July 23, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia calls for adjudication panel for future monitoring group reports
23 Jul- Source: Office of the Somali President – 688 words
The Federal Government of Somalia has acknowledged the report of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, but expresses his concern over numerous inaccuracies, contradictions and factual gaps and calls for proper consultation and an Adjudication Panel for all future reports. Speaking in Mogadishu today, the Spokesman of the President, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said, “The report raises and covers a range of important issues which are worthy of the fullest consideration. “We are grateful for the recognition of our cooperation and assistance. We have gone out of our way to ensure our commitment to openness and transparency.
“We are delighted to see an appropriate focus on the sustained and constantly evolving threat posed by al Shabaab and other spoilers. They remain an obstinate and enduring threat that we must all work together to eradicate. “We are pleased to see the huge reduction in piracy, and yet equally concerned by the reports of increased criminality. We have much work to do to create legitimate livelihoods and deter Somalis from crime.
“However, we regret that the UN Monitoring Group failed to consult the Government on the findings and conclusions of the report and permit our response in advance of publication. “It is clear that the report is increasingly dependent upon gossip, guilt-by-association, and hearsay. This has resulted in the publication of an unbalanced report which permits damaging, unsubstantiated allegations to become an uncontested matter of public record.
Key Headlines
- Somalia calls for adjudication panel for future monitoring group reports (Office of the Somali President)
- 3 Al Shabaab memebers die while planting an explosion in Mogadishu (Radio Dalsan/Radio Mogadishu/al Shahid/Raxanreeb/Bar-kulan/
Simba News) - Somali legislators denied entry into Villa Somalia (Radio Mustaqbal)
- Militants kill rob and kidnap nomads in Hiiraan region (Radio Mogadishu/Qalin News)
- Somaliland Suspends Kalsan television network operations (Somaliland Informer)
- Sentencing begins for Somali pirates who killed Seattle couple (AP)
- Somali government drafts bill to protect Women’s rights (Sabahi Online)
- 19 Maltese soldiers to take part in operation off the coast of Somalia (Times of Malta)
- Kenya Finds No End to Fighting al Qaeda-Linked Somali Militants (Bloomerg Business Week)
PRESS STATEMENT
Somalia calls for adjudication panel for future monitoring group reports
23 Jul- Source: Office of the Somali President – 688 words
The Federal Government of Somalia has acknowledged the report of the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea, but expresses his concern over numerous inaccuracies, contradictions and factual gaps and calls for proper consultation and an Adjudication Panel for all future reports. Speaking in Mogadishu today, the Spokesman of the President, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said, “The report raises and covers a range of important issues which are worthy of the fullest consideration. “We are grateful for the recognition of our cooperation and assistance. We have gone out of our way to ensure our commitment to openness and transparency.
“We are delighted to see an appropriate focus on the sustained and constantly evolving threat posed by al Shabaab and other spoilers. They remain an obstinate and enduring threat that we must all work together to eradicate. “We are pleased to see the huge reduction in piracy, and yet equally concerned by the reports of increased criminality. We have much work to do to create legitimate livelihoods and deter Somalis from crime.
“However, we regret that the UN Monitoring Group failed to consult the Government on the findings and conclusions of the report and permit our response in advance of publication. “It is clear that the report is increasingly dependent upon gossip, guilt-by-association, and hearsay. This has resulted in the publication of an unbalanced report which permits damaging, unsubstantiated allegations to become an uncontested matter of public record.
“This overly clandestine approach fundamentally demonstrates the failure of the Monitoring Group to understand both the nature and depth of the challenge facing us, undermines the process of recovery and threatens peace and stability in Somalia. “The Federal Government will therefore be requesting that the UN Security Council establish a mandatory pre-publication consultation period and appoint an Independent Adjudication Panel for all future Monitoring Group reports, to ensure that the government’s response and rebuttal is formally recorded and inappropriate, unsubstantiated allegations are removed.
