March 10, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Three Starve To Death In Bulla Burte
10 March – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 89 Words
Reports from Hiiraan region indicate that three people have died of starvation in Bulla Burte. Acting commissioner of the district who is also the deputy commissioner in charge of finance, Burrusoow Liban Abdi , who spoke Barkulan said that many people living in the area are facing severe starvation. He also noted that health services do not currently exist in the district. He called upon African Union troops and local forces in Hiiraan to open the road connecting the districts of Beledweyne and Buloburte to prevent further deaths
Key Headlines
- United Nations Office For Project Services and UN Assistance Mission In Somalia Train Somali Custodial Corps (Radio Goobjoog)
- Somaliland Postpones Presidential Elections (Radio Dalsan)
- Kenyan Somali MPs Denounce “Outlandish” Plans For Border Wall (Radio Goobjoog)
- IMF Launches Somalia Trust Fund For Capacity Development (Horseed Media)
- Guriel IDPs Asked To Return Home – Minister (Radio Goobjoog)
- Three Starve To Death In Bulla Burte (Radio Bar-kulan)
- UNDP Gives In Five Bullet Proof Cars To Somali PM Office (Radio Dalsan)
- Somalia’s Al-Shabab Loses Jihadist Lustre (New Vision)
- The True Cost Of Media Restrictions In Somalia (Irin News)
- Celebrating All Things Somali At The U Of M (MinnPost)
- Abdi Hersy Calgary Imam Wanted In U.S. On Sex Assault Charges (CBC News)
- A Somali Mother’s Long Journey To Resilience (ICRC.org)
- Hersman Townsman American : My Segmented Life (Wardheer News)
SOMALI MEDIA
United Nations Office for Project Services And UN Assistance Mission In Somalia Train Somali Custodial Corps
10 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 694 Words
The United Nations has provided human resource registration and management skills training to a team of Somali Custodial Corps as part of efforts to strengthen the integrity of the registration systems of the country’s security institutions. The training, conducted in Mogadishu between 1 and 5 March, aims to strengthen human resource systems within the Custodial Corps that were destroyed following decades of civil war. The human resources and registration is part of the United Nations support to the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS] as it strives to make its security institutions more transparent and accountable for its public resources. “It is about transparency of public funds to ensure that salaries paid from the Federal Government of Somalia to individuals are paid correctly and in line with national policies,” said Stephen Cox, a Corrections Officer for the Joint Justice and Corrections Section of the UN’s Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group (ROLSIG). “This programme and equipment will help the Somali Custodial Corps build a more functional, transparent system for human resources. It will allow the Custodial Corps to register all their staff and to understand their demography”, added Cox. The project is funded by the Bridging and Inception Programme managed by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and facilitated by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).
The Collaborative working, using comparative advantages has enabled a smooth roll out of the human resources and registration system in the Somali Military, Police and Custodial Corps. It is anticipated that following the training, registration of the Custodial Corps officers at Mogadishu Prison will begin next week. One of the trainees from the Somali Custodial Corps, Sa’dia Hassan Ali, says of the training, “We have got machines that can easily identify the eyes and finger prints. The photo of the prison personnel and name will be checked together – corruption is over.’’ The human resources database registers all the details of employed staff and biometrically identifies them through fingerprints and retina scans of both eyes. This prevents registering the same person twice and gives the FGS a full picture of the demographics of its security services.‘’What we studied here is an advantage for the disciplined forces, especially to the Custodial Corps. Furthermore, it will help us for registering one time and get the person’s details right at the first instance. This will kick out the corruption of taking salary from two, three or five different sources,” said Salim Abdulaziz Abdalla from the Somali Custodial Corps.
