June 1, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia And Kenya Presidents Hold Talks In Nairobi
01 June – Source: Shabelle News – 109 Words
Somalia president, Hassan Sheikh has met with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi. They discussed the fight against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia. President Hassan Sheikh returned from Abuja where he attended inauguration ceremony of the recently elected Nigerian president Buhari. During the closed door talks, the two residents discussed security matters and the threat posed by Al-Shabaab militants to the stability of both nations. Kenya sent its troops into Somalia to fight against Al-Shabaab militants who have carried out deadly attacks that have killed hundreds of Kenyans and and even more Somalis.
Key Headlines
- Somalia And Kenya Presidents Hold Talks In Nairobi (Shabelle News)
- Somalia Parliament Set To Decide The Fate Of Jubbaland Parliament (Somali Current)
- Anyone Who Shed Human Blood Should Not Be Elected As President Of Somali Central State
- Says Former President Of Galmudug (Goobjoog News)
- Mogadishu Mayor Dismisses Government Population Survey Estimate (Hiiraan Online)
- Jubbaland State’s Constitutional Making Process In Top Gear (Wacaal Media)
- Nurture Somali Trust And Use It To Defeat Al-Shabaab Says Wajir North MP ( Daily Nation)
- Can Kenya Convince Somali Refugees To Head Home? (Public Radio East)
- Lewiston Police Actively Recruiting Officers From Growing Immigrant Community (Portland Press Herald)
- Italy Works Against The Somali Compact On Statebuilding (Hiiraan Online)
- The Status of Mogadishu As A Capital City (RBC Radio)
- Federal State In Central Somalia May Stoke Fresh Grudges (Garowe Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Parliament Set To Decide The Fate Of Jubbaland Parliament
01 June – Source: Somali Current – 124 Words
Somalia Federal Parliament is set to take a vote of confidence today on the newly established Jubbaland parliament. On Monday’s session, the lawmakers are set to decide the fate of the regional Parliament. The move came following complaints raised against clans power sharing of Jubbaland Parliament. The voting was scheduled take place last week but was postponed after an explosive device was found inside the parliament on the eve of the session. Earlier on, Jubbaland regional President threatened to cut ties with Somalia Federal government should the Parliament pass the vote of no confidence against his parliament administration. The Somali government has urged the federal parliament to stop the vote and instead called for the establishment of a committee to review the complaints against the regional assembly.
Somali Troops Fend Off Militants Attack In Southern Somalia
01 June – Source: Radio Danan – 151 Words
Somali military officials in Middle Shabelle region said troops fended off an attack on a military base in the region and destroyed a base used by the Islamic extremist fighters in the region. The assailants armed with machine guns and grenades have attacked Mahaday, an agricultural town in the region, prompting fire with troops who managed to push back the Al-Shabaab fighters. Abdi Hassan, a spokesman for the military forces in the region told Radio Danan that the troops have also destroyed military bases for the militants, recovering guns and ammunition in a firefight that killed combatants from both sides. Al-Shabaab could not be reached for comments on this incident. However, Al-Shabaab wages a deadly guerrilla war in Somalia after African Union and Somali troops have driven their fighters out of their last major strongholds in the horn of Africa nation.
Jubbaland State’s Constitutional Making Process In Top Gear
01 June – Wacaal Media – 121 Words
The constitution making process of Jubbaland is currently going on very well in the city of Kismaayo, a senior official said. Speaking to Wacaal media, the state’s office of the president Minister Mr. Abdikani Abdi Jama who is the coordinator of the activity said that the process was going on smoothly with the help of foreign experts from the US, UK and Sweden. “The constitution will be based on the traditions and norms in the three regions of Middle Jubba, Lower Jubba and Gedo” said Jama. He added that with the help of the expertise and financial support from the three countries especially Sweden, Jubbaland will have one of the best constitutions in the region in a few months’ time.
