April 29, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Bomb Targets UNOCHA Officer In Galkayo

28 April – Source: Garowe Online – 137 Words

A bomb placed under the car seat of UNOCHA officer Mohamed Abdirahman was detonated by remote control in Galkayo town. Initial reports indicate he survived the blast, police said on Tuesday. There has no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast which targeted the car of Mr. Abdirahman, a UNOCHA officer in Galkayo town which has seen series of attacks by the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group in Somalia. Several persons travelling in the car with Mr. Abdirahman were injured, according to police. The blast, which is the second one in two week that has targeted UN workers, highlighting the security challenges facing the United Nations operations in northern and central Somalia. At least seven people, including four UNICEF employees were killed after a bomb targeted their car in Garowe, the regional capital of Puntland on April 20. Al-Shabab vowed more attacks against the UN workers in Somalia.

Key Headlines

Bomb Targets UNOCHA Officer In Galkayo (Garowe Online)
Somali President Receives High Profile Reception In Garowe (Radio RBC)
Jubaland Concludes Election Of Parliament Speaker (Goobjoog News)
Mogadishu Aden Ade International Airport Flights Double (Somali Update)
Somalia Expresses Gratitude For Djibouti’s Continued Assistance (Wacaal Media)
Government Should Not Surrender To Terrorists Says Musalia Mudavadi (Standard Media)
Somali Man Charged With Making A Fake Refugee Certificate (The Star Kenya)
Kenyan Police Question Parliamentary Employee Over Possible Plot (Reuters)
Sicilian Court Convicts 20 Somalis Of Migrant-Trafficking (ABC/AP)
Who Is A Somali? (Wardheer News)
Ambassador Americo: Bye Kenya Hello Villa Somalia (Sahan Journal)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somali President Receives High Profile Reception In Garowe

28 April – Source: Radio RBC – 173 Words

The President of Federal Republic of Somalia Hassan Shiekh Mohamud along with high a large delegation has received warm reception in Garowe, Puntland State capital, RBC Reports. Top Puntland officials including President Abdiweli Gaas, Deputy President Abdihakin Amey and Puntland Parliament speaker Said Shire had welcomed the President of Somalia Mohamud at Garowe Airport, after plane carrying the delegation of the President landed. The President of Somalia along with his delegation were later escorted to the President Palace of Puntland where both sides have briefed the press on the President’s visit to Puntland. The President of the federal republic of Somalia Hassan Shiekh Mohamud has thanked the government and people of Puntland for the warm welcome, saying Puntland has played the biggest role in Somalia’s peace and government building process. Hassan Shiekh has arrived in Puntland to attend the second round of consultation forum between the Federal Government of Somalia and the Federal members States which is expected to commence in Garowe. President Mohamud is scheduled to remain in Puntland for three days.

Jubaland Concludes Election Of Parliament Speaker

28 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 161 Words

Interim Jubba Administration’s lawmakers gathered in Kismayo on Tuesday ahead of a vote to elect a new parliament speaker to replace interim speaker Sheikh Abdi Yusuf, a former Federal MP. The MPs have elected a new speaker, Abdi Mohamed Abdirahman who won the speaker’s post in a vote by legislators in Kismayo. Abdi held a significant lead in the first round of voting, thus becoming the official speaker of IJA parliament with relative ease. On the other hand the MPs proceeded to vote for the position of the new first and second deputies and Adan Khaliif Hajji managed to score the highest votes. Abdi Baaley won second deputy post. IJA Parliament was formed on 16th April of this year. Some clans have expressed dissatisfaction with the selection process, alleging manipulation and uneven quotas of the MPs. IJA parliament gained official recognition from the president of Somalia Hassan Shiekh Mohamud and his federal government.

Mogadishu Aden Ade International Airport Flights Double

28 April – Source: Somali Update – 207 Words

New report released by Favori, Turkish company Managing Mogadishu Aden Ade international Airport said the international and local flights arriving the airport has double in the last one year. The statistics released by the company states the flights increased more than 300,000 in the last one year. In 2013, both local and international flights reached 119,954 and 2014 439,879 an increase of 319,925. In the first four months of 2015, both local and international flights stands 5, 528 and the Favori Company Manager Hakan Aydin is optimistic this year will surpass 2014 record. In September 2013, Turkish Favori Company took over the management of Mogadishu Adan Ade international Airport after it signed agreement with Somali federal government. The Company manages everything from the ground handling, passenger service, cargo, fuel, as well as general airport maintenance. The company is expected to manage the airport in the next years as stipulated in the agreement. Early this year, Turkish President Racep Tayib Ordogaan open new terminal in Mogadishu which has so far changed the appearance of the Airport.

