June 5, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
World Bank says TFG can’t account for $130 million
04 Jun – Source: Garowe Online – 179 words
The World Bank says that funds allocated to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia have been misused and unaccounted for. The World Bank report issued at the Somalia conference in Turkey to delegates says that 83 million US dollars were unaccounted for in 2009 and 50 million US dollars in 2010.
The report, which was written by Joakim Gundel, said that the auditors spotted the enormous discrepancies in the revenues collected and reported by the TFG. “There is a discrepancy in what comes in and there’s a lack of accounting of how money has been spent,” said Gundel.
According to the report, auditors said that the TFG only reported 11 million US dollars in 2009 after collecting 94 million US dollars. The mismanagement trend only slightly improved in 2010, as the TFG collected nearly 70 million dollars and only reported 22 million dollars. The report which caused a big buzz amongst delegates at the Somalia conference in Istanbul shined a light on the mismanagement of funds allocated to the TFG for 2009 and 2010.
Key Headlines
- Al Shabaab officials begin to flee from Kismayo (Raxanreeb)
- Ahlu Sunna pardons alleged al Shabaab militants (Bar-Kulan)
- Al Shabaab destroys only source of water (Somalia Report)
- Detained terrorist is al Shabaab boss in Uganda (New Vision)
- How KDF captured Afmadow (Daily Nation)
- Kenya’s anti-terror police question 7 suspects (Xinhua)
SOMALI MEDIA
Tanzania must deport illegal Somali immigrants, says Somali president
05 Jun – Source: Shabelle – 106 words
Somali president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed today said that his government is planning to bring all illegal Somali asylum seekers currently incarcerated in Tanzanian jails back to their home country as soon as possible.
Upon his arrival in Mogadishu back from Tanzania, TFG president told the media that he held talks with his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Kikwete and agreed to deport all illegal immigrants in jails back to Somalia.
These comments from Somali president Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed come as many asylum seekers who fled the conflict in Somalia are still being held in Tanzanian detention centres, facing poor living conditions.
Al Shabaab officials begin to flee from Kismayo
05 Jun – Source: Raxanreeb – 177 words
Senior al Shabaab leaders in Jubba region have begun to flee from Kismayo town after the government forces with the backing of Kenyan troops and local militia approached the strategic town of Kismayo, sources told RBC.
Reliable sources in the region confirmed that Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur (al Shabaab’s former spokesperson), Ibrahim Haji Mohamed (better known as Ibrahim Afghan, al Shabaab’s Deputy Commander) and Sheikh Hassan Yacqub (the commander of Kismayo) were among the officials departed from Kismayo.
The Kenyan army – along with African Union and Somali government forces have captured the town of Afmadow, the second largest town in the south and only 115km (71 miles) from Kismayo. Kismayo is a strategic militant base in the south of the country and holds al Shabaab’s headquarters.
Officials of Somalia National Security Agency in Mogadishu have earlier said that they obtained credible information claiming that the families of some of al Shabaab’s senior leaders had moved to Bur’o town in the breakaway region of Somaliland and some parts of the Galmudug region in the centre of the country.
Ahlu Sunna pardons alleged al Shabaab militants
05 Jun – Source: Bar-kulan/Radio Mogadishu – 97 words
An Ahlu Sunna court in Dusamareb town has pardoned five alleged al Shabaab militants who had earlier surrendered to the ASWJ administration in Elbur district. The court ruled that the suspects can, as from now, continue with their normal lives as citizens of the region.
The five were in possession of five AK-47 rifles when they surrendered to ASWJ militias in the district, according to the area district commissioner, Abdirahman Geda-qorow. The DC urged other militants still fighting alongside the militant group to denounce violence and to lay down weapons as they will be granted amnesty if they do so.