“It is imperative to the peace process in Somalia and to the integrity of the UN that future reports are credible, accurate and balanced. “To describe the Central Bank as a “slush fund” and the process of Fadlan (Please) as a ‘personal patronage system’ is a gross misrepresentation and an insult to the many Somalis working hard in an extremely challenging environment for the recovery and renewal of their country.
“These so-called ‘personal withdrawals’ are in fact largely proper and legitimate payments to Ministries and government personnel who have no other banking facilities available to them. “Had the Monitors come to Mogadishu and followed the system from request to withdrawal, they would have seen for themselves how things must work whilst we attempt to implement new procedures. “We have begun the painstaking process of rebuilding critical institutions and setting out new standards of public finance management (PFM) and we are working continuously with the IMF, World Bank and key international allies to do so.
“We are doing everything we can to improve the situation and implement new PFM mechanisms. Over the past few months:
• We have introduced a detailed Public Finance Management system and in liaison with the World Bank and IMF;
• We have completed work on the Financial Institutions Act ready for Parliament to review;
• We have published a government budget, which is to be rigidly enforced;
• We are close to finalising the Central Bank Board of Directors;
• We have been subject to the first international audit in two decades;
• With the support of International Financial Institutions, we have restored our Central Bank swift code, international accounts and an electronic payment system for first time in two decades.
“The President maintains his insistence that we have a zero tolerance of corruption, and we will make a thorough investigation into some of the allegations made in the report and will take action where necessary.
“We cannot deny that there are deep capacity limitations in the system but we are committed to accelerating our reform. Institutions are indispensible and we must enable accountable systems to establish and grow without allowing spoilers to unnecessarily undermine the steady progress we are making.”
SOMALI MEDIA
3 Al Shabaab memebers die while planting an explosion in Mogadishu
23 Jul – Source: Radio Dalsan/Radio Mogadishu/al Shahid/Raxanreeb/Bar-kulan/
At least three Al-Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab militant members have reportedly been killed in Wadajir district of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Tuesday morning. The explosion jolted in nearby building after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) they were planting exploded in one of their hideouts in the district.
Somali Federal government immediately arrived and cordoned off the scene as investigations had been launched. Speaking to the media, one of Wadajir district officials said that a civilian woman was injured in the explosion though it’s vague if she was inside the building.
The coordinated attacks including multiple suicide blasts and car bombs are usually claimed by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab militant group who threatened more attacks in the bullet-ridden capital during the holy of Ramadan.
Militants kill, rob and kidnap nomads in Hiiraan region
23 Jul – Source: Radio Mogadishu/Qalin News – 181 words
Sources in Mahas district of Hiiraan region accused al Shabaab, the al Qaeda affiliate group in Somalia of killing, kidnaping and robbing nomadic families in the area.
The locals confirm that al Shabaab killed the local men and robbed them of their domestic animals at Goobo neighborhoods as the locals refused to fight for them and contribute funds.
A source who wants to remain anonymous for security reasons told governmnet-run Radio Mogadishu that al Shabaab fighters killed an elderly woman, and abducted nine herders during their operation of taking animals by force from the owners. The abducted men resisted the al Shabaab fighters to take their animals by forces, and they were taken with their animals as hostages, while their fate remains unknown.
Khatumo state denies it is forces surrender to Somaliland
23 Jul – Source: Somalia Today Online/ Widhwidh Online – 102 words
The President of Khatumo state of Somalia Ahmed Elmi Osman has denied defection of his soldiers to Somaliland. Ahmed denied also news of the split, saying they are baseless news.
The president however acknowledged the surrender of two armored vehicles belonging to a clan militia from the Khatumo that made their way to the Somaliland troops at the frontline.
President’s remarks came after Somaliland administration announced many soldiers from the Khatumo state have surrendered to Somaliland and signing of a peace agreement with one of the tribes in the area.
