December 15, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Ambassador Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke favourite to be next Somali PM

15 Dec – Source: Hiiraan Online – 131 Words

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, current Somali Ambassador to United States and the former holder of the premiership appears to be the top choice to replace outgoing Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed. If confirmed, Ambassador Sharmarke will succeed Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, who was removed from office on December 6, 2014 after losing a confidence vote in parliament.

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke was chosen to be Prime Minister by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed as part of a Western-backed unity government, held the post from 2009 to 2010, and resigned due to irreconcilable differences with President Sharif Ahmed. On July 14, 2014, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke became Somalia’s first ambassador to the United States in more than 20 years. Official confirmation is due to be announced at the Villa Somalia in the coming hours

Key Headlines

Ambassador Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke favourite to be next Somali PM (Hiiraan Online)
Security forces carry out operations in Jowhar (Dalsan Radio)
Attorney and Auditor Generals questioned in Parliament (Garowe Online/Radio Goobjoog/Radio) RBC
Interior ministry due to resettle returning Somali refugees (Radio Goobjoog)
Clan militias clash in parts of Bay Region (Dalsan Radio)
Invest in effective intelligence to defeat al Shabaab Ethiopian envoy tells Kenya (Star Kenya)
UN seeks $863m for Somalia aid (Daily Nation)
Al-Shabaab attacks AMISOM base in Mogadishu (News Agency)
The unlikely love affair between two countries (BBC.com)
Nine Shabaab suspects paraded in Mogadishu (Star Africa)
Islamist rebels kill 10 Somali soldiers in attack on base (Reuters)
Al-Shabaab blamed for fifth beheadings (CNN)

SOMALI MEDIA

Ambassador Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke favourite to be next Somali PM

15 Dec – Source: Hiiraan Online – 131 Words

Security Forces carry out operations in Jowhar

15 Dec – Source: Dalsan radio – 98 Words

Somali security forces carried out operations in suburbs of Jowhar town. In those operations, many people, most of them youths were apprehended. Dalsan Radio reporter in the town says the operations by the security forces affected the movement of traffic. Dalsan reporter added that businesses and education were also affected by the operations. Business activities were halted. Last night, Somali security forces at Hanti-wadaag neighborhood in Jowhar were targeted with bomb attack. The operations ensued. Somali security forces have on several occasions in the past carried out similar operations especially after they were targeted with such bomb attacks.

Attorney and Auditor Generals questioned in Parliament

15 Dec – Source: Garowe Online/Radio Goobjoog/Radio RBC – 289 Words

Lawmakers in Somalia’s Federal parliament questioned Attorney and Auditor Generals on the issuance of new orders and accusations by some MPs of meddling on Sunday, Garowe Online reports. Speaking in the parliament in advance of parliamentary question-and-answer session, Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir said they imposed temporary travel ban on cabinet members after reports of corruption surfaced.

Defending the recent joint judicial written by the offices of Attorney and Auditor Generals, he noted that state institutions are in transition following the ouster of Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed in no confidence vote. Meanwhile, Auditor General Nur Jim’ale Farah responded to questions regarding his standpoint on the month-long infighting between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and outgoing Prime Minister, distancing himself from involvement. Farah indicated that his office independently audits issues pertaining to revenues and spending of the government agencies. A letter dated December 6, 2014 barred Ministers, Deputy Ministers and State Ministers from travel until handover.

The attorney general Ahmed Ali Dahir responding to a question about the motive behind the issue of the letter said that after intensive investigations they found 19 ministries and three agencies working with the ministries of involving in corruption, embezzlement of money and misuse of power therefore issued the letter for the ministers to be held accountable of their responsibility.

The auditor General of federal government Farah Nur said they issued the letter due to the necessity of the difficult situation in the country at that particular time but has given apology. Members of the federal parliament registered to ask questions to the officials that appeared before the federal parliament. The attorney general and auditor general will come before the federal parliament for the second time to answer the questions of the lawmakers.

Interior ministry due to resettle the returning Somali refugees

15 Dec – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 124 Words

The ministry of interior and federalism of federalism government of Somalia said it will take part in the resettlement of Somali refugees voluntarily returning to their home country.The director of communication department of the ministry Abdifatah Ali Hassan said the ministry has given priority the resettlement of Somali refugees by launching a new national Agency for Refugees and IDPs that will respond to the affairs and the needs of the returning refugees.

Shedding light on the role of the new national agency the director said the agency will address and find solutions to the problems of the returning refugees. The launch of the agency comes a week after over one hundred Somali refugees from Kenyan refugee camps in North-eastern Kenya returned home voluntarily.

