April 24, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.

UPDATE: Al Shabaab Militants Kill Kidnapped Mandera Chief

24 April – Source: Standard Media – 227 Words

Al Shabaab militants killed a Kenyan chief after they failed to get Sh4 million ransom. The militants had kidnapped the chief identified as Muktar Otieno from Arabia, Mandera County at about 7am on Thursday. According to police, the body of the chief was found in Badhere area, tied on a tree and with four bullet wounds. The vehicle the gang had also carjacked was missing. Officials aware of the incident said negotiations to release the chief were led by local elders who however, failed to convince the kidnappers.

“We are wondering how the so called elders knew about the incident, long before the militarty arrived,” said an official in the area. The body was expected to be transported back to Kenya Thursday night. “They had demanded a ransom of Sh4 million but after the negotiations broke down, the gunmen tied him on a tree and shot him at close range,” said a Kenyan security official aware of the incident but who asked not to be named.

Muktar was popular among locals in Arabia. He was in the company of his assistant in a public service vehicle headed for Mandera Town when the gunmen struck. Officials said the gang seemed to target him and after they got hold of him they hijacked a miraa van and drove off towards Badhere area about 50 kilometers away from Kenyan border.

Key Headlines

Mothers Flee Yemen Without Their Children (Radio Ergo)
Somali People Stand For The Help Of Their Brotherly Somali Refugees (Goobjoog News)
Private Company Granted License To Patrol Puntland Waters (Garowe Online)
Kenya’s President Bid Farewell To Former Somali Ambassador To Kenya (Somali Current)
The Fresh Jubbaland Parliament To Appoint Speaker (RBC Radio)
UPDATE: Al-Shabaab Militants Kill Kidnapped Mandera Chief (Standard Media)
Mother of ISIS Recruit Suspect Voices Shock Disbelief (The Wall Street Journal)
Somalia’s Banana Exporters A Happy Lot As Security Improves (AKF Insider)
UN Flags At Half Mast In Honour Of Staff Including Two Kenyans Killed In Somalia (The Star Kenya)
FA Calls For Troops To Leave Somali Stadium (BBC Sports)
Somalia: The Unlikely 2016 Parliament Election Reinstates 4.5 Clan Formula (Hiiraan Online)
Syncopation Of Deceptive Words (Wardheer News)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Mothers Flee Yemen Without Their Children

24 April – Source; Radio Ergo – 512 Words
Amina Abdullahi Jama was among the first groups of Somali refugees to flee the conflict in Yemen in a small boat from the port of Mukalla. In the confusion and haste to get out, she was unable to gather her family together before escaping. Now in Bosasso, she looks out to sea wondering where her children are and how she can reunite with them. “I broke up with their father two years ago and I went to work in Alqayda town while my children were in San’aa,” she told Radio Ergo’s local reporter, who visited a group of around 75 returnees camped out in a ministry of agriculture building in Bosasso. Amina stated that she has seven children, aged between two and 15. “I was preparing to visit them when the offensive started, but I could not manage to travel at that time as I had no money because I hadn’t got my salary that month yet…then, unfortunately, all the roads were sealed off and suddenly I was forced to flee for my life,” she said.

