October 10, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia’s Al-Shabaab Executes Five Men Accused Of Spying
10 October – Source: Reuters – 163 Words
Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamists on Tuesday shot five men in a public execution, including a Somali British citizen accused of spying, a sign of the insurgents’ control of southern swathes of the country, even as authorities step up efforts to combat them.
Al-Shabaab’s grip on the Horn of Africa nation has been weakening since it was pushed out of the capital by African Union peacekeepers in 2011, but the government and the U.S. military are beefing up an offensive against it.
“Five of them were publicly shot to death this afternoon after they admitted espionage before the court,” said Mohamed Abu Abdalla, al Shabaab’s governor for the Jubba regions. “Awale Ahmed Mohamed, 32 spied for MI6 and he came from Britain to Somalia to establish Islamic State,” he told Reuters late on Tuesday. Three of the men spied for the United States and helped guide drones to carry out strikes in Somalia, while a fourth spied for the Somali government, he added.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s Al-Shabaab Executes Five Men Accused Of Spying (Reuters)
- Somali Military Court Jails Two Al-Shabaab Operatives (Halbeeg News)
- Disabled Mobile Hawker Wins Respect Of Customers In Lasanod (Radio Ergo)
- Strengthen Security In Mandera Ahead Of Exams Leaders Urge (The Star)
- Dispatches From A Nomad: Somali Next Investment Haven? (The Star)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Military Court Jails Two Al-Shabaab Operatives
10 October – Source: Halbeeg News – 178 Words
A military court today sentenced two Al-Shabaab fighters to three and eight years, after they were found guilty. The military Court based in Mogadishu declared the two Mohamed Abdi Salad and Ga’al Mohamed Ali guilty, of joining Al-Shabaab and being active members of the group’s hit squad known as ‘Amniyat’.
Mr. Ga’al who has been Al-Shabaab member since 2015, was found guilty after sneaking into Mogadishu intending to collect information for the militants. He was arrested on February 13, 2018, by security officers in an operation. The other defendant, Mohamed Abdi Salad was arrested April 18, 2017.
In defence, Mr. Salad who reportedly working in a barber-shop in Mogadishu, denied all allegations levelled against him. Mohamed Abdi Salad was handed eight-year jail terms, while Mr. Ga’al got three years behind bars. The verdict comes barely two days after this court sentenced a police officer to eight years in jail of armed robbery. Constable Mohamed Abdikarim Abdullahi was found guilty of forcefully robbing residents in Hodan district of Mogadishu. The officer was convicted for committing series of armed robberies.
Disabled Mobile Hawker Wins Respect Of Customers In Lasanod
09 October – Source: Radio Ergo – 374 Words
Jama Aidid Abdi 45, has become a well-known figure driving around Lasanod town in northern Somalia, in his customised bike, that serves as both a wheelchair and a mobile food stall. Jama, who has been paralysed since falling from a tree at the age of six, was given the diesel-run bike by a local businessman nine months ago. He adapted it with a shelf at the back and a roof to hang his sale goods – fruit and snacks such as bananas, mangos, raisins, and other small items like frankincense. “Life used to be so hard,” Jama told Radio Ergo. “As I was unemployed I used to depend on the small amounts of about $100, I received from relatives that was barely enough. My business is taking off now though and I earn $15 in a day and can afford food and other needs for my family.”
Living with disability in Somalia is extremely challenging. There are no special facilities to ease movement and mobility and most disabled people lack access to education and jobs. Jama invested $200 borrowed from a relative to start his mobile business. He is now able to pay the $25 rent for his house and the $7 monthly school fees for four of his seven children. He is proud to earn an independent living, leaving his house early in the morning to drive round town hawking until noon, then selling in the market place in the afternoon. His customers often comment on his determination and innovation and always ask him how he managed to set up a shop inside his wheelchair.
Sheikh Mubarak Dool, who heads Sool’s disabled persons association, told Radio Ergo that a survey conducted in 2016 showed that there were 860 people living with disabilities in Lasanod including 120 women. According to the association, only five people are earning a living, including Jama and four people working as teachers. Eleven people with disabilities are studying in local universities. Mubarak believes Jama is a motivation to others living with disability. The Mayor of Lasanod, Abdiaziz Hussein Tarwaale, told Radio Ergo they are aware that the city lacks facilities to support the disabled. He said they are planning to introduce services for the disabled in the near future.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Strengthen Security In Mandera Ahead Of Exams, Leaders Urge
10 October – Source: The Star – 372 Words
Leaders in Mandera want the national government to secure the county against al Shabaab attacks ahead of national exams. Speaking to the press in Mandera town yesterday, Mandera Knut executive secretary Kullow Sheikh asked the government to ensure that all the 229 exam centres and 9,545 candidates are well protected. “Candidates from Mandera should do the exams under a conducive environment devoid of any incidents ,including insecurity,” Kullow said.
The exams start on October 31.Lafey MP Abdi Mude asked the government to deploy enough security personnel especially along the porous border with Somalia for the security of candidates and supervisors. “We have seen enough of this al Shabaab menace. It is my hope and prayer that the security apparatus have put in place all mechanisms that will ensure that everything goes on well.
As leaders, we will continue supporting the government as we have done before,” said Mude The county has borne the brunt of al Shabaab militia which has on numerous occasions carried out attacks that have led to loss of lives. It is feared that the group may want to disrupt the national examinations in the county. Kullow called on the government to increase the number of containers which act as examination materials stores to reduce the distance school heads take to collect exams.
