January 8, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Fund Will Not Be Confined Into One Region Says President Farmaajo
08 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 246 Words
Funds and income gained under the name of Somalia will not be restricted into one part of the country according to President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo. Presiding over the leadership council of Puntland state assembly, President Farmaajo noted the disbursement of the economy gained from abroad to be distributed fairly across all the regions in the country. “Income brought into the country under the name of Somalia will not be subjected to one area only,” president Farmaajo told the gathering.
He particularly pointed out that this issue was a central pillar in the talks he had with the State President Dr. Abdiweli Ali Gaas but informed him that Puntland and the rest of the country will be assisted when funds are available. “I inform you that, state president Dr. Gaas has solely spoken 90% about it with me. He asked me where is their share for the funds brought for the Somalis since they have many problems including developmental programs. He asked me to specifically outline their share. Truly before there was nothing much but now there is hope. We shall reach out to Puntland and the entire Somalis as well” said president Farmaajo.
Yesterday President Farmaajo flew to Garowe, Puntland state leading an entourage made up of federal ministers and MPs. It is the first official visit by the Somali president to Puntland region since he was elected in February 2017 and he is expected to inaugurate today the newly built airport in the state capital.
Key Headlines
- Somali Fund Will Not Be Confined Into One Region Says President Farmaajo (Goobjoog News)
- NISA Forces Targeted In IED Explosion Near Mogadishu (Shabelle Media)
- Former Islamists Leader Calls On Somali Politicians To Shun Disunity (Dhacdo.com)
- We Shall Complete Galkayo Reconciliation Process Says General Gorod (Goobjoog News)
- AU Vows To Strengthen Training Of Somali Police Ahead Of Exit (Xinhuanet)
NATIONAL MEDIA
NISA Forces Targeted In IED Explosion Near Mogadishu
08 January – Source: Shabelle Media – 100 Words
A roadside bomb blast has ripped through an army convoy carrying soldiers serving with the National Security and Intelligence Agency near Mogadishu on Sunday night. The sources said a remote-controlled landmine bomb planted on the roadside struck NISA forces while driving in Siinka Dheer area, located on the outskirts of the capital. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed at least ten Intelligence officers. Radio Shabelle, however, could not independently verify the casualty figures. NISA authorities are yet to release a statement regarding the Improvised Explosive Device [IED] blast that hit Siinka Dheere locality on Mogadishu-Afgoye corridor.
Former Islamists Leader Calls On Somali Politicians To Shun Disunity
08 January – Source: Dhacdo.com – 106 Words
Former leader of Hizbul Islam, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has passionately talked about the disunity in the Somali society which said has been caused by the level of clan divisions which has said he deeply divided the society. Dahir Aweys who is under house arrest in Mogadishu sent an audio message in which he talks about the current politics in Somalia and in general the situation of the country. He called on politicians to shun divisions saying that such divisions will only disintegrate the country further. He explained that Somalia is a rich country that its facing threats which are caused by disunity along clan lines.
We Shall Complete Galkayo Reconciliation Process Says General Gorod
08 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 170 Words
Somali National Army Commander General, Abdiweli Jama Gorod uttered his hope that the remaining part of the reconciliation process in Galkayo town will be winded up. General Gorod expressed his delight in the reconciliation process which is at a crucial stage where the media has displayed the fruitful endeavors they have made so far. “Thank God. It is our pleasure that the media is highlighting our peace efforts depicting the process to be passing at relevant stages. I hope we shall attain more and better standard. The remaining part will be finalized too” said General Gorod.
Federal security forces have taken over the security operations in Galkayo town following increased fighting between local armed militias adherents to the Puntland and Galmudug states, two neighbouring federal states. Mid June 2017 a precursor meeting started in Galkayo, Galmudug side for the two federal member states following a peace agreement that was reached in Adado town on March 2017 between state president of Puntland Abdiweli Ali Gas and his counterpart Ahmed Duale Haf.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU Vows To Strengthen Training Of Somali Police Ahead Of Exit
08 January – Source: Xinhuanet – 230 Words
The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) vowed on Sunday to intensify training and mentoring of Somali security forces (SPF) to assume more security responsibilities in the Horn of Africa nation. Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia Simon Mulongo said the plan is aimed at building the capacity of the SPF to internationally acceptable standards. “This year is going to see more intensified training, more intensified mentoring of those who are there (SPF officers) and that means recruitment, training and forming the officer corps that will see the police leap from the current stage to a higher one,” Mulongo said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
AMISOM troops are expected to relinquish the security of the key towns to the Somali forces through a conditions-based transition plan, to allow them take the lead responsibility as part of the planned exit. Under the exit strategy, some 1,000 soldiers were to be withdrawn from Somalia by Dec. 31, 2017 and AMISOM will deploy an extra 500 police officers to strengthen training and mentoring of Somali police. The move in is line with a United Nations Security Council resolution, passed in August 2017, which authorized AMISOM to start the transfer of security responsibilities to Somali national security forces. The UN Security Council also sanctioned the gradual reduction of AMISOM troops during the transition period.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Certainly, ours is a very tiny budget for a country of 10m people,” he said. “Fighting terrorism needs good governance. It means providing services for our people. To do this costs money and that’s why we need the support of the international community.” Only the Somalis are going to defeat al Shabaab. And if they are going to do it they are going to have to be able to pay for it.”
