No supporting documents for claims that Kenya & donors spent Sh1.9 billion on Somalia’s peace talks
Nairobi, May 4, 2006 – The Government paid out Sh2.8 billion to a construction company for the Sultan Hamud-Mtito Andei road construction and yet accounted for only Sh1.5 billion.
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Sana’a, Yemen, May 5, 2006 – Foreign ministers of Sana’a alliance have agreed to put forward in the UN Security Council an agenda to lift the army embargo on Somalia to enable the government of Somalia to protect the security in the country and fight against armed groups.
Addis Ababa, May 05 2006 – Ethiopians who fought against Italy's invasion in the 1930s urged the United Nations on Thursday to force Rome to pay compensation for the 500 000 lives lost at the hands of Fascist forces.
Seventy years on, memories are still fresh in Ethiopia of the 1935 invasion ordered by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, whose forces used mustard gas and other chemical weapons on Ethiopian troops in the country then known as Abyssinia.
NAIROBI, May 2, 2006 – Up to seven people were injured on Tuesday in a clash that erupted when militiamen tried to seize an official car at the temporary base of Somalia's interim government in Baidoa, diplomatic and government sources said.
Baidoa, in southern Somalia, had been chosen as a safe base for President Abdillahi Yusuf's fledgling administration while it waits for security to improve in the capital Mogadishu.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Apr 29, 2006 – Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi views closer trade relations between Africa and India as a significant driving force for economic change in his continent.
"India's extraordinary economic achievements serve as a valuable lesson for Africa," Zenawi was quoted as saying by the official Ethiopian News Agency Saturday.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and New York, April 28, 2006 – The United Nations Special Humanitarian Envoy, Kjell Magne Bondevik, arrived in Ethiopia today as part of his eight day mission to the five drought-affected countries of the Horn of Africa.
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Addis Ababa and New York, April 29, 2006 – The United Nations Special Humanitarian Envoy, Kjell Magne Bondevik, was made an elder of the Kereyu Gada clan today at a special gathering of pastoralist leaders in Ethiopia’s Oromiya Region.
The event is part of a five-nation mission to the drought-affected countries of the Horn of Africa, in which Mr. Bondevik is advocating for better humanitarian assistance and longer-term development opportunities.
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Somalia Reconciliation Efforts Launched In Baidoa
BAIDOA, Somalia, Apr 29, 2006 – Somalia on Saturday launched a major push to seek reconciliation among the lawless country's warring clans by attempting to set up regional bodies as platforms for fostering dialogue.
The district-based peace building and reconciliation effort, launched with the support of donors, hopes eventually to lead to the formation of transitional district development councils throughout the country.
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Somalia Cautious On Reports U.S. Funds Fighting
BAIDOA, Somalia, May 1, 2006 – Somali leaders expressed concern but could not confirm growing reports that Washington is financing a group of powerful Mogadishu warlords who have styled themselves as an anti-terrorism coalition.
The warlords have been involved in several bouts of fighting with militia linked to Islamic leaders. About 100 people have been killed in the violence, the worst in Mogadishu in years.
More Than 200 Somali MPs Accept UN Invitation For Training On Federalism And Constitutional Affairs
Nairobi, May 3, 2006 – Some 250 Somali Members of Parliament will attend a six-day training seminar in Baidoa this week (3-8 May) to prepare the ground for a new Federal Constitution.
The seminar on Federalism and Constitutional Affairs has been organized by the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) to stimulate a dialogue on the Transitional Federal Charter, to help members understand how federal government works and to enhance their legislative and policymaking capacity.
North Korea tops CPJ’s ‘Most Censored’ list
New York, May 2, 2006—North Koreans live in the most censored country in the world, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. The world’s deepest information void, communist North Korea has no independent journalists, and all radio and television receivers sold in the country are locked to government-specified frequencies. Burma, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, and Libya round out the top five nations on CPJ’s list of the “10 Most Censored Countries.”
