Somali-Kenyan lawyer says his life is in danger

From: Somalicurrent

Controversial Kenyan Somali lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi wants the police to investigate an advocate he claimed threatened him on social media. Senior counsel said that alleged warning posted on Facebook by Mr Donald Kipkorir amounts to threats to kill and police should conduct an investigation.

Mr Abdullahi on Thursday recorded a statement with the Kenyan criminal investigations officers saying that his life was threatened following the Facebook post. On Wednesday night, Mr Kipkorir allegedly posted on his Facebook page what appeared to be a warning to his colleague, saying that the latter had handled some cases about people from different parts of the country. Mr Kipkorir allegedly insinuated that he was the only bold person to tell Mr Abdullahi the truth, warning: “Don’t say I didn’t warn you…..Fare thee well friend.”
Mr Abdullahi went to the CID headquarters accompanied by colleague lawyer Paul Muite.

The Law Society of Kenya chairman whom Mr. Abdinassir served as a chairman before said that they would handle the matter but Mr Abdullahi dismissed the attempt saying that was purely the work of the police.
“You do not mediate threats to kill or murder,” Mr Abdullahi said. Lawyer Abdullahi who is a columnist at one of the dailies in the country (Daily Nation) has criticized the government crackdown against the ethnic Somalis and the extrajudicial killings of Muslim clerics in the coastal city of Mombasa.

Reacting on his twitter account page on deputy president comment on holding terror suspects in jail lawyer Abdullahi said “ Ruto should not tell the courts what to do on terrorists,” adding that the deputy president himself is on bond from the ICC for 2007/2008 post poll chaos.

South african Thugs Gun down Somali Businessman in South Africa

From: Somalicurrent

Unidentified South African thugs have deliberately gunned down Somali shopkeeper in Port Elizabeth city in South Africa on Sunday night, as assassinations and Xenophobia on Somali immigrants have been excessively increasing in South Africa which is believed that more than a thousand Somali people to have been killed in South Africa since 2002. 

South African thugs have shot Jeele Mohamed Jeele several times to death, and they have taken all his wealth in the shop and other essential materials, according to one of his family members who spoke to the media. 

He also added that the South Africa thugs have run away from the place that they have gunned down late Jeele and that police members have come to the crime scene where they have started the investigation. “We are shocked by the brutal slaying of the Somali trader by the thugs who have shot several times to death. Always it repeatedly happens to kill and shoot Somali traders in this country. 

Police told us that they start investigations, but never exposed acceptable and convenient results from their investigations,” Said family member of late Jeele. Shootings, assassinations and wave of xenophobia towards Somali Migrants and particularly businessmen have been unprecedentedly increasing for the last 2 decades in the former apartheid nation. Many of those people were stoned to death in South Africa by armed bandits. 

By:  Mohamoud Godah

Nairobi's solution to terrorism: blame the Somalis

From: Open democracy

 

Last week’s crackdown on Somali refugees reads like a show of force by a government that desperately wants to hide the cracks in its counter-terrorism efforts.

 

Perhaps due to the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide last week, the Nairobi police’s substantial crackdown on Muslims and illegal immigrants failed to hit international headlines. Over 4,000 people were arrested in just a few days, in response to  yet another grenade attack killing six in the infamous Eastleigh neighbourhood on March 30th. 

Although most were released shortly, an unknown number of detainees who have failed to present proper ID remain held at the nearby Kasarani stadium in substandard conditions, and police sweeps have since expanded to other neighbourhoods. Human rights and humanitarian organizations were initially denied the right to visit the stadium, despite children being among the arrested; they were finally allowed in at the end of the week. At least one woman gave birth while in detention. 

Eastleigh, a largely Muslim neighbourhood near downtown Nairobi, nicknamed “Little Mogadishu” for its large population of ethnic Somalis, is a frequent theatre for both terror attacks – the previous one, a bomb blast in a local bus, claimed four lives last December – and police harassment. Arbitrary arrests and physical abuse are known to routinely target Somalis, many of which are refugees who escaped the squalid, overcrowded camps of Dadaab and Kakuma in the country’s north (Kenya hosts 610,000 documented and 500,000 undocumented refugees from Somalia).

