September 6, 2013 | Daily Monitoring Report.
International Investigative Team Clears Somalia of UN Report Allegations
06 Sept – Source: Prnewswire/Herald Online – 346 words
After a thorough investigation, a top international forensic accounting and legal team released a report today clearing the Somali government of corruption alleged by the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.
Responding to the July 12, 2013, Monitoring Group Report—specifically Annex 5.2 —forensic accountants from FTI Consulting, Inc., and a legal team from the US firm Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., found that the methodology and conclusions reflected in Annex 5.2 were “deeply flawed and entirely unreliable.” Moreover, many of the allegations predate President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration.
President Mohamud welcomed the report’s conclusions while acknowledging that Somalia is still developing a sound financial architecture after two decades of war.
Key Headlines
- International Investigative Team Clears Somalia of UN Report Allegations (Prnewswire/Herald Online)
- President Hassan says he knows that many clans complaining over government power-sharing(Raxanreeb
- Gov’t forces fight against armed gangs (Radio Dalsan)
- British Somalis dread ‘herbal high’ khat ban (Capital News/AFP)
- AMISOM condemns killing of elder Yusuf (Bar-kulan)
- Somalia needs more troops – Gen Muhoozi (Observer)
- Floods displace 2000 families in Jowhar (Radio Ergo)
- Mogadishu airport gears up for management turnover (Sabahi Online)
- Ethiopia says it will mediate between the federal government of Somalia and Puntland (Radio Dalsan)
- Barclays’ Somalia Remittance Shutdown will Hurt Millions (IB Times)
- European Union And Somalia Join Hands In Maritime Security Partnership (Eunavfor)
SOMALI MEDIA
Gov’t forces fight against armed gangs
06 Sept – Source: Radio Dalsan – 136 words
Somali government forces on Thursday night attacked armed militias setting up illegal roadblocks near Buufow town of Lower Shabelle region, a senior regional administration official said.
The fighting erupted on late Thursday afternoon after the security forces were informed of a group of armed men looting passenger buses on the road between Mogadishu and southern regions. Afgoye district administration official, Ahmed Omar told Radio Dalsan that the security forces detained two of the militias as the forces cleared two illegal roadblocks.
“The security forces of the government will maintain the operation to clear the roads from armed gangs” he said.On Wednesday, the interior minister of the federal government of Somalia Abdikarim Hussein Guled said any armed men found on roadblocks will be prosecuted similarly to al Shabaab members.
Floods displace 2,000 families in Jowhar
06 Sept – Source: Radio Ergo – 296 words
At least 2,000 families in Jowhar have been forced to flee from their homes following flooding of the Shabelle River over the past two weeks. The areas where residents have moved from include Baareey, Banaaneey, Gunbe, Libiga, Jahweyn, Adada, Hanshooley and Dhay-gawan, all situated on the outskirts of the town and on the edges of the river.
Gedi Malim, a traditional elder in Libiga village, told Radio Ergo’s local reporter that more than 500 families have fled from the village as the result of the floods. More than 300 other families have had to abandon their houses in Dhay-gawan village according to Haji Mohamed Qoray, a local resident said.
The eight villages named above are still under water. The floods have swept away large areas of cultivated farmland and crops. Haji Mohamed Qoray, a resident of Dhay-gawan village, told Radio Ergo that there has been no loss of life, but the displaced families have no shelter and food because everything they owned was washed away by the floods.
Most of these people have taken temporary shelter in the IDPs camps in Jowhar, while others moved to relatives or friends’ homes in other parts of the town, where the floods haven’t reached. Saynab Osman Indhoy, a mother displaced from Jahweyn village, has moved to the internally displaced camp of Ali Kala-gooye.
President Hassan says he knows that many clans complaining over government power-sharing
06 Sept – Source: Raxanreeb – 166 words
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that he knew that many Somali clans were still complaining over the government power-sharing deal based on the 4.5 formula, RBC reports. “There are still many elders coming to my office complaining over the power-share” President Mohamud told elders, women and youth at Marka town of Lower Shabelle region, while giving his first visit to the region this week.
