February 22, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Horn Of Africa Leaders Join Somalia At President Farmaajo’s Inauguration
22 February – Source : Africanews – Words
Security is high in Somalia as the country witnesses the inauguration of its 9th President, Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed Farmajo. The event is taking place at the secured Mogadishu International airport where his election took place weeks back. Except for Eritrea, leaders of all Horn of Africa nations are present at the event. Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn; Omar Guelleh of Djibouti and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta are all present. Representatives from more than 120 countries and international bodies are also present during the inauguration. The former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is also in attendance, he has been roundly hailed by the three presidents for overseeing an orderly transition of power after he lost the last polls.
Key Headlines
- Horn Of Africa Leaders Join Somalia At President Farmaajo’s Inauguration (Africa News)
- Traffic Banned In Mogadishu Ahead Of President Farmaajo’s Inauguration (Goobjoog News)
- Over 60 MPs File A No Confidence Motion Against HirShabelle Leader (Shabelle News)
- Food Crisis Could Become Worse With Poor Rainy Season In Somalia UN Agency Warns (Xinhua)
- Military Officers Urged To Work Closely With Residents To Promote Peace And Security (AMISOM)
- Somalia Is A Leader In Mobile Money But Still Wants To Print Its First Cash Notes In 25 Years
- (Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Traffic Banned In Mogadishu Ahead Of President Farmaajo’s Inauguration
22 February – Source : Goobjoog News – 156 Words
A traffic ban has been imposed and major roads sealed off in the Somali capital, Mogadishu ahead of the inauguration ceremony of the new President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo on Wednesday. Most schools and offices near Former Somali Air Force Base and Somalia’s presidential palace will remain closed on Wednesdayas people had to walk to reach their destination. Hundreds of Somali government soldiers, officers, and other security personnel have been deployed to patrol the main streets and enforce the traffic ban imposed on the capital.
Wednesday’s security measures will include a ban on flights to and from Mogadishu airport. Last week, Somali Civil Aviation Ministry announced that all flights to Aden Adde International Airport would be suspended to prevent any possible attacks from Al-Shabaab during the inauguration event. The Mogadishu-based government is backed by an African Union force, AMISOM, made up of more than 22,000 troops and police, as well as civilian staff.
Over 60 MPs File A No Confidence Motion Against HirShabelle Leader
22 February – Source : Shabelle News – 87 Words
More than 60 Lawmakers have tabled a no confidence motion against the President of HirShabelle Ali Abdullahi Osoble over a complaint by local clans over cabinet nomination. The MPs who held a session on Tuesday at the meeting hall in Jowhar district, announced the no confidence motion against the President and called for an election of new President. They said HirShabelle state President has failed to serve his people and make consultations with them on the appointment of the new cabinet which has drawn a wide condemnation.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Food Crisis Could Worse With Poor Rainy Season In Somalia, UN Agency Warns
21 February -Source: Xinhua -331 Words
Food crisis could worse with poor rainy season after drought has displaced more than 135,000 people inside Somalia since November, a UN spokesman warned here on Tuesday.Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, made the statement at a daily news briefing here, citing data compiled by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the Norwegian Refugee Council and other community-based organizations.”Swift, substantial action and adequate funding are urgently needed to avoid famine and a repeat of 2011, when some 250,000 people died, more than half of them younger than five years old,” Haq said.
In a joint statement, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), along with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, warn that the country’s food crisis could be further exacerbated by a poor rainy season in 2017.The main rainy season in Somalia, referred to as the Gu, lasts from April to June. This period is characterized by the southwest monsoon, which rejuvenate the pasture land, especially the central plateau, and briefly transform the desert into lush vegetation.According to the UNHCR, drought is also pushing some to flee the Horn of Africa country. Since the start of the year, more than 3,770 Somali new arrivals have been recorded at Melkadida in Ethiopia, and acute malnutrition has been reported in around 75 percent of arriving child refugees.