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Counterfeit Money Trial Opens For Abdillahi Yusuf’s Son-In-Law In Dubai
Dubai, UAE, May 6, 2006 – Saeed Abdi Firin, the son-in-law of Somalia’s warlord president Abdillahi Yusuf, appeared before a Dubai court last Tuesday following charges that he imported counterfeit Somalia Shilling bank notes through Dubai airport.
Mr. Saeed who holds a Canadian passport is accused of bringing 180 billion Shillings in counterfeit currency into Dubai on last January.
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Somaliland Legislators Defend Independence, Ties With Ethiopia
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Hargeysa, Somaliland, May 6, 2006 – Somaliland’s legislators in the lower house of parliament (House of Representatives) on last Sunday reiterated their strong support for the independence of their country.
Responding to a statement in which the interim parliament of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia attacked Ethiopia for upgrading the diplomatic status of its commercial office in the Somaliland capital Hargeysa, lower house leaders defended the move saying that their country’s ties with Ethiopia were bound to grow.
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Baidoa, Somalia, May 6, 2006 – The deputy commander of Somalia’s to be formed police force, Gen. Osman Falko resigned. Gen. Falko said that he could not work with the commander of the police force, Gen. Ali Madoobe, because the latter is not a trained policeman but was a member of the now defunct NSS (National Security Service). Gen. Falko said that Gen. Ali Madoobe is not qualified to head Somalia’s police force and that the person to be in charge of Somalia’s police force should have had training in police work. Gen. Falko added that Ali Madoobe constantly travels abroad, does not spend much time inside the country, engages in spying and uses a conspiratorial style; therefore, he cannot work with him.
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Brussels, May 4, 2006 – International Crisis Group President Gareth Evans has been appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the new UN Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention.
The seven-member Committee will provide guidance and support to the work of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Juan E. Méndez
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Mombasa, Kenya, May 05 2006 – The United Nations and Kenya on Friday inaugurated a maritime crisis centre here to respond to the growing threat to commercial shipping posed by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
The emergency operations centre in Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa is the first of its kind in the region and will respond to vessels either threatened by pirates or suffering other difficulties, officials said.
Hundreds Protest Water Price Rise In Somaliland
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HARGEISA, May 2, 2006 – About 200 people protested a rise in the price of water in northern Somaliland, witnesses and local officials said, breaking government equipment in a rare show of unrest in the breakaway Somali enclave.
The crowd destroyed computers and archive files in the local government's main offices in the town of Erigabo on Monday, after it had doubled the price of water to 2,000 Somaliland shillings ($0.33) per liter citing high fuel prices.
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Pretoria, May 03, 2006 - South Africa's Independent Online on Tuesday examined efforts in Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic in northwest Somalia, to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. HIV prevalence in Somaliland is 1.4%, but health authorities warn that a lack of information about the virus, as well as cultural and religious beliefs, could contribute to an increase in HIV prevalence. According to Deq Saeed of UNAIDS Somaliland, HIV prevalence "has increased tremendously over the past four years, but still a majority of the population [is] not serious about [the virus'] consequences." In addition, misconceptions about HIV/AIDS are widespread, and some local people believe that the virus cannot be found in Somaliland, the Independent Online reports.
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An Eye For An Eye, As Somali Boy Executes Father's Killer
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A bloody act of vengeance: 16-year-old Mohamed Moallim takes a knife and stabs the man who killed his father
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Mogadishu, May 3, 2006 – A Somali teenager publicly hacked his father's killer to death in a punishment sanctioned under Islamic law, heightening Somalia's status as a failed country in the eyes of the West. Hundreds of people gathered in Mogadishu to watch the court-ordered execution.
Witnesses said that Mohamed Moalim, 16, approached the condemned man Omar Hussein, who was hooded and tied to a pole, and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest, neck and head.
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International News
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Tony Blair
London, May 06, 2006 – British Prime Minister Tony Blair has overhauled his cabinet after his ruling Labor Party suffered big losses in local elections across England.
Mr. Blair's government is facing one of its biggest challenges in the aftermath of local elections that saw a surge in support for the opposition Conservative Party.
