September 22, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Newly Elected Hirshabelle President Backs Federal Government’s Position On Gulf Crisis
22 September – Source: Jowhar Media – 147 Words
The newly elected President of Hirshabelle’s Mr. Mohamed Abdi Waare supports the Somali Federal Government’s position to stay neutral in the dispute between Qatar and the Saudi-UAE governments. President Waare said that the Federal Government has the sole authority to speak on foreign affairs matters, and it is inappropriate that some regional state governments have taken the decision to disobey the Federal government in interfering. “The issue of foreign relations is for the central government and the only role the regional states has in this context is to contribute their recommendations to the central government,” he noted.
In his interview with VOA Somali, President Waare called on the regional administrations to respect the provisional federal constitution that clearly defines the powers of the federal government and that of the regional states. Jubbaland is the only remaining regional state that has not declared its position on this issue.
Key Headlines
- Newly Elected Hirshabelle President Backs Federal Government’s Position On Gulf Crisis (Jowhar Media)
- Somalia Prime Minister Meets Chinese Foreign Minister On The Sidelines Meetings At UN General Assembly In New York (Horn Observer)
- Somali Prime Minister Meets With Qatar Foreign Minister In New York (Shabelle News)
- Kenya Keen On Stabilising Somalia Partners Must Help – CS Amina Tells UNGA (The Star)
- Squandering The Glimmer Of Hope (Wardheer News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Prime Minister Meets Chinese Foreign Minister On The Sidelines Meetings At General Assembly In New York
22 September – Source: Horn Observer – 219 Words
Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Thursday met with the Chinese Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. According to a statement from the office of Somali Prime Minister, both leaders discuss bilateral cooperation and the current projects that China has implemented in Somalia.” “The security of the eastern African region, political development, strengthening the bilateral relations between the two governments were amongst the issues discussed, including the Chinese support in rebuilding Somalia. The Prime Minister thanked Chinese government in their role in supporting Somalia and reiterated the importance to strengthen the relationship,” the statement added.
China is one of the few countries that have diplomatic presence in Mogadishu. Early August, Chinese assistance donated 2,800 tonnes of rice for the drought hit areas arrived in Mogadishu. Also, in July, China donated $1 Million US dollars for Humanitarian assistance. On Tuesday, Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York. Both Somalia and Russia discussed strengthening the long term bilateral relationship between the two countries. According to ITAR TASS, Russia pledged its readiness to help Somalia in its efforts to fight against extremism and terrorism Somalia Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Khaire is expected address the UN General Assembly on Friday.
Somali Prime Minister Meets With Qatar Foreign Minister In New York
22 September – Source: Shabelle News – 80 Words
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani held a meeting with Prime Minister of Somalia Hassan Ali Khayre, on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly.
During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations and means of boosting them as well as a number of issues of common concern. The Foreign Minister briefed the Prime Minister of Somalia on the latest developments in Gulf crisis and all illegal measures taken against the State of Qatar.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Keen On Stabilising Somalia, Partners Must Help – CS Amina Tells UNGA
22 September – The Star – 406 Words
Kenya is committed to stabilising Somalia, Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed has said, and asked partners to help. Amina noted the country has suffered decades of instability but that remarkable positive developments have been witnessed. She thanked those attending the High-Level Meeting including the United Kingdom, Ethiopia and Italy, and assured them of Kenya’s commitment as President Mohamed Farmajo’s country pursues peace and stability. The Cabinet Secretary said the capital Mogadishu is now open for business and that investors are moving beyond speculation to establish their presence there.
Amina said the successful conclusion of the 2016/17 electoral process set Somalia on a path of improved governance and political stability, including the fight against corruption.Somalia today has in place an elected and more broadly based government that has demonstrated commitment to formulate a new constitution, create a viable federal system of government and rebuild state institutions.” She addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, “the minister said through a framework of a bilateral Joint Commission for Cooperation, Kenya had made commitments including the establishment of more border posts to ease movement. Amina also cited restored direct air services between Mogadishu and Nairobi and the training of an agreed number of teachers, nurses and administrators on behalf of the Somalia government. We believe these modest capacity-building assistance programmes will facilitate the expansion and extension of critical public services by the government to the population.”
