26 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- Somali PM stated that Kenya has the right to fight al Shabaab inside Somalia
- Turkey to assist in rebuilding the Somali National Army
- Somali Education Minister praises opening of Turkish school
- US denies involvement in Somalia military offensive
- Kenya appeals to world to back efforts to stabilize Somalia
- Three aid workers in Somalia seized by gunmen
- 12 Somalis arrested in Nakuru police raid
- Kenya arrests “terror suspect” in Nairobi
SOMALI MEDIA
Somali PM stated that Kenya has the right to fight al Shabaab inside Somalia
26 Oct – Source: Universal TV, Somalia report, Hiraan Online – 86 words
Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said that Kenya has the right to fight al Shabaab inside Somalia. Abdiweli who gave an interview to the Canadian Star newspaper said that the extremists have caused Kenya many problems after kidnapping foreigners, causing a huge loss since their economy. “The Kenyan and Somali governments had interest to work together, to share information, to have a common strategy and to fight against al Shabaab, I don’t want to made any excuse about that issue” said the PM in his interview.
Turkey to assist in rebuilding the Somali National Army
26 Oct – Source Radio Mogadishu, SONNA – 152 words
The Somali Deputy Prime Minister who is also Somali Defense Minister Hussein Arab Isse has said that the Turkish government will assist in the rebuilding of the Somali national army shortly after arriving in the country from Istanbul.
Hussein Arab Isse, while in Turkey, met with the Turkish defence authorities where they all agreed on the need to rebuild the Somali army that was badly affected in the two-decade long civil war. The Somali Defense Minister said that the only way to reconstruct Somalia was to rebuild the army, adding that the military is the most important unit of any nation.
In a visit to Mogadishu in August this year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan said that Turkey’s approach in Somalia was grounded firmly on humanitarian principles. “Along with emergency humanitarian aid, Turkey is also determined to help build the infrastructure facilities that will enable this country to stand on its feet”.
Ahlu Sunna: We welcome anyone fighting against al Shabaab
26 Oct – Source: Radio Shabelle – 100 words
The administration of Somalia’s moderate Sufi group of Ahlu Sunna Waljama on Wednesday proclaimed they will welcome anyone wanting to fight and eliminate al Shabaab. Ahlu Sunna’s Consultative Chairman Sheikh Abdulkadir Adam, made the comments during an interview with Shabelle radio.
Al Shabaab has plagued and bothered the people of the horn of African nation, Adam added. He said combat operations aimed at flushing out al Shabaab from the areas under their control are underway in many parts of the country, spelling out that if Kenya, Ethiopia or any other country is helping Ahlu Sunna fight al Shabaab, they are welcome.
MP welcomes Somali president’s statement against Kenyan intervention
25 Oct – Source: Radio Shabelle, Kulmiye – 101 words
A Somali parliamentarian on Monday hailed the statement of Somali president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who opposed Kenya’s military intervention in the Horn of African nation. Mowlid Ma’ane Mohamoud, a Somali lawmaker, said in an interview with Shabelle Radio that it is illegal for Kenyan military forces to enter Somalia.
Kenya arrests “terror suspect” in Nairobi
26 Oct – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Shabelle – 181 words
Kenyan police on Tuesday evening arrested a man suspected of masterminding the recent two blasts in Nairobi which killed one person and injured more than 20 others.
Police say the suspect, who had Kenyan identity papers, was detained along with an arms cache, including 13 hand grenades, an AK47 rifle, a machine gun, four pistols, ammunition and copies of military literature. Kenyan Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told reporters at a house in Kayole – where the arms were found – that the suspect is a member of one of the cells who have been involved in terrorist activities in the country.
On Monday, hand grenades were thrown at a bar and a bus terminus in the capital, killing one person and injuring several others. The blasts came days after Kenya deployed its military into Somalia in efforts to fight al Shabaab rebel fighters who were blamed for a series of kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil, threatening the country’s multi-million dollar tourism industry.
The group has denied responsibility for the kidnappings, saying Nairobi is using them as a pretext for its military campaign.
Somali Education Minister praises opening of Turkish school
25 Oct – Source: Bariga Afrika – 460 words
The Somali Education Minister expressed his happiness at the opening of the first Turkish high school in Somalia on Monday.
“It has been wonderful — the students and parents are very happy to have access to quality education,” Somali Education Minister Ahmed Aidid Ibrahim shared in an exclusive interview with reporters.
Somali students on Monday filled the classrooms of the famine-stricken country’s first Turkish high school, which the Turkish charity the Nile Organization established in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Ibrahim noted that “cities other than Mogadishu are also seeking to have similar Turkish schools.”
