Political: Nyumba

DATE Africa > Nyumba > Political: Nyumba ←You are here

Nyumba has had little in the form of democracy since its inception. It has been primarily ruled by authoritarian governments and wracked with internal turmoil and paranoia about perceived external threats. It is suspicious of regional government alliances with western countries and, particularly, what the Nyumba government leaders see as international meddling in its sovereign domestic and regional concerns.

The government is authoritarian in all aspects. Beginning fifty-nine years ago, a military coup overthrew the newly elected civilian government, lasting only six years before an Islamist government took power. While the government remains Sharia law-based, tribal influences permeate and dominate the government as well. Economic, religious, ethnic, and tribal interests collide, collude, and complicate the politics of Nyumba and have led to decades of civil war and other internal conflicts. These conflicts have threatened border countries with refugees and provided a safe haven for terrorists, insurgents, criminals, and other disrupters. These deep-seated challenges show no signs of dissipating.

Centers of Political Power

Ariana

The center of political power resides in the authoritarian government, supported by the interests of a variety of regional groups. The ruling party, the National People’s Party (NPP), controls the unicameral legislature, the National Congress (NC). The president has the power to dissolve and recall the NC and has used this mechanism on occasions when it fits the political need of the president. Regional militias, such as the Tajammu, are used to crush political opposition and punish those it deems a threat. The military remains loyal due, in large measure, to the legal and illegal money-generating opportunities afforded it. These revenue streams allow it to give the rank and file in the military better-than-average salaries and perks. All of this is calculated to keep the ruling party in power.

Military Authority

In theory, the military derives its power and authority from the Nyumbaan constitution with the president exercising the role of commander in chief. In reality, the military is allowed to operate within a larger extra-legal world where there is no fear of prosecution. It enjoys the protection of corrupt and acceding executive and judiciary branches. The common mission of the three branches is to stay in power. For this, there is a need for unanimity of purpose and effort which manifests itself in tacit and overt collusion in corruption and turning a blind eye to bad behavior.

Family Authority

Due to Nyumba’s repressive regime and its inability to cope with the economic and societal difficulties that follow with natural disasters, civil wars, and other conflicts, the importance of tribal and family relationships is more profound and pronounced in Nyumba. Like other regional countries, rural families are dependent upon their ties to larger tribal structures. Where Nyumba differs is in its total societal dependence on these relationships, even in more urban areas were these familial structures tend to loosen in other regional countries. The poverty endemic in the country as a whole, requires that families band together for survival.

These family and extended tribal relationships have also had a direct impact on the political direction of the country. The government of Nyumba is beholden to and dependent upon tribal relationships to stay in power. For example, the tribe-based Tajammu militias receive perks and patronage from the government for conducting paramilitary and extra-legal operations on behalf of the government.

Religious/Clerical Authority

Islam is Nyumba’s exclusive state religion and permeates all levels of society and government. Christianity predates Islam in Nyumba, but military conquest and forced religious conversion that began centuries ago drove the Christian faith almost to extinction. Today Christianity exists as a small minority with periodic abductions, killings, and imprisonments directed at its practitioners. When politically advantageous, the government targets Christians and other minorities. Generally, local communities have learned to accommodate religious differences, within a limited framework. This does not eliminate discrimination, however. When other religions are openly practiced by Nyumbaans, a variety of punishments can be employed based on the discretion of local leaders who enforce varying interpretations of Sharia. Local religious leaders, whose interpretation of Sharia carries weight, enjoy an elevated position of power and influence within their communities. Political leaders at higher levels exploit interpretations of religious leaders to support their self-interest.

Attitudes Toward the US

Attitude Toward US Trade

Nyumba’s economic relationship with the United States is focused more on aid assistance than exports to or imports from Nyumba. Its agrarian-based economy does not export any products to the United States. Imports from the United States come primarily in the form of aid. In the face of widespread humanitarian needs caused by conflict, displacement, and natural disasters, the United States has been a major donor of humanitarian aid to the people of Nyumba throughout the last quarter century. The United States has officially declared disasters in Nyumba due to complex emergencies over the past three decades. It is the largest international donor of humanitarian aid in Nyumba based on impartial, needs-based assistance to all accessible areas and populations, including displaced and otherwise conflict-affected people, individuals living in internally displaced persons camps, local communities hosting internally displaced persons, and formerly-displaced returnees.   