Pro-government Islamists to try district commissioner
04 Jun – Source: Radio Risaala – 175 words
Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama’a have declared that they will try Matabaan District commissioner in the Hiiraan region. Following an interview, Ya’qub Moh’ed Ali, head of security in Matabaan District for the pro-government moderate Islamic group of Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a has confirmed that the accused was not recognized for the administration being set up for Mtabaan District; Moh’ed Warsame Hirsi, the district commissioner who was appointed by Hiiraan Regional administration of central Somalia, was thus arrested. “We will soon bring Mr Moh’ed Warsame Hirsi, the district commissioner very soon”, asserted Ya’qub, head of security affairs in the pro-government Islamic group of Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a.
World Bank says TFG can’t account for $130 million
04 Jun – Source: Garowe Online – 179 words
The World Bank says that funds allocated to the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia have been misused and unaccounted for. The World Bank report issued at the Somalia conference in Turkey to delegates says that 83 million US dollars were unaccounted for in 2009 and 50 million US dollars in 2010.
The report, which was written by Joakim Gundel, said that the auditors spotted the enormous discrepancies in the revenues collected and reported by the TFG. “There is a discrepancy in what comes in and there’s a lack of accounting of how money has been spent,” said Gundel.
According to the report, auditors said that the TFG only reported 11 million US dollars in 2009 after collecting 94 million US dollars. The mismanagement trend only slightly improved in 2010, as the TFG collected nearly 70 million dollars and only reported 22 million dollars.
The report which caused a big buzz amongst delegates at the Somalia conference in Istanbul shined a light on the mismanagement of funds allocated to the TFG for 2009 and 2010.
Somaliland: Egal airport closed for renovations but no work being done
04 Jun – Source: Somaliland Press – 165 words
Egal international airport has been closed for more than a week for renovation works but officials and neighborhood residents complain that no work has been done – forcing many passengers to be dispatched to Berbera airport.
President Ahmed Silanyo laid the foundation stone for the upgrade and renovation project last Sunday. However, local residents who have checked the airport every day for the past week said they saw no work going on.
The airport was handed over jointly by President Silanyo and the Minister of Aviation Mohamud Hashi Abdi to China’s Hono Group, the company the government awarded with the tender in February of this year. Since the commissioning of the work, a report has emerged claiming that the bidding winner was not a construction company with the necessary credentials to undertake such a project.
China Hono Group is a mining company based in China with a small team in Somaliland whose members are alleged to have links with President Silanyo and the ruling Kulmiye party.
Al Shabaab destroys only source of water
04 Jun – Source: Somalia Report – 231 words
Al Shabaab fighters in Gedo region of Somalia conducted a hit-and-run attack in El Adde town, 60 km from Garboharey, around midnight on Sunday and destroyed the town’s only water pump. The insurgent group also targeted the town’s police station which serves as a base for TFG forces. Ahmed Hurreh, a resident of El Adde town who talked to Somalia Report, confirmed the attack:
“At around 12am on Sunday night, al Shabaab fighters entered the town and exchanged fire with the TFG forces at the police station as well as some others also fought from the other end of the town, towards the road to Garboharey. The people were asleep at that time so nobody knew what was going on, but it was clear that there was a hit-and-run attack on the town.”
This comes three months after TFG forces backed by the Kenyan Defense Forces took over El Adde from the al Shabaab fighters and remained to maintain security. No casualties have yet been reported, and residents fear more fighting is yet to come.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Detained terrorist is al Shabaab boss in Uganda
05 Jun – Source: New Vision – 663 words
More details have emerged indicating that the terror suspect arrested over the weekend is allegedly a big figure in the al Shabaab and al Qaeda cells in Uganda, according to security sources. The suspect only identified as Hussein now in police custody, is however not one of the three suspected international terrorists who are said to have sneaked into the country recently.
Top security sources say they have got clues that seem to reinforce the view that that Hussein has been the chief recruiter and coordinator of both the al Shabaab and al Qaeda cells in Uganda. It also emerged Monday, contrary to earlier reports, Hussein is a Ugandan national. Police sources said the suspect (Hussein) passes by numerous aliases to elude detection and arrest.