Somali legislators denied entry into Villa Somalia
23 Jul – Source: Radio Mustaqbal – 196 words
Some Somali legislators have complained that they have been denied entry into the presidential palace of Somali federal government in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
One of Somali Parliamentarian members said that the security forces at Villa Somalia refused some legislators to enter inside as they intended to accomplish task.
Ya’qub Ahmed told Mustaqbal radio that the legislators have difficulty accessing Villa Somalia, and said the security forces at the gate on Monday manhandled legislators. He stressed that they have sent a protest letter to the speaker of Somali Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari to look into the issue.
Local firm promises food for a year for Lasanod hospital TB patients
23 Jul – Source: Radio Ergo – 151 words
The money transfer company, Kaah Express, has promised a monthly donation of 1,000 dollars to provide cooked meals for tuberculosis patients in Lasanod hospital’s TB ward. Dr Abdi MohamedBurale, head of the TB ward, told Radio Ergo that the company had promised to keep up its support for one year.
There has been no facility for cooking food on the ward since the Finlandbased NGO Sahan closed its feeding programme at the hospital three years ago. TB patients require regular food in order to cope with the strong medication they are under. Dr Burale said he will be able to admit a further 20 patients to the ward, which already has 32 patients. The ward has a maximum capacity of 50 patients.
More than 150 people who are on TB medication visit the outpatient section of the hospital for treatment. Lasanod hospital receives drugs and equipment from the World Health Organization.
Somaliland Suspends Kalsan television network operations
23 Jul – Source: Somaliland Informer – 119 words
Somaliland Minister of Information, Abdilahi Mohamed Dahir, officially announced the suspension of Kalsan TV Network from operating in Somaliland on Monday. The suspension is expected to take into immediate effect after the announcement was made public by the minister in charge of Information, Culture and Guidance.
Somaliland ministry of information organized and held meeting that brought together independent Television practitioners that operate in the country. Minister of information said that the government is held accountable to keep the rules and regulations of the country to be complied with by media practitioners. Independent Television networks have stressed their readiness to abide by the laws of the media in the country.
Demining started in Balanballe
22 Jul – Source: Radio Ergo – 191 words
The administration of Balanballe district in Galgudud region has begun a major demining exercise in collaboration with the Danish Demining Group. The demining started on 19 July and will continue until at least the end of the month. The aim is to remove mines and other explosive remnants along the extensive border area that was a battle ground during the Somalia-Ethiopia war in 1977.
Thirty five trained Somali demining officers have been deployed to the area. Balanballe district spokesman Rijal Ahmed told Radio Ergo that demining would focus on Balanballe, Ballihowd, Odale and Jiile. He said the roads connecting the district to other parts of the region especially to Guriel and Dusamareb districts had been heavily and indiscriminately mined.
“We do not know the number of explosive devices planted in this area and there are no markings to following to find them except in a very few places,” he said. There have been numerous injuries and deaths of people and livestock caused by these remnants of war over the past 35 years. Three years ago, three children were killed while playing with an explosive device they had found in the soil.
Somaliland: New Foreign Minister Due to arrive in the country today
22 Jul – Source: Somaliland Press – 111 words
The new Somaliland Foreign and International Minister Mr. Mohamed Yonis Bihi is due to arrive in the country for the first time since he was appointed nearly one month ago.
Hon Mohamed Yonis Bihi will be accompanied by officials from Somaliland consular general in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the private chartered plane carrying where he is currently in the Addis Abba, the Ethiopian capital is expected to touch down as earlier as 10.00 AM Somaliland time morning at the Egal International airport, Hargeisa.
The new foreign minister is known to possess ample management abilities and operational experience on the world stage and his nomination will certainly bolster Somaliland’s foreign affairs.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Somali government drafts bill to protect Women’s rights
23 Jul – Source: Sabahi Online – 641 words
The Somali Ministry of Development and Social Affairs is drafting a bill that outlines a new gender policy for the country and safeguards women’s rights, particularly in politics and education.
The proposed legislation is part of a wide-ranging government programme that aims to promote women’s rights and support their access to education, health services and participation in governance.
