Hussen ran public lotteries to make government hiring transparent

Evidence

In the early days of his administration, Hussen took the matter personally and symbolically by conducting a lottery for hiring cleaners of public buildings in Mogadishu. The lottery was announced, and the crowd that gathered consisted of curious onlookers as well as applicants. Hussen stood on a makeshift platform and began randomly picking names from the container. To many it seemed surreal that the prime minister of the country was doing such a seemingly trivial task, while others appreciated his intent. Doing this in a central location in Mogadishu told the population that fairness and transparency was what the government was all about and that citizens should not expect less. — Abdi Ismail Samatar, Africa’s First Democrats, 825

Categorization

• XREF: Foreshadows the lottery-based selection mechanisms later theorized in political economy (e.g., sortition) — a striking early anti-corruption device.
• SHARE: The PM personally drawing hiring lottery names from a container on a makeshift platform is a vivid anecdote for governance/reform conversations.