June 19, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia-Ethiopia Deal IS Between Two Neighbouring Countries, Says Somaliland Foreign Minister
19 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 120 Words
Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Sa’ad Ali Shire said, his administration has nothing to do with recent ports and infrastructure investment deals, between Somalia and Ethiopia, saying that the deals was between two of Somaliland’s neighbouring countries.
In an interview with the BBC Somali Service, Minister Sa’ad dismissed reports, that the port of Berbera is among the four ports that will be developed by the two countries. He further said the President Farmaajo-led administration had no say in the Berbera port affairs.
When questioned if they will have to seek clarifications from Ethiopia regarding the ports deal, he said ‘we will see if Ethiopia has modified the agreement it had entered with us but, I can assure you that the agreement with Somalia will not have an effect with the one we had with Ethiopia. The minister’s choice of words showed a lot caution since his administration and Ethiopia enjoy strong relations.
Key Headlines
- Somalia-Ethiopia Deal IS Between Two Neighbouring Countries Says Somaliland Foreign Minister (Hiiraan Online)
- Somalia Files Response At ICJ Over Sea Boundary Row With Kenya (Garowe Online)
- Somalia Attends Peace Forum Which Kicks Off In Oslo (Halbeeg News)
- Somalia Marks International Day Of The African Child With Commitment To Improve Access To Education Mogadishu (AMISOM)
- Somalia: Being A Failed State And Owning It (Strategy Page)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Files Response At ICJ Over Sea Boundary Row With Kenya
19 June – Source: Garowe Online – 317 Words
Somali government says it has submitted its response in the maritime dispute case, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague, the Netherlands on Monday, June 18. The Attorney General, Ahmed Ali Dahir said, the Federal Government of Somalia has succeeded to tender the reply in the maritime delimitation on the Indian Ocean case at ICJ, before the deadline expires. Mr. Dahir added that Mr. Ali Said Faqi, Somalia’s Ambassador to the EU, has made the submitted the response along with seismic data verifying the case on behalf of the government. “I was present at the submission of Somalia’s reply in the maritime delimitation on the Indian Ocean, between Somalia and Kenya at ICJ in the Hague city,” Mr. Dahir tweeted.
The move came after Kenya had submitted its response to the ICJ of the same case. Somalia sued Kenya in August 2014, over the oil-rich ocean, saying it will never accept Kenya’s efforts to seize part of its maritime boundary, even if the country has been in anarchy for more than two decades. For years, Kenya has been arguing that the two East African countries had in 2009 signed a MoU, agreeing to settle the sea boundary row issue out of court. In 2017, Somalia won the first round of the maritime case against Kenya, before the Hague-based ICJ, as the country hired a team of international lawyers to defend its maritime boundary.
The contested area in the maritime border dispute is about 100,000 kilometers square, that is said to be rich in natural resources. The rift arose in 2009 and has been the an ongoing talks since then. Somali officials said the onshore border continues into the ocean diagonally southeast, and that a horizontal border would be unfair. The standoff threatened to upend some exploration permits that Kenyan government granted to Oil and Gas companies, which have already started exploring in the zone.
Somalia Attends Peace Forum Which Kicks Off In Oslo
19 June – Source: Halbeeg News – 252 Words
Dozens of world leaders and peace brokers have convened in Oslo town to attend a Peace Forum, which is scheduled to started on Tuesday. The conference which is set to run for two days, will focus on the situation in Libya, Yemen, Mali, Syria and Colombia as well as the role of the religious group in peace facilitation.
The theme of the Forum is ‘The End of the Big Peace’, which was chosen against the backdrop of the changing conflict landscape. Norway Minister of Foreign Affairs Eriksen Søreide said, in a statement that the Oslo Forum has become one of the world’s most important meeting places for facilitators, mediators, government leaders and other key actors in peace and conflict resolution processes.
“Peace and reconciliation efforts are a key element of the Norwegian foreign policy and our work in this area is increasingly linked to security policy considerations. We are living at a time of great uncertainty. We are facing new threats and seeing the rise of new geopolitical power constellations,” said Ms. Eriksen Søreide, “Global security, economy and welfare could be undermined. Working together with the UN for peaceful resolution of conflicts is a way of safeguarding our common interests.”
Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and delegates from his cabinet will attend the forum. PM Khaire arrived in Oslo, the capital city of Norway on Sunday, where he was welcomed by the Norwegian leaders. During his stay in Norway, PM Khaire is expected to hold discussions with leaders from different countries.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Marks International Day Of The African Child With Commitment To Improve Access To Education Mogadishu
19 June – Source: AMISOM – 355 Words
Somalia marked the International Day of the African Child with a commitment to work closely with development partners to ensure access to quality education for its youthful population. Hassan Mohamed Ali, the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education, said children in Somalia have a right to education like their counterparts in other African countries, adding that the government will work tirelessly to ensure its population is well educated.
“We hope this new curriculum will make a positive input into the education of the Somali children. The curriculum will be adopted for use in schools across the country, whether they are private schools or public schools,” said Mr. Ali, referring to the recently launched education curriculum for primary schools.