Cox explained that UNOPS will mentor the trainees for the first few days then they will be left on their own to register all of the Custodial Corps staff in Mogadishu. Once that is completed, UNSOM will facilitate the registration in the regions until all the Custodial Corps staff in Somalia are registered.It is anticipated that the FGS and Custodial Corps will benefit from having an accurate database of all its employees and relevant information about them, which will be invaluable for workforce planning including budgets, recruitment and training. The anticipated general elections of breakaway Somaliland region in northwestern Somalia have been postponed on Monday, Garowe Online reports. Somaliland Electoral Commission spokesman Saed Ali Musse told a news conference in the capital, Hargeisa that election deadline has been extended by nine months-a move that drew quick support from the two opposition parties and ruling Kulmiye party. He said the decision was made on account of the remaining time inadequacy and the untimely registration of voters. Musse said, the registration process will be commenced in late July while speaking next to officials representing Wadani, Justice and social welfare and ruling Kulmiye parties.
On March 4, the two main opposition parties united against the ruling party, calling on the government to hold parliamentary and presidential elections at the due-date. In mid-2014, opposition figures strongly contested the theme of election delay, threatening that interim government would come into being by year end. Despite premature resignation by four minister-designates, President Siilaanyo reshuffled his cabinet last week. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia declared its independence from the rest of the country as de facto sovereign state but it has not been recognized internationally yet.
Somaliland Postpones Presidential Elections
10 March – Source: Radio Dalsan – 84 Words
Somali self-declared state of Somaliland has postponed the presidential elections for nine months.The election commission has said it will delay the election process which has already created a lot of political tension between the Silanyo government and the opposition.The registration for elections will take place within next six months according the electoral commission committee.The election was set to be held soon before the decision to delay has emerged.Self-declared state which is not internationally recognized has enjoyed stability and democratic elections.
Kenyan Somali MPs Denounce “Outlandish” Plans For Border Wall
10 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 256 Words
Kenyan Somali MPs has voiced their disapproval to the proposed construction of a border wall at the Somalia-Kenya border, saying this sounds more like apartheid tactics. MP Ilyas Barre Shiil from Garisa County told Goobjoog correspondent in Nairobi that he doesn’t know any wall separating two countries in Africa, and the only one he knows is that of Israel to isolate Palestinian people. “As you may know the inhabitants of the border areas of the two sides are pastoralists who cross to either side in search of pasture and water during the dry season, so that we would never accept such outlandish plans” said the MP.
The governor of Lamu County which falls partly on the border with Somalia Isse Timamy has revealed plans to construct a wall at the border so as to prevent illegal immigrants and insurgents to cross to Kenya. He said the wall might be finished within this year. MP Mohamoud Mohamed Moalim from Mandera County believes that Kenyan government should deploy enough soldiers to the border to prevent the crossovers of Al-shabaab fighters who commit heinous crimes inside Kenya, but he said the wall is not the answer. “It shouldn’t be viewed that the Somalis are a security threat to Kenya, we took a decision to support the government’s effort to eliminate Al-shabaab without harassing the public” said the MP. The proposed wall has sparked a public debate in Somalia and Kenya, with parallels drawn from around the world where walls have been constructed like that one by Israel.
IMF Launches Somalia Trust Fund For Capacity Development
10 March – Source: Horseed Media – 489 Words
The International Monetary Fund on February 5, 2015 launched a multi-donor trust fund to deliver capacity development in Somalia. The Somalia Trust Fund aims at improving macroeconomic institutions, policies, and data systems and will provide over nine million dollars worth of technical assistance and training to Somalia over the next three years. So far, commitments have been received from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development ($3 million), the Canadian Department for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development ($2.5 million), and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development ($1.1 million). The IMF is continuing its efforts to secure additional contributions to fully finance the Trust Fund’s budget.
The inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee, the Trust Fund’s governing body on February 5, 2015 endorsed the work plans in three areas of the IMF’s expertise: fiscal operations, central banking, and statistical systems. Capacity development in these areas will be provided by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, and Statistics Department. The IMF’s Legal Department will produce additional work plans on anti-money laundering and fiscal legislation over the coming year. The Steering Committee comprises representatives of the Federal Government of Somalia, the IMF, and donors to the Trust Fund. Representatives of the European Union and Turkey also attended the inaugural meeting as observers. The Steering Committee endorsed the selection of Canada as the Chair for 2015.
