April 14, 2017 | Morning Headlines
UN Calls For Heightened Vigilance To Contain Piracy In Somali Waters
13 April – Source : Xinhua – 363 Words
The international community and shipping firms should intensify patrols along the Somalia coastline to eliminate piracy that is slowly crawling back after a five year lull, a senior UN official has said.Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned in a statement issued in Nairobi late Wednesday that Somalia waters could become a haven for piracy and other transnational crimes unless vigilance is enhanced.”It is imperative that the international community remains vigilant and commercial shipping follows the advice of navies and international maritime organization when planning safe passage through sea corridors of Somalia,” Fedotov said.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia that was at its peak five years ago declined sharply thanks to aggressive onslaught by foreign naval forces and lengthy jail terms for culprits.The criminal enterprise threatened stability and economic growth in Somalia and neighboring countries.Fedotov noted that piracy in Somalia waters undermined global commerce and social cohesion in a region that is yet to recover from devastation caused by civil strife.
The UN official sounded alarm over a spate of pirate attacks off the Somalia coast since early March, terming them a drawback to concerted efforts to stabilize the Horn of African State.”The five year let up in serious attacks has led to a collective forgetting about the dangers of Somalia piracy,” said Fedotov, adding that a cutback on navy patrols could undermine war on piracy.Global solidarity in strategic areas like navy patrols, intelligence gathering, efficient prosecution of offenders and economic incentives for jobless youth are key to deal piracy in Somalia waters a fatal blow.Fedotov was optimistic the menace of piracy along the Somalia coastline could be extinguished soon through strategic application of military, economic and diplomatic interventions.He revealed that an international conference will be held in London on May 11 to discuss new strategies that could re-energize the war against piracy in the Somalia coast.
Key Headlines
- UN Calls For Heightened Vigilance To Contain Piracy In Somali Waters (Xinhua)
- Military Court Sentences Alleged Al-Shabaab Members To 10 Year Jail(Garowe Online)
- Newly Appointed Mayor Of Mogadishu Arrived The Capital(Garowe Online)
- Thousands Of Drought-Stricken Somalis Stream Into Camps(VOA)
- Mogadishu-Nairobi Direct Flights Hurt Wajir Airport(The East African)
- Lessons For Somalia: DP World In Yemen And What That Means For Somalia(Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Military Court Sentences Alleged Al-Shabaab Members To 10 Year Jail
13 April – Source : Garowe Online – 170 Words
Two men accused of being al-Shabaab members were sentenced on Thursday to 10 years in prison by Somali military court in Mogadishu. Speaking to reporters at a press conference in the capital, the Chief Judge of Somalia’s military courts, Colonel Hassan Ali Nur Shute has announced the verdict of the court. According to Shute, Mohamed Ali Kediye and Hussein Hajji Abdullahi were sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment after they had been found guilty of plotting terror attack in Somalia last month.
The judge stated that the convicted men can file for an appeal if they are not satisfied with the Somali military tribunal verdict. “The court sentenced the men to 10-year military prison, These defendants were guilty of being members of Al shabaab fighting against the government and they pleaded guilty to all charges,” said Shute. The two convicted men were detained in Godinlabe village in Galgadud region by Galmudug security forces in March 19, along with a vehicle packed with explosives and mobile phones aimed to detonate it.
Newly Appointed Mayor Of Mogadishu Arrived The Capital
13 April – Source : Garowe Online – 149 Words
The newly appointed Mayor and Governor of Banadir regional administration, Thabit Abdi Mohamed has arrived to the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Thursday, following his appointment last week. The new Mayor received warm welcome from officials from Banadir regional administration and Federal government at Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport. According to sources, the new Mayor Mohamed is expected to assume the office from his predecessor after an official handover ceremony which will be held on Saturday in Mogadishu.