Somalia Calls For Accelerated Debt Relief To Fight Terrorism
08 January – Source: Financial Times – 736 Words
Somalia’s prime minister has called on multilateral lenders to accelerate the debt-forgiveness process so that the country can access funds to fight terrorism and its underlying causes. Somalia owes around $4bn, most of it interest and penalties on nearly three-decades-old loans made to the former military government of Mohamed Siad Barre, whose overthrow in 1991 plunged the country in the Horn of Africa into years of lawlessness and civil war.
Those arrears make it almost impossible for Mogadishu to access new funds from the International Monetary Fund or the International Development Association, the soft loan arm of the World Bank that has money earmarked specifically for fragile states like Somalia. Officials working with the new Somali government, which took office in February last year, describe the administration as the best in decades and complain that lending restrictions are hampering its efforts to fight al Shabaab, a militant Islamist group, and to build a functioning state.
Last year, the Somali government headed off famine in parts of the country with international help. Al Shabaab has been pushed back, but is still able to carry out deadly terrorist attacks, such as bomb blasts in Mogadishu in October in which more than 350 people were killed. In an interview with the Financial Times, Hassan Ali Khayre, the prime minister, said of efforts to establish a functioning administration: “Now we have turned a page and taken bold steps, we are hoping the world will take a little more risk on Somalia.” Mr Khayre, a former aid worker and oil executive, said the government had a budget of only $274m, which was not enough to create the social programmes needed to prevent radicalisation of unemployed youth or to address deprivation. He could not confirm an estimate, made by one World Bank official, that al Shabaab had a bigger budget than the government.
“Certainly, ours is a very tiny budget for a country of 10m people,” he said. “Fighting terrorism needs good governance. It means providing services for our people. To do this costs money and that’s why we need the support of the international community.”
Only the Somalis are going to defeat al Shabaab. And if they are going to do it they are going to have to be able to pay for it. Michael Keating, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia. Kevin Watkins, chief executive of UK-based charity Save the Children, said it was urgent that the IMF accelerate a process to forgive Somalia’s debt under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative that has seen debt write-offs in more than 30 countries, mainly in Africa. Mr Watkins, who has exchanged letters on the subject with Christine Lagarde, IMF managing director, described what he said was IMF foot-dragging as “inept, misplaced and embarrassingly complacent”.
Mohamed Elhage, who leads the IMF’s Somalia mission, said the country was “marking important milestones on reform and policy implementation”, although it needed to make stronger efforts to improve fiscal discipline and raise tax revenue. The head of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center in Washington, Peter Pham, said multilateral institutions were right to be cautious before flooding Somalia with money. “It’s déjà vu when the dilettantes in the international community get excited about the Somali government,” he said. “Let’s not flood the country beyond its capabilities to absorb.”
Mr Pham accepted that the new government had made progress but said he was not convinced that corruption had been brought under control. “Huge amounts of aid in cash simply disappears,” he said, adding that he suspected up to half of the 27,000 soldiers being paid to fight al Shabaab with western help were “ghost soldiers”, drawing a salary without doing any fighting.
TOP TWEETS
@davidpilling: How #Somalia is being dragged down by three-decades-old debt. https://www.ft.com/content/
@UNSomalia: Once known as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean” before decades of armed conflict drove visitors away, steps are underway to return #Somalia to its former glory, as a haven for tourists seeking a mix of beach, culture and history.http://bit.ly/2CB7Xnm
@HarunMaruf: Last year IMF reported that Somalia debt to international creditors is at $5.3bn; this @FT says it’s $4bn. Who paid the difference?
@Abukar_Arman: Thank you Harun for raising the question. Wish I could answer. I only know there are inconsistencies & that Somali government (previous & current) *has not* done its due diligence. Attitude has been ‘They told us so it must be true.” #Somalia
https://foreignpolicyblogs.
@Rooble2009: #Somaliland: Military Movements reported around the Border with Somalia’s Puntland region as tension is high after reports of #Somalia armed personnel seen around the border
@jreberlein:Thanks to @Caafimadka, @WHOSom and@unicefsomalia, 4.2 million children in #Somalia will be protected from #measles:http://www.emro.who.
@Goobjoognews; @M_Farmaajo: The income brought under the name of#Somalia will not be confined to one region.
@Eye_on_Somalia: #Goobjoog Gun battle between Somaliland and Puntland forces erupts in Sool region http://ift.tt/2EjY6To #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Puntland President, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali(Gaas) address a joint press conference in Garowe.
Photo: @TheVillaSomalia