The current crackdown is no exception to this routine abuse. Although Kenyans from other ethnicities and other foreign nationals have been arrested, ethnic Somalis are clearly the main targets. To be sure, the arrests come as Kenya’s Interior Minister Joseph Ole Leku’s announced that all Somali refugees living in Kenya’s urban areas should head back to the camps, citing “emergency security challenges” after the March 30th blast and another attack that killed six near the coastal town of Mombasa on march 23rd.

For the refugees, this is simply history on repeat. In late 2012, a bomb blast in Eastleigh had already led Kenya’s government to order them back to the camps, a decision that was later quashed by the country’s High Court. During the following 10 weeks, at least 1000 refugees were arbitrarily detained and some raped, beaten or tortured. “The current crackdown is not only in breach of the High Court judgement, but has also been implemented unlawfully,” reads a release from Amnesty International from April 11th.

The recent wave of arrests demonstrates the intensification of the repression since Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for last September’s attack on the Westgate shopping mall, which killed at least 67. The attack gave Kenya’s government the validation sought to hold Somali terrorists responsible for the sad state of Kenya’s interior security, while allowing president Uhuru Kenyatta to conveniently divert public attention away from his trial in front of the International Criminal Court and from a yet-to-be-formed commission of inquiry into the Westgate debacle that would likely put part of the blame on Kenya’s military and its intelligence services.

In recent months, Kenya’s government has readily associated Somali refugees with terrorists, claiming some of them have ties to al-Shabab or its local affiliate al-Hijra. This connection was once again invoked last autumn as the government announced a three-year plan to repatriate refugees to Somalia. Although the return of refugees is supposed to be voluntary and focusing on Somalia’s most stable areas, a recent investigation led by Amnesty International revealed that a large portion of returnees[F1]  felt compelled to leave because of intimidation and worsening conditions in the camps (last November, the World Food Programmme was notably forced to reduce its food rations in Dadaab and Kakuma by half due to a shortage of funds).

The Kenyan government has never concealed its wish that all refugees eventually return home. “All the camps should be closed and the debate on whether or not it is appropriate has been passed by time,” said interior minister Joseph Lenku last November, in direct opposition with conditions of the tripartite agreement signed with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Somalia’s government. Meanwhile, Kenyan authorities have mostly ceased to register new refugees coming into the country, thereby forcing them to remain in a legal void and face arrest and deportation. Already, 82 of those arrested last week have been flown back to Mogadishu, with more deportations to be expected.

Connections between al-Shabab and Somali refugees have yet to be proven. The biggest threats to national security, security experts say, are instead to be found in the porous border between Kenya and Somalia, failed counterterrorism and intelligence efforts, corruption of immigration officials, and the radicalization of some of the local Muslim youth. This latest point seems largely ignored by Kenyan authorities, who consistently undermine the effects that poverty, lack of education, and unemployment have had on local youth, regardless of their ethnic background. For ethnic Somalis, police harassment and historical marginalization only adds to the long list of factors that might lead them into radicalism.

Framing Somali refugees as terror suspects has inevitably led to racial profiling against all Somalis – with local media generously participating – many of whom, hailing from Kenya’s North Eastern province or having immigrated to the country years ago, hold Kenyan citizenship. Kenya’s authorities have similarly failed to underline the economic role played by ethnic Somalis, notably in Eastleigh, now a thriving business hub in spite of years of neglect by the city government.

The current plight of ethnic Somalis in Kenya should be framed within a decades-long national counter-terrorism effort that has targeted the country’s Muslim population, notably the coastal Swahili people, who have historically been marginalized for religious, ethnic and political reasons. Through the 1990s and 2000s, the Kenyan government – heavily influenced by the U.S., which considered Kenya to be a “breeding ground” for terrorism – sought to prove that Muslims from the coast and in Nairobi were involved in terrorist attacks, without success. The investigation into the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing in Nairobi, for instance, was initially directed at Muslims from Mombasa, before revealing that most participants in the bomb plot were foreigners.

