August 25, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.

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Somali government warns illegal taxes collectors after protest in Bakara Market

25 Aug- Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio RBC/Radio Kulmiye/Radio Dalsan- 283 words

Somali government vowed that it will take legal step against illegal taxes collectors in Bakara Market a day after the business owners in the market closed the country’s biggest marketplace in protest of armed people pretending to be government tax collectors.

Cabinet ministers, the Benadir regional administration and representatives from the Chamber of the Commerce took an urgent meeting on Sunday chaired by the deputy Prime Minister Ridwan Hersi Mohamed following the Sunday’s protest that led to the closure of the market.

Minister of Information Mustaf Dhuhulow told reporters that the government ordered the security forces to take legal step against armed people pretending to be government taxes collectors and to safeguard the business community and the citizens in Mogadishu.

“All business people are due to pay the tax under the rules of the country, meanwhile any differences that emerge from the port duties and other revenue collection places will be resolved in collaboration between the taxpayers and the tax collectors.” the minister added.

The Minister strongly mentioned that the government will not tolerate armed people pretending to be government officials and taking illegal taxes from the main markets and the business doors.

“Taxes can be imposed in subject with the laws and can only be provided to appropriate government institutions.” the minister added.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Finance rebuffed allegations from the Bakaro Market business committee claiming that new taxes were imposed on the market.

In the past weeks, business people in Bakaro have made complaints against armed people claiming to be government officials and using fake receipts to generate money from the business goods brought to the market.

Key Headlines

Somali government warns illegal taxes collectors after protest in Bakara Market (Radio Mogadishu/Radio RBC)
Qaloow: it is difficult to deliver emergency relief to the besieged areas (Radio Goobjoog)
Three more cases of measles reported in Adado district (Radio Bar-kulan)
Nairobi Mombasa host top security meetings (Capital News)
Federal government opens workshop on disaster management (Radio Mogadishu)
Somalia battles to get guns off its streets (Al Jazeera)
Khaatumo state leader’s inauguration delayed (Radio Goobjoog/Hiiraan Online)
Kenya seeks cash for Somali plights in the Horn of Africa (Geeska Afrika)
Two soldiers shot dead in Isku Shuban district of Bari region (Radio RBC/Universaltv)
Kismayo: IJA security intelligence commander sustains injuries (Radio Goobjoog)
US Senate Gives Somalia Money Transfer A New Lifeline (Afkinsider)
Bakara Market remains closed as traders protest high taxes (Radio Kulmiye)
Modern Stations Replacing Roadside Stands (CCTV Africa)
Gov’t supports repatriation efforts for over one million Somalis (Radio RBC)
Puntland leader in talks with Somali PM in Ethiopia (Radio Garowe)
Puntland road accidents leave 92 people dead in six months (Horncabletv)
Germany pledges assistance for the Somali refugees in Ethiopia (Radio Bar-kulan)
Can Somalia disarm its militias? (Al Jazeera)
Somalis in Zambia (Zambia Daily Mail)
AMISOM Hands over Suspects arrested in Mogadishu (CCTV Africa)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali government warns illegal taxes collectors after protest in Bakara Market

25 Aug- Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio RBC/Radio Kulmiye/Radio Dalsan- 283 words

The Minister strongly mentioned that the government will not tolerate armed people pretending to be government officials and taking illegal taxes from the main markets and the business doors.

“Taxes can be imposed in subject with the laws and can only be provided to appropriate government institutions.” the minister added.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Finance rebuffed allegations from the Bakaro Market business committee claiming that new taxes were imposed on the market.

Qaloow: it is difficult to deliver emergency relief to the besieged areas

25 Aug- Source: Radio Goobjoog- 145 words

The federal government says it is difficult to deliver emergency aid to the besieged areas that were hit by droughts. Assistant minister for planning Abdullahi Sheikh Ali Qaloow speaking to Radio Goobjoog said the federal government is making efforts to deliver emergency support to the people living in the areas affected by drought and water shortages.

