August 16, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Ugandan president, UN envoy discuss Somalia elections
16 Aug – Source: Daily Monitor/ Xinhua – 162 words
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said that Uganda is ready to support Somalia as the troubled Horn of African country nears an end to the transitional period that will see new leaders on Aug. 20. A State House statement issued here on Wednesday said that Museveni was on Tuesday meeting visiting UN special representative on Somalia Augustine Mahiga who was in the country to brief him on the situation in Somalia as the Aug. 20 elections approach.
“The road to this has been bumpy with too many tasks to be accomplished. However it is good for the region to know that Somalia is heading for a new government,” Museveni said. A Conflict Resolution Committee comprising 25 traditional clan elders will this week pick 275 members of a new parliament who will then choose a new president on Aug. 20. According to a roadmap agreed by the country’s main political groupings in September 2011, the Transitional Federal Government’s term ends Aug. 20, 2012.
Key Headlines
- President Sharif rebukes PM over cabinet decision (Garowe Online)
- Somalia’s al Shabaab pressure elders in Hiiraan region to join fighting (Radio Mustaqbal)
- Top Somali leaders vie for presidential contest (Global Times/Xinhua)
- Heavy fighting erupts in Hudur (Bar-kulan/Jowhar Online/Hiiraan Online/BBC Somali Service)
- AU vows to step up war on al Shabaab (Daily Nation)
- Somalia education boosted as Mogadishu gets new University (Radio Bar-kulan/Universal TV)
- Ugandan president UN envoy discuss Somalia elections (Daily Monitor/ Xinhua)
- Al Shabaab attempts on KDF in Fahfahdhun compromised (Strategic Intelligence News)
- British detectives to testify at Kenyan bomb plot trial (Reuters)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somalia’s al Shabaab pressure elders in Hiiraan region to join fighting
17 Aug – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 87 words
Officials from al Shabaab militant group reportedly met with elders in Bu’aqable settlement of Hiiraan region in the Southern of Somalia, urging them to join the fighting against Somalia’s government forces and AMISOM. The militants also ordered the elders to contribute youths as fighters for al Shabaab.
It is not the first time for the militant group to order elders in Hiiraan region to contribute the fighting by way of recruiting youth, providing weapon and livestock to enforce al Shabaab’s rule.
President Sharif rebukes PM over cabinet decision
16 Aug – Source: Garowe Online – 338 words
Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has disapproved cabinet decision to stop him from proclaiming new districts in southern Somalia, Garowe Online reports. Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas’ office released a decree on Wednesday that stated that towns announced as districts by President Sharif earlier this month, were not valid as the president did not follow the protocol.
Cabinet Ministers met on Monday to discuss promotions and the naming of new districts. President Sharif who earlier this month named 5 new districts in southern Somalia. According to the decree, the letter was drafted after the cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Gaas justified his decree by referring to the 1960 statutes and the Somalia constitution.
However President Sharif who arrived in Mogadishu on Wednesday said that the decree would not have any impact because according to President Sharif the Cabinet Ministers are not mandated for approval of districts.
Heavy fighting erupts in Hudur
16 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan/Jowhar Online/Hiiraan Online/BBC Somali Service – 143 words
A fierce fighting between Somali troops backed by their allied Ethiopian forces and al Shabaab militant group on Wednesday night erupted on the outskirt of Hudur town, in southern Somali region Bakol. The fight erupted when heavily armed militants launched overnight attacks on military bases of the allied forces in an area east of the town, according to locals who spoke to Bar-kulan. It is not yet known the number of causalities inflicted on both sides since the fighting occurred late hours of the night.
Locals say some militants were killed in the fight. Speaking to BBC Somali Service, Deputy governor of Bakol administration Ali Noor Mohamed Hassan said TFG forces repelled the attackers, killing several al Shabaab fighters. No comment from al Shabaab about that fighting.
Somaliland Mining, Energy and Water minister accused of partiality
15 Aug – Source: Somaliland Press – 117 words
Members of Somaliland’s parliament have accused the Minister of Mining, Energy and Water Resources of unfairness in water projects in drought stricken regions. 14 MPs this week held a news conference in Hargeisa to voice against what they said was tribal favoritism and nepotism by minister Hussein Abdi Du’ale.
They claimed the water projects granted by donors such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait went to districts and towns dominated by the minister’s tribe. “The UAE funded the drilling of 6 wells in Togdher, the minister ordered all to be drilled in the east, where his kinsmen inhabit,” they said. They stated the minister has been quietly charting the nation’s water system and sources development.
Somalia education boosted as Mogadishu gets new University
15 Aug – Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Universal TV – 96 words
Somalia’s Education minister Prof. Ahmed Aideed Ibrahim on Tuesday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a new University in Mogadishu’s Darkenley district. The facility is set to accommodate over 2000 students once it becomes fully functional, according to the minister.
