Monday, November 24, 2014
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Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Leaked Text Messages Offer Glimpse Into Somalia’s Political Dysfunctions (Text messages between Somali Muslim Brotherhood ):EXCLUSIVE:
A screenshot allegedly shows text message exchanges between Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir obtained by terrorfreesomalia.
Text messages between Somali Muslim Brotherhood :EXCLUSIVE: LEAKED CONVERSATION BETWEEN SOMALI PRESIDENT AND FARAH SHEIKH ABDULQADIR update
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom’s message to the Somali government was clear: feel independent, solve your internal problems and be wary of foreign interference.
That message — relayed to the government in December 2013 when Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was looking for someone to appoint for a prime minister after lawmakers ousted Abdi Farah Shirdon — provides a glimpse at how current Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed came to power.
Before Abdiweli was nominated, President Hassan had submitted three finalists for the premiership to UN special envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay.
But Kay, also called “The Teacher” in a slew of text messages independently obtained by terrorfreesomalia. from a reliable source, had someone else in mind. He had lobbied for Nuradin Dirie, his current senior special adviser, for the premiership, according to the messages.
The messages allegedly linked to President Hassan and his close advisers were on Tuesday leaked to press. It was first reported by the news site Somali Agenda.
The correspondents, exchanged between January 2013 and January 2014, showcase an administration mired in internal wrangling, inconsistency and power mongering.
The bulk of the messages consist of conversations between President Hassan and his close henchman, Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir. Until recently, Farah was the minister of justice and constitutional affairs, but under a cabinet reshuffle thattriggered a dispute between President Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdiweli, he was moved to the veterinary minister.
On Tuesday, the Somali parliament’s session turned into chaos after lawmakers supporting Abdiweli started shouting and banging on empty jugs soon after debate on no-confidence motion against the prime minister began.
The no-confidence motion was submitted by supporters of President Hassan, who rejected the prime minister’s move to shift Farah from the justice and constitutional affairs portfolio to the veterinary one.
The leaked messages were written in colloquial Somali, interspersed with broken English sentences. One of the text messages used an emoji at the end of the text.
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The messages confirmed the hunch of many analysts, who have always emphasized the role that Farah plays in President Hassan’s administration. Over the last two and a half years, Farah was rumored to have been Hassan’s right-hand man, and an indispensable wingman to the Commander-in-Chief.
“Mr. President, I consider myself to be among the people who love to see Somalia develop, and who as well have a lot of respect for you. … I hope that Allah makes the burden of the job easy for you,” Mr. Farah allegedly writes in one of the messages.
The text messages also touched on the resignation of Yussur Abrar, the former governor of the Somali Central Bank, who resigned after just seven weeks in the job. Abrar, who sent her resignation letter from Dubai, accused Hassan’s government of corruption and mismanagement of finances. In the messages, Farah wrote to the president by saying: “We have established communication channel with Yussur and with phone conversation slated for tomorrow. Meanwhile we have advised her not to address press and important that the same approach is adopted by [Somali federal government].”
True to the matter, the Financial Times had reported then that donors who supported Abrar believed “that she sent her resignation letter, dated October 30, from Dubai, before traveling to an unknown destination.”
The text messages also displayed a government structure that is not based on job merit or management hierarchy, but rather one that is based on political mileage and presidential propinquity.
This can be seen in how Farah forwards messages from certain sources to the president. The president then replies by asking: “Who sent that message?”, clearly showing the lack of proper and direct communication channels.
Suggestions even come in galore for the president. In one message, Farah dishes out advice to lower the flag “to show Solidarity” that Somalia is sad about the death of Nelson Mandela. “African countries,” he continues, “the USA, UK and other countries have done so.”
Together, the correspondents show how the current prime minister was chosen after the U.S. gave the stamp of approval to Abdiweli’s nomination. One of the messages reads: Out of the three finalists for the premiership, the U.S. said “only one candidate meets the criteria particularly engagement with the [international community].”