He called on the locals especially the business people to support the affected people by drought and back the federal government’s plans to deliver emergency relief to the desperate people. Al Shabaab besieged some districts in Bakol, Gedo and Hiran regions making difficult for relief agencies to reach the area and deliver emergency support.

His remarks come a time when over five people died due to hunger and thirst in Buur-dhuubo and Garbaharey districts of Gedo region on Friday.

Three more cases of measles reported in Adado district

25 Aug- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 134 words

Health officials in Adado district in Somalia’s central Galgadud region have reported to have seen a number of children suffering from measles in the last few days in the area. Dr. Mohamed Omar Yusuf, the general director of Adado district hospital told Bar-kulan that at least three children have been admitted to the hospital in the past few days. He added the three children are now being given medical attention at the hospital.

The director further stated that the health officials in Adado town have launched awareness programs to teach residents ways to prevent measles and other communicable diseases. Dr. Yusuf finally called on the federal government, Himan and Heeb administration officials, relief agencies and local populations to support efforts to prevent massive measles outbreak.

Federal government opens workshop on disaster management

25 Aug- Source: Radio Mogadishu/Radio Goobjoog/Radio Dalsan- 169 words

The minister for Culture and Higher education of the Federal government of Somalia Mohamud Duale opened a workshop on disaster management in Mogadishu on Sunday. At least 33 members from relief agencies, Universities both local and International, ministers, politicians and other dignitaries were present during the opening of the workshop.

The rector of Banadir University Abdirizak Ahmed Dalmar speaking during the opening ceremony, underlined the importance of the workshop praised the participants particularly officials from US and Makarere University in Uganda.

The chairman of parliamentary social services committee Osman Mohamed Mohamud Dufle stated that the programe has special significance to the society and described it as a step forward for exchange of ideas and expertise between the Somali people and foreigners.

Minister for Culture and Higher education Mohamud Duale thanked the University of Banadir for organizing the workshop adding that the ministry will encourage anything that will promote higher education in the country. The workshop is scheduled to continue for five days.

Khaatumo state leader’s inauguration delayed

25 Aug- Source: Radio Goobjoog/Hiiraan Online- 129 words

The inauguration ceremony of the newly elected president of Khaatumo state in Northern Somalia Ali Khalif Galeyr was rescheduled to Thursday as one of the organizing committee member confirmed to Radio Goobjoog.

The official has not specified the reason behind the delay of the ceremony. The delay of the ceremony came the eleventh hour as many participants reached the area according to one of the invited guests who spoke on a condition of anonymity.

Ali Khalif Galeyr, the former PM of transitional federal government and a member of federal parliament was elected the president of Khaatumo state after beating the former president Mohamed Yussuf Indha-Sheel in Sax-dheer earlier this month.

Speaking shortly after his election Mr. Galeyr announced that he will start to form a new cabinet for his administration.

Kenya seeks cash for Somali plights in the Horn of Africa

25 Aug- Source: Geeska Afrika- 628 words

Kenyan government is seeking $100 million from the international community for the repatriation of more than half a million Somali refugees. In a regional meeting to be held in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Kenya will also seek international political goodwill for the resettlement of refugees in their home country.

The money will go towards the safe repatriation of the refugees and provide them with adequate resources after returning home. The meeting brings together countries that host Somali refugees including Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda and Yemen.

Among Kenya’s agenda is to seek international support in the implementation of the tripartite agreement that has been dogged by logistical challenges and “lack of political goodwill” by one of the parties, Somalia.

Two soldiers shot dead in Isku Shuban district of Bari region

25 Aug- Source: Radio RBC/Universaltv/Puntlandes Online/Somalimemo Online- 201 words

Two Somali soldiers were shot dead by gunmen in Isku Shuban district of Bari region, 200 km south of Somalia’s northeastern town of Bosasso on Sunday, locals told RBC Radio. The two soldiers from Puntland police were gunned down as they reached the town to cease a fresh clan-based conflict in the area.

The Gunmen attacked the soldiers off guard and killed both of them on spot, according to Bari regional police commissioner, Colonel Abdihakim Yusuf who is currently in Isku Shuban town.

