December 2, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Allied forces capture areas in Bay region
02 Dec- Source: Radio Mogadishu/alshahid- 88 words
The allied Somali and Ethiopian troops captured several areas in Bay region, South Western Somalia. Radio Mogadishu has reported that the government forces in collaboration with the Ethiopian forces gained control of about 30 villages in Bay region. The Radio quoted Mohammed Abdi, head of the Owdiinle administration in Bay, saying that the control of these areas came after the operations carried out by the Ethiopian and Somali forces in the region. Mohamed Abdi said that the residents of these villages welcomed the allied forces.
Key Headlines
- AMISOM interpreter killed in Mogadishu (Jowahr Online)
- Puntland calls on Federal MPs to halt impeachment motion against Prime Minister (Radio Dalsan)
- Allied forces capture areas in Bay region (Radio Mogadishu)
- Somaliland Ministry of information receives media equipment (Somaliland Informer)
- Religious scholars receive cash aid to assist cyclone victims (Radio Bar-kulan/SNTV)
- PM Shirdon rejects allegations against his government (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Flights between Mogadishu and Somaliland cancelled due to row (BBC Somali Service)
- Displaced families returned home in Jowhar (Radio Ergo)
- New ship defence system could sound the death knell for piracy in EA (East African)
- Tanzania toil to pip stubborn Somalia (Daily Nation)
- Shooting in Somalia? Dial 888 for police (France 24/ Capital News)
- Alleged Somali pirates taken to Seychelles for trial (AFP)
SOMALI MEDIA
Puntland calls on Federal MPs to halt impeachment motion against Prime Minister
02 Dec- Source: Radio Dalsan- 142 words
Puntland administration in Northeast Somalia has warned over the current impeachment motion by the Federal Parliament of Somalia against Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon.
Abdishakur Mire, the State Minister for Ports and Marine Resources said that the current impeachment will only worsen the country’s unstable political process, calling on the Parliamentarian to withdraw the impeachment motion.
“I am calling on the federal lawmakers to be neutral and not side with either the president or the prime minister.” Mire said.
He said Puntland administration, as a federal state will continue to monitor the situation in Mogadishu during the hot parliamentary debate over the tabled motion against the cabinet.
On Monday, the lawmakers in Mogadishu continue on the third day debate on the impeachment motion that has been tabled by more than 160 members of the parliament.
Allied forces capture areas in Bay region
02 Dec- Source: Radio Mogadishu/alshahid- 88 words
The allied Somali and Ethiopian troops captured several areas in Bay region, South Western Somalia. Radio Mogadishu has reported that the government forces in collaboration with the Ethiopian forces gained control of about 30 villages in Bay region. The Radio quoted Mohammed Abdi, head of the Owdiinle administration in Bay, saying that the control of these areas came after the operations carried out by the Ethiopian and Somali forces in the region. Mohamed Abdi said that the residents of these villages welcomed the allied forces.
AMISOM interpreter killed in Mogadishu
02 Dec- Source Jowahr Online/RBC/Risaala- 113 words
A Somali national who was working as an interpreter for AMISOM was killed in Suuqa Xoolaha district in Mogadishu. It is reported that two armed men shot the Somali translator, killing him on the spot. After the incident, the security forces killed the two assailants who were behind the murder. The deceased was heading home from his workplace in Maslah camp, which houses AMISOM troops.
Omar Jaafan, a Somali official said : “We took the body of the translator and we were able to bury it, but the bodies of the two perpetrators are still in the place,” Jaafan said. He added that this is an achievement for the forces where they were able to kill the perpetrators at the spot, and vowed that the security forces will ensure and maintain the security of the city.
Somaliland Ministry of information receives media equipment
02 Dec- Source: Somaliland Informer- 127 words
Somaliland minister of information Mr. Abdilahi Mohamed Dahir accompanied by the Director General of the ministry of Information Mr. Abdirashid Jibril Yusuf have received various media equipment from DAI on Sunday.
Ceremony held at the ministry of information was attended by the heads of the ministry’s departments, the minister told that this will play significant role in the executing the daily day operations of the ministry very smoothly.
