NATIONAL MEDIA
14 October – Source: Hableeg – 119 Words
Hundreds of mourners and government officials have gathered at K-5 junction in Mogadishu mark the second anniversary of the deadly truck bomb attack on October 2017. More than 500 people were killed and others wounded in the country’s deadliest terrorist attack. Senior government officials led by the Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire, are expected to join and address the mourners at 14 October junction on Monday. All roads leading to the scene of the event were shutdown to beef up the security. The Somali government has officially renamed the junction as “October 14 Junction” in respect of the victims of the attack. Some families still live in anguish as the bodies of their loved ones have never been found.
13 October – Source: Jowhar – 211 Words
The Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E Hassan Ali Khaire, on Sunday laid the foundation for the construction of a National Blood Bank Facility. Somalia did not have a functioning national blood bank for close to three decades. This critical project is being implemented through a partnership between the Federal Government of Somalia and willing development partners and will, upon completion, go along the way is assuaging dire blood shortages in the country. Phase one of the project is anticipated to store 10,000 units of blood. The launch of this project is a key milestone for the Social Development Road map and coincides with the second anniversary since the infamous 14 October 2017 truck bombings in Mogadishu, in which hundreds of our people lost their lives, many due to severe loss of blood. Speaking at the site, the Somali Prime Minister observed, “establishing a blood bank, therefore, becomes more urgent given our context, as it mitigates deaths as a result of bleeding. Providing reliable blood transfusion services will be fundamental to our health sector reform.” The Government of Somalia is committed to enhancing the delivery of essential services to the Somali people through the implementation of responsive and proactive policy initiatives, through collaboration with development partners.
13 October – Source: Somali Affairs – 116 Words
The Somali militant group, Al-Shabaab, has reportedly executed an 82-year-old man in Jowhar, the capital of HirShabelle state. Ali Abdullahi Hassan was sentenced to death in an Al-Shabaab district court in Fidow after he went there to testify against one of two clans over land issues. The family he was testifying against in the case told the judge that Ali was a government official of Jowhar district and could not, therefore, be a witness in the case. Al-Shabaab then arrested Ali for further investigation and later sentenced him to death. Ali was the chief of Bula Sheikh district in Jowhar town. Al-Shabaab had previously executed many alleged government officials and spies in the south and central Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
14 October – Source: UNSOM – 190 Words
On the second anniversary of the deadly October 14, 2017 suicide bombings in Somalia, the United Nations envoy to the country today remembered the victims of the attack and reaffirmed the world body’s solidarity with and commitment to all Somalis “Two years have passed since the tragic events of 14 October 2017, in which so many innocent civilians were killed and injured in a senseless attack by violent extremists. The memory is still fresh in our minds. Our thoughts go out to the families of those lost in the attack, as well as to the survivors. Their resilience and strength in the face of such adversity is a testament to the Somali spirit,” said the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, James Swan. “Despite such senseless acts of terrorism, Mogadishu and the rest of the country have continued on their path towards peace and prosperity. The United Nations remains committed to supporting all Somalis on this journey” he added. The attack killed at least 587 people and ranks as the deadliest ever terrorist bombing in Africa involving the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Hundreds more were injured in the blast.
13 October – Source: Daily Nation – 200 Words
President Uhuru Kenyatta has sent messages of condolence to families and friends of 11 General Service Unit (GSU) officers who died in Garissa on Saturday. The officers were killed when their vehicle ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) suspected to have been planted on the road by Al Shabaab militants at Degow on the Liboi-Damajale Road. The officers from the Harhar GSU camp were on routine security patrol along the Kenya-Somalia border. In a statement by State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena, the President assured the families of the fallen officers of government’s support. “The President sends his heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families of the departed officers and assures them of government support during this difficult period of mourning,” read the statement. Even as the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai sent reinforcements to the area to pursue the attackers, the President said that action had been taken to apprehend the attackers. He added that the government and the people of Kenya will never succumb to cowardly terrorist actions. The attack comes barely 3 months after at least four people were killed after their vehicle ran over an Improvised Explosive Device in the border town of Kulan, Garissa.
13 October – Source: Anadolu Agency -131 Words
Turkey on Sunday extended condolences to Kenya over a roadside blast that targeted police officers in country’s north. “We are deeply saddened to receive the news that several police officers on patrol lost their lives in a terror attack which targeted their vehicle in Garissa Province in Kenya,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It added that Turkey extended its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to the friendly people and the Government of Kenya. On early Sunday, an improvised explosive device went off as the police were patrolling along the Kenya-Somalia border. At least 10 policemen were killed in the explosion. According to a statement by the Kenyan police, preliminary investigations indicated that the attack was carried out by Somalia-based insurgents group al-Shabaab.
