April 23, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Gunmen Murder Civilian In Mogadishu
23 April – Source: Radio Danan – 133 Words
Unidentified gunmen killed a renowned resident in Madina district of Mogadishu, the latest in string of attacks by suspected militants in the Somali capital. Eyewitnesses reported that two armed young men have shot and killed Abdiqadir Sabriye, a university student in Mogadishu in Nasteho, an area in Madina district on Thursday morning. He was murdered while walking across a street in the area. The motivation behind his killing remains unclear. However, sources said that the deceased man was an undercover intelligence officer. Unidentified gunmen also murdered the victim’s brother two months ago. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest killing which comes few weeks after Somalia’s security forces increased their presence across Mogadishu in a bid to curb increasing attacks by Al-Shabaab.
Key Headlines
- Gunmen Murder Civilian In Mogadishu (Radio Danan)
- Al-Shabaab Vows To Continue Attacks Against UN Agencies (Horseed Media)
- Kenyan Terror Suspects Arraigned In Court (Wacaal Media)
- Somalia Parliament Donates Money For Evacuation Of Citizens In Yemen (Horseed Media)
- IDPs In Mogadishu Appeal For Immediate Humanitarian Support (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia National Football Team To Participate 2016 Olympic Qualifications(Somali Current)
- MCA Wants Somali Herders Sent Away (The Star Kenya)
- Heads On Block Over Kenya Slaying (Times Live)
- Rep. Ellison: Terror Recruits Are In The Dark Hard To Reach (Star Tribune)
- Kenya Wants Donors To Pay For Somali Refugee Eviction Plan (AFP/News 24)
- Somalia’s Premier Bank To Bring ATMs Debit Cards To Mogadishu (Reuters)
- Somalia’s Democratic Transformation: Options For 2016 (Sahal Journal)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Vows To Continue Attacks Against UN Agencies
23 April – Source: Horseed Media – 254 Words
In the aftermath of the deadly attack on UNICEF staff members that killed six people, the Al-Qaeda-linked radical group Al-Shabaab has vowed to continue attacks against the United Nations agencies operating across Somalia. Al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamoud Rageh said in an audio statement that the group will step up its attacks against the UN agencies ‘’as long they are in our country.” They are directly involved in the protraction of our country’s invasion, they will not live here peacefully…They will taste our bullets,’’ he threatened. A van ferrying UNICEF staff members in Garowe, the capital of Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland was torn apart after a suicide bomber after a suicide bomber detonated explosives. Four International staff died and six others were injured including local staff.
The attack drew wide condemnation from across the country and abroad. Following the attack, Puntland authorities declared that the security was under control and took decision to maximise security measures near vital and strategic utilities. Somalia is one of the most hostile environments for humanitarian activities. Al-Shabaab’s attacks on aid workers and agencies’ offices have made most of southern and central Somalia inaccessible. In 2009, Al-Shabaab banned all United Nations agencies after it accused them of engaging in activities “hostile” to Islam. Strict restrictions on aid activities and food distributions severely impacted humanitarian assistance operations in areas under al Shabaab control. The severe conditions in southern Somalia have driven families to seek assistance in areas outside of Al-Shabaab’s control areas during that period.
Kenyan Terror Suspects Arraigned In Court
23 April – Source: Wacaal Media – 98 Words
Eight terror suspects, six of whom were arrested by the public at Gikomba market and the busy Kencom bus stage in Nairobi were yesterday arraigned in court on suspicion of being on a mission to carry out surveillance for a terror attack. This comes as security agencies in Mandera are said to have foiled a possible attack by Al-Shabaab militants after raiding a make-shift camp at Omar Jillo area exactly the spot where more than 60 Kenyans were killed in a bus attack as they travelled along the Mandera – Wajir route.
