July 15, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Central Bank Of Somalia Rethinking USD 600 Million Requests From Leading Telecommunication Company

14 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 200 Words

Central Bank of Somalia is withholding request from leading Somali Telecommunication Company to register USD 600 Million in its money transfer system. Hormud Telecommunication Company whose mobile money transfer system EVC PLUS is widely used in the country wants the Central Bank of Somalia to register more than 600 million USD circulating in its money transfer system. Senior staff at the company who declined his name because not authorized to speak to the media has revealed to Radio Dalsan about the request saying his company has sent the request letter to the bank and is still awaiting approval.

Somali Central Bank officials said they are consulting World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) before approving the request adding that financial services industries in the country must respect International financial laws i.e World Bank and IMF rules.

Economists have faulted Somali telecommunication companies offering mobile money transfers saying they have de-valuated Somali shillings by allowing the use of foreign currency such as US dollar in the mobile transfer system. World Bank and IMF are helping in the restructuring of Somali Central Bank which was affected in more than two decades of civil strife in the horn of the African state.

Key Headlines

Central Bank Of Somalia Rethinking USD 600 Million Requests From Leading Telecommunication Company (Radio Dalsan)
NISA Blocks Elders From Meeting In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
Mozambique President Receives Credentials From Somali Ambassador (SONNA)
Kenyan Police Officer Fatally Shoots Six Colleagues (VOA)
Crashed Drone In Somalia Shows How The Military Hides Its Eyes In The Sky (The Verge)
Somali Independence Day Festivities In Minneapolis Provoke Lawsuit (Star Tribune)
Al-Shabaab Spies Will Be Treated As Terrorists Lamu Villagers Warned (The Star)
Al-Shabaab Terrorist Killed As Gunmen Attack Police Camp In Lamu (Daily Nation)
Yellow Cab Upping Reward To Find Suspect Responsible For Shooting Cab Driver In Louisville (WDRP)
Faarrow Is The Somali Sister Act You Need On Your Playlist (Galore Magazine)

NATIONAL MEDIA

NISA Blocks Elders From Meeting In Mogadishu

14 July – Source: SONNA – 145 Words

The officers of the Somali National Intelligence and security agency (NISA) have denied traditional elders access to hold a meeting at a hotel in Mogadishu on Thursday. Hawiye Sub-clan elders were due to hold the meeting at Makka Al Mukarama hotel to discuss Mogadishu status in power-sharing model of the next elections due to August, later this year.

Speaking to Radio Shabelle, Sheikh Aden Sheikh Muse, an elder at the hotel said some of the clan elders were brutally tortured by the NISA officers during the scuffle. “NISA soldiers came us in the hotel, and tried to expel the elders, but a dispute broke out when we resisted their order,” said Muse during the interview.

Mogadishu status has been the focal point of a dispute overshadowed recent national consultation forums on the 2016 elections, which will be based on the clan power-sharing formula (4.5).

Mozambique President Receives Credentials From Somali Ambassador

14 July – Source: SONNA – 63 Words

Mozambique president, Filipe Nyus on Thursday received credentials from the new Somali ambassador to Mozambique.

Ambassador Barrow thanked the Mozambique president and conveyed to him a message from Somalia’s president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

President Filipe Nyus pledged to strengthen relation with Somalia saying that his nation has good ties with Somalia. Mozambique hosts a large Somali community including hundreds of businesspeople.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali Independence Day Festivities In Minneapolis Provoke Lawsuit

14 July – Voice of America – Star Tribune – 385 Words

This year’s celebration of Somalia’s Independence Day in Minneapolis had to survive a court fight as rival groups jousted over who should host the annual festival. A group of Somali business owners, along with Karmel Mall owner Basim Sabri, sued the City of Minneapolis and Ka Joog, a prominent Somali youth organization, seeking to block last Saturday’s Independence Day Festival. A federal judge dismissed the suit, but the controversy continues.

