April 11, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Al-Shabaab Commander Defects To Somali Government
11 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 190 Words
An Al-Shabaab militant commander on Tuesday defected and surrendered to Somali government in Bay region. The state owned media reported that Mr. Adan Mohamed (Adan Shah), surrendered to Southwest authorities, amid the government forces stepped up their operations against the militants, in South and Central Somalia. SONNA said the defector had a gun in his possession, which he surrendered to the government forces in Baidoa town.
Mr. Shah was said to have been accompanied by one of the group’s fighters whose name was not disclosed, and both are reportedly under the custody of Southwest authorities. According to the agency, the defector was in charge of the group’s violence activities in areas under Baay region. His defection comes barely a week after another militant identified as Mr. Mohamed Addo, turned himself in to the authorities.
Since February, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo offered Al-Shabaab militants a 60-day amnesty, the number of the defectors from Al-Shabaab militant group significantly increased. The militants who want to overthrow Somalia’s internationally backed government have been carrying out attacks against, military and civilian targets since 2011, when Al-Shabaab lost control of Mogadishu to SNA backed by AMISOM troops.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab Commander Defects To Somali Government (Hiiraan Online)
- Dispute Over Today’s Parliamentary Session Resolved (Jowhar.com)
- Mogadishu Mayor Meets His Ankara Counterpart On Mogadishu-Ankara Collaborations (Halbeeg News)
- Indonesia Somalia Agree To Enhance Trade Ties (Antaranews)
- The Coming Wars: How To Fight Terror The Somaliland Way (Politico)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Dispute Over Today’s Parliamentary Session Resolved
11 April – Source: Jowhar.com – 176 Words
A dispute over today’s parliamentary session was resolved following mediation made between the parliament leadership. First Deputy Speaker Abdiweli Mudey dismissed the parliamentary session that was set to take place today. Outgoing Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari yesterday said at a press conference that he will address the parliament on Wednesday to return speakership responsibility to the House.
However, First Deputy Speaker Abdiweli Mudey said since he was the acting speaker, he has all the rights to convene parliamentary sessions. He sent a message to lawmakers informing that no session would be held on Wednesday.
It has now been agreed that the parliamentary session will take place on Thursday with deputy speaker given the green light to chair the session and guide the parliamentary sessions until the Speaker position is filled. After the negotiations, he sent a message to the parliamentarians notifying them about the Thursday’s Session. Mudey, who led the plot that saw the removal of speaker Jawari, allegedly is not in good terms with his second deputy speaker Mahad Awad and parliamentary permanent secretary Buuh.
Mogadishu Mayor Meets His Ankara Counterpart On Mogadishu-Ankara Collaborations
11 April – Source: Halbeeg News – 246 Words
Mogadishu Mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman on Tuesday held talks with his Ankara counterpart, Mustafa Tuna. The two leaders discussed on a wide range issues including strengthening the relations of the two cities, Turkey’s support to help Mogadishu in restructuring the local government and among others.
“I had a fruitful meeting with the mayor of Ankara, Mustafa Tuna and discussed our bilateral relations between Mogadishu and Ankara cities,” said Mayor Osman. Mayor Osman urged Ankara Mayor to help Mogadishu local government, in the process to rebuild its institutions. “I shared with the mayor our plans of which, we want Ankara to work on with us including the modernization the works and services of Mogadishu local government, we are focusing on the services and the environmental protections,” he noted.
During his stay in Ankara, Mogadishu mayor is scheduled to meet with several district commissioners in Turkey’s capital city. Turkey who started quite intense humanitarian assistance to Somalia in 2011, has implemented development projects to help Somalia in the rebuilding process. In January, two countries appended their signatures on pact to boost their strategic economic partnership.
According the deal, the bilateral trade volume would rise to $200 million from $120 million in 2016. Turkey and Somalia also inked a Memorandum of Understanding on fishing and fisheries. Late last year, Turkey opened its largest Military Academy abroad in Somalia. The facility which which spans over, 4 KM square, has trained over 800 Somali soldiers, who are currently serving the country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Indonesia, Somalia Agree To Enhance Trade Ties
11 April – Source: Antaranews – 238 Words
Indonesia and Somalia have agreed to intensify trade ties during a bilateral meeting between Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Somalian Vice Foreign Minister Mukhtar Mahat Da`ud here on Wednesday. “I have just held bilateral talks with the Somalian vice foreign minister. We spoke about trade ties,” Marsudi remarked following the meeting held on the sidelines of the second day of the Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF).
Marsudi noted that trade between the two countries, which has grown on an average of 30 percent per year, can still be increased. In 2017, bilateral trade jumped by 80 percent as compared to the previous year, she stated. “Hence, at the meeting, we agreed to encourage the private sectors of the two countries to forge more contacts,” she remarked.