Amina said Kenya welcomes the international community and friends to avail additional resources for more programmes for Somali officials which could be delivered in Kenya’s institutions. Security remains the single most important factor in Somalia political and economic aspirations. The situation remains precarious as al Shabaab terror group appears to have invigorated heinous acts of terror, threatening a rollback of gains made. Kenya supports other regional and international initiatives on Somalia. One of these initiatives was the London Conference on Somalia whose third edition in May endorsed a New Partnership for Somalia. The goals are peace, stability and prosperity. The Third London Conference expressed support for a condition-based transition from AMISOM to Somali security forces, starting late 2018, with clear target dates linked to the security sector reform that Somalia is undertaking. Amina further assured Kenya will remain a faithful partner to the people of Somalia and continue working closely with the federal government, the region and the international community in getting Somalia out of the shadows of conflict.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The President must understand that the fight against his presidency is far from over. There are those in the opposition who are actively planning to overthrow him by any means possible. It must also be clear to Mr. Farmajo that many of the officials in his administration will jump ship as soon as they see other opportunities,”
Squandering The Glimmer Of Hope
20 September – Source: Wardheer News – 1074 Words
Somalia has been slowly struggling for several decades as a result of protracted internal conflicts combined together with eternal foreign interventions. It has been certainly difficult to govern the country at least since 2000 partly because of political elites comprising former cabinet members, parliamentarians and regional leaders competing for their personal interest. Fortunately, for the first time in recent history, there is a political will from the President and the PM to change the direction of the country, but the opportunity to advance government policies is being deeply defied. There are permanent obstacles on any meaningful policy issues the government tries to execute.
For example Chapter 5, (art. 54) of the Somali constitution states that the allocation of powers and resources shall be negotiated and agreed upon by the Federal Government and the Federal Member States except in matters concerning: (1) Foreign Affairs` (2) National Defense` (3) Citizenship and Immigration` (4) Monetary Policy, which shall be within the powers and responsibilities of the federal government. As outlined in the constitution, Foreign Policy clearly falls under the authority of the Federal Government; regional leaders such as Puntland and Southwest President have no constitutional mandate in the matter, but they openly opposed the position taken by the Federal Government regarding the Gulf conflict which was to remain neutral and not take sides. Such political interventions are utterly irresponsible, divisive, diminishes the federal authority and allows a free mingling of foreign countries in the country’s internal affairs.
Also members of the parliament are constantly engaged in destabilizing the executive branch of the government, primarily because the majority of the parliamentarians who have spent a lot of money to get elected are seeking ways to get their money back. And they see the best possibility is to overthrow the current government, so they may have chances to join the new one. This is, however, a vicious cycle, because those who fail to be part of the new cabinet are prepared to overthrow the government over again. This quagmire political game has obstructed the execution of governmental policies, the delivery of services to the public and made it difficult to defeat Al-shabaab.
When the cabinet of Prime Minister Kheyre was formed in March of 2017, some politicians were already giving it a life-span of six months citing a great number of unqualified ministers in the Cabinet. President Farmajo ran for an election because he sincerely believes he can change the political, economical and social spectrum of the country. The first thing he did as a President was to give full authority to his PM to run the government, an attempt to enhance democracy and good governance. The President’s platform is to focus first on Somalia’s interest and Somalia’s National Security. His enthusiasm and stamina seems boundless.
TOP TWEETS
.@MofaSomalia: At a mini-summit in #NewYork for (T/PCCs) to AU Mission in #Somalia, PM Khaire hailed the role of #AMISOMforces in stabilizing the country.
.@Somalia: The Cabinet affirms the official #Somali position declared in June 7, regarding the #GulfCrisis.Our position is neutral.#Somalia #الصومال
.@SomaliPM: At #UNGA held a sideline meeting with China FM Wang Yi where we discussed rebuilding the cooperation amid the two Nations.#Somalia
.@faaraxsheekh: Happy International PeaceDay . May we increase our efforts in rebuilding & restoring #Somalia to the great nation. #Peace4Somalia #PeaceDay
.@Salim8Said: The #Arab factor in @Somalia politics has an immense destruction to the future of Somalia and hope to see this factor at least neutralized.
.@Goobjoognews: #SOMALIA: Just as we held a neutral position during the Camp David Accords fall-out in the 1970s, so are we with the #GulfCrisis
.@Aynte: Thank you bro @NgogaFred for having us at AU Mission to the UN and facilitating discussion w/ @AU_Cherguion the sidelines of #UNGA
.@HarunMaruf: Somali woman holding traditional milk container during a play in Baidoa.
.@DalsanFM: Somalia Re-iterates Neutral Stand on Gulf Diplomatic Crisis – http://radiodalsan.com/en/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre with Republic of China Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi during the sideline meetings in New York.
Photo: @SomaliPM