The construction of the university is fully funded by Turkish based organisation and is set to be Mogadishu’s centre of excellence in medical studies. Turkish ambassador to Somalia Cemalettin Kani Torun, Benadir regional governor Mohammoud Ahmed Noor and several government officials were present during the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of the proposed University.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Ugandan president, UN envoy discuss Somalia elections
16 Aug – Source: Daily Monitor/ Xinhua – 162 words
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has said that Uganda is ready to support Somalia as the troubled Horn of African country nears an end to the transitional period that will see new leaders on Aug. 20.
A State House statement issued here on Wednesday said that Museveni was on Tuesday meeting visiting UN special representative on Somalia Augustine Mahiga who was in the country to brief him on the situation in Somalia as the Aug. 20 elections approach.
“The road to this has been bumpy with too many tasks to be accomplished. However it is good for the region to know that Somalia is heading for a new government,” Museveni said. A Conflict Resolution Committee comprising 25 traditional clan elders will this week pick 275 members of a new parliament who will then choose a new president on Aug. 20. According to a roadmap agreed by the country’s main political groupings in September 2011, the Transitional Federal Government’s term ends Aug. 20, 2012.
Al Shabaab attempts on KDF in Fahfahdhun compromised
16 Aug – Source: Strategic Intelligence News – 126 words
A 1000 strong contingent of al Shabaab fighters attempted to overrun a Kenya army base in Fahfahdhun, 15hrs ago, military intelligence confirms but ended losing a significant number of fighters.
Intelligence from the small village town of Fahfahdhun confirms a strategic attack on KDF military base in Fahfahdhun late Wednesday by al Shabaab militants but the mission was compromised after intelligence on their plan helped an effective and timely counter attack.
Fahfahdhun is of strategic value to KDF and also the militants, a reason why the militants tried to take it based on their analysis that the KDF base could be sleepy and dormant due to little action. However, al Shabaab claimed to have killed 70 Kenyan soldiers based in Fahfahdhun military.
AU vows to step up war on al Shabaab
15 Aug – Source: Daily Nation – 167 words
The African Union has said it will not relent in the war against al Shabaab despite the Ugandan helicopter crash setback. A special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, Mr. Boubacar Diarra, said despite the blow, the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) remained committed to ending the lawlessness in Somalia. “AMISOM will continue its operations against terrorists despite the loss,” Mr. Diarra said in a statement.
The helicopters went down in bad weather in the Mt Kenya region on Sunday. Fifteen survivors have been found and a search is on to find five others. The remains of a third soldier who was in one of the helicopters have been found.
Sources in the team that went to retrieve two bodies from a burnt wreckage yesterday reported seeing the charred remains of a third soldier but could not collect them due to bad weather.
Officer tells how terror suspect was nabbed
15 Aug – Source: Capital News – 338 words
A Kenyan court was told Wednesday that Briton terror suspect Jermaine Grant had a huge bunch of keys and two mobile phones on his waist when he was arrested. Police Constable James Maiyo who testified as the second state witness in Grant’s case told the court that the Briton was also found with a purple flash disk and some Sh2,700 at the time of his arrest in the populated Mtopanga area in Kisauni, Mombasa.
The police officer was testifying in a case where Grant is accused of being in possession of explosive materials alongside three other Kenyans Faud Abubakar Manswab alias Hassan, Warda Breik Islam and Frank Nyenyo Ngala alias Katoto.
The accused who appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Joyce Gandani are represented by lawyers Chacha Mwita, Jared Bosire and Ngeno Birir. During the cross-examination session, Maiyo said that Grant did not resist the arrest but his co-accused Faud Abubakar fled after he noticed the presence of police officers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Top Somali leaders vie for presidential contest
16 Aug – Source: Global Times/Xinhua – 228 words
The three top leaders of the Somali government namely the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the outgoing parliament have all announced their candidature for the upcoming presidential election due in less than a week.
Campaigning for the top job has already begun in Mogadishu and jockeying for support from prospective lawmakers who will vote in the new president is underway. The country’s next parliament will elect the new Somali parliament and process of selecting the 275 members of the new legislator tasked on key clan elders is currently underway.
Numerous political meetings are held in Mogadishu by various politicians with other politicians and clan elders to solicit votes from potential members of parliament. Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who has been in power since 2009 wants reelection and is seen as one of the front runners to lead the war torn country in during the next four years.
During a recent campaign gathering of his supporters the incumbent President said he would strengthen the rule of law and improve social services. “I want the next government to be a government of rule and law, a government that restores the rule of law in the country. You know we can reach that by rebuilding our institutions and empowering them to do their respective jobs,” President Ahmed said at launching of his candidature.