Jeenyo Club wins the country’s Super Cup defeating Banadir SC

14 Dec – Source: Radio RBC – 374 Words

In what was one of the most contested matches in Somalia’s recent history, one of the country’s oldest football clubs, Jeenyo United has won the Somali Supper cup. In Friday’s hotly-contested match that attracted tens of thousands of fans from various destinations in the country, Jeenyo United beat their Banadir Sports Club rivals by 5-4 in penalties after the normal time ended in 2-2 draw.

Sponsored by the country’s largest Network provider Hormuud Telecom, the match was played at Banadir Stadium which was refurbished by FIFA last the year. Somali Football Federation president Abdiqani Said Arab who addressed at the closing ceremony of the 2014 super cup match thanked Hormuud Telecom for promoting football in the country. “Football is now booming in Somalia and it gives me a great pleasure to see Hormuud Telecom having full involvement in football and on the behalf of Somali Football Federation I am fully lauding for such constructive decision by Hormuud Telecom” SFF President Abdiqani Said Arab told the media during his speech.

“I also would like to welcome Coca-Cola branch in Somalia and Salam Bank for joining hands with us in the promotion of Football in Somalia” the president continued to say. The president said that the role played by local media in covering Somali Football activities in the country and the greater cooperation they developed with SFF media department were hugely appreciated. The supper cup trophy was the second major success for Jeenyo United since they rejoined into Somali football platform early in 2014. So far the club won the country’s General Da’ud cup this year.

The super cup is always contested by the league winners and the winners of General Da’ud cup. Banadir Sports Club’s young player Ga’al Farah has been crowned as the man of the Supper cup match. Founded in 1948, Jeenyo United FC disappeared in the aftermath of the collapse of Somalia in 1991, but they were revived in March 2012, several weeks before the death of former Somali FA president Said Mahmoud Nur, who on March 11, 2012 welcomed the old club into the field of football after more than two decades of absence.

Clan militias clash in parts of Bay Region

15 Dec – Source: Dalsan Radio – 85 Words

Reports from Bay Region say two clans in Bay fought as a result of farmland dispute. Sources say the situation is still tense in the areas where the clan militias fought as the dispute was not yet resolved. At least four people lost their lives in the fighting and five others were wounded. Dalsan reporter in Bay confirmed that the dispute was yet to be resolved. The federal government of Somalia has so made no efforts to mediate the two feuding clans.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Invest in effective intelligence to defeat al Shabaab, Ethiopian envoy tells Kenya

15 Dec – Source: Star Kenya – 159 Words

Investing in effective intelligence gathering, winning citizens’ support and putting them at the centre of counter-terrorism strategies is the most effective tool against terrorism, the Ethiopian envoy to Kenya has said. Shamsudin Roble was speaking during the 9th anniversary of the promulgation of the Ethiopian constitution in Nairobi yesterday. Roble said the threat of terrorism and radicalisation cannot be fought by government alone.“Terrorism cannot be defeated by the police and defence forces alone. It requires the support of all citizens irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliations,” he said.

UN seeks $863 million dollars for Somalia aid

14 Dec – Source: Daily Nation – 506 Words

UN humanitarian agencies in Somalia will require $863 million to meet the most urgent needs of 2.76 million Somalis in 2015, a UN relief official has said. Mr Philippe Lazzarini, Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said the humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa nation has significantly deteriorated for the first time this year since the end of the 2011 famine.

” In 2015, we are asking for 863 million dollars to reach 2.76 million people, or 86 percent of the 3.2 million in need. The 2015 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan is focused on providing life- saving, protection and resilience assistance,” Mr Lazzarini said in a statement issued in Nairobi. He said a combination of conflict, drought, floods, increasing food prices, access constraints and low funding is once again threatening the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable Somalis.

Mr Lazzarini said the unfolding humanitarian crisis comes at a critical time in Somalia when there is a positive narrative in the making. “We call on the international community to stand with the people of Somalia in this time of unprecedented global need. We must avoid a repeat of the 2011 crisis,” he stressed. ‘‘We were also forced to discontinue or scale down vital food, health and livelihood activities due to funding shortage. Notably, UNICEF discontinued primary health care services for 2.5 million people in southern and central Somalia,” Mr Lazzarini said.

Nine Shabaab suspects paraded in Mogadishu

14 Dec – Source: Star Africa – 151 Words

The Somali ministry of National Security on Saturday paraded in front of journalists in Mogadishu nine Shabaab suspects rounded up during an operation launched by government troops and African Union forces in the capital. Mohamed Yusuf Osman, the spokesman of the ministry said the men were arrested from several hideouts spread across Mogadishu in a security sweep that left one of the suspects injured.