Type of Government

Official Flag of Ariana

Nyumba is an autocratic and authoritarian government. It has the outward appearance of a democratically structured government with three branches—executive, judiciary, and legislative. In practice, however, the president, through the ruling party apparatus, exercises unimpeded authority over and control of the mechanisms of government. This impacts all levels of society where the government’s centralized approach to governance reaches from the national level to the homes of individuals. Eight years ago, after a brutal civil war, President Abdul Kareem Wadood signed an accord with leading rebel factions.  

This accord led to the ceding of some presidential powers to the legislature and limited inclusion of some of the rebel leaders in the government. This has given the illusion of greater representation, however, elections to the NC three years ago still overwhelmingly favor the ruling party. The party apparatus is well-established and capable of intimidating voters, imprisoning opposition candidates and activists, and using other extra-legal means to insure the president and his party stay in power. The president retained the authority to dissolve the legislature at will and has done so numerous times during particularly contentious times.

Branches of Government

Political Subdivisions of Ariana

Legislative Authority

The legislative branch of the government, the National Congress (NC), consists of a unicameral legislature elected by citizens of Nyumba and consisting of 450 members. Each member of the of the NC serves a six year term with no term limits. The NC is controlled by the ruling party, the National People’s Party (NPP). Elections are mere pro forma exercises where the outcome is predetermined by intimidation and threats against opposition parties and candidates. Candidates deemed a threat by the NPP are summarily arrested or declared ineligible to stand for election. The next elections will occur in three years.

The NC elects a speaker, who functions as the leader of the parliament. He chooses, with the ruling party leadership, an assistant speaker and heads of committees. The NC’s agenda and legislative outcomes are very much controlled by the president through the ruling party. Five years ago, the president had Speaker of the NC, Amani Baatin Abdo, removed from office and arrested. He is currently under house arrest. His replacement, Kareem Hanifa, has been serving in that position since then.

Executive Authority

The executive branch of Nyumba’s government is composed of a president and two vice presidents. The primary powers of state are held by the president with delegated authority given by the president to the appointed vice presidents. Political patronage and expediency, as determined by the president and influential ruling party leaders, is the primary criteria for determining who the vice presidents will be. The president is directly elected by popular vote.  He has sweeping constitutionally delegated authority as head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president also appoints a Council of Ministers. He may assign oversight responsibilities to one or both of the vice presidents for any number of ministries within the Council of Ministers.

President Abdul Kareem Wadood, not unexpectedly, received a 95% re-election victory three years ago. Vice presidents, Hafez Kazim Mahmood and Majeed Rashad Suleyman have been in their positions since the election. The president of Nyumba remains in power through skillful control of the civilian government and command of the military and security forces. He manages this through a combination of patronage and extra-legal means and in spite of significant sanctions put on Nyumba by western countries.

Judicial Authority

The Judicial Branch is governed by a legal system based on holdover colonial law and Islamic law, known as Sharia. The president appoints an attorney general and a minister of justice, who serve as the president’s chief legal advisors. The court system is composed of the Supreme Court, Regular Courts, Military Intelligence/ Security Courts, and Local / Tribal Courts. Sources of law are Islamic law, constitutional law, legislation, judicial precedent, and accepted customs. Additionally, the courts are managed and overseen by the Commission for Judicial Oversight (CJO); ostensibly an independent oversight committee, but very much controlled by the president through the ruling party apparatus.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the court of last appeal. It is composed of forty judges, one of whom is designated as the chief justice by the president. Cases are heard by an assigned three-person panel of judges, which is presided over by the most senior of the three.  Decisions are reached by a majority opinion and only subject to further appeal if the chief justice determines that an infringement of Sharia law has taken place. In these cases, the chief justice assembles a panel of five new judges to hear the final appeal. Four circuits of the Supreme Court operate outside of the capital. The Court has preliminary jurisdiction to consider appeals against the administrative decisions of the president, governors, and the federal and state ministers. Appeals of the decision of this single judge's court are heard by a panel of three Supreme Court judges. 

Regular Courts

These courts primarily consider criminal and civil matters. During a campaign of Islamization forty years ago, the central government reunified the civil and Sharia courts. The separation of the civil and religious courts was a holdover of colonialism. These courts are dispersed throughout the country, giving most citizens access to a judicial hearing. 