Anyone Who Shed Human Blood Should Not Be Elected As President Of Somali Central State, Says Former President Of Galmudug
31 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 126 Words
The former president of Galmudug regional state, Mohamed Ahmed Aalin has called on the technical committee not to accept anyone who has shed human blood to run from the presidency of the upcoming Somali central state. “The committee has to trace whether the candidate is clean from blood and other criminal acts before the voting” he said. He added that people of Somali central regions need someone free from crime and who did not take part civil war. “Once the constitution states that two or regions can form regional state, we have to forget the past and support the upcoming Somali central state” he noted Meanwhile Mohamed called upon people of Mudug and Galgaduud regions to welcome and support the ongoing efforts to form a new state.
Mogadishu Mayor Dismisses Government Population Survey Estimate
31 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 215 Words
Mogadishu mayor has joined the mounting public outrage against the recent population survey by the Somali federal government which has been met with strong criticism over what many consider to be a’ faked’ figures, with experts doubting the veracity of the population figures given by the government. The new survey by the planning and international cooperation ministry which was said to have started in 2013 concluded that the country’s overall population is 12.3 million people. “It’s a very unacceptable survey – it’s more of a false dream than reality,” Mogadishu mayor Hassan Mohamed Hussein, aka Mungab told reporters on Sunday. “More badly, they said that Mogadishu has 1.5 million populations and above which is another cock-and-bull story.” Mr. Mungab said that the new survey feels like using a satellite receiver to reckon the number of the population in Mogadishu which he said would produce an imaginative figure. “It’s a survey that bears an irresponsibility which deserves denunciation,” he said. Somalia’s government failed to put the controversy to rest, prompting more accusations from authorities in Puntland who accused the government of ‘faking’ the new population estimation data.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Nurture Somali Trust And Use It To Defeat Al-Shabaab, Says Wajir North MP
01 June – Source: Daily Nation – 354 Words
Wajir North MP Ibrahim Saney has asked the government to focus on nurturing trust among Somalis in order to win the war against Al-Shabaab. He said mistrust between government security agencies and local communities in the northeast has been the major hindrance to the flow of intelligence. “By enlisting Kenyan Somalis, they will own the push,” he said. “That way, we will begin to see significant change.” Mr Saney said local residents feel unfairly targeted in the current war against the terrorist group. He claimed that apart from being left to their fate, those who have offered vital tip-offs to the police have been betrayed by the government. He said terrorist attacks are largely attributable to Kenyans being poor gatherers and consumers of security intelligence. The MP said that allocating and ensuring there is money meant for field officers like assistant chiefs and police stations in the northeast would ensure prompt service delivery. “Right now, money is spent at the headquarters with no justification.
“We received complaints from security personnel that they are never given adequate supplies; even movement is a problem,” he said. Mr Saney advised the government to recruit more pastoralists into the security forces and post them to border points, which he said are areas they are very familiar with, to help weed out terrorists. Mr Saney said people misunderstood National Assembly majority leader Aden Duale, who is accused of going back on his promise to produce a list of Al-Shabaab financiers. “Duale only felt that the attacks in Garissa University where 148 people died were gruesome and needed some drastic action. “He is free to present a list if at all he has any but I feel it would be unfair to use his position in government against him. “He has been instrumental in leading the war on terrorism given the kind of grass root mobilisation he has done in the past,” Mr Saney said. Mr Saney criticised the government’s decision to construct a perimeter wall between Somalia and Kenya as a way of preventing cross-border attacks.
Can Kenya Convince Somali Refugees To Head Home?
01 June – Source: Public Radio East – Audio – 5:29 Minutes
Kenya wants to send hundreds of thousands of refugees back to their home countries, but the U.N. says it cannot force people out. The country’s government wants to close the world’s largest refugee camp called Dadaab. After years of threats and scare tactics, it is trying a softer approach – salesmanship. NPR’s Gregory Warner reports that Kenya has tapped a Somali refugee to make the pitch.