Somalia Expresses Gratitude For Djibouti’s Continued Assistance

28 April – Source: Wacaal Media – 145 Words

Djibouti will continue with its efforts to see Somalia back on its feet by providing both material and moral support. Speaking after hosting a delegation from Somalia led by the Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Mohamed Omar Arte at his presidential palace in Djiobuti, President Ismail Omar Guelle said that they were ready to go beyond the extra mile to ensure Somalia is back on track. Accompanied by his Prime Minister Abdulkadi Kaamil Mohamed, Guelle said that apart from contributing its armed forces to the AMISOM mission, his country was ready with any support Somalia needed from them. Somalia on its part thanked President Guelle and his country for standing with them all along. The country’s Deputy Premier Mr. Arte said that his country will never forget the helping hand of Djibouti and will forever remain grateful. He was accompanied by ministers for Information and livestock.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Government Should Not Surrender To Terrorists Says Musalia Mudavadi

28 April – Source: Standard Media – 123 Words

The government should not surrender to terrorists threats by abandoning its primary role of protecting citizens, Amani leader Musalia Mudavadi has said. Mudavadi said for government to say they don’t have security officers to guard institutions to abscond our cardinal duty of providing security to Kenyans. “The reckless message we sending Kenyans is that they are on their own, and to the terrorists that they have won”, he said in a statement. “In fact, I am opposed to closure of the Garissa University College or any use change. Garissa County needs the university.

We must be confident, return it to its status as a university and even 147 University as a monument of our struggle against terror. Erasing it from memory is cowardly”, he added. Mudavadi was reacting to media reports that the government has closed Garissa Teachers Training College and Garissa Medical College for lack of ability to guard them. “It amounts to surrender of territory to an invading force. The government has to be careful not to give impression it is pulling out of North-eastern and surrendering the area to Al-Shabaab”, he warned See also: Garissa college deserted after Al-Shabaab attack He said the attack in Wajir town today maybe a result of an emboldened terror group sensing government has surrendered.

“An army on retreat is fair play to the enemy. We should not ever give the impression that we are defeated. Let’s not tell them they have won”, he said. Meanwhile, thanking the president for embarking of integration scrip, the former deputy premier encouraged the president not to relent in appointing more Kenyans from diverse area into government. “The route he has taken is what all Kenyans expect of their leader. We have only one country and we encourage him not to backtrack diversifying appointments”, he said

Somali Man Charged With Making A Fake Refugee Certificate

28 April – Source: The Star Kenya – 123 Words

A Somali man was charged yesterday in court for making a fake refugee certificate.He however did not plead to the charges as a Somali interpreter was not in court.Mohamed Abdi Ali, 34, allegedly forged the certificate on April 1, 2011, within Nairobi CBD. The court heard on April 14 this year at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport entrance, Ali was arrested by police officers while trying to get out of the country. During interrogation, he produced the certificate to show he is a refugee. Ali was charged in court and the magistrate ordered him to be escorted to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for his status to be verified. It was later established that he was not a registered refugee by the UNHCR. His case will be mentioned tomorrow when he will plead to the charges.

Kenyan Police Question Parliamentary Employee Over Possible Plot

27 April – Source: Reuters – 346 Words

Kenyan authorities are questioning a legislative employee about a suspected plot to attack parliament in Nairobi, police and lawmakers said on Monday, amid concern after assaults by Islamist militants.Ali Abdulmajid, a long-serving parliamentary employee, was arrested on Sunday and held in the Kenyan capital after intelligence reports linked him to the plot, Ndegwa Muhoro, Director of the Criminal Investigations Department, said.

“He is in our custody assisting us with our investigations,” he added. Hundreds of Kenyans have died in five major attacks in the last two years, including a days-long siege at Nairobi’s Westgate mall in late 2013 that left 67 people dead and a pre-dawn attack at Garissa university earlier this month that killed 148 people, most of them college students.Somali Islamists al Shabaab have claimed responsibility for the attacks, which it says were retaliation for Kenya contributing troops to an African Union-led force in Somalia that has made significant gains against the militants.

A confidential report, which was issued last week by the Kenyan government and seen by Reuters, said al Shabaab had dispatched spies to “launch more high-scale attacks in the country on unspecified dates”. Targets included Nairobi Pentecostal Church, the University of Nairobi and parliament, said the report that appeared to directly refer to Abdulmajid.”The group intends to use an operative, who is affiliated to Pumwani Riyadh Mosque (and) who is also a staff member at the Senate, to actualize the attack,” the report said.

Sicilian Court Convicts 20 Somalis Of Migrant-Trafficking

27 April – Source: ABC/AP – 335 Words

A court in Sicily on Monday convicted 20 Somalis who had received political asylum in Italy of a role in a vast criminal organization focused on migrant-smuggling. Prosecutors in Catania said that the defendants were part of an international migrant-smuggling ring that demanded “large sums of money”from migrants from Kenya and Somalia to enter Italy. They then helped them continue their journey to destinations in northern Europe, especially Sweden.Their convictions bring to 42 the number of people found guilty of involvement in the same smuggling ring, which was operating throughout Italy. Italy, which has saved some 200,000 migrants at sea since the beginning of 2014, has sought to crack down on human traffickers to help deal with the huge influx of migrants reaching its shores.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday joined Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on a brief visit to an Italian navy ship involved in border control operations in the Mediterranean Sea. “Unfortunately, recently, due to political instability, in some parts of Africa, particularly North Africa, this sea has sadly become a sea of tears, a sea of misery,” Ban said in a statement. “I think it seems to be the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.” He said he recognizes the situation is a huge challenge for European governments.