President Mohamud highlighted that due to long time row between the clans it was not easy for the government to please each one with a senior position. “I as the president of the republic, even my clansmen are quarreling for positions. They claim they do not hold a ministerial position, or military officers or DGs” President Mohamud said.
Speaking about the recent regional nominations made by the central government, he said the government will be forced to plan an intervention if the communities in the regions do not come to a common accord on sharing the regional administrative positions.
Ethiopia says it will mediate between the federal government of Somalia and Puntland
06 Sept – Source: Radio Dalsan – 149 words
The Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegne said on Thursday that he was ready to mediate between the federal government of Somalia and the regional administration on the northeast of Somalia called Puntland.
Mr. Hailemriam said his country will try to work to restore the relations between the Puntland region and the federal government of Somalia which is struggling to restore peace and stability in the war-torn country on the horn of Africa.
The Puntland authorities announced that they have cut relations with the Somali federal government in early August following allegations of the federal government not abiding by the federal constitution. The federal government of Somalia strongly rejected the allegation.
The Prime Minister’s comment came as the leader of Puntland region Abdurahman Farole was visiting the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa for talks with Ethiopian government officials.
AMISOM condemns killing of elder Yusuf
06 Sept – Source: Bar-kulan – 100 words
The African Union Mission to Somalia has strongly condemned the killing of Yusuf Ali Sheikh, a prominent traditional leader in southern Somali region of Bay on Monday night.
In an interview with Bar-kulan, Amisom spokesman Col. Ali Aden Humad has sent condolence to the family and relatives of the late elder Yusuf. He added that they had sent troops to the scene of the incident though they failed to detain the killers.
Col. Humad has praised Baidoa locals for the brilliant role they do play in peace and stability in the city; he urged them to closely work with security forces.
Mogadishu’s new generation of “rent” displaced
06 Sept – Source: Radio Ergo – 350 words
House rents have increased dramatically in Mogadishu over recent months, causing growing hardship for middle and lower income families. Mohamed Arab, a lecturer at Green Hope University in Mogadishu, said the influx of Somalis from the diaspora was inflating prices, as they were returning with large amounts of cash and ready to pay high prices.
Arab, a father of four, has been living with his family in Mogadishu’s Wabari district for the past 20 years. He used to pay $50 a month rent for the two-room house he was occupying. But when the owners returned from abroad earlier this year, seeing an improvement in security in Mogadishu, they renovated the house and raised the rent.
“They have increased the rent by about three times,” complained Arab. He now has to find the $160 a month being asked in rent, or move out. “This threatens local residents who are mainly lower and middle income earning much less than the rents that are being demanded now,” Arab told Radio Ergo’s local reporter.
Rents have been going up since the withdrawal of al-Shabab from the capital two years ago. The return of disapora Somalis has increased housing demand. City dwellers complain that the returnees grab houses at any cost. Abdikarin Lala, a khat seller in the market, said he has been forced to move with his wife and four children three times in the past 15 months. He is now in Hamarweyne district, but wonders if he might be forced out again.
DBG donated non-food stuff to 500 families residing in one of the IDP Camps located in a region between Mogadishu and Afgoye
05 Sept – Source: Shabelle – 103 words
Daryeel Bulsho Guud (DBG) has distributed non-food items and sanitary kits to 500 families living in camps between KM7 and KM10 in Banadir Region. The distribution was carried out in the presence of the Executive Director of DBG, Mr. Omar Olad Ahmed and other senior officials of the organization.
The non-food items and sanitary kits included the following: cooking pots, plates, bowls, spoons, plastic basins, blankets, mats, jerry cans, plastic sheets and mosquitp nets. Apart from the non-food items, DBG also distributed: frocks, head-wear, sanitary clothes, underwear, soap, powder soap, head scarf and mats.
REGIONAL MEDIA
British Somalis dread ‘herbal high’ khat ban
06 Sept – Source: Capital News/AFP – 505 words
When Britain bans the herbal stimulant khat, Mohamod Ahmed Mohamed will lose his livelihood. But he fears most for his small Somali community without the leaf that fuels its social life.
“I can switch to another business but what about the youth, where are they going to go — the street, the mosque, to hard drugs?” he says at his khat warehouse near London’s Heathrow airport.