Since the early 2000s, Kenya’s various security agencies have received considerable financial support, assistance and training from the U.S. “American aid has allowed Kenyan authorities to expand their security infrastructure significantly; however this infrastructure has yet been seen to affect authorities’ ability to identify terrorists, foil terrorist plots, and bring criminals to justice,” wrote Jeremy Prestholdt, from the University of California, San Diego. Indeed, Kenya’s security agencies have often been accused of infringing on human rights. The Kenya Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), for instance, has been accused of torture, unlawful killings and disappearances, and renditions of detainees to countries where they faced a risk of torture.

Pressure from the U.S. to intensify counter-terrorism efforts and concentrate on the supposed threat posed by the local Muslim population has undoubtedly reinforced pre-existing ethnic and religious tensions in the country. Similarly, good relationships between Kenya and the U.S. have likely pushed Kenya to take part in peacekeeping operations in Somalia, starting in 2011, first as part of a coordinated military operation with the Somali army, then within AMISOM (Africa Union Mission in Somalia). 

Kenya’s government has vowed to pursue its military operations in Somalia in spite of the increased terrorist threat – the attack on the Westgate shopping mall was conducted by al-Shabab in direct retaliation for Kenya’s presence in Somalia – without having addressed the factors that are likely to facilitate the entrance of terrorists on the territory. It is still likely easy to procure a fake ID through the government’s corrupt immigration services, for instance. In that regard, the crackdown on Nairobi’s ethnic Somalis and its Muslim population at large will likely only serve to increase racial profiling and religious tension, without preventing the next attack.

Children died of malnutrition, illness in IDP camp outside Mogadishu

From: Radio Dalsan

At least eight young children were confirmed to have died of malnutrition and illness in Internal Displaced Camps outside Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.Since early of March, dozens of newly displaced families have been pouring into Mogadishu fleeing from their homes in the regions of south and central Somalia affected by the ongoing military assault of the national army backed by African Union Forces [AMISOM]. 

Most of the newly displaced people reached Mogadishu have fled from Qoryoley, Bulomarer, Barawe and Janale in the Lower Shabelle region, where the government forces and the militant group of al Shabab have been confronting. Radio Dalsan reporters visited a Displaced camp at the Afgoye corridor, where the eight children wre reported to have died in the past three days following hunger and lack of clean water to drink which resulted illness on the children in the camp. The life of the people in this camp is still very critical and there were no any aid agencies helping the newly displaced people 

Somalia: Fishermen in Puntland quit Job due to ‘threats’ from Foreign Vessels

From :  Horseed

Fishermen in Puntland region, Somalia have announced that they have stopped their work after facing ‘’dangerous threats’’ from illegal foreign fishing vessels, who are illegally plundering the semi-autonomous region’s resources.

Most of the fishermen who are based in Alula and Bareda districts of Bari region, said they had faced continuous threats from Yemeni fishing boats who are equipped with weapons. ‘’Our job is in jeopardy… we have been several times chased by them [Yemeni vessel], which are illegally taking our sea resources.
And we have submitted our complains to our authority.

They are not just robbing our fish. They are ramming our boats and taking our nets,’’ said one of the Fishermen. Puntland is battling to curb illegal fishing, which is threatening fishing stocks and lives of hundreds of local fishermen. Earlier this month, Puntland Maritime Police forces seized an illegal foreign fishing vessel together with several Yemeni nationals fishermen for illegally fishing in its waters.

Fisheries and marine Resources minister called an end to illegal foreign fishing in Puntland Sea and warned that if any vessel without license caught will be heavily penalized. Local Fishermen have continuously complained about foreign trawlers who are doing the illegal fishing and dumping waste. Some fishermen have gone missing while others are tortured by the trawlers who at times spray boiling water from cannons.

Somalia, AU troops close in on key Shebab base

From: Yahoo

Somali government forces supported by African Union troops took control of a key southern town on Saturday as they closed in on a major bastion of Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels, officials and witnesses said.

Witnesses reported that the Somali and AMSIOM troops fought a heavy battle outside Qoryooley in lower Shabele region before finally wresting control of the town and closing on the Shebab coastal base of Barawe.

Barawe is situated between the capital Mogadishu, seat of Somalia's internationally-backed government, and the southern port city of Kismayo, which is controlled by Kenyan AMISOM troops.

