May 5, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Auditor General Nur Farah Dismisses Sack By Cabinet, Says Only Parliament Can Fire Him
04 – Source : Goobjoog News – 275 Words
The Cabinet on Thursday evening fired the Auditor General Dr. Nur Farah barely 24 hours after his security guards allegedly fired at Public Works and Reconstruction Minister Abbas Siraj killing him on the spot but Farah has rubbished the sack order noting only Parliament has the powers to relieve him of his duties. Information Minister Abdirahman Yarisow said in a tweet the Cabinet had reached the verdict to allow for investigation into the incident. “Council of Ministers of Somalia unanimously approved the sacking of the Auditor General so that authorities will begin full investigation,” said Yarisow.
But in a quick rejoinder, the outspoken Auditor General told Goobjoog News the decision by the Cabinet was unconstitutional and that the Cabinet arrogated itself powers it does not have. “The Cabinet does not have powers to fire me. Only Parliament can do that,” said Farah. Article 114 of the Provisional Constitution establishes the offices of Auditor General, Attorney General and the Federal Central Bank as independent offices.
The decision to fire Dr. Farah follows a cabinet meeting hours after the burial of the deceased minister. President Mohamed Farmaajo who had earlier in the day cut short his visit in Ethiopia to attend the state burial of the minister said he had ordered investigations into the incident and that the perpetrators must be brought to book.
A military court prosecutor quoted by Reuters said two bodyguards attached to the Auditor General have been arrested. “Two bodyguards of the auditor general are now in the central cell in Mogadishu. We are investigating them over who killed the minister,” the deputy prosecutor of Somalia’s military court, Mumin Hussein Abdullahi, told Reuters.
Key Headlines
- Auditor General Nur Farah Dismisses Sack By Cabinet Says Only Parliament Can Fire Him (Goobjoog News)
- Ethiopia And Somalia’s Assigned A Committee Over Shabelle River Disputes (Radio Dalsan)
- Authorities Plans To Drive Out Al-Shabaab (Goobjoog News)
- Tankers: IMB Piracy Report Marks First Somali Hijackings After 5 Years (S&P Global Platts)
- Sheer Resilience Enabling Drought Victims Cope With Life In Somalia (AMISOM)
- EU Force Maintains Pirate Watch Off Somalia (VOA)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Ethiopia And Somalia’s Assigned A Committee Over Shabelle River Disputes
05 May – Source: Radio Dalsan: 90 words
Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Garad Omar, spoke of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo) and Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He stated that they discussed the strengthening the relationships of the two countries and the issue over Shabelle river.The government of Somalia and Ethiopia both agreed to assign a committee to oversee the dispute over the Shabelle river. Furthermore, the two leaders, discussed over the importance of education and the prime minister of Ethiopia promised to offer 500 scholarships for Somali students.
Authorities Plans To Drive Out Al-Shabaab
05 May – Source : Goobjoog News -119 words
The administration of El-Bur in Galmudug region explained their continued plan and operations to remove the militant group Al-Shabaab from the area.The exile Governor of El-bur, Nur Hassan Gutaale told the Goobjoog news that the preparation of the forces are underway in order to remove Al-Shabaab out of the region and to provide assistance to the people who are suffering in the area. The governor said the local people in El-bur need the help of the central government. El-Bur is one of the largest cities in central region recently fall to the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab after Ethiopian troops withdrew from the city.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Tankers: IMB Piracy Report Marks First Somali Hijackings After 5 Years
05 May – Source: S&P Global Platts – 291 words
Maritime piracy attacks in the first quarter of 2017 was higher than the same period last year and included two hijackings off the coast of Somalia, according to figures from the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau in its Q1 2017 piracy report. Pirates and armed robbers attacked 43 ships and captured 58 seafarers in Q1, and the global report highlights persisting violence in piracy hot spots off Nigeria and around the southern Philippines — where two crew members were killed in February. Indonesia also reported frequent incidents, mostly low-level thefts from anchored vessels.
Armed pirates hijacked two vessels — a small bunkering tanker and a traditional dhow off the coast of Somalia, where no merchant ship had been hijacked since May 2012. Four attempted incidents were also received by IMB. The three major concerns highlighted by the IMB report were: kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea, growing violence around the southern Philippines, and the first Somali hijackings after a five-year lull.