In December 2013, a text message from someone the president was allegedly consulting with says: “If you need my humble view then would share but I don’t see any figure with more potentials within the Maehan candidates then Abdiweli.”
Fast forward to a year later, and Abdiweli may be replaced with a new prime minister if the president’s supporters succeed to oust him.
And after some weeks, President Hassan may submit another three finalists for the premiership to Kay and the U.S.
Text messages between Somali Muslim Brotherhood :EXCLUSIVE: LEAKED CONVERSATION BETWEEN SOMALI PRESIDENT AND FARAH SHEIKH ABDULQADIR
EDITOR’S NOTE: SOMALI AGENDA has received and verified the authenticity of series of SMS messages between Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his powerful Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir. The text messages exchanged between January 2013 and January 2014 offer a fascinating and revealing insights into the working of the Hassan Sheikh Mohamud administration and the incredible power men like Farah Sheikh Abdulqaidr wield in influencing public policy in Somalia. SOMALI AGENDA has obtained multiple collections of the SMS messages; however, due to security and safety of people involved has chosen not to publish the entire collection of the messages at this time. SOMALI AGENDA might revisit the remaining unpublished documents at a later date with the aim of enlightening and informing the Somali public how their government operates, and the way policies are formulated. Furthermore, these texts also provide insight into the roots of the current fundamental basis of political infighting between the Prime minister and the President and why the country is currently in a political gridlock. A significant portion of the SMS messages occur during the political conflict between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his former Prime Minister Farah Abdi Shirdon. Then and now, Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir has been at the center of both political confrontations making the disclosures of these SMS messages significant in understanding the roots of Somalia’s political dysfunctions.
Born in a small market border town between Kenya and Ethiopia approximately 1963, Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir hails from a religious family and from a very young age received his religious education. Following the collapse of the military regime of Mohamed Siyad Barre, Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir became the president of the Somali chapter of Africa Muslim Agency which was an influential charity organization supported by leading business community and governments of the Gulf countries especially Kuwait and Qatar. Farah’s involvement with the Africa Muslim Agency provided him with the crucial opportunity to cultivate ties among the powerful groups in the Arab world. These ties proved vital in 2012 when Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir engineered the political campaign of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and successfully propelled a relatively unknown man into Villa Somalia easily beating established political heavyweights such as the then incumbent President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
To say President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is indebted to Farah is an understatement. Since the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Farah Abdulqadir has personally overseen and approved nearly every critical piece of policy forwarded by the government raising allegations that Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir was the de facto president of Somalia. These allegations gained momentum during the firing of former Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon in December 2013 when disagreements between the then State Minister for the Presidency Farah Abdulqadir and the Prime Minister ultimately led to the sacking of the prime minister by the parliament in a motion of no confidence engineered by Farah Abdulqadir.
The texts obtained by SOMALI AGENDA are evidence to the magnitude of power Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir holds over President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Much of the correspondence between the two shows a remarkable power structure and who is in essence in charge of the decisions. What becomes evident is that there seems to be a tendency from the President’s side to constantly update, verify, and ask for permission from Farah. It is then Farah who will give the go ahead, or disapprove of some of issues which require decision. In principle, it becomes clear that the President is unable to move or decide on issues without approval from Farah. Some might argue that this is not entirely surprising given the role Farah has played in the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, or is there any other factor that contributes to the docility of the President of the Federal Government of Somalia?
Regardless, the strange power relation between the President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Farah Abdulqadir is currently costing him a second Prime Minister and is putting the country in a political deadlock. This might explain why a minor cabinet reshuffle has become a major political crisis at a time Somalia is facing humanitarian disaster and with constant threats from Al Shahab. For President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the choice is simple: he either stays in power with Farah on his side, or the entire cabinet can fall. This is very unfortunate for the progress made in Somalia as well as denting the optimism the Somali people harbored for this administration, who are gradually coming to understand the dynamics behind the continuation of political unrest in the Somali Government: President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud will not continue without his strongest ally Farah Sheikh Abdulqadir.More
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Somalia:” I am concerned about allegations of some MPs being asked to exchange votes for cash in the context of a potential ‘No Confidence’ motion” UN envoy.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia, Nicholas Kay, has expressed deep concern over the political tensions between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, which puts at risk the country’s efforts to achieve critical political targets set out in Vision 2016.