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Prime Minister Tony Blair
LONDON, May 3, 2006 – The government announced plans to deport virtually any foreigner convicted of a crime as it tried to defuse anger over the release of more than 1,000 prisoners eligible for removal
Home Secretary Charles Clarke, speaking to the House of Commons after a week of fury over the release of the prisoners, said "the guiding principle will be that foreign nationals guilty of criminality should expect to be deported".
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AMSTERDAM, April 28, 2006 — Liberal Party MP Ayaan Hirsi Magan has been ordered to vacate the high-security home she is renting in The Hague within four months.
An appeal court sided with her neighbors who complained her presence put their own safety at risk and caused disruption to their lives. Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner broke the news of the court decision at an EU meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday.
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Alleged Pirates Freed After US Declines To Prosecute
Nairobi, Kenya, May 2, 2006 – A group of alleged Somali pirates captured by the United States navy in March have been freed and returned home to lawless Somalia after the US declined to prosecute them, officials said on Tuesday.
Ten of 12 suspected pirates detained on March 18 after firing on US warships in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast were handed over to the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) and repatriated at the weekend, they said.
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'WPC Murder Suspect In Somalia'
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Irony: The suspect in the killing of WPC Sharon Beshenivsky is on the run in Somalia
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London, May 4, 2006 – The scandal over the released foreign convicts deepened last night after it emerged fugitive police killer Mustaf Jama is thought be in his native Somalia.
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Editorial
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Muhammad Dheere, the man who controls Jawhar once described Abdillahi Yusuf and the so-called government of Somalia as a bunch of “street boys” (ciyaala suuq). Evidence confirming Muhammad Dheere’s observation is coming out with an almost predictable regularity. Let’s take the reaction of the so-called Parliamentarians in Baidoa to the appointment of a new Ethiopian ambassador in Somaliland.
In typical “street boys” fashion, members of Somalia’s “parliament” engaged in a lot of shouting and chest-beating over this matter. In their wild frenzy, it looks like they never asked themselves (1) Is it wise of them with all the work that is awaiting them to spend so much of their time on Somaliland, (2) are they in a position to do anything about it or (3) what can they do about it. Anyone who is familiar with the situation of Somalia’s hopelessly dysfunctional government, knows that the answer to the three above questions is a big no, which means Somalia’s politicians were wasting their time over something they could do nothing about.
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Special Report
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REPORT ON FAMILIARISATION TOUR TO SOMALILAND
In November 2005, the Centre for Human Rights began investigating the possibility of a third destination for the LLM field trip. The reasons for increasing the number of field trip destinations to include Somaliland include the following:
Somaliland is a state in the making; it would be ideal for students on the programme to have a first hand experience of this.
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Opinions
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The Day of Somaliland Students Died Young: Any Hero To Revive?
By Mukhtar Hassan Maidhane
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands
in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." (Dr. Martin Luther King)
It was one of these small, yet fine, contributions that escaped the attention of many people, let alone their appreciation. May 2 nd, the Day of the Students of Somaliland Universities, stands still up the debris of the civil wars and clan partisan. It is the new struggle of the students, by the students, for the students to cross the boundaries of clan geography divided amongst them to start building a future where unity, liberty, and human dignity prevail.
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A Budget is a forecast of revenue and expenditure or income and expenses for certain period .Usually budgets are one fiscal year .there are budgets for shorter periods for particular institutions or enter prizes .There are some practical considerations common to all budgets .The trends and conditions affect the budget plan and has to be measured .An examination of last years budget result is to be done to identify the trends and variations of your future expectations .the budget is often considered as a working document, it’s purpose is to make estimates of future revenues and expenditures in order to serve as a management tool .
Budgets will never be perfect and those who prepare it should do their best with the information available and honestly forward it without adding biased information and then utilize it as one measurement of success of your programmatic activities, understanding and responding to significant variances from the budget and probably this is one of the most important fiduciary responsibilities .
