Kanini Evans Kariuki our CounterTerrorism Analyst
AS I had earlier predicted, heavy fighting has now broken out between the Al-Shabaab and Hisbul-Islam following a stand-off in the Kismayu area,located 500 Kilometres South of Mogadishu.And following the serious battle heightened by blood-cuddling burst of machine gun fire, Al-Shabaab has now seized Kismayu after killing 12 members of Hisbul-Islam.The Hisbul-Islam forces have re-grouped after going back to the drawing board.They have refused to throw in the towel and back out.They hope to pull the rug from under the feet of the Al-Shabaab who have overpowered them, and taken control of Kismayu-the second most important sea port in Somalia.Change of the current regime is necessary to facilitate ideal structures of governance and reconciliation amongst warring groups.Unless otherwise,the sorry situation of instability will rage for ages.Neither West nor East seems to be exhibiting sympathy for the catastrophes befalling disillusioned Somalis, the wanton destruction of the Somali state resources and the plight of the refugees dying in the high seas, deserts in the Middle East, and other areas where escape proves difficult.President Sharrif should quit largely because he has miserably failed to reconcile the Somalis and the rebel groups, a glaring weakness that has unfortunately culminated in countless killings of innocent people.He has presided over an administration that lacks experience in public politics and state management issues.President Sharrif´s advisers, who include the uneducated Finance Minister Sheikh Sharif Adan,lack the know-how on Public Finance management, a situation that has contributed to the crippling of Somalia.SALARY PAYMENTThe administration of ex-president Abdulahi Yusuf was notorious for failing to pay the Somali military and police their wages.Shariff´s regime is repeating the same error of omission or commission.
President Shariff has failed to fast-track the establishment of an efficient Supreme Court and the Judiciary!Which is why immediate deliberation on the making of an ideal Somalia by its parliamentarians should take place in Punt Land, a generally peaceful and trouble-free region.Although President Shariff tried to dissociate himself with the Islamic Courts groups, he is unable to create a working relationship with the TFG elites.He has great difficulties abandoning cabinet ministers still attached to rebel forces, and it is for this reason that secrets of the TFG always do leak to opposition groups.The situation in Somalia calls for urgent attention and remedial measures, lest the increasingly chaotic Horn of Africa nation becomes a safe haven for terrorists!QUALITIES OF AN INCOMING SOMALI PRESIDENTThe incoming Somali president must have the following qualities:1.He should be highly qualified and experienced politician.2.He should be well-versed with Somali clan politics, and he should also have a vision of salvaging Somalia, besides dealing with external stakeholders of the conflict.3.He should be in a position to accommodate the opposition groups, and to draw up a plan for rehabilitation of the misguided youths.4.He should have the talents and public relations skills of putting on board "Somaliland" in order to restore the unity of Somalia.5.He should have a reasonable policy of fighting the sea piracy menace, and the rehabilitation and creation of employment opportunities for the Somali sea pirates.6.He should have the capacity of utilizing the mass media in the interest of reconciliation and harmonious co-existence.7.He should have been involved in Somali Peace and Reconciliation conferences.8.He should be articulate and charismatic, and a popular leader who enjoys the trust, respect and confidence of the citizenry.
Kanini Evans Kariuki is a veteran Kenyan Journalist with several years of experience behind him. He was born on July 10, 1963 in Nakuru town,Rift Valley province, Kenya, at Kivumbini estate. His entire family members later shifted from Kivumbini to Flamingo estate, then Kimathi, Thumaina, Langalanga and then to Free Area, near the Lanet Army Barracks where they settled.He completed his secondary education at Afraha Secondary School in Nakuru town , Rift Valley province,Kenya,in 1980, and then joined Naitiri High School,Western Kenya, for his"A"level education,completing in 1982. Later, he underwent training in journalism in some institutes in Kenya.Kanini who doubles up as a researcher, has worked for all the leading Daily newspapers in Kenya;the Daily Nation, The Standard, The Kenya Times and The People Daily.He was the Eldoret town Bureau Chief of The Star newspaper-Kenya's most incisive and authoritative by-weekly newspaper, which collapsed way back in 1998 due to what was perceived as political machinations worked out against it by the past government.Eldoret town is in the Rift Valley part of Kenya,which was the hotbed of the 2007 ugly political violence.Kanini is currently also a media consultant for Soldiers of Peace International Association,Africa liason office,Nairobi.In his long-standing career as a journalist,Kanini has covered various dramatic events in Kenya which include the story of former renown detainee Koigi wa Wamwere. He has also covered the 1992 and 1997 politically-instigated ethnic violence in the expansive Rift Valley province, and the worst of all, the 2007 political violence in Kenya where over 1,500 people were killed,350,000 displaced, hundreds maimed and property worth billions of shilings torched following the disputed elections.Kanini also covered the sad story of the late outspoken and fiery Kenyan clergyman bishop Alexander Kipsang arap Muge, who was famous in the East African region for fighting corruption, land -grabbing, political assassinations,bureaucracy and other irritating vices.Bishop Muge perished in a bizzare road accident on August 14,1990 along the Eldoret/Turbo road, facing Western Kenya.The bishop died after a controversial but triumphant visit to Western Kenya in Busia, after receiving death threats from a former cabinet minister, warning him that he would die if he dared visit the area.Kanini also covered the historic Somalia National Peace and Reconciliation Conference from when it first kicked off in Kenya on October 15 2002, to the end.Kanini is in the files of Amnesty International for his courage in the reportage of events in the volatile Rift Valley region, and has received commendation from the global Human Right's watchdog.Apart from covering events in the Rift Valley, he also writes about issues affecting East and Central Africa as well as other parts of Africa.Kanini has been trained on Journalism and ethics by the Media Institute in Kenya, and has also undergone various in-house trainings in journalism with the Daily Nation Media Group, East Africa's largest circulating newspaper.http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/121835
Rift between Somalia's rebel groups deepens
MOGADISHU, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Somalia's two main insurgent groups clashed on Saturday near the southern port of Kismayu and residents said al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam were squaring up for battles elsewhere in the Horn of Africa country. The rebel groups fought for control of the lucrative port and main airport in southern Somalia this week. Al Shabaab won the battle, in which a local rights group said at least 28 civilians and an unknown number of combatants were killed. Until then, the two influential insurgent groups, which control much of southern and central Somalia, had been allies in their fight against the U.N.-backed administration that is chiefly confined to the capital, Mogadishu. Western donors have long hoped hardliners in al Shabaab, which Washington says is al Qaeda's proxy, could be isolated by a deal between more moderate Hizbul leaders and the government. President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has made little headway in wooing his former Islamist comrades in Hizbul Islam but fighting between the insurgents may at least give the government and African Union peacekeepers some breathing space. Hizbul Islam and residents said the clashes late on Friday and early on Saturday were in two villages -- one 30 km (19 miles) and the other 60 km from Kismayu. "After we left Kismayu, al Shabaab followed us and we fought and drove them back yesterday. They attacked us again this morning and fighting is going on in these villages," Ismail Adow, Hizbul Islam's spokesman told Reuters. Hizbul Islam commander Mohamed Adan said his forces were chasing al Shabaab back to Kismayu and they would not stop fighting until they had retaken the port..more..http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L3417274.htm
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