February 11, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report.
PM chairs first weekly cabinet meeting
11 Feb – Source: Garowe Online – 143 Words
Federal Government of Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke chaired first weekly cabinet meeting since being sworn in into the office, Garowe Online reports. Ministers, Deputy Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte attended the session at the heavily fortified compound, Villa Somalia. In a press statement from his office, Sharmarke said the first step is aimed at ministerial offices takeover. “We have discussed several issues including the handover of ministerial responsibilities [by acting cabinet members],” said the Minister, adding that, with each day, five ministers will transfer documents, both fixed and mobile assets and premises to the incoming ministers. Somali lawmakers approved the new cabinet in an overwhelming voteon Monday. International community, the major donor of Mogadishu-based federal government worried about vision 2016- the country’s timetable towards elections by 2016.
Key Headlines
- UNSC urges stabilization of areas recovered from Al-Shabaab (Radio Goobjoog)
- PM chairs first weekly cabinet meeting (Garowe Online)
- Calm returns to Guriel after a day of deadly clashes (Radio Barkulan)
- Selection Process for Jubbaland MPs condemned (Radio Goobjoog)
- Luq farmers complain of crop pests (Radio Ergo)
- US confirms killing militants in Somalia Afghanistan – UPDATE (Kuwait News Agency)
- New Somali cabinet offers glimmer of hope (Deutche Welle)
- I don’t think we know who we killed (Opendemocracy.net)
SOMALI MEDIA
UNSC urges stabilization of areas recovered from Al-Shabaab
11 Feb – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 235 Words
The UN Security Council (UNSC) welcomed the formation of a new cabinet in Somalia and urged the stabilization of areas recovered from al-Shabaab. On February 9, Somali parliament approved a new cabinet of 25 ministers. “The members of the Security Council welcomed the approval of the Cabinet list by the Federal Parliament of Somalia on 9 February,” the Security Council said in a press release. The UN Security Council also called for “establishment and strengthening of interim regional administrations, the stabilization of areas recovered from Al Shabaab, and resuming the implementation and review of the Provisional Constitution, without further delay.”
The members of the Security Council stressed the importance of Somalia’s leaders, including the new Government, the President and Parliament, to develop effective methods of preventing prolonged political crises in the future. The ongoing political crisis in Somalia stems from 1991, when the clan-based opposition groups overthrew the Revolutionary Socialist Party. Since then, the country has been without an effective government, with the internationally-recognized federal authorities controlling only the capital city of Mogadishu and a part of central Somalia. The other areas in the country are self-governing or controlled by unrecognized state formations. For the past seven years, the Mogadishu government has been under assault by the al-Shabaab group, which wants to topple the UN-backed government and create an Islamic state on the controlled territories.
PM chairs first weekly cabinet meeting
11 Feb – Source: Garowe Online – 143 Words
Federal Government of Somalia’s Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke chaired first weekly cabinet meeting since being sworn in into the office, Garowe Online reports. Ministers, Deputy Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte attended the session at the heavily fortified compound, Villa Somalia. In a press statement from his office, Sharmarke said the first step is aimed at ministerial offices takeover. “We have discussed several issues including the handover of ministerial responsibilities [by acting cabinet members],” said the Minister, adding that, with each day, five ministers will transfer documents, both fixed and mobile assets and premises to the incoming ministers. Somali lawmakers approved the new cabinet in an overwhelming vote on Monday. International community, the major donor of Mogadishu-based federal government worried about vision 2016- the country’s timetable towards elections by 2016.
Calm returns to Guriel after a day of deadly clashes
11 Fed – Source: Radio Barkulan – 123 Words
Normalcy has returned to Guriel town in Galgadud region following yesterday’s deadly clashes between government troops and Ahlu Sunna Wal-jama’a militias. Local residents told Bar-kulan that normalcy has now returned and business activities resumed as normal. Bar-kulan reporter in the region said the town is under the full control of Ahlu Sunna Wal-jama’a and some of its militias could be seen manning the area. Government forces who were driven out of the town are reportedly located on the outskirts of the town. Clashes erupted on Tuesday after heavily armed Ahlu Sunna militias attacked government bases in the town. At least 14 people, mainly combatants, died and 30 others were wounded during the clash.
Selection process for Jubbaland MPs condemned
11 Feb – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 156 Words
Politician Abdi Shire Warsame has come out strongly against what he termed as irregular selection process for Jubbaland State Parliament Members. Speaking to Radio Goobjoog, Warsame said that he believes that it’s not possible to establish regional assembly under the political climate. He pointed out the IJA (Interim Jubbaland Administration) doesn’t control much of the territory of the three regions which falls under the jurisdiction of Jubbaland State of Somalia. He also criticized the leadership style of the IJA, calling them murderous. “When it comes to establish an assembly, you should have the required population and territorial control, here that is not the case, there are too many bona fide politicians outside the process, so I would advise them not to mislead the people, IJA is only confined to Kismayo” said Abdi Shire whose relative Barre Aadan Shire Hirale signed a peace deal with IJA, but still remains in the wildness.
