September 9, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

President Hassan visits central Somalia region

09 Sept – Source: Raxanreeb/SNTV/Radio Mogadishu/BBC Somali Service – 91 words

Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his top security officials on Sunday visited Beledweyne town, the capital of Hiiraan, in central Somalia. “My visit here is part of the wider government outreach program, and we will listen to the people.” The President told the people in Beledweyne late on Sunday.

He was accompanied by the Deputy Minister of the Interior and National Security, the Police Commissioner and the National Security Chief. Meanwhile, president Mohamud is also visiting Jowhar town, 90-km north of the country’s capital. Security has been tighten within the town.

Key Headlines

President Hassan visits central Somalia region (Raxanreeb/SNTV/Radio Mogadishu/BBC Somali Service)
Somali president urges Somali forces to expel al Shabaab from Hiiraan province (Radio ogadishu)
Somali PM attends construction of new ports in Djibouti (Radio Dalsan)
Kenya Police arrests suspected al Shabaab militia (Standard Media)
Somali Prime Minister arrives in Sana’a (Bar-kulan)
Somali president opens Educational Program ” Go to School” (Radio Mustaqbal)
UAE investing millions in Somalia schools to stop children turning to piracy (7 Days in Dubai)
Norway pays Somalia’s government salaries (The Local News)

SOMALI MEDIA

President Hassan visits central Somalia region

09 Sept – Source: Raxanreeb/SNTV/Radio Mogadishu/BBC Somali Service – 91 words

Somali president urges Somali forces to expel al Shabaab from Hiiraan province

09 Sept – Source: Radio Mogadishu/al Shahid – 165 words

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud has urged the armed forces in Beledweyne City, central Somalia to do their best to expel militants of al Shabaab from the entire parts of the province, This came in a meeting between the Somali President and officials, officers of the armed forces in the region.

Malik Abdallah, director of the Information Office of the Presidency of Somalia said in a statement reported by Somali media that the president spoke with officials of the province in the liberation of the province from the al Shabaab movement and ways to restore security and stability.

He added that the Somali president’s visit to the province of Hiran region, comes within the framework of his tour to the provinces of Somalia before the international conference on Somalia in the 16 of September in Brussels.

Somali PM attends construction of new ports in Djibouti

09 Sept – Source: Radio Dalsan – 131 words

The prime minister of Somalia Abdi Farah Shirdon has attended the construction of two new seaports in Djibouti capital on Sunday. After launching officially the beginning of the construction of the two poets on Damera-joog and Dorale, the prime minister of Somalia said he was grateful for the people of Djibouti for their tireless efforts towards development as he said the region will benefit from the services of the new ports in Djibouti.

“The intention is to gain economic and development success in the region. Somalia has the largest coastline in Africa.” the prime minister said. Somali prime minister is currently paying an official visit in Djibouti where he has met the Djibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh and the country’s prime minister.

Somali Prime Minister arrives in Sana’a

09 Sept – Source: Bar-kulan – 128 words

High level delegation led by the Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has on Sunday night jetted off to Sana’a, capital of Yemen for an official visit. The Prime Minister and his delegation were cordially received at the Sana’a international airport by officials of the Yemeni foreign ministry and members of the Somali embassy in Yemen.

Speaking on his arrival in Sana’a, Prime Minister Shirdon said “I’m very much excited to be here, Somalia and Yemen have strong and historical ties and we hope to strengthen and deepen these relations”.

Defense, foreign affairs and natural resources ministers are due to meet tomorrow to discuss to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. Somali Prime Minister’s delegation will also meet Somali Diaspora community in Sana’a amid their tour.

Herders, farmers fight in Middle Shabelle

09 Sept – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 112 words

Reports from Jowhar town, center of Middle Shebelle region in Southern of Somalia say that herders and farmers fought in parts of the region. One person died while another one was wounded after fighting between the two sides in a village under Mahaday district in Middle Shabelle region.

The clash broke after misunderstanding between the herders and farmers emerged. The elders in Mahaday began to mediate the two sides in Naharow village and the situation is calm now as the residents confirmed to Mustaqbal radio.

Somali president opens Educational Program ” Go to School”

08 Sept – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 168 words

The president of federal government of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has inaugurated educational program for Somali children dubbed “Go to Schools” in Mogadishu.

The innugaration of the program coincides with World Literacy Day which is marked 08 September. This program will be launched in Mogadishu, Garowe (Puntland) and Hargeisa (Somaliland). The campaign, led by the education authorities and supported by UNICEF and other international partners, will run for three years.

It aims to give a quarter of the young people currently out of the education system a chance to learn. The Go 2 School Initiative, which will cost US$117 million over three years, is being supported by UNICEF, WFP and UNESCO along with a number of International NGOs.