Journey to Afmadow
04 Jun – Source: Citizen TV – 4:31 min
Now, every time the Kenya Defence Forces capture a town inside Somalia in their ongoing war against the rag tag militia al Shabaab, the work of pacification of such a settlement begins immediately. After the capture of Afmadhow, the Kenya Defence Forces and the Somali National Army have now embarked on coordinating the process of bringing normalcy back to the town that for some time now served as a logistics base for the al Shabaab militia. In part two of “the journey to Afmadhow” Citizen TV reporter Willis Raburu who was embedded with the Kenya Defence Forces , tells of the suffering of the residents under al Shabaab’s rule and the resolve by KDF troops to march on towards the all important port of Kismayu.
IIROSA provides drinking water for orphans in Somalia
04 Jun – Source: Saudi Press Agency – 70 words
The International Islamic Relief Organization of Saudi Arabia, an affiliate of Muslim World League, has recently dug two artisan wells to provide drinking water for orphans in Somalia. The Organization’s Secretary-General, Dr. Adnan bin Khalil Basha has pointed out that one well was dug at Imam Al-Shafi’e Schools near Mogadishu which host 2,500 orphans, and another one at Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Orphanage which hosts 150 orphans in Barou’ City.
Seven grilled in new Kenya terror alert
04 Jun – Source: Africa Review – 164 words
Seven suspects arrested while taking photographs of planes taking off and landing at Wilson Airport in Nairobi were on Monday interrogated for the third consecutive day. The men were questioned at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit headquarters where they were taken after their arrest on Saturday. Nairobi deputy police boss Moses Ombati said that investigations were intended to establish the motive of the suspects.
Although the law stipulates that suspects should be arraigned in court not later than 24 hours after arrest, police could not say why the seven had been detained for that long. Police said the suspects, who include two from neighbouring Somalia, claimed to be tourists who were viewing wildlife.
How KDF captured Afmadow
04 Jun – Source: Daily Nation – 653 words
In 2009, a group of men posing as businessmen hired a truck and militiamen and made their way to Afmadow, an al Shabaab stronghold in Somalia, to buy contraband sugar and bullets. Their plan was to transport them across the border from the lawless nation to Kenya.
“We know that you will be troubled by Kenyan officials at the border,” an al Shabaab commander told them as they packed their wares. “They will need a bribe to let the sugar in. Worry about the sugar, but leave the bullets problem to us.”
Assured, the militias packed the thousands of illicit rounds of ammunition into the sugar sacks, then set off to look for pistols, which they acquired at Sh6,000 apiece. At the Kenyan border area of Dobley, they bribed Administration Police officers with Sh3,000 for each truck that they let in, then headed for the Liboi Military Camp.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Pirates making hundreds of millions in ransoms, as attacks intensify off Somali coast
04 Jun – Source: Fox News – 1163 words
While much of the world’s economy is in the doldrums, business is booming for Somalia’s pirates, whose attacks on commercial ships sailing Africa’s east coast are more frequent, violent and lucrative than ever. Pirates took in an estimated $160 million in ransoms last year, and one study predicts the number will climb to $400 million by 2015, as the high seas thieves continue their brazen reign on the Indian Ocean.
Efforts by shipping companies to beef up security, and by the European Union, which has mounted airstrikes on pirate ships, have so far been met with stepped-up attacks. Chillingly, pirates are now chopping off the limbs of captives in extreme cases when the airdrop of cash isn’t made quickly enough to suit them.
“It’s an established, structured model, where you have Somalis who are leading and financing operations and then you have pirates who actually go out to sea and conduct the activity,” Brian Green, chief of the counter-piracy branch of the Office of Naval Intelligence, told FoxNews.com of the piracy industry. “They are, more or less, foot soldiers. They find targets of opportunity, attack them with the goal of hijacking and bringing that vessel back to Somalia.” “They are told piracy is a quick way to become rich and get a part of the ransom. Basically, they are given an AK-47 and are thrown onto a vessel.”
Kenya’s anti-terror police question 7 suspects
04 Jun – Source: Shanghai Daily/ Xinhua – 843 words
Kenya’s anti-terrorism police are questioning seven suspected terror suspects who were arrested over the weekend while filming the country’s second largest airport as Nairobi is on security alert following al Shabaab threats.