Military Intelligence/ Security Courts

Nyumba’s extensive security forces include groups that are external to the regular police forces. These include the Rapid Security Force, an internal paramilitary security force made up of Tajammu militia members as well as other secret security forces under the effective control of the government. Members of these organizations can make arrests and detain suspects extra-legally or under presidentially declared emergency powers.  For example, individuals deemed to have committed treasonous or seditious acts can be accused of crimes against the state.  Created under the Special Judicial Powers Act (SJPA), these security courts are composed of three civilian judges and are convened to hear such cases.  Those who are brought before these courts are not permitted representation by a lawyer, though they may be accompanied by a “friend.”  Accordingly, lawyers may attend the hearings, but are not permitted to address the court.  Due process is not ensured in these courts and sentences are usually severe and implemented immediately.

Popular/ Tribal Courts

Popular courts are staffed by respected community elders and enforce customary law that is not considered to be inconsistent with the public law or government policy.  Generally, judges are respected citizens in rural areas. Due process in customary courts is not to be clearly defined and application of the laws is often arbitrary and inconsistent from village to village. Cases in customary courts can be referred to statutory courts which have greater judicial powers, to include detention.

Government Effectiveness and Legitimacy

Nyumba is wracked with corruption, patronage, and ineffective centralization of government powers. Political and economic patronage place incompetent people in positions where their decisions cause ineffective distribution of resources and decreased capacity to cope with both normal governmental activities and extraordinary crises. Generally viewed by the masses as illegitimate, the government, nevertheless, maintains itself through force.

Power and resources are concentrated in and around the capital, while outlying states are neglected and impoverished. Members of the ruling party, particularly those from favored groups, tightly control the national economy and use the wealth they have amassed in banking and business to buy political support.

Domestic Political Issues

Nyumba is incapable of completely controlling all of its territory, leaving it open to a number of domestic threats. Civil militias and criminal elements, particularly in the border and frontier areas where Nyumba security forces are fewer, have the potential to threaten the government. The government addresses these dangers in three ways: 1) coopting the organizations via patronage; 2) creating partnership agreements to benefit from the illegal activities; and 3) utilizing force to control organizations. Often, the government uses a combination of these measures to create a degree of stability.

Nymba ended its last civil war eight years ago. Despite signing a peace accord with the major rebel groups, there is lingering mistrust and anger among citizens over atrocities committed during the civil war. Nyumba’s government continues to attack civilians in conflict areas and repress all forms of dissent. International organizations have condemned and documented many of these atrocities through interviews with refugees, internally displaced persons, and other sources.

A lack of freedom of expression and periodic crackdowns on those deemed subversive limits the number of public protests. Civil society organizations encounter severe restrictions, religious rights are not respected, and the media is closely monitored. Nyumba’s powerful security forces routinely confiscate printed editions of newspapers and other publications considered to be in violation of the Publication Act, passed four years ago to limit pubic dissent. Periodic protests still erupt, usually at times of unusual economic distress such as famines and food shortages, but are put down quickly and decisively by the security forces.

Elections

Observers of Nyumba elections universally assess them to be not free. The powerful political infrastructure created by the president and the ruling party over decades permeates Nyumba. Elections are defined by corruption, intimidation, and other extra-legal activities that insure the election of candidates carefully chosen by the ruling party.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is not respected in Nyumba. The judiciary is not independent. Lower courts provide some due process safeguards, but the higher courts are subject to political control. Special security and military courts do not apply accepted legal standards and allow extraordinary and inconsistent punishments. The accused are not provided legal representation in these courts.

Security forces have detained hundreds of opposition supporters in the past ten years. The government does not hold security forces accountable for acts of unjustified violence against citizens. The judiciary is also complicit by turning a blind eye to bad behavior and defining enemies of the state liberally to include anyone opposed to the government.

The government meets attempted rebellions with indiscriminate violence, including the bombing of civilians, targeted killings, forced displacement of communities, and the burning of villages. The executors of these activities are regular forces, supplemented by paramilitary groups under the loose authority of the government’s security organizations. One counterinsurgency group, the Rapid Support Forces, has reportedly murdered civilians, poisoned wells, and looted livestock during campaigns. Beyond the capital, Nyumba’s many distinct ethnic, regional, and religious groups face political, social, and economic marginalization.

