June 13, 2018 | Morning Headlines
A Former State Minister Of Finance Warns Government Against Printing New Currency
12 June – Source: Dhacdo.com – 225 Words
A member of the parliament and a former state minister of finance has warned the government against printing new currency. MP Abdullahi Mohamed Nur, who is also the Secretary of the Parliament Committee on Budget & Finance, said there were many challenges that need to be addressed by the government before it embarks on printing the new currency. The challenges include securing the huge funds needed to finance printing and keeping the value of the new currency, political stability and a reaching a consensus with the regional states, improving security conditions, setting mechanisms for tackling corruption among other challenges, he cited.
He called for the government to put in place and implement all the pre-required conditions rather than embark on such huge task for political propaganda and ignoring all the potential economic risks involving in the process. His remarks came after the Somali government this week released the design of new banknotes to be printed this year.
He also cited Al-Shabaab as another main challenge to printing the new currency as it will threaten business people for using the new currency. He, thus, called for the defeat of Al-Shabaab and addressing the issue of Somaliland before the new currency is printed. He also pictured a grim picture of the central bank and said it doesn’t have the capacity to manage such a task for the time being.
Key Headlines
- A Former State Minister Of Finance Warns Government Against Printing New Currency (Dhacdo.com)
- Heavy Police Operations In Nugal Region (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Defense Minister Meets Head Of EU Training Mission In Mogadishu (Halbeeg News)
- Lawmakers Call For End To US Taxpayer Money For Somali National Army (WJLA Washington)
- Somalia UN Launch New Policing Structure To Boost Security (Business Daily)
- Reliving A Deadly Day At A U.N. Compound In Mogadishu (New York Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Heavy Police Operations In Nugal Region
12 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 199 Words
Police Commander of Nugal region Farah Warsame commented on the regional operations that are ongoing currently at the Nugal region, he said that the operations are to tighten the security for the coming days of the eid festival. Farah Warsame, the commander of the regional police said the security forces in the region, were carrying out security operations in the area.
“Since it’s the end of Ramadan and the people in the region are all preparing for the happiness of the eid festival, we want people to enjoy the eid days, so it is our responsibility to make the region secure and safe”. The commander added that the operation conducted by the security forces in the coming days, to deal with the young people who engage in theft and rape cases in the region.
“While we have been working, there are a lot of young people who have been arrested for robbery activities like theft of taking phones on day lights, kidnapping small children and sometimes rape cases. The statement of the commander comes as the eid festival days are approaching, and it’s great to enhance security in the region, before any insecurity activities happen in the region.
Somali Defense Minister Meets Head Of EU Training Mission In Mogadishu
12 June – Source: Halbeeg News – 198 Words
Somali Minister for Defense, Hassan Ali Mohamed on Tuesday held talks with the head of training for European Union (EU), Pj Petro-Addis in Mogadishu. Several EU countries support Somali government in training Somali National Army. The government has been struggling to revive its forces, which once were termed as a formidable military in the continent. The officials discussed a wide range issues including security, training and collaborations of the sides.
Petro-Addis vowed to accelerate training of Somali Military in a bid to enhance the fighting against Al-Shabaab. He pledged assistance to the Somali armed forces in the areas of training and defense and advising them in the military fields. “I congratulate you for the new post you are appointed for. We will stand by your side and accelerate training of Somali forces,” said Petro-Addis.
For his part, Mohamed commended the EU for their tireless efforts to help rebuild its forces. “We appreciate your support to rebuild our military as well as the other support to the federal government,” Mohamed lauded. The EU Capacity Building Mission in Somalia (EUCAP) conducts vital training aimed at helping Somalia in enhancing local forces capability in maintaining the security of the country.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Lawmakers Call For End To US Taxpayer Money For Somali National Army
12 June – Source: WJLA Washington – 294 Words
The hope for Somalia is the hope for most countries around the world: peace and long-term stability. As part of that effort, the United States has been helping build up the Somali National Army to fight terror groups like al-Shabab. But a report last year by the U.S. State Department Office of Inspector General found quite a bit of that aid unaccounted for, not to mention improper name-check vetting and monitoring of soldiers entering the Somali National Guard and a lack of sufficient controls to make sure U.S. money is not instead going to finance terrorists.
“There’s 920 instances of child soldiers, forcing children to fight. There’s evidence that some of these soldiers are parts of al-Qaida. There’s also evidence that some of these soldiers are nothing more than highway robbers,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., chairman of the Subcommittee of Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management.