In the wake of broad international support, the IMF announced in April 2013 that it also recognized the Federal Government of Somalia as the government of Somalia. This has allowed the IMF to resume the provision of technical assistance and capacity development to Somalia. It has been recognized that the delivery of capacity development to meet Somalia’s vast needs requires a long-term approach. Such an approach also needs to be well coordinated with other technical assistance providers—not only to avoid duplication of efforts, but also to ensure that contributions made are complementary. To this end, the IMF proposed in mid-2014 the establishment of a multi-donor Trust Fund to ensure a sustained delivery of capacity development to Somalia. Its focus is to support the Somali authorities’ efforts to build key economic institutions and develop capacity for prudent macroeconomic policies. It also provides a forum to coordinate ongoing efforts with, and among, donors and other technical assistance providers.
Guriel IDPs Asked To Return Home – Minister
09 March – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 189 Words
The Minister for defense, Abdiqadir Sheikh Ali Dini has informed internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the recent fighting in Gurieel that they can now go back to their homes. The minister who was on tour of the Galgaduud region visited areas settled by IDPS. The minister pledged that the government will support those affected by the recent violence. He said it was unfortunate that children in the area do not have a future. A temporary ceasefire brokered by the Minister has seen a halt on the hostilities in the area.
UNDP Gives In Five Bullet Proof Cars to Somali PM office
09 March – Source: Radio Dalsan – 45 Words
United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Somalia office has donated five bullet proof cars to Somali Prime Minister office. The donation is part of the UNDP continued support to the federal government of Somalia. Federal government of Somalia has thanked the UN agency for the donation.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somalia’s Al-Shabab Loses Jihadist Lustre
10 March – Source: New Vision – 1817 Words
Eclipsed by newer, more bloodthirsty and media-savvy global jihadists, Somalia’s Shebab militants are struggling to stay relevant. On Saturday the two most rapidly ascendant militant Islamist groups joined forces, in words at least, as Nigeria’s Boko Haram declared its allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria. The rise of these two groups has left Al-Qaeda aligned Shebab in the dust, damaging its capacity to attract foreign recruits, said Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert and professor at Davidson College, North Carolina. “Shebab is really overshadowed by IS,” said Menkhaus.
Al-Shabab aligned with al-Qaeda in 2012, but a turn to IS now seems possible. “Shebab has renewed its links with Al-Qaeda but hasn’t yet said anything negative about IS,” said Matt Bryden, director of Sahan Research in Nairobi. “There’s certainly interest in parts of Shebab to align with IS.” Shebab websites and radio stations enthusiastically cover IS news and offer positive commentary, including of the weekend’s Boko Haram-IS union. Al-Shabab’s internal debate over whether to shift allegiance to the IS franchise intensified with the death of the group’s leader and Al-Qaeda stalwart, Ahmed Abdi Godane, in a US missile strike last year. New emir Ahmed Umar is an al-Qaeda loyalist while other senior figures — among them Mahad Karate who runs the Amniyat, a special internal security wing that deals in intelligence and assassinations — advocate for a switch to the ascendant IS, experts say. Al -Shabab has fallen a long way from its height just a few years ago when it was the extremist group of choice for aspiring jihadists worldwide.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
The True Cost Of Media Restrictions In Somalia
10 March – Source: Irin News – 1196 Words
The dangers and pressures journalists face in Somalia undermine coverage of not only sensitive political stories but also important humanitarian issues. Somalia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist,according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Fifty-six have been killed there since 1992, five of them in 2014. “Journalists are routinely threatened (whether anonymously via mobile phone or in person) over their reporting by a variety of actors – mainly but not exclusively from the Al-Shabaab militants,” said CPJ East Africa representative Tom Rhodes in an emailed response to questions. “Media outlets are predominantly owned by non-journalists with their own political interests and that can jeopardize the safety of their staff. These factors contribute to a lack of genuinely independent media houses in the country, even in Mogadishu where a plethora of private radio stations and at least two newspapers exist.”