Prior to his nomination, Mohamed held the post of deputy Chief of Mission of the Somali Embassy in Washington in United States during the past government led by former President Hasan Shaikh Mohamud. Last week, Somalia’s new President Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed “Farmajo” made a huge security shake-up by appointing new chiefs of army and security agency and nominated a new Mayor for Mogadishu, which was endorsed by the council of Ministers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Thousands Of Drought-Stricken Somalis Stream Into Camps
13 April – Source : VOA – Video – 1:58 Minutes
Thousands of Somali people affected by severe drought and a potential famine in the countryside continue to stream into the country’s main cities. A reports from Mogadishu shows conditions for these internally displaced people, or IDPs, continues to worsen by the day in and around Somalia’s capital.
Mogadishu-Nairobi Direct Flights Hurt Wajir Airport
13April- Source : The East African- 277 Words
Wajir Airport in Northern Kenya is staring at over Ksh 2 million ($20,000) losses in monthly revenue following the resumption of direct flights between Mogadishu and Nairobi.In an interview with the Nation, the airport manager Charles Kiong’a said that the directive would have a huge economical impact on the facility, which was dependent on planes from Mogadishu for its revenue. He said that the airport collected Ksh531,300 ($5,131) weekly from the planes which amounted to Ksh2,125,200 ($21,252) monthly in terms of income.
Juba airways, African Express East Africa, Safari Express, Freedom Airline, Oceanic and Fan Jet Express craft used to land at the airport before proceeding to Nairobi.The move to resume direct flights followed a state visit by the newly -elected Somalia President Mohammed Farmajo to Kenya where he reached the agreement with his host President Uhuru Kenyatta. The move is aimed at strengthening diplomatic and trade ties between the two countries.Initially, planes from Mogadishu had to pass through Wajir for security checks and screening before proceeding to Nairobi, after a directive by former President Mwai Kibaki, informed by the growing threat of terror attacks on Kenya by the al Qaeda -linked terror group the al Shabaab.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The second issue that worries me is why we would give our ports to such a shady company that essentially destroyed the port of Yemen. We have to keep in mind that a robust seaport at Barbara or Bosaaso will be a threat to Jebel Ali due to the strategic location of these two ports,”
Lessons For Somalia: DP World In Yemen And What That Means For Somalia
12 April- Source: Hiiraan Online- 581 Words
In 2008 the Yemeni government signed a deal with DP world (The UAE based government owned port management company) in which the operation and control of Aden’s strategic port would be taken over by DP world. The agreement stipulated a 220 million dollar investment for the development of the port. It is also worthy of knowing that part of the agreement was to increase the container volume of the port from the existing volume of 500,000 containers annually to 900,000 containers annually.
The Yemeni government announced among jubilant citizens that the agreement and development of the port would bring an economic surge (sounds familiar?).Four years later, the opposite of what was stipulated happened. In 2011, the container volume of the port fell from its original 500,000 per annum to a mere 130,000 which was followed by a surge to 212,000 in 2012 compared to the promised and agreed upon increase from 500,000 to 900,000.
This was followed by an anti-corruption investigation that concluded that DP World did not honor the agreement in which it was a party to in 2008. This lead to DP World returning Aden’s port to the Yemeni government after weeks of strenuous negotiations which ended up with the Yemeni government having to pay 35 million dollars to DP World for basically destroying its port.Brian O’Neill, a Yemen analyst and former editor of the Yemen Observer newspaper, declared “the contract with DP World had failed to deliver the needed “fresh start” because the government agreed terms that were too favorable to the company.” This was just one of the factors that might have contributed to the mess but it’s also important to keep in mind that a strong Aden port would be a threat to Dubai’s Seaport the Jebel Ali Free zone as Aden’s port is located in a more strategic area and has deeper harbors which can accommodate bigger container ships.
The recent leasing of two of Somalia’s four most important port’s to DP World and its sister company for a 30 year contract seems to worry me. While I am not against any economic investment for any region of my beautiful country and I love prosperity for my people, I cannot fathom why in the world we would get in such long contracts with a mere investment of 400,000 million. That might seem a lot to the politicians who the bribes might be going in their pockets but to anyone who knows the actual potential value of a port knows that the value of it is in the billions just look at landlocked Ethiopia which pays to Djibouti 850 million dollars in fees ever year to use its port.