April 28, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
President Is Due To Reach Garowe
28 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 109 Words
President Hassan Sheik Mohamed is expected to travel to Garowe, the adminstrative capital of semi-autonomous regional state of Puntland on Tuesday where talks between the federal government and regional states will take place. The regional presidents and officials from their government are expected to reach Garowe town in order to have political consultations with the federal government of Somalia. In February, the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Sheikh Mohamud invited the leaders of the regional states of Puntland, Jubba and South Western Somalia, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, Ahmed Mohamed Islaan and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden for a three-day consultation forum in Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Finally Somalia Will Have A National Army (Somali Current)
- President Due To Reach Garowe (Goobjoog News)
- Hope As Mogadishu Residents Stand Up For Clean City (Somali Current)
- Puntland President Visits UN HQ To Express Grief At Loss Of Lives In Attack (Horseed Media)
- First Insurance Company Opens In Puntland (Garowe Online)
- Ugandan President Calls For Military Training For Citizens To Fight Terrorist Group (Pulse.com.ng)
- Somalia Coming Together As “United Federal Country” Despite Challenges (UN Radio)
- IMO Forum Aims To Rebuild Somalia’s Maritime Sector ( Maritime Activity Report)
- Refugees In Kenya Fear Forced Repatriation To Somalia (VOA)
- JICA To Sponsor Job Training In Somalia (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
- A Tribute To The Late Ambassador Yussuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari The Consummate Human Right Activist(Wardheer News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Finally, Somalia Will Have A National Army
28 April – Source: Somali Current – 229 Words
Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud wants the federal government of Somali to set up an all-inclusive national army and control the government arms falling into the wrong hands. Speaking at the Parliament building during the opening of the sixth session of the Somali parliament yesterday, the president said his administration and that of regional governments were in talks on the best way to develop the national army. “A committee [is] engaging with the regional government on how best to nationalize the army and their posting to avert a crisis that is based on clanism,” the president updated the legislators during a session held in Mogadishu where two new parliamentarians were sworn in, as well as a new cabinet minister.
The two parliamentarians were handpicked by their clans to replace their predecessors who were killed in separate attacks. The president also said his administration has prepared a comprehensive plan to register all government arms to avert weapons falling into the wrong hand, or being used for non-official business. The new plan, he said would monitor government soldier’s movements and how they use their weapons. “The move is to minimize the chances of the militant group Al-Shabaab posing as security forces. The president said he was confident 2016 election would be a successful year, but not without proper security plans.
Hope As Mogadishu Resident Stand Up For Clean City
28 April – Source: Somali Current – 157 Words
A beautification campaign has today kicked –off at Hamar Weyn neighbourhood of Mogadishu in the Banadir region to mark the “Week of Beautification and Cleaning of Neigbourhoods”. It is an open competition for all groups representing the different areas of the capital. The exercise was led by governor of Mogadishu Abdikadir Mohamned Abdikadir. The governor has called on the residents of Hamar Weyn to clear the main roads of litter, saying the rubbish was an eyesore. He similarly warned of disposing of litter and garbage on the roads. “Any person caught doing that will be charged at the courts of law,” he warned, quoting the prophet saying that cleanliness was part of iman (faith). Xamar weyne is one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Mogadishu. The neighbourhood has recently experienced rebuilding activities and has a an open market place that attracts shoppers from all over the city and country.
Puntland President Visits UN HQ To Express Grief At Loss Of Lives In Attack
27 April – Source: Horseed Media – 135 Words
Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali visited the headquarters of United Nations in Garowe, the semi-autonomous region’s capital to express profound grief over the loss of lives in the recent terrorist attack against UN staff. During his short visit, the President met the head of UNSOM and UNICEF offices in Puntland and assured them that his government is determined to enhance the safety of the organization’s workers.. He added that the authorities have already taken necessary security measures and investigations are underway. Despite the loss of four international staff members, Head of UNICEF office in Puntland Mrs. Mariana Hattinge stressed that the organization will continue and double its work in the region.
First Insurance Company Opens In Puntland
27 April – Source: Garowe Online – 266 Words
Takaful Insurance Company has on Monday opened its doors in Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland for the first time in over two decades, ushering in what analysts believe is a boost for the country’s fledgling insurance industry, Garowe Online reports. Puntland Commerce Minister Mohamed Hassan So’adde along with Information and Environment Ministers has presided over a ceremony held for the launch of Sharia compliant insurance at Puntland State University (PSU) campus in the capital, Garowe.
