January 12, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Somali PM names new cabinet

12 Jan – Source: Hiiraan Online – 372 Words

Early Monday morning, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmake named a 25-member Cabinet that includes some incumbent ministers who have either retained their former posts or have been given new portfolios. The long-awaited ministerial appointments ends over a fortnight of speculations and anticipation in which time both the President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and his new PM Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke consulted each other and other key stakeholders regularly to agree on the new cabinet members. Among the returning former ministers who retained their formers posts are the ministers of defence, finance, foreign affairs, justice and women’s and human rights affairs. Among the women in the new cabinet are Khadija Mohamed Deriye, who keeps her former post as the Minister for Women and Human Rights, and Nadifo Mohamed Osman who also remains at the Ministry of Planning.

This new government is made up of both the former ministerial and parliamentary supporters of Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed who lost a vote of no confidence in parliament in early December, and the President. Observers privately stated that they hoped that both groups can unite this time to “lead Somalia” towards achieving the vital Vision 2016 goals. “Finally the waiting is over and Somalia has a full government,” said an MP who did not want to be named. “Whether the old and new faces can work together, or are any good, remains to be seen.” “There is inevitably great disappointment for many ministerial candidates but it is important that all Somali government institutions work towards achieving our national development targets,” said a tribal elder present at the ministerial naming ceremony. “Inshallah we pray this is a good government, and that they can work together for all of us,” said Ali Jama, a civil servant. “People want security, public services and jobs. I hope this new government can help to deliver these.” “This is it. No more motions or commotions. 2016 is around the corner and these ministers need to deliver miracles,” said a civil society advocate who did not want to be named. All of the newly selected ministers are expected to go before parliament for approval.

For a full list of ministers, click here.

Key Headlines

Somali PM names new cabinet (Hiiraan Online)
Increase in the prices of food in Bakol markets worsens the dire situation in the region (Radio Goobjoog)
Somali Diaspora conference opens in Kigali (Radio Goobjoog)
Al Shabaab claims credit for Bossaso grenade attack (Garowe Online)
Kenya Djibouti foreign ministers praise Mogadishu security (Somali Current)
Juba administration forces arrests suspects after landmine attack (Alshahid)
100 Somali MPs warn President against having his close aides in the cabinet (Dalsan Radio)
Mourning in Somalia as former Ocean Stars player dies (Mareeg Media)
Somalia hosts IGAD meeting after 30 years (Daily Nation)
Amina visits KDF soldiers in Somalia (The Star)
IGAD champions integration of Somali forces (African Press Agency/Star Africa)
Calgary’s Somali community gathers to discuss troubling increase in violence (CTV)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali PM names new cabinet

12 Jan – Source: Hiiraan – 372 Words

For a full list of ministers, click here

Increase in the prices of food in Bakol markets worsens the dire situation in the region

12 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjooog -193 Words

Reports from Bakol region confirm that the prices of food and non-food items in the markets have increased above normal, due to low supply brought about by heightened conflicts and blockades of major trade routes leading to the key districts. One of the local traders in Hudur district told Goobjoog FM that the price of food has been skyrocketing day after day, and has reached its highest level ever. He said the rise in the price of food is attributed to worsening food security due to drought, and the tight sanctions imposed by Al-Shabaab in the region after joint forces launched operations. “Most of the people in Bakol districts who fled from the vast areas of the region cannot afford to buy the available food in the markets,” the trader said.

The Hudur district administration vowed to reopen the roads blocked by Al-Shabaab in the region to improve the accessibility to major towns by humanitarian aid agencies, and large trucks transporting essential goods and services. The Hudur administration has called on the international community and humanitarian aid agencies to deliver emergency support amid the dire situation affecting a large number of people in the region.