Corruption

Corruption is an endemic part of Nyumbaan society, which is considered to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Public servants are known to demand extra facilitation payments for services that individuals or companies are legally entitled to. Government officials hold direct and indirect stakes in many enterprises, which creates a system of patronage and cronyism and distorts market competition to the disadvantage of foreign firms without political connections. Government officials are frequently involved in corrupt practices with impunity. The lack of transparency in Nyumba insures the status quo through a weak administrative setup, which allows for poor record-keeping and lax budget handling, and the absence of legislation that allows public access to government information. Active and passive bribery, gifts, and facilitation payments are prohibited in the public sector, but enforcement is weak.  

International Relationships

Regional Actors

Ziwa

Nyumba is not geographically connected to Ziwa, so it is not involved in the border disputes and tensions of other countries. It maintains diplomatic relations with Ziwa and has an embassy there. Ziwa and Nyumba have limited trade relations and participate in regional peacekeeping operations together.

Amari

Nyumba has tense diplomatic relations with Amari. The primary concern for Amari is Nyumba’s lack of any concern for controlling its side of their common border. Smuggling and other kinds of illegal cross-border activity are an important part of the Nyumbaan economy. Nyumba is suspicious of Amari’s close ties with the US and other western countries and resists any pressure to improve the rule of law within its country. Nyumba and Amari maintain limited diplomatic offices in the capital cities of the other.

Kujenga

Nyumba is not geographically connected to Kujenga, so it is not involved in the border disputes and tensions of other countries. It has close diplomatic relations with Kujenga and has an embassy there. Kujenga and Nyumba have trade relations and have participated in regional peacekeeping operations together.

International Organizations

Ariana has attempted to create an anti-Western, and specifically anti-US, coalition in most international organizations of which it is a member. Additionally, Ariana has attempted to use oil exports as a weapon to coerce or bribe poor, small, or neutral nations to support its anti-US cause. Ariana is a member of most major international organizations. About 30 to 40 smaller non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations (IOs) operate within Ariana. The major IOs in terms of programs and budget are the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and International Red Crescent. NGO programs generally are non-political in nature and focus on culture, literacy, and medical programs, especially in rural locations.

International Economic Associations

Because of Ariana’s oil wealth and its somewhat dodgy status on the global stage, the country’s participation in international economic associations is limited to one exception, namely its non-US dollar denominated oil bourse. The oil bourse is an effort to break the US dollar monopoly on oil transactions. While not truly successful, as the majority of the world’s oil transactions are dollar- denominated, the bourse demonstrates Ariana’s continuing efforts to confront the US.

Military Alliances

Nyumba has participated in limited regional peacekeeping efforts, however, it does not have strong military alliances with regional countries. It buys military resources and receives training from a variety of countries, most of whom oppose the influence of western countries in Nyumba. 

Influential Political Groups

Official Political Parties

• National People’s Party (NPP)
• Prosperity Party (PP)
• Nyumba Alliance (NA)
• National Democratic Party (NDP)
• Nyumba Socialist Party (NSP)

Other Domestic Influential Groups

• Nyumba Union of Writers (NUW)
• Nyumba Development Organization (NDO)
• Center for Rehabilitation of Victims (CRV)
• Social Development Organization (SDO)
• Women’s and Girl’s Education Association (WGEA)
• Women and Children Shelter (WCS)

Summary

Nyumba is an authoritarian government with limited freedoms. The ruling party dominates the political system in Nyumba and uses intimidation, arbitrary arrest, and onerous regulations, often using the state security apparatus, to prevent other political parties and civil society activists from operating freely. Opposition leaders and activists are routinely arrested and held without charge, often for extended periods.

Power and resources are concentrated in and around the capital, while outlying states are neglected and impoverished. Members of the NPP, particularly those from favored groups, tightly control the national economy and use the wealth they have amassed in banking and business to buy political support. Nyumba is considered one of the world’s most corrupt countries. A high proportion of the national budget is spent on unspecified national security priorities. Laws passed to increase transparency and access to information are ignored and unenforced.

The judiciary is not independent and members colludes with other branches of government and the military to retain their positions. Special security courts ignore due process and rights to open trials in deference to quick hearings that usually result in defendants disappearing into an elaborate prison system. Decisions and punishments from lower customary and tribal courts are generally inconsistent and arbitrary.

Relations with regional and international countries are exploitive and complicated. Nyumba is able to extract loans, subsidies, and humanitarian support in exchange for limited support of anti-terrorism initiatives and the strategic interests of other countries. Extreme mismanagement of its economy and placement of incompetent political appointees into key government roles makes these investments essential to Nyumba’s survival.