The new curriculum is expected to be implemented in the new academic year, which commences in August. Mr. Ali, who spoke at an event held in Mogadishu, on Monday, described education as the cornerstone for Somalia’s development, urging ministries and government institutions to work together to improve schooling after decades of conflict. Fartun Abdisalam, the Executive Director of Elman Peace Centre, who also attended the event, advocated for the provision of free education for Somalia’s children, saying the move would be a solution to the long-drawn conflict in the country.
“As we join the rest of the world to celebrate this day, let us know that the future of this nation will depend on what we invest in our children. We need free education,” said Ms. Abdisalam. Her sentiments were echoed by Abdikafi Mahamud Makaran, the chairperson of Benadir Youth in Mogadishu, who stressed the need to provide opportunities for youths to help accelerate the country’s development.
“As Benadir Regional Administration, we target to lower the levels of youth unemployment in the capital city. We have put in a lot of efforts in ensuring that the youth can be self-reliant,” Mr. Makaran observed. He noted that Benadir Regional Administration has so far managed to create job opportunities for 3,000 youths, as part of the government’s initiative to address the challenges faced by young people in Somalia.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Meanwhile, the most unconcerned and least cooperative group involved are Somali leaders and many of their followers. Somali isn’t a hopeless mess, just a lot more difficult than most.”
Somalia: Being A Failed State And Owning It
18 June – Source: Strategy Page – 1593 – Words
The peacekeepers are trying to take advantage of the annual “Ramadan Offensive” and hit al Shabaab when they are most active and exposed. Al Shabaab, like most Islamic terror groups, increase their attacks during the month of Ramadan (May 15 – June 14) because Islamic terrorists interpret (or misinterpret according to most Islamic scholars) scripture and believe that Islamic terrorists who get killed during Ramadan get extra goodies in the afterlife.
So while most Moslems spend more time praying during Ramadan, Islamic terrorists spend time trying to kill their fellow Moslems (or any non-Moslems who are available). While this makes Islamic terrorists even more unpopular among Moslems, in general, the Islamic terrorists don’t care because they are on a Mission From God and don’t answer to mere mortals.
Somalis, in general, have a problem with being answerable to anyone not in their extended family or clan. This is why massive corruption persists and a growing number of foreign aid donors are cutting their aid or halting it entirely. This includes the United States, a major provider of food, as well as the main support for the Somali Army.
The military aid is plundered more frequently and extensively than the food and medical aid but the extent of corruption in general throughout the Somali government never seems to decline. The corruption in the military is obvious because so many Somali Army units, when facing combat, seem to fail miserably.
What is really happening is that an infantry company with about 150 troops on the payroll (that foreign aid pays for) might have only a few dozen actual troops because the rest are absent because they never existed in the first place (but the pay goes to a corrupt officer of politician) or deserted because they were not being paid.
Foreign relations are also crippled by corruption. For example, European nations find that they can get Somalia to accept the return of Somalis who illegally entered Europe only if bribes are paid to Somali government officials. This sort of thing is illegal, or simply political trouble, in many European nations but in most cases, the details of the “diplomatic agreement” is declared classified and everyone pretends the corruption doesn’t exist.
While most Somalis believe there is a Somali culture all Somalis share far fewer Somalis believe in the “civil society” required to create a functioning nation and government. Some civil societies are more effective (less corrupt) than others but Somalia appears incapable of creating and sustaining a government foreign aid donors can justify supporting. The problem is that when it comes to foreign aid the demand is much larger than the supply and donor nations prefer to send their money to nations that will use more of it as intended. Even the UN is planning to shut down the peacekeeping operation soon because there seems little hope that the Somali Army will ever be effective enough to replace the peacekeepers.
TOP TWEETS
@Goobjoognews: Hirshabelle Regional President hoping that Adale to be part of the Ports Investments deal.
@RAbdiCG: Here is the “offending” bit of Abiy’s remarks on Somalia: 1/3″Based on the recent deal we made with the Somalian government, in a few years they will accept INTEGRATION, they will accept being same country. But for now, they would like to start with full ECONOMIC INTEGRATION.”
@NorwayInSomalia: Press Conference prior to the opening session of #OsloForum2018 @SomaliPM @NorwayInSomalia@antonioguterres
@Goobjoognews: Somaliland indicates that TFS have no concern of Berbera Port deal. –
@SomaliPM: Great to discuss Somalia’s progress in its reform agenda with #EriksenSoreide @NorwayMFA has proven to be a champion for Somalia’s transformation.
#OsloForum2018
@alihwarsame: Press Release: The Sool, Sanaag & Ayn Regions of Somalia Community Traditional Elders & Leaders. (4. Declare that the claims of the Somaliland administration that these regions are part of its territories are unfounded & are not supported by the facts.)
@JPTasker: BREAKING | Ali Omar Ader has been sentenced to 15 years in custody for his central role in the kidnapping of Amanda Lindhout. Ader acted as negotiator for hostage-takers and threatened to kill Lindhout if payment was not received.#cdnpoli
@HajjiSaleban: Somalia has a few hours to submit its final legal argument at the International Court of Justice on the maritime boundary demarcation case against #Kenya. the sources have confirmed that #Somalia doesn’t submit anything but “following an understanding between the two countries.”
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire, UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres and Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Eriksen Søreide address the media on the sidelines of Oslo Forum.
Photo: @NorwayInSomalia