March 10, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Honour your pledges to Somalia, donors urged

10 Mar – Source: Standard Media – 210 Words

The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has urged the international community to make good their pledges to support the fragile Federal Republic of Somalia. The aid will enable the Somali government establish strong and functional institutions to serve its citizens, especially from areas formally under the control of Al Shabaab militia now liberated by AMISOM joint forces.

“The international community must make real their pledges at conferences. They must ensure that their support is felt,” Mohammed Affey, IGAD’s special envoy to Somalia told the Standard in an interview.

There have been concerns that most of the development partners have never honoured their promises to extend financial assistance to the Somalia government, raising serious questions on the commitment of the international community to help build the country emerging from the shackles of terror groups.

During a conference on Somalia held in London last March, a number of development partners promised aid to the impoverished country. The European Union pledged to give 44 million euros ($58 million) in aid to build up the justice system and police force in Somalia, which has been blighted by conflict for more than two decades. In another conference in Brussels last September, donors pledged 1.8billion euros ($2.4 billion) to help Somalia get back on its feet.

Key Headlines

Somali military vows to capture Bardere town ( Radio Goobjoog)
Al Shabaab’s leader calls for help says al Qaeda waits “to hear good news” from Somalia (RBC)
Australia gives $10m aid to Somalia (Courier Mail)
U.S Has Three Senior Military Officers in Somalia ( Radio Dalsan)
Armed men kill a doctor in Kismayo (Radio Shabelle)
Galmudug warns al Shabaab influx in the region (RBC)
Afgoye conference approves draft constitution for Shabelle State of Somalia( Radio Dalsan)
Mortar shelling hit liberated Burdhubo (Radio Shabelle)
Somaliland Human Rights Center supports quota for women in upcoming 2015 election condemns gender based violence(Somaliland Informer)
Honour your pledges to Somalia donors urged( Standard Media)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali military vows to capture Bardere town

10 Mar – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 87 words

Somali security officials in Gedo region vowed to capture Bardere a stronghold city of al Shabaab in the region. A senior official of Somali National Army in Burdubo town Diyad Abdi Kalil told Goobjoog FM that the joint forces will advance to new areas in the region including Bardere town.

Somali Military and African peacekeeping forces have seized many towns from al Shabaab in the last few day in a massive anti-al Shabaab operations: Burdubo, Hudur and Rabdure. The security situation of the seized areas is now stable.

Al Shabaab’s leader calls for help, says al Qaeda waits “to hear good news” from Somalia

10 Mar – Source: RBC/Somalimemo/Radio Andalus – 263 words

The secretive leader of al Shabaab Ahmed Abdi Godane [also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeir] has made a new call to his fighters in Somalia during 12 minutes voice recorded distributed on various pro-militants websites. In his new undated voice recorded, the al Shabab emir has focused on the new Ethiopian forces invasion under the African Union Mission in Somalia [AMISOM].

He said the Ethiopians took new face to legalize their invasion to occupy Somalia’s territories. “I call on the mujahideens in the front lines to redouble the fight against the Ethiopian invaders and be aware of that the leader of the international jihad of Khurasan, our Amir [commander] Sheikh Ayman al Dawahiri waits us to hear a good and pleasant news from Somalia,” Godane said in the voice recorded.

He mentioned no tactics if they were plans or tactics to encounter the renewed operations by the Somali National Army and AMISOM forces. He also remained unanswered on the future of the insurgents if they are pushed out of their current positions. “You know the U.S failed in the war in Iraq and that is why they are thinking of getting a safe corridor for its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. They have no moral to go into war and the failure has come,” he added.

The 12 minute voice recorded ended with verses of the Holy Quran and some Somali poems. Godane’s vice recorded came as AMISOM and Somali forces liberate five key towns from al Shabaab including two strongholds in the southern region of Bakool.

Armed men kill doctor in Kismayo

10 Mar – Source: Radio Shabelle – 65 words

Armed men gunned down a famous doctor in Kismayo, the headquarters of Lower Juba Sunday night and immediately fled from the area. Doctor Hassan Diriye was killed by three men armed AK47 outside his house.

The security forces of Juba administration in Southern Somalia cordoned the area and launched operations. No one was arrested during the operations. Assassinations and explosions in Kismayo have rampantly increased.

Galmudug warns of al Shabab influx in the region

10 Mar – Source: RBC – 260 words

The President of the Galmudug State of Somalia Gen Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdid has warned of possible influx of al Shabaab fighters into his region after the renewed joint operation by the Somali National Army and the African Union Forces known as AMISOM started in southwest of the country, RBC Radio reports.

