March 26, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somaliland Cancels Planned Talks With Somalia As Berbera Row Bites
26 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 280 Words
Talks between Somaliland and Somalia which were slated for March 29 in Djibouti, will not happen, Somaliland President Muse Bihi has said, as relations between the two parties hit a low point over the Berbera port dispute. Addressing Parliament on Sunday, Bihi directed blamed at Mogadishu over what he termed as interference over its affairs. “Negotiation between Somalia and Somaliland that is supposed to take place on March 29, has ceased because Mogadishu government has invaded our country,” Bihi said. President Bihi said is clear that we have nothing to do with their nation building process just as we don’t about theirs since 1991.
The talks which were expected to resume after the last one collapsed in Turkey in 2015, have been marred by the souring relations between Mogadishu and Hargeisa, over the Berbera Port concession to the Emirati ports operator DP World. The Federal Government in Mogadishu has dismissed the deal as unconstitutional and banned DP World from operating in Somalia. Somaliland and DP World have however maintained the 30 year concession, which saw Ethiopia acquire a 19% stake last month will proceed. “We do not understand their decision regarding Berbera,” President Bihi said in Parliament.
Somaliland announced a raft of measures this month in retaliation to developments in Mogadishu. For instance it declared all (dot.So) domain extensions illegal in its territory giving website hosting companies and institutions one month to migrate to other extensions. This came after the Federal Government took control of the country’s top-level country domain (dot.So), which was under private hands. Somaliland broke away and pursued self- determination in 1991, following the collapse of the central government and subsequent disintegration of the state.
Key Headlines
- Somaliland Cancels Planned Talks With Somalia As Berbera Row Bites (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia and Kenya To Start Talks On Security Wall Construction (Halbeeg News)
- Two Dead 3 Wounded In Separate Explosions In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Model School Opened In Somalia (Gulf Times)
- Raw Video: Several People Dead After Two Mogadishu Car Bombings (VOA)
- Has Anything Changed In Somalia In The Last Decade (Wardheer News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia And Kenya To Start Talks On Security Wall Construction
26 March – Source: Halbeeg News – 333 Words
The governments of Somalia and Kenya are expected to start talks on the construction of the security wall along Somalia-Kenya border on Tuesday. The construction of the wall which began in 2015, has became a bone of contention, after Kenya was accused of encroaching into Somalia’s territory. Somali government will dispatch delegation led by Gedo governor, Mr. Mohamed Mohamud Mohamed to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The governor who addressed the media yesterday said, the talks on the border dispute will begin on Tuesday. “I will lead a delegation which will be attending Somalia-Kenya talks on the construction of the wall, along the border of the two countries. The dialogue is scheduled to start on 27th March,” Mohamed said. He noted that the government of Kenya agreed to halt the building of the security wall.
“The government of Kenya agreed on our request to stop the construction of the wall till the negotiation between the countries is concluded,” he told the reporters. Thousands of residents in Beled-Hawa and Garbaharey towns, on Sunday took the streets to protest the Kenya’s move to build the wall. The locals were demanding the Federal Government to intervene the situation.
The Senate on Saturday summoned four ministers to answer questions on the border dispute, following the public outcry over the security wall. The ministers from Interior, Defense, Foreign Affairs and Internal Security, were asked to explain the border encroachment allegations against Kenyan government. Kenya is building security wall along its northeastern region, which borders with the country’s Gedo and Lower Jubba regions. The wall is planned to comprise a concrete barrier with listening posts, surveillance stations and CCTV cameras.
Nairobi claims that the wall will curb the cross border attacks by Al-Shabaab fighters. The two countries had marine border dispute prior the security wall construction. Somalia filed a case against Kenya in 2015 at The Hague, Netherlands, accusing its neighbour of encroaching on its territory in Indian Ocean border and licensing oil companies to explore the disputed areas.
Two Dead, 3 Wounded In Separate Explosions In Mogadishu
26 March – Source: Shabelle News -126 Words
At least two people were confirmed dead and three injured in two separate landmine explosions reported in Mogadishu on Monday morning. The first explosion targeted a vehicle in Odaweyne area in the capital’s northern Daynile district, killing at least two people, according to eyewitnesses.
The second blast which also resulted from a remote-controlled roadside bomb has occurred at the industrial road and the details of casualties are not yet known. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for both explosions in Mogadishu which took place a day after a car bomb attack outside the Interior Ministry compound killed at least 4. Al-Shabaab has claimed the suicide car bombing targeting the security checkpoint at Sayidka junction, a busy road lined with government buildings, including parliament house.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Model School Opened In Somalia
26 March – Source: Gulf Times – 430 Words
Qatar Charity (QC) has said its office in Somalia has opened a model primary school in the town of Hudur, located in the southwestern Bakool region of Somalia near the border with Ethiopia. It aims to benefit around 350 students, both male and female, during the next academic year. The school consists of eight classrooms equipped with tables and desks for study, a manager’s office, a teacher’s room and two toilets.The opening of the school came as part of QC’s “interest in education to improve the personal and professional lives of the Somali people”, it said in a statement.
Director of the QC office in Somalia, Abdel Nour Mirsal, said education is a strategic direction for Qatar Charity and the most important justification for its intervention in Somalia, as good education can fight poverty and eradicate illiteracy. The deputy education officer of the South West State of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullah Sharif; educational affairs officer of the town of Hudur, Abdul Qader Nour; and an elite group of people from the city participated in the opening ceremony. They praised the role of QC in Somalia and its charitable and development projects, which resulted in the establishment of the school.
According to QC, this educational project was the “first of its kind” in the town of Hudur, where people did not receive educational services and there were almost no places to study due to its location on the outskirts of capital Mogadishu, which made it harder to reach than others. Qatar Charity has signed a cooperation agreement with the UNHCR to reintegrate Somali returnees and displaced persons, which will help remove the obstacles and constraints that prevent children and young people from getting primary and secondary education, the statement noted.