Military Officers Urged To Work Closely With Residents To Promote Peace And Security
22 February – Source : AMISOM – 497 Words
The two-day orientation course on gender issues for officers recently deployed to the five sectors of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) ended yesterday, with a call to military personnel to work closely with local communities to promote peace and respect for human rights. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the workshop, the Acting Chief of Staff, Adebayo Kareem, who is also the head of AMISOM’s Protection, Human Rights and Gender Unit challenged the officers who had undergone the training to discharge their duties in their respective sectors in a manner consistent with the organization’s obligations under the international law.
“The protection, human rights unit and the gender office of AMISOM has the responsibility to ensure that AMISOM discharges its activities in a way that is consistent with our obligations under international law. We have presence in the sectors but unfortunately security considerations can’t allow us to deploy civilians there,” Kareem explained, adding; “the idea is therefore to identify military officers, train them and send them to the sectors so that they act as our eyes and ears in the sectors. So, the message is therefore for them to be our ears and eyes and monitor to ensure that we conduct our activities in a manner that is gender compliant.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“By introducing a new currency notes, the government hopes to wrestle the grip mobile companies like Hormuud has on the economy. The e-payment transactions are also all made in dollars, which makes these telecom companies owners of large foreign exchange reserves.,”
Somalia Is A Leader In Mobile Money But Still Wants To Print Its First Cash Notes In 25 Years
22 February – Source : Quartz Africa- 706 Words
The collapse of the Somali government in 1991 saw the rise of unique political, economic and social outfits, all clambering to fill the void of government institutions. One of them was the emergence of a nonconforming monetary system, controlled by warlords and rogue businessmen, who contracted foreign printers and imported counterfeit money. This left the Somali economy in shambles, largely dependent on dollars for trade, and effectively created a freewheeling “economy without state.” After a few years of relative stability and successful elections, Somalia’s new government hopes to reverse all that. Buoyed by donors, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the country now wants to resume printing banknotes this year.
But while the decision to introduce a new currency is welcomed, observers are worried about whether the country is fully ready to turn a new leaf. ‘The question is not when, it is how,” says Mohamed Dubo, publisher of The Somalia Investor magazine. While reissuing the Somali currency “is definitely required,” Dubo says, the federal government and the central bank shouldn’t rush into printing the money, but rather invest in a gradual process that brings all stakeholders on board.
Bretton Woods institutions have been providing capacity building and budget support to Somalia. Yet, as the central bank itself admits, lack of adequate resources and a monetary policy, not to mention corruption has hindered the creation of an effective system that could stop the high inflation rates or fix the largely dollarized economy. The central bank currently oversees only six banks and 12 money transfer companies, the majority of which are located in the capital. To make the process of printing and introducing the currency succeed, Aly-Khan Satchu, a Kenyan investment adviser, says that the central bank will have to start building strong “collaborative partnerships with trusted institutions across the globe.” Otherwise, he warned, we’ll see a repeat of tumbling currency crises like the one in Nigeria.
TOP TWEETS
@M_Farmaajo:I thank #UN & #EU for their continued support for #Somalia and its people. @SRSGKeating @EU_in_Somalia
@SRSGKeating: Partnerships essential 2 address challenges facing Somalia: FGS & state Govts, business, civ society, neighbours. Far keliya fool ma dhaqdo.
@AbdirahmanCumar: looks like @UKenyatta official plane has landed at MIA for the @M_Farmaajo inauguration welcome Mr. President #Somalia
@ahmed_qays: President @IsmailOguelleh: The participation of over 120 countries in this inauguration ceremony shows how #Somalia is moving forward.
@mpfsomalia:How can dev. partners support contextualised development of#health sector in #Somalia? Roundtable discussion ongoing, w Min. of Health & IC
@MofaSomalia:#Djibouti‘s President Ismail Omar Guelleh arrived in#Mogadishu to attend the inauguration of President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo”
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and his Kenyan counterpart , Uhuru Kenyatta follow the proceeding of the inauguration ceremony.
Photo: UNSOM.