Lewiston Police Actively Recruiting Officers From Growing Immigrant Community
01 June – Source: Portland Press Herald – 1, 631 Words
If Chief Michael Bussiere left the police station and walked down Lisbon Street or through Kennedy Park, it wouldn’t take long for him to pass a resident of African descent. In the 14 years since a wave of immigrants, most of them Somali, first settled in Lewiston, they have made the transition from outsiders to established members of the community. Lewiston’s non-white population of about 15 percent is the highest among Maine cities and will continue to increase as the second generation of immigrants grows up. Bussiere said it’s only a matter of time before his department employs an officer of Somali heritage – or any other African heritage, for that matter – but he’d like that time to be soon. “We want our department to try to be reflective of the broader community it serves,” Bussiere said last week. “And that’s a difficult battle sometimes, but it’s one that deserves our attention.”
The Lewiston Police Department for years has done outreach work within the immigrant community, educating new residents about the role of public safety and how it differs from their home countries. Bussiere said he has started to include, as part of those conversations, active recruitment for a law enforcement job, particularly among second-generation immigrants who are now in high school or college and contemplating their future. Osman Bashir is in that group. Born in Somalia and raised primarily in Kenya, Bashir immigrated about 10 years ago with his parents. His father has since passed away. Bashir graduated from Lewiston High School in 2009 and last year got an associate degree in criminal justice from Central Maine Community College. On paper, he’s an ideal candidate. “It’s something I’m considering,” said Bashir, 25, who currently works at Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services. “I think it would be a big step for Lewiston.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Continued disputes and hostilities among regional authorities prevent the effectiveness of national central authority able to provide leadership, national representation, justice, security, and socio-economic development to the Somali citizens. Somalia will not be an independent and sovereign state without an effective central authority protected by Somali national security and defense forces.”
Italy Works Against The Somali Compact On Statebuilding
01 June – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1, 255 Words
On May 6, the Italian Institute for International Affairs- “Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)” in Rome- held one day high level closed door seminar sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Embassy of Italy to Somalia. The Title of the Seminar was “Somali Perspectives: Institutional and Political Challenges.” President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali of Puntland, Vice President Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail and Minister Abdighani Abdi Jama of Jubbaland, the Somali Ambassador to Italy, Mussa Hassan Abdulle, the Somali Ambassador at Large Abdirashid A. Sed, and Political Analyst Faisal A. Roble attended the seminar. Marco Claudio Vozzi and Carlo Campanile represented the foreign Ministry of Italy. IAI Officials and experts steered the seminar.
The report of the seminar highlights the participants’ positions and suggestions on Federalism and the nexus between security and development. It suggests change of policy priority of Italy towards Somalia from “state to state” relation to “state to regional federal states” relation. It also proposes the mobilization of international support for the clan dominated regional States at the expense of the Somali State which itself exists ostensibly. The suggested policy shift of Italy subverts the Somali priorities listed in the 2012 provisional constitution, then restated in the Somali Compact between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and the International donor Community (Partners) agreed upon in Brussels, Belgium in September 2013, for the promotion of peacebuilding and statebuilding in Somalia.
The organizers of the seminar passed up the opportunity to get fair and balanced Somali perspectives because they avoided to invite critical observers of the current troubling reality in Somalia exacerbated by the implementation of federalism without constitutional and legislative provisions. Therefore, the recommendations of the report are based on incomplete or inaccurate assessment of the reality in Somalia. The report re-emphasizes the view of “clan” federalism as “the most viable option to stabilize Somalia after 20 years of conflict and fragmentation,” and as a fact on the ground. Two of the fallacious reasons adduced in support of this view are “to prevent the reimplementation of failed policies in centrally controlled system of government in Mogadishu and “to compensate the inability of the central government to maintain control over the national territory.”
“The economic side of the debate is more challenging due to concept of trade-offs. What else could successive Somali governments have done to help the capital to expand other than nationalising plots of privately occupied lands before land ownership was formalised in Somalia?”
The Status of Mogadishu as a Capital City
01 June – Source: RBC Radio – 750 Words
Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, is once again a discussion point among Somalis at home and abroad. Since it is one region ( Banaadir) it does not satisfy the requirement that two regions or more can form a regional administration. The draft constitution stipulates the Somali federal parliament will decide what status Mogadishu will have under a federal Somalia. Why should people in Mogadishu rely on the federal parliament to run their city when Somalis in Southwest State, Jubaland, Galmudug or Puntland run their regions without parliamentary oversight? This is one of the questions around which federalism debate revolves.