Somali Diaspora conference opens in Kigali

12 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 159 Words

The Somali Diaspora Community Conference opened in Kigali, Rwanda on Monday. The conference was jointly organized by the African Union and the Federal Government of Somalia. Sources close to the organizers of the conference state that the meeting will focus on Diaspora community affairs, and their role in the development and reconstruction of the country after more than two decades of civil strife. The AU envoy and top officials of the federal government are expected to give a keynote speeches at the conference. A similar conference in Turkey mid-last year was attended by over ninety representatives of Somali Diaspora, where former Turkish Prime Minister and current president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with 99 representatives who came from 19 countries, including the U.K. and U.S., to discuss ways to maximize the Diaspora’s contribution to Somalia and cooperation with Turkey.

Al Shabaab claims credit for Bossaso grenade attack

11 Jan – Source: Garowe Online -127 Words

Somalia’s Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group has claimed credit for a grenade attack on a police compound in the Gulf of Aden port city of Bossaso on Saturday night, Garowe Online reports. Al Shabaab operations spokesperson Abdiazis Abu Muscab said militants from the terrorist group hurdled hand grenade at a Bossaso police station, wounding four soldiers. Security officials confirmed to Garowe Online that two soldiers and a civilian sustained minor injuries. Meanwhile, Abu Muscab noted they were also behind a remotely-detonated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion that left two intelligence officers dead in the southern port city of Kismayo. Puntland Defence Forces (PDFs) are battling Al Shabaab fighters in the rugged terrain of Galgala, and hideouts along Golis Mountain Ranges.

Kenya, Djibouti foreign ministers praise Mogadishu security

11 Jan – Source: Somali Current – 84 Words

Djibouti and Kenya foreign ministers praised Mogadishu’s security progress following a historic IGAD meeting held in the Somali capital on Saturday. “I believe Somalia is recuperating from the civil war, and now IGAD member states have concluded their session without any impediment,” Djibouti Foreign Minister, Mohamud Ali Yusuf, told reporters in Mogadishu. He said that Djibouti and other troop contributing countries are ready to prop up Somali’s peace progress. “I’m happy to see Somalia renovating its regional and international political position.”

Juba administration forces arrests suspects after landmine attack

11 Jan – Source: Alshahid.net -151 Words

The Interim Juba Administration security forces in Southern Somalia conducted intensive security operations in Kismayo in the wake of a landmine explosion that killed two soldiers in the port city. Security officials confirmed that they apprehended people suspected of being behind the attack from all parts of Kismayo.
Col. Abdifatah Moalim Noor, one of the security officials conducting the massive security crackdown, told the media that the aim of the operations is to tighten the security of the area and bring the individuals threatening the lives of the people to justice. Mr. Abdifatah noted that thorough investigations on the arrested suspects are now underway. At least two IJA soldiers, were killed and four others sustained injuries ranging from minor to severe during the landmine attack on Saturday. No one claimed the responsibility of the attack but Juba administration often blame Al-shabab of carrying out planned assaults.

100 Somali MPs warn President against having his close aides in the cabinet

11 Jan – Source: Dalsan Radio – 188 Words

More than 100 Somali members of parliament warned President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud against inclusion of his close aides in the upcoming new cabinet. A statement released by the members on Saturday cautioned the President against what they termed as any move to include his close friends in the new government. The self-proclaimed National Rescue Committee listed four former cabinet ministers namely, Hussein Abdi Halane acting finance minister, Farah Abdulkadir acting justice minister, Abdulkarim Guled former interior minister and Abdullahi Mohamed Ali former Somali intelligence chief, not to be included in the next government, saying they are threat to political stability in the country. The members have also urged the prime minister, speaker of the national assembly, and the members of the international community to look in to the matter by preventing what they described as perpetrators of “political instability” in the recuperating war torn state. There has been no official response from the government and the named individuals in the statement that was signed by more than 100 Somali national assembly members.

