April 15, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali President Says Somalia Will Bounce Back On It’s Feet
15 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 129 Words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has said Somalia is on the right track to bounce back and return to its normal and pioneering role in regional and international forums Mohamud, who was addressing a celebration organized by the International African University on the occasion of his visit to Sudan, commended Sudan’s role in supporting Somalia. He added that the two-decade civil war had negative impacts on Somalia’s infrastructure.
The President pointed out that his current government is working for the realization of peace and stability and had overcome most challenges faced by the citizens. He strongly condemned Al-Shabaab for implementing foreign agenda and affirmed that the national agenda is the only basis for solving the problems facing Somalia.The President arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday on a two day official visit.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Says Somalia Will Bounce Back On It Feet (Goobjoog News)
- Khatumo Leaders Trash Outcome Of National Elections Forum (Hiiraan Online)
- Somalia Exports 5.3 Million animals 6 % Growth (Goobjoog News)
- Minnesota Mosque Producing Radical Somali Terrorists (WND)
- 90 Days On Kenya Remembers Dawn Raid On El Adde KDF Base (The Star)
- Man Sentenced To Death For Killing Muslim Cleric Sheikh Mohamed Idris (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Khatumo Leaders Trash Outcome Of National Elections Forum
14 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 243 Words
A section of leaders from Khatumo State have distanced themselves from the resolutions and outcome of the National Elections Forum that was recently held in Mogadishu.Speaking in Mogadishu at a forum that brought together Members of Parliament, political leaders as well as members of the public from the self-declared Khatumo State, the leaders said the region they represent was given a raw deal, something they consider unacceptable. The forum discussed the 2016 elections as well as the sharing of slots in both houses of parliament.
Federal MP Abdiwahid Abdullahi Jama said Federal Member States were tribal administrations that were not fully inclusive. Because of this, the MP argues the states have no moral authority to speak for the general public.The MP said resolutions by the National leadership forum will be tabled before the Federal Parliament and urged his colleagues to play their oversight role and ensure fair distribution of the Country’s resources.Former head of the Khatumo administration Mohamed Yussuf Jama, who was also present said residents of Khatumo region were not given their fair share of representation slots in the upcoming Parliament and were therefore not party to any resolution passed by the National leadership forum.The development comes days after Khatumo head of State Prof. Ali Khalif Galayr announced cutting links with the Federal government accusing it of going into illegal deals with the government of Puntland. He argues that the said deal is not fair to his people.
Somalia Exports 5.3 Million animals ,6 % Growth
15 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 303 Words
Somalia exported 5.3 million animals with annual growth of 6 percent increase following the exportation of live animals to Gulf nations. This became the country’s leading foreign exchange earner in 2015, latest data by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has indicated.
In 2015, Somalia exported 4.9 million goats and sheep, 295,000 cattle and 72,000 camels, putting an estimated USD 384 million into Somali livestock owners’ pockets. In a press statement released on ThursdayFAO said the livestock sector continues to offer significant growth potential, boosted by continued livelihood, and export focused interventions, good prices and growing markets in the Middle East. Livestock contributes 40 percent to the Somalia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Somalia saw increased demand in 2015 for live animals in the Gulf mainly due to increased investment in animal health services by FAO and other organizations, which is key condition imposed by the importing countries,” said Khalid Saeed the head of FAO’s livestock sector in Somalia. “Obviously we are delighted by these figures” says Said
According to Hussein Iid, Somalia’s Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Range, there is still so much more to be done to grow this sector, both domestically and in terms of exports: “We need to diversify into new markets, make sure that livestock have good year round access to high quality fodder and continue to build a national system for managing animal health across the whole of Somalia.” Last year, more than 2,600 Somali camels were sold to Egypt, the first time since the outbreak of conflict in Somalia some 25 years ago.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Minnesota Mosque Producing Radical Somali Terrorists
15 April – Source: WND – 1348 Words
A Minnesota man who pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State attended a radical mosque in Bloomington known for producing jihadists.Adnan Abdihamid Farah, 20, faces up to 15 years in prison but avoided a possible life sentence when three other counts were dropped.
Farah is one of five men in a group of Somali Americans – all either refugees or sons of refugees – who the government charged in the case.Farah was the only one of the five who was not accused of trying to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State, also called ISIS, but admitted he was communicating with an ISIS operative in Syria and intended to do so.
Adnan Farah’s older brother, Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 22, is among the other four defendants who are scheduled to go on trial May 9.A total of 10 Somalis from Minnesota have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS. Five have now pleaded guilty, one has fled and his whereabouts unknown. Another dozen or so Minnesota Muslims, almost all of them of Somali origin, have traveled to Syria to join Sunni rebel groups since 2012.
Adnan Farah said his parents confiscated his passport when it came in the mail.
