April 25, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Duale: Kenya Will Not Allow Politicians To Destabilize Somalia
24 April – Source: Halbeeg News – 182 Words
Kenya will never be a breeding ground for individuals planning to destabilise Somalia, Kenyan official said on Tuesday. Authorities in East African nation on Tuesday blocked Wadajir Chairperson, Abdirahman Abdishakur from addressing a political rally scheduled to take place at Sir Ali Muslim Club in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi.
Adan Barre Duale, Parliament majority leader who spoke to BBC Somali service said the government suspended the rally to avoid Somali politicians from organising gatherings subverting the democratic government. “As Kenya, We cannot allow politicians to use our nation as a base to destabilize the Somali government,” said Duale.
He noted that the government of Kenya recognises the legitimacy of the Federal Government of Somalia. “Kenya acknowledges the Federal Government and the government is member on African Union, IGAD and has goods relations with the countries in Horn Africa,” he explained. Duale pointed out that the government is committed to support Somali government. “Our troops are in Somalia, we pledged to sacrifice our time for peace and stability restoration. We want to dedicate time and resources to build the Somali government,” he affirmed.
Key Headlines
- Duale: Kenya Will Not Allow Politicians To Destabilize Somalia (Halbeeg News)
- ISIS Operative Nabbed In Mogadishu (Radio Dalsan)
- Parliamentary Elections Committee Ends Registration Of Speakership Candidates (Hiiraan Online)
- Ministry of Constitutional Affairs Plans to Start The Second Phase of Constitutional Review Process (Halbeeg News)
- Sierra Leone Police Officers Get Down To Work In Somalia’s Jubbaland State (AMISOM)
- PM: Be Serious About Civil Service Reform (Ummadda Media)
NATIONAL MEDIA
ISIS Operative Nabbed In Mogadishu
24 April – Source: Radio Dalsan – 79 Words
A suspected ISIS militant was on Tuesday arrested by Somali authorities and displayed to the media. The man was identified as Jama Hussein Hassan and is said to have confessed to be an ISIS operative. He was found with several bomb making equipment. Hassan told Police that he was a former Al-Shabaab militant before he switched allegiance to ISIS. He had been based in the rough terrains of Galgaal a hotbed of Pro-ISIS militants led by Sheikh Abdiqadir Mumin.
Parliamentary Elections Committee Ends Registration Of Speakership Candidates
24 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 212 Words
The Parliamentary Elections committee officially concluded the registration of candidates on Tuesday ahead of the election of the Lower House Speaker slated for 30th April. With two days of candidate nomination, the committee had so far registered over six contenders who will vie for the office of the speaker. In a statement, the electoral team directed the several ministers vying for the speakership to resign from their ministerial posts, for them to contest.
So far, four ministers have complied with the directive by resigning from their offices yesterday and today before attaining their nomination forms. Mohamed Mursal Abdirahman, Defense minister who is vying for the office of the speaker announced his resignation on Tuesday afternoon and was the last minister to step down. Abdirahman who once served as Somalia’s ambassador to Turkey took the office last year after his predecessor, Abdirashid Abdullahi quit the office.
Minister for Water, Salim Ibrow, State Minister for Trade, Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed and deputy minister interior, Issack Yarow have also exited their offices. The candidates are expected to deliver their campaign speeches on 25th and 26th before the parliamentarians head to the poll to elect the new speaker. Mohamed Osman Jawari who was Speaker since 2012, resigned from the office early this month following month-long political stand-off.
Ministry of Constitutional Affairs Plans to Start The Second Phase of Constitutional Review Process
24 April – Source: Halbeeg News – 202 Words
The ministry of Justice has announced that it would soon start the second phase of the constitutional review process. Hussain Abdi Elmi, the deputy minister for constitutional affairs said the ministry will train personnel who will launch awareness campaign on the constitution. “We are going to launch the second phase of the constitutional review process. This time, the process will be taken to all districts, towns of Somalia,” said Elmi said.