“You are taking away their freedom. Why target us? You will never find somebody falling over on the street or fighting from khat like they do when they are drunk.”
Mohamed supplies khat to many of Britain’s 100,000 Somalis, as well as to Ethiopians and Yemenis living here, for whom chewing the bushy shrub is as normal as going to the pub.
Somalia needs more troops – Gen Muhoozi
05 Sept – Source: Observer – 851 words
Four months into his new job, the UPDF Commander Land Forces (CLF) Maj Gen David Muhoozi visited Ugandan troops under AMISOM in Somalia for the first time last week.
In an interview with Richard Mugisha, the general gives his candid assessment of the mission in Mogadishu. Below are the excerpts: General, this is your maiden visit to Somalia since you became CLF, what is your assessment?
This is a very broad question; my assessment is that we have made strides. To start with, I think we have achieved a lot as far as pacifying Somalia is concerned. We started with a few areas in Mogadishu; we are now as far as Baidoa 250km, Marka 104km and Jowher, more than 100km north of Mogadishu.
Secondly, we are honoured to have been a stepping stone for others to join the mission; we acted as a launching pad for this noble assignment that many people thought was impossible. There is no question the mission is now possible and many countries have come on board. Kenya, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and this is an achievement.
IDB Signs SR 100 Million Financing Agreement with Somalia
05 Sept – Source: Saudi Press Agency – 65 words
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Jeddah has recently signed a financing agreement worth SR 100 million for drilling deep wells and supporting Arab and Islamic education in Somalia.
The agreement was signed by the Bank’s President Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali and Somali Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed Noor Ja’al.
Mogadishu airport gears up for management turnover
05 Sept – Source: Sabahi Online – 491 words
Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International Airport is on target for the smooth transition of airport management to Favori LLC effective September 15th, officials say.
Favori is expected to upgrade Aden Adde International to global airport standards, including building a new runway and starting 24-hour operations, said Ali Mohamed Ibrahim, the airport’s manager. At present, the airport only operates during the day.
In the past few weeks, the company has been bringing in equipment needed for upgrades, including cranes for loading and unloading cargo from airplanes, and for building a jet fuel storage tank and pumping station, Ibrahim said.
“The agreement with Favori to manage the airport is for a period of 20 years, during which the company will expand and rebuild the Mogadishu airport,” he told Sabahi, adding that the $3 million worth of equipment has already reached the airport.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
International Investigative Team Clears Somalia of UN Report Allegations
06 Sept – Source: Prnewswire/Herald Online – 346 words
After a thorough investigation, a top international forensic accounting and legal team released a report today clearing the Somali government of corruption alleged by the United Nations Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.
Responding to the July 12, 2013, Monitoring Group Report—specifically Annex 5.2 —forensic accountants from FTI Consulting, Inc., and a legal team from the US firm Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., found that the methodology and conclusions reflected in Annex 5.2 were “deeply flawed and entirely unreliable.” Moreover, many of the allegations predate President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s administration.
President Mohamud welcomed the report’s conclusions while acknowledging that Somalia is still developing a sound financial architecture after two decades of war.
Barclays’ Somalia Remittance Shutdown will Hurt Millions
06 Sept – Source IB Times – 134 words
Barclays Bank has been criticised by the UK’s leading think tank on international development for its decision to close its 250 money-transfer businesses in Somalia. The decision was described by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) as “unwarranted, unnecessary and a threat” to people in need.
The ODI has said it is possible to maintain cash transfers to Somalia while monitoring them to avoid a diversion of funds. Its president Kevin Watkins cited new research showing that a transfer scheme worth £57m, set up in response to the 2011 famine, went through to help almost 1million people without falling into the wrong hands.
Barclays took the decision to cut its money service businesses (MSBs) from the end of September to avoid the risk of falling victim of money-laundering regulations and “unwittingly be facilitating […] terrorist financing”.
European Union And Somalia Join Hands In Maritime Security Partnership
05 Sept – Source: Eunavfor – 238 words
On 4 September 2013, off the coast of Mogadishu, the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Atalanta hosted the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on board the Dutch EU NAVFOR flagship, HNLMS Johan de Witt. The President, his Ministers and security commanders met with EU Special Envoy to Somalia, Michele Cervone d’Urso, the EU Naval Force Operation Commander, Rear Admiral Bob Tarrant and Head of Mission of EU Capacity Building Mission (EUCAP) Nestor, Etienne de Poncins.