Ibrahim pointed out the vast number of Somali youth who jumped at the opportunity for a brighter future: “Many students applied and took the admission exam, but the capacity is limited to around 250 students.”
School principal B�lent Erg�neş told Anatolia news agency on Tuesday that the principal language of instruction is English, but students are also learning Turkish as well as other regional languages. In the school’s first year of operation, students will receive 16 hours of English instruction per week as well as instructions in Turkish, Arabic and Somali languages.
http://www.barigaafrika.com/
Somali MP calls for a wounded legislator to be treated abroad
26 Oct – Source: Shabelle – 118 words
A Somali MP on Wednesday called on the leadership of Somali parliament to help a wounded legislator who got injured in Mogadishu in a roadside bomb attack to get health care and treatment abroad.
After a meeting in Mogadishu, Mohamoud Ahmed Kulalihi, a Somali lawmaker, told Shabelle Media Network that the health condition of Mohamed Ana Nug, a wounded Somali MP, is very critical.
He called on the parliament leadership to do everything they can to help that lawmaker. Ana Nug was injured after his car came under a roadside bomb attack in Mogadishu two weeks ago.
http://www.shabelle.net/
ASWJ call for diaspora support to restore local airstrip
25 Oct – Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Somali Channel TV – 122 words
ASWJ authorities in Abud-wak district have appealed to the diaspora people to help them restore Abud-wak airstrip into its original state.
Area district commissioner Hassan Ali Alas has called on natives in the diaspora to take part in renovating the airstrip. He said ICRC is currently undertaking a renovation initiative but called for diaspora participation in fully restoring the facility.
The DC said the diaspora people are needed in developmental projects like renovating the airstrip as well as supporting drought and famine-hit locals in the region. The airstrip was set in place by the former Somalia central government but has been badly damaged by the 20 year-old conflict that ravaged the country since 1991.
Somalia to participate in Arab Athletics competition in UAE
25 Oct – Source: Cayaaraha Online, APA – 474 words
Somali athletics Federation on Monday held a farewell ceremony for a 7-member delegation which will depart for the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday ahead of the Arab Athletics competition which is slated in Dubai for 26-29 October.
The SAF held a colorful farewell ceremony for the delegation which comprises of head of the delegation, a coach and four athletes. During the ceremony, Somali NOC president and other officials from the sports ministry and the Somali Athletics federation addressed the players.
Somali Athletics Federation vice president Abdullahi Mohamed Saneey said that his federation has been under preparations for the upcoming Arab athletics tournament for some time.
“This year we have made huge preparations and we are hopeful that Somali Athletes will score a tangible success in the Arab Athletics competition”, Saneey told the media during the ceremony. Senior vice president of Somali Athletics federation Khadjia Aden Dahir added that despite difficulties in the country her federation had never missed the participation of any international, continental or regional competitions.
http://www.cayaaraha.com/Home/
Khat traders welcome a Shabaab’s green light
26 Oct – Source: Bar-kulan – 220 words
Khat (Miraa) traders in Jowhar town of Middle Shabelle have hailed al Shabaab’s recent lifting of its ban on khat in the area after administration change in Jowhar.
The traders mainly women expressed their reception of the lift saying that the ban was initially illegal and severely damaged their livelihood. Khat is a green narcotic leaves normally chewed by many Somali men. Jubilant khat traders told Bar-kulan they used to make their living out of khat, adding that after the militia banned it, they suffered unprecedented loss.
Their sentiment comes after al Shabaab’s new regional leader Yussuf Sheikh Isse alias Kaba-kutukade ordered traders to identify a specific place to sell their green narcotic leaves inside the town. On Tuesday, al Shabaab’s new administration in the region lifted the ban on khat in the area. The rebel group has earlier in June this year banned the selling and chewing of khat and threatened to punish defiant locals.
Al Shabaab has early this month set fire on four tobacco farms in Burdubo, Gedo region, days after a consignment of khat was set on blaze by rebel fighters in Halgan village, 50 km from Beledweyne town, Hiran region.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenyan Police seize grenades and guns in Nairobi raid
26 Oct – Source: Daily Nation – 377 words
Police on Tuesday evening found 13 grenades during a security raid on a house in Nairobi’s Kayole Estate. The owner of the house was arrested as the search further yielded an AK-47 assault rifle, four revolvers and a sub-machine gun. The man was seized from a four-storey building.
According to Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere, the man was arrested ‘‘elsewhere before he directed the Criminal Intelligence officers to his single room on the third floor of the building. “Upon search, we were able to recover quite a number of assorted arms and explosives. We have the person in our custody and I think during investigation, we will find more links,” he said.
