programme (HQRS)

3

Acronyms

FGD Focus Group Discussion

HQRS High quality research support program

INGOs International None-governmental Organizations

KII Key Informant Interviews

OCVP Observatory of Conflict and Violence Pretension

TS Transparency Solutions

UNDP United Nation Development Program

UN United Nations

4

Contents ACKNOWLDGEMENT: .................................................................................................................................... 2

Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................................... 3

Corruption Impact on Job Opportunities ...................................................................................................... 5

Recruitment Process of Garowe ................................................................................................................... 8

University Graduates’ Chance of Getting Jobs Compared to Non-Graduates ............................................ 10

Number of Graduates ............................................................................................................................. 10

Salaries and Higher Positions .................................................................................................................. 10

Lack of Strict Laws Against Corruption ................................................................................................... 11

Employment Rate Impact on University Graduates ................................................................................... 12

Emigration ............................................................................................................................................... 12

Joining Militant Groups ........................................................................................................................... 13

Discouraging youth to study ................................................................................................................... 13

Proposed Recommendations on prevention corruption in job opportunities ........................................... 14

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 15

5

Corruption Impact on Job Opportunities Corruption is very high in Somalia, Puntland and specifically Garowe - where this study focuses

on. This problem has been in the country for so long that most of the people now treat it as a

normal thing. This study will investigate the impact of corruption on job opportunities, the

recruitment process, challenges graduates face in getting jobs, the effect of the employment

rate on graduates and recommendations for mitigating and solving this phenomena. This

section examines if corruption has an impact on job opportunities among Garowe community

according to the KII’s and the FGD interviewees.

Corruption has been big problem in this country for the last 25 years as the central government

collapsed in 1991 and the whole country has gone into deep anarchy and unlawfulness. Civil

war broke out which forced people to flee their homes and each and every clan to settle

different lands together as a mechanism of defense that has brought people to only live and

interact with their clan relatives for the last 25 years and the people of this country to have

been living separately. It has brought people to not trust people other than their own relatives

and clan members.

According to the research respondents, corruption has very big impact on job opportunities in

Garowe and it is very hard for graduates to find a job without any help from senior members of

organizations or even the government. A women association member has argued the following:

“There is corruption in Garowe and most of the time people don’t get jobs unless they

bring with them powerful person like traditional elder and ministry of the

government”1. (Naimo, 2017)

During the interviews the study observed that most of the interviewees have experienced

corruption directly or indirectly and this displays how abundant this phenomena has impact on

job opportunities in the country. A Religious leader have expressed the following

“Corruption has very big impact in job opportunities in the country and mostly it has

promoted the insecurity and migration of the country”2. (Abdurahman, 2017)

The study also observed several interviewees arguing that there has been no evidence against

corruption in relation to job opportunities and that graduates always reason the cause is

corruption when they don’t get job. A government official and traditional elder stated the

following separately:

“There are always doubts that corruption has impact on job opportunities in Puntland

but there has never been evidence to support that and to me I believe that corruption

has very little impact on Puntland jobs”3 (Mohamud, 2017)

1 Woman association member 28/07/2017 2 Religious Leader 20/07/2017 3 Government Official 22/07/2017

6

“Really I don’t have any proof or evidence that corruption has impact on job creations in

Puntland but I share the feelings with the community which mostly complain about

corruption when they look for jobs”4. (Abdiqani, 2017)

The study has also investigated actual cases where people have experienced corruption and the

outcome was phenomenal as more of the interviewees would share with you stories where

they or their own relatives have faced corruption in looking for a job. A youth association

member has stated:

“There has been case where my own brother has applied for a job in Garowe and he

has gone through all the necessary tests and interviews and later they told him he got

the job but they to wait for their call, he has been calling them for more than two

months and every time he was told to wait and later he found out the job was given

to another person there he gave up”5. (Ahmed, 2017)

This practice almost occurs every day in Garowe and overall Puntland. A religious leader shared

the following story

“In Galkaio I have seen a case where candidate who have sat for employment tests

were one candidate got 86% and the other 37% and the employers gave the job the

later one as they reason it that this person was their relatives and they could him

with their assets more than the other”6. (Abdurahman, 2017)

