April 4, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia to work closely with Kenyan president-elect
04 Apr – Source: Bar-kulan – 119 words
Somali envoy to Kenya Mohamed Ali Noor Thursday met Kenyan president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta to deliver a congratulatory message from president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Speaking to the press after the meeting in Nairobi, Noor reiterated Somalia’s commitment to closely work with the Kenyatta-led new government. He said Kenyatta on his side promised to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Mr. Kenyatta is expected to assume office next Monday after Kenya’s highest court upheld his election following petition filed against him by his main challenger Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld Uhuru Kenyatta’s election as president, rejecting challenges to the vote. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga announced the decision, which was unanimous, saying the poll was free and fair.
Key Headlines
- Somalia to work closely with Kenyan president-elect (Bar-kulan)
- NISA officer killed in Mogadishu (Radio Shabelle/Jamhuriyah/Bariga Afrika Online/al Shahid/ Qurbejoog)
- Somalia: foreign intervention is ‘root cause of civil strife’ says analyst (Gulf News)
- Sierra Leone peacekeeping troops arrive in Somalia (China News/Xinhua Shanghai Daily)
- UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict starts first official visit to Somalia (UN News Center)
- Somalis flee Kenya to avoid refugee camps (Star News)
- Two deny links to al Shabaab group (Daily Nation)
SOMALI MEDIA
Somalia to work closely with Kenyan president-elect
04 Apr – Source: Bar-kulan – 119 words
Somali envoy to Kenya Mohamed Ali Noor Thursday met Kenyan president-elect Uhuru Kenyatta to deliver a congratulatory message from president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Speaking to the press after the meeting in Nairobi, Noor reiterated Somalia’s commitment to closely work with the Kenyatta-led new government. He said Kenyatta on his side promised to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Mr. Kenyatta is expected to assume office next Monday after Kenya’s highest court upheld his election following petition filed against him by his main challenger Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld Uhuru Kenyatta’s election as president, rejecting challenges to the vote. Chief Justice Willy Mutunga announced the decision, which was unanimous, saying the poll was free and fair.
NISA officer killed in Mogadishu
04 Apr – Source: Radio Shabelle/Jamhuriyah/Bariga Afrika Online/al Shahid/ Qurbejoog – 93 words
A Somali National Intelligence Security officer was gunned down on Wednesday night in the capital Mogadishu, according to eyewitnesses.
Witnesses told local media that an armed men with pistols opened fire on NISA officer in Hodan district in Mogadishu, killing him instantly before fleeing from the scene. The incident is part of assassinations renewed in Mogadishu over the past weeks.
The Somali government recently announced that it is taking strict measures to control the security in the capital. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for assassinations targeting members of the security authorities and the national army, which took place recently in Mogadishu.
Prisoners killed in Belad Hawa, Gedo region
03 Apr – Source: Shabelle – 122 words
There are reports coming from Beled Hawa region in Gedo that three prisoners in the custody of the Government were last night short dead.
This happened after the government troops took the prisoners out of the cells and persecuted two of the prisoners who were suspected to be members of al Shabaab. The third prisoner was said to be a student and a stray bullet caught him during the incident which resulted to his death.
Local Gedo administration told Shebelle media that it was a mistake that happened and cannot be explained how it happened and why it happened. They promised to investigate the matter.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalia: foreign intervention is ‘root cause of civil strife’, says analyst
04 Apr – Source: Gulf News – 134 words
An analyst on Somali Affairs has said foreign intervention in Somalia — left without a central government since the 1991 ousting of its then military ruler — is “the root cause of civil strife”.
Shams Hussain, an academic who holds dual Somali and British nationality, said: “One would argue that 90 per cent of the problems in Somalia are based on foreign intervention. They include regional and international actors.”
Shams, on a recent visit to the UAE, identified the regional actors as mainly the neighbouring countries of Ethiopia and Kenya, as well as the “IGAD counters”. IGAD — the Intergovernmental Authority on Development — is a regional bloc of east African nations including Somalia. One of its stated objectives is to support “the prevention, management and resolution of interstate and intrastate conflicts through dialogue.”