According to UNHCR, 2,772 people have so far arrived in Bosasso and Berbera from Yemen.Many of them say they have been separated from family members and need help finding them. Safia Ahmed, 50, is also camping in the Bosasso agriculture ministry building. She told Radio Ergo’s reporter she had lived in Yemen for 12 years. When the fighting erupted, like many Somalis, she was working away from her children and does not know where they are now. “I have three children and I was working to support them in a hotel in Sheikh in the city of Aden. I heard that two of my children had reached the port of Mukalla but I am yet to confirm that. The conflict separated us and we couldn’t find each other. There were food and water shortages where I was and everything was coming to a standstill as the bombings were so heavy,” she said. Another returned, Hawo Ibrahim, also left Yemen alone, hoping of course to be able to reunite with her three children and family. She had been working as a housemaid for a Yemeni family in the city, who told her they could no longer afford to pay her as the country imploded into chaos. Life was becoming very difficult as food and cooking gas supplies were cut off. “I decided to flee back to Somalia leaving my husband and children behind in Al-Kharaz refugee camp. I am now in Bosasso but I am worried for them. I may decide to go back and look for them anytime,” Hawo said. Amina feels lucky because she believes her children are safe for the time being, as a generous local resident agreed to give her children refuge in Mukalla. Still, she misses them so much that she keeps thinking of “jumping back into the sea” to go and find them. Meanwhile, she confirmed she and other returnees had received some financial assistance from the Puntland ministry of interior and a local youth group in Bosasso.

Somali People Stand For The Help Of Their Brotherly Somali Refugees

24 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 308 Words

Deka Ali Mohamed, a women’s right activist has welcomed a campaign called “Gurmad iyo Gargaar” which is intended to help Somali refugees in Kenya and Yemen. “There are so many ways that Somali people can assist their brotherly Somali refugees to come their own motherland, meagre amount you pay can help a Somali refugee suffering in abroad” she said. She added that the public should be aware of what is happening to Somalis in Yemen is a case of ‘out of frying pan into fire.’ “Somali government has to look for ways to save Somali and has to sought help in evacuating its citizens from war-torn Yemen” he noted.

For many years, hundreds of Somalis have risked their lives by crossing the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen in their search for safety and a better life. Many die atrocious deaths – beaten, thrown overboard, eaten by sharks, drowned or asphyxiated in crowded smuggler boats. But now the case is the other way round. Somalis currently living in Yemen are in jeopardy and trapped in the conflict zone. More than 24 countries have been moving citizens from Yemen in recent months but in the case of Somali refugees, they are waiting for nobody but Somali people to help them.

On the other hand Kenya has appealed to donors to take charge of the planned shutdown of the Daadab refugee camp and send Somalis back to their country. It has also 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 Al-Shabaab in which 148 people were killed.

Private Company Granted License To Patrol Puntland Waters

24 April – Source: Garowe Online – 301 Words

Puntland Government in northern Somalia granted private company, Somali Security Service (SSS) a license to patrol territorial waters against illegal fishing during a ceremony held at Bossaso seaport, Garowe Online reports. Puntland Fisheries Minister Abdinur Elmi Bindo, Bari Governor Abdisamad Mohamed Galan, Bossaso Mayor Hassan Abdale Hassan, security commanders led by Bari-regional police commander and the head of the Private company-allegedly aligned with Puntland President-Abdiweli Ali Taar attended the ceremony. Somali Security Service (SSS) head told journalists at Bossaso port that they will provide Puntland’s Ministry for Fisheries with a ship which will take part in endeavor aiming to fight trawling vessels off the coast of Puntland. He said the move follows calls by Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali. for increased protection for territorial waters on account of looming national disaster.

Taar Abdiweli Ali Taar stressed the need for more ships with armed guards on-board in the coming months. SSS owner headed the now-defunct company, SOMCAN that struck agreement with first Puntland leader Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. SOMCAN militias had since 2008 been remaining under the command of the current Bari regional police commander Abdihakin Yusuf Hussein. As a result of alarming pillage of marine resources and piracy off the East African coast, Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF), Somalia’s first-ever anti-piracy unit-was set up in 2010. Having launched on-land raids on pirate hideouts, PMPF receives financial support from United Arab Emirates. Analysts tell Garowe Online that the decision to hire private company would cast doubt on the mandate of Puntland Marine Forces. Insiders familiar with such developments further noted the track record for private firms patrolling at sea, saying that they have failed in Puntland.

