August 29, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
SNA Kills Russian Al-Shabaab Fighter In Lower Shabelle Region
29 August – Source: Halbeeg News – 192 Words
A Russian jihadist fighting for the Al-Shabaab militia group has been killed in a gun battle with Somali military forces in Lower Shabelle region, a military official has confirmed. Reports say Sheikh Abdinasir Azerbaijan crossed into Somalia from Yemen where he fought alongside Houthi rebels before joining Al-Shabaab in Somalia three years ago.
Omar Dhere, the commander of 12th April Battalion of the Somali military who spoke to media, said Azerbaijan and key Al-Shabaab commanders and fighters were among those killed in an operation conducted in Marka town. The military commander did not specify the date the foreigner was killed.
Last week the Somali army dislodged Al-Shabaab fighters from parts of Marka town following covert operations to secure the town, which is the provincial capital of Lower Shabelle region. The forces killed several Al-Shabaab fighters in the attack, according to the commanders who led the operation. The troops recaptured the villages of Lusiya, Obasibo and El-Haji which are part of Marka town. In 2016, Al-Shabaab fighters seized the town, which is situated 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Mogadishu after troops from the Ugandan contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) left.
Key Headlines
- SNA Kills Russian Al-Shabaab Fighter In Lower Shabelle Region (Halbeeg News)
- Plans To File A Motion Of No Confidence Against HirShabelle Leader Gain Ground (jowhar.com)
- Somali Government Hosts Conference On Proposed Currency Printing (Halbeeg News)
- UK Govt: Somali Heritage Teens Abused in Forced Marriage Detention Centres (Breitbart News)
- After Years Of Military Control Somali National Stadium Returns To Sports (CNN)
- Crowdfarming Is Being Used To Bring Somalia’s Livestock Market Into The Digital Economy (Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Plans To File A Motion Of No Confidence Against HirShabelle Leader Gain Ground
29 August – Source: Jowhar.com – 286 Words
Ongoing plans to table a motion of no confidence against incumbent HirShabelle leader Mohamed Abdi Waare are gathering momentum. The situation got tense following the arrival of HirShabelle Deputy President Ali Gudlawe Hussein and Regional Assembly Speaker, Sheikh Osman Bare Mohamed, in Mogadishu. Immediately after his arrival, the Regional Assembly Speaker held a closed-door meeting with Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire.
A delegation accompanied by the Speaker wa;s however, denied access to the meeting and it is not yet known what exactly the two officials discussed. Briefing his delegation and officials back in Jowhar, the capital of HirShabelle, the Speaker ironically opted not to divulge details of the meeting with the PM and told his colleagues that his visit to Mogadishu was solely personal and health-related.
Meanwhile, the HirShabelle Deputy President is also in the capital, although his visit is said to be private and personal. Most of the HirShabelle MPs lobbying for the motion against the President are based in Mogadishu, where they have recently engaged in various meetings. In an attempt to defuse the political turbulence he is facing from the region’s MPs, President Waare is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet to include some of the vocal dissident MPs in his government. President Waare plans to make the reshuffle before he leaves for Kismayo where regional administration leaders will convene on September 3rd.
The motion against him, which is yet to be submitted to the regional assembly leadership, might coincide with the opening of the Kismayo Conference. According to the regional administration constitution, a quorum of 33 members of the assembly can file a motion of no confidence and the President will subsequently lose his seat if 66 lawmakers vote in favour of the motion.
Somali Government Hosts Conference On Proposed Currency Printing
29 August – Source: Halbeeg News – 290 Words
Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Tuesday chaired a meeting to discuss the country’s plans to print new currency. The conference, which took place in Mogadishu, was attended by representatives of international agencies and the 765 government officials.
Participants discussed means to accelerate production of the currency and securing funding for the process. They called upon the countries and international financial institutions to support the country in the printing of the new currencies. Somali government needs $41 million which will go directly toward printing the new money.
Speaking at the meeting, Somali Minister for Finance, Abdirahman Duale Beileh, said the government had fulfilled conditions allowing it to get new currency. “We need 41 million USD to print new currency. The government cannot afford to raise this amount. Countries and international agencies have (previously) pledged to help us” he said. The minister confirmed the government will organise another conference to iron out challenges facing the process. Mid this year, the Somali government announced it will print new currency notes to replace the ones currently in use.
The finance ministry displayed two samples of the new notes including 5,000 and 10,000 shillings denominations. The new currencies will replace the old ones that are largely out of circulation. The most readily available of the current notes are those of the 1,000 shillings denomination, which have been in use for the past two decades.
Successive Somali governments have tried to introduce new currencies but have always been hindered by the debt relief conditions, imposed by the international financial institutions. The country’s old currency has almost disappeared or is worn out and has been replaced by U.S. dollars, or privately printed notes, most of which are worthless or fake.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UK Govt: Somali Heritage Teens Abused in Forced Marriage Detention Centres
29 August – Source: Breitbart News — 402 Words
There has been a 100 percent year-on-year rise in the number of forced marriage cases linked to Somali heritage youngsters, with many tricked into returning to Africa where they are often detained and abused, officials say. The youngsters are routinely being taken to their parents’ home countries, under the pretence of a holiday, but instead are kept in detention centres before they are forced into marriage, The Guardian reports.