Somalia Parliament Donates Money For Evacuation Of Citizens In Yemen
23 April – Source: Horseed Media – 188 Words
Somalia’s federal Parliament has donated money for the evacuation of Somali citizens stranded in war-torn Yemen. The move was made during a meeting of the Parliament committees held in Mogadishu on Wednesday chaired by the Parliament speaker who is also currently the acting President. Deputy speaker of Somali Parliament Mahad Abdalla Awad said that the members of Parliament have decided to donate $300,000 for the evacuation process from their own pockets. “This money was generated from the MPs salaries and allowances to save our people stuck in the violence,’’ he said.
Deputy Speaker Awad appealed to the nation to support the evacuation process and offer any kind of assistance. Though the exact number of Somalis stuck in Yemen is unknown, hundreds of people in Somalia and abroad have expressed concern about loved ones in the middle-eastern country. Many have criticised Somalia’s for failing to speed up the evacuation process when much smaller countries with much less stable governments have been able to evacuate their nationals though the government pledged to send a ship to extract citizens.
IDPs In Mogadishu Appeal For Immediate Humanitarian Support
22 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 102 Words
Internally displaced people in Mogadishu are in desperate humanitarian crisis after heavy downpour washed away their few belongings. Heavy rains with wind, poor shelter and lack of adequate food is combining to have a negative impact on their health. Many of the temporary shelters have been washed away and there are people without any shelter or temporrarly sheltering with other families. Some of the IDPs who spoke to Goobjoog News stated that they lost young child during last week’s heavy downpour which lasted for hours. They called the humanitarian aid agencies to deliver emergency support and save the lives of the displaced people.
Somalia National Football Team To Participate 2016 Olympic Qualifications
22 April – Source: Somali Current – 91 Words
Somalia National team to participate 2016 Olympic qualifications making it the first appearance in international competition since 1985. Somalia National Football Team under 23 will face Rwanda at the Amhoro Stadium in Rwanda capital, Kigali on Saturday. Somalia National Team remains an underdogs in the match, but the Ocean boys are determined to make a surprise and are eyeing Rio Olympic in 2016. Neighboring country Kenya will face Botswana on Friday. Second leg matches will take place in two weeks.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
MCA Wants Somali Herders Sent Away
23 April – Source: The Star, Kenya – 118 Words
A Kitui MCA has urged the government to stop Somali herders from encroaching on residents’ pasture in Kamuluyuni. Nuu MCA Kilonzi Maundu told the Star on Wednesday the herders have been grazing at Engamba but have now moved to Kamuluyuni. “When the herders are around there is no peace. I am surprised they force themselves into the residents’ farms and graze their camels,” Maundu said. He said the border conflict between the locals and the Somali herders is yet to be addressed. Maundu said the most affected areas are Engamba, Sosoma, Endau, Malalani and Kasiluni. Deputy county commissioner Jacob Ruto warned residents against selling or leasing their land to the Somali herders.
Heads On Block Over Kenya Slaying
23 April – Source: Times Live – 128 Words
Nine Kenyan officials have been suspended and could face charges of criminal negligence over the massacre at Garissa university earlier this month, the government said. Militants from Somalia’s al-Shabab rebels attacked the university in the northeastern town on April 2, lining up non-Muslim students for execution and killing 148 people. Kenya Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said the two civil servants and seven senior police officers in Garissa may have failed to mobilise ahead of the attack, despite intelligence warnings. They were under investigation and would face criminal charges if negligence was uncovered, he said. The government and the country’s security forces have come in for renewed criticism following the massacre, with media alleging that warnings were ignored and response times were slow.
Rep. Ellison: Terror Recruits Are In The Dark, Hard To Reach
23 April – Source: Star Tribune – 632 Words
When Rep. Keith Ellison closes his eyes at night, he worries about the Somali-American kids at the “tipping point.” They are the ones so disaffected with life in the U.S. that they find comfort in amateur, dark, online recruiting videos from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, referred to as ISIL or ISIS. The ones, Ellison says, who think they would have a better life and a better chance at influencing U.S. foreign policy by fighting there than voting here. Those, he said, who think ISIL leaders actually care about them. “The people who get recruited are operating outside of the regular mosque structure, the regular community center structure,” said Ellison, a DFLer who was the first Muslim to be elected to Congress, in 2006, and who represents Minneapolis. He spoke at length with the Star Tribune after authorities charged six Minnesotans with planning to leave the United States and fight alongside Islamic extremist groups. “They’re sort of off in some dark corner, you know…They’re not going to Mogadishu, they’re going to Syria or Iraq to go fight somebody they don’t know. For what? What’s the comfort they are looking for?” he said.
