April 23, 2018 | Morning Headlines.
Ex-PM Rubbishes Dubai Claims Of Inking MoU On Berbera Port Deal With Somalia
22 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 257 Words
Former Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali has dismissed remarks made by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) claiming the Emirati government engaged in a MoU on Berbera deal with the previous Somali administration. The Dubai owned Port Operator, DP World Company had inked an agreement with Somaliland during Ali’s tenure of Premiership. Speaking to the media, the former PM said his government was not part of the military base and Berbera Port deals penned by DP World and Somaliland authorities.
“I hereby make clear that, for those years that I was the Prime Minister, there was neither military nor trade agreements that we engaged in, with United Arab Emirates particularly over Berbera and Bossaso Port deals,” said Ali. When pressed about knowing any UAE deal before he assumed office, the Premier underscored that he was unaware of the existence of previous agreements signed by his predecessors with UAE. “I could not talks on behalf of the governments before mine, but for those two years I was the PM there were no agreements inked by Somalia and UAE,” he confirmed.
Earlier this week, the UAE State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash claimed his government penned a development and humanitarian support deals with the former government of Somalia. Gargash neither specifically mentioned the then leaders of the government nor the year of the agreement. “We had a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the former government and it was very clear. We did not have a consulate or embassy in Somaliland so there was no formal relationship,” Gargash said.
Key Headlines
- Ex-PM Rubbishes Dubai Claims Of Inking MoU On Berbera Port Deal With Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
- Government Launches Civil Service Staff Audit (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia’s Security Minister Inspects Police Stations In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Somalia Tunisia To Get Admission Into Comesa (The East African)
- Somalia Warns Dubai Ports World Against Violating Its Sovereignty (Aljazeera)
- Turkish Envoy To Somalia Olgan Bekar: Still So Much Work To Be Done In Somalia (Daily Sabah)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Government Launches Civil Service Staff Audit
22 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 255 Words
The government has today launched a national audit of the civil service aimed at establishing government employee and payroll data with a view to streamlining the public sector. Prime Minister Hassan Khaire while launching the exercise at a city hotel said the audit was instrumental in not only understanding the human resource composition in the public sector but also critical in policy formulation. “I have today launched the human resource audit which aims to get correct human resource and payroll data,” the PM said. “The audit will help evaluate the state of Federal Government of Somalia civil service and policies to determine overall effectiveness.”
The exercise which is set to kick off Monday according to the PM will also help ‘to identify civil servants, their working conditions and how they can be supported’. On several occasions there have been concerns about the cost effectiveness of the public service with claims of existence of ghost workers. According to statistics captured in the 2017 national budget last July, the civil service is made up of 5,526 employees. Out of this, a majority which are grade A are 2,502 and are the highest paid followed by grade B (1527), grade C (995) and the grade D with 502 employees.
The 2018 national budget set aside $130.4 million for government employees’ compensation up from $128 million in 2017 and more than double ($52.9m) in 2015. This is against a $274 million budget meaning at least half of the national budget goes to civil servants salaries.
Somalia’s Security Minister Inspects Police Stations In Mogadishu
22 April – Source: Shabelle News – 94 Words
The Minister of security for Somali Federal government Mohamed Abukar Islow has inspected several Police stations in Mogadishu. Accompanied by Police commander-in-chief General Bashir Abdi Mohamed and other security officials, the minister paid a working visit to Bondhere and Abdulaziz Police posts.
Islow also visited the Central Investigation Department [CID] located on KM4 junction, where dozens of criminals, some accused of being Al-Shabaab members are held. The visit was part of the efforts to boost the collaboration between the security agencies of the Somali government and evaluate the work of the law enforcement officers.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Warns Dubai Ports World Against Violating Its Sovereignty
22 April – Source: Aljazeera – 425 Words
Somalia’s foreign minister said Dubai state-owned port operator DP World should reconsider its contract with the breakaway region of Somaliland and work with federal authorities so the East African country’s sovereignty is not violated. “We are asking DP World to reconsider these agreements, particularly the one in Berbera port since Somaliland is claiming to be a state independent from Somalia,” Ahmed Isse Awad, told Reuters news agency on Friday. Awad said DP World’s agreement to develop an economic zone and port in Somaliland’s Berbera “bypassed the legitimate authority” of Somalia, triggering “misunderstanding and disagreement” that remained unresolved.