Funds from the European Union, USAID and the UK’s Department for International Development, DFID have been granted to a consortium of NGOs. Japan, the Global Partnership for Education and the Danish International Development Agency, DANIDA, have made commitments whilst others have expressed interest.

President Silanyo lays Foundation stone for New National library and Telecommunications headquarters

08 Sept – Source: Somaliland Press/Universal TV/Hiiraan Online – 127 words

Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) has laid down the foundation for construction of new post and office and a building which will house the national library.

President Ahmed Mohamed Mahmoud (Silanyo) addressing said the foundation laying ceremony ,the country needs modern facilities so as to cope with an advancing communication industry Cabinet ministers government officials and members of the public, laid down the foundation stone.

The Minister of Post and Telecommunications Hon Mohanmed Jama Abgal lauded President Silanyo visionary leadership, he further stated the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications office will ensure citizens will get timely delivery of the service nation-wide at an acceptable quality and affordable cost through promotion of fairness and justice in a competitive market through employing a skilled and ethical workforce.

Somali Federal Govt, Ethiopia troops fight al Shabaab in Bay region

08 Sept – Source: Garowe Online – 121 words

Somali Federal Government forces backed by Ethiopian troops reportedly fought a fierce battle with al Shabaab militants in Qansah-Omane vicinity of Bay region on Saturday afternoon, Garowe Online reports. Local sources say that the fighting lasted for an hour with witnesses reported that al Shabaab fighters fled Qansah-Omane.

Mohamed Aro As, the mayor of neighbouring Bay regional district of Bardaale said by telephone from an area close to the battlefield according to him, “We disbanded them [al Shabaab] forcefully ,also we seized ammunition and weapons”.

On their side, al Shabaab officials didn’t provide details to Somali media. Qansah-Omane 24 KMs away from Baidoa, the administrative capital of Bay region had been one of few places remaining under the control of al Shabaab.

Somaliland: GO 2 School Initiative Launched During World Literacy Day Commemorations

08 Sept – Source: Somaliland Sun – 136 words

Somaliland Is celebrating the 8th September –World Literacy Day- to launch a wide ranging campaign to give about 300,00 Somaliland Children and Youth Access to education as part of an ambitious GO 2 School Initiative.

The campaign which led by the Ministry of Education and Higher studies and supported by UNICEF and other international partners will run for three years, it aims to give a quarter of the young people currently out of the education system a chance to learn.

Enrolment rate in Somaliland are among the lowest in the world, only four out of every ten children are in school. Speaking to the ceremony the DG of ministry of education said ” giving education to those who don’t have it is a very crucial opportunity to their future as well as to their families”.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Kenya Police arrests suspected al Shabaab militia

09 Sept – Source: Standard Media – 281 words

Police in Laikipia have arrested a suspect believed to be allied to the al Shabaab militia. The suspect has confirmed to have spent the last two years in Kismayo, Somali awhere he has undergone training.

Ngarua District Officer Rufus Kihara said that the 20-year-old man was arrested at Matwiku area where full al Shabaab uniform and other paraphernalia belonging to the militia were recovered.

The uniform were two militia trousers with Arabic wordings, a barret from the Sultanate of Oman, two medals with medallions indicating important attachment to al Shabaab and several Kenya identification cards which did not bear his name.

UAE investing millions in Somalia schools to stop children turning to piracy

09 Sept – Source: 7days in Dubai – 381 words

The UAE is investing millions in Somalia schools to prevent children falling into a life of piracy and crime, a senior government official will tell an international conference.

By helping to fund Somali schools, hospitals, and businesses, the UAE hopes to give kids an alternative and aims to “get to the root causes of piracy”, the two-day International Piracy Conference in Dubai will hear.

The UAE is also putting money into drought and flood relief so that Somalis are not forced into piracy because of the country’s disastrous economy.

Somali government marks first year in office

08 Sept – Source: Aljazeera English – 02:29mins

Somalia’s internationally-backed government is marking its first year in office. But a series of recent attacks including twin blasts on Saturday near its offices have highlighted the administration’s shaky grip on security. Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports from the capital Mogadishu.

Prime Minister Hailemariam confers with his Canadian counterpart

06 Sept – Source: Walta Information Centre – 122 words

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, in Russia attending the G-20 summit, has held talks with Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada. Discussions covered the bilateral relations of the two countries and various African issues.

The two Prime Ministers exchanged views regarding the current situation in Mali and on ways to consolidate the relative peace and stability in Somalia. Harper underlined Somalia’s need for a military training center to build up the capacity of its security forces and affirmed that Canada would support such an initiative.

Puntland steps up fight against al Shabaab in Golis Mountains

06 Sept – Source: Sabahi Online – 819 words

Puntland security forces have increased security operations between Galgala and Bosaso, resulting in a drop in attacks by al Shabaab militants hiding out in the Golis Mountains, security officials and residents say.