Traditional elders have a big impact when a university graduate is looking for a job as they can

talk to employers regarding giving someone a job through tribalism or even nepotism and most

of the times job seekers get jobs through traditional elders. If the candidate has no one to

promote him he/she would struggle to find a decent job. A university graduate/employed

shared a story were he once sat a test and interview for a job and before the test began one of

the candidate told him that he is wasting his time and that candidate was already selected for

the position after he brought clan elders with him to talk the employer into giving him the job

and later he found out that exact candidate got the job7

There is a notion that job seekers always look for the employer whenever a job is advertised

rather than looking at the job responsibilities or even whether he/she can perform those

duties. Candidates believe that getting the job is more important as if they are selected they

would get training for the job. A member of student’s FGD interviewees stated:

4 Traditional Elder 15/07/2017 5 Youth association member 25/07/2017 6 Religious Leader 20/07/2017 7 University Graduate/Employed 22/7/2017

7

“For me there is no specific case that I encountered but I think there is problem which

job seekers always look for the recruiter rather than looking at the job responsibilities

whether they can perform it”8. (Farah, 2017)

8 University Students FGD 29/7/2017

8

Recruitment Process of Garowe Recruitment process is overall a process of recruiting the right person for the right positions. As

we know, the recruitment process plays a vital role in any organization or even a whole country

and if someone who does not have the right qualifications is given the wrong job than

productivity of that organization will go down and lastly will face bankruptcy.

According to Australian HR institute, recruitment can be defined “as searching for and obtaining

a pool of potential candidates with the desired knowledge, skills and experience to allow an

organization to select the most appropriate people to fill job vacancies against defined position

descriptions and specifications” (institute, n.d.). The same source has explained: “Once a pool

of candidates has been identified through the recruitment process the most appropriate

candidate, or candidates are identified through a selection process including but not limited to

interviewing, reference checking and testing. The purpose of the selection process is to ensure

that the best person or people are appointed to the role or roles using effective, fair and

equitable assessment activities” (institute, n.d.). There are international standard procedures

to follow when an organization is recruiting and employing candidates. Those procedures are

put in place to prevent nepotism, corruption, bribe and promote accountability and

transparency in the recruitment process, however, those procedures is mostly followed by

international organization in Garowe like UN offices.

The job opportunities in the country are divided into three being: government jobs,

international organization jobs and local/private organizations. Private organization jobs are

mostly given through nepotism based on clanship. A university student member of the FGD

stated the following:

“Private organization are always owned by specific clans they mostly manage it as a

family business where they give jobs to their own relatives9” (Ali, 2017)

Government jobs are a different scenario where jobs are given through tests and interviews

and sometimes through nepotism and favoritism, although some of the interviewees have

argued that the government promotes transparency and a more fair way of recruitment. HR

manager and government official in KIIs have commented the following respectively:

“Mostly the government and international organization follow standard recruitment

process which promotes anti-corruption and transparency10”. (Said, 2017)

“There are international procedures in place in giving jobs to candidate where the

government always follow and most of the time the jobs get advertised, candidates

9 University students 29/07/2017 10 HR manager 25/07/2017

9

apply and those shortlisted sit for tests and interviews from there the job is given the

best possible option for the position11”. (Mohamud, 2017)

However there are people who would argue that the government is not as transparent as it

should be, many of the interviewees have said that to get a job in the government

candidate would have to have the support of his traditional elder.

International organizations have been praised for their role in promoting fair recruitment

processes, and these organizations have become the most trusted organizations in the

recruitment process by the interviewees. However, this does not mean that it is a clean

process as some of the interviewees have stated that there is a practice where candidates

go through all the necessary procedures for the recruitment yet the job was already

selected for someone else before any exam is being sat. A university graduate/employed

stated the following:

“International organizations give jobs through exams and interviews while

corruptions is always there where sometimes they let candidates pass all the

tests/interviews while the person was already selected before all that process12”.

