March 14, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali President Makes Reforms On Army Leadership
13 March – Source: Halbeeg News – 265 Words
Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has made reforms on the military leadership of the National Army, the command was reduced to 13, a move paving the way for the security transition plan. During his stay at the ministry, the president has appointed several military officials for high rank positions in the army.
President Farmaajo who moved temporarily to the headquarters of the Defense Ministry will work from there. President Farmaajo pledged army leadership shake up during his speech at the opening of the parliament session on Saturday. “Our brothers, AMISOM have been struggling to help us in the fight against Al-Shabaab. Now we want to rebuild our forces and take the responsibility of the security of this nation, we are going to come up with reforming system,” said the president. President Farmaajo has unveiled plans to check the distribution of forces among the regional states and the integration of forces into Somali army.
During his presidential campaign, the president vowed to equip and build the capacity of the SNA, although up to now, the army faces difficulties which include lack of salaries, as well as suspension of the US support for the military. AMISOM which started its operations in 2007 is expected to hand over the security of country to Somali forces ahead of its exit. Under the exit strategy, some 1,000 soldiers were to be withdrawn from Somalia by December 2017. The move is in line with a United Nations Security Council resolution passed in August 2017, which authorized AMISOM to start the transfer of security responsibilities to Somali national security forces.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Makes Reforms On Army Leadership (Halbeeg News)
- Qatar To Build SNA Military Bases In Somalia (Radio Dalsan)
- 13 More Somali Returnees From Libya Arrive In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- AU Envoy Urges Somali Regional States To Intensity War Against Terrorists (Xinhuanet)
- Somaliland – Between Democracy And Prosperity (Daily Maverick)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Qatar To Build SNA Military Bases In Somalia
13 March – Source: Radio Dalsan – 97 Words
Qatar has announced that it will fund the construction of Somalia National Army military bases commencing in 2018. A delegation of high ranking government officials led by the Army Chief Gen. Abdiweli Jama Hussein Gorod is in Doha to seal the deal. Gen. Gorod held a meeting with Qatari Defence Minister Khalid Bin Mohamed Al Attiyah to discuss the issue. The army chief was accompanied by the Commander of the Somali Navy Forces and chairman of the parliamentary committee of Defence. Mr. Al Attiyah, said that Qatar will support Somalia and build the said military camps.
13 More Somali Returnees From Libya Arrive In Mogadishu
14 March – Source: Goobjoog News – 129 Words
A third group comprising of 13 Somalis stranded in Libya today arrived in Mogadishu the increasing number of those already repatriated to 37. The returnees who had been held in government controlled prisons in Libya following reports of human trade landed at Aden Adde airport in a joint initiative by the government, UNHCR and IOM.
The government estimates 350 Somalis are in Libya jails with some refusing to return. “We know of 350 Somali nationals who are under Libya authorities but we do not have any information about those who could be in the hands of smugglers,” Somali Ambassador to EU Dr. Ali Faqi who leads the government mission in the repatriation told reporters earlier. The first group of 11 arrived in February followed by 13 others last week.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU Envoy Urges Somali Regional States To Intensity War Against Terrorists
14 March – Source: Xinhuanet – 296 Words
The African Union top envy in Somalia on Tuesday called on regional states in Somalia to intensify the war against terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Francisco Madeira, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia who held talks with President of HirShabelle state Mohamed Abdi Waare on the security transition plan by the regional peacekeeping force, stressed the need to speed up Somalia stabilization process. “We discussed the details of the transition and saw where the transition needs to be strengthened, what we think regional forces can contribute and the importance of regional forces in securing these Main Supply Routes (MSRs) side-by-side with AMISOM and with the Somali national security forces,” he said in a statement released after the meeting in Mogadishu.
Madeira, who is also the head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), said he was familiar with the challenges that faced HirShabelle, the youngest of Somalia’s five federal states. The AU envoy said the peacekeeping force would work closely with the regional state to bring stability by setting up governance structures in areas AMISOM had liberated.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“Somaliland politicians are understandably frustrated that, despite their record of democracy and self-sufficiency, they remain unrecognised by the international community. “We cannot eat democracy,” goes the refrain. At the same time, that recognition is not going to come from charity or even legal arguments, but the self-interest of others.”