According to Osman, the detainees were suspected of giving orders to prospective al-Shabaab assassins in the capital and smuggling weapons into city for future terrorist attacks. The ministry spokesman claimed a security crackdown in Mogadishu was being intensified to dismantle several militant hideouts which are blamed for the recent spate of killings and bombings in the restive city. The latest crackdown comes days after a lawmaker and senior government officials were killed in Mogadishu which is still infiltrated by Shabaab militants despite losing some territory in Somalia.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Islamist rebels kill 10 Somali soldiers in attack on base

15 Dec – Source: Reuters – 136 Words

Rebels from the Islamist al Shabaab group attacked a military base in southern Somalia early on Monday, killing at least 10 soldiers and burning three military vehicles, officials said.African Union and Somali troops launched an offensive this year that has driven al Shabaab out of its last major strongholds.

Monday’s attack highlights the challenge of halting guerrilla-style raids by the al Qaeda-aligned group. “Al Shabaab attacked our military forces at 3:00 am” in the Lower Shabelle region, Somali military officer Aden Nur told Reuters. “They killed 10 soldiers and burnt two military vehicles (equipped) with anti-aircraft guns.” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabaab’s military spokesman, said the group was behind the attack and said 14 Somali soldiers had been killed. Al Shabaab often cites a higher death toll than the number given by officials.

Al-Shabaab blamed for fifth beheading

15 Dec – Source: CNN – 260 Words

A Quran teacher in central Somalia was the fifth beheading victim in one week at the hands of Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia.”The Quran teacher was snatched from his house in Qandho by Al-Shabaab militants on Friday and they dumped his beheaded body near his home town on Saturdaymorning,” local town spokesman Abdiaziz Durow told CNN.

The teacher was identified as Mohamed Hussein, 45, a resident of the Qandho near the besieged town of Bulo Burde, 217 miles north of Mogadishu in central Somalia.”The reason the Quran teacher was murdered is that he was one of the few residents that refused orders from Al-Shabaab to leave his village that was recently seized by Somali and AU troops,” Durow said. Al-Shabaab had warned local residents to leave their houses in the towns they have seized, according to Durow.

Al-Shabaab attacks AMISOM base in Mogadishu

15 Dec – Anadolu News Agency – 193 Words

A military base of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was attacked on Sunday by suspected militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab movement. “An AMISOM base was attacked by several mortar shells tonight,” Col. Mohamed Maalin, a Somalia Police Force member, told The Anadolu Agency. “Some of the shells hit the AMISOM compound, while others landed in the ocean,” he added. He said the attacked base was the fortified Halane base in the Somali capital Mogadishu, by far the largest AMISOM military base in Somalia.

Around 200 suspected Al-Shabaab members were rounded up in Mogadishu earlier on Sunday. Maalin said the shelling came from the direction of Wajid district, southwestern Somalia. “This is the work of Al-Shabaab,” he added. AA could not immediately reach AMISOM for comment. It was not immediately clear whether anybody was killed or injured in the attack. Somalia has remained in the grip of on-again, off-again violence since the outbreak of civil war in 1991. Earlier this year, the country appeared to inch closer to stability after government troops and African Union forces – deployed in the country since 2007 – drove Al-Shabaab group from most of its strongholds.

The unlikely love affair between two countries

15 Dec – Source: BBC – 822 Words

The chaos and conflict that once consumed the port of Mogadishu are now gone and a few foreign investors are starting to move into Somalia. Turkey is leading the way – but why is there such a strong bond between these two countries?Where once rival militias battled for control of these docks, giant container ships now line up to discharge their cargoes of cement, vehicles, pasta and rice. Huge cranes swoop up and down. Some operated by Turks, others by Somalis.As a container swings uncomfortably close above my head, the sprightly Turkish manager of the port tells me that since his company took over in September, it has been bringing in a monthly revenue of $4m, and rising. Fifty-five percent goes straight to the Somali government.

He won’t let me take his photograph. “I’m too ugly,” he says. It’s not just the port. Turks are everywhere in Mogadishu. And so is their flag. This visit, I think I saw more Turkish flags in the city than Somali ones.Turks run the airport and are busy building a new terminal. Turkish Airlines now flies to Mogadishu four times a week, the first international airline to do so in more than 20 years.At a gleaming new hospital, built by the Turks, Turkish doctors wear simple white polo shirts. On one sleeve is an image of the Turkish flag. The Somali flag is on the other.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“For the first time in more than 20 years, petrol stations have re-opened in Mogadishu to fill empty tanks.”