Luq farmers complain of crop pests
10 Feb – Source: Radio Ergo – 210 Words
Irrigation farmers in Luq district of Gedo region say their harvest is being spoiled by plagues of insects. Farmers in villages of Hanoy, Maganey, Banmudul, Hero-kowad and Ararase near Luq are the most affected. Mohamed Muhumad, a farmer in Hanoy, eight km from Luq, told Radio Ergo that local production had severely declined due to locusts, worms and maggots infesting their crops. “We grow crops such as maize, onions, beans, sesame, lemons and other vegetables which we take to markets in Mogadishu, Baidoa, Beledhawo, Mandera, Garbaharrey and Hudur. The locally produced lemons are exported as far as United Arab Emirates, but we have not sent enough products to the markets this year due to little harvest,” said Mohamed. Ali Hussein, a farmer in Maganey village, 11 km from Luq, said they had no means to protect their crops. “We are nomadic people with little agricultural knowledge to control the invasive pests. For instance, 30 per cent of onions in my farm have been destroyed… And this is not specific to me. Other farmers are affected as well,” he said. Abdullahi Sheikh Ali, a member of Luq farmers’ committee, said farmers in the area needed access to pesticides and skills trainings to improve their production.
REGIONAL MEDIA
US confirms killing militants in Somalia, Afghanistan – UPDATE
11 Feb – Source: Kuwait News Agency – 327 Words
The Pentagon has confirmed death of a number of “terrorists” in US strikes in Somalia and Afghanistan, saying that two “key militants” were among the casualties. “In a strike south of Mogadishu, using unmanned aerial aircraft and Hellfire missiles, we struck at an Al-Shabaab network and a terrorist group target by the name of Yusef Dheeq,” Pentagon Spokesperson Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters, late on Tuesday, referring to a military operation conducted in late January. “What I can confirm today is that we know we killed him and an associate in that strike. We do not assess that there was any civilian or bystander casualties as a result of that,” he said.
Kirby added that on Monday, “US forces in Afghanistan conducted a precision strike in Helmand province, resulting in the death of eight individuals, including Abdul Rauf Khadim, a former Taliban commander” who is believed to have loyalties to ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. “We had information that they were planning operations against US and Afghan personnel there in Afghanistan,” Kirby said. Khadim had been an inmate at the Guantanamo Bay prison, and was released to Kabul in 2007, Kirby affirmed. On the presence of ISIL in Afghanistan, Kirby said the group “are looking very sharply to see if they’re expanding in other areas outside Iraq and Syria, and we know they have those designs,” but described their activities in Afghanistan as “nascent at best.” The Pentagon’s assessment, he noted, is that “Khadim” decided to swear allegiance to the ISIL probably no more than a couple weeks ago.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
New Somali cabinet offers glimmer of hope
10 Feb – Source: Deutche Welle – 865 Words
How does one govern one of the most dangerous countries on the planet? This is a question to which the 25 members of the new Somali cabinet will have to find some convincing answers as soon as possible. Parliament approved the new cabinet at the beginning of the week. “They are technocrats rather than professional politicians,” said Andrews Atta-Asamoah, who follows developments in Somalia for the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria. “There are new faces; people who do not have much experience in politics,” he said. “The reason for this was the need to introduce people who do not have a negative history in terms of the recent political narrative in Somalia, but also people who would be committed to delivering for the needs and aspirations of the Somali people.”
A protracted row preceded the formation of the new cabinet. The first list of 25 ministers from Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake was turned down by parliament because ten of them were members of the previous administration. Agreement on a cabinet line-up was only possible on a third attempt, but it was then sealed by a comfortable majority in parliament. The hope is that the new faces will finally enable the crisis-ridden state to turn the corner and put its problems behind it. Time is running out. The government has to complete a new draft constitution on which Somalis will vote in a referendum in March 2016. Six months later the country goes to the polls and those elections need to be prepared as well.
I don’t think we know who we killed
10 Feb – Source: Opendemocracy.net – 986 Words
A US drone strike which killed a senior al-Shabaab leader in Somalia a week ago appears to have been part of a change of tactics by the Americans since they started targeting the militant group in 2007. It was the fifth consecutive such strike against al-Shabaab’s leadership, with drones now appearing to have superseded other, manned aircraft and cruise missiles in the seven years since attacks began in Somalia. Such unmanned systems are now widely seen as the US weapon of choice in its ‘war on terror’, as they can “strike their targets with astonishing precision”, according to John Brennan, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. But despite their vaunted precision, there are reports the latest strike in Somalia, on 31 January, killed or injured civilians.