“The armed men shot and killed two officers. We are very upset about this but we have managed to make sure the situation is fully under control. Everything is calm now.” Colonel Abdihakim Yusuf said. Another person was shot wounded by the gunmen who managed to escape from the area.

“We have identified them and we are searching for them.” Colonel Abdihakim Yusuf added.

The killing of the two police officers came amid efforts to resolve a clan-based armed conflict in the two which led to fears of insecurity in the stable region.

The security forces succeeded to deploy more police officers in the area earlier this week as the traditional elders started mediating between the conflicted sides.

Kismayo: IJA security intelligence commander sustains injuries

25 Aug- Source: Radio Goobjoog- 83 words

Reports from Kismayo states that the commander of Interim Juba administration’s security intelligence Gabobe Hassan Bare sustained injuries after Juba police forces and military exchanged fire last night. The cause of the confrontation between the forces is not clearly known. The wounded commander Mr. Gabobe has replaced the former security intelligence commander Issa Kamboni assassinated in Kismayo earlier this year. Interim Juba administration has not yet given comment about the recent fire exchange between its forces.

Bakara Market remains closed as traders protest high taxes

25 Aug- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Radio Kulmiye/Radio Simba- 155 words

Traders in Bakara Market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu closed their businesses on Sunday to protest against increased taxes imposed on their businesses.

Ali Jama Farah, one of the traders in the Bakara Market told Bar-kulan that shops remain closed on Sundayfollowing large protests held by the traders to voice their concerns over the high taxes.

He said the traders are complaining about the rise of taxes saying they are ready to pay the normal and appropriate taxes but will not accept to pay unjustified taxes.

Farah said efforts to reopen the businesses are underway. Bakara Market Business Committee is said to be leading the efforts to get a lasting solution to the current standoff.

The traders called on the federal government to do something over allegations of men dressed in government army uniforms who force the traders in Bakara Market to pay illegal taxes.

Gov’t supports repatriation efforts for over one million Somalis

24 Aug- Source: Radio RBC- 295 words

Somalia’s Federal Government on Saturday said it will support the repatriation program for over one million Somalis living as refugees in the neighboring countries where they fled to after the state collapse in 1991.

After wrapping a conference on Somali refugees this week, Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed made clear that his government will make sure that Somali citizens living as refugees in the neighboring countries get full access to return fir those who wish to be relocated.

According to Somali government, currently over 1 million Somalis living as refugees in neighboring countries as well as another million who are internally displaced as a result of conflict, drought and famine and other ills afflicting the Somali nation.

“I deeply felt gratitude of the Somali people for the asylum accorded to them and for the kind hospitality with which way they have been hosted by their brothers and sisters in the five neighboring countries represented at the meeting.” the PM said in a statement.

The Prime Minister added that the Federal Government of Somalia provided the impetus to the search for solutions to alleviate the suffering of Somali refugees and this has led to the setting up of the National Agency for Refugees, Returnees and IDPs. One of its immediate tasks was to embark on negotiations with Kenya, which hosts over 500,000 Somali refugees, the largest group anywhere in the world.

On Nov 10th 2013 of a Tripartite Agreement was signed between UN, Somalia and Kenya for Voluntary Repatriation of Somali refugees living in Kenya. The Federal Government of Somalia says it is committed to working with all parties in order to find a lasting solution to bring Somali refugees home so that they can make valuable contribution to the rebuilding of the nation.

Puntland leader in talks with Somali PM in Ethiopia

24 Aug- Source: Radio Garowe- 118 words

Amidst strained relations between Puntland and Somalia’s Federal Government President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas has met with Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed in Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Sunday according to independent sources.

Puntland leader, Gaas who departed Garowe for Addis Ababa at official invitation discussed the suspended cooperation as well as oil and gas exploration activities with Somalia Prime Minister, GO has learned.

Neither IGAD nor Ethiopia is brokering the mediation between the two and President Gaas did not comment on the ongoing private talks in Addis Ababa while he was jetting off at Garowe airport.

