August 29, 2012 | Daily Monitoring Report.

Main Story

Somalia must hold presidential vote without delay

29 Aug – Source: AFP – 269 Words

Somalia’s newly chosen parliamentary speaker must ensure presidential elections take place without delay, diplomats and the country’s UN representative said Wednesday, as they welcomed him into the powerful post. The United Nations-backed process to set up a new administration — which will culminate in lawmakers choosing the country’s new president — is the latest bid to end two decades of instability in the Horn of Africa nation.

Veteran politician and former minister Mohamed Osman Jawari, a legal expert who helped draft a new constitution for Somalia, was elected speaker on Tuesday by fellow lawmakers. “This is a moment of progress and optimism”, UN special representative for Somalia Augustine Mahiga said in a statement, calling for presidential elections to take place “within 10 days”.

There is no fixed timetable for the vote, having already missed an August 20 deadline, and bitter arguments have begun between challengers for the country’s top job, divided along Somalia’s notoriously fractious clan lines. “We urge the Speaker Jawari to organise elections for the next president without delay,” US ambassador to Somalia James Swan said in a statement, praising the “historic election” of the speaker.

Alex Rondos, European Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, said Jawari’s election was “another positive step forward”, calling for a timetable for the presidential vote to be quickly set out. Somalia’s new parliament, whose members are selected by a group of traditional elders, will vote for the country’s next president in a secret ballot. Somalia is trying to set up its first stable central government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, which sparked rounds of bloody civil war.

Key Headlines

Somalia Elects a New Speaker of Parliament (TFG)
British Ambassador to Somalia welcomes election of new speaker and his two deputies (UK in Somalia)
Somalia must hold presidential vote without delay (AFP)
Minister tasked on AMISOM account (Daily Monitor)
Puntland Government Welcomes Election of New Parliament Speaker (Somaliweyn/Garowe Online)
UN condemns killing of FAO staff in Merca port city of Somalia (Bar-kulan)
Two killed 15 injured in Mombasa grenade attack (Standard Digital Media/Capital News)
Thousands rally in Mogadishu in support of new speaker (Radio Kulmiye)
UPDF attack al Shabaab without helicopters (Daily Monitor)

PRESS RELEASE

Somalia Elects a New Speaker of Parliament

28 Aug – Source: TFG – 214 words

In a historic election of the parliament speakership, members of the new Somali Federal Parliament have elected Mohamed Osman Jawaari as the speaker of the parliament. The Election Committee of the Parliament announced the official results after several contenders conceded the race, making Mr. Jawaari the winner of most votes.

The new Speaker who spoke briefly said, “I want to thank all those who voted, as well as the concession made by my brother Ali Khalif Galeyr.” He added, “I request from the temporary speaker to complete chairing on the election of the deputy speakers.”

Observed by the media and representatives from the International Community, today’s session of the parliament was conducted transparently as parliamentarians have also elected both first and second deputy speakers. However, the parliament is tasked to elect a president for the country in the next few days.

With a capable parliament and a new patch of professionals, the country has entered a new era of optimism and possibilities that will lead to an accountable government that is responsive and transparent. The last two months have seen major changes in Somalia, including the ratification of a new constitution that offers more fundamental rights, inauguration of a parliament, and the election of the speaker which officially ended the transitional period on time.

British Ambassador to Somalia welcomes election of new speaker and his two deputies

29 Aug – Source: UK in Somalia – 177 Words

British Ambassador to Somalia Matt Baugh on Tuesday welcomed the election of the new Speaker of the parliarment and his two deputies. “On behalf of the UK, I would like to welcome the election of a new Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia, Prof Mohamed Osman Jawari, and his two Deputies. This is another positive and encouraging step forward both in ending the Transition and building greater stability in Somalia. We look forward to the new Parliament working constructively for Somalia’s future independently, transparently and free from undue influence.

The UK would like to pay tribute to the work of the Technical Selection Committee and the commitment shown by the interim Speaker Gen Hassan Muse. They have discharged their responsibilities with courage and patriotism.

On behalf of the UK, I urge the various Somali stakeholders, including the President, Prime Minister and others, to now continue to work together in a spirit of compromise and dialogue and to resolve the outstanding issues promptly and transparently. We look forward to the election of a new President without delay.”

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalia’s parliament elects new speaker

29 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 164 words

Somalia’s parliament Tuesday elected Prof. Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari as the new speaker. In a hotly contested speaker’s election, Prof. Jawari garned 119 votes against four of his rivals who got 77, 23, 10 and 5 respectively.

