January 16, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Federal parliament rejects Somali PM’s request
15 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 109 Words
Members of parliament met on Thursday to debate the prime minister’s request to postpone the vote of confidence regarding the new government to 22 January. The lawmakers debated the premier’s request for several hours before casting their vote. The speaker of the federal parliament, Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, who chaired the the last half of the session, announced the results. “Out of 177 members in attendance, 57 MPs voted in favour of prime minister’s request while 120 members rejected [his request,]” the speaker said. The speaker confirmed that Prime Minister Sharmarke’s government will face a confidence vote on Saturday 17 January, 2015.
Key Headlines
- Federal parliament rejects Somali PM’s request (Radio Goobjoog)
- Somali Parliament approves Anti-Corruption Commission bill (Somali Current)
- Somali government due to distribute food aid to Mahas residents (Radio Goobjoog)
- 700000 goats vaccinated in Himan and Heb (Radio Ergo)
- Heavy fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab fighters in Gedo region (Radio Goobjoog)
- MP wants security on Somalia rim (The Star)
- Somali drought causing death (Anadolu News Agency/World Bulletin)
- New Nigerian police contingent conclude induction course (AMISOM News)
- Ethiopia: Britons among 3 jailed for terrorism (AP/Yahoo News)
- Somalia contingent to undergo Ebola training before reintegration (Sierra Leone Concord Times)
- Trapped in Yemen (Al Jazeera)
SOMALI MEDIA
Federal parliament rejects Somali PM’s request
15 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 109 Words
Members of parliament met on Thursday to debate the prime minister’s request to postpone the vote of confidence regarding the new government to 22 January. The lawmakers debated the premier’s request for several hours before casting their vote. The speaker of the federal parliament, Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, who chaired the the last half of the session announced the results. “Out of 177 members in attendance, 57 MPs voted in favour of prime minister’s request while 120 members rejected [his request,]” the speaker said. The speaker confirmed that Prime Minister Sharmarke’s government will face a confidence vote on Saturday 17 January, 2015.
Somali Parliament approves Anti-Corruption Commission bill
15 Jan – Source: Somali Current – 181 Words
Parliament overwhelmingly passed an anti-corruption bill on Wednesday in order to execute President’s appeal on fighting corruption during 2015. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud asked international associates to support the government’s annual campaign against the corruption, saying that Somali institutions are enough mature to eliminate corruption. Over 161 Somali MPs in the parliament hall voted in favor of passing the anti corruption bill, three MPs declined to vote, and one member abstained from voting.
Somali government due to distribute food aid to Mahas residents
16 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog- 148 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia is due to distribute food aid to hundreds of drought affected and displaced people in Mahas district of Hiran region today. Trucks carrying food aid supplies reached Mahas district, the trucks were escorted by federal government forces to provide security as Al-shabaab blocked the main roads leading to the town. The food aid came at a time when the locals in the district are in high need of support, and most of the people have nothing to eat due to inflation brought by the blockage of the main roads. Al-Shabaab imposed tight sanctions by blocking the main trade routes leading to Mahas and other major cities in Hiran region, after allied forces pushed them out of their main strongholds in the region. The federal government forces forcefully opened the blocked roads and enabled the delivery of the essential food to the affected people.
700,000 goats vaccinated in Himan and Heb
15 Jan – Source: Radio Ergo – 230 Words
More than 700,000 goats have been vaccinated against various diseases in an ongoing exercise in parts of the Himan and Heb administration in central Somalia. The exercise is being implemented by the regional livestock and marine resources ministry supported by local organization, Central Region Livestock and Professional Association (CERELPA). Local administration livestock minister Elmi Kulane Ali said the campaign also involved veterinary treatment and since it began in October had so far been conducted in Adado, Godinlabe, Bahdo, Amara, Hobyo and Harardere towns.
He said most of the goats had been treated for lung and respiratory disease, tick transmitted diseases, and other contagious viral infections. Sirad Shire, a livestock keeper in Elalsoor, 30 km east of Adado, said he had not received any treatment for his livestock before, and hoped his goats would now remain healthy and strong. Shukri Hassan Said, a resident of Biya-gudud, told Radio Ergo that diseases and shortage of rains had significantly reduced livestock production in recent years. One of the vets said they were also offering awareness to pastoralists on the wellbeing of their livestock. “We urged them to bury or burn the carcasses in order to prevent other livestock from infection after feeding on the remains and also to isolate sick animals from the rest of the herd for prevention,” said Dr Nur Hussein Du’ale.