DP World, the world’s fourth-largest port operator based in Dubai, said in 2016 it would invest more than $400m to develop the Berbera port. The deal also included the government of Ethiopia, which took a 19 percent stake in the port. Abu Dhabi agreed in March to train security forces in Somaliland – a region in northern Somalia seeking secession from the rest of the country. Mogadishu dismissed the agreement and called on the United Nations to take action.
Somalia’s ambassador to the UN, Abukar Osman, said the agreement between Somaliland and the UAE to establish the base in Berbera is a “clear violation of international law”. “The Federal Government of Somalia strongly condemns these blatant violations, and reaffirms that it will take the necessary measures deriving from its primary responsibility to defend the inviolability of the sovereignty and the unity of Somalia,” Osman said.
Somalia, Tunisia To Get Admission Into Comesa
21 April – Source: The East African – 672 Words
Africa’s largest trading bloc, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is set to get even bigger in June with the admission of Somalia and Tunisia, increasing its membership to 21 countries. The addition of two countries comes just after the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Kigali in March. The AfCFTA aims to break down trade barriers across the continent.
Officials told The East African that Somalia and Tunisia will join “after having fulfilled the terms and conditions of accession” to the Comesa Treaty. Article 4 of the Treaty provides that the bloc’s highest organ the Comesa Authority may admit a country that is an immediate neighbour of a member state upon fulfilling conditions set forth, including acceptance of the aims and objectives, compliance with the general undertakings and fundamental principles and wishing to co-operate with Comesa. Increased population: The two countries’ admission will end years of knocking on the doors of Comesa currently a 490-million people market. The inclusion of Somalia and Tunisia will increase the population to over 516 million people just under half of the continent’s population.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Turkey always makes efforts to stay outside of internal political developments,” he added. Calling on all international actors in the country to lend a helping hand to Somali brothers and sisters, who are going through serious tests and difficulties, the envoy said that a Somalia that lives in peace and achieves to preserve its own security should be everyone’s common goal.”
Turkish Envoy To Somalia Olgan Bekar: Still So Much Work To Be Done In Somalia
21 April – Source: Daily Sabah – 684 Words
Turkey still has its hands full in Somalia in spite of excellent and brotherly bilateral ties and humanitarian efforts as well as investments since 2011, Turkey’s Ambassador to Somalia Olgan Bekar said. Speaking to Daily Sabah in an exclusive interview, the Turkish envoy in Mogadishu said that Turkey has realized a remarkable number of development and humanitarian projects in Somalia since 2011, which led to “excellent political ties.” “There is so much work to be done. I think it would be beneficial to prioritize bilateral economic and cultural relations to further strengthen the political ties that are currently at an excellent level,” Bekar said.
Underscoring that the Turkish state strives to allow its Somali brothers and sisters to live a normal life, the envoy said that governmental and nongovernmental organizations exert every effort to be on the ground. The Turkish ambassador, who has been posted in Mogadishu for a four-year term, believes the Turkish-Somali ties grow at a pace with a notion of strong brotherhood and solidarity. “Somali society keeps the relations with our country out of their daily political context and places special value on them. The Somali people consider our country as a real brother that would support and stand by Somalia at its most difficult times,” Bekar said.
The Somali people find themselves in an environment with a de facto nonexistent state. Furthermore, the country has been in a civil war since the early 1990s. The Turkish envoy said the country is being tested with multidimensional and broad problems. “It requires effort, patience, energy and time to realize normalization in every aspect of the daily life in Somalia. Turkey has been strengthening bilateral ties within the framework of humanitarian diplomacy principles since 2011 in order for our Somali brothers and sisters to have a normal life,” he said, adding that the road ahead for everyone in the country is very long.
Military training facility quenches security need
Turkey opened a military training facility in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu in September 2017. The Turkish and Somali governments signed an agreement that allowed the Turkish military to train and equip Somali soldiers and military officers for five years. Sitting on vast land, the military training facility has already been home to hundreds of Somali troops. Commenting on the significance of the military training base, the envoy said that the precondition for the Somali state to have an institutional ground again is to ensure security at an acceptable level. “It is the essential goal to establish Somali security forces. It is a requirement of our comprehensive Somali policy for our country, which has won the trust and love of the Somali people, to play a role in the re-establishment of Somali security forces,” he said. Bekar underlined that the military training facility quenches a great deficiency in the area of security in the country. “Commissioned and noncommissioned military officers, who will constitute the backbone of the Somali army in the future, are being trained by the talented officers of the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK],” he said.