Puntland President has been set to hold talks in Addis Ababa with Africa Oil officials during his stay in the coming days.

Puntland road accidents leave 92 people dead in six months

25 Aug- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/Horncabletv/Radio Daljir- 133 words

At least 92 people perished in road accidents in Puntland in the last six months according to latest road accident statistics issued by Puntland traffic police.

Puntland traffic police chief, Ahmed Abdi Ali said that at least 778 cases of road accidents were recorded in the last six months by traffic police authorities.

92 people died while 678 others sustained minor and major injuries in the 778 road accident cases.

The statistics added that at least 460 livestock including camels, cows, goats and sheep perished while properties including houses, luxury cars, bicycles and motorcycles were destroyed in the latest road carnage in Puntland.

Meanwhile, Nugal regional traffic police commissioner, Ismail Hirsi Qabal there is a need to change traffic and road accidents regulations in Puntland to drastically reduce the number of road accidents.

Germany pledges assistance for the Somali refugees in Ethiopia

24 Aug- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 143 words

The German Government pledged that it will assist the Somali refugees who live in Ethiopia together with the other refugees from Horn of Africa with €750,000.

The government of Germany said it will give that money through the WFP so that food aid can be delivered to the Somali refugees in the refugee camps in Ethiopia. Together with the Somali refugees the German government will also assist the Eritrean and South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia. According to the German embassy in Ethiopia, the assistance is for boosting the activities of the UNCHR at the camps in Ethiopia where Horn African refugees live.

There are about 247000 South Sudanese refugees, 245000 Somalis and 113500 Sudanese refugees as well as 99000 Eritreans in the refugee camps in Ethiopia. This figure is also on the increase as there is an ongoing crisis in South Sudan.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Nairobi, Mombasa host top security meetings

25 Aug- Source: Capital News- 696 words

A high level weeklong security meeting of police chiefs from the region and Interpol officials kicks off in Mombasa on Monday. Police commanders and heads of criminal investigations from 17 countries are expected to share vital information on terrorists, drug dealers and poachers during the meeting.

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo will chair the meeting at the Whitesands Hotel.
Those attending include police chiefs from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Comoros, Eritrea, Seychelles, South Sudan and Tanzania.

France, Germany, Turkey, Algeria and Nigeria will also send security experts to participate in the meeting.

Can Somalia disarm its militias?

25 Aug- Source: Al Jazeera- 25:05 min

Earlier this month, the Somali government announced a campaign to rid the country of illegal weapons. Politicians say it will be a major step to bring peace to a nation torn apart by years of civil strife and lawlessness.

Weapons are everywhere in Somalia. They are in the hands of the militia and warlords. As well as civilians who are estimated to own up to 500,000 small arms.

That is considered a consequence of the country’s insecurity. And the government will have to convince Somalis it’s capable of providing security, before it can ask them to disarm.

So, is the Somali government going about disarming its people the right way?

Somalia battles to get guns off its streets

24 Aug- Source: Al Jazeera-02:25mins

Somalia is awash with military-grade weaponry, much of it in the hands of illiterate teenagers. Estimates suggest there are more than 500,000 guns in the country, which has been largely lawless for the last 24 years. Getting those guns off the streets is a priority for African Union troops charged with keeping the peace. But with warlords and militias battling for control, the trade in arms is a lucrative business. Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports from Mogadishu.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

US Senate Gives Somalia Money Transfer A New Lifeline

25 Aug- Source: Afkinsider- 567 words

Millions of Somalis will find it easier to receive money from relatives abroad after the US Senate approved the Money Remittances Improvement Act earlier this month. The Act that was signed by President Barack Obama on August 8 reduces the restrictions non-bank companies, such as money transfer firms, that provide international remittance services.

US legislators have said that the Act will particularly make it easier for Somalis in states such as Minnesota to send money to their families in the war-torn horn of Africa country that is struggling to rebuild.

Census data put the number of Americans of Somali origin in Minnesota at 32,000 in 2012.
Democratic Party representative Keith Ellison from Minnesota, who sponsored the Bill, said that the law would make the life of his constituencies easier, giving them much needed relief at sending cash back home.