British detectives to testify at Kenyan bomb plot trial
16 Aug – Source: Reuters – 167 words
London police are expected to give evidence at the Kenyan trial of a British Muslim accused of plotting an attack in Kenya, the prosecutor said on Wednesday. Jermaine Grant was arrested last year in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa on suspicion of stashing bomb-making materials.
“We will have detectives from Scotland Yard come down to testify. We have been exchanging notes with them on matters of this case and so far they have had no problems assisting our prosecution,” prosecutor Jacob Ondari told Reuters after the trial resumed on Wednesday.
Ondari said as many as six Metropolitan Police officers might testify in the case which has shone a spotlight on the growing involvement of foreign fighters, including Britons and Americans, in the ranks of Somali Islamist rebels.
Kenyan police suspect Grant, an east Londoner, has ties to the al Shabaab rebel group blamed by the authorities for a string of attacks in the coastal city, the capital, Nairobi, and in the remote hinterlands bordering Somalia.
Somalia: Next stop Kismayo
15 Aug – Source: IRIN News – 1385 words
Even before it kicks off in earnest, the assault on Somalia’s port city of Kismayo is causing jitters. A preliminary push by UN-backed African Union troops on the last bastion of Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgency has already added to Somalia’s civilian casualties, and there are fears that more may lie ahead as air, ground and naval operations in the strategic city escalate.
The latest, and most senior, person to raise the alarm over the actions of the Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF), which officially operate under the banner of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), was UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mark Bowden.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Many of our sister countries have refused to intervene, and although this country’s reputation as a peacemaker has been enhanced by our efforts in bringing some semblance of peace to that troubled country, it is high time we brought our boys and girls back home. Enough is enough!”
Enough is enough; it is time to withdraw from Somalia
16 Aug – Source: Daily Monitor – 478 Words
When last year’s verbal war broke out between State House and the Governor of the Bank of Uganda over the buying of ‘jet fighters’ without parliamentary approval, the Press Secretary to the President, Tamale Mirundi, told the nation that such approval was not necessary “because the country, with its newly-acquired oil, could be attacked while the President was still looking for such approval”.
We got the impression then that the ‘jet fighters’ were for defending Uganda against outside aggression, and I hope that is still the Government position. However, the sad news that three Uganda army helicopters crashed in Kenya over the weekend on their way to the battle front in Somalia appears to imply that our aircraft, be it ‘jet fighters’ or ‘helicopters’, is instead of guarding our oil and the country as a whole against outside aggression, being used to fight other people’s wars.
“Somalis were overwhelmed with joy and Mo reciprocated their support by expressing his sense of appreciation for all Somalis, irrespective of where in Somalia they came from or which clan they belonged to. This, I think, has further lifted the reverence the Somali people had for him.”
Viewpoint: Can the Mo Farah effect help Somalis and Somalia?
16 Aug – Source: BBC – 697 Words
Mo Farah’s double Olympic gold brings a much-needed positive image for the Somali people whose name has unfortunately become synonymous with anarchy and lawlessness.
Somalia has not had a functioning government for more than two decades. Since the collapse of the state in 1991, the country has become a safe haven for pirates and al Qaeda affiliated militants, who have seized the attention of the world.
The Somali community in the UK as well as other Western countries has become linked to these scourges, so it comes as a breath of fresh air to have a Somali-born Brit bring such joy to many British households who might have previously had other opinions about Somali people.
I am particularly hopeful that the “Mo Farah effect” can bring Somalis and the different communities here in Britain closer together and truly appreciate the human aspirations and commonalities we share as part of this melting pot known as Great Britain.
Top tweets
@amisomsomalia #AMISOM works for #peace & stability in #Somalia & will continue its full support to ensure progress is not reversed.
@curious_scribe “People adore him in Mogadishu, and rightly so” MT @BBCNews: Can “Mo Farah effect” help Somalis & #Somalia? http://bbc.in/Ok3uqR
@vote4africa: #Somalia: Second Female Candidate Announces Bid for Presidency – http://bit.ly/Pdlt3V via @mmnjug @YvonneKhamati #Africa”
@UNPOSomalia #Somalia. Selection of the Parliamentarians continues. Women advocate on 30% quota. View latest: http://bit.ly/TkcNsH http://pic.twitter.com/
@Hamza_Africa #Somali politics mainly involves a lot of old men talking & a lot of young men fighting. #Somalia.
@AbukarArman #Somalia: Difficult as it may be, the civilian population must be protected as al-Shabaab is being weeded out... http://hrld.us/TDcr0G.
Image of the day
Abdulqadir Mohamed (left) and Burhan Yasin Ahmed return to Garowe, Puntland after their arrest and eight-month detention in the Seychelles on piracy charges. Photo: Sabahi Online.