August 8, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia, Sudan Discuss Strengthening Bilateral Relations
08 August – Source: Garowe Online – 184 Words
President General Omar Al-Bashir, has affirmed the keenness of government of Sudan to support Somalia, until the country is ready to realize its own development and stability. During his meeting, with the visiting Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire on Tuesday, has appreciated the participation of Somali government in the signing of South Sudan peace agreement ceremony.
In a press statement, the Somali Prime Minister said, that two discussed the bilateral relations between Sudan and Somalia, describing the meeting as fruitful and constructive. President al-Bashir expressed the appreciation of Somalia’s role in leading the negotiations between the South Sudanese parties and the signing of the peace agreement. He described South Sudan peace agreement as an exceptional work that affirmed the capability of the Africans to solve their own problems.
The State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mohamed Abdalla Idris, said that the President of the Republic has welcomed the invitation of the Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, requesting him to visit Somalia. He referred in an agreement between the two countries to form a joint committees that will bolster the bilateral relations.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Sudan Discuss Strengthening Bilateral Relations (Garowe Online)
- HirShabelle President Meets With AMISOM Force Commander (Jowhar News)
- Al-Shabaab Commander Surrenders To Somali Government In Mogadishu (Halbeeg News)
- Somali Poll Officials Undergo Training In Kenya (Business Daily Africa)
- How The Somali Networks Make East Africa Go Round (The East African)
- Amanda Lindhout Recounts 15-month Somalia Ordeal On Australian TV’s Interview Programme (Newscom Australia)
NATIONAL MEDIA
HirShabelle President Meets With AMISOM Force Commander
08 August – Source: Jowhar News – 182 Words
HirShabelle President Mohamed Abdi Ware has received a delegation led by the AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. General Jim Beesigye Owoyesigire at the Presidential Palace in Jowhar. The meeting between the HirShabelle President and the AMISOM leaders, primarily focused on the overall security in HirShabelle and plans to resume a military offensive aimed at re-opening the main supplies routes blockaded by Al-Shabaab group.
General Jim Beesigye briefed President Ware on AMISOM’s latest activities in the country, their role in stabilizing the country in supporting the Somali National Army and its plans to resume offensives in HirShabelle. The meeting also discussed the importance of preparing the Somali security forces to take over security responsibilities from AMISOM.
President Ware stressed the need to resume military operations against Al-Shabaab in an attempt to curb Al-Shabaab’s menace in the region. He thanked AMISOM for its support to the Somali people and its government, and its determination to restore peace and stability and defeat Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab has in recent past doubled its attacks in parts of HirShabelle, a move that crippled the movement of transport across the region.
Al-Shabaab Commander Surrenders To Somali Government In Mogadishu
07 August – Source: Halbeeg News – 197 Words
Mid-level Al-Shabaab commander defected to Somali government on Tuesday amid operations against the group escalated in the recent days. Abdirahman Hussein Wardhere (Bilal) has been fighting alongside the group’s fighters for the last twelve years.
Speaking to the media, in Mogadishu after he was paraded by the Somali government, Bilal said he decided to dessert Al-Shabab. “I had been Al-Shabaab member for twelve years, taking advantage of amnesty that Somali President Farmajo offered to Al-Shabaab fighters, I am willing to give myself up and decided to leave Al-Shabaab,” he said. Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo had several times offered Al-Shabaab fighters amnesty. Government officials state that only negotiation can end Somalia’s 28 years old civil war – especially given the ragged state of the military.
Al-Shabaab, which lost control of many towns in the country, carries out deadly attacks in and outside the capital. Somali forces supported by AU and U.S. troops have intensified operations to annihilate Al-Shabaab fighters from South and Central Somalia. The forces destroyed Al-Shabaab bases in Middle Shabelle region on Tuesdayafter covert operations. Military officials said several Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in the dawn raid recapturing four villages near Bal’ad town
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Poll Officials Undergo Training In Kenya
07 August – Source: Business Daily Africa – 206 Words
Somalia’s electoral officials and stakeholders met in Nairobi on Tuesday to sharpen their knowledge on elections management, organisers said. The four-day intensive training backed by the African Union Commission and the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) aims to build participants’ understanding of the constitutional and electoral legal frameworks for Somalia.
Francisco Madeira, the AU Special Representative for Somalia said most of the participants in the training have very clear ideas on the complexity of the process and they are effectively discussing what needs to be discussed. “How to go over and solve these complicated issues, how to confront the issue of clanism in Somalia, with its traditional cultural influences, where women’s rights are not necessarily; what the general western conception is; or what the general democratic practice is,” Madeira said in his opening remarks.
The meeting comes as the Horn of Africa nation prepares to move towards ‘one-person, one-vote’ elections in 2020/2021 in which the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC) is working to achieve this. Analysts said a key step in creating a stable and democratic political system is the registration of political parties, in line with the Political Party Law of the Federal Government, which was passed by the Somali Parliament in June 2016.
How The Somali Networks Make East Africa Go Round
07 August – Source: The East African – 543 Words
Only 16 per cent of the recommendations from the 5th EAC Secretary General’s Forum in 2017 have been implemented, The East African reported a few days ago in a story appropriately headlined “EAC organs dragging feet on integration.” It quoted Lilian Awinja, executive director of the East African Business Council, who said in what must have been the understatement of the week, “These figures are worrisome.”
It raised an old question; how did a regional bloc that has a hopeless record of official action on integration, come to be held up as a model in Africa? To which there are two equally old answers. First, small steps by governments on integration in East Africa go a long way. Second, the “invisible hand of East Africans” has been a big driver of regional integration.