The Knut executive secretary said the longer the distance, the higher the chances that the exams will arrive late adding that ‘anything can happen in between the examination centers and the containers’. The expansive county also has bad roads which become impassable during the rain season and could also inconvenience examination officials and candidates.
The most vulnerable areas such as Omar Jillow, Sheikh Barrow and Fino have been put under under security surveillance. On Monday, the director for quality assurance from the ministry of education Pius Mutesi told the press in Mandera town that the department has put all measures in place to end cases of exam cheating. The North Eastern region of Kenya has been the key war ground between Kenyan securities forces and the Somali based al Shabaab militia which started back in 2011 after the Kibaki government accused the group of interfering with the tourism industry along the Indian ocean coast.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Somalia’s economy to grow by 3.1 per cent this year up from 2.3 per cent last year. If Somalia continues on this journey of development and peace, then it has all the ingredients to be the next big investment destination.”
Dispatches From A Nomad: Somali Next Investment Haven?
10 October – Source: The Star – 672 Words
Somalia is slowly recovering from years of conflict and self-destruction. The country’s biggest headache has always been politics, with the myriad of clans jostling for political supremacy. This is what caused the 1991 civil war and it seems to be the same problem decades later. But Somalia plans to shift from clan-based politics to political party-based politics in 2020, when a national election is expected to take place.
All interim governments, including the latest legitimate government, have been elected on a 4.5 clan power-sharing system. There is currently at least 15 temporarily registered parties. Over the years the Somalia conflict has changed faces. The civil war that ousted strongman Siad Bare in 1991 morphed into clan fiefdoms run by warlords that were swept away by a wave of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in late 2006.
The ICU gave birth to al Shabaab, the local franchise of al Qaeda in Eastern Africa, which extorts locals to finance its bloody war. The change in Somalia has been slow but steady. Even al Shabaab has not been spared. Over the years the group has lost high-ranking officials such as Sheikh Dahir Aweys, considered the grand mullah of militancy in Somalia. Aweys is now under house arrest in Mogadishu after disagreeing with the group and escaping an assassination attempt on his life in late June 2013.
Another influential figure who decamped from al Shabaab is former spokesman and deputy head Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, aka Abu Mansur, who handed himself over to government. Last Friday he was barred by the Interior ministry from running for president of the Southwest State for lack of international clearance due to his past relations with al Shabaab. Al Shabaab lost some support in Puntland, northeast of Somalia, after a group of predominantly Darod fighters shifted allegiance to ISIS or Daesh.
It is worth noting that al Shabaab has also been caught up in Somalia’s cancerous clan problem. The Somalia ISIS chapter is believed to be predominantly made up of fighters from the Darod clan said to have been unhappy with the Hawiye and Dir clans’ dominance of al Shabaab’s command. In spite of the unceasing al Shabaab bloodshed, whose biggest victims are unarmed civilians, Somalia is moving forward.
For the first time in years the country is enjoying international recognition and there is a semblance of governance, even though corruption is rampant. However, the government in Mogadishu is now facing its biggest political tsunami following a rare show of unity amongst Federal States. The states cut ties with the government, accusing it of meddling in their affairs, and blaming it for the rising insecurity and inequitable sharing of national resources.
TOP TWEETS
@Halbeeg_News: Somali military court jails two Al-shabaab operatives https://en.halbeeg.com/2018/
@DrBeileh: Honoured to have met with @WorldBank CEO Kristalina Georgieva to discuss our national fiscal & economic progress. We are committed to our reforms under the SMP & grateful for the support of all partners including the Bank.#Somalia is moving forward.
@ChismaioCity: Special Unit from @Jubaland forces in#Kismayo completed heavy machine gunners course, gaining valuable experience firing some of the most deadly weapons. JSF established itself as one of the best counter-terrorism units exceeding all expectations given its unpromising origins.
@IOM_Somalia: The Migration Data Analysis System (MIDAS) is IOM’s system for border management and is operational at over 150 work stations at 16 ports of entry in Somalia. Read more:http://weblog.iom.int/pushing-
@GermanyinSOM: Embassy’s Head of Development Cooperation & Regional Head of German Development Bank @KfW visited#Baidoa, #Somalia today. German support to @WorldBank Multi Partner Fund via KfW will soon result in road rehabilitation, rainwater drainage & street lights. @BMZ_Bund @GERonAfrica.
@Fatumaabdulahi: I live in #Kismayo because it is peaceful, stable and reminds me of #Somalia before war. I realise it has long way to go to create a just and fair political system but the propaganda war against Madobe and Jubbaland is intensely negative!! Throwing the baby with the bath water?
@Mogadishuupdate: #Somali government did efforts to nationalize 24 schools which has more than 15,000 students also printed book for primary students. despite #alshabaabthreats education umbrellas to work with government. @SomaliPM @TheVillaSomalia @M_Farmaajo
#nabadiyonolol
@AbdirahmanCumar: Jama Aidid Abdi, 45, from Lasanod town in northern Somalia’s Sool in his customised quad bike that serves as both a wheelchair and a mobile food stall. Proud of this hardworking father of 7kids. #Somalia #Somaliland Courtesy @RadioErgo https://www.radioergo.org/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Minister for Planning, Investment and Economic Development Gamal Mohamed Hassan was today sworn in as a member of the House of the People after he won a seat following by-election.
Photo: Goobjoog News