February 26, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Cabinet Meeting Focuses On Security
26 February – Source: Garowe Online – 78 Words
Somali Cabinet members have held their weekly cabinet meeting in Mogadishu on Thursday, Garowe Online reports. Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Gen. Abdullahi Ahmed Jama (IlkaJiir) has presided over the session that focused on security situation.The Cabinet has also passed Security and Defence Council for Somali Coasts bill as part of accelerated government policies in piracy-ridden waters in East Africa.Defence and Security Ministries briefed the cabinet on latest security developments in central and southern Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Cabinet Meeting Focuses On Security (Garowe Online)
- President Ahmed Madoobe Denies Claims Of Massacre In Gedo Region By Kenyan Forces (Jubbaland Media)
- Grenade Bomb Blast Targets Kahda DC’s Office (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Says One-Man-One-Vote Not Possible in 2016 National Poll (Bloomberg News)
- U.S. Court In Chicago: Somali Pirate Can’t Withdraw Plea (Chicago Tirbune)
- More Phones Few Banks And Years Of Instability Are Transforming Somalia To A Cashless Society(Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President Ahmed Madoobe Denies Claims Of Massacre In Gedo Region By Kenyan Forces
25 February – Source: Jubbaland Media – 202 Words
President of Jubaland State Ahmed Mohamed Islam – Ahmed Madobe has termed as baseless allegations claiming that Kenyan forces were causing massive civilian casualties in Gedo region in the wake of the El-Adde attack. Speaking in an interview with Somali Cable TV, the president who is in Turkey to attend the high level Somalia forum said he was aware about the damages Kenyan forces suffered in El-Adde but denied massacre of civilians in revenge attacks by Kenyan forces.
“Three people and four animals died in the raids. Had there been any additional casualty I would have taken responsibility,” said Madobe.
Asked whether his administration carried out any investigations, the president said they did not only investigate it but also local members of parliament and Gedo region officials spoke about it. He urged the media to positively report on the country and confirm what they release to the public domain.
Kenya has been accused of blanket retaliatory attacks against civilian populations in Gedo region whenever it was targeted by Al-Shabaab. On Thursday, Kenyan jets resumed airstrikes in the region, targeting several areas in Gaddoon-Dhawe and Tuulo-Barwaaqo villages. One of the targeted places was said to be a mosque in Tuulo-Barwaaqo near Beled-Hawo town.
Grenade Bomb Blast Targets Kahda DC’s Office
26 February – Source: Goobjoog News – 240 Words
Unidentified gunmen Thursday night hurled hand grenade bomb at the office of Kahda district commissioner causing unspecified casualties. Confirming the incident, the local residents said a loud explosion was heard across the town on Thursday evening as suspected AlShabab attackers hurled a hand grenade at the district Headquarters. The figures of the casualties are yet unclear and the local authority was unavailable to comment on the attack.Al- Shabaab has in the past carried out such attacks in the city. The unidentified attackers reportedly fled the area immediately after the bomb attack, according to the witness. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the grenade blast. The police say they are investigating the attack, with no arrests made so far.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Says One-Man-One-Vote Not Possible in 2016 National Poll
26 February – Source: Bloomberg News – 91 Words
Somalia’s national leaders will be chosen by delegates during elections scheduled for August because the electoral commission does not have the capacity to conduct a nationwide poll, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud said.Universal suffrage will only be possible at the next elections in 2022, he said in an e-mailed statement. Mohamoud was elected president in a secret ballot vote by lawmakers in September 2012.“We recognize that one‐person-one‐vote elections will not be possible this year,” Mohamoud said. “We commit to undertake all efforts to deliver an electoral process in August 2016.”
U.S. Court In Chicago: Somali Pirate Can’t Withdraw Plea
26 February – Source : Chicago Tribune – 130 Words
A U.S. appeals court in Chicago says a Somali man convicted for an act of piracy that inspired a Hollywood movie can’t withdraw his guilty plea.The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports the court ruled Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse is bound by a plea deal that says he won’t challenge his plea based on disputes over his age. Navy snipers killed the other pirates.The movie “Captain Phillips,” starring Tom Hanks, depicts the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.
A lower court judge determined Muse was at least 18 during the hijacking, so he was prosecuted as an adult. Muse claimed he’d been 16.He was sentenced to around 33 years. He’s incarcerated at federal prison in Indiana.The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this week.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“However, the country has achieved a semblance of stability in recent years, and its capital Mogadishu has become a hive of activity. Somali businesses line the streets of the city center. Mobile-phone wielding consumers buy groceries at the supermarket, oranges from market stalls, shoe shines on the street, cups of sweet milky tea at open-air cafés, and even an afternoon’s worth of khat, a herbal drug favored by many Somalis,”
More Phones, Few Banks And Years Of Instability Are Transforming Somalia To A Cashless Society
25 February – Source: Quartz Africa – 990 Words
Ahmed Farah Hassan no longer carries the tattered Somali shilling notes that were the currency of his war-torn country’s economy for years.At a gas station in Mogadishu recently, the 32-year-old filled up his car and then paid with a few clicks of his phone.“It’s easy nowadays. I don’t need to carry my cash. I just use my phone to pay bills everywhere I buy goods and services,” said Hassan, a driver at the Kheyre Development and Rehabilitation Organization, a local NGO that works with UNICEF to help street children. “Everyone here has his own bank. It’s safe.”
In the streets of Mogadishu, the future has arrived: cash is disappearing, credit cards are unnecessary, and daily shopping is speedy and digital.While Kenya is now well-known as a global leader in mobile money technology and implementation, Somalia is often overlooked in the same discussion even though the same technology is having a more profound impact on the populace. That is because the country’s banking system—devastated by years of conflict and economic disruption—have been supplemented, if not replaced by, mobile money. “There is much risk carrying cash here since the country is still politically unstable.”
The Hormuud Telecommunication Company, a Somali firm established in 2002 during a lull in violence, introduced mobile banking in the East African country around six years ago. Now, it is one of at least three companies offering mobile money transfers in Somalia, where 51 out of every 100 people has a mobile subscription (compared to 22, only three years ago), and around 40% of adults use mobile money accounts, according to 2014 data from the World Bank.Somalia has for decades been described as the sick man of the sub-Saharan Africa in terms of trade and economic stability after two decades of civil war and terrorism.
TOP TWEETS
@TheVillaSomalia:President: “#Turkish businessmen can benefit from #Somalia‘s attractive investment laws and regulations.
@SalahOsman0:Good Morning Morning From #MogadishuPeace & Development get Momentum as it is Friday roads are quiet #Somalia
@ESASavechildren:Fertile lands now turned to dust and animal dying due to lack of rainfall in #Somalia/Somalilandhttp://bit.ly/1OzeOuT
@Dahirkulane:.#Somalia open for business President Hassan tells @BursaTSO members #SomaliainTurkey #Bursa #Turkey@Ibrahim_Burkay
@OlivierGuitta:Intriguing but doubtful #BokoHaram fighters crossing to receive specialized training from #AlShabaab in#Somalia http://cnn.it/1LhI6DN
IMAGE OF THE DAY
This Somali man looks like he just came back from teaching philosophy. #charisma #Somalia
Source: @Payitforward87