Heavy fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab fighters in Gedo region
15 Jan – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 84 Words
Reports from Gedo region confirm that there was heavy fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab on the outskirts of Garbaharey last night. Local residents in the area who spoke to Goobjoog FM confirmed the death of five soldiers killed in the skirmish, and whose bodies were brought to the town.The casualties of Al-Shabaab fighters are known. Local residents told Goobjoog FM the area of the fighting was quiet as of Friday morning.
REGIONAL MEDIA
MP wants security on Somalia rim
16 Jan – Source: The Star – 185 Words
The government should beef up security on the Kenya-Somali border to deter any attempts by Al-Shabaab militias to invade Kenya, Lamu East MP Sharriff Athman has said. He supported the extension of the curfew in some parts of Lamu, saying the government is keen on ensuring the region becomes safer. Speaking to the Star on Wednesday in Mombasa town, Athman said the government should not relent in the fight against insecurity in Lamu. “We support the curfew because it is part of the government process to ensure Lamu becomes safe again,” he said. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on January 2 extended the dusk-to-dawn curfew by one month to January 25. The curfew that was imposed five months ago was only lifted from the Lamu Island. Nkaissery said the ban will only be applied to the mainland, which was worst hit during the Mpeketoni raid in which more than 90 people were killed. Athman said: “We are glad the curfew has brought peace in Lamu. We need more security because we are on the border [with] Somalia.”
Somali drought causing death
16 Jan – Source: Anadolu News Agency/World Bulletin – 126 Words
The Wajid district has been hard-hit by drought since mid-2014. Six children have starved to death in Somalia’s northwestern Wajid district, a government official has confirmed.”We have received reports from the Wajid district about the death of six children,” Mohamud Wariye, a Somali government official, told The Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
“The district commissioner has asked for assistance from Mogadishu and we are trying to plan the logistics,” he said. The Wajid district in Somalia’s Bakool region has been hard-hit by drought since mid-2014.It is not immediately clear what plans the government has – if any – to send humanitarian assistance to the region.According to UN figures, famine killed at least 260,000 people in Somalia, half of them children, between 2010 and 2012.
New Nigerian police contingent conclude induction course
15 Jan – Source: AMISOM News – 225 Words
Induction of the new Nigerian police peacekeepers concluded on Thursday at the Mogadishu Stadium with words of encouragement from AMISOM Police Commissioner Anand Pillay. The Nigerian Police Contingent of 101 men and 39 women received training that will help them fulfill their duties in a more informed manner. They also received briefing on the mandate of AMISOM Police in Somalia. AMISOM Police Force Commissioner Anand Pillay stressed the importance of their role in keeping Somalia safe, especially in community policing in various parts of the country.
“When we recover areas, and when the military are involved in doing that, Al-shabaab moves out and they merge with communities and they continue with asymmetric attacks on innocent civilians, our AMISOM forces, UN forces, Government personnel and employees,” said Anand Pillay. “So it basically means that the FPUs are one real source to try and rectify the problem and assist in in solving it, in that we work with communities, we work doing policing activities within areas that are vulnerable, that we can mount roadblocks, checkpoints, cordon and searches, searching of people and that way we will be able to identify people with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), weapons and people associated or affiliated to these al-shabba groups,” he said. The Nigerian Police contingent is led by Chief Superintendent Akande A. Aliyu.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Ethiopia: Britons among 3 jailed for terrorism
15 Jan – Source: AP/Yahoo news- 105 Words
An Ethiopian radio station says a court has sentenced two British nationals and a Somali man to between four and seven years imprisonment for terrorism related charges. Fana Broadcasting Corporate, a state affiliated media house, reported Thursday the three were charged with attempting to establish an Islamic state in Ethiopia and were found recruiting, taking part in military trainings and conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks in the country. According to the broadcaster the three men who were convicted are Ali Adros Mohammad, Mohammad Sharif Ahmed, and Mohammad Ahmed. The first two reportedly have lived in London and the third is from Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa.
Somalia contingent to undergo Ebola training before reintegration
15 Jan – Source: Sierra Leone Concord Times – 293 Words
Assistant Chief of Defence Staff for Operations in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) has said returning soldiers from Somalia may undergo Ebola training before they could be allowed to interact with people. Brigadier Mohamed Mamadi Keita was talking to the first batch of 116 soldiers who arrived from Somalia at the Lungi international airport yesterday. He likened the Ebola fight to that the men fought with the Al-Shabbab insurgents in the Horn of Africa country. He said the training, which is to commence today at Hastings, would ensure the soldiers acquire firsthand information about the Ebola virus, which has killed more than 2,000 since May last year.