The project, proposed under the agreement, will rehabilitate existing or newly-established schools or build new schools in the targeted areas of return. The scope of work will include, but is not limited to, the construction or rehabilitation of classrooms, in addition to the construction or rehabilitation of sports facilities.
In a related context, the UNHCR, in cooperation with QC, will build six schools with 24 classrooms along with a fully equipped educational area at a cost of $1,683,100. Earlier, the QC’s office in Somalia rehabilitated thousands of flood and cyclone victims in the Middle Shabelle Region and managed to rehabilitate three schools, equipped with study tools, materials and aid through its early recovery programmes, the statement added. Since its establishment until the end of last year, the office has implemented 465 educational projects, benefiting more than 190,000 students.
Raw Video: Several People Dead After Two Mogadishu Car Bombings
25 March – Source: VOA – Minutes (0.57)
A VOA photographer captured this video after two car bombs in the Somali capital killed six people and injured at least five others witnesses said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“The regional state leaders should work under federal law and not cross the boundaries by signing international agreements with foreign entities, such as the leasing of ports or giving away military bases to foreign armies. All these matters must be left to the Federal Government alone.”
Has Anything Changed In Somalia In The Last Decade
24 March – Source: Wardheere News – 1101 Words
We have been waiting to see Somalia in peace for over thirty years. Since 1991, the collapse of the Siad Barre Government, we’ve kept hope alive. In the heart of the true Somali patriot that torch for reconciliation, and unity still burns, however, the question that remains is for how much longer? Many Somalis including myself have been enthusiastic to return to their motherland – unfortunately, there is nothing to return to. It makes no sense to uproot yourself once again and claim that you want to participate in rebuilding the state, when most stakeholders and leaders aren’t sincere and intend to commit all sorts of treasonous acts just to line their own pockets. We are like the Palestinians, in a sense stateless, stuck in refugee camps in either Jordan or Lebanon for decades, resigned to the notion that they may never again return to their homes. However, a marked difference should be noted between us and the Palestinians.
Mainly, that they have been displaced by a ruthless enemy, whereas we have wholly managed to do this on our own. Through instability and tribal warfare, inflicted by none other than ourselves we’ve become both internally and externally displaced. I’ve seen some of my friends return from visits back home high in optimism—yet I still consider any sustainable change happening in Somalia mostly a pipe dream. The moment the civil war started, all signs of governance went with it. All public services such as schools, hospitals, and power facilities shut down. Personal and public properties were either confiscated or destroyed and there were so many lives lost. Naturally, a state in such disarray makes itself quite an easy target to be plundered of her natural resources and for her sovereign boundaries to be encroached upon by foreign and neighboring countries.
Even after many reconciliation conferences, the result was only a formation of a weak and nominal government headed by groups affiliated by clan and their religious politics. An artificial form of federalism is what reigns, which consists of state governments headed by presidents and their unscrupulous cronies. The ink had barely dried yet they began doling out control of the land and sea ports. Twenty-thousand foreign African troops now guard the Palace and the few vital facilities we have left and if they were to leave today, we’d be out of the game again—stateless.
Remember that in the last decade alone, we have seen three successive governments fail to unite the country or return even a semblance of order. So it’s unlikely that the current administration will fare much better although the sincerity is there. However, the worst case-scenario would be due to the political wrangling between Gulf States that spilling over into the rest of Somalia. Different interest groups have sided with the main rivalries. The Gulf States have created their own armies in Somalia which have a greater influence than anyone.
The position of the Federal Government became weaker as member of the Parliament and Regional states challenged their authority. Traders and Businessmen controlled the economy and refused to pay taxes and marginalized the central authority. Even the Mogadishu Municipality decided it needed to play a bigger role and has also attempted to join the bandwagon in claiming its independence as Benadir State. So given those circumstances, what is there even left to govern?
TOP TWEETS
@AbdulBillowAli: State media in #Somalia is rptng@M_Farmaajo has demanded an end 2 z cnstrctn of a border wall btwn his country and #Kenya. For days, locals have clashed with Kenyan soldiers in the border town of #Beled_Hawoaccusing #Nairobi of encroaching on Somali soil
@Goobjoognews: MOTION SPLITS http://L.House leadership as factions fight for survival.
@HarunMaruf: Two separate IED explosions reported in Mogadishu on Monday. First explosion targeted a vehicle in Odweyne area killing two people; second explosion which also hit another vehicle occurred at 21-October road, details of casualties not yet known: witnesses
@DalsanFM: Kenya To Halt Construction Of Beled-Hawa-Mandera Border Wall As Talks Are Launched –http://radiodalsan.com/en/
@engyarisow: I had a fruitful meeting with Albayrak Group Chairman Ahmet Albayrak as the group manages #MogadishuPort
@Goobjoognews: #BREAKING: One person killed and two injured in car bomb blast in Daynile district in #Mogadishu
@DalsanFM: #Mogadishu on high alert following intelligence report of imminent bomb attacks in the capital. Security agents deployed along Makkah Mukaramah rd and strategic locations to avert possible attacks. There have been 3 car bombings that have killed 5 pple in the last 24hrs.
@GEEL_Somali: Renewable energy and farming are a winning combination. GEEL is supporting Somali businesses and farmers utilize renewable energy solutions like solar panels to reduce high energy costs and increase production. #SomaliaRising
@Goobjoognews: SOMALIA TO use proportional representation model in 2020 polls.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The President of Somaliland, H.E. Muse Bihi Abdi, addresses a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on Sunday.
PHOTO: @MadaxtooyadaJSL