Here comes the role of civic societies and it is not apparent in the Democratic process. Civic societies should participate in the political, economical and social process of the country otherwise the democracy in Somaliland is null and void. The civic societies who voted the parliament to office should be upgraded and participate in putting the budget of next year in to the right track. The have watch the transparency of the budget next year so that the revenues collected from them is processed safely
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Very interesting findings of Dr. Tariq Al Swaidan might grasp your attention:
Dr.Tariq Al Swaidan discovered some verses in the Holy Qur'an. That mention one thing is equal to another, i.e. men are equal to women. Although this makes sense grammatically, the astonishing fact is that the number of times the word man appears in the Holy Qur'an is 24 and number of times the word woman appears is also 24, therefore not only is this phrase correct in the grammatical sense but also true mathematically,
i.e. 24 = 24.
Upon further analysis of various verses, he discovered that this is consistent throughout the whole Holy Qur'an where it says one thing is like another. See below for astonishing result of the words mentioned number of times in Arabic
Holy Qur'an
Dunia (one name for life) 115.
Aakhirat(one name for the life after this world)115
Malaika (Angels) 88 .
Shayteen (Satan) 88
Life 145 ...... Death 145
Benefit 50 ....Corrupt 50
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Leadership Forum For Advancing Inter-Faith Dialogue to Prevent Conflict
By Dr. Saad Noor Washington DC, April 26, 2006
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
It is a real pleasure for me to stand here today as a participant with these two distinguished scholars in this rather useful forum addressing “faith-based leadership to prevent conflict.” I n my brief remarks here I will touch upon the concept of leadership, its definition in general and its application.
However, since we are calling for a new faith-based leadership to advance dialogue and service to prevent conflict, I will review the “concept of leadership in Islam.” I am doing this in view of the fact that we, the panelists, are to present remarks in light of the teachings and philosophies of the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
I would like to mention from the outset however, that I am not presenting myself or claming to be an Islamic scholar nor a specialist. Rather, I am reviewing the concept of leadership in Islam as presented by Islamic scholars.
Finally I will make quick remarks on areas in which faith-based leadership should make headway to advance dialogue, enhance social and economic development and serve peace.
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| FEATURES & COMMENTARY |
African Cooperation Growing on Anti-Terrorism, U.S. Report Says
But annual counterterrorism report cites remaining challenges
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington, April 29, 2006 – No longer quite the "breeding ground" for terrorism that a former assistant secretary of state for Africa described to Congress several years ago, Africa is gaining ground on the problem in partnership with allies like the United States, says the State Department's annual counterterrorism report, released April 28.
Africa continues to be home to groups that seek to violently undermine regional political and economic stability, but in the past year there were "few significant international terrorist incidents in Africa," and "many African governments improved their cooperation and strengthened their efforts in the war on terrorism," according to the Country Reports on Terrorism 2005.
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Blair’s Spokesman On John Prescott
Asked to clarify whether or not there was any investigation into John Prescott's affair by either the Cabinet Office or the ODPM, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said, as he had made clear yesterday, that the answer to that was no.
Foreign Prisoners
Put that if the current system could not cope with deporting imprisoned foreign nationals then what sense did it make to deport all foreign national prisoners, the PMOS said firstly he did not want to pre-empt what the Home Secretary would say in the House. Secondly however, there was an issue about the criteria by which people could be considered for deportation. This would be one of the matters that the Home Secretary would discuss in his statement. Thirdly, there were issues surrounding a very small number of countries where the question was not whether you wished to deport but could you deport. In terms of the issue of the last 24 hours Somalia was one of those countries.
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Honorable Judge Moloto and the rest of the family of the esteemed Ellen Kuzwayo
Fellow mourners
Compatriots
Three days ago many leaders of our people gathered at the well known Soweto church, Regina Mundi, to bid farewell to a queen of our world. They met at a place of worship that must, as it did to hers, remain forever in our hearts as a hearth of the life-giving hope that is inspired by the profound conviction native to our people, that however bleak the future might seem - sesafeleng seatlhola!
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