Also speaking at the event to welcome the soldiers, Head of Public Relations at the Ministry of Defence, Colonel M.M. Samura, said they would ensure the personnel get proper information about the virus before they would be allowed to even go closer to their families. “They are new to Ebola so they are vulnerable to the virus. We are going to give them the right information about Ebola to protect them from the virus,” said Col. Samura, adding that the contingent was due to return since July 2014 but their rotation was delayed as a result of the outbreak of Ebola. A battalion had been trained to replace the one in Somalia, but that plan was shelved after reports that one of them had contracted the deadly virus. Sierra Leone deployed troops in Somalia in 2012 as part of a multi-national African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The country was threatened by Al-Shabbab terrorists but authorities in Freetown remained unfazed, although extra security was beefed up in major government buildings in the capital.
Trapped in Yemen
14 Jan – Source: Al Jazeera – Video – 47:30 Mins – 346 Words
Since 1991, after the collapse of the Siad Barre regime, a civil war in Somalia has triggered a steady exodus from the country that continues today.Somalis regularly flee to Yemen which has had an open door policy towards them since the war began.They travel by sea, in vessels they call “boats of death,” because their journeys are fraught with danger. They are at the mercy of people smugglers who charge around $100 a head to take them across the Gulf of Aden. If they are spotted by the Yemeni coastguard, the smugglers might even throw passengers overboard to save their own skins. And the oversized boats often capsize.
Once in Yemen, many of the refugees make their way to Kharaz refugee camp which, with its population of around 17,000, cannot accommodate the Somali refugees who now number 240,000, according to UN estimates. Somali refugees in Yemen face an uncertain, often dangerous, future. They often live in poverty, struggle to find work, face discrimination and can fall victim to human trafficking. For those who want to escape Yemen for Saudi Arabia, people smugglers will try and intervene and have been known to abduct and torture refugees. Since 2011, human traffickers have turned homes into “smugglers’ yards” where they imprison and torture Somalis. Even though the Yemeni authorities have closed down some “yards”, they invariably re-open in other districts.
In this film, we hear the stories of refugees at Kharaz refugee camp and others in Sanaa trying to start a new life in the city. We speak to the aid agencies and officials; and we track down and confront the human smugglers who kidnap and abuse the vulnerability of refugees whose families can face ransom demands. Now, with Yemen embroiled in fresh internal conflict and cutting humanitarian aid, the UN can only afford to do the bare minimum. Some Somalis want to return home but the UN cannot send them back to a war zone. Unless the refugees can find their own way out of the country, they will remain trapped indefinitely in Yemen.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“As ugly as this is, another political wrangle would be uglier and more destructive. The best Somali parliament can do tomorrow for the country is to approve Prime Minister Omar’s government without delay.”
Parliament should approve Prime Minister’s government without delay
15 Jan – Source: Somali Current – 403 Words
Somalis like their politics new – that is, they like to see new faces every time there is a change in government. If it is a Presidential year, the incumbent is in serious trouble most of the time. Considering the case of Puntland (where the incumbent was shown the door in each of the last four elections) and in the case of Villa Somalia where current President was preferred to the then President Sharif or his Prime Minister, it appears a new face is now a pre-requisite in Somali politics. At least 100 members of parliament are now showing their displeasure with how Prime Minister Omar has constituted his government and these members are suggesting the new Prime Minister’s government may not get their confidence vote tomorrow.
These parliamentarians are asking a simple question: How come the old guards are back? In addition to this “we need a new face” degenerative politic culture, it doesn’t help that the so-called old guards in question are also some of the most reviled Somali politicians of the decade, namely Abikarim Hussien Guled (Minister of Interior and Federalism), Abdulahi Mohamed Ali- (Minster of National Security), Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir Mohamed (Minister of Justice) and Hussein Abdi Halane (Minister of Finance). That some of these men are accused of colossal incompetency (Abikarim Hussien Guled), deficient of soft skills (Abdulahi Mohamed Ali), been a total yes man to the President (Hussein Abdi Halane), and a Machiavellian politics (Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir) is probably not without merit. That parliament has a legitimate oversight function, which it can appropriately exercise is also undeniable.
“It’s disheartening that the new PM has neither the decency nor the grit to select his new cabinet ministers but rather nonchalantly allowed to be force-fed his list from a pool of incompetent bureaucrats who failed time and again to deliver in promoting a viable reconciliation and reconstruction process for the country.”