“The United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia remains committed to fulfilling its mandate to assist Somalia to achieve federalism, a new constitution and elections by September 2016, as set out in the Provisional Federal Constitution and Vision 2016,” SRSG Kay said. “I call on all parties to seek a mutually satisfactory compromise that will allow Somalia’s political and security progress to continue without interruption.”
“I recognise the dedication and hard work of Members of Parliament, but I am concerned about allegations of some MPs being asked to exchange votes for cash in the context of a potential ‘No Confidence’ motion, which is a disservice to Somalia’s progress towards accountability and transparency,” he added. Somalia and Somalis deserve better.”
Mr. Kay repeated recent calls by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for political unity and continuity at the highest level of the Federal Government of Somalia, and noted that any action by any party that creates political turmoil would be reported to the UN Security Council, who will be notified that such action risks spoiling the prospect of implementing Vision 2016.
“I continue to offer the use of my good offices to seek a compromise; we are working very closely with the African Union Mission in Somalia, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the European Union, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, the United States and many others in search of a solution,” he added.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Somali police commissioner Likely died of Poisoning : Reports
Waagacusub.net - The Somali Police Commissioner Brigadier General Mohammed Sheikh Hassan Ismail, who was rushed to Umah Hospital, right after minutes of drinking a cup of tea with his dinner at the Banadir Beach Restaurant, is likely died of poisoning, Waagacusub Media Reported on Thursday.
Families and relatives of the Commissioner insisted on that his death "was not an accidental or natural in any way , but a force must be behind his assassination" , hinting that members of the President's group of Damu Jadiid had a controversial issue with the fallen Police Commissioner.
Somali Army with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took over the Umah Hospital in Abdi-Aziz neighborhood at Mogadishu at 5PM , arresting a Somali Kenyan doctor, Dr. Ibrahim Kolija and a hospital assistant, Abdulkader, who was referred the case of the fallen Police Commissioner. Somali CID has also taken a copy of the documented medical record from the hospital.
At five afternoon, the CID blocked all the roads that are surrounded by the Hospital stopping every vehicle, patient and blocking roads in checkpoints .
About 8:30 PM, the CID headed to Banadir restaurant at Lido Beach Mogadishu to arrest several people in connection with the murder, including vice chairman of Abdi Aziz district, and the restaurant owner ,Gurey, who hails from the President Hassan sheikh's sub-sub-clan of Mohammed Ade, Waisle of Abgaal Isman.
" We are shocked by the sudden death of the Commissioner Gen. Mohamed Sheikh Hassan Ismail, " said the Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed.
"On behalf of the government and the people of Somalia I send a heartfelt condolence to the family, friends and the entire people of Somalia for the death of the commissioner, he added.
On Friday the PM nominated a committee consisting of five ministers led by the deputy premier Ridwan Hassan Mohamed including The Health Minister Ali Mohamed Mohamud, The information Minister Mustaf Sheikh Ali Dhuhulow, The Home Security Minister Khalif Ahmed Ereg and the Agriculture Minister Abdi Ahmed Baffo.
Sources close to Turkey and AMISOM doctors at Digfeer hospital confirmed that a deadly poison was found in the body of the fallen commissioner but the news is yet to be told the media.
The death of the commissioner is coming at a critical time when the president of Somalia Hassan Sheikh and his PM Abdiweli are in a dispute related to a reshuffle of the cabinet minsiters, which the PM made last week and the President called illegal.
Over the last couple of years dozens of assassinations against very important politicians has been conducted by Damu Jadiid and Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security services (NISS) in Somalia .
To contact writers on this report : Ahmed Abdi at Halgan85@yahoo.com and Dahir Abdulle Alasow at dahiralasow@yahoo.com