13 October – Source: On Cuba News – 671 Words
Alive, in good health in Somalia, but without guarantees of when they will be released, today are the only clear premises in the case of the two Cuban doctors kidnapped six months ago in northern Kenya. This October 12 marks six months of the kidnapping of the two Cuban doctors in Kenya by the jihadist group Al-Shabaab. They are surgeon Landy Rodríguez and general medicine specialist Assel Herrera Correa, who on April 12, as usual, were travelling in a vehicle to the Mandera hospital, near the border with Somalia.
However, that Friday a group of armed men blocked the vehicle and opened fire, killing one of the policemen who accompanied the doctors. The governor of Mandera County, Ali Roba, said at the time that “suspected members of Al-Shabaab” had abducted the doctors. “They are in Somalia,” the Kenyan government spokesman confirmed to EFE, “alive, that’s for sure,” and “in good health.” “We are developing plans to ensure that they are carried out in such a way that their lives are not put at risk, that we can go there, pull them out and return them to their families,” said the government spokesman. “We are following a good track in relation to the Cuban doctors and the operational plan to rescue them is a priority. We are constantly checking clues and intelligence information and as soon as we can execute the operational plan, we will announce it,” Oguna said. When? “It maybe tomorrow, next week…because it depends on our conditions and the factors, and I can’t reveal them because it would jeopardize the operation,” he affirmed.
But after six months in which little has been known about Rodríguez and Herrera Correa and, if one looks at other cases of the kidnapping of foreign medical and humanitarian personnel, one could speak of many more months and even years. For the expert on Horn of Africa policy and director of the Sahan Research Institute, Matt Bryden, right now the hope lies in that the kidnappers will reach the point where “the cost of maintaining the hostages is higher than the cost of releasing them and they become more pragmatic and reasonable.”……
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been significant interest in the blocks currently the subject of bids. Given the scale of the opportunity and the robust processes we have put in place, this is not surprising. Oil companies that prove successful will be required to sign production sharing agreements with the Government that details their environmental responsibilities, requiring them to adopt methods and processes that minimise the impact of their work, but also immediately establish the financial terms of our partnership.”
13 October – Source: Economic Times New Delhi – 925 Words
I am delighted to be in New Delhi attending the 2019 India Energy Forum as the story of Somalia is being rewritten. The Petroleum Law which was recently passed by Somalia’s Parliament marks a new chapter in our country’s history and we anticipate that India will play an important role in our development. I am very excited to be speaking at the Indian Energy Forum in which I will update the conference on the exciting new developments in the oil and gas sector in Somalia as well as the opportunity it provides to foreign investors.
Late last month we were also delighted to sign an agreement with Shell and ExxonMobil settling historic obligations and initiating a roadmap enabling the conversion of concessions into Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs’). We are at the beginning of a journey that could be key to sustainable development and poverty reduction, as well as the continued development of stable state and civil institutions. This landmark new petroleum law, as its name implies, is about oil. It sets out the financial and regulatory framework that enables our Government to finally explore whether reserves of oil and gas exist, as so long suspected, off the Somalian coastline. But, even more importantly, the Law ensures that any oil discovered is the sole property of the Somali people today – and in the future. It will provide the necessary resources to invest in vital infrastructure that is so crucial for our future sustained prosperity.
Protecting our people’s rights of ownership over the country’s most valuable natural resource is unprecedented, not just in Somalia but across the world. The revenue-sharing agreement embedded in the Law mandates how future revenues will be shared between the federal government, Somalia’s six constituent member states and their local communities. It is unique globally with more than a third of any revenues to be distributed among our Member States in a process overseen by our Central Bank and the Revenue Authority/Department. It will be up to our people to elect those representatives whom they believe will invest their monies most effectively and for the long-term benefits of their local communities. But this is all in the future. Our priority today is to prove the existence of hydrocarbon reserves, and to establish their potential size. Recently completed seismic programmes highlight similar geographical structures to those with proven oil and gas reserves in neighbouring basins located in Seychelles, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.
The size of the geological structures identified offshore, means that these could easily be billion-barrel fields if they contain hydrocarbons. These suggest Somalia could become one of the most significant oil plays in offshore East Africa with as much as 30 billion barrels which, if true, would be truly transformational for our country. However, it is also important to stress that if commercially recoverable oil is discovered, production and therefore revenue sharing will be at least eight years away. In February, the Somalian government launched the roadshow of up to 15 offshore blocks covering a total area of around 75,000 square kilometres with bids scheduled by the end of the year. For the avoidance of doubt, no blocks in the area currently subject of a pending judgement by the International Court of Justice will be part of this or future licensing rounds until the settlement is reached in the Hague. Somalia has consistently committed to abiding by the decision of the Court…….. |