While 30% of parliament is supposed to be reserved for women, women make up less than 16% of the current parliament. Under the proposed law, those seats would remain exclusive to women and would be kept vacant even if there are not enough women candidates to fill them, said Mohamed Omar, Director-General of the Women’s Department in the Ministry of Development and Social Affairs. In addition, the bill calls for quotas in other government branches and guarantees that 60% of free education recipients would be women.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Sentencing begins for Somali pirates who killed Seattle couple
23 Jul – Source: AP – 189 words
A sentencing hearing for three Somali pirates who could face the death penalty got underway in Virginia on Monday. Earlier this month, Ahmed Muse Salad, Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar were convicted in the 2011 shooting deaths of four Americans off the coast of Africa.
The yacht’s owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., and their friends, Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were killed several days after they were taken hostage at sea. A jury found the Somalis guilty of all 26 charges, including piracy, which carries a mandatory life sentence. In all, 22 counts that they were convicted of are eligible for the death penalty.
The sentencing phase of the trial is expected to last up to two weeks. The decision to seek the death penalty was made by Attorney General Eric Holder. Executions under federal law are extremely rare, with only a handful out of more than 1,300 executions since 1976 having been carried out by the federal government, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks death penalty statistics and is opposed to the death penalty.
19 Maltese soldiers to take part in operation off the coast of Somalia
23 Jul – Source: Times of Malta – 144 words
The army will be deploying a Special Duties Enhanced Boarding Team made up of three officers and 19 personnel in other ranks from the 1 Regiment’s C (Special Duties) Company on board the Dutch Navy’s Johan De Witt.
The deployment, which shall form part of the exercise EU Navfor Atalanta, shall be made tomorrow and will last until September 27. The role of the operation is to deter piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia with a view to strengthen the security within the area of operations.
Kenya Finds No End to Fighting al Qaeda-Linked Somali Militants
22 Jul – Source: Bloomerg Business Week – 877 Words
When Kenya sent troops to Somalia in October 2011 to fight al Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab militants, it vowed to pull them out by Christmas. More than 20 months on, there’s no sign they’ll leave soon.
Kenya’s 700-kilometer (435-mile) eastern border is full of menace: from the south near the Somali port of Kismayo that’s in striking distance of its white-sand beaches, to the arid northeast, which has been hit by bombings, kidnappings and clan violence over politics, land and water. Zaddock Syong’oh, a Kenyan Foreign Ministry policy adviser, says Kenya won’t pull out until Somalia is stable.
The longer Kenya stays, the weaker its relations with the Somali government. It backs the creation of a semi-autonomous state of Jubaland in the south as a buffer zone along its border. Somalia has asked Kenyan troops to withdraw from Kismayo, saying they backed a militia involved in fighting last month that the United Nations says killed 71 civilians.
“If Kenya makes a hasty decision to pull out, we will go back to square one with al Shabaab returning to Jubaland, because the current government doesn’t have the capability to keep them out yet,” Rashid Abdi, a Nairobi-based Somalia analyst, said in a phone interview July 22. “Al Shabaab has been degraded but not totally defeated.”
EU Council prepares for Somalia conference
22 Jul – Source: Consilium Europa – 348 Words
At the Council meeting on 22 July 2013, EU foreign affairs ministers discussed the situation in Somalia and the preparations for an international conference on Somalia.
The New Deal for Somalia conference will take place in Brussels on 16 September 2013 and will be co-hosted by the federal government of Somalia and the EU. The aim is to agree a compact that will commit the Somali people and their international partners to a set of key priorities and to providing new support for the reconstruction of Somalia over the next 3 years.
“The situation in Somalia has been transformed over the past year”, said High Representative Catherine Ashton. “There is now a real atmosphere of activity, emerging governance and hope. It is therefore more important than ever that the international community makes good on its promises of support for the Somali people.”