In Pictures: Somalia’s resurgent gas sellers

14 Dec – Source: Aljazeer.com – 128 Words

After more than two decades of bloody civil war that has left tens of thousands of people dead, the guns are slowly falling silent and life is gradually returning to normal in the Somali capital. Somalis who fled abroad to escape the war are flocking back to the seaside city, bringing with them much-needed investment capital.

Mogadishu, a city of more than one million inhabitants, is getting a facelift. New buildings are replacing the bullet scarred crumbling war relics. New roads are replacing the old pot-holed ones. And for the first time in more than 20 years, petrol stations have opened in the city to fill the empty tanks of the increasing road traffic. Business at these new stations is booming. But not everyone is happy with them.

“Serve with vegetables or meat such as suqaar or lamb and potato sugo. I love eating soor with yoghurt and a drizzle of honey. Many Somalis like to eat soor with milk and sugar.”

Polenta African Style (Soor)

14 Dec – Source: Warya Post – 450 Words

This stiff, porridge like dish made from maize flour and water is practically the national dish in many African countries. In Somali we call this African dish soor. It is usually eaten using the hand. You pick up a small amount using three fingers and form a ball to scoop vegetables or meat.

It won’t take long to get the hang of eating this way, but do take your time if you are eating with me as I usually get a kick watching novices try! Soor has many names around Africa…sima or ugali in Kenya and Tanzania where it is also made using maize flour though sometimes red millet flour is used as well. In Malawi and Zambia it is called nsima, pap or mealie in South Africa. In west African countries such as Nigeria a soor like variation called fufu is made using cassava flour.

Soor has a subtle almost bland flavour that is best matched with a fully flavoured vegetable or meat dish. In Somalia butter and milk is sometimes added to the ingredients to soften the soor. In most other African countries the dish is made with just maize flour and water. At times I add various other flavourings such as a pinch of black pepper and cheese and it tastes amazing. It is said that when you eat soor it sticks to your ribs, keeping you full and satisfied for longer.

“By any measure, Somalia today is in a better situation than it has been for the past 23 years,” said Nicholas Kay, the United Nations’ special representative for Somalia.”

After barren years in Somalia, signs of growth by the bunch

13 Dec – Source: Newyork Times – 1117 Words

Armed with machetes, the men push their way through the densely packed rows of trees, emerging every few minutes with large bundles of green bananas over their shoulders.A guard, his chest crossed with bullet belts, his hands cradling a Russian-made rifle, scans the tree line for intruders as the men throw the bananas on a trailer before dashing back into the plantation for another load.

When the trailer is piled high with bananas, it is pulled by tractor to a nearby warehouse, where the fruit is sorted and boxed for transport to destinations across Somalia and as far away as the Middle East.After years of warfare that decimated an industry that was once the largest in Africa, the banana is making a tentative comeback in Somalia. Farms are stepping up production and eyeing overseas markets that have been dormant for years.“Last April we exported to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 23 years,” said Kamal Haji Nasir, 30, whose father, owns this plantation in Afgooye, a town on the Shebelle River, about 45 minutes’ drive from Mogadishu. “We are excited and hopeful

Top tweets

‏@SomaliaDirect Former U.S. Ambassador to #Somalia Robert Oakley Dies http://goo.gl/PfLFy9

@amisomsomalia Progress for #Somalia as it revives#agriculture industry. http://nyti.ms/1zlaVFD

‏@SomaliaNewsroom UN seeks $863m for #Somalia aidhtnation.co.ke/news/africa/UN-s

‏@HIPSINSTITUTE Latest Policy Brief finds that over 90% of#Mogadishu residents think elections are important. #Somalia

@amisomsomalia @BBCNews looks at the bond between#Somalia & #Turkey rhttp://bbc.in/13pgdFl

@Moadow Al-Shabaab is failing in Somalia, but Kenya’s chaotic response could keep it alive http://theconversation.com/al-shabaab-is-faivia @ConversationUK

‏@FavSomaliGuy Maybe one day we could all come back to our country, and restore it to the beautiful place it once was#Somalia

@amisomsomalia AMISOM Kenya Police Medal Award Ceremony http://bit.ly/1zflZ70

@AntoniaMulvey I welcome the news of the release of DG Mohamed Omar of the MoWHRD on bail, following his detentionon Thursday. #Somalia

@Jubaland Dedicated students at Kismayo’s Ahmed Bin Xambal prepare for examinations.Our youth are the future.#Somalia #Jubaland

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Image of the day

Somali laborers working for Albayrak, the Turkish company that manages Mogadishu’s port operations. Photo: @mary_harper