Elmi pointed out that the training would run for four days before the workers start the campaign. “The training will run for four days as it will be participated by the workers from the ministry, delegates from Banadir region and regional states. After the training, Personnel will be dispatched to teach the public about the constitution,” he noted. The first phase of the constitutional review process which was concluded recently had been running for more than two years.
Somalia adopted the provisional constitution in 2012 just after the post transitional government. The constitution provides the legal foundation for the existence of the Federal Republic of Somalia and is a source of the country’s authority which sets out the rights and duties of its citizens and defines the structure of the government.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Sierra Leone Police Officers Get Down To Work In Somalia’s Jubbaland State
24 April – Source: AMISOM – 459 Words
A contingent of Sierra Leone police officers who arrived in Somalia’s port city of Kismayo last Tuesday, to boost the capacity of the local Police, have started work in earnest. A total of 160 police officers, from the Formed Police Unit (FPU), Sierra Leone’s largest deployment in Somalia to date, is in Jubbaland state, as part of a surge capacity that is fast tracking the implementation of policing programmes.
Their deployment follows a UN Security Council Resolution last year, which authorized an increase in the number of police officers serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), to boost the technical capacity of the Somali police officers, who will be deployed in recovered areas to restore law and order. The plan envisages an increased need for police officers, in areas that will have been vacated by the military, as a result of the phased, conditions-based drawdown.
The Sierra Leone police officers completed an orientation course yesterday, tailored to familiarize them with AMISOM’s mandate. “They were taught by a number of instructors who are experts in various fields, so this Formed Police Unit is now ready for deployment to conducting activities that brought them to this Mission,” said ACP Martin Ernest Abilu, AMISOM’s Police Coordinating Officer for Jubbaland, at the end of the induction training, held in the port city of Kismayo. The officers are expected to train and mentor their Somali counterparts in public order management among others things. They will also undertake joint police patrols and assist them in the protection of critical facilities and installations.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Civil service audits and reforms are necessary but controversial everywhere in the world. In Somalia, there is a chronic problem with ghost workers, poor service delivery, corruption, brain drain and poor management and leadership of staff in government organisations. This is why so much donor funds are targeted at building capacity.”
PM: Be Serious About Civil Service Reform
24 April – Source: Ummadda Media – 593 Words
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire appears to be obsessed with launching things. He is even more excited by being the face of reform while the very Minister’s tasked with leading these are standing next to him. He likes to see it as showing commitment, but this alone is not enough in a country struggling to recover from over 20 years of civil strife with destroyed public institutions, including, its civil service.
The launch of the Human Resource (HR) Audit by the Prime Minister (with the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs standing next to him) is important to establish the actual number and roles of government employee and correct the payroll data. The HR Audit has been a priority from the beginning as both the President and Prime Minister promised they will stamp out corruption within the public services. The focus of this audit is ghost workers who are draining limited public resources while delivering no service to the public. There will also be some focus on the conditions of those working according to the Prime Minister’s statement. Civil service audits and reforms are necessary but controversial everywhere in the world. In Somalia, there is a chronic problem with ghost workers, poor service delivery, corruption, brain drain and poor management and leadership of staff in government organisations. This is why so much donor funds are targeted at building capacity.
The Prime Minister’s efforts to audit the Somali federal civil service is commendable but the challenges are clear and known to all. The civil service is unprofessional and dysfunctional because it is recruited tribally, poorly supervised by an unfit Commission and has too many older workers clinging to their salaries and blocking the entry of new, educated younger workers. Credit to the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister, this is the first time all civil service salaries have been paid in modern history. However, the question of who has been paid, for what and by whom, are very important too.
These answers will shine a bright light on the challenges the civil service system must overcome to be fit for purpose in Somalia. The Prime Minister’s reformist image, his main concern it appears at the moment, will improve once he starts to take his own human resource reforms seriously. He promised to appoint qualified Director Generals to all Ministries on merit last year, why has this process not been seen through? There are many qualified applicants awaiting a response from his office and the Ministerial committee he established to oversee this process. He must not disappoint them or there will be no public trust in any of the other reforms.