Mourning in Somalia as former Ocean Stars player dies

11 Jan – Source: Mareeg Media – 306 Words

Somalia is mourning after the passing of former Ocean Stars player, Ahmed Muse Nur, who died at a hospital in Mogadishu on Saturday evening. The body of the former footballer was laid to rest in the Somali Police Academy cemetery on Sunday, where Somali FA and NOCSOM officials, former national team members and fans attended the funeral service which was held on Sunday morning. The national hero was admitted to Daamey hospital in Mogadishu by late December where he had been receiving treatment, before passing away on Saturday evening due to severe diabetes, according to medical sources. “Today, the SFF is announcing the loss of another great hero who contributed to Somali football both as national team member and player for one of the country’s most popular football clubs in the 1980s,” Somali Football Federation President, Abdiqani Said Arab, told those at the burial service “On behalf of the entire members of Somali football family, I am sending heart-felt sympathy to the father of the late player, his family, teammates and to the rest of Somali people for the loss of such a hero.”

The federation president announced three days of national mourning and was the first person to sign the Book of Condolence launched at the Somali Football Federation headquarters. Ocean stars player in 1960s, and current Somali NOC executive committee member, Haji Mohamed Ahmed Olow, told the burial service that he knew the late player from the beginning of his football career, rating him one of the best players of his era. He termed the death of the late Ahmed Muse Nur a deep loss which came less than a year after the country lost its first national team captain Mohamed Qalaf Aden Shangole who died in Mogadishu in July 2014.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Somalia hosts IGAD meeting after 30 years

11 Jan – Source: Daily Nation -181 Words

Foreign affairs ministers and officials from member countries of Intergovernmental Authority on Development arrived in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday. Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and South Sudan were respectively represented by their foreign ministers whereas Uganda and Sudan sent officials. The envoys were in Mogadishu to take part in Igad’s 53rd ministerial meeting and the first to be held in the Somali capital in 30 years. According to Dr Abdurahman Du’ale Bayle, the acting Somali Foreign minister, the last international conference held in Mogadishu took place in 1985. “It is an honour for Somalia to host a conference of this dimension,” said Dr Bayle while receiving delegations at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud received the ministers and officials from the rest of Igad countrieson Friday evening.The president was accompanied by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and other officials. According to Daud Aweys, the spokesman of Villa Somalia, the state house in Mogadishu, the meeting focused on the achievements attained and the challenges facing Somalia.

Amina visits KDF soldiers in Somalia

12 Jan – Source: The Star – 157 Words

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed on Saturday visited the Kenya Defence Forces troops in Somalia. Amina had a brief chat with the soldiers, a move seen as “morale boosting.” The forces have been in the troubled country since 2011. The CS attended the 53rd Extraordinary Summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Mogadishu.Amina is the highest-ranking government official to visit the country after former Foreign Affairs minister Sam Ongeri in 2012.
Ongeri survived a bomb attack targeted at the hotel he was staying in.The high-level IGAD summit is the first of its kind in 24 years after civil war broke out in Somalia. Previous efforts to hold the summit faced security concerns after al Shabaab carried out a series of attacks in major government installations.Foreign ministers from IGAD member states, including Ethiopia, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan pledged to support Somalia in the fight against Al-Shabaab.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

IGAD champions integration of Somali forces

11 Jan – Source: African Press Agency/Star Africa -336 Words

The integration of all Somali forces has emerged as one of the recommendations of the council of ministers’ meeting of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Mogadishu. A final resolution from the 53rd extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting in Mogadishu on Saturday, urged the federal government of Somalia to rapidly develop a roadmap and engage with federal states and interim administrations to agree the modalities and timelines for the integration of forces and the establishment of regional police units to monitor the country’s land and maritime borders.

The Somali Police Force which disintegrated after the outbreak of the civil war in the early 1990s, was reconstituted in the early years of the new millennium and has since then received material support from the United States.It has been working closely with the Somali armed forces to ensure security in Mogadishu and other parts of the country under the federal government.

Calgary’s Somali community gathers to discuss troubling increase in violence

11 Jan – Source: CTV – 261 Words

Somali Calgarians met with CPS Chief Rick Hanson on Saturday night to address recent shootings which claimed two young lives.Nearly 100 people gathered at a southeast mosque for the meeting which lasted nearly three hours. In addition to the shooting deaths of Abdullahi Ahmed and Murad Omar, the meeting tackled ways to improve relations between police and the Somali community, and preventing vulnerable youth from turning to a life of crime. “I am hearing many positive feelings of the community about this meeting,” said religious leader Imam Abdi Hersy. “This was far more successful than we expected.”

