April 8, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Somalia’s President And Prime Minister Warn: “Do Not Hurt Somalia’s Fledgling Peace And State-Building Process By Constricting Remittances”

08 April – Source: Al Shahid – 732 Words

Somalia’s President, H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and the Prime Minister H.E. Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, are calling on the Somali people and the international community to get behind a new initiative to launch a multi-agency Special Task Force on Remittances (STFR) to support our efforts to protect Somali remittances. The STFR has the mandate of coordinating and accelerating FGS policy and actions to address interests with respect to remittances in the context of formalizing the Somali financial sector to create a sustainable solution and a national financial infrastructure geared for growth. The composition of its membership of government institutions, private banks and remittances sectors will be announced soon. The STFR tasks will include coordinating and accelerating the adoption into Somali law of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism bills (AML/CFT), as well as other related financial governance and transparency measures. Above all, the STFR will be charged with the initiating of a comprehensive plan aimed at formalizing the financial sector in Somalia. Reminding Somalia’s international partners of the centrality of Somali-led solutions in the New Deal and Somalia Compact, [they] emphasized it as “Somali-led, and Somali-owned and tailor-made solution for Somalia that captures all the peculiarities of a sizable challenge. But a challenge with a very good solution that will bring benefits to Somali finance ad infinitum.”

The initiative also received a ringing endorsement from the Council of Ministers. They welcomed the Initiative and threw their full weight behind national and international efforts to resolve the remittances crisis. The President also announced the Task Force will lead government efforts on an ambitious timetable to ratify international conventions as recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Most significantly for long-term sustainability, the Task Force will lay the foundations for formalizing the Somali banking sector as the most durable solution to governing financial flows both in Somalia. The issue of remittances has been catapulted to the top of the political agenda following the closure of the last of the US bank accounts handling Somali remittances from the Somali diaspora. Globally, these amount to an estimated $1.2bn-$1.6bn a year, approximately 50% of the country’s gross national income. The two leaders also welcome and laud the efforts of Representatives of the US Congress and Senate, as well as US Somalis and NGOs who have lobbied very strongly for action on Somali remittances. Equally timely is the release of the UN Report on Illicit Financial Flows to which Africa loses US$50bn. The report calls for commitment and leadership on all sides in addressing illicit financial flows, which undermine financial and human security in poor countries. Somalia’s leaders welcome the publication of the report whose recommendations include shared responsibility between the origin and destination countries in the governance of financial flows. This would allow countries like to Somalia to accede to from regional/global mechanisms to shore up weak national systems.

On the national framework, the President described the Task Force’s first priorities to be the elaboration of a detailed strategy, along with a consultative implementation plan on how to rebuild Somalia’s formal financial sector. Somalia’s remittance agents, perform a vital function in the reconstruction of Somalia. They emerged as are result of almost two and a half decades of civil conflict where Somalis lost faith in public financial institutions after the collapse of the formal banking sector. The President and PM pointed out that contrary to popular belief, both the public and private sector recognize the importance of an effective and well-regulated financial environment. The Task Force will bring include key stakeholders from the private sector. Somali business has been constrained by the emerging/nascent financial governance mechanisms. The Federal Government of Somalia is now in the process of reinforcing financial governance structures in order to support enforcement and implementation of regulations to make business a risky venture in Somalia. This in turn has hampered investment. Remittances are a critical lifeline to millions in poverty and famine-stricken Somalia. Shutting this down, they argued, would only compound the misery of a population cowed by terrorism. Indeed, such measures were in their view counterproductive as they would have the effect of driving legitimate and financial flows deeper underground into the murky, costly and ungovernable realm of illicit finance. This would inevitably constitute a triple penalty to Somalia’s efforts to return to a responsible and accountable member of the international community.