Regional deputy police commander Moses Nyakwama said they have launched investigations to establish the motive behind the suspects who were taking photographs of the planes taking off and leaving Wilson Airport, the busiest airport in East and Central Africa.
“We arrested the suspects on Saturday while taking pictures of Wilson Airport. We have not established the motive behind their work and as a result handed them over to the anti-terrorism police unit for more interrogation,” Nyakwama told Xinhua on Monday.
He said the suspects who had laptops and phones had captured images of planes leaving and taking off and also the area around Wilson airport, adding that they may be dangerous people with ulterior motive.
“We want to get every details of their movement in the country. They are giving us crucial information that needs interpretation. They are undergoing interrogation and may take some time before they can be taken to court,” Nyakwama said.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“This conference agenda differs slightly from that of the one held earlier in the year in London which discussed terrorism and piracy more than Somalia’s future. This change in topics gives some hope for the possible stability of the Republic of Somalia”.
Somali Peace Conference in Turkey Looks Hopeful
04 Jun – Source: Toonaripost – 459 words
Somali politicians and world leaders met in Istanbul May 31, 2012, initiating a two day conference that attempts to end the two decades of anarchy in Somalia. The conference is to discuss the end of the transitional/interim, UN-backed government that is due to end in August 2012. This is the second of two conferences held this year about Somalia’s instability, the first being held in London.
The conference is being held in Istanbul, Turkey because of the aid and influence Turkey has given to Somalia in the past year. However, some Somali politicians are unhappy with how Turkey has handled the conference because the Somali officials were not consulted about who to invite to the conference.
Turkey’s influence in Somalia began after the devastating drought in Somalia in 2010 when Turkey first increased its aid to the country. According to the BBC, where other countries tried and failed to help Somalia, Turkey has actually brought about significant change; they have built roads, schools, and hospitals. Turkey was also one of the first countries to begin having commercial flights to Mogadishu again, starting last year. During the famine and drought in 2010 Prime Minister Erdogan was the first leader from outside of Africa to visit Somalia in almost 20 years.
“Kenyan Prime Minister Odinga was expected to encourage this tendency, all the more so since he and his country have played key role in the London and Istanbul conferences on Somalia. Sadly he chose otherwise”.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s invitation to Somaliland’s leader
04 Jun – Source: Wardheer News – 598 words
The Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, has this week extended an official invitation to the leader of the renegade one-clan secessionist enclave in north west Somalia calling itself Somaliland (former British Somaliland) to visit Kenya. This incomprehensible act, done over the head of the Somali government and so soon after the Istanbul conference on Somalia, is pregnant with dangerous ramifications.
It is the last thing that Somalis from Somalia, apart from the secessionists, expected from Kenya; first because of its key role in the search for peace and stability in Somalia and secondly because it is the last country one would expect to flirt with secessionists given its own vulnerability to it.
And above all, it is an act that is clearly a blatant interference in Somalia’s internal affairs, contrary to the Charters of IGAD, AU and the UN, and amounts to legitimising the secession of a renegade enclave that the international community had shunned for 22 years for good reasons.
Top tweets
@Refugees A year after emergency in the Horn, Somali exodus continues amid conflict & poor rains, #UNHCR briefs the press in Geneva v@refugeesmedia .
@IntelligencNews Uganda arrest terror suspect Hussein, wanted for a series of bombings in parts of East Africa.
@portaltoafrica #Somalia :World Bank Says TFG Can’t Account for U.S. $130 Million.http://portaltoafrica.
@TRDiplomacyPblc Turkey helping in #Somalia http://macedoniaonline.eu/
@TRDiplomacyPblc Somaliland: Turkey Opens Liaison Office in Hargeisa. http://www.unpo.org/article/
Image of the day
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) troops at Afmadow Airstrip after capturing the key Al Shabaab logistical base. There was no casualties among KDF and its friendly forces the Somali National Army and Ras Kamboni Brigade. Photo: Daily Nation/Dhanaan Online.