His main challenger, former Somali Prime Minister, Ali Khalif Galeyr, later pulled out in the second round of voting, saying he favored Jawari for the task. Jawari was then declared the winner. The 66-year-old speaker thanked the legislators promising to reform the parliament to the expectation of the Somali people and foster working relationship between Somali leaders.

He also promised to distance himself from anything that will create stand-off between the parliament and the executive or within the parliament as witnessed in the past. Prof. Jawari is one of the Somali elites and has previously held different positions during the past Somalia’s central government. Before he was appointed as an MP, he was chairman of the Independent Federal Constitution Commission that has drafted Somalia’s current provisional constitution.

Puntland Government Welcomes Election of New Parliament Speaker

29 Aug – Source: Somaliweyn/Garowe Online – 138 words

Puntland Government has congratulated Somalis on Tuesday’s election of the newly elected Speaker of the Somali Federal Parliament, Prof Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, for his successful election as the new Parliament Speaker of the Republic of Somalia.

Puntland urged the new Speaker to put forth the remaining tasks to strengthen the Federal Republic of Somalia, including adherence to and implementation of provisions of the Provisional Federal Constitution of Somalia, such as urgent formation of the Upper House of the Somali Federal Parliament, and encouraging the formation of the remaining Federated States of Somalia.

Puntland government said it hopes that the Somali presidential election will be conducted similarly in a fair and transparent manner, calling upon the Federal Parliamentarians to elect the most capable and trustworthy statesman candidate for President of the Federal Republic of Somalia at this critical juncture in the history.

UN condemns killing of FAO staff in Merca port city of Somalia

29 Aug – Source: Bar-kulan – 106 words

The United Nations has condemned the unlawful killing of one of the humanitarian workers of Food and Agriculture Organisation in Merca, lower Shabelle. Yasin Mohamed Hassan, a 32-year-old staffer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was killed in an attack by an armed gang on Monday.

UN has appealed to all parties to allow aid workers to safely serve people in need and added that its staff always takes a neutral position during humanitarian engagements. 20 humanitarian workers have been killed in Somalia since august 2011 while striving to bring relief and support to millions of suffering people, a statement from UN office noted.

Somalia’s High Court reinstates rejected parliamentarians

28 Aug – Source: Radio Risaala – 130 Words

Somali High Court on Tuesday made a verdict on the case of those who were selected by the traditional elders but later disqualified by the Technical Committee on the basis that they did not meet some certain specified criteria.

The case which was heard Tuesday solicited an immediate response from the High Court Judge, Eideed Ilka Hanaf who ruled in favor of the disqualified MPs on the base that the Technical Committee could not produce sufficient evidences or justify its move to disqualify these members.

The rejected members who the court ordered their reinstatement include Somali politics heavy weight and former warlord Mohamed Qanyare Afrah. This ruling is coincides with the elections of the speaker of the national assembly and his two deputies.

Thousands rally in Mogadishu in support of new speaker

29 Aug – Source: Radio Kulmiye – 129 Words

Thousands of people rallied in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu to show their support for the newly elected parliament speaker Mohamed Osman Jawaari. The demonstrators praised Jawaari for his election as new speaker for the new Somali parliament. The rally comes as Somali technical committees says the next schedule will be the presidential election. Jawari thanked his competitors in the race, saying it was historic event that will see the country, which was under strive for almost 21 years of conflict, gets a government at last.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Minister tasked on AMISOM account

29 Aug – Source: Daily Monitor – 229 words

The junior minister for Defence, Gen. Jeje Odong, was yesterday asked to explain an ‘irregular bank account’ which the ministry operates to keep money received from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Uganda contributes the largest number of troops to AMISOM, the continent’s peace enforcement mission in Somalia.

The questioning came after Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, led by Mr. Milton Muwuma, said there is no information about this account reflected in the ministry’s budget. Mr. Muwuma told the House plenary session that the account was opened irregularly, without following the law as required by Article 153(2) of the Constitution.

“Despite the lengthy deliberations with the Accountant General on the mode of operation of the Amisom account and the transmission mechanism of the funds from the AU to the Consolidated Fund, the committee is concerned about the legality and prudence of establishing and maintaining a special account by the Ministry of Defence without an Act of Parliament,” Mr. Muwuma said.