Spotlight returns to somalia piracy: As for the hijackings off Somalia, as 28 crew were taken hostage and subsequently released within a relatively short time. IMB suspects that these incidents were opportunistic, particularly as the hijacked vessels were not following the Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy (BMP4) recommendations. “IMB continues to encourage all vessels transiting waters around Somalia to follow the BMP4 recommendations. The recent attacks should serve as a warning against complacency, as Somali pirates are still capable of carrying out attacks,” said Mukundan.
Sheer Resilience Enabling Drought Victims Cope With Life In Somalia
05 May – Source : AMISOM – 1131 Words
The deteriorating drought situation in Somalia has forced hundreds of families to abandon their homes in search of food and water in major towns.However, some of the drought victims have adopted ways to beat the worst drought to ever face the Horn of Africa country in the last five years to supplement assistance received from aid agencies. While many of them have found shelter in camps for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the need to ensure daily needs are met has forced many to engage in menial jobs like fetching firewood, washing clothes and crushing stones among others.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has been instrumental in alleviating the situation by not only establishing quick impact projects in various parts of the country, but has also donating foodstuff and material for construction of temporary shelters. Magalo Mohamed Hussein, a manager at one of the three IDP camps in Belet Weyne, warned the situation would have been dire if the officials from the peacekeeping mission had not stepped in to save lives of women and children.“We haven’t received any assistance except for intervention from AMISOM troops who put up toilets and distributed blankets and plastic sheets for 90 households among the most desperate during floods”, Ms. Magalo said.
She warned that unless humanitarian aid is scaled up, lives will be lost “as it had happened to a number of children and old women in Belet Weyne early this year.”Although the situation is dire in most parts of the country, in Baidoa town, some of the victims have become resilient by coming up with income-generating activities to supplement the assistance received at the IDP camps.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In addition to monitoring piracy, EU NAVFOR monitors the region for signs of illegal fishing. Recently, the force helped catch a Greek-owned trawler, GREKO 1, which was fishing illegally and was later fined $60,000.Many Somalis, including pirates, blame illegal fishing for depleting the ocean and stealing wealth from the nation,”
EU Force Maintains Pirate Watch Off Somalia
04 May – Source : VOA News – 516 Words
For the first time in years, piracy has returned to the coast of Somalia, with as many as six incidents reported in the last two months. But the European Union naval force patrolling the region, EU NAVFOR, says it continues to be successful in escorting ships carrying food aid to drought-stricken Somalia. A spokesperson for the EU force, Lieutenant Commander Jacqueline Sherriff, told VOA’s Somali Service that the force has not experienced a single attack on aid ships since it began protecting World Food Program (WFP) vessels in 2008.“Our warship will actually sail alongside a ship very closely to stop any pirates approaching but we also have another way of doing it…We can put a military protection team on board the WFP vessel itself,” she said.
With two EU vessels patrolling Somalia’s coastal waters, helicopters overhead and help from partner nations, Sherriff believes the mission scares off most would-be pirates. In fact, she said, during one recent attack, pirates boarded a vessel and then fled when they heard over the radio that an EU warship was en route.“They know that we’re off the coast, so we’re hoping, we’re trying to deter them from coming out to sea in the first instance,” she said.
The work is essential. Somalia is in the midst of a prolonged drought that has left about half of its 12 million people food insecure, the WFP reported. About 363,000 children below the age of 5 are acutely malnourished.For affected people, food aid is a lifeline that is constantly in peril due to piracy and onshore violence.Piracy had been virtually non-existent off the coast of Somalia since 2013 until earlier this year when the Aris 13, a Comoros-flagged tanker was hijacked, held briefly and then released along with its crew.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: Auditor General Nur Farah says only the parliament can sack him; says his contract has 3 more years to run
@RadioErgo : #Somalia: Free school on an empty stomach-mixed blessings for #Somali girls displaced by the #drought http://bit.ly/2pcqQp6
@adammatan: Somali women has long history of being the beacon of hope & true change makers for Somalia. #ourheroes https://www.facebook.com/
@Axmed_wali2: #Chairperson of the African Union Commission receives the President of Somalia, @M_Farmaajo expressed full support to the Government of So.
@ahmedwardigley##Somalia: #UAE #Government #Meetings for #Somali #CLAN #ENCLAVE.http://wardigley.
@AbdulBillowAl:Ethiopian PM says no country including #Ethiopia should interfere with sovereignty & integrity of #Somalia shrtly after meeting@M_Farmaajo
IMAGE OF THE DAY
President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo presides over the burial of the late Minister for Public Works, Abass Abdullahi Siraji.
Photo: Radio Muqdisho