Takaful General Manager, Hassan Bashir said in his opening remarks at the launching event that they have been seeking Sharia-based insurance for the last ten years in the Horn and Central Africa: “The dream is prevailing in Puntland today”. Meanwhile, Takaful Somalia head Omar Haji Hussein revealed that they would provide indemnity against a lot of losses facing business community. “This company is meant for addressing the problems facing different walks of life. We comply with whatever Sharia makes lawful, we are open, we are Somalis and we aim to become leading Sharia-compliant insurance company.”
Hussein told a crowd that included prominent clerics and government officials over the course of the ceremony. In support of purity and certainty, prominent cleric Sheikh Mohamud Haji Yusuf praised the opening of Takaful in Puntland. “The service [Insurance] has been vague; it signifies civilization, governance, peace. Whenever you hear of Insurance, you will get to know the lives of the people,” stated Puntland Information Minister Abdiweli Hirsi Abdulle Indho-Guran while speaking about the positive impact of Sharia-compliant insurance. Opened in Mogadishu in December 2014 at first, Takaful insures cars, buildings and other essential properties for risks.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Ugandan President Calls For Military Training For Citizens To Fight Terrorist Group
28 April – Source: Pulse.com.ng – 197 Words
President Museveni said he had already given instructions to the relevant security agencies to launch the programme, focusing initially on the most vulnerable areas in the country. Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni has called on military security agencies to re-introduce military training for Ugandan civilians in order to counter the threat from Islamist terrorist group, al-Shabab. Museveni, who was writing in the state-owned New Vision newspaper, said that although al-Shabab was “defeated”, Ugandans need to guard against attacks.
President Museveni said he had already given instructions to the relevant security agencies to launch the programme, focusing initially on the most vulnerable areas in the country. BBC reports that Uganda, who lost at least 76 people in al-Shabab led attacks in 2010, has more than 6,000 troops in Somalia as part of an African Union force battling the Islamist militants. In the 1980s and 1990s, Ugandan school leavers used to perform two years of national service before attending university and although he didn’t give details of the scheme, Ugandan army spokesman Lt Col Paddy Ankunda said that there were no plans to arm the civilian population.
Somalia Coming Together As “United, Federal Country” Despite Challenges
28 April – Source: UN Radio – 92 Words
Somalia is coming together as a strong, united and federal nation despite challenges posed by the security situation, according to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the country. Nicholas Kay says presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled in September are now at a “point of no return” because Somalis want to create a well-governed country. Just days after an attack on a UN convoy by al-Shabaab terrorists, Joseph Msami spoke with Mr Kay on the line and began by asking for his take on the increase of terrorist threats in Somalia.
IMO Forum Aims To Rebuild Somalia’s Maritime Sector
27 April – Source: Maritime Activity Report – 266 Words
A three-day Stakeholders Forum will be held April 27-29 to review draft guidelines for the establishment of a Somalia Maritime Administration, coordinated and funded by the International Maritime organization (IMO), is being hosted by the Kenya Maritime Authority at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Hotel, Mombasa, Kenya. According to the IMO, the event aims to develop a framework for establishing a Somalia Maritime Administration to provide governance and oversight within which to develop a sustainable maritime sector, to better reflect Somali’s commitments and obligations under international law, and to ensure the country is in compliance with international law and regulations.
“The decline of piracy off the coast of Somalia more than ever before presents a good opportunity to implement sustainable shore-based interventions to support reform of the Somali maritime sector in building a safe and secure maritime environment, thus opening up the maritime economy in the country and contributing to the prevention of a resurgence of piracy,” IMO said. Two ministers from the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and other top officials from the FGS, Puntland and Galmudug, are attending the workshop, which is being funded under IMO’s technical cooperation program. Also attending are observers from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the European regional capacity building mission EU-CAP NESTOR and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).
Refugees In Kenya Fear Forced Repatriation To Somalia
27 April – Source: VOA – Video – 2:32 Minutes
Kenya’s government has ordered the closure of the massive Dadaab refugee camps in the northeastern part of the country due to concerns about a security threat from the mostly Somali population. As VOA’s Gabe Joselow reports from the ground in Dadaab, refugees have mixed feelings about leaving a place they have called home for more than 20 years.