Despite much of the aid for the country being cut off since that report, the committee is shining a light on an $8 million grant still in place, including $4.3 million in stipends for the Somali National Army. “Our deficit this year will be a trillion dollars. Where is the money coming from? And also buying uniforms in the Somali Army and paying their salary just isn’t something I think is a good use of American taxpayer dollars,” Paul said in an interview last week.
According to the State Department, the U.S.-Somalia relationship is an important one with goals of promoting political and economic stability, helping alleviate the humanitarian crisis, and preventing the use of Somalia as a safe haven for terrorists from around the globe. But without proper oversight, the concern now is that that mission is nearly impossible to accomplish.
Somalia, UN Launch New Policing Structure To Boost Security
12 June – Source: Business Daily – 226 Words
Somalia and the UN in collaboration with other international partners have unveiled a joint policing model to strengthen peace and security at national and regional levels. The UN-backed Joint Policing Program (JPP) supports the two-tier policing structure and sets future development of strong national and state-level police services, the UN mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said in a statement.
Mohamed Duale, Somali Federal Minister of Internal Security, said the structure demonstrates the best way to coordinate policing aimed at forming an effective policing system in Somalia. “This investment in the Somali Police is an excellent opportunity for rebuilding Somalia and the development of peace and security,” Duale said.He said the policing programme will be introduced in five federal states, the Benadir region and the future Federal Police to support the implementation of priority police projects, as outlined in the country’s National Security Architecture.
Duale said the program is also expected to expedite the ongoing transition of security responsibilities from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to Somalia’s security forces. The New Policing Model which was adopted in 2016 by Somalia’s political leadership is touted as a key pillar of the country’s National Security Architecture. “It is essential to have a police that is responsible for their actions, based on the core universal principles of legality, necessity, professionalism and responsibility,” said Gen. Bashir Mohamed, the Somali Police Force Commissioner. The new model will oversee the procurement of equipment, recruitment and in-service training; the payment of stipends for personnel and the development of a legal framework and accountability; and construction projects for federal and state-level police agencies.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“From Chechnya to Dadaab refugee camp to Mogadishu to Gaza, I consistently found that most of this risk is borne by local staff — the polio-vaccination monitors, the convoy drivers, the project officers, the guards and the radio operators — who make up the backbone of international aid organizations.”
Reliving A Deadly Day At A U.N. Compound In Mogadishu
12 June – Source: New York Times – 1449 Words
The blast wave thundered through the compound, ripping the expletive on my lips in two and cramming half of it back down my throat. The radio-room supervisor, Hassan Osman, and I stumbled to the balcony. In that cathedral-quiet moment between the detonation of the car bomb and the staccato barrage of gunfire, we knew they were coming. Shabab militants were storming the compound, squeezing off bursts from the Kalashnikovs at their hips, leaping the gate’s smoking wreckage. It was June 19, 2013.
“Dewaine. Dewaine.” Hassan’s voice was steady, his hand on my shoulder. “Do the public announcement.” Over the P.A., I instructed the several dozen United Nations staff members to duck and cover and then tried to figure out what to do next. With every rifle crack, my world flashed in a monochrome of stark, tactical decisions, like life and death reduced to their lowest common denominators.
Even in the moment, the irony of stumbling into my first firefight more than a decade after leaving the Marine Corps was not lost on me. Since leaving the military, I’d grown used to my buddies shaking their virtual heads, via social media, at the fundamental insanity of inserting yourself into war without having the good sense to engage in combat.
Mogadishu was a study in violent coexistence, a brutal ecosystem where new conflicts sprouted up without ever quelling the old. The Somali capital’s recent history included warlords, the Islamic Courts Union, the Ethiopian military, the Shabab and a shaky Western-backed government. This attack on the United Nations Common Compound — 10,000 square meters split between offices and living quarters, just off Mogadishu’s airport road — felt like the city’s fiercest predator had finally decided to take our measure.
After the initial blast, our Somali guards immediately returned fire, dropping the first two Shabab gunmen who came through the breach. Between clipped radio transmissions from the African Union Mission and the Somali government, four more militants unhesitatingly charged over the bodies of their companions. The guards’ gunfire funneled the attackers onto the accommodation side of the compound.
Under cover of suppressive fire from the towers, several of the guards and I leapfrogged the buildings on the accommodation side to herd staff members to the safe rooms on the opposite end of the compound. Pulling back the bolt on the office Kalashnikov to reveal brass bolstered my courage before our mad dash through the compound, but it was the valor and tenacity of our Somali allies that actually saved lives.