April 6, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia: Presidential Guard Chief Sacked Amid Political Crisis
06 April – Source: Garowe Online – 221 Words
The Commander-in-chief of Somalia’s Presidential guard unit, Colonel Ahmed Mohamed, known as “Af-Addey” has been sacked on Thursday, April 5, amid deepening political crisis. Mr. Mohamed was removed from his assignment as the general commanding officer for presidential guard force, over allegations that he got involved in Wednesday’s standoff at the country’s parliament headquarters in Mogadishu.
The commander, according to the sources has allowed a group of presidential guards, to escort the embattled lower house speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari and his second deputy Mahad Awad, entering weapons inside parliament illicitly. Additionally, Mr. Mohamed voiced his opposition to the government’s move in stripping off Jawari’s security details, and the detention of dozen of soldiers, who had earlier escorted him inside parliament building, for violating security procedures.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity has confirmed to reports, that Colonel Omar Abdirahman was appointed as interim commander of the presidential guard, replacing the sacked chief who has been in power since 2017. “The head of Villa Somalia [Presidential Palace] security force has been fired after he disagreed with the decision to remove Speaker Jawari’s security detail,” he added. The government has withdrawn Jawari’s bodyguards and detained scores of army soldiers for going into the parliament with weapons that prompted, fierce deadlock between the MPs and led to the cancellation of Wednesday’s session.
Key Headlines
- Somalia: Presidential Guard Chief Sacked Amid Political Crisis (Garowe Online)
- Latest Reports On The Motion Against Speaker Jawari (Hiiraan Online)
- Ongoing Political Stalemate Threatens Existence Of Government Puntland Warns (Horseed Media)
- UAE People Attract The World To Their Country Says Leader (The Gulf Today)
- US Department of State Designates Two Kenyan Al-Shabaab Militants (Janes.com)
- Once A Hostage Sri Lankan Sailor Now Helps Battle Somali Pirates (VOA)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Latest Reports On The Motion Against Speaker Jawari
06 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 110 Words
Pro Speaker Jawari MPs denied media reports that the Somali Parliament Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari was planning to resign. They said Speaker Jawari has no intentions of resignation but is rather willing to see the differences resolved through legal channels. Furthermore, the office of the Speaker of Parliament also denied the media reports as baseless.
The political tension of the no-confidence motion against the Speaker of Parliament still lingers. The commander of Somalia’s military forces has arrested some of the security details of Speaker Jawari for allegedly having been involved in commotion inside the parliament and preventing the session of the House of the People of Parliament to proceed.
Ongoing Political Stalemate Threatens Existence Of Government, Puntland Warns
06 April – Source: Horseed Media – 91 Words
The Puntland regional administration has for the first time commented on the ongoing political crisis in Mogadishu between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. In a statement, Puntland Cabinet called on all sides involved in the political crisis to show maturity and compromise for the sake of the nation and the people.
Puntland said all government branches should avoid anything that can cripple the existence of the government. It also called on the constitutional review committees to fast track their work of reviewing and revising the vital document.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UAE People Attract The World To Their Country, Says Leader
06 April – Source: The Gulf Today – 370 Words
“The UAE – all our business assets are in Dubai, our economic activity depends on the UAE, the flights, the ports etc. This is because the UAE people are a business people. They have managed to attract the entire world to their country. Our economic interests lie with Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” Muse Bihi Abdi, the President of Somaliland, has said according to a local daily.
The newspaper quoted President Abdi as stating, “We have very close ties to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Arabia is a neighbour; it’s very close to us. All our exports go to Saudi Arabia. And there are two holy mosques there where our people go on pilgrimage.” In March 2018, DP World agreed to invest $442 million in the Berbera port, controlling a 51 per cent stake in the project while the Somaliland government will control 30 per cent.
After conducting series of interviews with a number of senior officials in Somaliland, the Dubai-based newspaper said that the officials highlighted the importance of DP World’s investment, adding that it will enhance economic and commercial sectors in the country. Commenting on the DP World investment in the Berbera port, Dr Sa’ad Ali Shire, Somaliland Foreign Minister, said, “This is an economic and commercial deal that will benefit everyone in the Horn of Africa region.”
He continued, “Many people here speak Arabic and have either worked in, or have relatives in, the Gulf states. The port project has given a fillip to the trade between the two sides. “The region has enjoyed close ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Its biggest export to the Gulf countries has been livestock, all of it heading out through the port in Berbera.” The port’s annual capacity is 150,000 TEUs-twenty-foot equivalent units (container); 15 million MT (general cargo, bulk, ad break bulk); and 4 million heads (livestock).
DP World Berbera provides roughly assistance of $4800 a month to the nearby Berbera Maritime and Fisheries Academy, which was established in 2012 and has graduated 85 students, including 12 women. The port has also donated $770,181 in the past 12 months to educational institutions, mosques and hospitals in the region and built five water wells for the community.