Somalis in Zambia

25 Aug- Source: Zambia Daily Mail-1332 words

SINCE first setting foot on the Zambian soil in the 1960s, some Somalis have hit headlines for wrong reasons, prompting security agencies to now rid the country of criminal and other undesirable elements from the war-torn nation. CHARLES MUSONDA reports

IN HIS wisdom, first President Dr Kenneth Kaunda brought in Somalis to work as expatriate drivers for the defunct Zambia Tanzania Road Services Limited. This was after Zambia stopped using the south route for her exports and imports following declaration of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Ian Smith’s white Rhodesia regime in 1965.

Though Tanzania was in no position to replace southern Africa as an economic partner, it became Zambia’s new principal link to the outside world and the Great North Road went into emergency service taking out copper and bringing in oil; earning its name “Hell Run,”

This marked the genesis of Somalis’ presence in Zambia and many of them settled in Ndola and Lusaka mainly in Chaisa Township and surrounding areas. According to one Hassan Ali, a truck driver, his father was among the first chauffeurs to settle and work in Zambia.

Modern Stations Replacing Roadside Stands

24 Aug- Source: CCTV Africa-02:06mins

Filling up at a fuel station is pretty common for motorists across Africa. In Somalia though, for years they’ve had to find other ways to buy fuel. But with the country stabilising, a new breed of entrepreneur is emerging in Mogadishu.

AMISOM Hands over Suspects arrested in Mogadishu

24 Aug- Source: CCTV Africa-01:52mins

The African union peacekeeping force in Somalia, Amisom has handed over militia men arrested in one of the force’s security operations in the capital, Mogadishu. They were arrested during last weeks’ operation in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district conducted by Somali Government forces with the support of African Union troops.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“In many ways, Somaliland defies almost every stereotype there is of Somalia. Maybe it is time to recognise Somaliland as an independent state.”

Somaliland: an oasis of tranquility in a chaotic and dysfunctional neighbourhood

24 Aug- Source: Daily Nation-657 Words

When I tell people that I have just returned from an international book fair and literary festival in Hargeisa, their reaction is usually one of incredulity. Really? they ask. You were in Somalia for a book fair? How is that possible? Of course, the residents of Hargeisa do not like to refer to themselves as Somalis, but as Somalilanders. They associate “Somalia” with chaos and anarchy, and have sought to be independent of that country since 1991.

I was in Hargeisa to launch my new book, War Crimes, which examines why a failed state colluded in its own destruction and why the international community did not stop it. Hargeisa is a small dusty town in northern Somalia, but carries few of the scars of war that are so blatantly obvious in cities such as Mogadishu. The roads have few potholes and most buildings destroyed during the civil war and its aftermath have been rebuilt. The city has elements of normalcy that are completely absent in Mogadishu.

Traffic police officers guide vehicles on the roads, shopping malls are bright and shiny, and despite the many goats on the roads (this, after all, is a pastoralist society), the city exudes an air of optimism and relaxed contentment. With me at the book fair were renowned writers such as Nuruddin Farah, the young up-coming British Somali novelist Nadifa Mohamed, the Nigerian author Chuma Nwokolo, British journalist and author Michela Wrong and professors John Mpane and Mplive Msiska from Malawi.

“This story tells the incredible tale of a Somali woman’s trials and tribulations endured on her journey from the plains of Africa to her arrival in the United States.”

From crocodiles to refugee camps, Habibo Haji’s incredible journey

24 Aug- Source: TC Daily Planet-416 Words

The Twin Cities is well known for its strong Somali community, but soon it may be known for their authors as well. Somali-Minnesotan author Habibo Haji is showcasing her 2013 debut memoir Conquering the Odds: Journey of a Shepherd Girl at Subtext Books in St. Paul on Aug. 26. The book follows Haji as a young girl growing up in central Somalia during the peak of civil war, and as she flees to the United States with no education and speaking no English.