The minister urged the staff in charge to retain the equipment for the smooth running of the national duty that ministry has for the nation.
Mr. Ahmed Ismail Idiris who spoke on behalf of DAI said that cost of the equipment is estimated to be around $ 60, 000 and is part of project to develop government institutions.
Religious scholars receive cash aid to assist cyclone victims
02 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan/SNTV/Somali Channel- 109 words
Religious scholars in Garowe, the administrative capital of Puntland stated to have received 150 thousand dollars to assist the survivors of cyclone storms. The scholars said in a press conference in Garowe that most of the money was raised by Somali Diaspora communities in the United Kingdom and Canada.
They thanked Somali communities in the UK and Canada for their support to the survivors and promised to do their utmost endeavors to deliver the aid to its intended destinations.
Cyclone storms and torrential rains have killed more than one hundred people and swept across many villages destroying properties and livelihoods of thousands of people in Puntland earlier this month.
Somaliland Port of Berbera Scoops Second Prize at the 6th Ethio-chamber international Trade Fair
02 Dec- Source: Somaliland Press- 309 words
The Port of Berbera has scooped the second overall prize at the sixth edition of the Ethiopia Chamber of commerce trade fair as the best service giving enterprise second only to the Ethiopian Telecom which was nominated the first overall winner this year.
The event was inaugurated with colorful ceremony on November 27- December 03, 2013 in the presence of Federal and Regional government dignitaries, Ambassadors, prominent personalities local and foreign business leaders from across the horn region.
PM Shirdon rejects allegations against his government
01 Dec- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 104 words
Somalia’s Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon has brushed aside allegations against his government which led to the motion of no-confidence against him. A press statement from the Prime Minister’s office stated that the accusations in the motion lack proper credibility.
He asked the legislators to give his government a time to respond to the allegations and added that any decision without the government being allowed to address the matter will be considered baseless.
The statement comes after Somali legislators rejected Prime Minister’s request to respond to the allegations during a no-confidence vote against his government which is currently taking place in the capital, Mogadishu.
Flights between Mogadishu and Somaliland cancelled due to row
30 Nov- Source: Somali Current/BBC Somali Service – 213 words
Local Air travel between Somalia’s capital Mogadishu and Berbera, was grounded for the second day, after air carriers canceled their flights due to passport row between Somalia government and Somaliland. Somali Immigration Department has allegedly arrested passengers traveling to Berbera on Thursday, accusing them of using the previous banned Somali Passport.
July 2011, the Transitional Federal Government has officially banned the usage of the Green Passport and ordered the citizens to apply the biometric passport known as E-Passport in the country.
However, Somaliland administration in northern Somalia does not recognize Somalia’s Biometric Passport and instead opted originally used one.
In an interview with BBC, Somaliland Interior Minister Ali Mohamed Waran-ade said earlier October that his government would not allow the public to use the passport. “We broke away from Somalia, we don’t recognize their passport and they don’t recognize ours,” said Waran-ade, adding, “No one can travel with Somali passport, unless it is the previous one.”
The passport row between Mogadishu and Hargeisa led the cancellation of the flights, upsetting aid workers and local travellers. No official from both sides has commented on the issue, but air carriers are trying to find a way to continue the flights. Somaliland is self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia.
Displaced families returned home in Jowhar
30 Nov- Radio Ergo- 214 words
More than 1,000 displaced families have returned to their homes in Jowhar, the regional capital of middle Shabelle region, from Mogadishu. The families had been displaced from the district three years ago due to famine and drought.
Fadumo Said, a mother of six,who was among the returnee families,said she had missed home so much and hoped to re-establish a stable life for her children. “Being a displaced person is a very hard life and I have been struggling all these years to feed my children since their father is sick and unable to work. I am now happy to be back home,” Said told Radio Ergo’s local reporter in Jowhar.
The returning people are mainly from farming families. They have returned as the rainy season is going on and will hope to plant their fields.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has donated housing material, farming tools and a $100 cash to each family. Fadumo Said said the tools will help her to restore her family’s farming livelihood.