US Department of State Designates Two Kenyan Al-Shabaab Militants
05 April – Source: Janes.com – 88 Words
Two Kenyan Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen commanders – identified as Ahmad Iman Ali and Abditfatah Abubakar Abdi – were designated as specially designated global terrorists by the United States Department of State on 10 March a, Daily Nation reported.
Ali allegedly led attacks including an attack in 15 January 2016 attack on a Kenya military base in the El Adde area of Somalia’s Gedo region, which killed 150 Kenyan soldiers. Abdi was wanted in connection with the 15 and 17 June 2014 attacks, that killed over 60 individuals in Mpeketoni, Kenya.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Eventually, his family managed to raise $10,000 to pay off the pirates. On New Year’s Eve 2012, the pirates handed Surasena over to Somalia’s government in Mogadishu. Two weeks later, he was home in Sri Lanka.”
Once A Hostage, Sri Lankan Sailor Now Helps Battle Somali Pirates
05 April – Source: VOA – 834 Words
In a classroom overlooking the harbor in the Somali city of Bossaso, Sarath Surasena teaches the basics of boat mechanics. The students are recruits for a new coast guard being established in Somalia’s Galmudug state, once the epicenter of piracy that paralyzed Indian Ocean shipping lanes a decade ago, and a place Surasena knows all too well.
In 2010, while sailing from South Africa to India with a load of coal, Somali pirates attacked the ship he was working on, the Orna, and held the 19-man crew hostage for more than two years. “Every day in sunshine, we wake up, we are afraid,” he said. “We don’t know next time who is going to be killed, who is going to be hurt. But one thing I was thinking… if I get a chance to be released and go back to the civilized society, I will try my level best to do something against this human trade. This is human trade, nothing else, they hold a human and demand money.”
After capturing the Orna, the pirates forced the crew to sail to Harardhere, a pirate lair in Galmudug state. The pirates demanded ransom from the Emirati company that owned the ship. Meanwhile, Surasena and the rest of the crew struggled to survive, drinking fuel-contaminated water and subsisting on meager scraps of food. “Sometimes people [would] fight each other for a potato,” he said. “The same crew, we would start fighting for one potato, one onion, like that.”
At one point, the pirates decided to use the Orna as a mothership to carry out fresh attacks – with the hostages as their crew. They sailed east toward India in search of boats to hijack, but failed twice to capture any. Amid rough seas, some of the pirates fell overboard, and the hostages rescued them. Soon after, the ship turned back to Galmudug.
Months went by with no ransom payment. One day, the pirates took Surasena and other crew members to an inland forest. “That day I knew something was wrong,” he recalled. “In the morning, I saw all the pirates, their faces were not that happy. They took six people, made us remove all the clothes, then they asked us to lie down, then they tie up our hands and legs, and start beating us like hell. They used a cane.”
In the forest, Surasena was shocked to see militia driving trucks with heavy weapons amid villagers living in abject poverty. He was made to stay with a poor local family, guarded by their nine-year-old son who carried an AK-47 rifle. The boy reminded Surasena of his own son of the same age, and they became friends. Still, the terror was ever present. In September 2012, the pirates showed one of Surasena’s fellow crew members, who survived the wounds. A month later, a ransom was paid and the ship and most of its crew went free. But Surasena and five others were held back.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: Video: VBIED targets security checkpoint along K4-Airport road, car explodes as it approached the checkpoint, casualties reported.
@Goobjoognews: #BREAKING: Huge explosion near checkpoint heading to the airport in #Mogadishu
@AbdulBillowAli: Huge blast in #Mogadishu. Smoke seen billowing from a security checkpoint on a strategic road that leads to the country’s biggest international airport. #Somalia
@joaoscarpelini: Today the world celebrates International Day of#Sport for #Development and #Peace (#IDSDP2018), and in#Somalia to mark the day, the #Mogadishu Mini #Marathon is taking place for the first time after many years! Watch livehttps://www.facebook.com/
@sntvnews1: A successful completion of the first time (after many years), the #Mogadishu Mini Marathon #cohesion #sports#Somalia @RadioMuqdisho @engyarisow @hon_khadija
@US2SOMALIA:On #IDSDP2018, read how @USAIDSomalia is helping youth in #Somalia learn non-violent ways to resolve differences. https://www.usaid.gov/results-
@DrBeileh: Discussing fiscal progress for Q1 on @sntvnews1now. Progress is encouraging & we are working hard to overcome challenges. @MofSomalia committed to raising domestic revenue transparently & achieving reforms for prosperity in #Somalia
@SabatucciEU: @amisomsomalia stabilised #Somalia, thought @ the beginning to be an impossible task. We remember the many African PK who sacrificed their lives. An honour for the #EU to be the principal partner of the @_AfricanUnion and the@AU_PSD in this amazing effort. @europeaid @eu_eeas
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Mogadishu Mayor and other government officials at the start-up line of Mogadishu mini-marathon this morning.
Photo: @DalsanFM