March 27, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
President Farmaajo Asks Parliament To Approve New Cabinet As MPs Fault Line Up
27 March – Source : Goobjoog News – 166 Words
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has urged parliament to approve the newly appointed Cabinet by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire. Farmaajo called on the lawmakers not oppose the new government saying that he has confidence in the individuals named for the portfolios. “I urge the parliament not to stand against the newly appointed cabinet before we come to know who is incompetent,” President Farmaajo told a media briefing Sundaynight.
The President’s plea comes after over hundred Somali lawmakers submitted petition calling for cabinet review. On Saturday, House Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari warned the Cabinet lineup could be rejected if it is not changed to allow more power-sharing and to meet constitutional provisions. The new cabinet which was formed this month comprises of a number of former ministers and diplomats. Among the new ministers is the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdirahman Beyle and Somalia’s current Ambassador to United Nations, Yusuf Garad. The Premier is expected to present his proposed Cabinet to parliament for approval soon.
Key Headlines
- President Farmaajo Asks Parliament To Approve New Cabinet As MPs Fault Line Up (Goobjoog News)
- ISWA To Have A Prime Minister After Federal Cabinet Is Approved Says President Sharif Hassan (Jowhar.com)
- Journalist To Face Trial On Three Charges In Somaliland (Goobjoog News)
- KDF kill 31 Al-Shabaab Terrorists In Badhaadhe Somalia (The Standard)
- Turkey Distributes Humanitarian Aid In Somalia (Anadolu Agency)
- New Leader Must Now Drive Somalia’s Rebirth (The Standard)
NATIONAL MEDIA
ISWA To Have A Prime Minister After Federal Cabinet Is Approved, Says President Sharif Hassan
27 March – Source: Jowhar.com – 125 Words
Southwest President Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan said he will name a Prime Minister for his state once the Federal Parliament in Mogadishu confirms the newly proposed Cabinet. Speaking in Baidoa, Sharif Hassan said the move is aimed at accelerating the work of his administration for the public. He, however said no foreign ministry position will be named as that is the work of the Federal Government.
ISWA will be the first regional administration in the country to have such post if President Sharif Hassan fulfills his promise. Many believe the move is meant to diffuse pressure from President Sharif Hassan who is facing challenges from his regional legislative assembly. He recently persuaded them to drop a motion of no confidence against him promising a cabinet reshuffle among other pledges.
Journalist To Face Trial On Three Charges In Somaliland
27 March – Source : Goobjoog News – 135 Words
Abdimalik Muse Coldoon the journalist who was arrested last month in Hargeisa will face trial on three different charges including deliberate incitement and provocation, Somaliland prosecutor said. Coldoon, an online freelance journalist and blogger was arrested following his visit to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu during the presidential elections in February. The prosecutor also accused the journalist of participating and supporting Somalia’s election which took place in February.
Journalists in Somalia condemned Mr. Coldoon’s arrest, urging authorities in Somaliland to release him. Despite having no personal security concerns unlike their colleagues in southern and central Somalia, journalists in Somaliland and its neighbouring Puntland have in recent times been subject to intimidation, censorship and harassment, a scenario journalists’ rights groups criticized as ‘draconian’. Somaliland declared its intention to secede from Somalia in 1991 but is yet to gain international recognition.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
KDF kill 31 Al-Shabaab Terrorists In Badhaadhe, Somalia
27 March – Source : The Standard – 252 Words
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers Sunday killed 31 gunmen whom they said were Al-Shabaab militants in a clash at Badhaadhe area, Somalia. An unknown number of the terrorists were injured while their two vehicles were destroyed, KDF said. The incident involved artillery fire and helicopter gunships. KDF spokesman Col Joseph Owuoth said ground troops were supported by attack helicopters and artillery fire to access the terrorists’ base and two command and logistics bases located 17 kilometers from Sarira near Hola Wajeer. “KDF successfully conducted a raid and destruction on two Al-Shabaab command and logistics bases in Badhaadhe District in Jubaland, Somalia,” said. According to Col Owuoth, 11 AK 47 rifles, two machine guns, four Improvised Explosive Devices, communication equipment, several uniforms, a roll of detonating cable and 634 assorted bullets were recovered.
He said KDF soldiers remain vigilant and will continue to relentlessly pursue the terrorist to ensure peace and security of our country Kenya, as well as support AMISOM operations in order to stabilise Somalia. The killings come more than a month after KDF personnel killed 57 terrorists in Afmadow area and two months after the troops were attacked at a camp in Kulbiyow. Besides Kenya, Al-Shabaab has attacked camps belonging to Uganda, Burundi and Ethiopia, with Uganda and Burundi suffering massive casualties. Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of President Siad Barre’s military regime, which ushered in more than two decades of anarchy and conflict in a country deeply divided along clan lines.