"The national army with the support of the AMISOM peacekeepers defeated the Al-Qaida affiliated militants in the lower Shabele region, today we have taken control of Qoryoley and we are moving onto other major towns where the militants are still harassing people," Colonel Mohamed Amey of the Somali army told AFP.

Local resident Mohamed Adan confirmed that Shebab pulled out of the town after heavy fighting with Somali and AMISOM troops.

Witnesses also reported hundreds of residents fleeing the area to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

The UN-backed AU force this month launched a fresh offensive against Shebab bases, with the gunmen largely fleeing ahead of the assault, only to later stage guerrilla attacks.

UN envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay has called the offensive "the most significant and geographically extensive military advance" since AU troops started operations in 2007.

Speaker of the Italian parliament releases files involving the Toxic waste controversy in Somalia

From Hiiraan

Rome - House Speaker Laura Boldrini on Wednesday announced she has moved to have the government release secret case files into the 1994 slaying in Somalia of Italian TV journalist Ilaria Alpi and her Slovenian cameraman Miran Hrovatin. Boldrini said she had asked the government "if the case continues to meet requirements" for the country's secret service.

Investigators have long suspected the pair was deliberately killed to prevent them revealing a high-level conspiracy to divert Italian aid to an organisation trafficking in weapons and toxic waste.

Alpi, 32, and Hrovatin, 45, were ambushed and shot in their jeep in Mogadishu by a seven-man commando unit on March 20, 1994. A Somali citizen, Hashi Omar Hassan was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the double murder.

A parliamentary committee, working from July 2003 to February 2006, concluded that Alpi and Hrovatin died in a kidnapping attempt that went wrong.

However, the panel stated that there were many attempts by military and diplomatic authorities to minimise or suppress certain aspects of the case. The centre-left opposition called the committee's findings "unacceptable", saying there was not enough evidence to suggest the two were the victims of a kidnapping. 

No autopsies were performed in the immediate aftermath of the two murders. Instead, photos were taken of the dead body of Alpi, who worked for state broadcaster RAI's third channel.

Those photos and the medical report, along with other key evidence including Alpi's notes, camera and video cassettes, mysteriously went missing on the journey back from Africa to Italy, fuelling suspicions of a cover-up.

Initially, it was thought that the journalist's murder was simply revenge for clashes which had broken out between the militias of Somalia's warlords and Italian peacekeepers. But a 1999 book by Alpi's parents called The Execution speculates that Alpi and Hrovatin were killed to stop them revealing what they knew about an international arms and toxic-waste traffic ring implicating high-level political, military and economic spheres in both countries.

The book, which was later turned into a film, accuses the Italian secret service SISMI, later renamed as AISE, of playing a major part in this ring. Hashi Omar Hassan, who came to Italy in 1998 to give evidence into a probe into brutality by Italian soldiers, was acquitted of involvement in the two murders at the end of a first trial in July 1999. But he was found guilty by an appeals court in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison.

Italy's Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict in October 2001 but reduced the sentence from life to 26 years because it said the crimes were not premeditated. Hassan's lawyers say he was not even in Mogadishu at the time of the killing, and say he was tricked into coming to Italy. Hassan was sentenced on testimony given by two witnesses, Alpi's Somali driver Abdi Ali, who died in Somalia several years ago, and a local policeman who never testified in court.

A former member of the 'Ndrangheta mafia claimed in 2009 that the pair were assassinated because they had seen toxic waste shipped by the 'Ndrangheta arrive in Somalia.