Ellison said such young people are worrisome because of all the efforts local law enforcement, the Obama administration, Minnesota imams and Ellison himself have made to let kids know there are other options when they feel disenchanted. White House officials picked Minneapolis, along with Boston and Los Angeles, to participate in a “countering violent extremism” pilot project this year, which focused on building relationships between law enforcement and Muslim community leaders. In a presentation here in February, Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney Andy Luger touted the benefits of his relationships with local Muslim leaders, built largely over dinners together. But Ellison said authorities will need to be even more resourceful and creative to get to the places outside normal social institutions, where the most disaffected, depressed youth are skulking — including online. “I don’t know how we talk to them. I don’t know how we get through to them,” he said. “People like me need to be communicating a message that there is a good life to be lived. There is nothing about U.S. foreign policy that you don’t like that you could not more effectively change by active citizenship. Nobody is going to be complaining if you don’t like Guantanamo. I don’t like it either.”
Kenya Wants Donors To Pay For Somali Refugee Eviction Plan
22 April – Source: AFP/News 24 – 350 Words
Kenya has appealed to donors after its plan to shut down the world’s largest refugee camp and send Somalis back home ran into funding problems, reports said Wednesday. Kenya threatened to close the Dadaab camps and send home more than 360,000 Somali refugees within 90 days amid security fears in the wake of this month’s Garissa University massacre by Somalia’s Shebab insurgents in which 148 people died. But foreign minister Amina Mohamed has backtracked on the plan saying there was no timeline for closing Dadaab and that sending the refugees home “will depend on available resources”. Mohamed proposed holding a pledging conference at which Kenya would request international donors to provide funds for relocation, Kenyan media said. Mohamed was speaking after meeting Somali and UN refugee agency (UNHCR) officials in Nairobi on Tuesday to launch a tripartite commission on repatriating the refugees.
In November 2013 the same three parties signed a tripartite agreement on repatriating refugees from Dadaab after the Shebab attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in which at least 67 people died. Since then 2,000 refugees have voluntarily returned to Somalia, said Mohamed. Earlier this month Deputy President William Ruto said Dadaab would be shut down as part of a series of measures intended to improve Kenya’s security, triggering dismay among aid agencies and human rights groups. “We have asked the UNHCR to relocate the refugees in three months failure to which we shall relocate them ourselves,” Ruto said on April 11. Other measures include the construction of a barrier along Kenya’s 700 kilometre (435 mile) border with Somalia and the shutting down of money transfer agencies and civil society organisations working with Somalis.
Somalia’s Premier Bank To Bring ATMs, Debit Cards To Mogadishu
22 April – Source: Reuters – 553 Words
Somalia’s Premier Bank has struck a deal with Mastercard and will issue debit cards and install ATM machines in the capital of the war-ravaged country, the Islamic lender’s top executive said on Wednesday. The east African nation has struggled for more than two decades with civil war and containing an insurrection by Islamist militants which has meant even basic infrastructure has been beyond most of the country’s 10 million people. Yet with al Shabaab militants driven out of the capital Mogadishu and other major strongholds, business and consumer demand has grown for services which would be taken for granted in many other parts of the world, including banking. “Somalia is a very under-penetrated market with less than 3 percent of its population banked,” Mahat Mohamed Ahmed, managing director of Premier Bank, which received a licence from the central bank last year, told Reuters in Dubai.