The attack killed at least five people, all reportedly members of al-Shabaab and one identified as Yusef Dheeq, a senior figure. It reportedly hit an al-Shabaab convoy at about 9am local time. The US admitted the attack. “This was done with Hellfire missiles fired from UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles],” the Pentagon press secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby, subsequently told reporters. “There were no US boots on the ground.” The Somali government and an unnamed US official both said Dheeq had been killed. Kirby however told reporters: “He has not been officially declared dead. I’m not in a position now to confirm the results of the strike but if successful, if he no longer breathes, then this is a significant, another significant blow to al-Shabaab. It goes to show how long our reach can be when it comes to counter-terrorism.” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism understand the US will confirm Dheeq’s death in the coming days.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“So you take a country suffering from terrorism, massive youth unemployment and the threat of famine, and seek to shut off half its earnings. You force money transfers underground where they are more likely to be captured by terrorists. You destroy hope, making young men more susceptible to recruitment by an organisation promising loot and status.”
The careless, astonishing cruelty of Barack Obama’s government
10 Feb – Source: The Guardian – 1, 068 Words
Let me introduce you to the world’s most powerful terrorist recruiting sergeant: a US federal agency called the office of the comptroller of the currency. Its decision to cause a humanitarian catastrophe in one of the poorest, most troubled places on Earth could resonate around the world for decades. Last Friday, after the OCC had sent it a cease-and-desist order, the last bank in the United States still processing money transfers to Somalia closed its service. The agency, which reports to the US treasury, reasoned that some of this money might find its way into the hands of the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab. It’s true that some of it might, just as some resources in any nation will find their way into the hands of criminals (ask HSBC). So why don’t we shut down the phone networks to hamper terrorism? Why don’t we ban agriculture in case fertiliser is used to make explosives? Why don’t we stop all the clocks to prevent armed gangs from planning their next atrocity?
Ridiculous? In fact it’s not far off. Remittances from the Somalian diaspora amount to $1.2bn-$1.6bn a year, which is roughly 50% of the country’s gross national income, and on which 40% of the population relies for survival. Over the past 10 years the money known to have been transferred to suspected terrorists in Somalia amounts to a few thousand dollars. Cutting off remittances is likely to kill more people than terrorists will ever manage. Hawala is one of Africa’s great success stories. But it can’t work unless banks in donor nations can transfer funds. During the 2011 famine in Somalia, according to a British government report, “British Somalis saved hundreds of thousands of lives by remitting money … reaching family members before aid agencies could mobilise”. Government aid agencies then used the same informal banking system – the hawala – to send money to 1.5 million people, saving hundreds of thousands more. Today, roughly 3 million of Somalia’s 7 million people are short of food. Shut off the funds and the results are likely to be terrible.
“In the future when I get my freedom, I plan to work in a carpentry shop. With a bit of investment I can plan my own business and be independent.”
How to better reintegrate detainees into society
06 Feb – Source: International Committee of the Red Cross – 442 Words
As part of its work in detention centres in Somalia, the ICRC set up a vocational training programme in Bossasso prison in 2013. Detainees are able to take courses in carpentry, masonry and sewing. The courses last six months and vary in level of difficulty to take into account the detainees’ existing skills. Mohamed, an inmate at a northern Somalia prison, had only ever been trained in one thing: how to fire a gun. Now, though, thanks to a programme for prisoners run by the ICRC, Mohamed and others are learning skills in carpentry, masonry and tailoring that they can use in the outside world. “I have never had an opportunity to be trained for a job,” Mohamed said. “Thanks to the ICRC and the management of the prison, I have been included in the carpentry training.” The ICRC has been teaching inmates new job skills in the prison in Bossassa – in the northern Somalia region of Puntland – since 2013. Such ICRC vocational training programmes are fundamental to the well-being, rehabilitation and social reintegration of detainees.
Prison visits are a core part of ICRC’s humanitarian role in the world. The aim of this humanitarian activity is to ensure that persons deprived of their freedom are treated humanely and with dignity. The first-ever detention visits by the ICRC occurred during World War I, and decades later its delegates visited Nelson Mandela when the South African icon was behind bars. The organization currently visits 500,000 detainees a year in more than 90 countries and territories. Mohamed first began interacting with the ICRC in 2012, when the organization handed out hygiene products like soap and helped inmates send messages back and forth with family members. Sixty detainees, both male and female, are now enrolled in the six-month vocational classes. Mohamed shows visitors the fruits of his new carpentry skills – a table and chair.
Top tweets
@alijira @AbdirashidMuse: U.N. Envoy to Somalia Warns Against Cutting Off Remittances http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/
@Oxfam Remittances to Somalia have now been cut 80%.@USTreasury could save this vital #SomaliLifelinehttp://oxf.am/Zqpk #IFundFoodNotTerror
@MattBryden The careless, astonishing cruelty of Barack Obama’s government | George Monbiot #Somaliahttp://gu.com/p/45y2x/stw
@amisomsomalia The tour of sector one also saw@MamanSidikou1 visit the #Mogadishu seaport – a major income earner for the Federal Government of #Somalia
@Aynte Being a minister in #Somalia isn’t a cause for celebration. people expect us to work very hard to alleviate their suffering. I’ll do my best.
@dillapress More than 20 killed ,35 wounded in Somalia clashes between government troops and moderate Islamist group: http://bit.ly/1KHdvep
Image of the day
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud drinking fresh camel milk during a welcome ceremony in Dhusamareeb City.