Somali journalist seeking asylum records refugees' plight in Hong Kong

From Hiiraan

When investigative journalist Maahir and his television crew went undercover into a refugee camp in East Africa to investigate allegations of soldiers raping women, it was the start of a nightmare he has yet to wake up from.
After interviewing the women the soldiers kidnapped them.
"When they found out we were journalists they seized all our gear and took us to a detention centre," Maahir said. "I was blindfolded" and endured 20 days of torture and interrogation.
He said he was given just a cup of milk and a few biscuits every day.
More than a year later, Maahir is now claiming asylum in Hong Kong and has decided to turn his camera on the city's demoralised and downtrodden refugees.
"Many people think of this city as New York - rich with golden opportunities - but it's not," the Somalian said.
"Now I am working on my own project to talk about the real life of refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong.
Armed with a digital camera, he said: "I want to share my feelings and other people's experiences because every single picture has a story to tell."
Maahir, 26, said he wanted to keep his identity hidden to protect his family back home. He believes that his captors think he is dead.
His body bears numerous scars and burns, the result, he said, of his 20 days of torture and injuries received while reporting from the front line on battles involving an Al-Qaeda supported Islamic terror cell and the military.
As a stringer for international news organisations, Maahir said local journalists would die for US$100 a day just to get the story for foreign correspondents.
He said he escaped during a skirmish between the military and militants but feared his family could be detained if he returned home.
With the help of an uncle, he paid US$20,000 to escape the country through a network of smugglers. His plan was to seek asylum in the Netherlands, but from Dubai he managed to reach Hong Kong in the belief it was a safe haven.
Confused and not knowing where he was, he fainted going through immigration at Chek Lap Kok airport.
After claiming asylum, he was detained for 107 days at Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre at Tuen Mun.
"I then started another miserable life," Maahir said.
Upon his release, he was told that he could not work or enrol in higher education.
"I could not do anything. I was not really free," he said.
Maahir asked the officials: "How am I going to live here if I'm not allowed to do anything. What are my rights?
"Being at the immigration centre was better. At least you can eat, you can sleep, but here outside, it's very hard for you to eat even with social welfare food."

Drugs found aboard Captain Phillips ship

From Reuters:

Drugs were in the room where two former Navy SEALs were found dead aboard the Maersk Alabama, a ship that was the focus of a 2009 hijacking dramatized in the movie "Captain Phillips," a company spokesman said Thursday.

Police from the African island nation of Seychelles have given no cause of death for Mark Daniel Kennedy, 43, and Jeffrey Keith Reynolds, 44. The Americans were security contractors who were found dead Tuesday in a cabin on the ship while berthed in Port Victoria in the Indian Ocean.

"We are saddened by the tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased men," Maersk Line Ltd. spokesman Kevin Speers said in a statement.

 

Speers said the Seychelles police report includes observations about the presence of drugs and paraphernalia in the room where the two men were found dead, although the type of drug is unknown.

On Thursday, police spokesman Jean Toussaint, noted that officials were awaiting autopsies and said, "As far as I know there is no evidence of physical trauma" on either man's body. Speers said the Maersk Alabama was cleared to leave Seychelles following the onboard investigation and that it is already underway.

The Maersk Alabama is a Norfolk, Va.-based container ship that provides feeder service to the east coast of Africa and employs security contractors to provide anti-piracy services. The two men who were found dead worked for a Virginia Beach, Va.-based maritime security firm, The Trident Group.

In a statement posted on its website, The Trident Group President Thomas Rothrauff said there "is no immediate indication as to the cause of death, but the deaths were not caused by operational activity." Rothrauff wrote that the next of kin have asked that no further information be released and that their privacy be respected.

The Maersk Alabama's owner, the Norfolk, Va.-based Maersk Line Ltd. also has said the deaths were not related to security duties or ship operations. The ship has since left the African port. Speers statement says the company has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to drugs and alcohol, and that based on past experience working with The Trident Group, it believes this is an isolated incident.

Still, the company is responding by requiring reviewing its personnel records to confirm that drug tests and background checks are current, among other things. Speer said The Trident Group will also implement a random drug testing program to increase the frequency it screens security personnel.

The Trident Group was founded by former Navy SEALs and hires former special warfare operators to perform security. On Thursday, the Navy confirmed that Kennedy and Reynolds belonged to the SEALs, an elite unit of the military's special operations forces who are sometimes called upon to combat piracy.

In 2009, Navy SEALs aboard the USS Bainbridge shot and killed three of the pirates who were holding Capt. 

Richard Phillips in a lifeboat, bringing the five-day hijacking standoff involving the Maersk Alabama to an end. The "Captain Phillips" movie starring Tom Hanks as Capt. Richard Phillips was released last year.

