August 21, 2018 | Morning Headlines
President Farmaajo Returns Home As Purge On Corrupt Officials Continues
20 August – Source: Garowe Online – 264 Words
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo returned back to Mogadishu on Monday after visiting Djibouti and Turkey. Upon his arrival at Mogadishu’s International Airport, President Farmaajo and his entourage, received a warm welcome from ministers, lawmakers, security chiefs and other high-ranking government officials.
In the first leg of his trip, the president went to Djibouti last week, where he held bilateral talks with his counterpart Ismail Omar Guelleh, after relations between the two countries reached its lowest. Early this month, Djibouti summoned its Ambassador in Mogadishu, to protest against the recent request by President Farmaajo, asking the United Nations Security Council to lift sanctions imposed on Eritrea in 2009.
The neighbouring Djibouti which is one of the troop contributing countries to AMISOM, stated that it was ‘deeply shocked’ by President Farmaajo’s position on Eritrea sanctions. After concluding the Djibouti visit, the president left for Turkey on Saturday, by the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to attend the ruling AK party’s sixth congress held on 18th of August.
The return of President Farmaajo comes at a time, the police in the capital arrested nearly 10 government officials, including the head of Mogadishu Port Authority Mr. Ahmed Ali Samow on Saturday evening, over graft claims and stealing public funds.
The officials are being held at the CID headquarters in KM4 area in the capital. Among those targeted, in the ongoing anti-graft campaign are deputy minister, directors, assistant directors, and managers. Somalia is frequently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, by Transparency International due to the lack of accountability and good governance.
Key Headlines
- President Farmaajo Returns Home As Officials In Custody For Graft (Garowe Online)
- Somali Minister For Finance Inspects Mogadishu Port (Halbeeg News)
- Council Of Interstate Cooperation To Convene In Kismayo (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali Youths Forge Close Partnerships With Security Institutions To Counter Violent Extremism (AMISOM)
- UN Says 7 Aid Workers Have Died In Somalia This Year (Xinhua)
- Anti-graft War Heats Up In Somalia But How Far Will It Go? (The Standard)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Minister For Finance Inspects Mogadishu Port
20 August – Source: Halbeeg News – 109 Words
Somali Minister for Finance, Abdirahman Duale Beileh on Monday inspected Mogadishu Port Authority, a day after several senior managers were arrested over corruption allegations. Somali government on Sundayappointed new authority for the Mogadishu port. Mr. Beileh and several officials from the ministry held talks with port authorities.
The minister expressed satisfaction that the port is steering the country towards a 24 hour operations to upsurge the economy and improve the welfare of citizens. The inspection comes in the heel of arrested port officials. The head of Mogadishu Port Authority Mr. Ahmed Ali Samow and several other top officials were detained for allegedly diverting taxes collected from the busy seaport.
Council Of Interstate Cooperation To Convene In Kismayo
20 August – Source: Hiiraan Online – 89 Words
Chairman of the Council of Interstate Cooperation, President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas of Puntland invited his regional counterparts to attend the council’s third meeting, to be held in Kismayo on September 3rd. The invitation letter noted that the meeting will discuss issues of regional and national interests.
The agenda will be issued by the Secretariat at a later date. However, reports state that some of the proposed agenda items includes, the controversial issues concerning relations with the federal government. President Gaas courteously asked his counterparts to attend the gathering.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Youths Forge Close Partnerships With Security Institutions, To Counter Violent Extremism
20 August – Source: AMISOM – 470 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is training youths to partner with security institutions to deter crime and put a check on violent extremism in Somalia. AMISOM Police working in collaboration with the Somali security forces, the Federal Government and the Federal Member States, is holding of a series of sensitization workshops and engagements across the country, to encourage such partnerships.
A two-day youth sensitization workshop seeking more youth involvement in community policing initiatives concluded in Mogadishu on Sunday, with a call to youths to work more closely with police officers to counter violent extremism. Speaking during the closing ceremony of the workshop, the Deputy AU Special Representative for Somalia, Mr. Simon Mulongo, challenged the youths to take the lead in countering violent extremism, which he noted had been exploited by terrorist groups to cause instability in the country.