“This book is based on my life experience living in a primitive village in Balcad, Somalia with my grandmother where I worked as a shepherd and nomad from the age of four,” Haji said. “I survived crocodiles, jackals, malaria and civil war. I also survived the largest refugee camp in the world—Dadaab.”

Haji came to the United States when she was only 16 and in the book, she recounts some of the harder moments in her journey, like when she would tie her legs together at night while she watched over the cattle so she wouldn’t get raped in her sleep.

“Where the three panellists agreed was on Warah’s fundamental point. That the future of Somalia, the shape of its state, is something that only Somalis can decide. The conflict resolution model AMISOM is pursuing is no different, in the end, to that imposed from Afghanistan to Iraq. It is an “African solution to African problems” that poses no conceptual challenge to the model — and is, in effect, an outsourcing of it. If her book at least opens up that debate — here in Kenya — that is a good thing.”

Fear, loathing and greed in Somalia and Kenya

23 Aug- Source: East African-489 Words

In her new book War Crimes, journalist Rasna Warah attempts to tell how warlords, politicians, foreign governments and aid agencies conspired to create a failed state in Somalia. The story of Somalia, of Kenya’s complicity with what continues to transpire in Somalia and Kenya’s treatment of both Kenyan Somalis and Somali refugees.

Especially given what she saw as the one-sided media coverage of Kenya’s military offensive into Somalia by Kenya’s own “embedded” journalists. And given the blowback from that offensive: The attack on Westgate Mall and the GoK’s ongoing Usalama Watch — originally titled “Operation Sanitise Eastleigh.”

At last week’s book launch, co-hosted by Amnesty International and the Rift Valley Institute, she focused on her motivations for writing the book — and then read a portion of the book focused on the corruption that she sees as lying at the heart of the world’s complicity in Somalia.

“Life in Hargeisa confirms to some extent that, good intentions aside, the smothering of poor countries with often wanted but not needed, sometimes misconceived and misdirected aid by charity-minded outsiders stunts local creativity and breeds a damaging dependency mentality that one observes in much of independent Africa”

Hargeisa, bustling capital of a country free of aid

23 Aug- Source: East African-793 Words

It is not as picturesque as Kigali, but I hope you will enjoy your stay in Hargeisa,” so said an elderly man I encountered soon after I arrived in the capital of the Republic of Somaliland, over two weeks ago. I was in town to attend the Hargeisa International Book Fair.

His reference to Rwanda’s capital came after I told him I was from Kigali, when he asked: “Where are you coming from?” I had flown in from Rwanda on a flight that, at well over a thousand US dollars for less than five hours of actual flying time, had cost my hosts, the Red Sea Foundation, as much money as could have easily paid for a return trip to somewhere much more distant.

East Africans complain a lot about the high cost of air travel, even as their governments tell them, day in day out, how they want them to travel more within the region, not least because it is good for business and regional integration generally.

I couldn’t stop marvelling at how Somalilanders and their visitors are being milked dry in what, to someone with little understanding of how the aviation industry works, looks like naked profiteering. I have no idea how the airline that took me there justifies its fares.

Top tweets

@Abdikarim_Abdi3 Acting PM & Ministers of #Somalia‘s Federal Government try inmates’ rice at #Mogadishu Central Prison. pic.twitter.com/2zv1tKKeXD

@BeilehMofa Discussing past and present Somali-Indian relationship with the new #Indian Ambassador to Somalia Yogeshwar Varma. pic.twitter.com/xrFChdjCGu

@puntsom Army convoy wades through #Nugal valley-one of the most beautiful landscapes in #Somalia pic.twitter.com/XDNjLfmZeq

@AMB_A_Mohammed With UNSG Special Rep. for Somalia Nicholas Kay & Philippe Lazzarini, of UNDPpic.twitter.com/9uXnDrawxn”

@SomaliPM A humbling day visiting my fellow Somalis in Dadaab. Giving one another hope in a better Somalia, a better future. pic.twitter.com/LrpEujcaKB

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Image of the day

Image of the day #AMISOM female peacekeepers network workout day held in Mogadishu. Photo: @amisomsomalia