Kennedy, whose home of record with the Navy was Baton Rouge, La., enlisted in 1995 and completed his final tour of duty in 2008, according to a summary of his record provided by the Navy. Kennedy was assigned to an East Coast-based special warfare unit, according to the record. Virginia Beach serves as the home of the Navy's East Coast SEAL teams. He had medals for serving in campaigns in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Reynolds, whose home of record with the Navy was Fountain Valley, Calif., enlisted in 1990. He was assigned to a West Coast-based special warfare unit until he was discharged in 2000. He had won two medals for good conduct while in the Navy.

Former military personnel frequently provide security on board ships sailing through the waters off Somalia to provide security against pirate attacks. Kennedy and Reynolds boarded the ship Jan. 29, Speers said.

The Alabama transports food aid to East Africa in support of the U.S. government's "Food for Peace" program, according to Maersk Line. Crew members also help support the Bee Hive Children's Home in Mombasa, Kenya.

Several crew members who were aboard the ship when it was hijacked in 2009 are suing Maersk Line and Mobile, Ala.-based Waterman Steamship Corp.

Nine crew members in the lawsuit, filed in Alabama in 2012, say they suffered physical and emotional injuries after Somali pirates boarded. Some crew members were held at gunpoint with Phillips; others hid in an engine room.

Comment: Will there be a remake of the movie including this little fact, or does this not fit the narrative?

UN warns of 'grave' food shortage in Somalia

From Al jazeera: More than 850,000 people are in desperate need of food and a further two million are considered "food insecure". More than 850,000 people in Somalia are in desperate need of food and are living "in crisis and emergency conditions", the director of UN humanitarian operations has said. John Ging, who just returned from a three-day visit to Somalia, said on Wednesday that another two million Somalis out of a total population of 10 million were considered to be "food insecure". "These figures are very, very large," he told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. "They tell us a simple message which is that the situation in Somalia for Somalis on the humanitarian side is very grave. It's also very fragile." Ging said the UN World Food Programme's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit reported this month that 857,000 Somalis were in acute crisis conditions and required urgent humanitarian assistance. This is "a modest improvement" from the previous six months when 870,00 0 Somalis desperately needed food, he said. In recent years Somalia has made some strides in security and governance, particularly since August 2011, when al-Shabab fighters were forced out of the capital, Mogadishu. But the rebels have not been defeated and the government controls only small parts of the country and is struggling to keep a grip on security and battle corruption. The food security unit said a majority of needy people have been displaced from their homes, largely as a result of fighting, insecurity and lack of food.         The UN appealed for $933m for the humanitarian crisis in Somalia this year, but Ging said so far it had received only $36m. In 2011, the UN appeal for Somalia was 86 percent funded, but in 2013 it was just 50 percent funded, he said.

Federal parliamentary delegation heads to Iran

 From goobjoog :

Some members of Somalia federal parliamentarians are in Tehran, capital city of Iran to participate in the 9th inter parliamentary union for organization of Islamic cooperation (OIC). The inter parliament union (IPU), was founded with the membership of some 52 Islamic parliaments established for close cooperation with 22 international organization.

As reported over 25 parliament speakers, 10 vice-speakers, and 50 parliamentary delegations are to participate in the 9th Meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Inter-Parliamentary Union in Tehran.

The first three days of the meeting is to be held at the level of experts and the Muslim world parliament speakers will take part in the event in the last two days.

Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Chad, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Oman, Pakistan , Palestine, Senegal, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, Yemen, Algeria, Comoros, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Uganda, the UAE, Sudan, Somalia, Kyrgyzstan and Libya are the countries which have so far confirmed their presence in the OIC parliamentary.

  

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, formerly Organization of the Islamic Conference, was established in 1969 and has 57 members. The organization aims to promote dialogue between Islamic countries and the rest of the world and also protect the interests of Muslims when necessary. The OIC Parliamentary Union has 53 members.

Turkey denies cutting off cash aid to Somalia

From Hurriyet

The Turkish government has made it clear the direct cash aid it provided to the Somali government in the second half of 2013 was handed over to their counterpart appropriately, underlining that it has been working in order to offer similar aid within this year too.

“In accordance with the Somali president’s request, along June-December 2013, a monthly cash budget support has been provided to Somalia by our country in order to make a contribution to the urgent budget needs of the Somali Federal Government,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement released on Feb. 16.