“Not a single country – like Italy – can bear all this responsibility. In that regard, I welcome and commend the leadership of the European Union. They were united and showed their solidarity to address this humanitarian crisis and to give a better future for many people,” Ban said. He added that U.N. agencies are ready to work with the EU to prevent human trafficking and to find a political solution to the instability in northern Africa.Renzi told Italian news agency ANSA that the visit underscores that “the entire international community is aware that this is a global problem and not a question that regards one country.”

OPINION/ANALYSIS/CULTURE

“In my polemic, I brought in a bit of me – black and East African – perhaps to destabilise and complicate the context in which Cadaan Studies was being theorised. I also sought to extend the frontiers of knowledge production, insert within these frontiers and Africa-to-Africa dynamic, and then point to the ugliness of othering.”

Who Is A Somali?

27 April – Source: Wardheer News – 378 Words

Ever since the publication of my response to Cadaan Studies, I have received both critical and favourable responses. The critical responses have challenged my understanding of the terms of the debate – especially how I sought to racialise a debate, which essentially meant to criticize structures of domination and marginalisation in Somali studies. Let me suggest that racialising this conversation, if I did, is not an original sin of mine. Indeed, one well articulated response angrily urged that racialization of this debate is equally important [what a divided opposition I have here].

What I find strange, however, is that categories such as “Somalis,” “non-Somali academics” and “Cadaan” loud in Safia Aidid’s theorisation of Cadaan Studies denote race and parentage in their first sense. Terms have meaning as they have histories, and genealogies. Terms are never constructed in a vacuum. They are born at specific moments in history. The event for Cadaan Studies is a concern over native representation on the SLAJ – board and editorial. We can stretch Cadaan Studies to mean power and privilege, and weakness and marginalisation on the other hand. This is an important stretch, but we have to refine this debate by placing it in a proper historical and genealogical context.

“One thing that I always say is that we are really in debt to Kenya: when someone sends their boys and girls and they die for you, you can never replace that…It is something we really appreciate and we are thankful for.”

Ambassador Americo: Bye Kenya, Hello Villa Somalia

28 April – Source: Sahan Journal – 5404 Words

ON A WARM NAIROBI afternoon, one day before he officially vacated office, Somalia’s immediate former ambassador to Kenya, Mohammed Ali Nur “Americo,” gave successive interviews to journalists who kept trickling into his office. It was exactly a week after the Somali militant group, Al-Shabaab, killed 147 people in a dawn attack at the Garissa University College in Kenya’s northeastern region. It was a post-tragedy moment, infused with a sense of urgency and anger, coupled with the media fraternity’s attempt to interpret what this meant for the future of Kenya-Somalia relations. When Al-Shabaab strikes nowadays – and they have done so more often, killing hundreds of people since 2011, when the Kenya Defense Forces invaded Somalia – it is Americo who finds himself in the middle of it all. He is the man who clarifies his country’s positions, the diplomat plenipotentiary who carries the load of explaining to a vexed public the danger emanating from his country’s borders. Through it all, he dismisses Al-Shabaab’s attacks as “cowardly,” and at the same time, cautions against the maltreatment of ethnic Somalis in Kenya following these assaults.

“We have a long border. We have [a] common enemy. Kenyan forces are in Somalia with AMISOM helping Somali forces. We should not fall for the enemy’s tactics to divide us,” he says.Easing out of his suit jacket that afternoon, and sporting a pressed white shirt and red tie, Americo projected the image of a man who was tough yet tired, composed yet stressed. After eight years at the helm, he was leaving his post at the embassy while the burden of his message was not yet delivered. Despite the fact that Kenya and Somalia share a lengthy border that stretches for over 680 kilometers, the relationship between the two countries was still pervaded with intransigence and half-heartedness…On becoming ‘Americo’ Mohamed Ali Nur was born on October 12, 1962, in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. His father, Ali Nur, was “a big guy,” a man who passionately practiced boxing, and who worked as a foreman in a borehole company drilling for water. Given Ali Nur’s fondness for cowboy hats, his friends nicknamed him Ali Americo. “That’s why I am now carrying the name,” Mohamed cheerfully admits, even though many people still believe the nickname is derived from Mohamed studying in the United States rather than a name passed down from father to son. His mother was a housewife who took care of the family’s six children: one girl, five boys. Mohamed was the oldest, and he vividly remembers his mother’s patient character, and her readiness to lend a helping hand to their relatives. She died when Mohamed was just nine years old. By then, Mohamed Siad Barre, heading the Supreme Revolutionary Council had overtaken the nation in a bloodless putsch, and with the teachings of scientific socialism, changed the course of the country’s direction forever.