Key Headlines

Somalia’s President And Prime Minister Warn: “Do not Hurt Somalia’s Fledgling Peace And State-Building Process By Constricting Remittances. (Al Shahid)
Elders Leave Jubbaland Assembly Formation Conference In Protest (Goobjoog News)
Kenya Closes Down 13 Somali Hawalas (Somali Current)
Puntland ‘Ready’ To Host Refugees Escaping Yemen Violence (Horseed Media)
Somali President Welcomes Adoption Of Counter Terrorism Strategy (Radio Muqdisho)
Central Somali State Formation Conference Kicks Off On Saturday (Goobjoog News)
Insecurity Risks Increasing Cost Of Logistics In Kenya (The East African)
Don’t withdraw KDF Troops From Somalia Kembi Tells Government (The Star Kenya)
Somali Suspect Charged With Ferrying Explosives For Terror Attack (Coastweek/Xinhua) Al-Shabaab Terror Attacks Raise Extremist Threat In East Africa Experts Warn (Fox News)
Al-Shabab: One Terror Group Many Brands (NPR)
After Garissa Kenyans And Somalis Face Divided Future (Newsweek)

SOMALI MEDIA

Elders Leave Jubbaland Assembly Formation Conference In Protest

08 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 65 Words

Some traditional elders who were attending Jubbaland Assembly formation conference have left in protest, and accused the technical committee of interference. Chief Abdullahi Hussein Abdi told Goobjoog that IGAD, which is the facilitating the process, is to blame for their walkout. “IGAD has messed up everything; they created a district that is not there, and [did] away with our share” the elder said.

Kenya Closes Down 13 Somali Hawalas

08 April – Source: Somali Current – 99 Words

The government of Kenya has ordered the immediate closure of 13 Somali hawalas – informal money transfer services. The government has accused the Somali hawalas of funding Al Shabaab terror activities. Kenya intelligence said the hawala systems, through which millions of shillings are moved around the world daily, is being used to fund Al Shabaab terror activities in the country.The government has frozen 86 accounts belonging to individuals suspected of financing Al Shabaab. The government also suspended 13 forex exchange bureaus working in the country. According Kenya government, the government is taking these measures to paralyze local terror networks.

Puntland ‘Ready’ To Host Refugees Escaping Yemen Violence

07 April – Source: Horseed Media – 175 Words

Somalia’s semi-autonomous administration of Puntland has said that it is ready to host refugees escaping the violence that erupted in neighbouring Yemen, an official has said. Puntland’s Minister of Ports and Marine Transport, Abdullahi Jama Salah, told journalists in the port town of Bossaso that the regional administration has established camps for the refugees. “We are not only welcoming back our own citizens, but also ready to host Yemeni and other refugees,” he said. He added that they are in collaboration with international humanitarian organizations on this issue. Last week, more than 100 Somali citizens who ran away from the conflict arrived in Bossaso by small boats. He said some of them went back to their respective homes, while others were resettled in camps. For two decades, Somalis fleeing their failed state found in Yemen a safe haven, a place to work, and a gateway to wealthier gulf states. The number of Somalis living in Yemen is thought to be around 500,000.

Somali President Welcomes Adoption Of Counter Terrorism Strategy

07 April – Source: Radio Muqdisho – 479 Words

President of Somalia, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed the government’s adoption of a new strategy for countering the threat of terrorism in Somalia. He commented: “The Federal Government of Somalia knows all too well the pain that terrorism causes a nation. This is a comprehensive, sophisticated strategy that is the result of wide-ranging research and analysis. It is also distinctively Somali in its approach and that is why this strategy has my complete confidence and the confidence of the government.” HE the President continued: “Somalia has seen many false dawns but the one constant and enduring reality throughout the many setbacks has been the faith of the Somali people and the service of the many men and women of the Somali military and police service who, despite the very real dangers, have continued to fulfil their solemn duty to protect the Somali nation against all enemies.

“The Federal Government of Somalia is, therefore, determined to fulfil the obligations it has to the population and to the men and women of service who heroically confront on a daily basis those who wish to harm the Somali nation, through the provision of both an effective legal infrastructure and also more tangible signs of support such as uniforms, vehicles and the equipment needed to pursue our enemies both within and beyond our borders. “Over the past two years the FGS has striven to design and implement a security strategy befitting the aspirations of the Somali people, one based on the rule of law, human rights and due process. The counter terrorism strategy is the culmination of this effort but it should be noted that this is only one pillar of the Somali government’s greater security and stabilisation policy – but a tremendously important pillar.

