US embassy cable - 05DJIBOUTI760

C O N F I D E N T I A L DJIBOUTI 000760 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF, AF/E AND DRL; 
LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PHUM, PREL, DJ 
SUBJECT: DECENTRALIZATION FORUM: FOLLOW-UP WITH DIRECTOR OF 
DECENTRALIZATION 
 
REF: A. A. DJIBOUTI 650 
     B. B. DJIBOUTI 714 
     C. C. DJIBOUTI 740 
 
Classified By: Pol/Econ Erinn C. Stott for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: In one of several conversations (reftel B and 
septel to follow) with the participants of the recent forum 
held to discuss decentralization and the special status for 
Djibouti City, Embassy spoke with the Director of 
Decentralization in the Ministry of Interior, Siradj Omar 
Ali. While the forum was attended by only the parties in the 
government coalition, and one non-aligned, independent party, 
there was a significant and varied debate on several of the 
articles in the proposed law. Ali saw the forum as a success 
and outlined the Ministry's next steps of preparation for 
regional elections. He said the Ministry was planning to have 
theatrical sketches, informational tour, and micro-projects 
as part of the public education program on decentralization 
and regional elections. End Summary. 
 
2. (C) The July 2-14 Decentralization Forum held in Djibouti 
was a success according to the Director of Decentralization 
in the Ministry of Interior, Siradj Omar Ali. The forum was 
organized by the Minister of Interior, who personally invited 
all political parties to discuss the proposed draft of the 
Special Statute for Djibouti City. Ali was satisfied with the 
outcome of the forum and felt the experience had been very 
valuable to all participants. He said now that the forum had 
been completed, the next step would be to educate the people 
on what decentralization means. Ali stated the draft of the 
law, with its amendments from the forum, is due for a vote by 
the government in September. 
 
3. (C) The first step of the Ministry of Interior's awareness 
campaign would be theatrical sketches similar to a past 
project with the International Republican Institute, which 
organized a street theater to educate civil society on the 
first decentralization law. Ali said these sketches will 
occur twice in each region and will explain the different 
aspects and stakes of regional decentralization. He said the 
Ministry has to show exactly the role of each person elected, 
of the state, and of civil society. Ali said after this 
campaign there would be a training program for those elected. 
He said also there is funding available from the World Bank 
and the African Development for construction of buildings for 
the Council of Djibouti, which will be constructed by ADETIP, 
a Djiboutian contracting company. 
 
4. (C) Ali brought up several programs Djibouti would like to 
implement, but is still searching for funding. He said 
Djibouti is looking to the United States as a possible 
partner in this effort. The Minister of Interior is currently 
doing a public information tour in the regions. Ali would 
like to augment this with a series of micro-projects at a 
value of 50,000 USD. He said he will be proposing these 
projects to USAID shortly. In addition, for the 
decentralization process itself, the Ministry will have to 
need a meeting with all the technicians  of each ministry to 
see which activities are transferable to the region and to 
what extent. The budget of each ministry involved would then 
be cut by that amount and transferred to the Regional council 
budgets. Ali said there must be international experts on 
decentralization to accompany the projects, another point he 
would raise with USAID. 
RAGSDALE