August 8, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Defence Minister confident of forces in bolstering security during elections

08 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 125 words

Somali Defence minister Hussein Arab Isse has expressed confidence that they are capable of intensifying security in Mogadishu and its environs during the upcoming election that is scheduled for 20 August 2012. Isse who is also the Deputy Prime Minister said he is confident with the ability of the Somali armed forces including the police, national security service and the military.

He said the ongoing politics in the country will have no impact on the activities of the armed forces, promising that they will continue hitting hard al Shabaab militant group. Somali is scheduled to hold presidential election in the next two weeks but elections of the speaker of the parliament and his deputies will first be held before the presidential election scheduled on 20 August 2010.

Key Headlines

Defence Minister confident of forces in bolstering security during elections (Radio Bar-kulan)
Somali Police Commissioner welcomes the first AMISOM Formed Police Unit in Mogadishu (AMISOM)
Demonstrations in Afgoye to oppose parliament selection process (Radio Risaala)
AMISOM in cash appeal as Kismayo assault looms (East African)
Al Shabaab attempts to terrorise Kenyans with online magazine (Sabahi Online)
Somali airspace routinely violated by foreign UAVs and other aircraft – UN (Defence Web)
Somalia: Abdi Mohamed Samatar “We decided to sacrifice our lives to safeguard the ministry” (IRIN News)

PRESS RELEASE

Somali Police Commissioner welcomes the first AMISOM Formed Police Unit in Mogadishu

08 Aug – Source: AMISOM – 246 words

The Somali Police Commissioner, General Sharif Shekuna Maye has formally welcomed Formed Police Officers from Uganda who have been deployed in Mogadishu to serve under the police component of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Speaking during a parade by the AMISOM Formed Police Unit in Mogadishu, General Sharif Shekuna Maye expressed his appreciation to the African Union and the government of Uganda for the continued commitment to supporting Somalia in its endeavor to ensure sustainable peace and security in the country. He informed the formed police officers that Somalis are expecting a lot from them.

He said; “The main expectation of the Somali community is the securing of every corner where remnants of al Shabaab terrorist group might be hiding. The community is expecting you to help bring back law and order in the country.” The AMISOM Police Commissioner, Dr. Charles Makono said another group of formed police officers from Nigeria is expected in Mogadishu before the end of the year to join their colleagues from Uganda.

“The major task of the Formed Police Unit will be to assist the Somali Police Force in consolidating the security of Mogadishu. This will be done through public order patrols in coordination with the Somali Police Force.” Said Dr. Makono. The deployment of officers from Uganda becomes the first deployment by the African Union of a Formed Police Unit since the formation of the Organization of the African Unit in 1963 and later the African Union in 2002.

SOMALI MEDIA

Defence Minister confident of forces in bolstering security during elections

08 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 125 words

Demonstrations in Afgoye to oppose parliament selection process

08 Aug – Source: Radio Risaala – 101 words

A demonstration participated by different sections of the community in Afgooye town [30 km west of Mogadishu] was held to oppose the way the parliament selection process was conducted. The demonstrators were chanting slogans criticising the cultural elders who were tasked to select lawmakers.

Some of the demonstrators who spoke to the media said they are opposed to the way the selection process that is about to concluded was conducted. They said the selected persons whose names has not been disclosed by the technical team are persons pursuing self-interest. This protest is coming at a time when the technical selecting team is expected to announce the list of members’ names that will form the next parliament.

Puntland passes district electoral law

07 Aug – Source: Garowe Online – 142 words

Puntland Parliament passed a district electoral law on Tuesday, that will begin registering election polls in districts across Puntland, Garowe Online reports. The parliament met at its headquarters in Garowe early Tuesday morning to debate and vote on the proposed law. The district electoral law states that every district in Puntland will have elections.

Currently Puntland is made up of 37 districts; however their boundaries have not been authoritatively proclaimed which led to discussions of how the district elections would occur. “The deliberations on Tuesday were to discuss how the district electoral elections would begin when some districts’ boundaries are not clearly defined,” said Speaker of Parliament Abdirashid Mohamed. After a passionate debate MPs agreed initially to instate the law in the original 21 districts during Siad Barre’s regime, while other districts would define boundaries and hold elections at a later date.

Somali immigrants handed two years jail term in Egypt

08 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 122 words

A court in Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria has sentenced sixteen illegal Somali immigrants to two years of imprisonment each for being in the country illegally and trying to cross the border to Libya.

The immigrants, 14 men and two women were arrested by Egyptian security officials after their boat developed mechanical problems, according Mohamed Abdullahi Tahlil, a Somali student in Alexandria. A number of Egyptian nationals were also arrested during the incident.

Tahlil told Bar-kulan that the immigrants are now being held in a prison located on the outskirt of Alexandria, adding that there are possibilities of deporting them to Somalia. The immigrants were trying to cross to Italy from Libya to seek asylum and better life in some European countries.

Somaliland House of Representatives approves municipal election rules

07Aug – Source: Hadhwanaag Times – 103 words

Somaliland’s House of Representatives on Tuesday held unusual meeting in Hargeisa, approving rules that amend articles related to municipal elections which Somaliland president delivered to the house.

