April 3, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somali Prime Minister on first trip abroad
03 Apr – Source: Radio Mustaqbal/ Radio Mogadishu/ Hiiraan Online/Radio Risaala/Shabelle – 104 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has traveled outside the country on Wednesday in his first trip since appointed to the office. According to sources close to the prime minister’s office, the delegation led by Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon will be visiting Djibouti, Ethiopia and Burundi after receiving formal invitation from these countries.
The Prime Minister’s visit aims to strengthen the diplomatic relationship between the Somali government and those countries. Since his appointment October last year, Prime Minister has been concentrating his efforts locally, whereby he made several regional tours.
Key Headlines
- Somali Prime Minister on first trip abroad (Radio Mustaqbal/ Radio Mogadishu/ Hiiraan Online/Risaala/Shabelle)
- Jubaland delegates endorse Charter in Kismayo (Somalia Today/Dhanaan Online)
- Somali territories to resume unity talks (Africa Review)
- President Silanyo Appoints Delegation For Preliminary Talks In Turkey With Somalia (Qaran News)
- Six Mozambicans may testify in trial of Somali pirates (Times of India)
- Ethiopia working to forge IGAD economic cooperation (Walta Information Centre/ENA)
- Running Somalia’s 2nd port remains a challenge (CCTV)
SOMALI MEDIA
Jubaland delegates endorse Charter in Kismayo
03 Apr – Source: Somalia Today/Dhanaan Online – 102 words
The delegations that participated in the formation of a regional state held in Kismayo ratified the Transitional Charter of the mandate for the Jubaland state of Somalia.
Delegates voted unanimously with over 870 members, paving the way for the endorsement of the Charter of the state and subsequent elections of the head of the regional state.
The session was held Tuesday and those who attended included Omar Abdirashid, former Somali Prime Minister and Pro. Mohamed Abdi Gandi, who is also a former defense minister.
Somali Prime Minister on first trip abroad
03 Apr – Source: Radio Mustaqbal/ Radio Mogadishu/ Hiiraan Online/Radio Risaala/Shabelle – 104 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has traveled outside the country on Wednesday in his first trip since appointed to the office. According to sources close to the prime minister’s office, the delegation led by Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon will be visiting Djibouti, Ethiopia and Burundi after receiving formal invitation from these countries.
The Prime Minister’s visit aims to strengthen the diplomatic relationship between the Somali government and those countries. Since his appointment October last year, Prime Minister has been concentrating his efforts locally, whereby he made several regional tours.
President Silanyo Appoints Delegation For Preliminary Talks In Turkey With Somalia
02 Apr – Source: Qaran News – 96 words
According to reliable sources, the Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud “Silanyo” has allegedly already named the delegation to represent Somaliland at the preliminary stage in the proposed talks with Somalia in Turkey. The delegation for the preliminary stages is tasked with setting the proposed agenda and the protocol of the talks.
The delegation which consists of members the administration, a representative of the Somaliland parliament and a leader from one of the official opposition parties appears to be a lightweight one and is expected to arrive in Turkey on or after the 8th of April 2013.
Somaliland President Sends Message of Condolences to the Family of the Late Major General Dhancade
02 Apr – Source: Somaliland Press – 135 words
President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) sends a message of condolences to family, Friends of the Late Major General Mohamed Abdi Aden(Dhancade) in which he said “The untimely death of the late Major General Dhancade is a great loss to his family ,Somaliland armed forces and to the Somaliland nation at large”,.
The Late Major General Mohamed Abdi Aden(Dhancade)died earlier today in Hargeisa where he was buried. President Silanyo express his heartfelt condolences to the family of the Late Major General Mohamed Abdi Aden(Dhancade). May Allah (SWT) bless his soul our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time?
President Silanyo also in his condolence message consoled the Chairman of Joint forces Major General Ismael Osman Shaqale for the loss of a comrade and members of Somaliland Armed Forces.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali territories to resume unity talks
03 Apr – Source: Africa Review – 298 words
The Somali government plans to resume unity talks with the breakaway state of Somaliland, officials have said. Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, the Foreign Minister of the self-declared republic said the talks would be held in Turkey in two weeks after a lull of several months.
Dr Omar was speaking at a press briefing in the capital Hargeisa, some 1,500 km northwest of Mogadishu. Somaliland seceded from the rest of Somalia following the collapse of the Mogadishu-based central government in 1991.
In 2012 it held talks with the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia led by Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. “The government of Turkey issued invitations to the governments of Somaliland and Somalia so that the talks that were kept on hold will resume,” said Dr Omar.
Ethiopia working to forge IGAD economic cooperation
02 Apr – Source: Walta Information Centre/ENA – 192 words
Ethiopia is contributing share in the effort to forge economic cooperation among member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Ministry Spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti said that IGAD member states are working to expand infrastructural development, prevent drought, piracy and terrorism, among others, towards the same goal.
Meanwhile, precondition is set for the Ethiopian peace-keeping contingent to leave Somalia after handing over to Somalia forces the areas liberated from Al-Shabaab, he said. Al-Shabaab has lost control of many areas in Somalia.