Kenya’s President Bid Farewell To Former Somali Ambassador To Kenya

23 April – Source: Somali Current – 147 Words

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta bade farewell to former Somali ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Americo in Nairobi. The ceremony took place in at President Kenyatta state house office in Nairobi. President Kenyatta conveyed his best wishes to Ambassador Americo in his future endeavors and thanked him for his contribution to the development of bilateral ties.

For his part, the ambassador thanked the President and his government for the fruitful condition created for the embassy’s activities and promised to work with Kenyan government in the feature. Many Somalis in Kenya regard Americo as hero for the things he has achieved during his tenure as Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya. Ambassador Americo was replaced by Jamal Hussein, close ally of the current Prime Minister Omar Abdi Rashid Sharmake. Mohamed Ali Americo has declared his intention to run for the Presidency come 2016. Many Somalis have lauded the ambassador’s decision.

The Fresh Jubbaland Parliament To Appoint Speaker

23 April – Source: RBC Radio – 127 Words

The newly selected parliament members of Jubbaland are set to appoint a speaker, RBC Reports. The election of Jubbaland parliament speaker and his deputy is expected to happen soon according to a parliamentarian who spoke to a local radio station. Shire Abdi Hassan, a member of the fresh parliament stated that they will choose a speaker and his deputy among the members. Shortly after these members of the parliament were sworn-in, an interim speaker had been appointed among themselves to chair the house of representative. Jubbaland, a fragile Somali Federal member state only had a cabinet members which were elected by the President Ahmed Madobe. The International community have in recent days welcomed the establishment of the first parliament of Jubbaland.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Mother of ISIS Recruit Suspect Voices Shock, Disbelief

24 April – Source: The Wall Street Journal – 1, 093 Words

After fleeing war-torn Somalia and languishing for years in a Kenyan refugee camp, Farhiyo Mohamed says her family felt blessed to start a new life in the U.S. in 2003. “We came to this country looking for peace,” she said. That sense of peace was shattered when federal agents banged on her door in south Minneapolis on Sunday following the arrest of her oldest child, Abdulrahman Daoud, in San Diego. Her 21-year-old son was allegedly en route to Syria to join Islamic State, or ISIS. Mr. Daoud is now part of a federal case that involves six young men, one of the largest groups of would-be foreign fighters so far charged by U.S. authorities with conspiring to support a terrorist organization. Their arrests came amid intensified efforts to investigate terrorist recruitment that has heightened scrutiny of Somali-Americans.

Four of the young men appeared in federal court in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday. Mr. Daoud was scheduled to appear in San Diego federal court Friday for a detention hearing, but the judge agreed to a request from his lawyer to delay it until April 30. The second man arrested in San Diego, Mohamed Farah, is set to be in courtFriday for a detention hearing. “I am shocked because my son is a good kid,” said Mrs. Mohamed, 40 years old, as she spoke with a reporter late Wednesday at a community center here frequented by Somali youth and women. While she expressed disbelief and heartbreak over her son’s alleged intentions, some Somali-American youngsters who said they attended high school with Mr. Daoud voiced outrage, suggesting law enforcement had framed the six men to intimidate their community.

Mrs. Mohamed said that she and her husband, who works with elderly Americans at an adult center, had no inkling that her son might have been lured to Syria by extremists. “I don’t believe my son was going” to join a terrorist group, she said, her round face framed by a purple hijab. “Maybe someone brainwashed him,” she said. “I don’t know.” Mr. Daoud and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah had driven to California from Minneapolis together, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents said, aiming to travel to Mexico and then on to Syria. Four other men—Adnan Farah,Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, Hanad Mustafe Musse and Guled Ali Omar—were arrested in Minneapolis. Mrs. Mohamed said her son wasn’t planning to leave Minneapolis for good. He had a girlfriend who he had intended to marry soon, she said, and he had been apartment hunting.