Gen Qeybdid warned that his region will be a victim for the defeated group’s threat if the government of Somalia and the international community do not back his administration to tackle the extremists pour into Galmudug region.

“After the renewed joint operation started, many of them [al Shabaab fighters] begun to flee to hide in the stable regions of the country. I know many of them already reached here,” Gen Qeybdid said during a press conference in Galkayo, the central Somalia town of Mudug, about 750 km north of Mogadishu.

He called on the people to be vigilant and report to the security forces if they identify any members of al Shabaab hiding in their areas. “Some of them are coming here because of clan affiliation. That is what they are doing now to get a safe haven for them,” The president of Galmudug added.

Two weeks ago, Reuters quoted the President of Puntland Dr Abdiweli Ali Gaas saying the militant fighters were pouring to Puntland towns. The African Union Mission [AMISOM]operates only in the south and central regions of Somalia. Puntland and Galmudug are two semi-autonomous states on the central and northeastern of the country while Somaliland, on the northwest declared itself as breakaway region from Somalia.

Afgoye conference approves draft constitution for Shabelle State of Somalia

10 Mar – Source: Radio Dalsan – 111 words

According to a press release, the General Assembly conference which took place in Afgooye District on Sunday where 800 Constituency Assembly members approved the draft constitution of the Shabelle State of Somalia.

800 Constituency Assembly members from all segments of society from Lower and Middle Shabelle received a copy of the latest draft of the constitution and after debate and consultations, 773 members approved the constitution while 27 members objected the draft constitution. Therefore, the draft constitution was finally accepted by the constituency assembly members.

Organizing Committee has thanked the technical committee that put together the draft constitution followed a series of consultation meetings with the people in both Shabelle regions.

Mortar shelling hits liberated Burdhubo

10 Mar – Source: Radio Shabelle – 146 words

According to news reports from the Burdhubo district in Gedo, numerous mortar shells were fired into a district near the airstrip and on the outskirts of the town.

Somali Government Officials in Burdhubo declined to comment on the mortar attacks and did not mention any losses or casualties. Heads from the Government’s Gedo Regional Administration said that they are committed to maintain control tof he territories for the Government where al Shabaab are currently ruling.

The spokesperson for the Gedo Regional Administration, Khaliif Nuur Goobe spoke to Radio Shabelle in Mogadishu and described the search operations they are conducting to collect explosives in the Burdhubo district that was captured from Al-Shabaab.

“Concisely, we have managed to monitor the environment in Burdhubo as we have already retrieved explosives that we believe the anti-peace persons would rather use to terrorise the citizens,” said the spokesperson.

U.S Has Three Senior Military Officers in Somalia

09 Mar – Source: Radio Dalsan – 162 ords

The U.S has deployed trainers and at least three senior military officers into Somalia capital, Mogadishu to help to track extremists in Somalia, the head of AFRICOM said. U.S. military has deployed a small number of uniformed trainers and advisers to Somalia for the first time since 19993.

General David Rodriguez, head of US Africa Command says the trainers and officers are in Somalia to help the African Union Mission known as AMISOM and the Federal Government of Somalia to tackle the terrorist groups linked to Al Qaeda.

In January U.S has the first admitted the presence of its uniformed military officers in Somalia capital, Mogadishu making the first official U.S involvement in Somalia since the failure of the UNISOM 2 misson which led the death of 18 U.S commandos in Mogadishu.

The U.S Pentagon has tended to prefer a light footprint in Africa, gathering intelligence while relying on allies to take direct action against Al-Qaeda-linked groups in Somalia, Mali and elsewhere.

Somaliland Human Rights Center supports quota for women in upcoming 2015 election, condemns gender based violence

09 Mar – Source: Somaliland Informer – 158 words

Women around the world commemorate 8th March to mark their struggle for fundamental freedoms and rights. On the celebration of the International Women’s Day 2014, Human Rights Center requests the government and the people of Somaliland to strengthen their commitment against gender based violence and gender inequality.

Let us take this opportunity to feel the agony and misery of many girls and women around the county who live on daily basis with female gentile mutilation (FGM), rape, domestic violence and other forms of gender based violence.

Clan leaders’ interference in the criminal prosecution of rape cases remains to be obstacle in attainment of justice for the victims of gender based violence in general and rape in particular.