“We have foiled planned attacks in which they wanted to carry out explosions in the city,” Bari region Police Chief Osman Hassan Awke told Sabahi. “We would not have been able to achieve that if the public did not assist us. The people we are targeting [in our operations] are terrorists.”

The Golis Mountain Militia, led by Mohamed Said Atom, formally pledged its allegiance to al Shabaab in February 2012. Galgala, from which it often launches its attacks, sits at the foot of the mountain range and provides access to strategic roads to the port of Bosaso, 60 kilometres north-east.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Norway pays Somalia’s government salaries

09 Sept – Source: The Local (Norway) – 222 Words

Norway has started paying the salaries of Somalia’s government bureaucrats believing that this is the best way to help the fledgling state establish itself. Money from Norway’s aid budget is going towards paying the salaries of 380 public employees in the country, with Price Waterhouse Coopers managing the transfers.

The first payments were made last week, and went to workers in the country’s Ministry of Finance and country’s Auditor General, two organisations which need to be functional for the country to be able to fight the government corruption seen in the previous transitional administration.

“What we expect is a strengthened public financial sector, which can control the budget, be transparent with their projects, and so enhance the reputation of the government,” Norway’s international development minister Eidsvoll Holmås said of the project.

Last year, Somalia’s parliament elected Sheikh Hassan Mohamud as its new president, but the state’s ability to administer and control the country remains weak.

Don’t close Somali cash ‘lifeline’, charities tell Barclays

09 Sept – Source: Channel 4 – 597 words

It is is the only bank in the UK still providing this service. However, it plans to close all the accounts of Somali money transfer firms by the end of this month.

There is a perceived legal and reputational risk of providing banking services to the sector. The concern is that criminals and terrorists could use the existing system.

However, millions of Somalis depend on money sent to them by relatives living abroad. Somalis in Britain, for example send over £100m a year to friends and families. The country has no formal banking system and money transfer operators provide the services people in the UK would expect from a bank.

Somalia starts campaign to send 1 million children to school

08 Sept – Source: AFP World News – 244 words

The Somali authorities are launching Sunday a campaign aimed at getting one million children in the war-torn nation into school, the United Nations’ children’s agency said. The Go 2 School initiative is being launched simultaneously in the capital Mogadishu and in Hargeisa and Garowe, the main cities of the autonomous and semi-autonomous northern states of Somaliland and Puntland respectively.

The campaign, which will run for three years “aims to give a quarter of the young people currently out of the education system a chance to learn,” Unicef said. At an estimated total cost of $117 million (89 million euros) for the three-year period, the initiative will include construction and renovations of schools, teacher recruitment and training, technical and vocational training for older children and special programmes for pastoralist communities.

Enrolment rates in the Horn of Africa country, which is struggling to emerge from two decades of civil war, are among the lowest in the world, the agency said, noting that only four out of every ten children are in school. Many children start primary school much later than the recommended school-entry age of six and many more drop out early.

“Go 2 School is very ambitious, but it is an essential and achievable initiative,” said UNICEF Somalia Representative, Sikander Khan. “Education is the key to the future of Somalia — we have already lost at least two generations. An educated youth is one of the best contributions to maintaining peace and security in Somalia.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“After decades of civil war, Somalia is awash in mental illness and without a single trained psychiatrist. That the folk cure for PTSD involves being locked in a room with a hyena isn’t helping.”

Crazy Town

06 Sept – Source: Foreign Policy – 1693 Words

Mohamed Abdulla Hersi reclines on a foam mattress in the Habeb Rehabilitation Treatment Center’s crowded mental ward. His eyes are glazed over from antipsychotic drugs, probably some combination of chlorpromazine and haloperidol, but we can’t be sure. His medical files, in a bundle in the facility’s office, do not list his drug regimen. Hersi doesn’t even bother to swat away the flies gathering on his face and body.

Loose-fitting combat fatigues, emblazoned with the light blue and white-star emblem of Somalia’s tattered army, expose his chest and two bullet-sized scars — evidence of the battlefield violence he has suffered since joining one of the country’s myriad militia groups as a boy.

That was back in 1991, when the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre plunged Somalia into more than two decades of chaos. Subsequent fighting under clan warlords and Muslim hard-liners drew in the United States, Ethiopia, U.N. blue helmets, and a coalition of African forces. Now that African Union troops have dislodged al Shabab militants from most major cities and a new government is shining a dim ray of hope over parts of the country, the battle-scarred Hersi serves as a reminder to the many challenges Somalia has yet to overcome.