“This wave of attacks on press freedom and a culture of impunity have forced journalists to impose self-censorship, “ said Mohamed Ibrahim, the secretary general of the National Union of Somali Journalists. “Unfortunately, there are some regions in Somalia such as Somaliland [a self-declared state] and the disputed regions in the north where there is no press freedom at all.” As well as the five journalists who were killed in Somalia last year, seven were injured, 47 were arrested and five media houses were attacked, according the Union’s annual report. According to Louise Tunbridge, programme manager for Radio Ergo, which broadcasts humanitarian news in Somali to Somalia, conditions for the station’s contributors are “hugely restricting,” even if they avoid the risks faced by political or generalist reporters. “Travelling is dangerous, often impossible; getting people to talk is hard; communications are cut off or unreliable in many places; manoeuvring between the powers-that-be demands resilience; we often find ourselves amazed by the fact that our stringers [freelance contributors] manage to get anything to us at all!” she told IRIN.
Celebrating All Things Somali At The U Of M
09 March – Source:MinnPost – 900 Words
On Feb. 22, CBS Evening News reporter Jeff Pegues concluded his report about East African terrorist groups and ramped-up security at the Mall of America with, “Al-Shabaab has found sympathizers in Minneapolis’ large Somali-American population, where more than 20 people have been charged with trying to join the group.” The fact is, only a dozen Americans have been confirmed as ever being jihadi recruits. But beyond the stereotypes and media fear-mongering – and after a week of listening to ESPN’s Joe Soucheray on #blacklivesmatter versus the Mall of America (Souch is on the side of the law and order, period), and just hours after President Barack Obama’s Selma speech — a couple hundred Somali-American students at the University of Minnesota gathered in Coffman Union’s Great Hall Saturday night to celebrate all things Somali:
Ahmed Abdulle and Ali Omar. “I’m studying IT here at the U; I identify more with Somali culture than western culture,” said Abdulle. “The biggest difference is the level of conservatism. Somali culture is a little more conservative; we don’t show off a lot our body, we’re kind of modest. We don’t try to put ourselves out there, and we’re not so individualistic, and we think each one of us plays a particular role in our society and our family. Like, going to school, we don’t just study what we want to study, we study what will help us and our families in the long run. We look at ourselves as more of gear pieces in a collective.
“My family and I watched the [Obama] speech today, and it was a moment for us to think about because our families were not there at the time, we were in a completely different part of the world, but at the same time had that [the civil rights movement] not happened, we would not have the opportunities we have now. So coming from the outside, we can definitely see the opportunities that we have and can take far more advantage of that and forget about the rationale or reasoning that happened because of [slavery and racism]. I have a friend who is African-American and whose family has been here for generations on end, and when they see themselves they see themselves in a very particular way. He’s not OK going to a city that’s full of white guys because of his and his family’s history, whereas Somali persons, when we see white people, we don’t have that hesitation.”
Abdi Hersy, Calgary Imam, Wanted In U.S. On Sex Assault Charges
09 March – Source: CBC News – 1192 Words
A prominent voice in Calgary’s Somali community is wanted in the United States on sexual assault charges, CBC News has learned.. Imam Abdi Hersy denies the allegations that he sexually assaulted two women while working as a respiratory therapist in the United States in 2006, but says he has not been able to clear his name because of immigration issues. “In Canada, and in U.S.A., I am to be treated as being innocent until proven guilty,” Hersy said in a statement. Imam spoke with ISIS fighters from Canada prior to departure “Since being in Canada, he has become a pillar of his community, working with the [Calgary Police Service] and [Chief] Rick Hanson, to deal with criminalization and radicalization within his community,” said lawyer Raj Sharma, who represents Hersy.