(Abdulahi, 2017)

Some of the candidates have shared their mistrust in the system overall and pointed to the

problem being a lack of transparency and the absence of the government’s role in enforcing

laws against corruptions overall. A youth association member stated the following:

“The recruitment process in the country is very complicated where many

organizations are applying international disciplines like 20 steps where the jobs get

advertised, applications collected, long listing and short listings happen from there

they sit for tests and interviews but the problem is that people go through all those

steps but still I is not transparent and corruption do occur13”. (Ahmed, 2017)

Nepotism is another big issue where job seekers are having a tough time getting through it and

this commands the job seeker to always have someone from his elder clan leaders to push him

through for a job opportunity. A women’s association member expressed the following:

“Nepotism has big effect in getting jobs in Garowe, which mostly if someone doesn’t

have someone with power to support him doesn’t get jobs14”. (Naimo, 2017)

11 Government official 22/7/2017 12 University Graduate/Employed 22/07/2017 13 Youth association Member 25/07/2017 14 Women Group association member 28/07/2017

10

University Graduates’ Chance of Getting Jobs Compared to Non-Graduates University graduates always have more job opportunities due to the qualifications and skills

they obtain from their education and most of the time they get jobs compared to others who

did not study or finish universities. But still, the number of non-university graduates who work

are much more than those who graduated from university. Different reasons are cited by the

interviewees.

Number of Graduates The number of university graduates in the whole country is very low, especially in Puntland

where it is estimated that less than 10,000 students have graduated from the country’s

universities. This has played a big role in who is in the job market for the last 25 years. The

interviewees argued that the number of university graduates in Garowe are far less than those

who did not study in the job market. A university student in FGD claimed the following

“Graduates are always fewer compared to other community members, but when you

divide organization into three private organization always employ those who didn’t

graduate from university but the government and international organization always

employ those who graduated from universities15”. (Shukri, 2017)

Salaries and Higher Positions Salaries always play a big role in any job seeker’s mind. Those that went to university always

feel that they deserve to earn higher salaries, which only limits them to fewer jobs. Some of the

interviewees argued that the university graduate has been invested in a lot and he/she wants

to pay that back to the family and if he works for less money than it would take lots of years to

even be able to pay portion of that, while others have argued that the university graduate’s

attitude is what makes them to only target higher salaries and that he/she should work even if

the salary is low rather than sit home and later flee the country. A HR manager said the

following:

“Mostly jobs are preferred to be given to those who have academic qualifications and

I believe they have more chances of getting jobs but the problem is they tend to go

for higher position which pays higher amount and those positions are not many16”.

(Said, 2017)

Most of the interviewees have agreed that non-university graduates only care to work and they

tend to work for much lower salaries most of the times which makes it easier for them to find

jobs or even be more in the job market. A government official in the KII stated the following:

15 University Students/ FGD 29/07/2017 16 HR manager 25/7/2017

11

“Mostly those who don’t have university get jobs in the market as they tend to work for

any money comparing to the graduates who always prefer to get jobs with higher salaries

and bigger positions”.17 (Mohamud, 2017)

Lack of Strict Laws Against Corruption The government has laws against corruption but mostly they are not practiced as there has

never been a case against any individual or organization for corruption in Puntland. That has

encouraged many of recruiters to give jobs in unlawful ways like nepotism and as a result of a

bribe. A youth association member has expressed the following:

“To say we have many problems some of them being lack of strong government, laws

and law enforcement in the country promote people to always feel they can practice

any illegal acts, this has promoted the jobs to be given to those who don’t deserve or

even don’t have the qualification, skills and knowledge needed for the jobs”18.

(Ahmed, 2017)

17 Government Official 22/07/2017 18 Youth association member in KII 25/July/2017

12

Employment Rate Impact on University Graduates Unemployment has always been a problem for this country. According to the survey, overall unemployment among people aged 15 to 64 was estimated at 54 percent in Somalia, as compared to the 47 percent calculated in 2002. The survey found that the unemployment rate among youth aged 14 to 29 was 67 percent—one of the highest rates in the world. Females experienced higher unemployment rates at 74 percent than males at 61 percent. Youth unemployment was highest in Somaliland at 84 percent, followed by south central Somalia and Puntland (UNDP, 2012, p. 86) Unemployment has caused many problems to the graduates and overall the community. When

the young men and women have been studying for 15 years he/she would want to get job and

pay back their families and also be a working class member of the community and when all this

is denied the graduate then he will tend to look for other means for earning and most of the

times those alternative happen to be illegal activities. The interviewees have commented

extensively on this matter. The following has been most serious effects of unemployment rate

of the country to Garowe.

Emigration Emigration is when someone flees his own country to another country in search of better living

conditions and lively hood. When the graduate gets tired of not finding a job he/she will think

of leaving the country and ultimately go through very a long illegal journey to Europe, America

or even sometimes to African countries. A religious leader among the interviewees said the

following:

“It has effected graduates more as they tend to migrate when they don’t get jobs and

sometimes even the parents would tell them to leave the country for better living19”.