All the president’s men
15 Jan – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1,248 Words
The newly appointed Somali Prime Minister, Omar Sharmarke has miserably failed on passing the first major milestone as the nation’s next prime minister to put together a respectable government body that everyone can place his/her hopes and dreams, by rather exclusively reappointing – All the President’s Men – made up of mostly Dam-Jadid party members. He named a 25 cabinet -member that almost entirely comprises the last incumbent ministers who nearly hold their former posts.In fact, the “new” Cabinet members are led by the likes of Farah Abdulqadir, AbdikarimGuled, and Abdullaahi Mohamed (AKA Sanbaloshe) who are well-known Dam-Jadid heavyweights, notorious for yielding excessive powers, not granted constitutionally.Thus, as PM Omar Sharmarkeprepares to lead his “new” ministers in front of the parliament for approval, he faces a staunch opposition, resulting from a growing number of disgruntled lawmakers who seem to be disillusioned withthe audacity of President Hassan Sheikh to hand-select the same last cabinet ministers to be sanctioned for a second term after they supported the overthrow of the last Prime Minister, Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
It is finally dawning on most Somalis that the remaining term (less than two years) of President Hassan Sheikh’s government might run out while he is still catering to most important ministerial posts to his secretive party members of Dam-Jadid, who seem to hold a searing grip on all of his major decisions. Nonetheless, what these Dam-Jadid party members fail to appreciate is that their “political party” was NOT elected when Hassan Sheikh ran for the office of the presidency, but rather were a clandestine party with a shady agenda. As such, they need to keep in mind that they have no right to manipulate the government of Hassan Sheikh for their political and power gain. On the contrary, they do need to recognize they are not part of a truly elected government, but a farce regime installed in order to placate their imagined status so that eventually “a government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish” from the Somalia.
“Without a well-defined regulatory environment for oil and gas resources, federal states, semi-autonomous regions, and the central government could all separately negotiate and enter into conflicting extraction agreements with private companies.”
Somalia: The Next Oil Superpower?
16 Jan – Source: The National Interest – 589 Words
Last month, Soma Oil and Gas, a London based energy company, searching for hydrocarbon deposits off the coast of Somalia, announced that it had completed a seismic survey to ascertain the potential for recoverable oil and gas deposits. Although further details have yet to be released, chief executive Rob Sheppard announced that the results were encouraging. However, Somalia, and potential investors, should proceed with caution when considering entering this frontier market. East African oil exploration, and in Somalia specifically, is not a secret. Energy firms like Royal Dutch Shell and Exxonmobil operated in Somalia before the government collapsed in 1991. But recent gains against the insurgent group al Shabaab in the south and the decrease in piracy off the coast have sparked a regeneration of the industry. The Somali president, riding these positive evolutions, recently stated that the country is “open for business.”
Although recent security developments are encouraging, substantial hurdles still exist. The Heritage Institute recently released “Oil in Somalia: Adding Fuel to the Fire?,” by Dominik Balthasar. The paper discusses how the oil industry in Somalia could have a promising future, but it also explores the risks facing Somalia if the development of its petroleum resources is not carefully managed. Balthasar rightly asks, “is Somalia ready for oil?” The historic challenges that have limited business opportunities in Somalia, domestic insurgency and piracy, have diminished for now, but these threats have not disappeared. Al Shabaab has been largely pushed out of southern Somalia by multinational forces, but has recently proven that it is still able to operate in the north of Kenya. As Kenya flexes to counter al Shabaab in its own country, it could provide an opportunity for al Shabaab to return to its previous strongholds in Somalia. And even as piracy has largely stopped, it is conceivable that al Shabaab or others could see oil tankers as opportunities to resurrect that practice as well.
Top tweets
@Somalia111 Hope #Somalia parliament will pass law for election commission this session. Race against time to 2016. Every day counts. Keep up good work
@Aynte: #Somalia MPs (120/177) reject request by @SomaliPMto delay vote of confidence to 22nd. Vote takes place Saturday. A hint of cabinet fate?
@HarunMaruf #Somalia:10 militants and 5 soldiers were killed after Govt troops clashed w/ Al-#Shabab fighters b/w Garbaharey and Burdhubo
@Abdikarim_Abdi3: RIP Mohamed Olow Barrow, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources in the last Cabinet who passed away in #Mogadishu this morning. #Somalia
@UNOSAT: Latest #Somalia maps for @WFP depict airfields in#Mogadishu, #Kismayo, #Baidoa & #Galcayo http://bit.ly/1DIfJt4
@lecturer115: PICS: The illegal fishing ship intercepted by Somali Government Marine forces off #Mogadishu coast.#Somalia.
Image of the day
New Nigerian Police contingent conclude their induction course. Photo: AMISOM