The 46-year-old Somali national, who runs the Abu Bakr Mussallah place of worship in southeast Calgary, was charged with criminal sexual conduct after he spent time working at a hospital in the Twin Cities suburb of Woodbury, Minn. He has refugee protection status in Canada, but the federal government has tried to strip him of it after learning of the active warrant for his arrest south of the border. The Department of Citizenship and Immigration declined comment on the case, citing privacy laws, but in a written statement it said all refugee claimants go through security screening, including fingerprint and criminal background checks.’They were very devastated’ Two female patients allege Hersy fondled them while they were recovering from medical procedures.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“Fatuma smiles as she makes her way to do some shopping shortly after she received some cash on her mobile phone. She can now open a small shop and have a decent income to feed her kids properly.”
A Somali Mother’s Long Journey To Resilience
09 March – Source: ICRC.Org – 377 Words
I met Fatuma and her six kids at their makeshift hut in a camp for displaced families in Beletweyne, a town in central Somalia. With no income and very basic support from humanitarian organizations, she could not imagine any way out of poverty. Fatuma is among vulnerable mothers in the region benefiting from direct cash support provided by the ICRC through mobile phone platforms. Pedram Yazdi reports. “My wish is to open a tiny shop in the displaced camp and to sell basic items such as sugar, oil or tea. People here must walk half an hour to town to reach the nearest shop,” says Fatuma.
Fatuma receives the cash and spends it through her mobile phone. The items she bought from the shop will enable her to engage in a business in order to lift her economic situation and be able to provide for her kids. In Beletweyne town, ICRC’s cash assistance is provided to lactating and pregnant mothers who wish to develop an income generating activity. Some of them have in fact developed such activities but their income is not sufficient to reinvest and make it grow. With the money, Fatuma can invest in essential items and sell them just in front her hut.
“When the youthful Samatar realized that he was brought to the Libyan wilds to fight fellow Muslims, he deserted the Italian army, walked across the blistering inferno of the Libyan desert with, perhaps, Arab traders who, surely, would have traded him off into slavery, had it not been for the timely intervention of a kind stranger–an itinerant holy man and his disciples who saved my father-to-be from a grim fate.”
Hersman, Townsman , American: My Segmented Life
07 March – Source: Wardheer News – 490 Words
Can a case be made that adults are educable? I’ve lived a life of segmented improbabilities I was born and raised a camel herder in the over-heated sand dunes of Ethiopia’s eastern Ogaden (Somali region), between a place called Qari-Jaqood and another called Jiriiban (from “Jirriban,” or “Land of Torture,” in Mudugh Province, Somalia)–both patches designated by Allah as his chosen “Hell on Earth.” I joined the human race by being born, probably, under an acacia tree. I did not learn to read and write until well into my sixteenth year. And now I am a professor at an American university. To borrow an Americanism, “Go, figure.”
The early years of my portioned life as a herdsman knew much joy, but also much grief. In the thorny, desiccated camel country that my family frequented, the settled existence of sedentarized agriculture was unknown. We lived off of our herds of camels and flocks of sheep and goats–the land being too dry and harsh for cattle. We trekked from camp to camp in search of pasturelands for the herds. We tracked and trapped deer, too, for supplementary diet.
The family consisted of two nomadic hamlets: my mother’s hamlet and my elder mother’s, named Aaye Bullo—Aaye Bullo was practical, resourceful and without pretentions. My mother on the other, Faadumo Duco, or the Blessed Faadumo, having hailed from an Islan (chiefly) pedigree, was too blessed and nobility-pretentious to be concerned about the cares of her neglected children. She nagged the old man (my father) to death for marrying him, a lowly commoner, thereby dooming herself to poverty and misery. So, even nomads suffer a sense of the class itch. The old man, though, had a long memory; he retaliated with a sentence of divorce on her when she grew elderly and unable to bear any more.
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UN envoy Nick Kay meets newly appointed Minister of Information Mohamed Abdi Hayir Maareeye. Photo: UNSOM