(Abdurahman, 2017)

This emigration phenomena has left many families bankrupt or even sometimes they lose

their own children’s lives, when the family has been investing in one of the children and

he/she turns out to not get job after finishing university then the youth would emigrate

and still asks for transport and ransom money for the family then those families would

most of the times get into poverty. A youth association member stated the following

“Employment rate is very low in this area and the whole country which has resulted

university graduate to encourage the youth to do illegal acts such as migration and

the community is effected this as their children migrate when they see their own

friends telling them there is no future in the country, many families have gone

bankrupt by paying their children to migrate20”. (Ahmed, 2017)

19 Religious leader KII 20/07/2017 20 Youth association member KII 25/07/2017

13

Joining Militant Groups Somali population is too high for the jobs available in the market. According to UNDP report Somalia’s demographic profile shows a pronounced ‘youth bulge’. This portion is unlikely to decline in the near future due to a high fertility rate. It has been and probably will continue to be a major source of conflict in Somalia, where two-thirds of youth are unemployed—one of the highest rates of joblessness in the world. This is among the factors fueling Al-Shabaab’s appeal (UNDP, 2012, p. 63). The graduate has a lot of pressure from the family who wait for him to go and earn money and

sometimes with all that pressure and lack of job opportunity they would turn to illegal acts like

joining Al-Qaeda groups for monetary gain. A university student in the FGD said the following:

“The graduate would be vulnerable to join any illegal groups for earning money and

in this has big impact on our security as a society21”. (Awale, 2017)

Most of the interviewees have argued that the low employment rate of the country has

produced the insecurity of the country and overall the lack of stability in the whole country.

They have declared that if this problem is not solved than the future would not be very

promising and glittering for all the community as a whole. A university graduate said the

following:

“Lack of job opportunities and corruption would only encourage youth and the

graduate to do illegal activities in the country and that will deter our security not just

In Garowe but as a nation22”. (Abdulahi, 2017)

Discouraging youth to study When young children see their own elder brothers and sister with education migrating from the

country or not even working after long years of studying they would feel that education is

useless to them and would only think of escape routes for the problem and most of them

would choose emigration as an alternative. This would lead to a decrease in the overall

students who have would study for the future of this country. A woman’s association member

has argued the following:

“Employment rate has big effect in the country as it either encourages or discourages

someone to study hard and achieve big things in life in this case it has discouraged

and it has resulted the youth to migrate from the country or even has big impact on

the security of the country23” (Naimo, 2017)

21 University Student’s FGD 29/07/2017 22 University Graduate/Employed KII 20/07/2017 23 Women Association member KII 28/07/2017

14

Proposed Recommendations on prevention corruption in job opportunities The study proposes the following

All the stakeholders of the phenomena to promote education in giving jobs fairly to

those who have the right qualifications

To create investment projects where they encourage youth to set up their own small

enterprises

To conduct research on job creations and programs for directing the graduate into being

more productive for the country

The government to create special organizations against corruption

To empower the laws and policies in place against corruption

To promote accountability and transparency in all organizations

The government to create division which monitors recruitment processes of the

government and other organizations

To organize forums and public meeting for awareness against corruption at all levels of

the community

To open and empower vocational training for youth to get different skills

The universities to teach and instill in the students the essential skills needed in the job

market

15

Bibliography Abdiqani, 2017. Traditional Elder [Interview] (15 07 2017).

Abdulahi, 2017. Univeristy Graduate/Employed KII [Interview] (20 07 2017).

Abdurahman, 2017. Religous leader KII [Interview] (20 07 2017).

Ahmed, 2017. Youth association member KII [Interview] (25 07 2017).

Ali, 2017. University student's FGD [Interview] (29 07 2017).

a, n.d. [Interview] n.d.

Awale, 2017. University Student's FGD [Interview] (29 07 2017).

Farah, 2017. University student's FGD [Interview] (2017 07 2017).

Mohamud, 2017. Government Official KII [Interview] (22 07 2017).

Naimo, 2017. Woman association member KII [Interview] (28 07 2017).

Said, 2017. Humar Resource Manager KII [Interview] (25 07 2017).

Shukri, 2017. University Student's FGD [Interview] (29 07 2017).

UNDP, 2012. Somali Human Development report, Nairobi: United Nations Development Programme

Somalia.