“We have all witnessed al-Shabab’s cowardly attempts to obstruct the development of our nation and our neighbouring partners but the government’s forces have, over the past two years, consistently degraded al-Shabab’s ability to disrupt the daily life of the nation. “Despite terrorist attacks and assassinations, extortion and intimidation the government and the security forces continue to move forward with the aim of realising the hopes of the Somali people for a more pluralistic and democratic society. This strategy outlines not only the government’s intention to fulfil its obligations towards the Somali nation but also clearly demonstrates that the counter terrorism strategy in Somalia is keystone of our efforts to rebuild our nation. HE the President concluded: “Finally, our goal as a nation is for Somalia to once again become a peaceful country, at ease with itself, confident of its future and playing a positive role within the region. In the shadow of al-Shabaab’s recent outrages at the Makka al Mukarama hotel and on the university campus in Garissa, northern Kenya, this strategy provides us with the framework to render al-Shabaab irrelevant in Somalia and across the region.”

Central Somali State Formation Conference Kicks Off On Saturday

07 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 153 Words

Reports coming to Goobjoog News indicate that the Somali central state formation conference will kick off on Saturday 11 April, 2015 in Adado town. Reliable sources reported that the conference is expected to commence on Saturday, and that the majority of delegates and politicians participating in the conference, are in the town waiting the conference to officially begin. The spokesman for Himan and Heb administration, Osman Mohamed Areys, speaking to Goobjoog FM earlier said that the participants arrived in Adado. “The technical committee and other delegates including intellectuals and elders arrived the town” Mr. Areys said. He reiterated that the administration of Himan and Heb has finalized its preparations to open the conference in Adado, including tightened security in the town.The committee will facilitate the opening of the conference of establishing an inclusive regional state for Galgadud and Mudug regions.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Insecurity Risks Increasing Cost Of Logistics In Kenya

08 April – Source: The East African – 445 Words

A recent terror attack on Garissa University has refocused attention on Kenya’s status as a regional transport and logistics hub even as State agencies play down the threat posed by Somali-based Al-Shabaab militants. Anxiety over frequent attacks has especially gripped East African shippers following recent downgrading of neighbouring Sudan, South Sudan and Djibouti to the list of red countries. The three states join Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Somalia and Somaliland in this list. Countries across the globe are classified according to their security risk profiles and are either regarded as red, white or green with the classification determining the level of security measures applicable. Raising Kenya’s risk profile from white to red will increase cost of doing business in the region as transporters and insurers adjust charges on goods passing through the country.

The classification could also result in strict security measures such as rigorous screening of packaged items and restriction on the value of goods allowed to pass across the country’s borders. But government officials have dismissed security worries over major transnational highways, saying Kenyan roads remain among the safest in sub-Saharan Africa. “This is a very sensitive matter but any suggestion that Kenya should be on the watch-list is ridiculous,” said an official in the transport sector agency. “The security arrangement on the North Corridor, for instance, is among the best in East Africa.” Kenya provides transport and logistic connections to most landlocked states in eastern Africa. As a white country, it is still considered to have a certain level of risk, but not as high as a red one while green countries such as France have a minimal security risk level. As a country that trades more with the European Union and United States, Kenyan officials are keen to defend the safety records of transnational roads to ease logistical burden on traders who rely on them to get to markets.

Don’t withdraw KDF Troops From Somalia, Kembi Tells Government

07 April – Source: The Star Kenya – 171 Words

Murang’a Senator Kembi Gitura has asked the government to ignore calls by a section of political leaders to withdraw the Kenya Defence Forces from Somalia.He said those calling for the removal of troops do not understand the dynamics of terrorism. “The army only went in pursuit of the [al Shabaab] bandits because they were wreaking havoc in our country and would have increased their attacks if the soldiers had not pursued them,” Kembi said.He was speaking at Mukuyu estate in Murang’a town on Monday while condoling a family that lost a daughter in Last Thursday’s Garissa University College terror attack. Kembi urged the public to support the security forces. “We do not know exactly how many attacks have been thwarted by the police so we should not be quick to condemn them,” he said.He urged the government to persist in its anti-terror fight.Meanwhile, speaking to the Star on the phone, Governor Mwangi Wairia yesterday said his administration will provide financial support to Murang’a victims of the attack.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Suspect Charged With Ferrying Explosives For Terror Attack

08 April – Source: Coastweek/Xinhua – 199 Words

A suspect of Somali origin who was arrested while trying to ferry explosives to Nairobi was charged in a Kenyan High Court with eight counts of terrorism and unlawful presence in Kenya. However, Ahmed Mohammed Abdullahi Aliads Arab, who was arrested in Thika, about 30kms east of Nairobi, denied all the charges. The court heard that he was in possession of an explosive substance, namely RDX, weighing approximately 614g. He was also charged with committing an act intended to cause grievous harm and being unlawfully in Kenya. Mohamed was arrested on March 13 in Thika town on his way to Nairobi.