“Where is my M-16? My Kalashnikov?” he murmurs, seemingly unaware that he is miles from the front lines, where his fellow soldiers fight an enemy with links to al Qaeda and ambitions to overthrow the U.N.-backed government. Hersi speaks in a muddled stream of consciousness about gunfights, explosions, and mangled comrades from his years serving under various militia leaders, generals, and presidents. He mumbles about a car-bomb blast he survived in Kismayo, about Osama bin Laden, and about his father, who apparently died in Minneapolis.

“The struggling nation of Somaliland is betting these beasts of burden will be on the menu far and wide.”

How Do You Like Your Camel Meat?

07 Sept – Source: Slate – 1714 Words

From early in the morning until midday, the streets of southern Hargeisa, Somaliland periodically shut down as hundreds of camels trundle along the narrow city streets. Taxi drivers give way, milling on the side of the road, wiping their cars clean of the dust and mud kicked up by the procession. Ultimately, the beasts file through the gates of the Hargeisa Camel Market.

No one really runs the market. It’s just one of dozens of sites across the country where nomads, locals, and traders converge daily to buy and sell thousands of live animals, some for the neighborhood butcher’s block, others for export. And to most folks in Hargeisa, it’s just a fact of life—a reflection that, despite the boom in the city’s population and the development of modern, multistory office buildings, Somaliland is still a largely pastoral economy.

But downtown, in the knot of government offices near the presidential palace, the ministers are eyeing this market with new ambitions. They have analyzed the country’s resources, crunched the numbers, and decided that these nomads may offer the safest and quickest passage for taking this fragile economy from relative poverty to a more thorough modernity.

“It is the duty of every Somali citizen to hold government officials accountable. As a nation we must realize it is necessary to look backward before we can look forward.”

First Year Scorecard: Who is Holding Government Leaders Accountable?

06 Sept – Source: Hiiraan Online/International Peace and Conflict – 1659 Words

After twenty two years of protracted conflict in Somalia, again Somalia was at the crossroads of history on September 12, 2012. The peaceful election of President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, a newcomer and former activist and academic was largely supported by majority of Somalis. This was a major step forward! The celebration of gunfire erupted following the vote, given that not many political commentators predicted his sudden victory.

For once the bullets did not force Mogadishu residency into panic. The jubilation was marked in many other cities in and out of Somali borders. Somalis were hopeful again. The new government gained unlimited political capital and enjoyed the goodwill of large majority of Somalis.

The sense of euphoric fervor slowly melted away over the months that followed the election. Government progresses slowly become lethargic at best. The government did not capitalize on military achievements. Situation was further worsened by sharp decline of US dollar. The government looked weak and unable to meet these challenges. While there is no united opposition to the government, individual actors begin to criticize government’s lack of competence to even implement the presidents six pillar policy in four years.

“With prospects improving in the country, some of the Somali diaspora are coming home.”

Home Sweet Home: Changing Times Bring Somali Diaspora Back

06 Sept – Source: Think Africa Press – 1424 Words

“A cappuccino here is more expensive than any other coffee in the world,” said Mohamed Ali as he addressed the audience of the second TEDx conference held in Somalia’s capital.

“An espresso machine uses a lot of electricity and Mogadishu is the most expensive city in the world by kilowatt/hour,” he said, introducing the story of Ahmed, a returning diaspora member who partnered with local engineer Isse to create a coal-powered coffee machine prototype. “Ahmed now has the cheapest espresso in Mogadishu and Isse has 100 machines that he rents for $100 dollars a month.”

On August 31 a TEDx conference – the ‘ideas worth spreading’ event – was held in Mogadishu, the capital of a country that is still considered by some a ‘failed state’. Despite this, spirits were high as the speakers, mostly returning diaspora members, articulated their hopeful visions of a new Somalia.

Top tweets

@matrixlll Very ambiguous goal for Somali Government to put 1 Million students in school #Go2School #somalia.

@Rooble2009 Remittance Transfers to Somalia Nairobi – Forum and Oxfam meeting https://riftvalley.wufoo.eu/forms/remittance-transfers-to-somalia/ … #Somalia #Money #Remittance.

@Lattif From #Somalia via Sweden, with Skateshttp://on.wsj.com/17wBc2J “We will probably lose by a hundred goals,” say bandy team member.

@SomaliaNewsroom Ahead of Brussels trip, #Somalia Pres Hassan Sheikh Mohamud reaches #Beledweyne (#Hiiraan) to meet local community pic.twitter.com/pu3ZE3glgL.

‏@Hamza_Africa PHOTO: What’s left of the two cars suspected to have been laden with the explosives. #Mogadishu #Somalia pic.twitter.com/nMBoTtZrLI.

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Image of the day

Image of the day Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohammud, centre greets elders after arriving in central Somali town of Beledweyne, capital of Hiiraan region on September 8, 2013. Photo: Hiiraan Online.