Somalia’s Banana Exporters A Happy Lot As Security Improves

23 April – Source: AKF Insider – Video – 2:02 Minutes
Banana exporters in war-torn Somalia are a happy lot. After more than two decades of civil war, bananas are making a comeback, CCTV Africa reported. Fighting in the horn of Africa nation has subsided in recent years mainly due to intervention by African Union forces helped by local federal government forces to drive Al Qaeda-linked Al shabab militants from most part of the country. This relative peace after a long while has given banana farmers and traders a chance to grow and export their produce to the Middle East and EU markets.Banana export was once a thriving business in Somalia and the country was the largest exporter of the crop in East Africa before war broke out in 1991.

At its peak, over 12,000 hectors of land was used to produce the crop and employed about 120,000 people. Currently the country grows bananas in less than 3,000 hectors mostly for local consumption, Somaliland press reported. Somalia’s banana is still a preferred meal in many Asian countries including the United Arab Emirates and Iran due to its pure organic taste. Researchers also say that bananas from the country are resistant to major pests and diseases while the riverine soil they are grown in is rich in nutrients. The export of banana has however come with some consequences. Locals have had to content with higher prices for the crop in the local market as foreign demand cause a shortage in the country of origin.

UN Flags At Half Mast In Honour Of Staff, Including Two Kenyans, Killed In Somalia

23 April – Source: The Star Kenya – 158 Words

The United Nations flags flew at half-mast on Thursday across the world for United Nations Children’s Fund workers killed in Garowe, Somalia. The Unicef held a memorial at the Gigiri complex in Nairobi and in New York for the seven humanitarian workers killed in Garowe on Monday.Among them were two Kenyans, a Ugandan, an Afghan and three Somalis. The two Kenyans were identified as Woki Munyui, who had been supporting UNICEF’s education work in Somalia since 2007 and Stephen Oduor, who had been undertaking vital administrative work for UNICEF Somalia since 2010.

Unicef’s executive director Anthony Lake said: “Our colleagues dedicated their lives to working for the children of Somalia. They are not victims. They and those who were wounded are heroes. We mourn their loss and hope for the full recovery of the injured.”Regional chief of communication James Elder told the Star the bodies of the victims will be flown to their countries for burial.

FA Calls For Troops To Leave Somali Stadium

23 April – Source: BBC Sports – 308 Words

The Somali Football Association has repeated its call for the African Peacekeeping troops to leave the Somalia National Stadium in Mogadishu. The 70,000-capacity stadium has been occupied by the African Union Mission in Somalia for nearly a decade, preventing it from hosting any sport. “We ask that [the troops] vacate the stadium in order for it to be used for the purpose it was built for,” said Somali FA president Abdiqani Said Arab. The SFA also made the request in 2013.

Speaking to the BBC Somali Service, Said Arab said he wants to see the return of “Somali youth participate in sports activities, as well as associations such as the Olympics doing their work (in the stadium)”. “We are making such repeated requests so that we can prepare ourselves as other countries are doing,” he added. Said Arab said Somalia had been forced to abandon their efforts for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations because of their inability to play in their home ground. Despite being known as one of Africa’s more modern and well-designed stadiums – capable of hosting basketball, volleyball and even swimming in addition to football – the Somali National Stadium has barely been used because of over two decades of anarchy and civil war in Somalia.

The stadium’s occupiers have changed several times – in the early 1990s American units were based there, as shown in the climax of the movie Black Hawk Down. It became a base for Ethiopia’s troops after they invaded Somalia between 2007-2009. Lastly it became base for the African Union Mission. Mr Said Arab said the troops are using the stadium as barracks. The Somali FA has recently started efforts to exploit the relative peace in the capital, with the aim of finally seeing the return of international home matches.

OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE

“What puzzles many Somalis including myself is the talk about political election in August 2016 when the review of the Provisional Constitution which is one of many preconditions for political election has yet to be put in words, debated and passed by legitimate stakeholders for national referendum.”