'Intentional news reports'

The ministry noted it released such a statement upon “intentional” news reports that may lead to “wrong interpretations” concerning Turkey’s assistance to Somalia.

“Since there are no banking services in Somalia, the said cash budget support was transported to Mogadishu through a courier and was handed over to the Somali Federal Government by hand by our embassy in Mogadishu, in line with procedures,” the ministry said.

Ankara’s statement was prompted by news reports that said Turkey had stopped direct budgetary support to Somalia. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official told Reuters direct budget support payments stopped at the end of 2013.

“The necessary information regarding the cash budget support to Somalia has been shared with the international community from the very beginning. As a matter of fact, our cash budget support took place in the budget information published by the Somali Federal Government,” the ministry said.

“Within the framework of our comprehensive assistance strategy for Somalia, our efforts are underway to provide budget support to the Somali Federal Government in the year 2014, too,” the ministry said, unlike what the Turkish Foreign Ministry official, speaking anonymously with Reuters, said earlier.

When asked whether there were plans to restart payments in 2014 or whether talks were taking place over resuming direct budget support, the Turkish official told Reuters in Ankara, “We have no such plans at this stage. It is not on our agenda.”

The ministry statement openly reflected Ankara’s disappointment as it expressed “sadness over efforts of devaluating its activities that have been admired by the Somali people and the international community” through such ill-intended news reports.

Comment: Why did the media run around with such information without properly verifying the matter with the Turkish government? I believe there are political efforts to isolate Mogadishu, and it seems baseless lies are the preferred tactic.

Kenyan injustice radicalises poor and marginalised in Mombasa

From the daily nation

Unemployment, discrimination in issuing identity cards and land grabbing were among the reasons Muslim youths became radical, Mombasa leaders said Thursday.

Governor Ali Hassan Joho and Senator Omar Hassan said local youths had turned to violence and hooliganism due to idleness.

Mr Joho accused the private sector in Mombasa of denying the youths jobs, saying 90 per cent of staff were from other parts of the country. He cited supermarkets that hired large numbers of workers from upcountry.

“The reason why Muslim youths are always turning violent is because they are denied jobs.

Why do you bring 90 per cent of your workers from upcountry when locals are unemployed?” he asked.

Mr Joho said he would hold meetings with the county security team, religious leaders and other concerned parties to tackle the problem of radicalism among the youth.

He also assured tourism players and the businesspeople that security would be beefed up to contain violent crime.

The governor said plans were in place to install CCTV in the town and popular tourist spots.

Senator Hassan backed Mr Joho’s assertions, saying Muslim youths had resorted to radicalism due to lack of jobs, IDs, land grabbing and exclusion from government.

This had forced them to express their frustrations through riots, he said.

Land grabbing by influential individuals had also triggered protests.

“Mombasa people feel that the government has excluded them from a share of the national cake and that’s why you see riots after Friday prayers,” he said.

The leaders were speaking at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa at a tourism stakeholders
 meeting.

Earlier, the KAHC national chairman Jaideep Vohra said the Masjid Musa Mosque chaos and a spate of violent crime had adversely affected tourism sector in the region.
Mr Vohra called on the Mombasa leaders to help address the radicalization of youth to help restore peace in the county.

He noted that the spate of grenade attacks which occurred in Mombasa and other parts of the Coast in recent months had dealt a blow to the sector.

“Security is very key for sustainable tourism.

The local leaders must therefore address the challenges of radicalism and chaos in mosques,” he said.

“No matter what the government does, we shall not be able to revive the industry if insecurity in the country is not contained,” he explained.

On the other hand, the KAHC official took issue with the Mombasa county chiefs for hiking hotel licenses by over 100 per cent as well as introducing more levies.

Mr Vohra termed the county’s approval of hotel levy as unacceptable and called on the governor to address the issue as a matter of urgency.

In a rejoinder, Mr Joho assured the hoteliers and tour operators that he would have a dialogue with them to address their grievances.

Comment: 

As there has been recent militant attacks in Kenya, we must put these actions in to perspective. It is a well known fact that many minorities are discriminated in Kenya on a regular basis. For example, there exists no tangible development in the Somali NFD region. That region has basically been a playground for the Kenyan military. Indeed KDF has been implicated in abuse, rape and looting according to HRW. 