Neighbours said the man, who lived alone, had moved in only a month ago. “We have never seen any other person in there, but he talks to us freely,” a neighbour on the second floor said. His house had no furniture save for a small mattress of about four inches thick and a folded prayer mat. Police confirmed he was a Kenyan Muslim of middle age, but could not tell his occupation.
The security officials did not allow journalists to take photos of his face as they rolled a black marvin over his face. He was in a red jumper, black pants and brown sandals. He was about 5 feet, 8 inches tall. By the time of going to press, officers from the Recce group and the Criminal Intelligence Unit were still combing the area, seeking more clues.
The police did not immediately reveal where they would take the suspect. The evening raid was carried out by a team of regular and anti-terrorism police officers in the wake of grenade explosions in Nairobi in which a man was killed and 25 others injured on Monday.
At the same time, police have identified the man who was killed during the grenade explosion at a crowded matatu terminus. Officers told the Nation that the man was arrested in 2007 at the Coast on a robbery with violence charge.
“The victim is a Kenyan. We are tracing his last moments. At the moment, we cannot say whether he was the villain or the victim,” Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told the Nation.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
US denies involvement in Somalia military offensive
26 Oct – Source: the Standard – 234 words
US Ambassador Scott Gration has denied America’s involvement in military action against the Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Gration said contrary to media reports, the US was not involved in the offensive against the militia by Kenya and allied forces.
He, however, said Kenya has suffered a lot of attacks by the militia and had the right to defend itself according to Article 51 of the UN Charter.
Gration said America would continue to support Kenya in its security issues, but only from within its borders, by offering training on terrorism.
“We are working with the government to try and help them in their security issues. We have been doing this for a long time,” he told journalists. On the travel advisories the US issued to its citizens following the military operation, Gration said they would remain in force.
He maintained that even though Kenya had placed security measures in check, America was still advising its citizens to limit their travel for their own safety.
“We are advising people to delay a bit until things settle down or the situation is understood,” added the envoy. He spoke yesterday when he officiated the opening of a community bridge project at Lainguse in Uasin Gishu County.
The bridge, which was constructed as a peace initiative between the Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities in the area, cost 800,000 shillings [8,000 dollars]. It was also expected to facilitate the economic empowerment of locals.
Diplomatic wars: TFG president opposed to Kenya army attacks
25 Oct – Source: NTV – 4:34 sec
The Somali Transitional Federation Government now seems to have picked propaganda war to try dissuading Kenya’s onslaught against the Al Shabaab dissidents. The President of the TFG Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed says his transitional government is opposed to Kenya’s military incursion into Somalia. This argument directly contradicts two Kenyan cabinet ministers who had reported conformity after a meeting with the TFG officials in Mogadishu last week. Francis Mutegi with the brewing diplomatic chaos between Kenya and her Eastern lawless neighbor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
12 Somalis arrested in Nakuru police raid
25 Oct – Source: Nairobi Star – 217 words
Twelve Somalia nationals said to be in Kenya illegally have been arrested in Nakuru during a police swoop. The raid which was led by the area police chief was carried out in Garissa area, a popular residential estate for the people from North Eastern Province. The police said the swoop is meant to flush out all persons living within the town without legal immigration documents. The 12 who were nabbed in their houses did not proper documents for their stay in the town.
“We believe that these are the people who are supposed to be in the refugee camps but they decide to leave without authorised permission for reasons known to themselves,” said police chief Johnston Ipara. Ipara said they are working closely with the Department of Immigration to ensure that no illegal immigrant lives within the area.
He said none of them were found with any weapons to implicate them of any intention to commit crime. He cautioned the residents against accommodating individuals whom they don’t know. “We must be cautious of every person who lives in our neighbourhood. Landlords or real estate agents should scrutinize people who seek rental homes. We need to know who we are hosting and if they are Kenyan citizens or not,” advised Ipara. They 12 will appear in court today.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
Somali MPs condemn president
25 Oct – Source: Daily Nation – 177 words
Somali MPs and elders have disowned a statement by their president over Kenya’s military operations in Somalia.
Saying it was a “shame and disturbing,” MPs Haret Aden, Abdulahi Amin and Abdurzack Haji told a press conference on Tuesday the statement had caught them by surprise and they had lost faith in President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
President Ahmed on Monday said Kenya’s offensive against al Shabaab should be limited to training Somali soldiers and providing logistical support.
“We all know the favours that Kenya has done Somalia in the last 20 years. Even a small child knows. President Ahmed has lost our support,” Mr Aden said at a Garissa hotel.