They are put in a so-called “dhaqan celis”, which translates as “the rehabilitation community”, and children and teenagers are sent to “re-education schools” where they are taught Muslim and Somali cultural values. However, the Home Office says the schools do not offer an academic curriculum and instead end in pupils being subjected to physical, mental, and sexual abuse. Some of the children and teenagers are imprisoned and held against their will and only given their freedom back if they agree to marry.
David Myers, joint head of the Home Office’s Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) in the UK, told The Guardian: “What we are seeing in these communities is that young people who have antisocial behaviour issues, are getting involved in gangs and drugs, and are being sent back to Somalia by their parents for re-education and rehabilitation. “The concept in Somali culture, dhaqan celis, means returning to the culture to help them rehabilitate and they are sent to what they call schools but what we call detention centres.
After Years Of Military Control, Somali National Stadium Returns To Sports
29 August – Source: CNN – 348 Words
After years of militant and military control, the Somali national stadium in Mogadishu will return to a place for sports. The stadium had been occupied by the Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab before it was taken over by troops from the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2011. AMISOM forces have used the stadium as an operating base ever since.
At a handover ceremony on Tuesday, AMISOM and Somali officials toured the war-torn stadium and invited the nation’s youth to come and play. After years of military control, Somali national stadium returns to sports (CNN)After years of militant and military control, the Somali national stadium in Mogadishu will return to a place for sports.
The stadium had been occupied by the Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab before it was taken over by troops from the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2011. AMISOM forces have used the stadium as an operating base ever since.At a handover ceremony on Tuesday, AMISOM and Somali officials toured the war-torn stadium and invited the nation’s youth to come and play. “Today’s handover ceremony at Mogadishu Stadium it gives our youth & sports an opportunity for youth to use the Stadium,” Mogadishu Mayor Abdirahman O. Osman said in a tweet.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Across Africa, Ari.Farm is hardly the only startup committed to crowd farming as an avenue for investment, tackling unemployment, increasing social impact, and unlocking multi-million-dollar markets.”
Crowdfarming Is Being Used To Bring Somalia’s Livestock Market Into The Digital Economy
28 August – Source: Quartz – 511 Words
Somalia is a global leader in the export of goats and sheep, and livestock trade generates about 40% of the country’s gross domestic product. Yet almost every other year, recurring droughts and water scarcity take a toll on local pastoralists’ ability to keep their animals live and healthy. In 2017 alone, livestock loss has ranged from 20%-40% in the southern regions and 40%-60% in the north, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. This threatens the livelihood of the animal farmers and hinders their ability to regularly trade in markets.
But a Sweden-based startup wants to change this by creating a tech-powered livestock market that is open all year round. The goal of Ari.Farm (“Ari” means “goat” in Somali) is to get investors to purchase livestock from locals, injecting much-needed cash into the market and potentially making a profit.
Once a purchase is made, an investor is able to name his animals, follow their progress online, and even gift or donate them. Ari.Farm takes care of the animals in two farms, one located outside Galkayo town in south-central Somalia and the other outside the capital Mogadishu. As the number of animals one owns grow from breeding, they can decide to sell them at the local market price. That amount could then be used to re-invest in more livestock or be withdrawn by the financier.
Ari.Farm founder Mohamed Jimale, a former nomad himself, says since beginning operations in 2016, people from 26 countries across the world have bought almost 1,000 goats, sheep, and camels through Ari.Farm. “The Somali livestock owners are not poor, they have wealth,” Jimale told Quartz. But if they are to survive “they need to find a market for their livestock.”
Across Africa, Ari.Farm is hardly the only startup committed to crowd farming as an avenue for investment, tackling unemployment, increasing social impact, and unlocking multi-million-dollar markets. Livestock Wealth in South Africa, Mifugo Trade in Kenya, and AniTrack in Ghana are but some of the applications bringing livestock trade into the digital economy. In Nigeria, agro-tech start-ups like FarmCrowdy and ThriveAgric have also enabled middle-class Nigerians to fund existing farms for between $200 and $750 for a harvest cycle.
TOP TWEETS
@AU_Chergui: The first deliverable of the Transition Plan was achieved today when #AMISOM officially handed over the Stadium to the Federal Government of Somalia.This is such an important step towards lasting peace, security and stability in#Somalia
@rabrowne75: The US military conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants approximately 40km SW of Mogadishu, Somalia, on August 27, “killing 3 terrorists,” according to@USAfricaCommand. Last reported US strike in Somalia was 22 August
@WHOSom: WHO is using the Strategic Tool for Assessing Risk (STAR) to enable Somalia to apply an evidence-based approach to its health risk assessment, so that processes and outputs are comparable, reproducible and defensible. STAR has been used in many other African countries. #SomNAPHS
@pathfindermag: The British-led Baidoa Security Training Centre in Somalia has marked its 500th graduate, as part of the UK’s ongoing commitment to bring peace and security to the region: http://
@SomaliaToday1: Seven more parties get the nod to contest Somali poll, http://www.somaliatoday.so/
@MahadYSh: There is no progress towards reconciliation and reconstitution of state institutions in Somalia thus far because what has been and is still going on is Normalization of Failure to maintain the status-quo. @Abukar_Arman@MohamoudGaildon @Siad_A @OsmanAbaar
@RadioDanan: #Somalia @M_Farmaajo is expected to visit#Bejing, the capital city of #China. @M_Farmaajo will hold talks with his counterpart,Mr #Xi. China-Somalia ties were quite close prior to the civil war.#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire chaired a meeting on Somali currency reforms attended by International partners.
Photo: Halbeeg News