May 22, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
President Farmaajo Briefly Meets Trump In Riyadh, Appeals Backing
22 May – Source: Somali Update – 259 words
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has on Sunday met with the U.S President Donald Trump in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh following the conclusion of the US-Arab-Muslim conference, Presidential Communications officer confirms. Somali Presidential Communications officer, Abdinur Mohamed said the two presidents talked on security collaboration between Somalia and the United States of America, where President Farmajo highlighted the need for strong U.S support to defeat the militant group Al-Shabab that is battling the government and the African Union forces.
“We are in war on terror and we need international assistance as Somalia lone cannot defeat the terror groups.”Mr. Mohamed said during a media briefing in Riyadh. He said the U.S administration promised 100% backing for the new Somali government to secure the Horn of African nation and rebuild the country’s national forces. The Riyadh meeting was the first face-to-face talk between Donald Trump and Farmajo and came one month after U.S president increased the number of U.S Special Forces operating in Somalia.
Key Headlines
- President Farmaajo Briefly Meets Trump in Riyadh Appeals Backing (Somali Update)
- Newly Formed Political Opposition Coalition is Destructive Says Jubbaland (Hiiraan Online)
- Prime Minister Concludes First Phase of Evaluating Cabinet Ministers (Jowhar.com)
- IDPs Now Outnumber Refugees Globally But Attract Little Attention (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Reviews Anti-graft Law (Xinhua)
- Worsening Somalia’s Drought: Blowback From US Policy (CounterPunch)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Newly Formed Political Opposition Coalition is Destructive, Says Jubbaland
22 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 150 words
Jubbaland regional administration has expressed its view on the parliamentary opposition group recently formed in Nairobi, saying that the group poses new challenge to the federal government. Speaking at the opening of high school examination in Kismayo, First Deputy President of Jubbaland, Mohamud Sayid Adan said the two houses of Somalia’s parliament have a responsibility to move the country forward and called on them to avoid any unnecessary formation of opposition presently since the government was still too young to be held accountable for its actions. “They called themselves Progressive but the Somali people consider them as anti-progress. Their ill motives have already been realized by the people,” he added.
Prime Minister Concludes First Phase of Evaluating Cabinet ministers
22 May – Source: Jowhar – 144 words
Prime Minister concluded yesterday the first phase of meetings with his cabinet ministers for their performances’ evaluation. The ministers had to provide detailed explanations of their department’s achievements and performances in the last three months. State Minister of the Office of the Prime Minister, Abdullahi Hamud stated that the accountability program of the government was to evaluate the performances of cabinet ministers for the last three months or (100) days. Abdullahi Hamud said after the end of the next coming three months, cabinet ministers will be called back again to discuss of their mandates.
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre stated that his government will ensure to provide services for the public and work for the people. This effort is the first initiative taken by Prime Minister Khayre’s government which reflects his government’s determination to hold cabinet ministers accountable and responsible for their respective departments.
IDPs Now Outnumber Refugees Globally But Attract Little Attention
21 May – Source: Goobjoog – 438 words
Internally displaced people now account for the highest number of displaced people in the world more than those pushed across borders, a new report has said warning despite this, fewer resources go to addressing the plight of those pushed from homes within their borders. In 2016, the report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre notes conflict and natural disasters now uproot more people from their homes but within borders adding at least one person was displaced every second in 2016. “In 2016, one person every second was forced to flee their home inside their own country. Internally displaced people now outnumber refugees by two to one. It is urgent to put internal displacement back on the global agenda,” said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the NRC.
The report notes that conflict, violence and disasters caused 31.1 million new internal displacements in 2016. Conflict alone displaced 6.9 million people in 2016 with 2.9 million of these from Sub Saharan Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo topped the list with a spike of 922,000 new displacements followed by Syria (824,000), Iraq (659,000), Afghanistan (653,000), Nigeria (501,000) and Yemen (478,000). Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) warns lack of global attention on internal displacements risks spiraling a greater disaster since cross border displacement start with internal displacements. “Despite internal displacement being the starting point of many onward journeys, it has been overshadowed by the current global focus on refugees and migrants.” We need to acknowledge that, without the right kind of support and protection, a person internally displaced today may become a refugee, an asylum seeker or an international migrant tomorrow,” said IDMC Director Alexandra Bilak.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Reviews Anti-Graft Law
22 May – Source: Xinhua – 332 words
The Somali government said Sunday it has reviewed the anti-corruption law with experts which will soon be presented to parliament for a review and approval. A statement from the ministry of information, culture and tourism said the government is committed to combating corruption at every level. “So far within a short period of time, the new government has made efforts to show its commitment and determination to eradicating corruption,” it said. The ministry listed several achievements which the government has made including increasing revenue generation since Feb. 8 due to strict reforms on public financial management that gives the government more income to provide service delivery.
The ministry said the new management at Aden Adde International airport in Mogadishu has this week collected more than 130,000 U.S. dollars of khat taxation when compared to the past days and weeks, that 34,000 dollars has been saved which was used to be diverted into the wrong pockets, without tax increases, and no extra khat arriving. “As a result of this, the government saved between 600,000 dollars to 900,000 dollars per month, which will hugely help the government to provide services to its citizens,” it said. The ministry said it conducted operations to eradicate bandits who laid illegal roadblocks on the roads is launched in the Middle Shabelle region on May 18.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Growing tired of the warlords, a group of independent militias joined together to form the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and took control of the capital Mogadishu, and other parts of the country.”