The compact is intended to implement Somalia’s political, security and socio-economic priorities, both those of the federal government and those of other regions, and to maintain the momentum for change across Somalia. The conference offers a platform for Somali reconciliation and rebuilding trust. It seeks to provide impetus and serve as a catalyst in the political process.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“In a particularly grim twist, it is America’s counterterrorism partners — corrupt Somali institutions and Kenyan collusion with al-Shabab’s financial backers — that pose a potentially even more lethal threat to American aims.”
Is the U.S. Ramping Up a Secret War in Somalia?
22 Jul – Source: Foreign Policy – 1528 Words
The Obama administration earlier this year expanded its secret war in Somalia, stepping up assistance for federal and regional Somali intelligence agencies that are allied against the country’s Islamist insurgency. It’s a move that’s not only violating the terms of an international arms embargo, according to U.N. investigators. The escalation also could be a signal that Washington’s signature victory against al Qaeda’s most powerful African ally may be in danger of unraveling.
Just last year, Obama’s team was touting Somalia as unqualified success. “Somalia is a good news story for the region, for the international community, but most especially for the people of Somalia itself,” Johnnie Carson, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told reporters last October at the New York Foreign Press Center.
Carson praised African forces, principally Uganda and Kenya, for driving the terror group al Shabaab out of the Somalia’s main cities, Mogadishu and Kismayo. “The U.S.,” he boasted, “has been a significant and major contributor to this effort.” Indeed, the United States has emerged as a major force in the region, running training camps for Ugandan peacekeepers destined for battle with Somalia’s militants, and hosting eight Predator drones, eight more F-15E fighter jets, and nearly 2,000 U.S. troops and military civilians at a base in neighboring Djibouti.
But despite the array of forces aligned against it, Al-Shabaab is demonstrating renewed vigor. “The military strength of al Shabaab, with an approximately 5,000-strong force, remains arguably intact in terms of operational readiness, chain of command, discipline and communications ability,” according to a report by the U.N. Monitoring Group for Somalia and Eritrea. “By avoiding direct military confrontation, it has preserved the core of its fighting force and resources.”
“Next thing I am expecting to see in the local market is a 3D printer. I know it will happen sooner than later – a new way in Somaliland to manufacture and trade. Over a cup of tea.”
Somali tea and jobs
22 Jul – Source: ILO Blog – 711 Words
Talking over a cup of tea is the main drive for job creation in Somaliland. It is the way Somalis do business, the way they build on the new opportunities that can deliver badly needed jobs in a land where three out of four people under 30 are unemployed (*).
“Talking means trade, and trade generates work,” says Mustafa Othman, member of the organization Shaqodoon (Somali word for job-seeker). “Jobs generate income, so we can sit over a Somali tea and keep on doing business.”
But talking can also be cheap if nothing comes out of it, if it does not contribute to tackling the social, economic and social costs attached to the high rates of unemployment, underemployment and insecure employment across Somaliland.
“We need better roads, so farmers can reach buyers. We need to add value to our economy and manufacture more goods, increasing trade with our neighbours throughout East Africa. We are the gateway to that part of the continent,” adds Othman, one of the participants in the National Employment Conference recently held in the capital Hargesia and other towns.
Top tweets
@amisomsomalia PHOTOS OF THE DAY:Images taken btwn 15 & 19 July showing a variety of scenes throughout #Kismayo& surrounding areas http://on.fb.me/QqTSeN.
@MarkC_Anderson #Eritrea #Ethiopia #Somalia: Addis says it has evidence Asmara is supporting #AlShabaab; calls for more sanctions | http://reut.rs/1bYTO1e.
@NRCsomalia #Somalia Monitoring Group 2012 Report ‘access to vulnerable civilians a challenge for humanitarian community http://bit.ly/12xEVw3.
@Xarbi #Somalia http://edition.cnn.com/video/
@k_herse The governments top priority should be security, without security, it would be impossible to carry out the governments agenda #Somalia.
Image of the day
Workers at Kismayo Seaport in southern Somalia pray during the holy month of Ramadan. Photo: AMISOM.