Presided over by the speaker of House of Representatives Abdurrahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro, the lawmakers unanimously voted in favor of the rules.
Somaliland Elections Committee has in the past suggested four articles about the elections should be amended. Respecting the request of Somaliland leader, the lawmakers today sit to discuss and then approve the elections related rules, speaker said at the session. Some 37 MPs endorsed the rules’ amendments, while 4 refused and 12 kept silent from voting.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Tension as refugee killed at Kakuma refugee camp

08 Aug – Source: Star – 67 words

Tension is high at the Kakuma refugee camp after one of the refugees was killed during a fight between them and the local community. The refugee from Somalia was shot dead after a robbery incident at the camp. The refugees blamed armed suspects from the local community of raiding the camp to steal. Turkana West DC Patrick Muriira says security has been beefed up at the camp.

AMISOM in cash appeal as Kismayo assault looms

07 Aug – Source: East African – 430 words

Africa Union troops which have launched a major onslaught on al Qaeda allied group, al Shabaab in Somalia are facing a serious financial crisis that may jeopardize operations to wipe out the militia in the Horn of Africa nation.

AU Deputy chairperson Erastus Mwencha said the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)’s venture into Horn of Africa is an expensive affair and appealed for more international aid to enable the troops complete their mandate of pacifying the country.

Mr. Mwencha who was speaking during African Leadership Conference in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa Monday said the pan African body spends about $45 million per month.

“In the last three years we have spent $300 million to send troops, armored trucks and tanks, backed by helicopters, into Somalia to mutilate terrorism groups operating in the war tone country of Somalia,” he said.

Al Shabaab attempts to terrorise Kenyans with online magazine

07 Aug – Source: Sabahi Online – 909 words

Al Shabaab is using its new online magazine to instil fear among Kenyans and motivate its demoralised fighters after suffering a string of defeats and defections, Kenyan security officials and analysts say.

Gaidi Mtaani, or “Terrorist on the Street” in Swahili, was introduced in April and has published two issues in Swahili and English. The magazine’s editorial says it drew inspiration from Inspire, an English-language online magazine published by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

In its first issue, Gaidi Mtaani mocked the Kenya Defence Forces’ (KDF) Operation Linda Nchi, which means “Protect the Country”, by coining its own Operation Linda Uislamu, which means “Protect Islam”.

The group vowed to triumph over Somali and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) forces, placing on the cover of its first issue an image of a man overlooking the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, holding two grenades behind his back. Security officials told Sabahi they are monitoring the magazine and will communicate through local media to dispel any lies the group publishes.

Tanzania leads EA countries in fight against terrorism, US report

07 Aug – Source: East African – 396 words

Tanzania leads East African countries in successful fight against piracy and terrorism as others like Kenya and Uganda dithered, a new US report shows. Kenya and Uganda lacked key capabilities, the US State Department said last week adding overall in Africa, the US sees some progress in the fight against terrorism, particularly in Somalia.

But incidents of terrorism in the Sub-Saharan region are said to have risen last year by about 11.5 per cent, due in large part to attacks carried out in Nigeria by the Boko Haram group. Tanzania has remained terror-free since al Qaeda’s 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, notes the State Department’s worldwide survey of terrorism for 2011.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia: Abdi Mohamed Samatar, “We decided to sacrifice our lives to safeguard the ministry”

08 Aug – Source: IRIN News – 502 words

Abdi Mohamed Samatar is a Somali policeman who has served as a security officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since Somalia last had a functioning government in 1991. Samatar has helped to protect the ministry’s offices from looting during years of violence in the capital, Mogadishu, hopeful that the offices would someday be put to good use. He shared his experience with IRIN:

“I was serving as the security officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before the armed opposition ousted the central government of Somalia [in 1991]. Civil war broke out between them [opposition and government forces] and they started to loot all the public properties.

“But I knew that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the place where every foreigner visited for one reason or another; I decided not to leave the ministry, whatever happened. It has 110 offices and all its documents from the last 30 years of independence [1960-1990] archived.

“Two former watchmen and I have been the only guards that the ministry has had in 20 years, even though a lot of militias have been everywhere in Mogadishu and even tried to attack the ministry.

Somalis Celebrate British Runner’s Olympic Victory

07 Aug – Source: VOA – 705 words

Somalia’s two-person team did not win any honors at this year’s Olympics. But the country got a boost when one of its own, Somalia-born athlete Mo Farah, won the gold for Britain. Somalia itself has been at war for decades, which has hampered its Olympic chances.

When British runner Mo Farah crossed the finish line to win the 10,000 meter race, it was a triumphant moment for more than just Britain. For the more than 100,000 Somalis living in Britain, it was their golden moment, too.

Somali airspace routinely violated by foreign UAVs and other aircraft – UN

07 Aug – Source: Defence Web – 175 words

The United Nations has counted 64 reports of foreign fighter jets, helicopter and unmanned aerial vehicles operating in Somalia over the last year, most of which violated the 1992 arms embargo against Somalia. In its Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, the United Nations said that it had received a growing number of reports of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying over Somalia.