The committee proposed that the Defence ministry considers remitting the Amisom revenues to the UPDF fund as established by Section 25 of the UPDF Act. However, Gen. Odong insisted that the account is regular and was opened in line with Uganda’s laws. “The authority of this account exists because section 9 of the Public Finance Act authorises the opening of such an account,” he said.

Two killed, 15 injured in Mombasa grenade attack

29 Aug – Source: Standard Digital Media/Capital News – 116 words

Two Kenyan police officers were killed and 15 others injured when rioters hurled a grenade at officers who were trying to quell protests in Mombasa.
The grenade was hurled at a police truck in Kisauni on Tuesday afternoon as riots over the killing of Muslim cleric Sheikh Aboud Rogo escalated.

“They have attacked our officers with a grenade. They threw it inside their lorry (police truck). Two people are dead, one of them is an officer the other is a civilian,” said Benedict Kigen, a senior police intelligence officer in Mombasa. The riots broke out on Monday and continued on Tuesday. The late Rogo was accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants in Somalia.

UPDF attack al Shabaab without helicopters

28 Aug – Source: Daily Monitor – 190 words

A joint operation of Ugandan and Burundian forces on Monday advanced and captured the key and strategic town of Marka, 90kms outside Mogadishu. The operation was supposed to involve an air component supporting the ground troops but this did not come to pass as the three UPDF helicopters, part of a group of four destined for Somalia in preparation for planned assaults on al Shabaab positions, crashed in the ranges of Mount Kenya. Instead, the advance to Marka used infantry with columns on armoured vehicles.

Marka was the headquarters of the al Shabaab in Shebelle region, a sector which was given to Uganda by the African Union pacify. With the capture of Marka, the Ugandans now have only one town left, Jawhar, to completely pacify sector one.

The spokesperson of the Ugandan Battle Group Nine, Capt. Henry Obbo, said al Shabaab fighters had destroyed a bridge 5kms outside Marka to stop the advancement of UPDF tanks, but army engineers fixed it and enabled the UPDF to advance. “They thought they would stop our forces from advancement but our engineers fixed the bridge and we managed to flash them out of Marka,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia Lawmakers Select New Speaker

29 Aug – Source: World Time/AP – 249 words

Somalia’s parliament Tuesday elected former labor minister Mohamed Osman Jawari as the new speaker, a key step toward the election of a president and the country’s transition from a failed state to a nation with an effective government. The process to select Somalia’s next government has been criticized for corruption and threats of violence, international observers say. Nonetheless, some praise it as a watershed moment in the Horn of Africa nation’s road to peace and stability.

While Somalia has had transitional administrations since 2004, it has not had a functioning central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a longtime dictator and turned on each other, plunging the impoverished nation into chaos.The last day of the eight-year U.N.-backed transitional government was Aug. 20 and the U.N. wanted a new president in place by then. But political bickering, violent threats and seat-buying schemes delayed progress toward the selection and seating of 275 members of the new Parliament that will select a president. Jawari was elected the speaker of Parliament on Tuesday by just 228 legislators.

A group of Somali elders has been tasked with selecting the full list of 275 parliamentarians, but the election of the speaker went ahead without the complete number. Jawari was challenged by Ali Khalif Galaydh, who had been Somalia’s prime minister in 2000-2001 but led in the first round of voting. Galaydh pulled out in the second round, saying he favored Jawari for the post and Jawari was then declared the winner.

Somali radio journalist stays at work in spite of threats and attacks from al-Shabaab

29 Aug – Source: Helsingin News – 223 words

It is nearly two PM in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Radio Mogadishu journalist Abdimohad Hussein, alias Abtidoon, has just wrapped up his noon current affairs programme, and the station is broadcasting heeso – a unique style of Somali pop music. Abtidoon’s colleague Hasan Mohamed Abiikar, or Hassan Malodye, go through their notes in the air-conditioned studio. He is known to his listeners simply as Hassan. The listeners know their radio voices better by their given names. “I am no longer afraid of anything, because I know that each of us has his time”, says 37-year-old Hassan.

Hassan’s way of looking at life took a dramatic turn two years ago when he want to pray one evening at the Afgoye Mosque, which is located about 20 kilometres west of the centre of Mogadishu. Two unknown men started to follow the journalist on his way home from the mosque. When Hassan reached his front door at about 7:30, two masked men appeared. They pulled out pistols and opened fire on him.

Hassan was struck by four bullets. The most dangerous wound of them all grazed the bones below his neck. One hit is wrist, another hit his arm and one got him in the leg. He was conscious the whole time as he was rushed to the Daynile Hospital midway between Mogadishu and Afgoye.