Human Rights Center calls attention to women’s political rights. Human Rights Center reiterates the political parties, the parliament and the government to wholeheartedly support quota for women in the upcoming 2015 election. Quota will help women to increase their political participation.

Somaliland Deputy Minister for Health Refutes Alleged Misappropriation of Vaccination Funds

09 Mar – Source: Somaliland Sun – 152 words

The Deputy Minister for Health Hon. Nimo Hussein Qawdan has refuted allegations of misappropriation of funds meant for the just concluded vaccination exercise appearing in some media outlets.

Hon. Nimo Qawdan while addressing members of the press from her offices in Hargeisa termed the allegations which appeared on qaran website on the 8th March as baseless, fabricated & inverted story, far from the truth meant to mislead the general public as to the usage of the said funds.

The site had prior reported that funds for the vaccination exercise were mismanaged with no forensic audit carried to account for their expenditure upon concluding the exercise.

The deputy minister while dismissing the content of that news item asserted that the vaccination exercise was funded jointly by UNICEF & WHO with the ministry tasked with implementing administrative modalities for the successfulness of the project while at the same time providing the breakdown of the expenses incurred.

Belgium ambassador to Kenya visits Somaliland

09 Mar – Source: Somaliland Informer – 155 words

Belgium ambassador to Kenya embarked on working visit to Somaliland’s capital city of Hargeisa on Friday to oversee the implementation of development projects that are being implemented in the country and which are of great benefit to Somaliland people and which are undertaken by Belgium government.

Mr. Bart Ouvry , the Belguim ambassador to Nairobi who arrived in the country said that he was pleased to come to Somaliland and oversaw the projects ongoing in the country which have great impact on the lives of Somaliland citizens. Mr. Bart Ouvry has said that his government supports Somaliland government on the areas of agriculture, health, education and the extraction of water.

He was pleased to see the work undertaken by HALO Trust that is engaged of clearing mines from Somaliland. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hon. Mohamed Biihi Yonis held meeting with Mr. Bart Ouvry although it has not been disclosed to the media.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Honour your pledges to Somalia, donors urged

10 Mar – Source: Standard Media – 210 Words

The Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has urged the international community to make good their pledges to support the fragile Federal Republic of Somalia.

The aid will enable the Somali government establish strong and functional institutions to serve its citizens, especially from areas formally under the control of Al Shabaab militia now liberated by AMISOM joint forces.

Somali farmers benefit from al Shabaab reforms

10 Mar – Source: Al Jazeera English – 972 Words

It is just after 8am and Sheikh Abu Abdullahi is busy inspecting what he refers to as his latest “anti-NGO” project: workers digging new canals in Bulo Mareer, a town in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle province.

The diggers have been at work since 6am, as part of a province-wide canal-building project that was launched about two and a half years ago. Al Shabaab – the al Qaeda-linked rebel group fighting against Somalia’s internationally backed government – has so far spent about $2m on the project, along with others like it in south and central Somalia, according to the group.

Three months have passed since the last drop of rain hit Bulo Mareer, but thanks to the numerous canals and waterways, the town is lush and green. In a seven-hectare maize farm on the outskirts of this riverside town, Hussein Mohamed Ali, 66, is still in an ecstatic mood after one of the canals reached his farm a month ago. “I don’t have to wait for the rains any more,” he said, holding tomatoes plucked from the plants on his farm. “Before, I will have been very lucky if I had one harvest a year. Now I’m expecting at least three harvests in the next 12 months.”

Our policewoman on life in Somalia

10 Mar – Source: The Observer-Uganda – 698 Words

As the world’s most lawless country, Somalia conjures up images of bullets, bombs, blood and death. But according to a Ugandan policewoman, people in Somalia still find time for beach walks, jogging, swimming and playing volleyball.

Betty Napeyok, 39, is a senior officer with Amisom, the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, since April 2013. On a short holiday in Uganda recently, Napeyok spoke to Zurah

Nakabugo about life in Mogadishu. Excerpts:

What happened on your first day in Somalia?

On my first day when I arrived in Somalia, it was so hot, but the Indian Ocean lying across was a beautiful sight to behold. My first night in Mogadishu was not very good; the sun set at 5pm and by 6pm it was dark. I was so scared. The mosquitoes there are as big as flies.

How do you start your day in Somalia?

The day begins at 5am with prayers. Then I go jogging and have breakfast at 7:30am. I report to office at 8pmand run through press releases. If there is any event in Mogadishu town to attend, I welcome journalists and arrange interviews with police commissioners.