Somalis flee Kenya to avoid refugee camps
03 Apr – Source: Star News – 373 words
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 12,000 Somali refugees have gone back to Somalia since the beginning of the year. A February to March report published on the office’s website said the refugees returned to their country because they feared that the Kenyan government will send them to the Dadaab refugee camp.
“The number of returnees moving from Kenya to Somalia where conditions are not yet viable for large-scale voluntary return, continued to increase in February. The movements from Kenya into Somalia continued to increase in the first nine weeks of the year,” the report said.
“Refugees stated that the Kenyan government’s decree to relocate urban refugees to Dadaab camp led to their return, as well as perceived fear of election-related violence, insecurity, robbery, rape, and harassment.”
Last December all refugees and asylum seekers living in urban areas were directed to move to camps in Daadab and Kakuma. The directive was linked to rising insecurity in the country which was linked to refugees.
Two deny links to al Shabaab group
03 Apr – Source: Daily Nation – 229 words
Two men were on Wednesday charged in a Nairobi court with being members of the Somali terror group, al Shabaab. Mr. Yunus Swaleh Salim and Mr. Khamisi Juma Hussein were brought to Nairobi from Liboi in Garissa for prosecution on the day they were arrested.
The charges come a day after three police officers were killed in Garissa town by unknown gunmen. The accused, who were not represented, denied the charge before the Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate, Ms Lucy Mbugua.
Somali Muslim Brotherhood delegation in Egypt
03 Apr – Source: Daily News Egypt – 153 words
The Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badei received a delegation from Somalia’s Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday.
Mohamed Noor, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed and Ismail Abdy arrived at the Brotherhood’s main headquarters in Moqattam for a meeting with Badei; the meeting was attended by Deputy Supreme Guide Mahmoud Ezzat and General Secretary of the Brotherhood Mahmoud Hussein.
A statement released by Hussein said that Badei called for unity and solidarity between Somali Brotherhood members. He sent his regards to the General Supervisor of the Somali Brotherhood and stressed the importance of their conference, scheduled for April.
KDF Joined by Sierra Leone Troops in Somalia as a Joint Task Force
02 Apr – Intelligence Briefs – 185 words
Kenya Defense Forces will be working with Sierra Leone defense forces who will be deployed to lower Juba regions as peacekeepers. Sierra Leone will deploy troops to Somalia on the first week of April under AMISOM command. Intelligence by Strategic Intelligence verify the deployment of Sierra Leone troops to areas near Kismayo and other areas of Lower Juba.
This is a joint task force under the AMISOM command, intelligence shows, dispelling postulations that KDF was being replaced in Kismayo. The dynamic aspect of the clan politics in Kismayo cannot be weighed lightly and can only be well placed in the Kenyan hands.
The Ras Kamboni brigade commanded by Sheikh Madobe has worked alongside the Kenyan troops in dislodging al Shabaab out of the vast Juba valley hence feels comfortable working with the Kenyans.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Sierra Leone peacekeeping troops arrive in Somalia
04 Apr – Source: China News/Xinhua Shanghai Daily – 146 words
Sierra Leone’s peace keeping troops on Wednesday arrived in Somalia to join the African Union peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). “An advance team from the Sierra Leonean contingent arrived today in Somalia… They will operate alongside the Kenyan contingent,” AMISOM said here in a statement.
The battalion-strong Sierra Leone contingent would be deployed “shortly” to southern Somalia where Kenyan forces were deployed, it said. AMISOM said the deployment of the Sierra Leonean troops would enable the Kenyans to withdraw one battalion from the region in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution.
“The Special Representative welcomed the deployment of the contingent and said that their integration into AMISOM signifies the commitment across Africa to stabilizing Somalia,” said the AMISOM statement.
Sierra Leone was the fifth African country to have contributed troops to the 18,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Somalia alongside troops from Uganda, Djibouti, Burundi and Kenya.
UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict starts first official visit to Somalia
03 Apr – Source: UN News Centre – 409 words
A United Nations envoy has visited Somalia on an information-gathering visit to raise awareness and discuss ways of addressing sexual violence in the Horn of Africa country.
“I decided to make a trip to Somalia because I believe the country is embarking on an important and exciting journey after many years of conflict,” said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura.
“The Government has been engaged in this discussion and has expressed openness to developing a framework of cooperation to address sexual violence,” Ms. Bangura added in the capital city of Mogadishu. This is her visit to Somalia in her current capacity.