The suit was filed after the city denied plaintiffs a permit to host an event July 9 on Lake Street between Pleasant and Grand avenues. City licensing manager Grant Wilson informed them that Ka Joog had applied a year before “for the same date and location.” Abdul Ibrahim, owner of the Hall of Fame barbershop in Karmel Mall, accused Ka Joog of hijacking the event from the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota in 2013.

“[Ka Joog] copied our information from 2012 application, inserted their name and submitted it before we applied,” he said in a court document. Sabri and Karmel properties argued the festival blocked access to the properties. In an interview, Ka Joog’s executive director, Mohamed Farah, said the group was invited to take on hosting the festival by Said Fahiye, the former executive director of Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota. “The idea was brought to us. It all comes down to jealousy,” Farah said. Ibrahim and the other plaintiffs envy Ka Joog’s popularity in the community, he said.

Kenyan Police Officer Fatally Shoots Six Colleagues

14 July – Voice of America – 346 Words

A gunman who shot dead six Kenyan police officers inside a police station in western Kenya on Thursday is a police officer himself, witnesses said. Initial reports widely spread by both local and international media outlets said the man was a suspected recruiter for al-Shabab, an armed militant group based in neighboring Somalia. But later two Kenyan police officers in the area told VOA on condition of anonymity that the killer was a Kenyan police officer.

“The shooter was a police officer named Maslah. As soon as he came to his shift at the station around 4:00 a.m.local time this morning, he took his gun and shot five of his fellow police officers and later he killed another police officer,” one Kenyan police officer told VOA Somali. Another police officer who declined to give his name was among the first responders to the attack. He said the man was a “disgruntled policeman.”

“I knew the man. His name was Maslah. He was Somali Kenyan police officer at the station,” the anonymous officer said. “He had submitted a resignation letter to leave the police to his superiors. … So I think the attack resulted from the fact that he was disgruntled.” The shooter was later shot by special forces who were deployed to the Kapenguria police station.

Crashed Drone In Somalia Shows How The Military Hides Its Eyes In The Sky

14 July – Source: The Verge – 272 Words

Drones flying over a war zone are nothing new, and as they’ve proliferated, there have been more efforts to make them harder to see from the ground. Case in point? A drone that was recently downed in Mogadishu, Somalia looks less like a drone and more like a large bird. Local reports associate this drone, which came down on May 1st, with Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). It’s unclear exactly how it was downed, or if similar drones have been used in the country before.

What’s most interesting about this particular drone are its wings: in addition to looking like a bird, the wings will flap, although it looks like it’s actually powered by two sets of propellers. A quick glance at it flying overhead likely won’t attract a lot of attention, which is exactly what you’d want for a surveillance robot. The US Army Special Operations Command has used a similar drone that can be fired out of a canon or deployed by hand. Like this drone discovered in Somalia, it has wings that can flap, making it appear like a regular bird flying overhead.

As Atlas Obscura points out, there have been concerted efforts for companies to mimic bird behavior in drones both for appearance and for the obvious reason: physics. Birds, after all, are the experts at flying, and learning just how they fly is a good step in adapting their mechanical counterparts to accomplish the same tasks.

Al-Shabaab Spies Will Be Treated As Terrorists, Lamu Villagers Warned

14 July – Source: The Star – 227 Words

Lamu villagers have been warned of dire consequences should they continue spying for al Shabaab terrorists. County commissioner Joseph Kanyiri said the security department suspects some have been working with the terror group. “We understand some villagers house these militants and give them food and information,” said Kanyiri. He said they give the militants information on police and military movements and operations.

Residents of Milimani, Baure, Mangai, Kiangwe and Basuba in Lamu East have been accused of housing militants and giving them information used to plan attacks. Kanyiri warned in his office on Tuesday that those found guilty of the crimes will be treated as terrorists. He noted security agents have had difficulties eliminating terror in the area as residents have refused to help them. “If we find you we shall just treat you like a terrorist. You know what that means,” he said.

Noting the government will soon conduct house to house operations in the area, the police boss asked residents to cooperate with authorities.