UN warns of violence over Somalia leader

08 Mar – Source: The East African – 400 words

The UN, African Union envoys and the Somalia government are warning about possible eruption of violence in six southwestern regions of Somalia after clan elders last week unilaterally anointed a new leader for these areas.

The establishment of the Southwestern State — which covers regions that fall under another state recognised by Mogadishu — highlights governance challenges facing the Horn of Africa nation. The Somali government has rejected the new state, a position also held by the UN and the AU.

“The likelihood for rival leadership emerging with the potential to cause conflict and undermine the government and Amisom military expansion and stabilisation activities is real,” the AU envoy for Somalia, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, said.

UN envoy Nicholas Kay has also urged “all parties to observe maximum restraint and refrain from any action that could pose a threat to security.”

The new Southwestern state leader, Madobe Nunow Mohamed, has downplayed such concerns, saying he is not a “warlord.” He dismissed as “a premature reaction,” the opposition to his appointment by clan elders. “I am a hundred per cent certain that the wishes of the people will be realised,” he said.

Hotel chain eyes Somalia peace dividends

08 Mar – Source: Standard Media – 474 Words

One of the first Kenyan owned hotel management company, Icon Hotel Group Africa is set reap Somalia’s peace dividends by setting up a branch in the country. Peace and normalcy has returned to the Horn of Africa State after Kenya and the African Union defeated the al Shabaab.

Somalia had not known peace for more than two decades. The latest move by Icon Hotel Group Africa comes amid heightened interest in Africa over the last decade that has seen infrastructure expanding steadily and the building and upgrading of hotels. The hospitality industry in Africa has gotten a boost from various multinational hotel chains that have made commitments to expand their footprints on the African continent.

The hotel will also use the country as a spring-board to other regions in Eastern Africa. The new firm will be providing high-end solutions to the hospitality industry. In an interview with Standard on Saturday in Arusha recently, Icon Hotel Group founder and hotelier, Mr Fred Maina said Somalia is their next frontier. “We shall start wholly by covering the larger East African Community (EAC) region before rolling out to the rest of Africa,’’ Maina who has 35 years experience as top manager in Kenya’s leading hotels said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Yemen upholds 10-year jail for 11 Somali pirates

10 Mar – Source: AFP – 120 words

An appeals court in the southern port of Aden upheld a 10-year jail term Sunday for 11 Somali pirates convicted of trying to hijack a ship in Yemeni waters.

The group were convicted by a lower court in 2010 of hijacking a “foreign ship” in February 2009, using AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and a ladder of the type used by pirates to board vessels.

Heavily armed pirates using high-powered speedboats have operated in the Gulf of Aden for years, preying on ships and at times holding them for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or shipowners.

However, the number of pirate attacks has diminished since international warships began patrolling waters off the Horn of Africa.

Australia gives $10m aid to Somalia

10 Mar – Source: Courier Mail – 79 words

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says $2 million will be given to support the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) to combat terrorism, while a further $8 million will be granted for humanitarian efforts such as water access and medical care.

Ms Bishop said enhancing Somalia’s stability was in Australia’s national interest.

“It will help combat terrorism, improve stability in the Indian Ocean Rim and reduce piracy along important trading routes for Australia,” she said in a statement on Monday.

42 African migrants drown off Yemen coast

10 Mar – Source: AFP – 152 words

Forty-two illegal African migrants drowned when their boat overturned off Yemen’s southern coast late on Sunday, the defence ministry reported.

The boat smuggling dozens of African migrants “overturned off the coast of Beer Ali,” in the southern Shabwa province, the ministry said in a brief statement on its news website 26sep.net.

A Yemeni naval patrol in the Arabian Sea saved at least 30 others who were taken to a refugee camp in the town of Mayfaa, it said. A security official confirmed the incident to AFP but no more details were immediately available.

African migrants, especially Ethiopians and Somalis fleeing poverty and unrest at home, generally slip into southern Yemen by boat before heading north towards the Saudi frontier.

Some 84,000 people from Horn of Africa countries flooded into Yemen in 2012 hoping to find jobs in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

NATO navy patrols African Horn, seeks new ways to crush Somali pirates

10 Mar – Source: Voice of Russia – 764 Words

NATO vessels patrol the dangerous waters off the Horn of Africa to prevent pirates from seizing passing ships. In the meantime, NATO crews are rehearsing the recapturing of hijacked vessels in a move that involves the use of helicopters. Such exercises are repeated almost daily to keep the crew sharp for actual encounters with the pirates who still threaten the trillion-dollar shipping that passes near the Somali coast.