Somaliland – Between Democracy And Prosperity
13 March – Source: Daily Maverick – 1603 Words
“I’ll give you 15 camels,” said Caqil Tayib, a big grin on his face. The “offer” by the camel trader was for the Chief Protocol Officer of Somaliland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. We managed to raise the price to 150, honour being satisfied all round amid much laughter in Hargeisa’s Qudhac Dher market, equivalent to a sum over $100,000. Camels are a critical commodity for Somaliland, the former British Somaliland to Somalia’s north.
They are not only used as dowry, but to settle disputes and the main source, other than diaspora remittances, of income in the dry, dusty and hitherto diplomatically unrecognised land. Somaliland originally achieved independence from Britain, which had ruled it since the 1880s, on 26 June 1960, the former Italian Somaliland following suit five days later when the two territories united to form the Somali Republic on 1 July 1960. A third “Somali star”, French Somalia, now Djibouti, achieved independence from Paris in 1977.
The fourth and fifth purported stars of Somali inhabited territory in Kenya and Ethiopia (the latter known as the Ogaden or, today, Region Five) never acquired independence, forestalling the ambition of a wider Somalia. Having borne the brunt of the Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre’s violence against insurgents and dissidents, the Somali National Movement (SNM) and clan elders agreed that Somaliland (re)declare its independence.
In the centre of the capital, Hargeisa, is the 18 May independence memorial, comprising a Mig-17 fighter-bomber erected on a plinth. This commemorates the event when, having lost control of the province, Siad Barre ordered his air force, operating from the local airport, to bomb the city briefly captured by SNM fighters in May 1988, resulting in many thousands of civilian casualties. By the time of Siad Barre’s fall three years later, not for nothing was Hargeisa known as the “roofless city” after systemic bombing and looting by Siad Barre’s forces had stripped it of roof sheeting and even doors and their frames.
Since then the former British protectorate has developed a stable, democratic system of politics, merging modern and traditional elements, including an elected president and House of Representatives as well as an Upper House of Elders (guurti), securing the support of clan-based power structures. The commitment to democracy is evident in the staging of local elections in 2002, presidential elections in 2003, 2010 and 2017, and parliamentary elections in 2005.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: A 100+ Somali MPs signed up a motion of no-confidence in the speaker of Lower House of Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawari – multiple sources. MPs accused Jawari of impeding constitutional review process, power abuse and suppressing opinions of lawmakers; Jawari says move is illegal.
@amisomsomalia: The President of #HirShabelle State of#Somalia, H.E Mohamed Abdi Waare yesterday visited#AMISOM in Mogadishu. See what he discussed with the Mission leadership: http://bit.ly/2FS3lyg .
@HarunMaruf: Bulobarde celebrates 4th year anniversary since AU peacekeepers from Djibouti dislodged Al-Shabab from the town on March 13, 2014. The occasion also marks another milestone – the town has been besieged for the last 4 years by the militants. Only way to reach it is by air.
@sntvnews1: The Federal Government of Somalia, along with international partners continues to uphold its commitment of fighting those who threaten the safety and lives of all Somalis.
@Somalihistory: #Turkey standing shoulder to shoulder with the#Somali people by making heavy investments into Somalia’s military. Somali National Army is currently undergoing major restructuring and is being rapidly rehabilitated. Officers and soldiers hail from all 18 regions of #Somalia.
@Showqi2013: #BREAKINGNEWS 13 #Somali Citizen arrived home this morning from #Libya Jails, it is third part returning from#Libya this year. @TheVillaSomalia @HarunMaruf@ahmedvision1 @muusereyna @AbdulahiHusein_
@HarunMaruf: #Somalia: Many towns are besieged by Al-Shabab; 3 main highways to Kismayo, Baidoa, Beledweyne are cut off; borders are open; army not ready to takeover responsibilities; constitutional review overdue; other bills pile up. Still, big time political squabbles could overshadow this
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khayre yesterday visited the foreign affairs ministry headquarters to meet with the minister, Ambassador Ahmed Isse Awad to access progress made at the ministry.
Photo: @SomaliPM