Somalia must hold presidential vote without delay

29 Aug – Source: AFP – 269 Words

Professor leaves ivory tower to run for president of Somalia

29 Aug – Source: Minnesota Public Radio – 252 Words

Ahmed Samatar has been thinking about Somalia for more than 35 years, ever since he left the country to attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in his 20s. A leading scholar on Somalia, he’s written five books and dozens of articles about the affairs of his homeland, often with a critical eye toward its government.

After spending so much time thinking, Samatar has decided to act, leaving the ivory tower for an unusual assignment: He’s running for president. Samatar has taken a sabbatical to play a part in a new era as Somalia lays the groundwork for what many hope will be a lasting stable government.

“Thinking and doing have always been part of each other,” he said from the capital city of Mogadishu. “The moment has arrived in which I, too, would like to see if my own ideas can be planted on the soil of Somali politics, and might be therefore able to have the Somali community move beyond war, chaos, famine, and corruption.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“As the world watches (and in some cases dictates) Somalia’s transition, it should be careful not to contribute to the instability in an environment that is growing more complex by the day.”

In Somalia, A Presidential Battle and Country’s Future Looms

29 Aug – Source: Somalia News Room Blog – 1101 Words

After weeks of delays and controversies, Somalia’s new parliament successfully nominated 66-year old Afgoye native Mohamed Osman Jawaari as the new Speaker of Parliament.

Jawari, who hails from the Digil/Mirifle (Rahanweyn) clan, served as Minister of Transport and Minister of Labor and Sports during the regime of Siad Barre before moving to Norway during the Somali civil war to work as a teacher. While in Norway, he served as Chairman of the Muslim Society of Trondheim.

“Many democratic systems around the world, including the United States, weren’t built overnight. It took learning, patience and dedication to achieve a full democracy. It is the hope of every Somali to see Somalia holding elections in 2016—a hope that can be easily achieved. But for now, considering the situation Somalia is in, the system in place is the next best thing to a representative government.”

Somalia: A Transition to a Full Democracy

29 Aug – Source: Turkish Weekly – 1099 Words

On August 20, Morgan Lorraine Roach of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, wrote an article titled Somalia’s Government Transition Maintains the Status Quo. In her article, she argues that the process of creating the new permanent government that is to replace the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was flawed and undemocratic.

She further argues that due to the flawed and undemocratic process that created the new permanent government, the Obama administration should not reward poor governance by: withholding bilateral assistance to the new government, continuing to support the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and recognize Somaliland. This article is in response to her arguments.

“For if we are concerned about the large number of Somalis landing on our shores in rickety migrant boats, then it is in our direct interest to see Somalia get back on its feet again. You might say that Somalia is “someone else’s war”. True, but when its ripples reach our shores what happens in Somalia becomes our concern too. So it is reasonable for us to support the efforts to bring peace and stability to this country.”

Why Somalia should concern us

29 Aug – Source: Times of Malta – 802 Words

Finally! A new sense of optimism has gripped Somalia as the political situation there is beginning to settle down. This is good news for Malta. For even though Somalia is so far away from us, a large percentage of migrants arriving here by boat since 2002, looking for refuge, came from this war-stricken country.

Militant Islamists belonging to al Shabaab have been chased out of the capital Mogadishu and many who left Somalia to escape the violence that gripped the country for 20 years are now returning home.

Top tweets

‏@Refugees What a story! Driven from #Somalia, a former #refugee thanks #Australia for his new life http://rfg.ee/dj35Q.

@UNPOSomalia #Somalia: #UN Envoy Mahiga’s statement to the #UNSC: #Presidental elections to be expected in next 10 days. Read more: http://bit.ly/Nwb8BV.

@HMAMattBaugh #Somali‘s new Parliament has a new Speaker. Thks to the TSC and the interim Speaker for their courageous and determined work @UKinSomalia.

@Diriedadx Unlike previous #Somali parliament session where stand offs were order of the day, the current sitting in #Mogadishu is calm and conducive.

@AbukarArman #Somali diaspora see hope and opportunity in #Mogadishu. http://lat.ms/Ntnafc This trend would ensure economic &, In due course, brain-gain!

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Image of the day

Image of the day Newly elected speaker of Somalia’s parliament Mohamed Osman Jawaari attends the election process in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, August 28, 2012. Photo: Reuters.