Relief organisations resume work in Kismayo but challenges remain
02 Apr – Source: Sabahi Online – 519 words
More than 30 Somali humanitarian organisations have resumed relief operations in Kismayo since government forces liberated the city from al Shabaab last September, but many say the return of international organisations is critical in order to help the city’s needy population.
The Kisima Peace and Development Organisation (KPDO) resumed its work in Kismayo in November as the security situation improved, registering internally displaced persons, educating children and adults, and distributing money to needy families each month.
“We have 1,289 students who take advantage of the education we offer in our centres. We teach them how to read and write Somali and offer other subjects,” said KPDO director Mohamed Ahmed.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Running Somalia’s 2nd port remains a challenge
03 Apr – Source: CCTV – 374 words
Six months after its liberation from the al Qaeda affiliated al Shabaab rebels, the formation of a local regional administration for Somalia’s Southern port city of Kismayo remains a challenge. So far, Somalia’s federal government and the interim administration of Kismayo have failed to agree on the ins and outs of a regional administration.
The formation of a regional administration for the southern port city of Kismayo presents new challenges.
An ongoing conference in Kismayu to form a regional administration has been deemed unconstitutional by the Somali government.
Abdi Farah Shirdon, Somali PM, said, “There is a conference going on in Kismayo that aims to establish the administration of Jubaland…we have told the people and leaders in Kismayo that the process to that conference was not constitutional, any conference to form regional administration must be led by the government.”
Six Mozambicans may testify in trial of Somali pirates
03 Apr – Source: Times of India – 330 words
Six Mozambicans may depose in the trial of 120 Somali pirates. The Mozambique government is the first nation among seven countries, whose nationals were taken hostage by the pirates in 2011, to send its citizens. “The Mozambique embassy has sent a letter to the state government giving a green signal to its nationals. They will be deposing before Sewri fast-track court,” said a source in the security establishment.
“For the first time, Pakistan has given its word to send five nationals to India as witnesses. Earlier, Pakistan did not respond to our request to send the witnesses,” he added.
Myanmar, Bangladesh and Iran have also agreed to send their nationals. Myanmar has requested that they should be given seven days’ notice before the trial, while Iran has fixed an advanced time limit of two months.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“More deterrent sentences should be enacted by the various assemblies to make the killing of a law enforcement officer a poor choice of career.”
Kenyans paying steep price for porous border and being transit corridor
03 Apr – Source: Standard Media – 304 Words
Wednesday’s killing of two police officers and wounding another by unknown gunmen in Garissa is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. Even worse is the presence of yet another firearm in wrong hands since the gunmen grabbed a pistol from one of the officers and escaped after ambushing the officers with a grenade.
The assault is the latest in a wave of impunity by faceless attackers, most likely al Shabaab militants and has now claimed dozens of security officers ever since the Kenya Defence Forces pulverised their chain of command and dispersed the al Qaeda-linked religious zealots from Somalia. Other cowardly assaults have been recorded in Nairobi and Mombasa by sympathisers of the same outfit.
This lends credence to the Government’s concern that Kenya’s borders are poorly policed and therefore too porous for a country that claims to want little to do with the insurgency to the east and north of her territory.
“The cornerstone of the debate rests with the new government, and whether they can break the greed-grievance cycle perpetuated by the governments that have gone before. If they can remain committed, and are empowered, to build a genuinely open, accountable and citizen-centric set of state institutions, then this might indeed be Somalia’s year.”
What hope for peace? Greed, grievance and protracted conflict in Somalia
02 Apr – Source: Yale Journal of International Affairs – 2021 Words
2013 might just be Somalia’s year. A confluence of events – the successful end of the political transition, the formation of a promising new government headed by a new guard of civil society leaders, and the rollback and significant weakening of the militant terrorist group al Shabaab – offers the best hope for a peace that Somalia has had in decades.
But the challenges remain immense, and recent achievements can be easily reversed. Without an effective central government since 1991, parts of the country have been torn apart by decades of conflict, chronic poverty, inequality, food insecurity, and public health challenges. State institutions, where they exist, are a patchwork of colonial legacies that were never fit for the purpose of governing a sovereign state and delivering services to its people.
Any analysis that attempts to identify the underlying and precipitating causes of conflict in Somalia wades into turbulent waters. There are numerous competing narratives and differing interpretations of a complex and contentious twenty-year conflict. What is clear, however, is that the best chance of sustaining the peace in Somalia will be through ensuring the legitimacy of leadership and by addressing some underlying causal dynamics.
Top tweets
@WFP Want to reduce child malnutrition in #Somalia? The solution starts with mothers: http://bit.ly/XUTwz8.
@amisomsomalia Turkish Red Crescent Aid Society will build a boarding vocational school in #Mogadishu as part of the #Somalia Humanitarian Aid Operation.
@abdullahjama_ Somali people must teach there kids the true Patriotism and nation love I am sure that will change alot of the situation .#Somalia.
@ukinthailand This infographic shows how UK funding is helping people in #Somalia. http://ow.ly/jETPg pic.twitter.com/Ouyffddd8z
@Henry_Dijkhoff #Investing in #Somalia – #Shuraako Spring Newsletter http://j.mp/Z6HmcQ.
Image of the day
Somali Women kick start tailoring businesses with United States African Development Foundation in support of entrepreneurship and women development. Photo: @USADF.