Ali Ibrahim Bes, who works for the local administration, assisted a local organization to distribute other aid donations to the returning families. He welcomed this as the first phase of a programme aimed at bringing all the displaced families from Middle Shabelle back home.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Tanzania toil to pip stubborn Somalia
02 Dec- Source: Daily Nation-495 Words
Substitute Athuman Chanongo came off the bench to score a contender for goal of the tournament as Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Stars held their nerves to squeeze a narrow 1-0 win over hard-fighting Somalia in a Group B Cecafa Senior Challenge match played at the Nyayo Stadium Sunday.
In the second match of the day, Zambia beat Burundi by a solitary goal but the talking point will be the condition of the pitch. Tanzania forward Athuman just needed five minutes on the pitch to brilliantly drill in a rocket shot to the roof of the net from the box after connecting with a fine delivery from Domayo Raymond.
In a contest where Somalia’s Ocean Stars gave a good account of themselves, the Kili Stars were pressed to the limit but held strongly on to their lead aided by good goalkeeping from Ivo Mapunda. The Gor Mahia custodian, who has made a return to the Tanzanian national team after long stints in the cold, had a great game denying the prowling Somali strikers time and again.
CECAFA: Somalia sent packing after second loss
01 Dec- Source: NTV Kenya-00:48mins
Tanzania and Zambia grabbed their first wins in Group B of the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, leaving them tied on four points and two goals each at the top of the group. Tanzania beat a wasteful Somalia side 1-0 in Sunday’s opening match at the Nyayo stadium. Chanongo Athuman beautifully volleyed in a cross on the 57th minute for the only goal of the match. In the second match played at the same venue, Zambia beat Burundi by the same margin. Festus Mbewe’s 65th minute tap in gifted Chipolopolo the much needed goal to ensure they keep abreast with the Kilimanjaro Stars at the top of the group. The results mean Somalia are the second team to bid the tournament farewell after South Sudan. Burundi occupy third place with three points.
New ship defence system could sound the death knell for piracy in EA
30 Nov- Source: East African- 405 words
A devastating new type of defence system that has been designed to protect merchant ships from attacks could mean the end of piracy off the coast of Somalia.
The WatchStander defence system, designed by a US company, uses advance radar systems and intelligent software to monitor potentially dangerous vessels approaching a ship and is capable of automatically instigating defence mechanisms to deter an attack.
The system has the capability to send out a sensory “bombardment” to potential attackers, including sound canons, laser cannons and pepper dispensing projectiles.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Shooting in Somalia? Dial 888 for police
02 Dec- AFP/France 24/ Capital News -675 Words
The bullet-scarred streets of Somalia’s war-ravaged capital are rife with danger, but after two decades of anarchy, the besieged residents can now at least call the police if there is a problem.
Colonel Yusuf Mohamed Farah sweeps open his arms wide, proudly showing off the busy operation centre of the new emergency police telephone hotline: a small and simple room with a single telephone, high frequency radio, a table and two chairs, and a battery to keep operating during regular power cuts.
“It is not an easy task, but it is a good thing that we have done in installing the 888 emergency number… and it is going well,” said 46-year-old Farah, head of public relations for Somalia’s police. “We are receiving so many calls every day, with people asking us for assistance.”
Alleged Somali pirates taken to Seychelles for trial
02 Dec- Source: AFP/Yahoo News-253 Words
Nine alleged Somali pirates arrested by the Danish navy in early November have been transferred to the Seychelles for trial, police in the archipelago nation said Sunday. The Seychelles national police force said authorities in the Indian Ocean country had agreed to accept the transfer of the nine suspected pirates after they were captured on the high seas by the Danish navy, which was taking part in the European Union’s Atalanta anti-piracy operations.
The suspected pirates were arrested after attacking a Danish ship, the Torm Kansas, on November 9, the police statement said. “M/V Torm Kansas retaliated, managed to repel their attacks and solicited back-up from their base to arrest the attackers,” it said.
Investigations indicate the same group also attacked the Hong Kong-flagged Zhongji No1 on November 6 but were fought off by armed security officers on board, it added. The suspects, aged between 14 and 35, were handed over to Seychelles authorities on Saturday, it said.