Turkey Distributes Humanitarian Aid In Somalia
27 March – Source : Anadolu Agency – 312 Words
The Turkish government along with Turkish company Albayrak have on Sunday distributed food aid in Taredisho village in the outskirts of Somali capital Mogadishu. Hundreds of people in Taredisho IDP camps received food aid including rice, oil, water, dates, beans, medical drugs and cash. Turkish ambassador to Somalia Olgan Bekar said in the village that the Turkish government and Turkish companies in Somalia and in Turkey were helping Somalis deal with the drought and were providing humanitarian aid. “The Turkish government, companies and the people of Turkey are now working very hard to avert the drought in Somalia as we did during 2011’s famine.
Large amounts of humanitarian assistance including food and medicine will arrive soon in Somalia by air and sea,” Bekar said. In a statement issued, the Turkish mission in Somalia said that the Albayrak company donated food, drugs and cash support to the Drought Committee and the Somali people. The Drought and Disaster Management Committee of Somalia thanked the Turkish government for its support to the drought hit Horn of Africa country. “People of Somalia thank the Turkish government and its people who stand by their brothers in Somalia every day,” Sheikh Barod Gurhan, a member of the Somali Drought and Disaster Management Committee said after the aid distribution.
The Turkish government and its people will forever be the heroes of Somalia, he added. Albayrak company has already donated $100,000 for the drought in Somalia. Meanwhile, the Drought Committee has received on Sunday over 58 tons of humanitarian aid from Jordan and Djibouti as well. The drought hit 11 out of 18 Somali regions. Bay is the region mostly affected by the drought where at least 110 people died from hunger and cholera outbreak last month. The Turkish government played a huge role in overcoming the famine of 2011 in Somalia which killed thousands of people including children.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Mr Mohamed must reinvent the Somali state. He has the opportunity to carry through with the reforms he started as premier. He must create a transparent, open, and democratic state devoid of corruption and impunity. He must use the deserved goodwill of the entire Somali people to stand up institutions of the state that work and are fair.”
New Leader Must Now Drive Somalia’s Rebirth
26 March – Source: The Standard – 798 Words
The democratic installation of Mohamed Mohamed as President of the Federal Republic of Somalia is the most hopeful political development in the war-torn Horn of Africa country in decades. Mr Mohamed, a New York resident – and dual US-Somali citizen – is likely to lead a national renaissance in one of the most tortured countries on earth. Somalia has not known peace since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
President Mohamed, the urbane technocrat educated at the University at Buffalo, is bound to transform Villa Somalia into the nerve centre that puts humpty dumpty back together again. A man of virtue, Mr Mohamed is a one in a generation leader. Mr Mohamed’s rise to power has been greeted with universal acclaim. Inside Somalia, he has been received with a unanimity never seen before. Somalis in the diaspora in America and the West have been delirious with joy at his election.
Closer to home, ethnic Somalis in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti see real hope for Somalia. The adoration for Mr Mohamed is justified. He is a skilled technocrat. He was Commissioner for the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority and Equal Employment at New York State’s Department of Transportation. He put that expertise to effective use as Prime Minister in Somalia from 2010-2011 before he fell victim to palace and political intrigues.
What Mr Mohamed did in his short stint as Prime Minister brought hope to Somalis everywhere. In less than a year, he paid bureaucrats and soldiers on time. He introduced a code of ethics and required public officials to declare their wealth. He set up an anti-corruption commission to curb official graft. He stopped wasteful international travel junkets by senior officials. He introduced a full audit of government property.
TOP TWEETS
@NationBreaking: 31 AL-SHABAAB killed by KDF in Baadhade, Somalia, 11 AK-47 rifles, 4 IEDs and communication equipment seized, spokesman Joseph Owuoth says.
@RadioErgo: #Somalia:Local ‘Khat’ trader rescues hundreds of herders stranded in drought-ravaged northern Somalia http://bit.ly/2mRCYOs
@Somalia111: President Sharif Hassan taking applications for New Prime Minister ISWA #Somalia all interested please contact @iswapresidency #SwSonthemove
@ferigom69 : US general: More authority to combat militants in Somalia would be ‘very helpful’ | @scoopit http://sco.lt/7KYBRB #Somalia #USA
@neptune_p2p : #Kenya to reopen border with #Somalia to facilitate the movement of people, goods and services: http://www.
@abdirashidmd : #Somalia has only 12.53% of its national road network paved! We need to leap forward in transport infrastructure.
@yasirdignity : After over 29 years of War and unstable govt. we still have the leading #Tellecommunication and Internet . #CountryoftheWeek #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
AMISOM troops this week delivered relief food to locals, purchased with funds raised by voluntary contributions from the soldiers. The troops also spared three days’ worth of their meals as an act of solidarity with the Somali people in the areas plagued by the drought.
Photo: AMISOM