“Several independent investigations have documented the deployment of US operated UAVs in Somalia, and other countries of the region, mostly for surveillance purposes. On at least two occasions, UAVs have reportedly been employed in targeted assassination of al Shabaab leaders and commanders during the course of the Monitoring Group mandate,” the report stated.

“Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) routinely operate in Somali airspace. Although the United States Government has officially informed the Monitoring Group that it provided “a small number of Unmanned Aerial Systems to AMISOM”, AMISOM has expressed its concern about unidentified UAV operations in Mogadishu in an official letter sent to its main partners in February 2012,” the report said.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Under the new constitution, we have federalism as a system of governance which virtually institutionalizes the Balkanization of Somalia into clan fiefdoms without any clear territorial size or borderlines. We have federal states that no one knows their number or cap. We have a Federal government that no one knows where its authority ends and that of a federal state begins. We have recognized national resources without any clear identification of who has the right to market or contract out these resources, administer its revenues, or protect the overall national interest.”

A Constitution of Ambiguity and Deferment

07 Aug – Source: Foreign Policy Blog – 1046 Words

If constitutions are supposed to make boundaries of the government’s legitimate authority over its citizens and state or regional administrations clear, Somalia’s new constitution oddly falls short. While there are some bright provisions in the new constitution, much of it can be aptly described as uncertain assurances and a “not now” legal document!

However, one would have no idea if one’s information about the new constitution was only through the uniformed report of the international media, the UN and a handful of countries of well-wishers who were quick to congratulate Somalia for its “historic accomplishment.”

There is no dispute that what took place in Mogadishu on August 1, 2012 is an historical milestone, or at least it has that potential. And before history renders its final judgment, I would like to say that the forecast is eerily grim. And if the new parliament does not make the necessary changes as soon as it assumes its responsibilities, the new constitution could, among other things, undermine the profound security and stabilization accomplishments of recent months.

“After 20 years in the UK the Somali community is still in flux; walking down Uxbridge Road in west London, you pass successful Somali restaurants, internet cafes and money-transfer companies; while Camden Town at night reveals young Somalis in handcuffs being led into police vans. Sometimes nuclear families show the divide, with one sibling at university and the other in Feltham.”

British Somalis: nomads no more

07 Aug – Source: Guardian – 741 Words

For most of my childhood in London people were confused by me. They would look at me askance and ask, “Are you Pakistani or Jamaican?” “I’m from Somalia,” I would reply irritably, receiving a blank look before the inevitable response: “Where’s that, then?”

After Mo Farah’s glorious Olympics victory on Saturday night I hope I won’t have to be asked that again.

Much has been written about how Britain’s Jamaican community celebrated Usain Bolt’s charge to gold. But British Somalis, who have been here in numbers for over two decades, are not so firmly placed in the national consciousness. And often when we are written about it is with the worst connotations: violence, terrorism, gangs. Farah, the journalist Rageh Omar and the rapper K’naan go some way in creating a positive image, but young Somalis’ sense of identity seems more powerfully formed by the persistently negative representations found in the media.

“Perhaps the most striking symbol of his success was moving the UN Headquarters for Somalia back to Mogadishu after 17 years in Nairobi. This was a powerfully symbolic act for a country struggling to reassert its national identity, forcing international actors to get involved directly in the country they’re supposed to be helping.”

Somalia rising after two decades of civil war and unrest

08 Aug – Source: Al Arabia English – 665 Words

This month, Somalia will finally get a permanent constitution and government after years of transitional institutions. Despite two decades of civil war and unrest, the Somali capital of Mogadishu is currently undergoing an economic rejuvenation, with commerce, with banking and even tourism making a comeback.

What can explain this? While the recent presence of African Union troops has provided greater security, allowing the entrepreneurial spirit of the Somali people to flourish, less recognition has been given to Somalia’s own leadership. In particular, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government, has played a central role in Somalia’s revival.

Top tweets

@farhanjimale AMISOM deploying special trained police from Uganda and other countries to deal with security for the upcoming election in #Somalia.

@RegalDuchess #Somalia Constitution is perfectly fine, which as a starter can be amended. If #Americans can amend their constitution: slavery, so can SOM.

‏@evolvingprimate #Somali President expected 2 formally dissolve #parliament in coming hours 2 pave way for new one as part of efforts to end the transition.

@Hamza_Africa #Somali Olympic Committee should’ve entered an athlete in the shooting contest. Positive we could’ve won all 3 medals there 🙂 #TeamSomalia.

@UNPOSomalia Military Technical Working Group meeting in #Mogadishu today. Big donor presence to support #Somali forces: #UNPOS #UN http://pic.twitter.com/cR3NsJKd.

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Image of the day

Image of the day Recently deployed Ugandan police officers serving with AMISOM’s first Formed Police Unit (FPU) stand in formation at a police station in Mogadishu’s Yaaqshiid District. Photo: REUTERS/Stuart Price/AU-UNIST.