Somaliland and aid donors strike state functions deal
02 Dec- Source: public finance international- 224 words
Somaliland and its development partners have signed an agreement intended to deliver core state functions. It is set to introduce public financial management and wider public sector reforms to improve accountability and government strengthening.
The memorandum of understanding was signed on November 28 between Somaliland, the UK Department for International Development and Denmark’s DANIDA at the Presidential Palace in Hargesia.
Current donor contributions to the Somaliland Development Fund stand at the $60.5m, of which $40.5m provided by DFID and $20m from DANIDA. However, this is only 4.2% of the $1.19bn required for funding the National Development Plan.
Somaliland’s president Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo welcomed the agreement and reflected on his country’s demonstrated commitment to ensuring peace, stability and development.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“For peaceful, developed and prosperous Somalia to be achieved the politicians should forget about the power of tribalism and think about the supremacy of unity for the sake of national reconciliation regardless of ethnic background.”
Tribal Based Politics a Great Challenge to Somalia’s Road to Recovery
02 Dec- Source: Radio Dalsan-583 Words
A political crisis that might damage the volatile security development is silently looming in Somalia a country that is gradually recovering from more than two decades of civil war. One year old government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud which has spearheaded the country out from the transition period is now battling silent political war with in.
The president is facing a state of dilemma while his being pressurized to sack his own appointed prime minister by the same members of parliament that approved his appointment citing the prime minister’s incompetence for last one year in office. President Sheikh Mohamud is currently finding himself in a situation where by he is innocently pressed between two hard rocks.
On one side quite number of Somali parliament members particularly those from the same tribe (Darood) as of the PM are pushing the president to show the door the Prime Minister Mr. Abdi Farah Shirdon and replace him with one of their own with the immediate effect.
“Roughly speaking, Somaliland has no genuine diplomats who can cook their potential to illustrate Somaliland people even an eye of opportunity when it comes to diplomatic credit but it has tribal experts tiring with local and tribal affairs who teach tribalism courses to Somaliland people.”
The Paradoxes in Somaliland Foreign Engagement
01 Dec- Source: Somalilandpress-1428 Words
In 22 plus years Somaliland has intensely lobbied to snatch diplomatic recognition but paradoxically keeps on poor and unproductive processes which are by far now missing the public appetite. Those poor processes on recognition have never received a single smile from the ordinary Somaliland citizen. Except for some poor initiatives that were born and then died during the Egal and Rayale eras, nothing viable could have been seen again on the horizon. Correspondingly, despite Somaliland dances and sings according to the tune of the western countries when it comes to democracy for the recognition so far nothing positive appears on the horizon. The problem in those twenty-two years of Somaliland foreign efforts are: lack of policies, the application of poor process instead of policies, fruitless diplomats, allocation of the least fund for the recognition and lack of lobbying groups.
Top tweets
@Ina_Ali1 Rehabilitation of a major road on the outskirts of#Beledweyne in #Hiiraan #Somalia by #Djibouti #AMISOMcontigent pic.twitter.com/1qHuiJQ3cQ
@MargotKiser US General & US Ambassador target practice alongside Burundian soldiers. #Amisom #Burundipic.twitter.com/00picPnr4N
@UNSomalia Welcome to the new #AMISOM Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Silas Ntigurirwa.http://vimeo.com/auunistnews/
@JamesGadin #AMISOM workshop to strengthen #SomaliaJudiciary to address #sexualviolence opened by #Djibouti#Gender Minister pic.twitter.com/mbF9bwWrb0
@UNSomalia #UN Envoy for #Somalia Nicholas Kay appeals for calm in #Sool, deplores loss of life http://bit.ly/18PxRkI @UN_DPA @Somalia111
Image of the day
The incoming Force Commander of the African Union Mission in Somalia AMISOM Lt. Gen. Silas Ntigurirwa of Burundi addresses media after arriving on 29th November in the Somali Capital Mogadishu for a familiarization tour. Photo: AMISOM/AU UN IST