JICA To Sponsor Job Training In Somalia
27 April – Source: Japan Broadcasting Corporation – 129 Words
A Japanese aid agency is planning to sponsor job training in Somalia, with the aim of preventing young people from joining extremist groups. The Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, plans to start talks with Somalia’s government next month to decide the details of the program. JICA will team up with Japanese companies to train workers mainly in the fishing and construction industries. Somalia can tap rich marine resources from the Indian Ocean. And there’s strong demand for reconstruction after decades of civil war.Somalia’s unemployment rate tops 70 percent. Islamist extremists are said to be recruiting young people hunting for work in the capital, Mogadishu. Somalia is the home base of the Al-Shabaab group, whose members staged a deadly attack on a university in Kenya early this month.
OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE
From the onset, unlike most of his colleagues in Genève, Amb. Yusuf has been working in an extremely difficult operational environment characterized by lack of and/or severe inadequacy of meaningful institutional and logistical support on the part of his resources-deprived government to carry out his duties as Ambassador.
A Tribute To The Late Ambassador Yussuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari The Consummate Human Right Activist.
A Tribute To The Late Ambassador Yussuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari The Consummate Human Right Activist
28 April – Source: Wardheer News – 780 Words
March 27th, 2015 shall remain a day in the history pages of the Somali diplomatic corps: the day a well-orchestrated assassination mission by a ruthless, heavily armed commandos killed twenty-four (24) people in a Mogadishu hotel. Amongst the innocent victims was the Somalia’s Ambassador to United Nations Office in Genève and other specialized institutions in Switzerland H. E. Ambassador Yusuf Mohamed Ismail “Bari-Bari”. Appointed to the post in December 2007 by the then Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Amb. Bari-Bari, among other institutions in Genève, represented Somalia at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Born in Rome, Italy on July 15th, 1958 to a family with its roots in diplomacy, Amb. Bari-Bari was bitten by the public service bug at a young age; an energetic, affable and a political activist, Amb. Bari-Bari, who had been particularly interested in matters relating to social, economic and environmental justice, completed his university studies in Bologna, Italy. His murder was yet another tragic loss of the life of a true Somali human rights champion who had sacrificed the best part of his life, even at the cost of his own family and personal wellbeing, to promote and advocate for the fundamental human rights of the Somali people, particularly the weakest segments of the society including children, women and minorities.
Amb. Bari-Bari was known to all, Somalis and non-Somalis alike, for his relentless pursue of the dream of realizing the human rights of the Somali people who have been suffering from all kinds of abuses in almost four decades of dictatorial regimes, brutal conflicts and statelessness. In addition, within the greater context of the human rights situation in Africa and elsewhere, Amb. Bari-Bari was a staunch defender and active promoter of the God-given basic human rights of not only Somalis but also other social and ethnic groups that were equally oppressed, persecuted or otherwise dehumanized. One outstanding example is Amb. Bari-Bari’s battles for the rights of the people who live with Albinism. In fact, according to the UNHRC, “his tragic death came only a day after a Human Rights Council resolution creating the mandate of an Independent Expert on the enjoyment of the rights of persons with albinism was adopted by consensus – a development due in no small part to Ambassador Bari Bari, who was the first diplomat to push for the plight of persons with albinism to be placed on the agenda of the Human Rights Council”.
TOP TWEETS
@ElmanPeaceHRC We’ve launched a new vocational skills training program throughout South and Central Somalia for young men/women
@AbdiazizShire Somalia is blessed with the longest coast in Africa!
@MoPETMRSomalia Day 2 of the International Forum on#Somalia Oil, Gas & Mining has officially begun in #London.
@Dahirkulane Attack on #Aid Wkr’s,rainy season,#remittances& #Yemen latest #Somalia #humanitarian Reporthttp://bit.ly/1HNrnVO
@Abdi_AlSheikh #Breaking: IED targeted a car of an #UNrelief officer in northern #Galkaio, officer survived from the blast, but 2 injured. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali “Gaas” visited UNSOM-Puntland compound in Garowe to deliver condolences for the tragic loss of colleagues and friends in the recent attack in Garowe.
Photo: UNSOM