The MPs said they had decided to call the press conference after consulting elders and other leaders in Azania, a new state created this year through the help of Igad to rid Somalia of al Shabaab and restore peace.
The MPs said people in Somalia had staged demonstrations against President Ahmed’s statement. Peace committees in Garissa and Lagdera districts in Kenya also condemned the Somali president’s statement.
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
Kenya appeals to world to back efforts to stabilize Somalia
25 Oct – Source: Coastweek, Xinhua – 633 words
Kenya on Tuesday appealed to the international community to support her efforts towards an African solution to the Somalia crisis which has persisted for years.
Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang’ula also emphasized that the campaign to liberate Somalia is a Transitional Federal Governments (TFG) drive and Nairobi was keen to support the efforts of the fledgling government.
“Kenya is calling for material and logistical support to succeed in this noble course,” the minister said during a meeting with Kevin Rudd, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs in Perth, Australia, according to a statement received in Nairobi from the Kenya’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Kenyan troops have launched airstrikes in Somalia and advanced close to al Shabaab-controlled towns but have yet to fight a major ground battle with the militant group. The cross-border operation dubbed Operation Linda Nchi, “Protect the Nation”, which was launched on Oct. 16, has seen Kenya deploy ground troops and air assets between its common border and near the Somali port town of Kismayo.
Al Shabaab is fighting to topple the U.N.-backed Somali government and set up an Islamic state in Somalia.
http://www.coastweek.com/3442_
Terror suspects deported to Uganda
25 Oct – Source: Nairobi Star – 54 words
Anti terror police unit in Mombasa have deported 9 Uganda nationals. The nine were arrested in a house in Kilifi district on arrival into the country as preachers under unclear circumstances. Coast deputy PPO Jacinta Kinyua says police have launched fresh probe into allegation of ongoing recruitment of Kenyan youths to join al Shabaab Somalia.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US slams Somali guerrillas over famine
25 Oct – Source: news24, AFP – 271 words
US Vice President Joe Biden on Monday sharply criticized the Islamist al Shabaab rebels over Somalia’s famine, saying that the group has hindered efforts to bring food to the hungry.
The United Nations estimates that 3.7 million Somalis – around one-third of the population – are on the brink of starvation and tens of thousands have already died in a country that has lacked a government for two decades.
“Al Shabaab terrorists did not create the food crisis but they have made it far worse. Drought conditions exist throughout East Africa but so far famine is concentrated only in the al Shabaab-controlled areas,” Biden told a forum on global hunger held at the State Department.
“The most cynical action of all, they endanger their own people by commandeering assistance sent by the rest of the world to the starving children and women of that country,” he said.
Al Shabaab, which takes inspiration from al-Qaeda, has banned Western influence in its regions and has been accused of threatening and kidnapping aid workers, including two Spanish women snatched working with refugees in Kenya.
“Make no mistake – it’s not that al Shabaab cares that much about innocent people dying. Rather, they’re concerned that these grim conditions threaten their grip on the region and undermine their propaganda purporting to defend the Somali people,” Biden said.
http://www.news24.com/Africa/
Kenyan military action slows famine refugee flow
26 Oct – Source: AP – 148 words
The United Nations says the number of famine refugees flowing into Kenya slowed to a trickle after Kenyan troops moved into Somalia.
The U.N. said Wednesday that only 100 Somali refugees entered Kenya last week, down from 3,400 the week before.
The U.N. Refugee Agency said military operations and heavy rains at the border have contributed to the reduced flow. Kenyan troops moved into Somalia around Oct. 15.
Since January, 152,000 Somalis have been registered at the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, an average of more than 3,500 a week.
UNHCR says it is possible more refugees are moving into camps in Ethiopia instead of Kenya because of the new military activity.
Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are at risk of starvation because of the country’s famine.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/
25 Oct – Source: AP / CTV News – 608 words
Gunmen abducted a 32-year-old female American aid worker in northern Somalia along with a Danish and a Somali colleague as their convoy headed to the airport. The kidnappings come only weeks after four Europeans were seized by suspected Somali gunmen in neighbouring Kenya. A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said that pirates had captured the three on Tuesday. The captors would not harm the three but will want a ransom for their release, he said. The claim could not be independently verified.
The three employees work for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East. “As a first priority, we have been concentrating on the ongoing investigations. We are keeping close contact with the family members, who are deeply concerned, just as we are,” said Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council’s international department.
Activities of the Danish Refugee Council, which runs the Danish Demining Group, have been suspended in the area. The group provided no other details and asked media outlets “to respect the need for confidentiality as investigations are ongoing.”