Somalia: The Unlikely 2016 Parliament Election Reinstates 4.5 Clan Formula

23 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1,250 Words

The Somali people aspire to become citizens of a sovereign, reconciled, integrated, and peaceful Country under democratic parliamentary system of government constrained by will of the people and the rule of law. Free and fair national and local elections of peoples’ representatives and leaders at predetermined time are the main feature of the democratic government. The first post transition Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) formed in August 2012 and led by President Hassan Sh. Mohamed, former civil society activist, has been elected to establish the institutions and laws necessary to conduct national election throughout Somalia by the end of its four year term in August 2016. The FGS enjoyed the opportunity and needed support to undertake methodically, transparently, and responsibly the priority tasks envisaged in many documents – the Constitution, Vision 2016, and the Somali Compact.

But its failure to implement those tasks has undermined the execution of Articles 60 (Terms of Office of the Parliament) and 91 (Term of Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia).These last articles establish the right and responsibility of the Somali Citizens to express conscious judgment on the performance of their representatives after four years in office and on future anticipations by exercising their right to vote. The sacking of two Prime Ministers and their Cabinet within two years by the joint efforts of the President and members of parliament (MPs) for incompetence has been touted as political achievements and maturity. Thus, the people’s collective judgment on the performance of MPs and the President after four years through democratic process would enhance that political maturity. There is no clause in the Provisional Constitution that allows term extension for any justification.

“The sad aspect of those who elected themselves to chart Somali voting model is that they failed to ascertain a native metaphor that represents the cultural and cognitive processes of Somali people. Their pioneering research engendered an imported foreign phrase, ‘Proportional Representation model’, and even went further to argue that ‘proportional representation offers a fair, just and equitable solution.’ What is quite conspicuous is that their thinking and vocabulary are free from all dimensions of Somali nativism.”

Syncopation of Deceptive Words

22 April – Source: Wardheer News – 2, 281 Words
Creation of political parties and Somali election have become topical discussion that any free reasonable Somali person should engage these days. It even seems that engagement of this discussion is a national duty to build and strengthen reasonable and free society, to the extent that the participation of Somali election has sacred importance, a false conformation that mere voting exercise can remedy social, political, cultural and economic degradation that Somali people confront contemporaneously. What is also quite surreal in these discussions is the absence of historical contextualization – historical forces, trajectories, discourses, experiences that brought us where we are today.

Any humanist scholar would agree that political discourses exist in contexts, and in order to establish where one is and their future ambitions, reflection of historical dimensions will render political, intellectual, cultural rigour and stability to one’s proposition – historical ideas that establish the interplay of peoples’ life and the creation of future political vision. Instead we are experiencing an alienating verbosity, rather revolutionary rhetoric that without political parties, without voting, Somali people will be wretched. Is it not quite axiomatic that ‘the quality of politics depends on the intellectual qualities of those who engage in it.’ Despite the condescending political pontification of Somali political elite, they failed miserably to articulate how seldom political participation and voting will transform the lives of wretched of the earth. Indeed it is the sonority of their rhetoric that is convivial, ‘not its transforming power.’

TOP TWEETS

@RobertAlai The Arabia chief kidnapped this morning in Mandera has been found killed inside Somalia. His body being brought back to Mandera for burial

@Aynte In #Adaado for few days to help guide conference to set up federal state for Galgaduud & Mudug regions of #Somali

‏@jamessmat MUST READ. How KE journalism builds a massive WALL btn Kenyans and SOMALIS. Thought provokinghttp://networkednews.org/project_resourcecc:@NN_Lab

@Rnagila Six Kenyans trained in Somalia by Al Shabaab surrender to police in Mombasa following Govt Amnesty@cctvnewsafrica via

@MohamedMascud @SomaliPM also told @Reuters he was pressing #Kenya to reopen #Somali money transfer firms that are a lifeline to many in #Somalia

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IMAGE OF THE DAY

Somali elders sit under a tree. Community elders sitting down to discuss issues is the mechanism by which Somalis traditionally resolved their disputes.

Photo: ‏@ SomPundit