Worsening Somalia’s Drought: Blowback From US Policy
22 May – Source: Counterpunch.org – 661 words
The eastern African country of Somalia is currently suffering from a drought that has lasted for more than two years. A drought in an underdeveloped agrarian country that also lacks basic sanitation systems means further complications stemming from a lack of food production, subsequent malnourishment, and outbreaks of bacterial diseases such as cholera. In fact, Somalia is currently reporting 200-300 cases of cholera a day. It’s a treatable condition, but aid agencies are consistently stifled in getting affected Somalis the care they need because the worst areas hit by the outbreak are in the southern part of the country––areas controlled by a group called Al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab is a radical Islamist militia that arose as a response to American covert operations in the country, as well as the US backed invasion of Somalia by Ethiopian forces in 2006. As with all policy decisions, there are unforeseen and unintended consequences. US foreign policy provided the catalyst for Al-Shabaab’s formation, who are in turn exacerbating this humanitarian crisis which has claimed over 500 lives so far this year.
In the early 2000s, Somalia was governed by a string of warlords that were supported by the US government, so long as they agreed to help target suspected terrorists that were taking refuge there. Growing tired of the warlords, a group of independent militias joined together to form the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and took control of the capital Mogadishu, and other parts of the country. Because of the radical Islamist nature of the ICU, the Bush administration viewed them as an outgrowth of al-Qaida, and therefore could not be allowed to control such large swaths of the country. The US conducted a proxy war, sponsoring neighboring Ethiopia to invade Somalia and force the ICU out. What was left of the ICU became Al-Shabaab, a jihadist group that “emerged as the vanguard of the fight against foreign occupation,” according to investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of the 2013 book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield. Despite being pushed back from urban areas, Al-Shabaab controls a number of rural areas – many of the same areas that have been hit the hardest by the drought which is now threatening so many people. The group is reticent, or in some cases entirely unwilling, to allow aid workers into their c territory. Even if rain does come soon to these regions, it will take time for plants and livestock to re-emerge, and the problem of poor sanitation will not have gone away. The drought is affecting close to 6 million people, and the World Health Organization is predicting the number of cholera cases to reach 50,000 by the end of the summer.
None of this suggests that life would be great if the US took a different approach to Somalia and the War on Terror. Somalia would still not be a developed nation with sustainable institutions of governance, and there have always been struggles with corruption and theft when it comes to aid. The Islamic Courts were ushering in an (admittedly short-lived) era of relative stability and peace, but they were also Islamist and repressive by any reasonable measure. But the fact of the matter is that a militant group whose existence is owed to blowback from American foreign policy is blocking aid to people in need. This doesn’t shift the blame – responsibility lies with those that are prohibiting aid from reaching the affected populations. But the US should not deny its role in laying the foundation for the emergence of Al-Shabaab either.
As if the civil war in Iraq and the rise of the Islamic State in Libya are not enough, Somalia is another example of the unintended, negative consequences of an aggressive, militaristic foreign policy. The Islamic Courts Union may not have been any liberal-minded person’s ideal of a governing body, but it was so short-lived that we cannot know how it would have behaved long-term. Al-Shabaab, however, is imposing misery on innocent people.
TOP TWEETS
@Tuuryare_Africa :BREAKING: #Turkish Airlines from Djibouti failed to land at #Mogadishu‘s airport due to bad weather – Radio Shabelle reports #Somalia
@Daudoo: BREAKING: Deqa Dirac, a mother of 6, dies in #Mogadishu prison while serving 15-yrs sentence for allegedly helping #AlShabaab. #Somalia
@TheVillaSomalia: “This summit is timely, important because we are here to exchange ideas, chart pathways to address the challenges of our time; terrorism”
@Awalekullane: Pres of the Federal Republic of #Somalia H.E.@M_Farmaajo at the Institute of Counter Terrorism in Riyadh Saudi Arabia@TheVillaSomalia
@Goobjoognews: Security and travel ban expected to feature in President Farmajo’s talks with Trump.
@HarunMaruf: Barge hauling cargo from Mogadishu sinks 6 miles off the coast of Hobyo, crew rescued, all goods lost: officials
@UNDP: Why is #Somalia facing a #famine? @UNDPArabStates‘s@MWahbaUN breaks down the causes of this looming crisis:
@ahmedvision1: This country will stand back on its feet very soon, history will narrate each of us’s contribution, we have decision 2 make 2day #Somalia
@Daudoo: #Somalia flag in #Saudi capital Riyadh as 50+ leaders from the Muslim world are in attendance to hear Trump’s speak on #Islam.#RiyadhSummit.
@UNDPSomalia: H.E.Abdirahman Hosh, MoCA (right): “There is a renewed ownership as we work on the Constitutional review.” #InclusivePolitics#Somalia
@daudedosman: Daud Osman Retweeted Abdikarim Ali. We outsourced everything – our constitution, our security, revenue collection, reconciliation, planning even our thinking. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President Farmaajo in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for Arab Islamic American Summit.
PHOTO: @TheVIllaSomalia