At the meeting, the two sides also explored possibilities for cooperation in infrastructure development. “We are pursuing the development of infrastructure, including roads and ports, as one of the priorities. Right now, we are in the process of developing ports, but we are focusing our expertise on designing the ports,” she explained.
“Hence, this is a joint effort of several countries to cooperate with Somalia in developing its ports,” she noted. Meanwhile, Da`ud expressed hope that Indonesian investors would invest in the fisheries and agriculture sectors in Somalia. Indonesia has vowed to enhance relations with African countries, particularly in the economic field, by holding the IAF from April 10 to 11.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“In Somaliland, a young man who is found out to have any connection to al-Shabab will have to run away and remain a fugitive all his life. His clan will make sure of that, because the association will be a stain on the honor of the whole clan. To be a clan member is to be able to recite one’s ancestors 20 or 30 generations back.”
The Coming Wars: How To Fight Terror, The Somaliland Way
11 April – Source: Politico – 1062 Words
How do you root out a ruthless terror group? How do you anticipate its every move, counter its indoctrination campaigns, occupy its territory and deprive it of the air it breathes? I was contemplating these questions while standing in the inner courtyard of the Presidential Palace in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, when the man who knew the answers walked up to me and introduced himself.
“I am Ali Waran Ade, the lion-keeper of Somaliland,” he said. Waran Ade received that name because of the lions he owns. He keeps them in his farm by the dry river bed in the east of the city. A few years ago, one escaped and killed a woman at the livestock market in the capital. Gray-haired and gray-bearded, Waren Ade is a security adviser to Muse Bihi Abdi the recently elected president of the self-declared independent republic that broke away from Somalia in the early 1990s. But Waren Ade has also served as interior minister under three of Muse’s predecessors.
No one knows better than him the underworld in which the terror group al-Shabab likes to operate. The group has wreaked terrible violence in neighboring Somalia, where it basks in an aura of invincibility that has eluded al-Qaeda and ISIS. The United States-led international contingent in Somalia seems impotent against them. After years of conflict, al-Shabab continues to operate with impunity in Mogadishu, where the government and foreign aid workers work keep to a small cordoned-off area.
And yet, in Somaliland, al-Shabab has no presence even though part of its leadership originally came from Hargeisa. So how has this small, impoverished, internationally un recognized state on the Gulf of Aden succeeded where everyone else has failed? What does it know that everyone else is unable to understand? The old lion keeper knows the answer — but it’s not what you’d think. Yes, his efforts and those of the interior ministry are important. Security consumes almost half the state budget, the borders with Somalia are carefully guarded, and more than a few dangerous characters have disappeared into state prisons.
But credit for Somaliland’s success doesn’t belong to the security services, Waren Ade told me. It belongs to the people. No security service can know everything its enemies are up to, but the people are everywhere. They know everything, hear everything, spy on everything. Only the people can become one with the people. I am told numerous stories to illustrate the point. Once, two old ladies near the Ethiopian border spotted a group of young men carrying weapons; they immediately reported them to the police. Even mothers are not above reporting their sons if they see a call from Mogadishu registered on their cell phones.
TOP TWEETS
@engyarisow: Today I met Prof. Dr. Cumali Kinaci, DG of Ankara Water Authority & discussed establishing #MogadishuWater System
@JustinTBrady: Report of new IDP evictions outside Mogadishu saying: “The IDP committee confirmed that the land brokers representing the owners of the land…” So a committee not made up of IDPs made a deal w/ Brokers, who R not the owners? & the game goes on #Gatekeepers @prt_cluster_som
@UNHabitat_Som: @UNHabitat_Som through #JPLGsupported Association of LG Authorities in Puntland (ALGAPL) to conduct its General Assembly in #Garowe, where work plan, membership fee and code of ethics are adopted. ALGAPL advocates for effective & able LG’s with decentralized service delivery;
@DalsanFM: #Somalia representatives at the World Tae Kwondo Junior Championship @TaekwndoSomalia ready to kick their way into the medal ranks in #Tunis #Tunisia
@DrBeileh: Leaving to deliver a lecture on Somalia’s progress & how we can overcome remaining challenges @HarvardCIDbefore the @IMFNews & @WorldBank Spring meetings in Washington Monday. #Somalia is unique in every way & we have much to share with the world.
https://growthlab.cid.harvard.
@JeanNteziman: From January 2018, @DNS_MoPIED in#Somalia has, with the support of @StatsSweden, implemented improvements to index calculation with more accurate weights data. This led to re-calculation of CPI from December 2014 up to now! KUDOS! @mudane_abdirahm @mpfsomalia @hesheim
@SomalNews: The second company completed the training at TURKSOM Military Training Center. We will continue to train more Somali soldiers. We are proud of them. #Mogadishu#Somalia source @TC_Mogadishu
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Commander in Chief of Somali National Army, General Abdiweli Jama Hussein (Gorod) awarding a soldier new SNA recruits that completed training Turkish military academy in Mogadishu.
Photo: SONNA