Somalia had UN envoys representing the UN Secretary General since the collapse of the State in 1991 and they are still around after some 36 years with James Swan, the last one. It was in the news lately that he will be leaving for another troubled country, the DR Congo sometime this year. Envoys do not solve problems but perhaps could be accused of being fuel for the fires, for which they are sent to put out. It is why it is a surprise that the African Union Commission, which is now under a younger African generation, has fallen into the same trap of appointing envoys for the region. It is already saturated with them.

There is Guang Cong of China as the new UN Special Envoy for the region replacing Hanna Serwaa Tetteh and representing the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. There is also Mike Hammer of the United States in the region, and Dr. Annette Weber, the EU’s Special Envoy, Xue Bing, China’s Special envoy to the region and Switzerland’s Special Envoy, Sylvain Astier, and many more. Special envoys are generally deployed when governments and international organizations find themselves facing complex situations beyond the capacity of a normal embassy.

Envoys often report directly to a president, a prime Minister, or the head of an international organization........

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