Recently I made that point at a forum, and got emails asking me “to shed more light upon” my argument. Of particular interest, apparently, was my view that if one is looking for one thing East Africa has that other regional blocs don’t have to the same level, it has to be the “Somali distribution networks.”
These networks have certain crucial elements. There is the older transport network, primarily trucks taking goods from Mombasa to the rest of East Africa, Central Africa and North Africa (the Sudans). Later it went into buses. This network introduced a common transport and pricing logic in East Africa. But, as demonstrated in the case of Gateway Bus, it also rewrote the rules of regional routes.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“The darkness has a weight to it,” she said. “It was very … It was heavy and it was oppressive and it was terrifying every moment of the day. You start to lose track of time. I mean, it was absolutely pitch black.”
Amanda Lindhout Recounts 15-month Somalia Ordeal On Australian TV’s Interview Programme
08 August – Source: Newscom Australia – 1921 Words
Young reporter Amanda Lindhout was aware of the risks, but three days after entering Somalia, she and her friend were seized. She told Andrew Denton of her 15-month ordeal. She was just 26 years old. For a young reporter, the job was the opportunity of a lifetime. But, just days after entering war-ravaged Somalia, Amanda Lindhout’s survival instinct would be pushed beyond all human boundaries. Rape. Torture. The reality of death always just centimetres and seconds away.
For 15 months, Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were brutalised as their increasingly impatient captors demanded ransoms be paid for their freedom. Eventually, both were freed. But the soul-searing cruelty of their captivity changed them both. Lindhout told Andrew Denton on Australian TV channel Seven’s Interview of the excruciating torture she had suffered. But she also related the moments of beauty, revelation and extraordinary courage that gave her the strength to survive.
Lindhout had simply wanted to tell the stories of those suffering from decades of internal conflict. “It was a very important story to tell,” she told Denton. “Also, as a young, mostly freelance journalist, it was also an opportunity for me.” She said that she and her friend Brennan went on what they thought was a one-week work trip to Somalia. “Only we ended up staying.” Lindhout said she was aware of the risks, and thought she had become acclimatized to war-torn lands in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Three days after entering Somalia, on August 23, 2008, she and Brennan were seized. “Our logistics organiser had told us it was safe to travel outside of the city,” she said. “There was no active fighting we were going to an internally displaced people’s camp. That was going to be the big story that we were in Somalia for.” So they set out. “We’re on a big open highway road. Somalia is so poor a lot of people don’t even have vehicles,” she said. “So we see a car pulled over off to the side up ahead and because it was the only other vehicle on the road it right away grabbed our attention. Within minutes, what unfolded was like something out of a nightmare.”
A dozen armed men spread out across the road, pointing AK-47 assault rifles at them “I couldn’t see their faces. Young men in chequered scarfs. So, our vehicle was forced to stop. They surrounded us, pulled the doors open, pulled us out … And the next thing I knew I had been abducted.” Their leader, a man calling himself Adam, demanded Lindhout and Brennan contact their families. He wanted US$1.5 million ransom — each.
“The Canadian and Australian governments don’t pay ransoms,” Lindhout said. “I come from a really poor family. Nigel’s family is not wealthy. And so that began the start of what would be a very long time in captivity.” Initially, she said, she and Brennan were held together. “That was such a comfort. To be able to have somebody to talk to, to share the emotions with.” Her captors were very interested in her and Brennan’s stories. They wanted to know about their lives. But as time drew on, things changed for the worse. Brennan and Lindhout were separated.
TOP TWEETS
@GuledWiliq: #Benadirstate citizens in addition for being the only tax payer in #Somalia more money is transfred from Benadir to other FMS. #TaxationWithoutRepresentation abuse continues@BanadirNews @M1Samira
@TC_Mogadishu: We held ceremony for the graduation of first batch of the NCO as well as the training of the third company at the TURKSOM Military Academy in Mogadishu.
@SahraCabdi: #BREAKINGNEWS: A key traditional elder from#Jigjigo Suldan Abdullahi Bashir, tells @voasomali on the phone from the region that the frm president of the #Somali region, Abdi Muhamed Omar, was physically abused and beaten, before he was taken to a custody in Ardisabab.
@RadioErgo: Scientists encourage pastoralists to replant river grass in other areas after successful tests. #Somalia
@taakulosom: The Community in Ali Awed village enjoys Water access made available by the @shf_somalia program which consisted of Integrated Emergency Response for drought affected communities in Oodweyne District.
@TC_Mogadishu: We hosted the students who visited Mogadishu as a part of @tika_english1 2018 Experience Sharing Program.
@Ismail_WR: I am in Hargeisa this week at our new office in Nuur Hawse Plaza, meeting with members of the #Somalilandcommunity and introducing more people to @WorldRemit‘s award-winning service #WRSomaliland
@AaminAmbulance: @AaminAmbulance met today with@AbikarDr, Minister of Health and Social Services of Somalia to explore ways to collaborate to get sustainable service. She encouraged the volunteerism and appealed continuity.@Caafimadka @SomaliPM @DrAadem @MoalimuYazinu@drjalaal
@AbdulBillowAli: A #Uganda/n military colonel serving under@amisomsomalia has described #Somalia as a “pig”. The@ForeignPolicy report quotes him saying “Somalia is like cleaning a pig, you clean it, and it gets dirty.”
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire met with the President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum, Sudan during his visit.
Photo: @SomaliOpm