“I think that the Somali Canadian community has shown its willingness to work,” said CPS Chief Hanson. “Now we have to action the plan that was talked about and figure out how we’re going to make it happen.” “I think anytime you can meet with a group of people like this, who are motivated and clearly see what the issues are, I think it’s really gratifying from our perspective that they really want to work with us.” Police have one suspect in custody in connection to the New Year’s Day shooting which claimed the life of 27-year-old Abdullahi Ahmed. The suspect has not been charged in the shooting due to a lack of sufficient evidence. The unidentified man is being held in connection to an unrelated incident which occurred outside of Calgary.There have been no arrests in the January 2 shooting death of 23 year old Murat Omar in a Rosedale alleyway.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“Rules can be made to recall if an MP of a constituency fails to do his or her solemn duties and responsibilities to the nation and to the constituency”.

Somalia: An Alternative Hybrid Democratic Caucus Election in 2016

11 Jan – Source: Hiiraan Online – 976 Words

Somalia emerged from political transition in September, 2012 to become a fully recognized sovereign country again. Its people’s hopes, and that of the international community, were raised at last that the nation is back from a “failed state”, and will stand on its feet once again. With hugely inflated expectations, the current government came head on with seemingly insurmountable challenges and constitutionally mandated bench marks.

Now the Somali people, as well as the international community, involved in the stabilization and the democratization process, realize that the facts on the ground and the challenges ahead seriously put in doubt even a partial realization of the mandated goals.

“I see running for parliament is just an extension of what I have been doing,’’ she said

“If you are healthy, you should work”

12 Jan – Source: Warya Post – 395 Words

As a 12-year-old, she fled the Somali capital of Mogadishu where militia murdered her father and brother during the bloody civil war. Her mother, seeing the horror from their home, silently bundled Leila and her six siblings and other family members into a Land Cruiser before roaring out the rear gate of the family’s compound. They drove as far as they could before being forced to abandon the vehicle and join the exodus of millions of refugees across the barren African bush. “We ran for seven days,’’ said the 40-year-old, who is contesting the seat of Yeerongpilly in Brisbane’s south. “We were running for our lives. We couldn’t think about anything but survival.’’

Fellow travellers taught them how to dig in the dry creek beds looking for water to keep them alive and there was a constant fear of lions and other predators during their trek to a vast United Nations refugee camp in Kenya. Ms Abukar, who speaks seven languages, volunteered as an interpreter at the camp office and taught children. But the feisty teen’s campaigns against female circumcision and for birth control, created new threats. “I was only young but I could see things that I thought were wrong. Even though I did not have much power, I had a mouth to speak up,’’ she said.

Top tweets

@Abdikhakim Amb Sidikou ‘Somalia is raising, raising from everywhere, I can go on and on. Powerful message#SomDiasporaConf2015

@diaspora4321:The ODA Diaspora Policy Consultation Conference for Development in Somalia being held in Kigali officially starts this morning. #Somalia

@Moadow: I join those celebrating #Somalia for successfully hosting the IGAD summit. But its not enough. #Mogadishu can host more important events

@OCHASom:Humanitarian needs in #Somalia are vast. Funding requested for 2015 stand at US$863 million targeting 2.8 million affected people.

‏@MinisterHashi: I am humbled by PM Sharmarke’s confidence in me to lead the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs of the Federal Republic of #Somalia.

@Rooble2009: New Book: A Man of Good Hope by Jonny Steinberg http://www.amazon.com/Man-Good-Hope-Jonny-Steinberg/dp/0385352727 … #Somalia

@BeilehMofa An honour to be nominated to continue with my post as FM this morning. I will continue to serve Somalia and its people with all my heart

@mofasomalia #Somalia‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the role of the #Diaspora in the investment and reconstruction@diaspora4321 @BeilehMofa

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Image of the day

Delegates chat ahead of the opening ceremony of the Somalia Diaspora Conference 2015 in Kigali this morning. Photo: Office for Diaspora