NATIONAL MEDIA
2 July – Source: Halbeeg News – 119 Words
Galkayo Police Commander, Major Awil Nur Roble, has succumbed to injuries sustained from an IED planted in his car on Monday. Major Roble died in Southern Galkayo hospital where he was nursing his injuries on Tuesday morning. Armed group Al-Shabaab group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The divided southern Somali city has experienced numerous attacks against members of various security agencies in recent years. Senior police and intelligence officials were targeted within this year an attack claimed by armed group al-Shabaab.
The joint police unit from Galmudug and Puntland administrations was formed to ensure security in the city. Agreement between Garowe and Dhusamareb states has ended border based dispute two years ago, after deadly clashes between the two administrations.
2 July – Source: SONNA – 102 Words
Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E, Ahmed Isse Awad, held bilateral discussion with his South African counterpart, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, H.E. Dr Naledi Pandor in China’s capital, Beijing last week. Mr Awad said: ”We discussed strengthening friendly relations between our two countries. South Africa promised supporting us in building to some of our institutions, and provide trainings”.
The productive talks happened after the meeting of the Implementation of the follow-up Actions of the Beijing Summit between heads of Chinese financial Institutions and 53 African Foreign ministers, and other representatives ended.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
2 July – Source: AMISOM – 254 Words
Burundian troops serving under the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Monday held a ceremony in Mogadishu, to mark their country’s 57th Independence anniversary. The celebrations held at the AMISOM Force Headquarters in Mogadishu, were officiated by Ambassador Francisco Madeira, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia.
Also present were the AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, Maj. Gen. Fidza Dludlu, the AMISOM Head of Mission Support, and members of the international community. In his remarks, Ambassador Madeira honoured the Burundi AMISOM soldiers who died in the line of duty to stabilise Somalia. “AMISOM salutes the Government and people of Burundi for the unquantifiable efforts and sacrifice, which has led to considerable stabilisation of Somalia,” Ambassador Madeira said. Burundi gained independence from Belgium on 1 July 1962.
Burundi deployed troops in Somalia to serve under AMISOM in December 2007. Other AMISOM Troop Contributing Countries include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Ambassador Madeira hailed the government and people of Burundi for responding to an appeal by the African Union to restore peace and stability in Somalia.
He saluted the Burundian AMISOM troops for their pivotal role in liberating Somalia and defeating armed opposition groups. Today, the Burundi contingent secures the Middle Shabelle region, with headquarters in Jowhar town. The Burundi contingent has also been instrumental in mentoring the Somali National Army in support of the Somali Transition Plan. Lt. Col. Ciza Justace, who represented the Burundian community, provided a history of Burundi and milestones since independence.
2 July – Source: Xinhua – 168 Words
Philippine police have detained a Kenyan man suspected to be a member of the Al-Shabaab terror group, police announced on Tuesday. The Philippine National Police (PNP) said in a report that Choclo Abdi Abdullah was arrested at a hotel in Iba town in Zambales, northwest of Manila, on Monday afternoon.
According to the report, Abdullah has been a member of the Al-Shabaab Group operating in East Africa since 2012. A search warrant issued by a local court led to Abdullah’s arrest, the report said, adding the suspect has violated Philippine laws that pertain to illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and explosives.
Police allegedly seized a 9mm pistol, an improvised explosive device, a hand grenade, and other components used in making bombs from Abdullah. Police said Abdullah is allegedly in the Philippines to study how to fly an airplane in an aviation school in Pasay City, and is conducting a research on aviation threats, aircraft hijacking. Abdullah allegedly falsified travel documents to remain in the country, police added.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“As many engaged in those fruitless debates, however, Jama was busy sketching out a plan to replicate some of the state government services he admired about Minnesota. He was especially thinking about a system that would enable Puntland to issue identification cards to its residents, a system that had never before existed in the region.”
2 July – Source: MinnPost – 1,283 Words
For the better part of the 2000s, Yasin Jama spent most of his free time with friends at Starbucks coffee shops in Minneapolis, contemplating what he could do for Somalia, especially the semi-autonomous northeastern state of Puntland from which he hails. At the time, Jama served as a medical laboratory technician for various hospitals — including HealthPartners, Park Nicollet Clinic and Fairview Hospital — in the Twin Cities metro area. But what kept him up at night in those years wasn’t necessarily testing and recording blood samples. It was the urge to improve Puntland, which was founded in 1998 and has since enjoyed relative peace and tranquillity, while also seeing dramatic economic growth, political development and waves of returnees from North America, Europe and Australia.
So in 2007, Jama took his first step toward that mission: He travelled more than 8,000 miles to Garowe, the capital city of Puntland, to set up an electronic system that would help the government-issued state identification cards to its residents, much like state driver’s licenses in the U.S. To do that, Jama founded PII Tech, LLC, a public-private partnership-based company that has since expanded to quickly modernize government services in Puntland, including issuing driver’s licenses and birth certificates as well as vehicle and business registrations.
“From the get-go, we were committed to improving government services for the public,” Jama said. “We also wanted to be a good example for the diaspora community, to show them that they can come back and share their knowledge and experience.” As in many other regions in Somalia, it’s not uncommon in Puntland to find people who have returned from abroad to establish companies, or to serve in government or in nonprofit sectors, said Saadiq Abshir Garaad, a longtime legislator in the Puntland Parliament.
“We have seen more and more people coming back … in recent years,” he said. “They are investing in new development projects; they are building new homes and businesses, and they are coming back to raise kids here.” There are no data showing the exact size of the returnee population in this region, but unofficial estimates put it between 3,000 and 5,000 — and many are visible in the state’s political and private sectors.
Today, the majority of the political elite in Puntland are from the U.S., Canada, Australia or Europe. The current vice president, Ahmed Elmi Osman, for instance, is from Boston; the minister of education, Abdullahi Mohamed Hassan, is from Minneapolis; and the last two former presidents, Abdiwali Mohamed Ali and Abdirahman Mohamud Farole, are from New York and Australia, respectively.
Other returnees have found a home in the private sector, establishing high-end hotels, restaurants and shopping malls — businesses that often target those returning from Western countries and their families. This increase in the number of people returning to Somalia is — in part — possible because of the efforts of high-profile government officials beckoning Somalis abroad to bring their expertise back to the east African country, which in recent years has emerged from decades of violent tribal conflicts. In a speech at Augsburg University earlier this month, as the Star Tribune reported, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Isse Awad called for Somali-Americans in Minnesota to participate in the ongoing process to rebuild Somalia. |