In a Royal Somali TV debate a few weeks ago, two London-based Somali men discussed “the need for Mogadishu to have a regional administration of its own”. Although Abdullahi Mohamed Adam ( Salamullahi ) and Adan Yusuf Ulumo, a member of Banadir administration, kept agreeing with each other during the debate they raised several points worth discussing. Both men resent the federal parliament’s role in discussions on the status of Mogadishu. Two former Prime Ministers, Ali M. Geddi and Nur Hassan Hussein, and members of a Mudulood committee tasked with forming a regional administration for Mogadishu, held a meeting with UN Somalia Representative, Nicholas Kay. The Murursade clan has issued a statement in which influential members of the clan have called for the Hawiye clan family to take the lead in the initiative to federate Mogadishu.
The most cogent argument was put forward by Adan Yusuf Ulumo who said “successive Somali governments had taken over land belonging to his family.” Mr Ulumo warned against buying land in Ratiweyne neighbourhood in Yaaqshiid district currently being marketed as Darasalam estates by businessmen. “Owners of those properties are not in Somalia” Mr Ulumo said. The debate on the status of Mogadishu has two sides: one side is politico-historical, and the other side is economic. During the reign of the military regime ( 1969-1991) the government designated parts of Mogadishu as public territories ( dan guud). Those territories were either transformed into neighbourhoods as parts of Mogadishu districts or no-go zone areas for military purpose ( e.g. areas near the Industrial Road). When the state collapsed in 1991 those areas were occupied by people whom the Banadir administration is finding hard to deal with.
“Somalia’s nascent federalism is facing watershed moments, with endeavors to form a federal state in central Somalia and politicians seeking to fit into presidency dashing hope for long-awaited tranquility and might even stoke another grudge in largely restive region.”
Federal State in Central Somalia May Stoke Fresh Grudges
31 May – Source: Garowe Online – 635 Words
Since the establishment of Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004, there had been differences-that for quite some time degenerated into damaging infighting-over federated Somalia and perhaps they have split the country’s political leadership into cabals.Before the Federal Government, Federal states, most importantly Puntland which to date leads by example as prototype sought a system that could be emulated for future cases; Followed by Jubaland in 2013 and more recently Interim South-West administration. In accordance to Article 49 of Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC) two or more pre-war (existed before 1991) regions may merge to form a federal Member State based on a voluntary decision.
The formation of Jubaland sparked more complex disputes that subsequently devolved into deadly battles between Mogadishu-based Federal Government’s widely speculated proxy Col. Barre Adan Shire (Barre Hirale) and local forces loyal to Jubaland President Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe) in mid-2013. At the onset, state formation process in Baidoa posed challenges, and the struggle for political dominance fluttered, dividing politicians into two camps. Nevertheless on March 3, President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan brought much confusion to an end by including rival six-region state backers in 63-member cabinet lineup. Both Jubaland and South West State administrations came as a result of regional conventions which brought political and community leaders together.
TOP TWEETS
@SomaliaDirect #Somalia Army to Take Action Roadblocks in Road Links Marka and Mogadishu http://goo.gl/UbQeVD
@SalahOsman0 This ship will head 2 Yemen 2 evacuate Somalis stranded in Yemen #Somalia businessman hired da ship 2 rescue Somalis
@UNDP Inspiring @AlJazeera story: Female surgeons saving lives in #Somalia: http://ow.ly/NEBGa #EWECisME
@Inside_Som #Somalia’s #AlShabaab issued Statement regarding the death of its Senior Leader Hassan Turki, who was died last week
@AnalystSomalia #Somalia‘s ministry of petroleum rejects Bloomberg report that states the gov give away 90% of potential oil revenue
@SalahOsman0 As normalcy returned 2 #Mogadishu#Somalia government is considering 2 rebuild Curubo Hotel 1 of the biggest hotels
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Political cartoon by Amin Amir titled “a day not to be forgotten” on Somaliland’s decision to turn away Somali refugees fleeing the war in Yemen.
Cartoon: Amin Amir