He then put a $100 down payment on a fake passport and also tried to help a co-defendant get one.Another 22 young Somali men have left Minnesota since 2007 to join al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group seeking to take over Somalia.Adnan Farah, who was born in the U.S. to Somali refugee parents, told the court he took no interest in al-Shabab but had watched “at least 100” ISIS propaganda videos on Youtube. Some of the videos depicted atrocities committed by Syrian government forces on Sunni Muslims.
90 Days On, Kenya Remembers Dawn Raid On El Adde KDF base
15 April – Source: The Star- 400 Words
Today marks exactly three months since Somalia-based Al Shabaab militants staged the most brutal and brazen attack yet, on a Kenya Defence Forces base in El Adde, in the Gedo region near the Kenyan border.It remains possibly, the deadliest blitz on the Africa Mission in Somalia (Amisom), surpassing the death toll of the Garissa University attack on April 2, last year.The El Adde attack was claimed by Saleh An-Nabhani Battalion, an Al-Shabaab faction named after Mombasa-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was killed during the United States Navy SEALs raid in 2009. The group is said to comprise of specialists in suicide bombings and bush ambush.
As Kenya came to terms with the massacre, government officials including commander-in-chief President Uhuru Kenyatta, Chief of Defence, General Samson Mwathethe and Defence cabinet secretary Rachael Omamo, promised thorough investigation and a “painful lesson” to the militants.
Ninety days and tens of burials of fallen soldiers later, the Kenyan government has kept the country guessing. While the exact number of Kenyan troops killed has not been divulged, it is estimated to have been close to 200. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud put the figure at “180 or close to 200 soldiers” during an interview with a Somali TV station.Mohamud’s claim was angrily dismissed by KDF spokesperson Colonel David Obonyo, who termed it reckless. “It was a head of state who personally talked about this. I don’t know his source of information so it is only him who can clarify,” he said.
Man Sentenced To Death For Killing Muslim Cleric Sheikh Mohamed Idris
15 April – Source: Daily Nation – 102 Words
A man was on Friday sentenced to death by the High Court in Mombasa for killing moderate Muslim cleric Sheikh Mohamed Idris in 2014.Mr Mohamed Sudi Said alias Mohamed Hussein alias Abu Osman was sentenced by Justice Martin Muya.Mr Said was found guilty of murdering the former chairman of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya on June 10, 2014 at Manyatta in Likoni.The cleric was a vocal opponent of radical preaching.Police said he was “shot only once in the stomach” shortly before dawn as he headed to prayers at a mosque by gunmen on a motorcycle.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Syria’s crisis has seen most humanitarian groups focus on the Mideast, leaving Somalia neglected while El Nino and Al-Shabaab still devastate the region,”
Amid Bounty Of Crisis, Somalia Fights For Attention
15 April – Source: Anadolu Agency – 349 Words
Even as crises elsewhere get the lion’s share of international attention, Somalia’s need for humanitarian action remains critical, according to Jordi Raich, head of the local International Red Cross’ Somalia delegation.The Syrian crisis has seen most humanitarian organizations focus on the Middle East, leaving Somalia neglected while drastic climate conditions caused by El Nino and the Al-Shabaab terrorist group still devastate the region.“Almost all the humanitarian organizations have pulled out,” he told Anadolu Agency. “This further restricts our resources in providing aid. Countries are also pulling funding from Somalia to address other prioritized crises.”
Even though Somalia is set to have elections this year, the destruction from the ongoing 25 years of unrest has left inadequate infrastructure for the federal system to build upon. The World Bank at various junctures has declared Somalia’s economy more dependent on remittances, or money sent from abroad, than any other country in the world.
According to a 2015 report by African charity Adeso, over 40 percent of Somalis still depend on money sent from friends and family abroad for basic needs, which amounts up to 45 percent of the country’s economy.Raich said, “The general sentiment from the president to the people on the street is that Somalia is on the right path, but the path is still under construction.”He added, “Somalia is a context that constantly evolves, and we have to keep monitoring on the ground in order to adapt our security operations.”
TOP TWEETS
@OCHASom:Good news: #Somalia exported 5.3m animals to Gulf countries representing a 6% growth in 2015http://bit.ly/23JMT60
@faoinsomalia:#
@MogadishuImages:traditional dancers keep n preserve the culture. they perform for the wider urban public. #Mogadishu#Somalia
@farahblue:We can no longer ignore that our country #Somaliais headed in the wrong direction. This is the worst & the hardest moment in our history.
@challiss :”#Somalia is still fragile, but fragile is progress”: interesting piece from @mfraserrahim via @africaargumentshttp://africanarguments.org/
@IRWorldwide:Last week @HackneyAbbott was in#Somaliland in the Horn of Africa where a severe #droughtrisks becoming a #famine. http://bit.ly/1SFL5CZ
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Dozens of students graduate from Puntland State University in Garowe, Puntland.
Source: Wacaal Media