May 7, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
New Speaker To Chair First Parliamentary Meeting Today
07 May – Source: Jowhar.com – 149 Words
The new Speaker of the House of the People, Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman, will today chair the first session of the House, one week after his election. Today’s agenda of the House — the African Union charter — which was approved by the Council of Ministers yesterday, was dispatched to the MPs last night.
Parliament will accordingly begin a new chapter after stagnation of business for almost two months, following conflicts in the House and a motion filed against former Speaker Jawari Osman, who eventually resigned.
The new Speaker and his two deputies met with Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre yesterday, in a move seen as a new beginning for the Parliament and the Executive arm of government. Mursal, a moderate politician, was among members of the current Cabinet who resigned to vie for the coveted speakership post. He is expected to calm down tensions and differences between the legislative and executive arms of government.
Key Headlines
- New Speaker To Chair First Parliamentary Meeting Today (Jowhar.com)
- Somalia to Hold Talks With World Bank In Nairobi (Halbeeg News)
- Somaliland Frees Poet Jailed For Somalia Reunification Call (Gosahan.com)
- AMISOM Police Lays The Groundwork For Deployment Of More Officers To Belet Weyne (AMISOM)
- Chaotic Somalia Must Rise (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia to Hold Talks With World Bank In Nairobi
07 May – Source: Halbeeg News – 122 Words
The Somali Ministry of Finance is scheduled to hold talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank officials on Monday in the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi. In a statement last week, the Ministry for Finance said its officials will hold talks with IMF and World Bank officials on the government’s plan to print new currency for the country.
The ministry pointed out that the government’s initiative to eradicate the counterfeit money was in top gear, with a view to bring back currency control to the country. With the support of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the Somali government last year declared its plans to produce a new currency for the first time in more than a quarter of a century.
Somaliland Frees Poet Jailed For Somalia Reunification Call
07 May – Source: Gosahan – 165 Words
Somaliland has freed a young poet jailed last month for advocating for the self-declared republic to reunite with the rest of Somalia. Nacima Qorane was found guilty of bringing Somaliland into contempt by advocating reunification with Somalia.
Ms Qorane, who is also an activist, was arrested in January after returning from Mogadishu at Hargeisa’s International Airport. While in Mogadishu, Ms Qorane recited poetry calling for Somaliland to reunite with the rest of Somalia, according to prosecutors. Qorane lived in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, for some time and supports the reunification between Somalia and Somaliland. She was featured in the 2017 edition of TedXMogadishu.
Her lawyers said she was denied a fair trial and human rights activists have denounced her arrest, describing her as a “prisoner of conscience.” Somaliland broke away from the rest of Somalia in 1991 and declared self independence. It has been pursuing international recognition since then but without success. In 2017, a local journalist was charged and imprisoned for a similar offence.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AMISOM Police Lays The Groundwork For Deployment Of More Officers To Belet Weyne
07 May – Source: AMISO – 281 Words
A team of senior police officers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) headquarters last week visited Belet Weyne to assess ongoing preparations for the deployment of a Formed Police Unit to Hiiraan region in south-central Somalia. The team, led by AMISOM Police Operations Coordinator, Daniel Ali Gwambal, inspected facilities to be used by the unit comprising 32 Nigerian police officers, who are expected in Belet Weyne in the coming weeks. “The purpose of visiting Belet Weyne today is to make an assessment of the facilities that are on ground,” said Mr. Gwambal.
He added that the team also came to access progress being made, in the mentorship programme, by individual police officers who were deployed three months ago. Superintendent of Police, Samuel E.M. William, AMISOM Team Site Leader in Belet Weyne, said the deployment of the Formed Police Unit (FPU) would greatly boost activities of individual police officers, providing them with security to enable them access new areas. “Formerly, we were not able to visit many sites but with the FPU, it will be easier for us. We will be able to visit any scene that has incidents,” he noted.
The Contingent Commander of the Nigerian FPU, Superintendent Haruna Ismail, said the preparations had been completed, adding that the arrival of the team will boost security in the region. “We are giving them the assurance, we are bringing well-trained, weapon handling personnel that can withstand any threat and provide security to the personnel on the ground,” he said. The FPU will provide escort to the individual police officers training and mentoring Somali Police in Belet Weyne. They will also provide security to AMISOM and its partners.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Until Somalia reconciles its people, resurrects its national army, and rectifies its federal constitution, the country will continue to suffer from internal setbacks and external interfering. Sincere reconciliations are very significant for the Somali people, as they mind their differences and heal their wounds. Somali people from all walks of life ought to participate in the reconciliation processes.”
Chaotic Somalia Must Rise
06 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1439 Words
Everyone is taking advantage of Somalia and there is reason for the exploitation. The country is weak and fragmented, and its people are headed in different directions. Civil wars, anarchy, and external meddling have ravaged the country for a long time. Somali civil wars of different forms, ideologies and aspirations have taken a terrible toll on the war torn country and its divided people. These unholy wars have fragmented the country’s population and divided them based on tribal and territorial lines.
The wars did not only occur between rival tribes, but permeated every inner level of the society and each part of the country, decapitating hundreds of thousands of people and displacing other countless numbers. Strangely, those who once teamed up to attain a common goal of theirs eventually turned their weapons against each other, slitting each other’s throats. It is madness. It is wretchedness. The wars have never been based on principles. There has never been official statistics concerning the number of wars and their casualties, but some sources indicate that around a half million Somali people to date succumbed to the civil wars.
The wars drove out millions of Somalis, most of who live in refugee camps and overseas. Equally important, there are hundreds of thousands of Somalis, who are internally displaced and live in deplorable conditions. For instance, inhabitants of the world’s biggest refugee camp are citizens of Somalia, driven out by varied civil wars in the country. This camp is called “Dadaab Refugee Camp”, and it had housed a half-million refugees up until many Somali refugees opted to return home a few years back. The camp is only one example of many camps from where innocent Somalis suffer.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: BREAKING: Poet Naema Ahmed Ibrahim who has been serving 3 years jail term is released from prison by Somaliland authorities, rights activist @GuleidJ confirms. Ibrahim was arrested in January for alleged social media posts relating to her views on “unification”.
@AnankeGroup: AMISOM commander says AMISOM’s security transition plan shouldn’t happen until #Somalia‘s forces are better prepared https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/
@Halbeeg_News: Somalia Hosts International Conference on Illegal Charcoal Trade https://en.halbeeg.com/2018/
@SayedSahibzada: Two days international conference on Charcoal inaugurated in Mogadishu. Somalia Deputy Prime Minister thanked @UNDPSomalia @unep @FAOSomaliadonors and partners for convening the conference.
@RadioErgo: The @UNHCR_Kenya operational update reveals that almost 70% of the refugees interviewed were unwilling to repatriate to #Somalia. A majority of the refugees interviewed indicated that they do not wish to interrupt their children’s education…. https://reliefweb.int/sites/
@HarunMaruf: Ugandan Sector Commander opposed to down-sizing AMISOM forces, warning that it could have consequential negative impact on efforts to stabilise Somalia; but the plan he opposes was already endorsed by AU peace and security council
@ACTEDKen_Som: Floods continue to wreak havoc in most parts of #Somalia with many left in dire need of basic supplies and shelter. ACTED is providing hygiene kits to 1,500 flood affected households in Elwak to help contain the situation thanks to @UNICEFKenya support. #SomGU2018
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire during a meeting with the newly elected Speaker Mohamed Mursal and his two deputies to discuss cooperation between the executive and the legislative arms of government.
Photo: @SomaliPM