The prosecution alleged that on November 22, 2014 by false pretense, he procured registration as a Kenyan citizen and was issued with a Kenyan identity card at the national registration bureau office in Habaswein within Wajir County. He appeared before Magistrate Annah Ndungu and pleaded to be released on cash bail, but the application was rejected on grounds that his nationality was in doubt. The court said the suspect has been charged with being unlawfully in the country and a right to bond is not absolute. He will remain in custody until his hearing date on April 20.

Kenya Freezes Bank Accounts Of Suspected Terrorism Supporters

07 April – Source: VOA – 115 Words

The VOA Somali service has learned that the Kenyan government has frozen the bank accounts of 86 entities and individuals it suspects of financing terrorism.The move is designed to choke the flow of money to the Islamist terror group al-Shabab.All 86 were also put on a government watch list. Al-Shabab has carried out multiple attacks in Kenya in recent years, and it has warned that more will come unless Kenya withdraws its troops from Somalia. Most recently, the group claimed responsibility for last Thursday’s attack on Garissa University College that killed 148 students. On Sunday, Kenya carried out airstrikes in Somalia, targeting two al-Shabab camps in the Gedo region along the Kenyan-Somali border.

Al-Shabaab Terror Attacks Raise Extremist Threat In East Africa, Experts Warn

07 April – Fox News – 417 Words

Al-Shabaab’s assault last week on a Kenyan college that left 148 people dead shows the terror group can still organize and launch large-scale attacks, despite an effort to dismantle their network, according to foreign policy analysts. Fox News National Security Analyst KT McFarland spoke to Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Fred Burton about the terror group’s capabilities. Since October 2011, Al-Shabaab militants have carried out deadly attacks in Kenya on a number of civilian and law enforcement targets, including the campus massacre in Kenya and a four-day siege of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, where the group killed 67 people. “There are basically two Shabaab organizations — one in Somalia, one in Kenya. The Somalia one has become weaker … the Kenyan one has, without question, become stronger and it’s carried out a large number of attacks. It’s just that we rarely hear about jihadist attacks in Africa,” Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told FoxNews.com.

Kenyan officials sent troops in 2011 into Somalia to help officials there fight the terror group. Kenya’s effort to stabilize the country and secure their shared border hasn’t proved to be an overall success. Gartenstein-Ross believes “it’s increasing a political problem in Kenya and one of the very explicit reasons for these attacks is to get Kenya out of Somalia … Shabaab has been very explicit that it wants to inflict a price upon Kenya for their support of the Somali government.” Beyond East Africa, Al-Shabaab’s recent activities are putting U.S. officials and their allies on alert. “When you look at this organization not too long ago, [they] threatened attacks outside Africa … that is a call to arms for respective attacks … this is the kind of issue in many ways that is not going to go away anytime soon,” said Burton, vice president of intelligence with the global intelligence and advisory firm Stratfor.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“When asked to identify the single most important factor that drove respondents to join al-Shabaab, 65% specifically referred to the government’s counterterrorism strategy. Comments included: ‘Government and security forces hate Islam’, and ‘All Muslims are treated as terrorists’, but also pointed to more specific examples: ‘the assassination of Muslim leaders’ or the ‘extra-judicial killing of Muslims’.

Al-Shabab: One Terror Group, Many Brands

07 April – Source: NPR – 893 Words

A decade ago, al-Qaida in Iraq was beaten down by the U.S. military, only to emerge years later as the self-declared Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.The Islamist group al-Shabab, which killed more than 140 students at a Kenyan university last week, has pulled off a different feat of rebranding. Without abandoning its Somali origins, it tailored its tactics to appeal to local jihadists across East Africa. Its strategy of selective extremism means al-Shabab looks and acts very different on different sides of the Somali border. A Broader Agenda In Somalia, al-Shabab targets anyone who deviates from its extremist interpretation of Islam.