It was discussed how the different EU instruments can support the development of a comprehensive Somali Maritime Strategy. The event built on the first meeting held on June 24 on a EU Naval Force flagship and aimed to further foster the partnership between Somalia and the European Union and constitutes a stepping stone towards the third international counter-piracy conference in Dubai on 11-12 September 2013 and the “New Deal for Somalia” Conference in Brussels on 16 September 2013. The New Deal Conference will endorse a ‘Compact’ between Somalia and the international community that identifies the key political, security and socio-economic priorities for the coming years.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud: “Somalia welcomes cooperation with the EU to improve maritime security as part of the broader engagement of the EU in Somalia. Maritime cooperation will have important effect on the stabilization and development of coastal areas in my country. I intend to present the outline of a comprehensive maritime strategy during the Brussels Conference”.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“We need the government to draw special attention on education by arranging a conference on education inviting Somaliland education workers to review the current education system in the country and make the necessary recommendations to improve education.”
Challenges of Somaliland In Education
05 Sept- Source: Qarannews- 1443 words
Ministry of Education in Somaliland manages the outdated educational system in which students are without specializations after leaving secondary school. On the other hand, education in Somaliland began from pre-colonial times and growth for Somaliland education continued to educate for both girls and boys and has contributed to the growth of the state.
Moreover, school infrastructures were in short supply both in urban and rural areas as the majority of the current infrastructures were built at the time of British rule in Somaliland. The successive governments in the past failed to significantly expand school related infrastructures, so we need to expand and construct schools far and wide in response to the growing demand of the population.
Ministry of Education has no educational policy; it is a guiding principle but debatable issue among the educationists. The areas under an educational policy that are subject to debate are among others, class size, school choice, school privatization, teacher education, Alternative qualifications and certification, curricular content and the values that schools are expected to uphold and model.
“Piracy has been a hot topic at the movies lately, with several documentaries about the subject and a recent feature film.”
Tom Hanks tangles with Somali pirates, and other fall movies
05 Sept – Source: Wall Street Journal – 774 words
Director Paul Greengrass employed his hyper-realistic style to dramatize the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the 2006 film “United 93.” His latest high-stakes thriller, which was selected to open the New York Film Festival on Sept. 27, tackles a different type of global threat: the hijacking of cargo ships off the coast of Somalia.
Piracy has been a hot topic at the movies lately, with several documentaries about the subject and a recent feature film, “A Hijacking,” by Danish director Tobias Lindholm. Mr. Greengrass’s addition to the piracy subgenre is an adaptation of Richard Phillips’s memoir, “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs and Dangerous Days at Sea.” It tells the true story of a five-day standoff between the U.S. Navy, Mr. Phillips and four Somali pirates. They boarded his ship, the Maersk Alabama, while it was en route to Mombasa, Kenya in 2009. In exchange for the safety of his crew, the captain offered himself as a hostage, and was ultimately rescued after Navy SEALs picked off his captors via sniper attack.
Top tweets
@farhanjimale @twitter has shut down again #Somalia‘s Islamist group #alShabaab account, @HSMPRESS1 This is the second closure last time was late Jan 2013.
@EU_UNGeneva The #EU and #Somalia join hands in# maritime security partnership http://bit.ly/15DGAai .
@omabha Somalia moves to discredit UN report over funding fears – Financial Times http://dlvr.it/3wHjcD #Somalia.
@amisomsomalia #Somalia hosts national conference on future politics http://bit.ly/15AemaD http://on.fb.me/QqTSeN .
@MessageBlue #Somalia: #Polio Widespread in Regions Under Al-Shabaab Control http://bit.ly/15C4Dq9
@Abdi_AlSheikh Barclays’ Somalia Remittance Shutdown will Hurt Millions – http://IBTimes.co.uk http://dlvr.it/3wJqtH #Somalia.
Image of the day
On 4 September 2013, off the coast of Mogadishu, the EU Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Atalanta hosted the President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on board the EU NAVFOR Flagship, HNLMS Johan de Witt.