NATO, the European Union and other countries have helped drive down piracy since the freighter Maersk Alabama was hijacked by four ragtag Somalis in 2009, but there are still attacks nearly every week in the area.

Some 90 per cent of all global trade by volume is shipped by sea, and about half of that passes through the Indian Ocean, including one-third of Europe’s oil supplies. More than 22,000 cargo ships travel through the so-called Gate of Grief, the strait between Yemen and Djibouti that links the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“I don’t believe it has any merit for the UN to keep easing the arms embargo on Somalia from a certain time to a certain time. What is worth praising, instead, is for the UN to completely lift the arms embargo on Federal Government of Somalia so that it can effectively fight with insurgent groups like Al Shabab. After the arms embargo lifting has taken place, the UN should ensure the weapons to the Federal Government of Somalia should not fall into the wrong hands of insurgent groups like Al Shabab.”

Somalia: Hypocrisy of Arms Embargo

10 Mar – Source: Raxanreeb – 798 words

There is a famous saying that goes, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I think it is both. Despite years of arms embargo, somalia has been killing its citizens in the name of violent organizations or in the name of so called Somali governments.

Although the arms embargo against Somalia has been there for years, there has never been a shortage of arms in Somalia to kill people or to engage in senseless wars. That shows the arms embargo has been either ineffective or has been breached by both the international actors that constantly meddle with the affairs of Somalia and by the various groups in the country that are at loggerheads with one another in never-ending violence.

In order to fight Al Shabab, the arms embargo was eased on the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). Nevertheless, there have been allegations, especially in the recent report by the Somalia/Eritrea Monitoring Group that violations occurred on the part of the FGS.

The report alleges that piles of weapons intended for the FGS vanished from warehouses and are available for sale in black markets. The report adds that the missing weapons allegedly went to Al Shabab.

“Kenya is a key ally but must not view the Somalia situation merely through security prism. It is time we engage more deeply with our neighbour to pursue socio-economic development.”

Mogadishu ripe for partnership to spur economic development

08 Mar – Source: Standard Media – 600 Words

My visit last week to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, together with a group of MPs from North Eastern was an eye opener for me, as much as it was a positive public relations coup for the fragile regime. Coming just days after insurgents attacked the official residence of the President and the popular Lido beach area, our visit gave Mogadishu an all-clear sign to would-be travellers to the city recovering from many years of civil war.

Last time I travelled to the city that was once dubbed ‘the cleanest city in Africa’ was in 2006 when Sheikh Shariff’s Islamic Courts Union had taken control and there was unprecedented calm. At the time, the city though very peaceful, still had scars of the destruction and anarchy of two decades of internal war. It slipped back to chaos after Shariff’s outfit was bundled out by Ethiopians. An uneasy calm has been restored in recent months though, and thousands of Somalis have trooped back from the diaspora.

I was struck by the complete facelift of the airport that was a derelict piece of antiquity only a few years back. The ride from the airport to Villa Somalia in the city centre was pretty smooth; the roads had been tarmacked, streetlights installed and traffic officers literary manned the roads! Accommodation at Jazeera Hotel was exceptional, 4-star with wifi in the rooms, and an excellent courtyard.

The streets in downtown Mogadishu were clogged by heavy traffic; shops were open till late and there was hardly any sound of gunfire for the two nights I spent in the city.

Top tweets

@KingYusufYusuff I am afraid after we eliminate alshabaab, d next war will b fought within d states of Jubbaland,SW State of#Somalia & d new Shebelle States.

@Hamza_Africa In #Somalia‘s Lower Shabelle, the country’s breadbasket, farmers benefit from #alShabaab‘s move to expel#NGOs http://aje.me/N0gbdK.

@DrMaryanQasim Facilitating with WHO the workshop on “Strengthening Ministry of Health, Somalia’s Core Policy and Planning… http://fb.me/2vuqYkMrt.

@amisomsomalia View of Mogadishu fishing harbour from the Aruba Hotel #Somalia pic.twitter.com/rcfq7OG9Re.

@SomaliPM Cabinet this am discussed Minister’s Code of Conduct, essential every minister conducts themselves with upmost integrity & professionalism.

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Image of the day

Image of the day Female journalist, Faduma Abdulkadir, raped & arrested in Mogadishu last year, honored in #Rome #Somalia #Journalism. Photo: @Daudoo.