A Nairobi-based security official said the demining group was travelling in a three-car convoy, including one vehicle of armed guards, but that the guards did not resist the kidnapping. The three are believed to be on their way to a former pirate stronghold on the Somali coast, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Ahmed Mohamed, a police officer in the Somali town of Galkayo, said the aid workers had been heading to the airport when they crossed into a southern section of the city that is under clan control. The northern section of Galkayo is under the control of the semiautonomous region of Puntland. Two Nairobi-based officials said the American woman is 32 and the Danish man is 60. The woman is a former school teacher, one official said.
Bile Hussein, the self-proclaimed pirate, said the three were abducted with the help of “insiders.” Hussein has provided reliable information about pirate activities in Somalia to The Associated Press in the past. He said that capturing ships off East Africa is becoming harder — ships are using stronger self-defence measures — so pirates are looking for other ways to earn ransoms.
“They are now on the way to Gan town, and we shall treat them humanely and kindly. Our aim is all about a ransom, not harming them,” Hussein said. Christian Friis Bach, Denmark’s minister for development co-operation, told Danish broadcaster DR that the demining group was working to help Somalis.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/
CULTURE/ OPINION / EDITORIAL
Kenya: Parliament didn’t approve incursion into Somalia
25 Oct – Source: The Star, by Miguna Miguna, advocate of the High Court of Kenya and barrister and sollicitor in Ontario, Canada – 1062 words
When we ratified the new Constitution on August 4, 2010, we collectively buried the old one and everything it represented. In its place, we entrenched and enshrined our rights and fundamental freedoms as the cornerstone of the newly acquired democratic dispensation, a dispensation based on and undergirded by the principles of constitutionalism, the rule of law, respect for human rights and equality. In the new dispensation, nobody is above the law. Not the president. Not the Prime Minister. Not any public servant or institution. Everybody is equal before and under the law. Supremacy vests in the Constitution; not on any particular individual, group of persons or institutions.
Public institutions and those vested with authority to manage them (ought to) do so for the benefit of the people and under the ambit of the Constitution. Constitutionally, political power, personal wealth, knowledge or station in society doesn’t place one person above another one. Every opinion counts – and must be seen to count – equally. Public responsibility isn’t a license for selfish aggrandisement. And because the Constitution vests sovereignty on the people, ultimate power and authority also vests with them as well.
A free and democratic society must be government by the people themselves. But because of the nature of the modern state, the people do this through their freely and democratically elected representatives. In other words, the people, through their elected representatives, make laws, establish institutions and govern themselves. That’s why the phrase the ‘government for the people, by the people and with the people’ was coined and became infectious.
The people’s representatives are mere custodians or trustees. They only exercise the mandate the people have donated to them temporarily. They must do so in accordance with the Constitution. That’s a positive duty. Essentially, all decisions made by the representatives of the people cannot be done without the consent of the people. And the people’s consent must be obtained after thorough and genuine consultations.
In a democracy, such consultations must be done transparently. Any decision made by the executive, the legislature and the judiciary that openly violates the Constitution is ipso facto void. Such decisions must be ignored by the people. However, if the violations persist, the people are obligated to oppose them, by all available legal means.
This is a far cry from September 13th, 1984 when former president Daniel arap Moi had the audacity to issue this command: “I call on all of you…to sing like parrots in issues I have mentioned…If I put a full stop, you should put a full stop. This is how this country will move forward.” [sic] That iron-fisted dictatorship ground Kenya to a halt in all spheres. That’s what we intended to change by the enactment of the new Constitution.
Anybody who wants to return Kenya to that backwardness must be exposed, fought and defeated. Now, war is defined as “a state of armed conflict carried on between nations, states or parties; a condition of active contention or antagonism.” Article 132(4)(e) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 vests the power to declare war on the president with parliament’s approval.
Parliamentary approval is mandatory. It’s a condition precedent. This is to ensure that the people retain final control over war, like with other major issues. A country should not go to war, expose itself to external attacks, and dedicate vast resources to war unless it is truly in the interest of its people. A country cannot take our men and women in uniform to war and place them in extreme danger without our consent.
It cannot be in the public interest for a government to spend billions of shillings we, as a people, don’t have, didn’t authorise and never budgeted for. Sun Tzu cautions in The Art of War: “do not attack what cannot be overcome.” Ironically, the assistant minister for provincial administration and internal security, Orwa Ojodeh, made a remarkable statement in parliament last week. He said: “we are fighting a large snake with its head lodged deep inside Eastleigh estate in the City of Nairobi while its tail is in Somalia.”