“Anybody who uses dangerous means becomes an outcast, a wrong person in society and therefore the people of Somalia, like elsewhere, must reject violence, extremism as a means of managing society,” he said. Referring to the youth as agents of change, the DSRCC urged them to beware of unscrupulous individuals who take advantage of their innocence to mislead them into extremism. “As AMISOM we have come here to support the federal government and the people of Somalia through many ways, including (community) policing,” Mulongo remarked during the workshop, attended by senior Federal Government officials drawn from the Prevention and Counter Violent Extremism (PCVE) Unit.
Speaking at the same event, the Acting AMISOM Police Commissioner, Ms. Christine Alalo, appealed to the youth to share information with the local police in their communities. “We had similar sessions with the Somali Police, specifically on community policing, which we think is one of the approaches or tools that we can use to counter or prevent violence or crime in the community,” Ms. Alalo observed. She urged the youth to help win the hearts and minds of their peers. “If each of you can manage to convince two or more people to follow you, to listen to you and then the five others also do the same, I think we shall have a peaceful Mogadishu and a peaceful Somalia,” she stated.
UN Says 7 Aid Workers Have Died In Somalia This Year
20 August – Source: Xinhua – 393 Words
Seven humanitarian workers have died so far this year and another 10 have been injured in Somalia, the UN top relief official in the Horn of Africa said. Peter de Clercq, the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Somalia and Humanitarian Coordinator, called for protection of aid workers, saying humanitarian workers are still facing threats and are being prevented at times from bringing relief to those in desperate need.
“They are still facing threats and they are being prevented at times from bringing relief to those in desperate need — this must stop,” he said in a statement issued in Mogadishu on Sunday evening to mark the World Humanitarian Day. The day aims to pay tribute to the aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world.
De Clercq warned of the grave threats faced by aid workers in Somalia, where they continue to be targets of armed groups which often abduct and detain them and steal desperately needed relief supplies. The UN official noted that 74 violent incidents affecting humanitarian personnel, health facilities and assets had been registered in the Horn of Africa country since the beginning of 2018.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“If all segments of the population don’t play their role in tackling graft, the government alone can’t do it but if no people in government are arrested and jailed over graft then, we will not be telling the Somali people the truth that we are fighting graft.”
Anti-graft War Heats Up In Somalia But How Far Will It Go?
20 August – Source: The Standard – 816 Words
Recent arrests of high-level public officials in Somalia over graft amid tough anti-corruption talk by the country’s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre have left many observers wondering how far the purge would go and whether the momentum would continue. The latest graft-related arrests occurred on Saturday when the head of Mogadishu Port Tax Authority Ahmed Ali Samow and 9 other top officials were nabbed for allegedly diverting taxes collected from the busy sea port.
The port arrests have attracted considerable public attention since the sea port is the highest revenue earner for the Federal government of Somalia and is believed to be a hotbed of graft with tax funds ending in private pockets. On Saturday also, top diplomats of Somalia’s embassy in Khartoum were recalled home amid allegations of graft and mismanagement.
A circular from the Foreign Ministry ordered the diplomats back to Mogadishu for “consultations” following a directive from the PM. The move came barely 10 days after the PM’s visit to Khartoum where he heard complaints about the alleged poor management of the country’s embassy and ordered investigations.
Earlier this month, Somalia’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Mahad Daud was also suspended by the country’s PM and arrested over allegations of fraud and abuse of office following a 4-month probe. The official has denied wrongdoing. Avoid fake news! Subscribe to the Standard SMS service and receive factual, verified breaking news as it happens.
Last month, Dahir Mohamud Nur, the Director of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) resettlement programme was also arrested for allegedly plundering $84000 public funds that had been donated by the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP). In the same month, the PM dismissed the Religious Affairs Minister Hassan Maalim Hussein less than two months after his appointment without disclosing the reason, fueling public speculations.
Shortly after the sacking, the government announced the decision to end the lucrative monopoly on airlines regarding transportation of thousands of Somali nationals for the Muslim annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca, opening the market to all travel agencies. There had been public outcry as pilgrims complained of unregulated hajj fees. However, none of the arrested officials have been charged in court yet but observers note that the arrests are significant since it is the first time anti-graft arrests have been carried out by any Somali government since the country imploded in the early 1990s.
The ongoing graft-related arrests come in the backdrop of increasingly tough talk from Khaire’s administration against graft. Last week, the PM said that government officials, including cabinet ministers, will be held accountable if public resources are lost through corruption. “I will not allow this country to be governed through corruption. I hereby send a stern message to every Somali national, whether a minister or a member of the public, and who intends to loot the public resources, we will come after you,” PM Khayre said.