Therefore one should not be surprised about the kind of discrimination the Mombasa youth face. The difference here though is that the Mombasa coast is the only coast of Kenya and basically constitutes its sole sea outlet. If the people were to have an uprising and somehow managed to secede, the rest of Kenya would be landlocked. 

It is in part because of this fear that has driven the Kenyan government to respond so harshly to talks of secessionism. The consequence has been that Islamic radicalism became a refuge for a once moderate and sensible people. This plays well into the hands of the Kenyan government since it wishes to portray the youth in Mombasa as terrorists and not as a discriminated and vulnerable group. Thus the underlying causes to the violence is not being sufficiently addressed, and only the symptoms seem to be the main topic.

Biggest donor Turkey stops direct budget support to Somalia

This just in from Reuters: 

(Reuters) - Turkey has stopped direct budgetary support to Somalia, cutting off a major source of funding for a government trying to rebuild the country after more than two decades of chaos.

Turkey is a key ally of the Somali government. Its vast humanitarian aid effort at the height of the 2011 famine has endeared the country to many Somali people, especially as Ankara continues to build hospitals and dispatch aid across Somalia.

Turkey has backed the Somali government with direct cash aid, in contrast to Western governments who have pledged billions but not in the form of direct budget support.

A Turkish foreign ministry official told Reuters direct budget support payments stopped at the end of 2013.
It is not clear how much cash Turkey donated to Somalia in 2013, when the government budget totalled $110 million.

Somalia's former central bank chief, Abdusalam Omer, said during his seven-month tenure the support amounted to $4.5 million per month, which he said was paid in cash to the central bank.

A Somali government official confirmed the support stopped at the end of 2013 but said his government "hopes the payments will be re-started".

When asked whether there were plans to restart payments in 2014 or whether talks were taking place over resuming direct budget support, the Turkish official told Reuters in Ankara: "We have no such plans at this stage. It is not on our agenda."

An official from TİKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) said its projects in Somalia were unaffected and would continue.

Turkey's support for the current government has angered Islamist al Shabaab rebels, who in July raided Turkey's embassy compound in Mogadishu, killing three people and wounding nine others.


CENTRAL BANK SCANDAL

The government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, which was firmly backed by the West when it came to power in September 2012 amid a wave of optimism, has since become a source of frustration for many Somalis angry with the slow pace of change, insecurity and graft allegations.
The government has lost much goodwill from Western donors angry over a scandal sparked by the resignation of central bank governor Yussur Abrar, who said she quit after only seven weeks in the job due to pressure on her to sign shady deals.

Somali officials denied the corruption claims.
 
The Turkish official said Turkey's budget support cut was not related to recent developments, saying the support agreement was only in place for 2013 and had expired.

Horn of Africa analyst Rashid Abdi said the loss of Turkey's budget aid will "definitely be a disappointment for the current government but I have no doubt they will find another (Middle Eastern) partner who will be happy to plug the shortfall."

Western diplomats say they will not be stepping up to fill the budget hole and some shudder at how little oversight Turkey had over its aid.

Former governor Omer recalled how once a month he would visit Turkey's Mogadishu embassy to collect $4.5 million in boxes full of cash. "It was always in $100 bills," he told Reuters in Nairobi.

Turkey's ambassador to Somalia declined to comment on his government's method of delivering budget support.

Analyst Abdi said other countries may be much more secretive over how much financial support they give to Mohamud, an Islamist president with many allies in the Middle East.

"Turkey for all its faults was pretty transparent in its budgetary support for Somalia compared to other Muslim countries."

Comments: I have much personal doubts over the newly released UN monitoring report's authenticity. There has been in the past some individuals part of this monitoring group with conflicting interests, such as Matthew Bryden. However if the Republic of Turkey has taken these measures, it shows just how far the corruption has taken root.

The Somali government has lost 4,5 million dollars in direct budgeting support, this amounted to around 54 million dollars per year. Because of the ineptitude of president Hassan Sheikh, the trust Turkey had in his government has been completely eroded. This will of course have a devastating effect in the short term. The first to be affected by the shortage of financial resources will be Civil servants, the army, Port workers and public schools. Another day, another disaster for Somalia.