Sunday, December 2, 2012

Why are journalists being denied access to the ‘liberated’ Kismayu?

After nearly a year of regaling the media with success stories about their incursion into southern Somalia, the Kenya Defence Forces seem to have suddenly gone silent now that they have reached their prize target — the port city of Kismayu.
There are no media briefings about the situation in Kismayu; even the military’s articulate spokesperson, Cyrus Oguna, appears to have gone on leave.
Not only does the world know little about the goings-on in Kismayu, but it seems that the Kenyan forces, along with their Somali counterparts, the Raas Kamboni militia, which helped eject Al Shabaab from the city, are preventing journalists from entering the city.
Last month, Al Jazeera correspondent Peter Greste was holed up at Kismayu’s airport for three days because the so-called interim administration there would not allow him to enter the city.
Greste, writing for his blog from the airport noted: “Kismayu has been an elusive story, ever since the Kenyan military successfully pushed Al-Shabaab out.”
Some media organisations have suggested that the denial of media access to Kismayu might have something to do with the lucrative charcoal trade that sustained Al-Shabaab when it controlled the city.
The nearly four million sacks of charcoal (worth millions of dollars) found in Kismayu by the Kenyan and Somali forces have become a political issue, with Kenya-led forces insisting that they should be exported, and the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed saying a UN ban on its export should remain and no decision should be made until there is a proper administration in Kismayu.
However, according to The Economist, despite the ban, a dozen or so ships carrying charcoal have already sailed from the port.
It is not clear who is in charge of the port or which authority collected taxes from the exports; The Economist believes the port is run by “a chaotic security committee on which Kenyan, Ethiopian and several competing Somali clan factions all joust”, but no journalist, as far as I know, has met this committee.
At the heart of the tussle about the charcoal is the question of who controls Kismayu and the larger Jubaland region.
The Kenyan and Raas Kamboni leadership, backed by the Ethiopia-dominated Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), appear to be pushing for a semi-autonomous Jubaland state that would be largely independent of the central government.
President Mohamed, however, says his government should play a role in the region’s administration.
Unfortunately, the positions of both sides may create conditions for another conflict. Many Somalis are suspicious of the motives of Kenya and Ethiopia, countries seen to be creating a proxy state. Some are even calling for the deployment of Ugandan troops to Kismayu and withdrawal of Kenyan forces.
Journalist and researcher Abdi Aynte believes there is a middle-ground solution to the impasse. In a recent article, he argued for the formation of a two-year interim administration in Kismayu, led by Kenya-backed Raas Kamboni. On its part, Raas Kamboni should merge its militia with the Somali National Army.
This, he says, would allow the central government to control security in the region, while Raas Kamboni would take charge of the regional administration. Failure to achieve common ground over the administration of Kismayu would spell disaster for Somalia.
In the last two decades, various factions have sought to control the capital of Somalia’s richest and most fertile region because the region and the port were seen as lucrative revenue earners.
Kismayu has also been the port of choice for smugglers bringing in goods that invariably find their way into neighbouring Kenya.
Aynte warns that those seeking to control Kismayu should tread carefully as it has been “the graveyard of many Somali powers”, including Al Shabaab
Preventing journalists from reporting from Kismayu only adds to the mistrust brewing between the so-called Jubalanders and the new central government, whose delegation was recently turned away from the airport by the forces controlling the city. by -Rasna Warah
rasna.warah@gmail.com

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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