“Anyone who does not subscribe to the Salafi doctrine is branded as an apostate,” says Rashid Abdi, an independent analyst based in Nairobi. “Here in Kenya, they operate very differently. They embrace all Muslims, and pretend not to be sectarian, and here their only enemy is Christianity and Christians.” In last week’s university attack, al-Shabab bragged about separating out and releasing the Muslim students before killing the Christians.In Somalia, al-Shabab has aspired since its founding about 10 years ago to rule the country under a fanatical interpretation of Sharia law. In territory it has controlled, al-Shabab was known for stoning women and cutting off the hands of thieves. But in Kenya, it portrays itself as a pan-Muslim protector. On al-Shabab websites, the group vowed further attacks in Kenya “until all Muslim lands are liberated from Kenyan occupation.”

“Kenya, a bulwark against the spread of Islamic terrorism in Africa, has received billions of dollars in foreign funding for its security services. In January, Britain committed a further $87.3 million. But Mwangi says none of this can help if the police remains “the most corrupt institution in Kenya”; nepotistic, unscrupulous, and bent on self-enrichment. Experts fear the West is funding corruption, abuses, generating hatred, and, by extension, furthering the terrorists’ cause.”

After Garissa, Kenyans And Somalis Face Divided Future

07 April – Newsweek – 1,076 Words

“I’ve never met a Somali who is not happy when Christians are killed,” says Maneno, 29, a teacher at Garissa University College. Maneno [not his real name] grew up in western Kenya. He studied from borrowed books with no electric light, bound by the rise and fall of the sun. He dreamed of becoming “a very tough lawyer”, but the government, which paid his university fees, compelled him to become a teacher. Maneno has worked his whole life to “beat the odds”. Now, two of his closest friends are dead. He is in shock, jobless, angry and afraid. And he blames Kenya’s ethnic Somali population for his fate. Al-Shabaab is playing a game of divide and rule, says Mohamed Amiin, a former Somali politician who was in office when the Somali terror group was conceived; delegitimising governance, destabilising society, and driving civilians towards political extremism to increase its own relevance.

Kenya is splitting apart. With every attack by Somalia-based militants al-Shabaab, Kenya’s populist government threatens an ever-fiercer response. Its corrupt and heavy-handed security services, funded by the US and the UK, then mete out extrajudicial killings, illegal dragnets, extortion and brutality, primarily among Kenya’s Muslim communities. “We Kenyans have made a mistake,” says a Kenyan businessman. “We allowed Somalis into our country, and now they are killing us. Somalis are one, and every Somali is al-Shabaab. Everybody thinks like that.” His grim conclusion, he says, is further substantiated by news that one of the attackers, a Kenyan of Somali origin, was a government official’s son. Somalis have a phrase for Kenyans’ ethnocentric attitude: “waryaa ni waryaa”, meaning Somali is Somali. It is becoming more prevalent, they say – although right now, it could not be further from the truth. Even supporters of al-Shabaab are turning their backs on the group in the light of their debased attacks. “Massacring students and teachers is not a good political move,” says 31-year-old Ahmed Hirsi, a Somali-Kenyan, who once sympathised with the group.

Top tweets

@Adesoafrica: #Kenya stops money transfer service to#Somalia in wake of #GarissaAttack, move could affect poor Somalis http://bit.ly/1GJTFyp

@TheVillaSomalia: HE the President of #Somalia : ‘CT strategy is distinctively #Somali in approach and that is why this strategy has my complete confidence’

@cctvnewsafrica: Good morning Africa! Today’s proverb is from#Somalia: The worst man is he who never sews, never consults and never economizes

‏@DrMaryanQasim: “Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have” #Somalia #WorldHealthDay

@citizentvkenya Abdi: If we move refugees back to Somalia we will be victimising victims of Al-Shabaab without evidence.#Cheche #PowerBreakfast

@Tuuryare_Africa Prez of SW admin, said 300 newly trained soldiers by AU forces are ready 2 fight with Al Shabab in south Somalia.

@SomPundit: The kenyan move to burn Somali businesses that employs Somali youth is a big gain for Alshabab to offer them alternative employment #Somalia

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Image of the day

395 newly trained soldiers, 19 of them women, will join the Somali National Army, following a graduation ceremony on Tuesday. The new recruits graduated after successfully completing a three-month military course, conducted by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in the southwestern town of Baidoa. Photo: AMISOM