Al-Shabaab Terrorist Killed As Gunmen Attack Police Camp In Lamu

14 July – Source: Daily Nation- 496 Words

n Al-Shabaab terrorist was killed while a police officer suffered minor injuries when about 20 gunmen attacked a security camp in Lamu County. According to Lamu County Coordinating Police Commander Abdullahi Adan, the Shabaab terrorists attacked the Mangai Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) Camp in Basuba, Lamu East, on Thursday at around 2am.

Mr Adan confirmed that an AK-47 riffle and three magazines full of ammunition were seized from the terrorists as they fled after being overpowered by the police. He said the militants, who were armed with rocket-propelled grenades, tried to force their way into the camp with the intention of bombing it.

He said they were also shooting randomly at the camp. He said the situation was, however, under control since there was a heavy presence of security officers, including the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the various police units including the RDU, General Service Unit (GSU) and Border Patrol Police Unit.

Yellow Cab Upping Reward To Find Suspect Responsible For Shooting Cab Driver In Louisville

13 July – Source: WDRP- 159 Words

Yellow Cab is upping its reward to help find the person who shot a cab driver in Louisville. Abdirahman Mohamed was shot last month near the intersection of 32nd Street and Hale Avenue in the Parkland neighborhood. Yellow Cab has now increased its reward to $12,000 for information about the shooter.

Mohamed moved to the U.S. in 2007 from Somalia with his four kids to escape the country’s civil war. A spokesperson says Mohamed is still in the hospital, lost the use of his legs and is in for a long recovery.
“To have somebody shot and left for dead is unacceptable — and someone knows who did it,” said Larry Bisig, Yellow Cab spokesperson. “We want that person to come forward and give us information — and they can do that anonymously.”

The company also donated $5,000 to a Go Fund Me page for Mohamed’s medical expenses. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 574-LMPD.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

The minute we got a record deal, we felt like wow we have a voice and we have a platform. We wanted to make sure it was part of our purpose. There’s a lot of refugee camps, not just in Somalia, but in other developing countries, full of women and children. We felt like we wanted to be a voice for all those voiceless women. That was always something that was inside of us. Through working with the UN and other organizations alike, we’re able to continue to spread awareness through our music and our benefit concerts. We just like getting out there and spreading the word.

Faarrow Is The Somali Sister Act You Need On Your Playlist

14 July – Source: Galore Magazine – 1,063 Words

Sisters Iman and Siham Hashi, known to the world as Faarrow, are to release their new EP titled Lost tomorrow, July 15th. And aside from being compared to super girl group, the Spice Girls, Iman and Siham are inspiring youth around the world to be more socially aware by getting involved in helping their communities and utilizing music as a tool for bridging the cultural gaps. The duo was born two years apart in Somalia, and by 1991, the civil war there resulted in Iman and Siham’s move to Toronto, Canada, and the beginning of their lives as refugees. Since then, the girls have been heavily involved in several humanitarian organizations and projects — the sisters are spokeswomen for the UN Refugee Agency. Get to know Faarrow more in our Q+A below.

Galore: Tell me a little bit about where you are from.

Faarrow: We were born in Somalia and grew up in Toronto. We came to Canada as refugees when we were babies because of the war in Somalia. Even though we weren’t there, everybody that came from the war still carries that with them.

How has that affected how you use your platform?

Is there anybody you look up to because they do that?

We love Angelina Jolie! We actually met her. She’s a great role model for people. We performed at a UN award show in Switzerland and she was the host. She was just so nice and we got to talk… we actually had a trip planned with another organization to Somalia and she had that same trip planned too. We were just like we can’t believe we’re trying to figure out our trip with Angelina Jolie, this is crazy!

Do you feel like your fans are ready to hear about it?

It’s weird with the refugee crisis happening, I just feel like people are really disconnected from it and they always feel like oh it’s happened to other people, it would never happen to me. They just don’t feel connected to it, and you know, it’s crazy because it can literally happen to anybody. Music is a good way to connect people and help people to understand things. Absolutely! We feel like music has no language. There’s no language barriers even though we’re singing in English — people feel music.