Carrying local currency in Somalia, a de facto dollarized economy, is cumbersome as $1 is worth 21,000 Somali shillings, and the only note in circulation is 1,000 shillings. For wealthier Somalis and visiting foreigners, carrying cash can be a dangerous task in cities rife with crime and awash with guns. Ahmed said in an interview that the Islamic lender, one of a handful of banks in Somalia, will soon start distributing Mastercard-administered debit and prepaid cards to customers. It plans to have 15,000 cards issued by the end of 2015 and says its ATM machines will also accept cards issued abroad. MasterCard’s spokeswoman for Africa said it had licensed Premier Bank to go live with their cards and machines. However, Somali banks may struggle to convince the local population to sign up to debit cards, which might charge for withdrawals, as most Somalis use ubiquitous cheap, or free, mobile money technology to pay for goods and services. Premier has bought five ATM machines and will install them in various locations with high security in Mogadishu, Ahmed said. With a withdrawal limit of $1,000 a day, the cards can be used online and abroad.
OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE
“There has been a red line drawn by some of the international actors in Somalia that an extension of the term of the current government and the President is not an option. The international community appears to be breaking with the past in rewarding mediocrity of the Somali political elite.”
Somalia’s Democratic Transformation: Options For 2016
22 April – Source: Sahal Journal – 1, 065 Words
Somalia is at a crossroads. Although the security and governance challenges remain, the dark cloud of the “failed state” has at last departed. The country now is in transition and like any transitional country, it is suffering from structural problems; namely corruption, political nepotism, and lack of credible human resource. Most importantly, lack of political cohesion has led to dissolution of the Social Contract thus reestablishing political trust between the Somalis lies at the heart of resurrecting the Somali state. Some of the commentators on failed states underlined that “Somalia exemplifies the disintegration of the state-society relationship, specifically lacking the formation of a social contract between the state and society.” The argument is that as a clan based society, Somalis are acutely linked to their affiliated clans thus lacking the idea of belonging to something greater than the social structure- the state. Though this is a plausible argument it does not delve into the problems that have caused the disintegration of the state in the first place.
It is now April 2015 and the Somali Federal Government has barely begun to address many of the “transitional tasks” stipulated in the Provisional Constitution such as completing a final Constitution and securing an agreement on how a federal Somalia will operate. Most of the constitutional bodies have yet to be established and where established have suffered from severe delays. For example, the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission established in May 2014) has done very little work because of political and resource reason constraints and not because incapacity on the part of the commissioners themselves). Elections are due in August 2016 but both the Somali political class and international community privately state that the “one man one vote” elections will not take place in 2016. However, the “elephant” in the room has not been discussed in public. The author has it on good authority that this will be a topic of discussion in the next high-level partnership forum around June 2015.
The herculean tasks such as completing a new constitution, outlining how power will be shared, the system of government and agreeing who is Somali (a topic which will prove to be highly divisive if the current definition is debated) and the setting up of commissions to define boundaries and electoral systems, have yet to take meaningfully shape. State formation have begun with the establishment of Interim South West Administration (ISWA) and Interim Jubba Administration (IJA) however, two or three federal states are yet to be formed. One of the emerging states (Central State) is experiencing constitutional and political difficulties. On the political side, it appears that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is interfering with the process and not letting the local communities discuss the future of the state. On the constitutional front, the process does not follow the Provisional Constitution’s roadmap outlined in Chapter 15. With all these challenges, there has been a red line drawn by some of the international actors in Somalia that an extension of the term of the current government and the President is not an option.
TOP TWEETS
@Cidilibaax Opposition leaders in #Puntland must unite & put the Govn’t on their toes so they can improve the lives of the citizen #Somalia @UNSomalia
@Sumol67 Last meeting in #Mogadishu today: #NewDeal PSG 2 on Security & Institutions co-chaired MinDef, Turkey & US.#Somali
@harar24 #BREAKING: Suspected #AlShabaab militant kidnap #Kenya gov’t official in Mandera -Reports Say.#Somalia.
@SOPresident #Somalia: President H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud & his delegation reached Istanbul, Turkey where they will take part a conference.
@afrogothic i’ll believe in the beauty of somalia when i see more efforts going towards the IDPs
IMAGE OF THE DAY
A boat transports food and produce in the harbour of Kismayo seaport in southern Somalia where fishing and agriculture are key industries in southern Somalia.
Photo: AMISOM