Ms. Bangura met with UN officials, including from the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS), as well as civil society partners and a range of stakeholders to listen and learn about the challenges faced in tackling sexual violence.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“During the conference, it was very clear that the elders were preoccupied with the conflict and attached great importance to its resolution, as well as to the preservation of peace in the future. The mediation confirmed that the clans are generally committed to maintaining peaceful relations but sometimes simply need a bit of extra assistance to put their dispute settlement efforts on track.”
Somaliland: Defusing Tension around Natural Resources
03 Apr- Source: Inter Peace – 511 Words
Recently, in the north-east of Somaliland, a local conflict over land and resources such as pasture and water threatened to destabilize the entire region as it degenerated into a spiral of revenge killings between two sub-clans. Interpeace local partner, the Academy for Peace and Development (APD), was called upon by the Minister of Defence, Ahmed Haji Ali (Adami), who hails from the area of conflict, to organize a mediation meeting between clan elders to defuse the tension and put an end to the feud. This reconciliation initiative enabled the clans to reach an agreement that, it is hoped, will restore access to resources and foster peace in the region.
A threat to regional security
The Sanaag Region is a major multi-communal hub, the point of convergence of four clans, and tensions dating back to the Somali civil war still persist. However, thanks to reconciliation efforts by the local clan elders themselves, the situation in the region has been relatively calm for the last two decades, and disputes are often successfully mediated locally before they can escalate. In 2010, however, a disagreement over access to water led to the death of a man, which in turn triggered a series of revenge killings between two sub-clans.
“Canada, the US, and the EU must seize this opportunity in Somalia’s recovery to bring millions out of humanitarian precariousness, create a sustainable economy, and stabilize the Horn of Africa for good.”
A window of opportunity for Somalia’s recovery
02 Apr – Source: CDA Institute – 725 Words
Somalia has been ravaged by two decades of civil war since the collapse of the Siad Barre government in 1991. Yet recent developments in the realm of security, politics, and economics allow for cautious optimism that a functioning government, the rule of law, and a sustainable economy could be restored in the years to come.
Recent military interventions by international stakeholders have routed the Al-​Shabaab militia out of the major urban centers. The United Nations authorized AMISOM forces, headed by the African Union, liberated Mogadishu and the Jawhar stronghold, in cooperation with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces.
An Ethiopian incursion from the East liberated Baidoa in 2012. Al ​Shabaab, having infiltrated the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and kidnapped tourists on Kenyan soil, provoked the Kenyan government to intervene from the South, eventually liberating the strategic port of Kismayo. International cooperation at sea in counter-​piracy measures, combined with land-​based intervention by the autonomous government of Puntland have been effective at reducing piracy in the Gulf of Aden.
Politically, the London Conference of February 2012 signalled the end of the transitional government. A constitution has been drafted and President Mohamud was elected democratically. His background in higher education and reputation of integrity allow him to stand out from the previous TFG elite reputed corrupt, incompetent, and divided along clan-​based fractures.
The Somalia Conference and opportunities for economic development
04 Apr – Source: FCO Youtube – 2:35 mins
UK Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds talks about international efforts to support progress in Somalia and how the Somali diaspora community can contribute to the process.
Top tweets
@tobinbjones Photograph inside a hospital in #Mogadishu, during a visit to the site by #SRSG Bangura #UN #Somalia pic.twitter.com/k4PGMcV2P7.
@farhanjimale For the 2nd day 3 radio stations Daljir, One nation & voice of peace are silent after authorities of #Puntland in #Somalia took them off air.
@HMAMattBaugh Combatting sexual violence in #Somalia needs political leadership, commitment, SSR, judicial reform, empowering women, tackling impunity.
@hodanguled Visited the construction site for Hargeisa school for the deaf. It is the only school of its kind in #Somalia. pic.twitter.com/saUVEYEDwg.
@gcmcSomalia #Somalia Somalia: Open for Business – after decades of civil war, business in Mogadishu is reviving http://bit.ly/108SHpu #crisismanagement.
Image of the day
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura, visits the Mother and Child Health Center, in Mogadishu, Somalia, on April 3, 2013.Photo: Reuters/AUUNIST.